It's been overstated that the purpose of our lives is to "worship God". Being a worship leader I believe that my job is to create the best opportunity for people to enter into worship. I think most of our life can be reduced to creating or taking opportunities...

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Dagon Down!



Everyone on the blog, this is Dagon. Dagon, this is everyone on the blog.

Dagon is the greek god of vegetation. He is the god that the Philistines worshipped. I read yesterday a little bit about him and thought I would share.

1 Samuel, chapter 5, tells us a really funny story, if you ask me. You see, the Philistines came and stole the Ark of the Covenant. In my translation(NLT) it calls the ark the Ark of God. The Ark of God was the place that the presence of God dwelled with the Israelites. Inside were several articles that were special to the Israelites, but above the Ark is where to find the presence of God. No one was to touch the Ark. Only the highest priests were even able to look behind the curtain at it, and only if they'd gone through the ceremonial cleansing first. And the people of God new His presence. They didn't mess around. One time a well-intentioned guy was helping carry the Ark as it began to fall. He lunged towards the bottom corner so that it would not hit the ground and he died instantly. Moral of this story: don't play around with the Glory of God! Right?!

Well, let's get back to Dagon... The Philistines steal the Ark. They're proudly marching back from battle with the Ark in view and parade it into the Temple of Dagon(sounds like Indiana Jones). They set the Ark down right beside and idol of Dagon(see picture above). Then, they left to celebrate their victory. "When the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord! So the took Dagon and put him in his place again. But the next morning, the same thing happened--Dagon had fallen face-down before the Ark of the Lord again!" That time his hands and head broke off! Chapter 6, verse 20 sums it up, "Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord, this Holy God?" The next verse basically said that the Philistines couldn't get rid of the Ark quick enough. How funny...

Samuel had to tell all the Philistines to get rid of all of their idols, and obey only the Lord(7:3). We ought to too. This week I'm in Illinois for work and I had thought that this would be a good spiritual week for me to set apart my mind from the normal distractions I have in Milwaukee. It really has served as an opportunity for God to let me know of the other gods in my life. It's just as hard, maybe even harder to prioritize my time with God, even though I have more time. I idol position at work, time with friends, leadership books, and phone calls to my wife. All those things are good, but stood up against the presence of God, they will fall face-down. My life(and yours) ought to be based in the presence of God--we always say to have God as the foundation. Instead of making God a part of my life, I ought to make Him my life, and have all these other things be extras.

Learn from Dagon. If you don't get rid of your idols, they'll eventually fall face-down.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Watch Your Step!

A motorist was unknowingly caught in an automated speed trap that measured his speed using radar and photographed his car. He later received in the mail a ticket for $40, and a photo of his car.
Instead of payment, he sent the police department a photograph of $40.
Several days later, he received a letter from the police department that contained another picture - of handcuffs.

Have you ever stuck your foot in your mouth? Recently, I made a comment to a guy who was gone from work for a day. He had called in sick, but I had heard my boss say that he wasn't really sick, he was just using a sick day's pay. When he returned to work the next day I decided I'd play around with him for a little bit. I asked him how sleeping in was, playing with the dog, and having a nice lunch with his wife. Then I called him lazy, because all the rest of us had to split up his work while he was out playing around that day(did I mention that it was almost 80 degrees and sunny?). I no sooner finished my jest, when he, with one sentence, humbled me. He mentioned that he was on his way to work in the morning when his wife called and told him that her mother was being rushed to the hospital for a heart-attack. He turned the car around to take care of her morning routine(getting the kids off to school, etc.) and then join her at the hospital. In fact, he only got 4 hours of sleep because they were at the hospital so late. Haha.

Micah 6:8 says that, "the LORD has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." Proverbs 14:16 reminds, "The wise are cautious and avoid danger; fools plunge ahead with great confidence."

Walk carefully in the presence of God. He(God) told Moses that he(Moses) couldn't even look at God's face. It's so glorious. I think God's exhortation to Moses is a great lesson for us today. We ought to be cautious in the presence of God--Carefully considering our surroundings, carefully making moves, carefully thinking. I've been a fool that "plunged ahead with great confidence" before, and I've had to dust myself off from the fall several times too! But, the wise go forward carefully, not taking advantage of God's presence, but fearing His power and glory.

We don't need kneepads to brace for the fall. We just need to fear God, and consider His presence with care.