Month: June 2024

God’s Nature: Lording or Loving?

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Sheets continues in the next chapter of The Pleasure of His Company to dig into aspects of our relationship with God. He zeros in on a belief that God’s nature is misunderstood. A misunderstanding of God’s nature would certainly explain why worship can lack passion, be endured, or even resisted.

I don’t believe the problem with most believers’ worship is hypocrisy or insincerity. I think the majority is trying to honor God by giving Him His dues and fulfilling their obligation to Him as the Creator. I doubt if most of them understand, or have even heard, that God is a lover as well as a Lord. And it wasn’t his lording nature that prompted him to create us-He could have made a few billions more angels had that been His desire. It was his loving nature. God is a Father at heart.

Chapter 2, “The Seeker”

This morning I got to talk with a guy at church for the first time and found out he works for a local, family-owned business. Between their six locations, they have over 800 employees. Describing being employed there he said, “You work hard, but it’s like family. We have a hard time finding good employees, but we continue to grow and I love working there.”

He’s describing a work place that isn’t only about lording. We all pretty well can tell the difference between lording and loving. If you come from a faith setting that focuses more on a lording view of God’s nature, it’s probably long overdue for your relationship to take a shift and consider his loving nature.

Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

The Worshiper’s Reward

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Dutch Sheets begins his book The Pleasure of His Company by focusing on God as a Person. From the outset, he emphasizes the opportunity we have to experience intimate relationship with God.

The last paragraph of the chapter focuses on what worship is about from the position of the God being worshipped, in this case through the avenue of singing.

When we worship, He is captivated by the singer, not the song. Our company is what He longs for.

Chapter 1, “The Person”

This is good news for all worshipers. Some worshipers can sing the song flawlessly yet miss the joy of God’s company. Some worshipers have no shot at “being in the pocket” yet enjoy the freedom of God’s presence. Sheets called these worshipers enlightened.

They know that when they approach Him, He responds; and the pleasure of His company becomes their reward. Make it yours.

Photo by Hudson Hintze on Unsplash

Two Tips for Journaling

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Finished the last page of my current journal this morning. Always produces more thoughts and musings. Figured I’d share two of them for other journalers out there.

Question #1: Do I really need to keep them forever?

A few years ago a coaching client revealed they had every journal they’d ever written. So when they revealed how attached they were to them and expressed their bondage to the past, we went down the road of determining what might be healthier when it comes to keeping old journals. After they did some purging, they genuinely felt free from some of their past.

I since have developed a boundary of only keeping journals from the past five years. That’s my healthy mark. If you have never thought about this, it’s worth pondering. It’s possible there’s some freedom available for your heart, mind, and spirit.

Question #2: How often should I look back?

It’s another question based on what’s healthy for you. I took a few minutes this morning to purge and remember. The timing that seems right for my looking back is roughly twice a year. What I noticed this morning were two interesting emotions. Some entries still resonated strongly, strong enough to keep for future remembrance. Other entries that seemed intense when they were experienced were easy to release.

I have no idea how other journalers approach purging and remembering. If you have reflections to share, please do. Or maybe chew on it in your next entry. Either way, may your journaling continue to bring you health and freedom.

Perseverance

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Catching up today on one of my favorite podcasts, Being Known.

It’s season 9. They are reviewing chapters from Curt’s latest book, The Deepest Place to deepen our understanding of suffering and the formation of hope.

I hadn’t finished episode 7 on Perseverance, so that’s where I picked up. It was interesting timing.

I’ll post the video for the entire episode for you to view, but here are the lines that spoke most to me:

When we are willing to persevere, we discover over time that we are becoming something different than who we were…It’s often the case that we are not the first to recognize that…Someone else who’s watched us would say we are not the same person.

I love being able to point this out to my friends. They’ll say something that either shows their growth or reveals they have yet to see it. I try to interject my observation to reinforce the work they’ve done, the change they’ve accomplished, and the encouragement to keep going.

Need a shot of reinforcement? Check out the episode.

Love As Being

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When you lose your ability to care, you lose the thing that makes you human: your heart. –John Sowers, chapter 24 “Love As Being,” Say All the Unspoken Things

At first read, I thought to myself, “I’ve had heartless moments, even a heartless season. How did that happen?”

To be fair to myself, the moments and seasons that come to mind weren’t complete loses of caring. They’re better described as misdirected, distracted, or too much in the weeds that I forgot the big picture. And by big picture, I’m thinking more about all the relationships in a setting versus a select one or two.

So how did that happen?

Selfishness. There was a moment I upstaged some dear friends. I was so caught up in my own story that I lost sight of their story. Thankfully, they didn’t lose their heart.

Demanding Justice. There was a season I was determined to right a wrong. No one asked me to; no one gave me permission. Thankfully, that season came to an end before I lost heart.

Abusing Power. There was a moment I carved a wound with a hasty decision. In that moment, I chose perfection over mercy. Thankfully, that scar reminds me what power can do to my heart.

The chapter title of Sowers’ quote is worth noting. The less I care about doing and more about being the more loving I am.

Thanks for saying the things, John Sowers.

Photo by Isaac Quesada on Unsplash