Reflections of Praise

I’m going to reflect way back and say I’m thankful for one of my college campus fellowship advisers. During one of his messages, he made the point we try to live our lives like a TV dinner — everything in its own distinct compartment — but life is really like a chicken pot pie with distinct ingredients all mixed together.¹ They don’t lose their identity, but they are all necessary for the finished product. I tend to favor the TV dinner approach, and it’s pretty obvious by my file naming conventions and the extensive use of the categories feature in my project management software.

This past month, I felt led to dedicate some time to initiating involvement in social justice for a variety of reasons. It’s been something on my mind and heart over the last several years, but I struggled with being pulled in two different Kingdom directions: worship and justice. To draw on the analogy, it felt like I was going to mix the mac and cheese with the chocolate pudding, and that never sounds appetizing. Although pursuing this direction while simultaneously working with WFI has been confirmed through conversations and prayer, I was still concerned I would be trying to do too much and eventually not do anything well. Continue reading…

1. He must have been really trying to reach the college crowd to use frozen food as an analogy. [↩]

Reflections of Praise

June has been another full month…so full, in fact, that it has spilled over into July, hence the late update. From our staff retreat in Lake Arrowhead to attending the Lausanne Conversation gathering to being wonderfully challenged to serve God at a higher skill level during WATS (Worship Arts Technology Summit) to being officially trained as a Perspectives Coordinator (I cheated, this was actually in July), God has been speaking very clearly to me about the part(s) of His heart I am to pursue right now. In the midst of all the inspiration , we’ve also been progressing steadily toward our October vision trip (thanks for praying-keep at it!) and the development of another significant option for our international teams. It has been overwhelming at times, but He has been faithful to remind me (especially through music and friends) of His sufficiency to reign over and lead His Kingdom. Continue reading…

Reflections of Praise

After a hectic April, it was totally God’s wisdom to plan for a low-key May. We started the month in New Jersey at the Mentor Network Gathering where Brennan Manning reminded us in many ways that we belong to Abba and are loved by Him as we are, not as we should be. That was a much needed truth that stayed with me throughout the month as I’ve had opportunities to explore some pretty big (read: daunting) possibilities for Global Impact. Especially since we haven’t been able to assemble summer teams this year despite all our efforts, remembering the Father’s faithful love and how He glories in concealing matters¹ has drawn me to ask Him what is on His heart and mind and allow Him to drop some pretty crazy ideas in my head. Since He opened up my schedule by eliminating all logistical aspects of a summer team (which would be pretty crazy right around now), I’ve had significant times to sit still (or go running ) and dream a little with Him. It’s been a challenge to change what I previously defined as “short-term missions,” but I get the sense He is ready to shift things, and I need to be willing to follow Him…no matter how wild He gets.

Please continue praying this month

• for a fearless following after God into new realms, new relationships, new paradigms
• for supernatural organizational skills as I gather reference ideas, next steps, and contact information…I need to be able to retrieve it all after He gives it to me!
• for good communication with our current host partners who wanted a team, but won’t receive one this summer…that we can mutually encourage one another as we wait for God to release us into active ministry together…and thank God for their patience and kind understanding!
• for spiritual protection as we move in a direction that will attract the Enemy’s contempt
• for unshakable assurance and confidence in God as my leader in WFI and in my own personal life

Looking Ahead

At least once, maybe twice, a decade, I start to feel restless. My daily life looks mundane and not very exciting. I wonder what it would be like to live in a big city with all kinds of activity just steps from the front door. Or what it would be like to spend a few months in another country and encounter God through the people and culture there. I’m not sure what brings it on, but the feeling is always the same: I want more. I guess after a month of seeing all that God is doing through others, it’s hard not to compare…

That sounds very unChristian to be unsatisfied. Paul’s claim to be content in all circumstances² has been held before me as a goal in more messages than I can count. What God has been showing me, though, is the distinction between contentment and satisfaction. Contentment is about our attitude; satisfaction is about a standard.

I’m starting to suspect we were built for a much higher standard than we tend to hold, maybe an Edenic one? Thanks to our fallen nature, we’re never going to meet that standard in this lifetime. (Do you feel encouraged?! ) Although we do need to develop an attitude of contentment, we don’t do that by lowering the standard.

That restlessness I feel is uncomfortable — and slightly irritating! — but it reminds me (1) we’re created in the image of God for more than what this world can offer, and (2) complacency doesn’t mean I’ve learned contentment, only that I’ve lowered my standard. Whether it’s pursuing God in my own personal relationship with Him or attempting to point people closer to Jesus through music and the arts, I need to be content without settling for discovering less than His best, even in the smallest details.

I don’t have the secret to that (you’ll have to ask the Apostle Paul). What I appreciate about that uncomfortable balancing act, though, is the way it propels me to discover as much as I can of God. I love puzzle games, but at some point I want to solve it. This is like one huge puzzle game that has infinite levels — because God is infinite! I wish I could say it will be resolved when we see Him face to face, but the more I think about it, the more I am convinced this will be an eternal process. And through it, God will be eternally glorified!

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Proverbs 25.2

1. Proverbs 25.2 [↩]
2. Philippians 4.11 [↩]

Reflections of Praise

In the course of three weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to be at 3 conference-type things. Only one was officially called a conference, and the one I’m at right now is really more of a gathering than a conference, but I know it’s the Lord’s encouragement to allow me to meet with such a wide variety of Kingdom citizens, learn from them, be ministered to by them, and be fueled by His presence within them. (Hopefully, they have also received from God through me!) God was so faithful to answer your prayers this past month for good connections. Building strong relationships takes time, but I’m so thankful for the small beginnings of new Kingdom friendships!

He has been most generous with me this past month with the sense that we are moving in the right direction, even if it feels like we are barely moving at all. Over and over again, He has been showing me through Scripture and through teaching and example of others how the arts can be used in much greater ways to worship Him, and how worship is a strategy near to His heart for the display of His glory. What He does in the spiritual realm can be reflected in our natural lives and actions to bring about great advances for our King. The greatest obstacle is not our lack or others’ opposition; it’s our fear.

Please continue praying this month

• for God’s presence to overwhelm us at the Mentor Network Gathering in New Jersey, May 2-4, and for health and travel protection as we go to and from different parts of the country…His hand carrying us is better than any travel insurance we can buy!
• for favor in the eyes of other ministry leaders as they consider partnering with a relatively small ministry and its inexperienced coordinator
• for affordable and timely connections as we continue to make plans to test-run a domestic worship mission program
• for spiritual protection as we move in a direction that will attract the Enemy’s contempt
• for unshakable assurance and confidence in God as my sovereign authority in whatever I get to do with WFI and in my own personal life

Looking Ahead

Recently, a friend shared what he was learning about stewardship: it isn’t about the gathering, it’s about the dispensing. The emphasis is only slightly shifted, but it has made a big difference in my approach. While my personal net worth is less than impressive and carries no hope for an early retirement (wouldn’t want that anyway!), I know God has given me more than a fair share of experiences and opportunities, of skills and relationships. I might not be a “10 talent” girl, but I know He has generously lavished me with more than one. (Matthew 25.14-30)

Saving is the safe way to go, whether it is effort, money or time (which, I’ve been told, equals money). Especially in our current economic climate, saving looks like the wise way to go. An online post by Bill Johnson of Bethel Church in Redding, CA has challenged me for weeks: “Fear often looks like wisdom to those in unbelief.” How much have I held back from the Kingdom – actually, from God – out of fear and deceived myself into calling it “wisdom”? He doesn’t need me for anything, and everything I give Him is merely an act of returning it to the original Giver. The only one eternally hurt by my holding back is me. My sense of wisdom and responsibility needs to be informed by deep trust in God as my portion.

One of my greatest desires as I grow as a worshiper is to know my Lord’s affirming words, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” I won’t hear this if I won’t dare to wholeheartedly invest whatever He has given me into whatever He is asking of me. What I get to do with Worship Foundations International is really just a few things compared to eternity in His presence.

Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.Psalm 34.9

Reflections of Praise

Happy Easter! I know, according to our calendars, Easter has passed, but a part of me feels like Easter is for every day. Over the weekend, I heard “The Power of the Cross” (Keith and Kristyn Getty) 5 times at my home church, and the line that sticks with me is:

What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

That truth isn’t just for Easter; it’s for eternity!

It is also such an encouragement as I reflect on this past month. Whether it is sin, a mistake, or simply uncontrollable circumstances; whether things go according to plan, take an unexpected detour, or feel like failure; we stand forgiven at the cross because of the enormous price Jesus paid for loving us as He does. Our deadline for summer teams came and went without any actual applications. Many people I’ve communicated with have expressed interest and excitement about using music as a tool for fulfilling the Great Commission, but because of personal situations, everyone has had to put their plans to go with us on hold.

While a little discouraging to realize this, God has been faithful to meet me and redeem what I cannot by reminding me my plans are not the only way to go. By closing this particular door, He has re-focused my attention on other possibilities and opened time for other strategic partnerships that simply operate on a different schedule (i.e. not just summer trips) or in a different part of the globe (i.e. in the United States). In His usual unpredictable way, God has been answering my prayers for growing Global Impact to be more than a short-term summer missions program.

Please continue praying this month

• for wisdom as I begin to knock on doors with a few key ministries to explore what we can do together in this area of Kingdom advancement
• for clear organization and next steps as we make plans to test-run a domestic worship mission program
• for finely-tuned spiritual ears to hear the Lord’s direction as I venture into “new” (for me) territory…and that I would make praise my first steps!
• for God to continue connecting me with people who serve as channels and messengers for His ways and ideas

Looking Ahead

I finally finished Ruth Haley Barton’s Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, over a year after I started it! (I think I’m going to have to read it again, just to be able to put all the ideas together in my mind. If you’d like to join me, let me know! I’ll be starting it again in May.) In the book, Barton follows the life of Moses and pulls out leadership lessons to help us serve more from a deep inner life with God rather than our own limited strength and skill.

If you know his story, you’ll remember Moses died before entering the Promised Land. I never liked that part, even though I understood the justice of it. After all Moses went through and put up with, on a purely emotional level it still felt unfair for God to deny Moses entrance into the Promised Land. It has always left me with a nagging fear beneath the surface of my consciousness: what if I have done something to disqualify me from enjoying what I am working for? What if I have offended God and lost His favor? He doesn’t owe me an explanation, and He is not obligated to give me a second chance. While this is true, it only reveals how much I have bought in to traditional Asian relational dynamics and how little I have made room in my worldview for the grace and mercy of God to rule alongside the justice of God.

Barton focuses the end of her study on learning to surrender our desires for something greater than our original goal:

For Moses, the presence of God was the Promised land. Next to that, everything else had already paled in comparison.¹

Among other lessons, the immediate issue I realized I need to deal with is my willingness to be satisfied in God and only God. It isn’t a question of whether or not He can, but whether or not I will.

I’ve never been there, nor have I heard any firsthand testimony , but from everything I read in the Bible about Heaven, that’s how it’s going to be: as glorious as our surroundings are, our focus and our delight will be found in the presence of God. The glory of God will be so bright, there will be no need for any other light source. In comparison, everything else probably will seem a little pale and less enticing.

Where I live, it isn’t difficult to experience a variety of cultures simply by driving for half an hour or so. It’s one of the best ways to get to know a culture I hope to enter in order to share Christ. I can taste the food, experience the relational dynamics, and observe the customs and values. Much like the cross-cultural preparation we ask missionaries to go through, learning to find deep satisfaction in God alone now prepares us for the culture of Heaven we’ll enter into one day. And in doing so, we can bring a little of Heaven’s culture to Earth.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.Psalm 73.25-26

1. Ruth Haley Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008) p.214. [↩]