church

30daysofpraise, Bible, bible study, Christian, Christian Church, christian encouragement, christian men, christian parenting, christian podcast, Christian women, Faith, Jesus, Jesus Follower, prayer, religion, Uncategorized

Open Communication

August 26, 2022September 7, 2022 krisshetter

“Then Moses said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.” Leviticus 9:6

Holy God, it amazes me that you, in your infinite and powerful ways wants to talk to me. That the God of the universe wants me to come to you each and every day with my needs and my fears. Today I come to you with praise and thanksgiving that you love me so much. Amen

I heard a description of an early “church service” the other day. The first half was open to anyone and featured scripture reading and the teaching of the gospel. Then the pastor would call out, “the doors, the doors” and it was the message to those who were not baptized or confessed believers to leave. The doors would then be closed and the second half of the service commenced. This is when the holy gift of communicating with God began. The church membership would have an “upper room” type meeting with breaking of bread and prayer to the Most Holy One.

What I like about this is that shows reverence to the second greatest blessing God bestowed on us (the first being Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins) – a loving, two-way path communicating with God. A gift given to believers by Jesus and spurred on by the Holy Spirit that lives in the children of God. I’m not suggesting only believers should pray, it’s just an acknowledgement of the seriousness of this gift we’ve been given.

In the Bible verse today, we see the seeds of God’s desire to communicate with us in the priestly ministry of the ancients. God spoke through Moses on how to address Him through sacrifices and other holy activities. He tells the priests in training that when they take these steps, they will see God’s glory revealed to them. The same is true with the gift of prayer.

“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1

The disciples, just as in Moses’ day, desired to learn how to communicate with God. How to open up the heavens so they could see the glory of the One Almighty. And so Jesus taught them the prayer I mentioned yesterday, what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” It starts with reverence, placing God in our hearts and minds rightly where He belongs. It moves on to acknowledging God as the provider of all our needs and our submission to Him. We then ask for forgiveness and to forgive others. And finally for daily guidance.

The gift of prayer is God’s message to us that we are not believers of a god who is unable to do all things, or a god who can’t be trusted, or a god to whom we need to beg to hear us. Before we pray we need to be fully informed of how we view Him. If we don’t believe He is merciful then we might believe He will punish us if we bring our sins to Him. Our prayers should always include a request for wisdom about Him so that when He answers our prayer – which He always does – we will understand the answer and see the glory in His ways.

Today, I want to leave you with this beautiful prayer from King David showing us how to glorify and praise God in all His magnificent ways.

Psalm 63

¹You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.

²I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory.
³Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
⁴I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

⁶On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night.
⁷Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.
⁸I cling to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

⁹Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
    they will go down to the depths of the earth.
¹⁰They will be given over to the sword
    and become food for jackals.

¹¹But the king will rejoice in God;
    all who swear by God will glory in him,
    while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Beauty In The Battle

August 16, 2022August 29, 2022 krisshetter

"Save us, Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to our holy name and glory in your praise."  Psalms 106:47

Holy God, the heavens are your battleground! You fight against the cosmic forces over darkness. Your power and majesty are at work all around me through the unseen world of the spirit. And through my earthly worship I take up your sword each day to withstand any evil, in your Son’s name. Amen

One of my favorite lines by Jesus in the Bible is, “Get behind me, Satan!” as He rebukes Peter for having the wrong mindset about Jesus’ work. His exact words are repeated in Matthew 16 and Mark 8. Jesus also uses similar words in speaking directly to Satan in Matthew 4:10 with “Be gone, Satan!” I jokingly use these phrases when donuts appear in front me. Recently, however I heard teaching about spiritual warfare and I realized I had the completely wrong approach to it.

"The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him." Psalm 28:7

We so often talk about rebuking Satan or fighting our “Goliaths” when in reality we shouldn’t be speaking to the devil at all. It’s dangerous work that I would venture to say most of us are not prepared to withstand. Even the archangel Michael used God as his shield rather than his own words. Instead, we should be relying on the incredible power of the Trinity to fight our spiritual battles.

Along this same line I once told a friend we shouldn’t be asking, “What would Jesus do?” but rather what would Jesus want me to do? We are not fully man and fully God. We are just man. And we need to acknowledge that alone we only have the power given to us through the Spirit. God, through His great love for us, will take care of the rest. Isn’t that beautiful and amazing?

So what do we do? We enact the famous lines from Ephesians 6 and put on our armor of God. We stand firm in God’s truth. We fit our feet with Jesus’ gospel of peace. We arm ourselves with the shield of faith and the sword of God’s Word. In other words, we allow God to fight His glorious fight with the devil while we do the seemingly mundane acts of worship, studying our Bibles, praying for intercession, baptizing in His name, and spreading His Word of peace and salvation.

Friends, we need to start saying, “Get behind my Lord and Savior Jesus, Satan.” He is the blinding shield, the kryptonite against evil. He is the most powerful weapon we could ever imagine to ward off the arrows lobbed at us. Each time we open our Bibles, go to church, show love to a stranger, speak the Gospel truth into a friend we place that shield firmly in place for God to enter into battle.

Sing Of The Lord

August 13, 2022August 25, 2022 krisshetter

“Glory is his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. “ 1 Chronicles 16:10

Holy God when I seek to worship you through song today help me to distinguish between music that elevates You rather than me. I want to lift up my voice in celebration of You – your glory and majesty and power. Amen

Last year my husband and I were attending a church that had an excellent teaching pastor. However, for various reasons we decided to keep looking for a church that fit more of our needs. We had become friends with the pastor so I felt the need to talk with him about why this church just didn’t seem like the right place to call “home.” Way down on my list was the music. It wasn’t a gamechanger but I included it just for feedback. My comment was that I was sure, because I’ve heard some before, there was music to be sung written after the 1800s. He agreed and replied, “Yes, but I don’t like the ”Jesus Is My Boyfriend” music either.

Music has always played a role in the world’s religions – whether hummed, chanted, drummed, or played in an arena like a rock band. But no other religion finds itself with a songbook as large, widespread and popular as Christianity. We have songs to celebrate the life of Jesus, to thank the Lord for rescuing us, songs to remind us of the pain Jesus suffered for us, songs to inspire us to trust in the Lord and songs to glorify God. And it’s important to pay attention to when we fall into the trap of honoring the work we do rather than the work God does. We also don’t want to reduce Jesus to our “buddy” or as the pastor said, our boyfriend.

"Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!" Psalm 105:2

This got me thinking about the different types of Christian music and when we should be singing ones that are written solely for the purpose of glorifying God. Now some of you might be thinking, “if it’s Christian music, doesn’t it all do that?” If that’s your initial thought I’d like to challenge you to listen to the words of the favorite songs you hear on the radio, and maybe even in your church. Are the lyrics really about you or about God’s glory, holiness, power and authority? Here’s a popular song by Phil Wickham that I have in my Christian playlist:

"I searched through the Earth for something that could satisfy
A peace for the hurt I had buried deep inside
Knees on the floor, I finally found everything I needed
You lifted my soul and opened up my eyes

I never knew anything lasts forever
Till I found You, till I found You
I never dreamed anything could be better
Till I found You, till I found You
You're rewriting my story
And I'm brand new like a morning
Oh, I never knew anything lasts forever
Till I found You
Till I, till I found You"

In just these few lines the word “I” or “my” is repeated 16 times. So who are we really singing about here? This song is perfect for expressing to the world how we were changed by our faith. But it is not really a song glorifying God.

When my youngest was a teenager, she thought it funny when she would play a song in the car that had cuss words in it. She wanted to see my reaction. She didn’t think a few bad words here and there were important. “It’s just a song,” she once said. We are challenged, as Christians to watch everything that leaves our mouths, even songs. What we have running on repeat in our head reflects where our heart lies. When we come into worship are we singing about ourselves or our savior?

When I selected the music for my wedding, I took care in the messages I wanted to send to my guests about this beautiful union. Today, when I think of a song to sing glorifying God I want to take the same care. To focus on Him, not me.

Here’s a few modern songs that glorify God. Do you have a favorite song that glorifies God? Add it in the comments!

Only A God by City Alight

Holy, Holy, Holy (various artists)

Worthy of It All by CeCe Winans

Ancient of Days by City Alight

Revelation Song by Kari Jobe

Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) by Michael W. Smith

What A Beautiful Name by Hillsong Worship & Brooke Ligertwood

Knowing Me, Knowing You

August 9, 2022August 22, 2022 krisshetter

“But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.” Hebrews 3:6

“Jesus, you know every single thing about me. I cringe at times that you know the parts I try to keep hidden. When I realize you still love me and want the best for me it brings me great joy. I know your thoughts are higher than mine and your ways can be mysterious but I want to know you as best I can to bring up my end of this relationship. Help me to get as close to you as I possibly can so that when I am faced with standing for your Name, I can fully glorify You. Amen”

I asked them what they would do if an acquaintance or stranger told them something horrible about another member of our little Bible study group. That this sweet, kind woman we know from meeting with her each week had been terribly unkind to a child. And without hesitation they all were willing to stop this gossiper in their tracks. “That doesn’t sound like her.” “That’s not the friend I know.” “Are you sure you have the right person?” They responded. I asked how they knew their friend would never be unkind to a child. And they all said because they know her character from spending time with her.

And then I said to them, “Now, a family member or friend comes up and says to you, ‘Jesus would be ok with an abortion.’ What would you say? “ Some hemmed and hawed a bit. Another said firmly, “No He wouldn’t.” For the former I asked them why they wouldn’t be so sure. They didn’t want conflict. They were a bit unsure if scripture was thrown at them what to do or say.

For the later, I asked how she could be so sure. And her response was perfect. “Because I know Jesus.”

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’"  Matthew 7:21-23

Jesus recognized that there will be plenty of people who call themselves followers. Who attend church and appear to be in a relationship with Him. But He knows who is making a real effort to know Him as much as He knows us. For my friends who struggled a bit with my question they work hard at knowing who God is and His character. They KNOW the answer to probably every false statement said about Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it just takes practice being able to stand up for what we know to be true and good. And that’s exactly why we meet weekly to talk about God – who He is, what He has done and will do and how much He loves His creation.

Friends, the next time you are at church take a moment to look around. Is your church one that encourages everyone to bring their Bibles, open them up and take notes? One that makes Bible study a priority? A church whose focus is squarely on getting to know God – not being your personal counselor? Because I don’t know about you but when I was in college and even high school, that’s how I learned the subjects well. I studied, diligently. And when we are given the gift of having someone either ask us a question about God or the chance to correct a falsehood about Jesus we need to be prepared so that we can speak of the glory of God, of how He knows us and loves us.

Where Our Loyalty Lies

August 7, 2022August 22, 2022 krisshetter

"Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness."  Psalms 115:1

“Heavenly Father, when I enter into worship with you help me not be distracted by worldly pursuits. I want to praise you with all my heart and mind – not as a divided servant. In my busy day I carve out time to give you glory of which you are deserving of so much more. So LORD, especially while I am in your house of worship I lift all glory, honor and praise to you and you alone. Amen”

About a year ago I tried out a new church. The people were very friendly and the staff welcoming. We were asked to rise at the beginning of the service and the doors to the worship center opened. As a color guard entered the room with the United States flag the small band played a patriotic song. And I thought, “I love this place already.”

We sang songs calling us to action and freedom and my heart swelled. When the pastor began his sermon, he was riled up! He launched into a religious-political speech like no other I’d heard before. Now, granted many of the churches in my area were shutdown. This church was in defiance of that action – something I was looking for. And this pastor was fervent about pushing back against the oppressive state.

I left electrified and full of thoughts of civil disobedience. It was all right up my alley. Until I went to my current church’s life group meeting that next week.

I hadn’t even brought up the topic and yet God wanted to speak to me about “church” and where my loyalty lies. He did so through another member. She, seemingly out of the blue, started talking about her past church searches. And she said this, “I want to go to a church where the sole focus is on worship and learning about God. Not about praising a country.” Whoops. Now I know some of you may take issue with this. But notice she didn’t say she’s not a patriot. She didn’t say praising a country is wrong. She said she wants what goes on in the House of God to be about….God.

"Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37

This simple statement by this woman suddenly shifted my perspective on who and what I was worshipping. I was placing country first then God somewhere down the line.

I recently heard a rumor that the church I am attending doesn’t have an American flag on the worship platform because the pastor worries it would be offensive to black Christians. It sounded a bit odd so I shot off an email to a staff member seeking clarification. One of the pastors replied with this:

“The reasons we do not fly a flag on our platform have nothing whatsoever to do with the pastors or elders feeling it might be offensive to black Christians (who I think would find it offensive that people would think they would find it offensive). Our general philosophy for worship services is that we do not want to have anything on the platform that wouldn’t be on the platform in heaven, if you will. Second, we try to only sing songs that we would also sing in heaven. We have no problem with patriotic songs or the American flag, but we do not feel they have a place in a worship service where we have gathered to worship God.”

Friends, I’ve come to realize having a country flag is not the issue (would we be annoyed if we didn’t see a French flag on the church podium in France?). It’s always about where our attention is focused. It’s always about turning our hearts and minds completely over to giving glory to God – especially during set aside times of worship. Having a country flag in our churches isn’t wrong but if there isn’t one, should we really care if the reason is to put our laser-like focus only on God?

His Word

August 5, 2022August 18, 2022 krisshetter

"…encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom and glory."  1 Thessalonians 2:12

“Jesus what would I be without your red letter words? Without the revealing words about our Father God? Thank you Lord, for each time I open my Bible that your desire is to teach me about your kingdom and glory. Amen”

For many years I sat in a church pew without ever cracking open a Bible. I didn’t even open it when the pastor told us what page to turn to – because the scripture was up on the screen. My own Bible sat gathering inches of dust. It wasn’t until just a couple years ago, when I was unable to attend church, that I realized all the teaching needed was available right at my fingertips.

“..my friends, stand over this volume, and admire its authority. This is no common book. It is not the sayings of the sages of Greece; here are not the utterances of philosophers of past ages. If these words were written by man, we might reject them; but oh, let me think the solemn thought — that this book is God’s handwriting, that these words are God’s.”
Charles Spurgeon on the Bible

How glorious is it that God – that omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent being – gave us all we need to know about Him and how to best have a relationship with Him? Not only did He write down what we need to know He sent Jesus to reveal even more! If we needed to summarize the purpose of Jesus’ brief physical walk on this earth it might be to say so that we could be pulled even closer in this relationship. To know the one who created us like we know our own hand. To want to be so close to Him that we become one with Him. To know how simple it is to receive His full mercy and grace by just saying, “yes I do and I will.” Throughout Jesus’ life He pointed us back to the Father and forward to the Holy Spirit. Reminding us who sent Him and why.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the servant of God^[may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Yes, my friends, there’s still a lot about God and the Trinity that are a mystery. His thoughts and ways are greater than ours. But sometimes we just need to shrug and say, “maybe that’s not for me to know just now.” Until then we can lift up our voices in praise for the gift of His Word. It shouldn’t be taken for granted. For most of our human existence we didn’t have this gift widely available. The Bible is now translated into about 1,500 languages. And for that we should give glory!

Bible, bible study, Christian, Christian Church, christian encouragement, christian men, christian parenting, christian podcast, Christian women, Faith, Jesus, Jesus Follower, religion, Uncategorized

Save The Date

June 20, 2022June 21, 2022 krisshetter

¹²But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 1 Corinthians 15:12-13

Among your friends and family there’s probably an atheist, fence-sitter, and a fog dweller. While you might understand the first of these two, let me explain the “fog dweller.” Someone who goes about their life not seeking answers to the big questions, not thinking about creation or death, not pondering if there is a heaven. Just getting by day to day. And if you don’t have some of each of these in your life, you might want to take up Jesus’ admonition to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Because when you do your own faith will be tested, honed and hewed.

Each of the letters in the Bible by the disciples gives us examples of believers struggling to define their faith and the true meaning of the gospel. The planted churches all were in places hostile to the message of Jesus – whether by Jews or pagans. So, developing believers that understood and stood firm in their faith was crucial.

¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 1 Cor 15:14

Ouch! That’s a pretty bold statement. And Paul had the experience to back it up. He himself saw the risen Jesus! And while the members of the church in Corinth believed in Jesus’ resurrection, they were surrounded by a culture that almost celebrated death. The Greeks of that time saw the body as a prison and welcomed death to escape from it. They laughed at the idea of resurrection. And friends, there’s people around you that believe the same thing today.

While sitting bedside of my quickly waning mother-in-law who was on hospice, I had to ask myself, do I really, I mean really believe in, not only Jesus’ resurrection, but the resurrection of the entire body of the church? Do I believe that Bev will be resurrected one day? And therefore, I should only mourn this time “in between” and find joy in the “not yet.”

A friend of mine shared with me once how her son came to her with horrible news about an acquaintance of his. Their newborn baby had unexpectantly died. Her son, of course, was distraught for his friend. And although the death of any loved one can bring so much pain, the death of a child seems doubly so. My friend contemplated how hard it must be to experience so much pain without a belief in God. Her son, a non-believer, was apoplectic. “How could a god do such a thing?” The great “why?” He doesn’t believe the promised hope for the future and therefore doesn’t enjoy any of the comfort God can provide.

¹⁹If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. ²⁰But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 1 Cor 15:19-20

You see friends, if I don’t believe in the resurrection of the dead then what’s really the point of ever quoting in John 3:16? True belief in a resurrection redemption is what brings true comfort. And times of great pain, especially death, are the ultimate opportunities to show the world we live as saved and redeemed people trusting wholly in the stated promises by Jesus.

I realized while in my Cherith I was a fog dweller when it came to the resurrection. I hadn’t thought a lot about it, mostly because I haven’t had many people around me pass away. But as God has fed me the solid food of His Holy Word, I’m coming to understand the whole picture. The beauty of living in the “between” of Jesus has come and is reigning and the “not yet” of the promised resurrection and the new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1). And while Elijah didn’t have the comfort of knowing the risen Christ he surely contemplated his death during those two years in the ravine. Thank God we have more than just the Old Testament prophets to lean on! We have the truth, the proven, historical truth of a risen King!

I recently was listening to an episode of The White Horse Inn podcast — which for those of you interested in getting some solid Christian food I highly recommend it. They’ve been discussing what “the good life” means to Christians. They describe us as living in the “here and not yet.” I love the analogy by one pastor as like the marriage steps. We once were single, now we are engaged but not yet married. We shouldn’t act like single people because we have a commitment to Christ. But the marriage isn’t yet consummated and we need to stay in the preparation stage until the date arrives. So, we work with our Holy Spirit wedding planner in inviting friends and family to this holy event. The guest list is expansive but yes, limited to those willing to come. We live for our betrothed, His thoughts and ways becoming our ways. And we dream of the day we are sure will arrive. When all those friends are gathered up and Jesus is waiting at the altar for us.

As the hours wound down to when I knew my last goodbyes to Bev were near, I found I could look at her with sadness and with joy in knowing not only was she going to a place far more glorious than here, but that one day we would be reunited at a party for all the ages. A party that is to come. A party that I want you all to be at – so will you RSVP today and yes, you can bring a friend or two.

Do you truly believe in the resurrection of the dead?
Are you living a life preparing for the New Eden, living a life of a bride in waiting – excitedly planning, preparing, inviting?

Speaking of heaven — please enjoy this beautiful poem my daughter, Madison Dooley, wrote and spoke at her grandmother’s funeral.

To See What She Sees

For Grandma Bev

Oh Lord my God, to see what she sees

To see you face-to-face, shining with glory.
To grab your hand and feel it wrapped around mine.