Can You Spare a Minute?
My family and I were driving down to San Antonio, TX last weekend when I saw a banner on a church building near Waco, TX that quickly got my attention. The banner read: “30 Minute Worship.” I went to the website listed on the banner (which I won’t display here as I do not wish to dignify them with a link) which confirmed my outrage. They proudly state:
This innovative service is for anybody who is tired of the way traditional church has been done, has limited time, or has to work Sundays. The high energy, focused package will creatively engage you to personally connect with God.
The site goes to explain that 8-10 minutes will be spent in worship, 12-15 minutes of lesson time, and 5 minutes of response.
Before I begin, please hear me say that I do believe this COULD help those who work on Sundays. But for the statement, “tired of the way traditional church has been done,” I am outraged.
WHAT???????
You mean to tell me that you think anyone can have a personally engaging worship time in 30 minutes? Have we lost all ability to spend actual time with God? Here I was thinking how crazy it is when people complain about worship going a few minutes longer than an hour. Are we so busy that we give God the “leftovers” of our time? It is as if we are approaching God saying, “Listen, I don’t know if you are aware of this, but I’m pretty busy down here so I don’t have much time to worship you. How about I squeeze you in on Sunday mornings…will 30 minutes do the trick? Will I have worshipped you enough in 30 minutes to last for the week? Cause, God, you don’t know how busy I am.”
The Hebrews in the Old Testament would have known the answer to these questions. They were commanded to bring the “first-fruits” of their labor as an offering to God. I contend that God deserves the “first-fruits” or ‘first and best cut” of my money, my work, and my TIME. Our weekly worship time should not be a time to squeeze God into our week, but rather a time to relish in the presence of God in the gathering of his people to worship. God deserves our very best, and let’s also acknowledge please that worship is not about us.
Sure, worship uplifts us and draws us closer to God, but God is the object of our worship. Our worship is for Him and to Him, and I refuse to short-change God by limiting my time or my spirit in worship.
30 Minute Worship, eh? I’m sure glad that God doesn’t have anything on His schedule that prevents Him from hearing us when we cry out. I’m glad Jesus didn’t have a prior commitment that would have prevented him dying for my sins. God deserves the best we can give…and I commit to not allowing this world and its busy nature to ruin what I can give to my God.
(I was going to apologize for the rant…but some things in life deserve it!)
Speaking to the Healers at Arlington Memorial Hospital
I just wanted to drop a quick line of “Thanks” to the surgical staff at Arlington Memorial Hospital in Arlington, TX. I spoke to them last week at their quarterly staff meeting about choosing to live a happy life. I actually got to speak to two different groups, one at 6:30AM and one at 1:30PM. I have to say that I was surprised to see the 6:30AM group so awake, alive, and attentive. Both groups were a blast, and I thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to tell you my story.
Here’s a comment from the Director of Surgical Staff:
He was absolutely fabulous! The staff was touched and inspired by his story and his message. -Lori D.
What A Day This Has Been
Two weeks ago, my dad and I were headed to Fenton, MI to speak at the Fenton Right-to-Life Annual Banquet. The morning started out just fine, however very early as we made our trek to the DFW airport around 4:30AM. American Airlines loaded us onto the plane along with everyone else who was going to Chicago (where our connection was waiting to take us on in to Flint, which is very close to Fenton).
Then, the problems began…
Right around our scheduled departure time, the pilot came on the intercom announcing a problem with the plane, and that we needed to get off this plane in order to get on a different one (hopefully, one that was working!). We quickly realized that our connection would not work as it was only a one-hour window originally, and this delay would make it impossible. American Airlines gate agents were extremely helpful, however, the next flight to Flint from Chicago would not get us to the banquet on time. They re-routed us to Detroit, however, our bags had to stay on the original schedule. That meant that our clothes, sales products, and some materials we use in the presentation wouldn’t arrive in Flint until just after 6PM. The banquet started at 6:30PM.
We decided that all was not lost. We arrived in Detroit and Enterprise was happy to transfer our rental. We drove into Flint to find a Men’s Warehouse where we could buy new clothes and have them tailored on the spot. You see, I can’t just go out and buy a new shirt because of the sleeves. The tailor at the Flint Men’s Warehouse did a great “emergency” job. We called the director of the Right-to-Life group, and she was very gracious and even happy that we were in town. She said as long as we were there that evening, she would be pleased.
Well, our bags arrived while we were at the banquet and my cousin who lives nearby was able to grab them at the airport and rush them over to us. The table of sales materials was set up while we were speaking, and the DVD and CD we needed for the presentation arrived with only a minute or two to spare.
All in all, the evening was a complete success. And, not only that, but our day was not ruined by all of the travel issues. Keeping a positive outlook on the day allowed us to not worry, and to be ready to deliver our message that evening.
Remember, only you can ruin your own day!
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