Living Above the Sun Ministries

I love the song written by Matt Redman, “The Heart of Worship." We forget why we come to church sometimes. We get so caught up in ourselves, and what we want, when really it’s all about Jesus. We tend to go through the motions of church. Sunday we come to church we sing, we listen to the pastor, say hi to a few folks, then go home to some fried chicken and watch football. That’s the message people get about Sunday and church, and that we sing Amazing Grace all the time, and while, yes, that’s a great song we forget its meaning. Church members get in such an uproar about music, some want strictly hymns sang, the newer generation like the more contemporary songs. Music conflict can split a church; I don’t know who has it worse when it comes to criticism the pastor or the music minister. You can’t make everyone happy. Jesus says in Mark 7:7-9, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God’s commands wi...

Worship and praise by definition enable the worshiper to transcend the earthly plane. Jesus lifts us up through a worship that transcends the limits of our world in at least 3 ways. (1) Worship transcends the temporal. It's amazing how caught up in worship we become to where we are able to say, "Where did the time go?!" True worship not only transcends time, it also lifts us beyond the limits of those things that time and life have engrained in our systems of thought and habit. Worship releases from that which constrains us; the years of sin and bondage that have woven and warped us. (2) Worship transcends the traditional. Living worship is never static; rather it always finds fresh, and vital ways of expressing praise to God. Yet praying for the new wine of the Spirit requires us to be ready to find the old renewed- to stretch new wineskins that can contain God's renewing freshness. (3) Worship transcends the theoretical. It is not merely a cerebral, mystical, or...

"...Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised..." -1 Chronicles 16 For the next few days I want to focus in on the keys to worship. What is our call to worship? Worship begins by recognizing who God is. If you read any of the Psalms, or anything David wrote you will notice how he expresses always the character and attributes of God. There are 4 attitudes that shape our approach to God in Worship. 1. Reverence- we acknowledge God as supreme; our Creator who surpasses everything and everyone. We are humbled and reverence Him because of his highness and loftiness. 2. Spiritual- we worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24) Jesus means that our worship is much more than outward expressions, it must take place in our spirit. God sees the attitudes of our heart. When we worship in spirit it is the sanctuary of the heart. 3. Veneration- we exalt that person or being, we extol him or her, and put them first in our lives. Exodus 20:3 says to have no other gods before me,...

For the past 10 years of my life I have known what the Lord has been calling me too. For the past 4 years I have been running from it, doing everything but what He has called me to do. I'd talk about it here and there, kick around the idea, but I went to total opposite way from what God is calling me to do. He dealt with me today at church. That number 1 I need to stop running, number 2 when He says "Go," GO! It's never too late to submit to the plan of Jesus for your life. Many storms in our lives are results of our own stubborness. Try as we might to blame it on others, but the truth is that it is pure disobedience to the voice and leadership of God. I'm thankful for my Savior and that He has forgiven me of my stubborn ways, and that fact that I can never stray so far away that He cannot hear me. Oh the depths of His mercy and grace. So I have found myself crying YES! to God. Repenting and falling before an Almighty God who stopped me in my tracks ...

Since moving here to Charlotte 5 years ago, I have started keeping random pieces of paper with my thoughts on them, thoughts from my heart and mind, my meditations and interpretations of scripture, things God has spoken to me, prayers, devotional things, sermon notes, questions...etc. I keep all this packed in a file folder and a few notebooks. Earlier this week, cleaning my room, I came across this file folder stuffed full of these things. I think it's just a little smile from God saying He is thinking of us when He gives us these little reminders. We need them often don't we? It's always cool to see how you've grown spiritually, or not, and all the thoughts, and meditations of the day. They do truly speak to me. I use to print off My Utmost For His Highest devotionals, so I had those all marked up and written on. It's about as sweet as reading other peoples things like that, I love to read other people's Bibles. It's just sweet to see our relati...