August 02, 2003
\Com*pas"sion\, n. [F., fr. L. compassio, fr. compati to have compassion; com- + pati to bear, suffer. See Patient.] Literally, suffering with another; a sensation of sorrow excited by the distress or misfortunes of another; pity; commiseration. (Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1998)
Psalm 145: 8,9
The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
Compassion has been on my mind lately, partly because I have of late become the focus of much compassion on the part of my professors, friends, and my Lord. I’m not used to this. It makes me a little uncomfortable, perhaps because it is so humbling to have people feel that you are in need of their compassion. It’s also a reminder that there is actually “distress or misfortune” which excites their compassion.
It means to bear or suffer with another. I picture two people under an oxen’s yoke, or even the kid down the street who helped us carry groceries home that day. But when it’s Jesus suffering with me, I am utterly blown away. The Lord has compassion on all that He has made?! What, is He kidding? Why bother with us?
2 Kings 13:23
But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence.
…because He said so. He promised. He walked through the fire alone (Gen 15:17), a symbol of His covenant with us, a promise that didn’t require our participation – He promised because He Is. My God has compassion because of His promise.
Since I got sick, I’ve wondered a little where and when the compassion will show up. To be more accurate, other people have wondered – I can see it on their faces. “When will she be healed?” “Why is she still this way? Where is God?”
Nehemiah 9:27
So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
I don’t know, to be honest, other than to say that He is very near. I just read this last verse today and it knocked me back. You gave us deliverers? It makes me want to sit up and watch for the deliverers to come.
But the point is, compassion means we are never alone. He promised us, and because of His covenant, He will suffer with us… As I go through one of the most difficult and painful times in my life, He bears it with me. I told a friend recently – I think I could go through anything as long as I didn’t have to go through it alone.
Psalm 145: 8,9
The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
Compassion has been on my mind lately, partly because I have of late become the focus of much compassion on the part of my professors, friends, and my Lord. I’m not used to this. It makes me a little uncomfortable, perhaps because it is so humbling to have people feel that you are in need of their compassion. It’s also a reminder that there is actually “distress or misfortune” which excites their compassion.
It means to bear or suffer with another. I picture two people under an oxen’s yoke, or even the kid down the street who helped us carry groceries home that day. But when it’s Jesus suffering with me, I am utterly blown away. The Lord has compassion on all that He has made?! What, is He kidding? Why bother with us?
2 Kings 13:23
But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence.
…because He said so. He promised. He walked through the fire alone (Gen 15:17), a symbol of His covenant with us, a promise that didn’t require our participation – He promised because He Is. My God has compassion because of His promise.
Since I got sick, I’ve wondered a little where and when the compassion will show up. To be more accurate, other people have wondered – I can see it on their faces. “When will she be healed?” “Why is she still this way? Where is God?”
Nehemiah 9:27
So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
I don’t know, to be honest, other than to say that He is very near. I just read this last verse today and it knocked me back. You gave us deliverers? It makes me want to sit up and watch for the deliverers to come.
But the point is, compassion means we are never alone. He promised us, and because of His covenant, He will suffer with us… As I go through one of the most difficult and painful times in my life, He bears it with me. I told a friend recently – I think I could go through anything as long as I didn’t have to go through it alone.
August 01, 2003
• If you are part of a staff that evaluates worship services, what do you base your evaluations on? Do you immediately discuss the music, the video, or the length of the message? Or do you ask, "Did people encounter God here? What Jesus lifted up in honor? What have we trained people to think when they leave? Do they say 'I enjoyed that,' or 'That was a good message,' or are they thinking, 'I encountered God today,' and, 'I became more of a disciple of Jesus today'?" The emerging church must value worship over the quality of the program or of the "good and service" delivered. – 115 (from The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball)
I sort of stole this from Jordoncooper.com’s blog today, from an interesting review of an interesting-looking book. It looked like a good thought jump for me. My friends and I have been having this debate lately – should the music matter? At what point do we stop sucking it up when the worship music at “big church” doesn’t draw us in? Should it matter if the music worship doesn’t reach us, or "isn't our type?" I’m not sure that there’s much we can do about it anyway, and especially given how much we totally appreciate our worship pastor and leaders as talented and God-led people, it’s a situation we’re not likely to be out of soon.
I long to say that the music simply doesn’t matter, and that it’s only about the heart, but honestly, the music does matter to me. I long for those times when I am totally knocked off my feet and met by God through a particular song, or one of those times when I can hear the whole church singing and imagine that it is only a fraction of what Heaven will be like. But I’m just not getting that. I want to encounter God, not just hear the best rendition of a Hillsong recording this side of the Pacific Ocean.
This quote struck me as interesting because that’s how I feel – it is all about the heart and where that is focused. And although I feel like in most churches I’ve been in there is definitely a heart for God among those leading the congregation in worship, often I get the sense that that heart is distracted with a desire to worship the way other churches do it, and a desire to make it all sound right and be like what people want.
I want to simply worship in spirit and truth – to speak out during worship if I feel led, to dance, speak, or kneel as I feel led, to keep worshipping if the Spirit leads us as a body.
I sort of stole this from Jordoncooper.com’s blog today, from an interesting review of an interesting-looking book. It looked like a good thought jump for me. My friends and I have been having this debate lately – should the music matter? At what point do we stop sucking it up when the worship music at “big church” doesn’t draw us in? Should it matter if the music worship doesn’t reach us, or "isn't our type?" I’m not sure that there’s much we can do about it anyway, and especially given how much we totally appreciate our worship pastor and leaders as talented and God-led people, it’s a situation we’re not likely to be out of soon.
I long to say that the music simply doesn’t matter, and that it’s only about the heart, but honestly, the music does matter to me. I long for those times when I am totally knocked off my feet and met by God through a particular song, or one of those times when I can hear the whole church singing and imagine that it is only a fraction of what Heaven will be like. But I’m just not getting that. I want to encounter God, not just hear the best rendition of a Hillsong recording this side of the Pacific Ocean.
This quote struck me as interesting because that’s how I feel – it is all about the heart and where that is focused. And although I feel like in most churches I’ve been in there is definitely a heart for God among those leading the congregation in worship, often I get the sense that that heart is distracted with a desire to worship the way other churches do it, and a desire to make it all sound right and be like what people want.
I want to simply worship in spirit and truth – to speak out during worship if I feel led, to dance, speak, or kneel as I feel led, to keep worshipping if the Spirit leads us as a body.
Hmmm...
A new blog, a new outlet for communication. Sleepless? I do most of my blogging at night. For now.
What am I hoping to accomplish? Not sure. There is just so much to this life that begs to be processed through words, in public view. There is so much to say that doesn't need an official context to say it in - a simple conversation will do. I hope that this blog will be representative of me, but reach out to incorporate others too... Most of all, it will be a wide-eyed view of the world.
A new blog, a new outlet for communication. Sleepless? I do most of my blogging at night. For now.
What am I hoping to accomplish? Not sure. There is just so much to this life that begs to be processed through words, in public view. There is so much to say that doesn't need an official context to say it in - a simple conversation will do. I hope that this blog will be representative of me, but reach out to incorporate others too... Most of all, it will be a wide-eyed view of the world.
