But in your hearts hallow Christ as Lord.  1 Peter 3:15
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…  Matthew 6:9

When we got up this morning what thought was on our minds? One particularly good thought would be: Today the ultimate purpose of my life is to hallow the name of Jesus…to establish our Father who is in heaven, as hallowed.

Some people would say the reason we exist is to achieve our own self-actualization—make the most of ourselves. Jesus offers that, but that’s not the main point of the Christian faith. That’s not the main point of today. That’s because hallowing God is the main reason you and I are alive today—to show forth the value of Jesus.

Now what’s your reaction to that truth? Is it a relief or a burden? Does the calling upon each believer to live for the hallowing of Jesus’ name feel like bondage or like freedom? Opportunity or risk? Exciting or mundane? Does it energize us or is it more like an interruption in our day?

Something to think about on a Tuesday.

“Yours O Lord, is the…majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is yours: yours is the kingdom, O LORD. You are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of you, and you reign over all.” (I Chron 29:10-12)

Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. John 4:20

I had spent much of a Saturday morning on the platform of an evangelical church’s sanctuary worshipping my heart out. It was a glorious time, where those who wanted to, came and joined together with voices and instruments and anyone could call out the next worship song from a sheaf of about 500 chord/lyric sheets provided (the only real limitation to what you could choose). People came and went as they needed to, something like a pick-up volleyball game, but mostly people stayed.

Of course, stalwart worshipers had an awesome time worshiping with fewer fetters than a typical church service would allow. And many of them enjoyed having my gang there because we came with fewer fetters than they were used to. On the music stand underneath the sheaf of chord/lyric sheets I found a detailed blueprint of the service which was scheduled for the next day…right down to the minute, exactly how long each song, prayer and spoken words would take to fit into the package called ‘Sunday Worship Service’.

I was there the next day and marveled at how well the worship leader feigned spontaneity and freedom while meticulously following the schedule I’d seen. Nothing wrong with this, mind you; he did a good job; it was practically a work of art. But it reminded me of the worship struggle that has emerged in churches over the past few decades between format and freedom. (more…)