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If you’re reading along with the Resting at the River’s Edge reading plans, over the past week you’ve been reading through the building and consecration of the temple and the priests. What strikes me is that God goes to great length to describe where and how the Israelites were to worship, and He goes to great lengths to explain how the priests were to be installed. This caught my attention:

The following verse: “This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests:” (Exodus 29:1a) is followed by 42 additional verses that explain how priests are to be consecrated. God then makes this interesting statement:

⁴⁴“So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. ⁴⁵Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. ⁴⁶They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.
Exodus 29:44-46

Did you catch the nuance? The Isarelites were to go through seven days (seven days!) of ceremonially consecrating the priests and then God consecrated them and the Tent of Meeting. It is not the ceremonial acts that consecrated the priests, it was God who consecrated them. What, then, is the purpose for going through the motions? I can think of at least four purposes. I’m sure that in God’s economy there are many more purposes, but these come to mind:

• God, in His exceeding goodness, accomplishes many (most?) things thru men and women whom He has created in His image. This is a characteristic of God that blows me away every time I think of it. It is such an awesome privilege to partner with the Living God, the Eternal God, the Almighty God, to accomplish His will on this earth. He allows me to have a role in accomplishing His purposes, giving my small life greater purpose than I could ever have any other way. Wow! Consecrating priests, whether that means church leaders or ourselves as part of the holy priesthood of the Living God.
• It prepares us to be consecrated by God. The process makes us ready, attunes our hearts and spirits, to be consecrated. It reinforces the seriousness and the holiness of the action. In short, the process changes us.
• The process makes a statement to those around us, both Christian and non-Christian, that the ones being consecrated are set apart for the purposes of God.
• The process makes a statement to the spiritual realm – this person is being set aside for the purposes of God. This person has yielded their will to the will of the Most High, Almighty, King of the Universe. This person belongs to God and none other.

Wow! If a process of consecration can do these things, why would we not want to take it more seriously? I think we miss opportunities to accomplish these things when we curtail religious ceremony that leads to consecration.

Wrestling with the Issue and My Two Cents
For all of my Christian life I have belonged to evangelical and/or charismatic churches that have not been strong on religious ceremony. Most of those churches eschewed such things as being too “religious” (that being the nature of religious ceremonies, of course) – too much pomp and circumstances or rigmarole or whatever. Sorry, folks, I think we’ve thrown the baby out with the bath water.

Sure, what I’ve quoted above is Old Testament, but in the New Testament we see Jesus both honoring the old traditions and initiating two new ones: baptism and communion. Most Christian churches today honor these New Testament ceremonies, although often in a very relaxed format. I like a relaxed format, but I think we miss the boat at times by not incorporating more solemnity and more pomp and circumstance into our worship, and I think we miss the boat by not practicing more formal (i.e., ceremonial) times of consecration.

In the early church, baptism was preceded by a period of discipleship lasting one to three years. The discipleship process can be seen as the consecration process, ending with the baptism. Part of the preparation (consecration) process was to allow time for the baptizees to demonstrate true repentance and fruits of their new walk. In all the churches I have attended in my thirty-plus years as a Christian, the most that was required of someone wanting to be baptized was a profession of faith and a single class or discussion about the meaning of baptism. I wonder if we are missing the boat a bit. Without becoming legalistic, I wonder if baptisms ought to be preceded by a period of consecration by those involved so that when the baptism is performed God’s consecration completes it.

Of course, in the New Testament there’s the example of the Ethiopian eunich (and others) who were immediately baptized upon proclaiming faith in Christ. So was the early church moving away from New Testament Christianity, or were they establishing the new forms that would ensure the continuity of Christianity into the future?

I was blessed to be ordained this past year. The actual ordination ceremony was both a celebration and a dedication of my life in service to Christ. Obviously, much had built up to the ordination. I completed a Master’s Degree in Christian Ministries and had been in lay ministry for many years. The ordination was a recognition that God has called me to ministry and anointed me to preach the Good News, bind up the broken hearted and proclaim freedom to captives (Isaiah 61:1-3, Luke 4:18-19). Yet I wonder if we’re not missing the boat a little by not preceding the ordination by a period (7 days perhaps?) of preparation, perhaps fasting and prayer, extended times with God, and times of instructional mentoring – that is, a time of consecration so that when the ordination is performed, God’s consecration completes it.

Are We Missing the Boat?
My point is that we in the evangelical and charismatic church are probably a whole lot better at celebrating than we are at solemnly recognizing significant events in God. Yes, we have been set free from the requirements of the Law. And yes, we want to avoid practicing a faith that is based on ceremony more than on personal intimacy. However, I think that the ceremony can lead to personal intimacy when done with a right heart, and I think the ceremony itself has great value. Our part of consecration might be symbolic or ritualistic, but that doesn’t mean we should too easily or quickly abandon it. Remember that it was after the Israelites did their part in consecration that God did His part.

I guess that’s my two cents on the subject. Today. I’m still wrestling with this. Do you have an opinion? What forms of consecration (if any) do you think are appropriate for today? Would incorporating more ceremonial consecration into the Body of Christ today make the church stronger?

I had to re-learn a lesson a couple of weeks ago. It’s a lesson about…well, humility I guess. I don’t think of it as humility, but that’s what it was. Or perhaps lack of humility is a better way to express it.

You see, I sometimes fall into the trap of not wanting people know when I’m not doing so well. I’d be willing to bet that you’re a whole lot like that, too. We like people to think we’ve got it all together. Even when it’s obvious that things around us are falling apart, we want people to believe we’re handling it well. Perhaps it’s because we want to believe that ourselves. But the lesson I re-learned a couple of weeks ago is that the sooner you share your struggles with those who will pray for you, the sooner you’ll receive the spiritual boost you need to get back on track.

A Year Ago
In the middle of January my husband had some medical issues and they really threw me for a loop. When he had a major heart attack last February, I really handled the whole “died on the table” thing pretty well. What I mean by handling it well is that I rarely dwelt on “what might have happened,” or “what’s life going to be like in the future.” I had a confidence that God had been good to me in the past and He would continue to be good to me no matter what happened in the future. Since then, through the various ups and downs of recovery, I have maintained that confidence.

A Couple of Weeks Ago
Until a couple of weeks ago. That’s when Phil began to have some strange and serious symptoms. When he told me about them, I outwardly remained calm (because that’s what I do in a crisis). But from that moment until I came to my senses and asked for prayer, the enemy bombarded my mind with two words: widow and widowhood. I wasn’t dwelling on it – I wasn’t continually letting my mind go to “what if’s” – the words just continually popped into my head unbidden.

Phil shared his symptoms with some friends and they prayed for him and asked me how I was doing. I sugar-coated how I was doing. “OK. Not great, but I’m fine.” I was not doing fine. If I had told the friends that night about where my mind was, they would have prayed and I have every confidence the enemy would have lost the territory he was staking out. But I didn’t.

I am so thankful that we had a ladies’ meeting planned that weekend. I so didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay home alone and eat cheesecake. We were going to watch the Chondra Pierce video “Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid.” (Is God’s timing perfect, or what?) But I knew I had to go – it was a follow on to a retreat I had been a part of planning last November. I surely wasn’t going to share my struggles, though. I was going to go, watch the video, smile, prayer for anyone who needed prayer and come home. Have you ever been in that place? I’m guessing you have.

5 Days Later
After we watched the video, one of the leaders asked “have any of you struggled with fear since the retreat.” Silence. Long silence. I knew I needed to speak. So I did. And of course, the ladies were tremendously gracious. They prayed for me. A long prayer. And then one of the ladies suggested that someone agree to pray for Phil and I each day of the week for the next six weeks! As I sat there in the midst of them (not nearly as composed as I would have like to have been), I began to hear women say “I’ll take Tuesdays.” “I’ll take Fridays.” “I’ll take Wednesdays.” Until all the days of the week were taken. I was overwhelmed with gratitude. What a blessing!

It was about five days from the time Phil told me about the symptoms until I shared with the women, and that was MORE than enough time for the enemy to mess with my head. He got a bit of a foothold, planting a seed of fear that desperately wanted to take root. Even though I wasn’t dwelling on the issue, the unbidden thoughts that continually sprang up began to take their toll. Even though I would immediately (or almost immediately) arrest them and focus my thoughts elsewhere, they occurred so frequently that I was beginning to become paralyzed. (I took me more than a week to write a blog that should have been written in one sitting.) That was a week that I didn’t need to experience. If I had immediately called someone and humbled myself saying “I need prayer right now. I’ve lost my confidence that God will be good to me in the future. I’m afraid of what the future holds. Will you pray for me because I’m not very good at praying for myself right now?” – if I had done that immediately, God would have come to my rescue immediately. The enemy would have had to flee.

Some Battles Need More Warriors
Satan was overstepping his bounds and I was not able to stop him. That’s not a bad thing – it’s why God places us in families. Some battles need more warriors than others. Such battles bring the family of God closer together as we call on Him for another who needs their faith boosted.

It was foolish for me not to speak up sooner. I suffered needlessly, others missed the blessing of being a part of God’s victory and I missed the blessing of being reminded that I have friends who are quick to step in when needed. Fortunately, God provided another opportunity for me to be humble and the best part is…I haven’t thought about widowhood since that evening. (Except to write this blog, of course, and I’m GOOD – honestly, good – no enemy piercing my heart or spirit tonight.)

God is very good and God is very faithful. Blessed be the name of the Lord and blessed be His faithful prayer warriors!

Friends don’t be like me. Humble yourself and share your needs before seeds of fear, uncertainty and doubt are planted and take root.

Here’s an interesting blog from a friend of a friend…

BTW, You can find me on facebook as Sandra Parks Hovatter.

You can find my business profile on LinkedIn.com by clicking here.

I’ve joined a business referral organization recently. I meet with this group of folks each week, and every week each person stands up and teaches the rest of us about their business so that we can appropriately and intelligently recommend their services to those we meet. Another of the disciplines the group strongly encourages is that each member meet with each other member one-on-one to get to know one another on a more personal level. We meet for about an hour and learn about their family, their values, their goals, their lifestyles, their hobbies, and their business and customer base.

I can’t help but think that both of these features would make the Church a better place. If I made a commitment to learn as much as I possibly can about each person, wouldn’t it spur me on to pray for them, help meet their needs when I can, rejoice with them, grieve with them, and just generally do all those “one another’s” we’re supposed to be doing? I think it would. Wouldn’t it also help newcomers to feel more welcome and accepted when I invite them to a “one-on-one” so I can get to know them better? I think it would.

One of the things I’m getting out of this business referral organization is an understanding that I need to change my mindset. I need to have a “how can I help grow your business?” mindset. Perhaps my church mindset needs to change a bit, too. I need to have more of a “how can I help you grow in Christ this week?” mindset. Instead of letting my mind focus on ministry activity, I need to focus on ministry — meeting the needs of others.

I agree that we need to be careful about bringing too many business practices and principles into the Church because an overabundance can squash the Spirit…but perhaps these business practices would help us be more like Christ to one another each week. And as Martha says, that’s a very good thing.

Back in February, I read the following on a website for a hip fast food restaurant chain. As most hip places do, they’ve totally changed their site since I copied the text so I can’t send you there to read it for yourself. It’s a great place, but I thought I should conceal their identity to protect the innocent! Take a minute to read what they’ve written.

[XXX is] a company out to create a new kind of business: a business about great people, breakthrough brands and passion for what we do. We’re not talking about your everyday, run of the mill type of passion, either. This is a passion verging on insanity. Our goal is simple, to create a world of [XXX] Fans, one mouth at a time. We’re always on the lookout for partners who can help us make this a reality.

What sets us apart is originality and vision. Our “why not?” attitude challenges us to take risks others in the industry won’t take. The result? Groundbreaking concepts consumers love and opportunities franchisees can’t wait to be part of.

Each of our breakthrough concepts is unique in its own right. We combine braggable food with a healthy twist to create fresh, innovative concepts in environments that resonate with consumers.

Does this describe how Christians should be or what? How the church should be or what? I was so struck by this description when I read it that I had to copy it into my journal. Lord, make us more like the world in ways that we should be like the world! Give us more passion for you than the world shows in their business. I want to be a part of a group of Christians who are as passionate about Christ and the Gospel as these people are about their business!

While reading this morning, I was struck by the differences between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament and the God of today. Yes, I know…God is the same yesterday, today and forever. I know that. I believe that.

Yet even a surface read of the Bible reveals that He doesn’t always look and act the same way. I’m currently reading the Bible in three places. In John I’ve just read about have just seen Lazarus brought back to life. In Joshua I’ve just learned about the various parcels of land that were given to the different tribes. In Zephaniah I read a prophetic message of radical destruction delivered to the Baal worshipers in Judah. Those passages provide pretty different images of God. We know that Jesus wasn’t anything like what the Jews of Israel were expecting in a Messiah.

It makes me wonder what misconceptions we have about God because we only see what He’s doing in our generation. Just thinking about this a little makes makes a really strong case for studying Scripture (both Old and New Testaments) — so that we get a more well-rounded understanding of God. It also makes a strong case for checking out what God is doing in other areas of the globe and especially in churches outside our own. I’ve found that we get so “me” oriented in our own churches that we become blind to what God is doing outside our church.

It’s so easy to begin to believe that our church does it best! Every pastor (and probably every committed church member) I’ve known has been bipolar in their presentation of this message — every pastor specifically conveys both that there are many churches in their area and different churches are the best choices for different people AND that their church is the best. Perhaps that’s just a function of needing to believe that what we’re doing has value.

But I digress. I hope that everyone is in the church that God wants them to be in. But I also have great hope that everyone recognizes the value of other churches and I even secretly hope that occasionally people take a break from their church to see what God is doing in other churches. Because it helps us to see that God is more than what we see Him as in our own church. He’s doing more. He’s got more facets to His personality.

Has your image/perspective of God been challenged lately? If so, let me know. If not, take a walk on the wild side and visit a different kind of worship service sometime in the next few weeks. Ask God to reveal how He’s working in such a different environment. I bet you’ll be glad you did. Let me know!

Comment by dansdesk
I’m going to be posting a past sermon soon called “God in a box.” It is very similar to what you are talking about. Good stuff!
Thursday July 19, 2007 – 04:22pm (EDT)

Response by Sandyhov
I’m looking forward to it.
Monday July 23, 2007 – 11:25pm (EDT)

Once a month our church and another church meet together to pray for God to move in our city, our region and our country. Tonight, Pastor Rob prayed for churches from all traditions, and then prayed “God invade our meetings.”

As we prayed, it occurred to me that God invading our meetings will look very different in different traditions. It’s usually charismatics and Pentecostals that make such prayers and, quite frankly, whether they admit it or not, they probably have it in their minds that very, shall we say, “non-traditional” things will happen. Things that you wouldn’t find in a Baptist or a Presbyterian church.

Yet I remain a firm believer that denominations, despite their difficulties, have strong benefits and that they have each played their role in the preservation of one or more “pillars” of the faith. (Read Rick Joyner’s great book The Final Quest for more thoughts on this.) And so, God invading the churches of different denominations will look very different. The Presbyterians are historically strong in scholarship; the Lord invading their meetings in a fresh way would naturally lead to greater scholarship today and that scholarship could lead to both greater revelation and evangelism of the intellectuals. (I think we’d all agree that the intellectuals need evangelized, right?) Baptists are strong in organized evangelism; a fresh invasion of the Holy Spirit would naturally revitalize their love for the Lord and passion for the lost. As the Catholics’ love for the Lord is renewed by a fresh outpouring within their churches, the beauty of the Lord and tradition that connects modern saints with saints throughout the history of the church would be raised to new heights. When God invades the Methodist church anew, spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines will be given greater attention. New life will be breathed into personal holiness as God invades Nazarene churches.

That’s certainly not all denominations, but imagine, how much more “ready” the Bride will be when each of these pillars is strengthened? Then, as the Church becomes One in Christ, as we learn to love our brethren across denominations, how much greater, how much richer, will the teachings be that we offer to one another in our areas of strength? A phrase comes to mind… “The Bride has made herself ready.”

Lord, invade our meetings…all of them…and help us to grow in our love for one another as we reflect Christ.

comment from dansdesk…
What about the Friends?
Wednesday June 13, 2007 – 03:28pm (EDT)

comment from sandyhov
As a denomination…missions…social justice (they were very big in the underground railroad & freeing slaves).
Saturday June 16, 2007 – 12:23am (EDT)