It was about two years ago that I first began blogging ... I just didn't keep it up. I guess I thought I got too busy. A lot has happened: I got married, we bought a house, we added two dogs to the family, I became ordained at Orange Hill, I added the title "youth pastor" to the title of "worship arts pastor" (notice "added" not "replaced"). A lot has changed!
But one thing has stayed the same. One thing remained during all this time ... my insatiable desire for worship.
Oh, not always of God ... wouldn't that have been nice.
No, I find myself worshiping other things: my wife, my job, my xbox, my iPhone, my music, my "free time". Not that these things are bad, in fact some of these are really good things ... great things (did I mention I got married!) ...but they're not supposed to be my main thing. They're not supposed to be the "one" thing that I glorify ... or to put it another way, they're not supposed to be the one thing that people see I'm most passionate about.
Psalm 42: 1& 2 says, "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?"
Above all else, my soul should pant for God. My deepest longings ... what sustains me ... must be found deep in the river of life.
For how else can I truly love Meagan the way God intends for me, if I'm not drinking from his life-giving cup? How can I authentically serve the body at Orange Hill as a worship leader if I'm not lost in the songs of the Creator? And how can I teach and lead our youth if I'm not lost in the wonder of the Word of God?
So this is a preview of what's to come from the worship safari blog ... stories from my heart about that journey we're all on. People desiring to worship God with all our hearts, our minds and our souls ... yet we keep getting distracted along the way. We keep worshiping other things.
But just like today, someone will come along with just a kind or a wise word ... and it'll remind us of the journey we're on ... where were headed ... and help us get back on the right path.
So tonight, I sit at the keyboard and start back on that journey. Here is the blog I first wrote two years ago. Now I pray that in the past two years I've moved a little farther down the road towards home, but this is a good place to start. May God bless our journey together!
Goin' On A Safari
I'll never forget my first memory of the word "safari".It was around 1970 and my parents were taking me and my brother to Lion Country Safari, a "cageless" zoo where, from the comfort of your own air-conditioned car, you could drive around and see wild animals like lions, zebras and giraffes roaming around in their natural habitat. My brother and I were about four or five years old and we couldn't wait to get there.
We were still on our way and my dad, being the amateur indy-racer that he was, had made great time. On the side of the road we spotted a giant billboard with bright green jungle plants, chimps swinging on the branches and an elephant standing underneath. At the top of the sign were giant zebra-print letters outlined in yellow that read, "Lion Country Safari: 1 mile". After a few moments of silence my brother, Kip, spoke up from the back seat. Very matter-of-factly he said:
"I don't know why they call it Lion Country Safari. It doesn't seem so-far-ee to me."
It's still one of the stories that my parents repeat at get-togethers where all the relatives tell embarassing stories to any newcomers to the family. Thirty-five years later, I can still recall how excited we were to see all the wild and dangerous animals that you don't normally see growing up in an Atlanta suburb. I vividly remember the entire family screaming and laughing hysterically as an ostrich tried to stick his long, grey neck into our car through the window my mom was frantically trying to roll up (in the days before power windows.) The idea of being on a safari in a strange and foreign land really captivated me. I knew someday I'd circle the globe on expeditions to find exotic animals that no one had ever seen before.
Well ... I'm almost forty years old and I haven't made it to Africa yet. The closest I've come is a three day vacation to the Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. For some reason, all my extra cash seems to go to bills instead of a one way ticket to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
I wonder if my dreams of being a great adventurer are over. Have I missed out on the opportunity to ever go on a safari?
The Encarta® World English Dictionary defines safari as: "a journey, a cross country expedition." And the definition of expedition is: "a trip made by a group of people for a particular purpose."
Maybe it's not too late. Maybe I've been on safari all this time and never realized it.The Christian life is often called a journey ... and we definitely have a particular purpose.
1 Peter 1:7 says "Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God." (MSG)
And our purpose can be found in Colossians. We are to pursue the things of Christ. "So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides." Col 3:1 (MSG)
How could I have missed it? I'm living my dream life! I'm right in the middle of that grand future I dreamed about as a little kid ... I'm on a safari! And you're on it with me. We're on a worship safari together! We have purpose ... we have a destination ... and it's serious business. We cant' go unprepared! We must have the map of God's Word hidden in our hearts. And we need the compass of the Holy Spirit close at hand. May God lead us and show us the narrow way ahead!
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