Paul prayed that God would give the Ephesians a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they would know Christ fully (Ephesians 1:17). To know Christ fully! To know him as we are known by him! How I pray the same for today’s church!

We live in a noisy world. From the time the radio alarm clock wakes us up, to the conclusion of the network newscast, our lives are filled with sound. On our way to work or to pick up groceries, we listen to the radio, tape, or CD. While in high school our oldest son, Chris, claimed that he couldn’t really concentrate on his studies unless he was in front of the TV or was listening to music. Things have changed since I had high school homework! Even at night – while our three grown children were still living at home – Gayle and I would often go to bed with “trance”, “break-beat”, and “house” music emanating through our bedroom walls from our oldest son’s computer music compositions.

We're using our gifts, what more does God want? God wants YOU!  In Matthew 7:21 – 27, Jesus gives his disciples a revolutionary teaching. Just like us, the early followers of God wanted an easy measuring stick to evaluate their value in God’s kingdom.

Speaking about “cost” and “worship” in the same sentence seems a little ironic. How could great worship – an amazing experience – come with a cost? Serving God comes with a cost… a cost many of us haven’t calculated to the fullest. Our theology is a little messed up here. For some reason we often try to “sell” the gospel as something that makes our lives better – sort of like an additive to your car’s gasoline.

For more than sixty years the secrets and delight of Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1937) and Lord of the Rings (1954/5) were a well kept secret, savoured by fantasy and literature “geeks”. Then Hollywood took hold! Suddenly the world was alive with tiny little men with big feet on a secret mission to save their people.