Category: The Pursuit

Lee Parish writes about The Pursuit on Tuesdays.

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Bring a big bucket

Lee Parish

Has worship become stale? Do Sundays sometimes leave you wanting? The solution is not to jazz up the worship assembly but to reassess your attitude toward God. Perhaps you just want to get more out of worship. An adjustment in action may be warranted.

Worship is primarily about God. But in His wisdom, God made worship beneficial to us as well. We should all want to make worship mean more. But how?

Worship begins far from the meeting place. Every day helps to shape the next. Every decision informs the subsequent choice. Weekly worship of God is modeled after our daily devotion to him.

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Here I am

Lee Parish

When burdens bear down, burden-bearers are needed. When opportunities arise, volunteers are requested. Yet many times when work calls, silence is the only answer.

When the LORD calls, the faithful answer.

When God called the great patriarch, he answered, “Here I am” (Genesis 22:1 ESV). In faith, Abraham obeyed the command of God, trusting in God to provide all that was needful, even the resurrection of his unique son (Hebrews 11:9). We are called to trust in God to provide all that is needful (Matthew 6:33). Continue reading “Here I am”

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Giving and receiving

Lee Parish

If you give freely and generously of your time and money, what can you expect to receive in return? Should you expect anything at all?

One of the popular doctrines shared widely on television teaches that if you sow a gift (i.e., give money to a “ministry”) you will reap far more more money in return. Is that our hope?

Jesus does teach that if we give ourselves to him that the basic needs in life will be met (Matthew 6:25-34). But what of comfort and riches? If we give money to God should we expect more in return? The real story of giving and receiving is far richer, far deeper, and far more meaningful.

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A little with the Lord

Lee Parish

Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it (Proverbs 15:16 ESV).

One of the recurring themes throughout the Proverbs is that peace, righteousness, and the fear of the Jehovah are far superior to wealth. With so much glorification of gain, this is definitely a counter-culture mindset.

It is implicit in almost every culture that those who have are more important than those who do not. Those who have fame are better than those who are unknown. Those who are rich are better than those who are poor. Those who are talented in a visible way are better than those whose talents exhibit themselves in more modest ways. Privation is seen as a character flaw and possession is seen as proof of a superior person. Continue reading “A little with the Lord”

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Worshiping intentionally

Lee Parish

The Lord’s church met one Lord’s day in a grand city in Greece. They sang together, prayed together, opened the word together, and did not commune together.

Paul told them, “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat” (1 Corinthians 11:20 ESV). The first-century church came together every week in order to eat the Lord’s supper (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2). How is it that Paul could say that they did not eat the Lord’s supper when they gathered?

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Who is your life?

Lee Parish

We are all seeking something. Some seek after affirmation, others after wealth, power, or prestige. Still others are seeking simpler things, such as daily food and clothing. Whatever we seek, it has the power to become our lives, to consume us entirely.

Knowing this, Jesus instructed those who would follow him to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33 ESV). If you are like me, you probably read that with an emphasis upon the word “first.” We say we are to seek FIRST the reign and righteousness of God. Thus leaving the impression that God’s reign and righteousness are first among almost equals.

But the emphasis is not found in the order but in the object. The seeking of God’s reign and righteousness, in contrast to that of the Pharisees seeking their own (Matt. 5:20), should be stressed.

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Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Lee Parish

Each society has proverbs, pithy statements that may or may not contain some general truth. Some are more useful than others. “All that glitters is not gold” and “two wrongs don’t make a right” seem particularly useful in today’s society. One of the more popular proverbs is “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” But is that true?

Perhaps it is true in an extremely limited sense. Short periods of absence could cause one to realize how much another means to them. However, as a general rule, can we say that absence makes the heart grow fonder?

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The Inescapable power of choice

Lee Parish

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live (Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV).

This choice, presented thousands of years ago to a nascent nation about to enter an unknown land, is still ours today.

God has always given us choices. We can choose between that which is of God and that which is of the world (Joshua 24:15-22). We can choose the way of faithfulness (Psalm 119:30) or the way of darkness. We can choose the better, timelier things (Luke 10:42) or be allured by lesser, flashier things (Genesis 13:11).

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Drawn or Driven

Lee Parish

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (John 12:32 ESV).

God desires to draw us to himself. As a host invites guests to a party (Luke 14:16-24), and as a shepherd leads his sheep (John 10:1-4), God invites us to join him in the kingdom and to follow Jesus through a life of personal growth and Divine glory.

We may be inexorably drawn to that which is beautiful, to that which is unique, to that which is lovely. While Jesus is all of that and more, God desires to draw us to the crucified Jesus. The drawing power Jesus refers to is his death upon the cross (John 12:33).

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Moving with purpose

Lee Parish

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15 ESV).

Our world has increasingly become more sedentary. These sedentary lifestyles contribute to millions of deaths every year. People who can move, and do not, are not healthy. So many health officials recommend moving. Move anywhere as long as you are not sitting.

We were not created for physical inactivity. Nor were we reborn for spiritual inactivity. In the early days the church was referred to as “The Way” (Acts 24:14). The Christian life is called a walk (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:6, et al.) and a race (Hebrews 12:1). Continue reading “Moving with purpose”