In Search of Excellence

Webster's defines the word excellent as; very good of its kind: eminently good.

You know our lives need to strive towards this word. To strive towards excellence is to strive towards an intimate relationship with our God. Don't we want excellence? How many people would want their children to only be OK, or to have a mediocre marriage. I know I want my child (which is on the way) to strive for excellence in everything he or she does. To keep your marriage in search of excellence you need to place God in the middle of every decision and discussion.

The way to accomplish this is to place God where He belongs, and seek Him out. For me seeking God comes in many forms, but the place in which I want to be excellent in His view more than anything is in my relationship with my wife. In keeping God in focus and concentrating on His love our marriage couldn't be better. We had our rocky period, but after stepping back and looking at our relationship from a different view we realized we weren't doing it right. We placed God in the center, and prayed and prayed and prayed. God has blessed us in enornous ways and we are SO appreciative of His grace.

Do you ever think, "Can I do this better?" It doesn't matter what it is; marriage, work, play, sports, raising kids, worshipping. We can always "Do Better", we will never be perfect. But it's fun trying to reach that plateau. We WILL be better in heaven. I can't wait!

Time for a change

Let me begin by saying ... CHANGE IS GOOD!

Change is the reason we advance in many areas of life; health care, gas mileage, effeciency, and worship. We all know that the medical field is advancing each and every day to try to find cures for things such as cancer, Parkinsons, Altzhiemers, etc. Hybrid automobiles are helping us to save money (and fossil fuels). We become more effecient every time we do something, because repetition is the key to learning.

But how does changing the way we worship advance anything we do?

It enhances our relationship with God. How are we expected to do great things without the help of our wonderful Savior. Changing our worship style (more or less contemporary, more or less traditional) can bring us to a greater understanding of how important worshiping the Lord with song really is. When you hear a song it goes in your ears, through your heart and to your brain. When you are listening to a speaker it goes in your ears, and to your brain. What is it missing? The heart!

The heart is the most important part of the worship process, and we need to realize that. We need to change how we worship to let our hearts take over, and just LOVE God in a truly amazing way. It doesn't matter if you are worshipping in a small community church of two people, or in a stadium with 28,000 other believers, just let your heart take over and enjoy.

You may need to raise your hands (oh no!), or sway to the music (dancing isn't allowed in church), or even stomp your feet or clap your hands (scarry isn't it). This is what God intends for us to do. Have fun in singing to the Lord, and let others know that you are having fun. Smile while singing, it's contagious ... it'll catch on. It doesn't matter what you feel your voice sounds like, it is beautiful to God. Singing praise to the Lord is the best way to unwind from a busy day or week, try it and you may just change your outlook on life.