Mark Smith

Jesus = God. "The Father and I are One." When we worship the Son, we are worshiping the Father, too. "For unto us is born, for unto us a Son is given, and His shall be called Wonderful, Counselor. the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."

We are a kingdom because we are a kingdom of worshipers, and we have a King to rule over our kingdom. As to us ruling and reigning with Him, it is only because it pleases Him. He doesn't need us, but it brings Him pleasure to offer us the Kingdom, and the great privilege to serve in a subordinate under His ultimate rule.

Jesus lived the perfect life. Jesus paid the ultimate price. And He left the glories of heaven to do that for us. He is worthy.

All three persons of the Trinity are all worthy of, and should receive our worship. While we worship here on earth, an even greater worship service is going on in heaven. The object of or worship is located in heaven. We join heavenly worshipers when we worship. Worship there is unceasing, as it should be, as it always will be. Great music can be great worship, and is pleasing to God.

Among my favorites: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty...; Worthy is the Lamb, seated on the throne... it's good to sing praise and Scripture at the same time.

Jesus = God. They are one in the same. When we worship the Son, we are worshiping the Father. It's like the answer to the question,"should I pray to God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit." The answer to both questions is "yes."

I don't feel at all worthy to reign with Him, and am incredibly humbled at the thought. Since the scripture says we will reign with Him, it must be in a subordinate capacity. There is nothing I can do that He can't do for Himself, and there is nothing about which I can inform Him that He doesn't already know. It is only at His pleasure that we will reign with Him, and not because He needs our help. I am very conscious of the responsibility to serve as a priest for Him here on earth: to my family; to my acquaintances; in my church. Our witness takes so long to develop and mature, but can be lost in an instant.

Jesus lived the perfect life. Jesus paid the ultimate price. There is no one else who could meet or exceed His qualifications.

Worship occurs up there - in heaven The Object of our worship is seated on a throne The Object of our worship is splendid in appearance The throne is surrounded by a green rainbow The throne is surrounded by the thrones of twenty-four elders Thw twenty-four elders are clothed in white robes and golden crowns Lightnings, thunders, and voices proceed from the throne Seven lamps of fire burn before the throne The throne sits on a sea of glass The throne is surrounded by four living creatures The four living creatures sing worship praises day and night The twenty-four elders fall down before the throne and worships Him The One who sits on the throne has a scroll in His right hand One of the elders declares that there is One worthy to open the scroll Jesus takes the scroll from the One seated on the throne

Among my favorites are: Holy, Holy, Holy; Thou Art Worthy; Worthy is the Lamb. When I sing these in worship, I feel my worship is as close as possible to what pleases Him, because they come right out of scripture.

Churches then, and churches now, tend to lose their focus, their first love, their reason for existence. God is patient with us as churches, and merciful. There is no guarantee that our churches will last beyond our generation, in their present form. We are not responsible for what previous generations have done, or what future generations might do. But we we are accountable for what our churches are doing now. We must be about being Jesus to our communities, and showing Jesus to our communities.

I once was a member of a church that felt its sole purpose for existence was to keep things as they'd always been, all the while the next generations left the church, as the older folks die off. They succeeded in keeping things the same as they'd always been, but all that remains now of that church is a small portion its former self. The church that I now attend is also small portion of its former self, but is a forward-looking church, and suspect we'll be okay.

We should not compromise on what we know to be true from God's Word. The easier way, usually, is to compromise, especially if we focus on the world, and pleasing the world. If we truly focus on God's holiness, and God's Word, we won't be so willing to compromise. But having said that, we also don't need to "major on the minors" when eternal souls are on the line.

God does not change. His prohibitions in this area also do not change, and are for our good. Many have done great damage to their witness by violating God's plan for us in this area: one man for one woman for one life time. His way will always be the best for us, no matter what seems to be the norm for society today.

One way we can lose our first love is to take our focus off the object of our worship, the Lord Jesus Christ. Another is to compromise on the Word. A third may be to be focusing inward, instead of outward, and upward. Genuine love for Him will naturally result in a love for His word, a love for the brethren, and a love for the lost.