wow!

The Spirit was alive tonight! Church was absolutely amazing!
Worship alone was a powerful, powerful thing. We started with a song based on 2 Samuel 6:21-22 and then went into a song based on John 10:27. We followed with a rocked out version of Amazing Grace and two more songs (one being You Have Done Great Things). Last week's worship service was music light so my heart was totally blessed this evening. It was an amazing time to rejoice and celebrate before the Lord. And the place was jumping! One of my favorite passages in Isaiah (and there are many favs in Isaiah) came to mind near the end of the singing portion of worship: "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'" God rocks!
The opportunity for this was God ordained as the scheduled speaker had flight delays and was not able to arrive until close to 8. Harvey Carey spoke. The man is being used by God! I cannot wait until we have tonight's service available as my note taking wasn't nearly fast enough...and at times i was too engrossed to even take notes - which is how you know it was really good! 'cause i can always take notes. He spoke passionately from Matthew 5:13-16. God has laid on his heart the fact that the church, by and large, has lost its purpose to be salt and light. Powerful stuff! To quote Dave, "it was kick ass". As he was speaking of the purpose salt and light and the fact that we "are" indeed salt and light, not becoming, but already "are", the first few verses of Philippians chapter 2 ran through my head. There is responsibility laid before us. If ANY encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness and compassion are felt THEN make my joy complete in these ways... Being salt and light is not optional. We are....and we must act as such, bringing flavor and preservation while causing the darkness to flee.
He spoke for a time about joy, true joy. Life abundant is what we are called to but rarely does the church have even an iota of the excitement of a stadium. Where is the passion for God?
I pray fervently that I may put into action the words I heard. That I may truly live what I hear and be a doer of the Word.
I walked out with 2 songs running through my head, neither of which we had sung this evening. One was "Give Us Clean Hands" and the other was "Here I am to Worship". I do a lot of my worship, a lot of my connecting with God through song (which is also why i love the book of Psalms). While verses occasionally pop to mind, as the two did this evening, more often it's a song that captures my heart and marks a moment. I now get to meditate on those in relation to what I experienced tonight. I'm looking forward to my God time tonight!