Immortal, Invisible - “Something Greater”

The following is a blog from a very good friend of mine, Laura Story. You may know her from the popular worship song, Indescribable. She wrote that a few years ago and Chris Tomlin made it famous.


“In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever.

They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
- Revelations 4: 6-11 (NIV)

There is something mysterious about worship. Even as I child, I remember singing songs like, “‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” and “I Surrender All,” and feeling all warm inside. Whether it’s the thunderous voice of a hundred-person choir or “Amazing Grace” being played by a single violin, there is a tenderness that cannot be explained with words. It’s the feeling of being part of something greater than myself. And in the book of Revelation, John gives us a hint of what that “something greater” might be. There are many theories suggesting how the book of Revelation should be interpreted. Some think that John, the self-professed author, is speaking strictly about the end times. Others view the book as a panorama of historical events throughout the life of the church. But either way you slice it, God gave John a vision and what he saw was magnificent. It was so magnificent that John was in too much shock to even stand! The Lord spoke with a voice like a trumpet, and there were angels and other creatures consumed with worshipping the One who sat on the throne. They were bowing low in awe of their Radiant King, singing “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power…”

Though this may not sound like normal worship services at your church or mine, we still may see small glimpses. Here on earth, we will only experience a taste of this splendor. But it is enough; it’s enough to remind us that this life is about something greater than ourselves. When we sing praises to our Lord, we join in the chorus that creation has been singing from the beginning of time. And it is the same anthem that we as believers will be singing for all eternity.

God, may I savor each moment in your presence as a glimpse of the glory that is to come. May I never grow weary of singing Your praise.

Scripture and Preaching

I'm presently teaching through the book of James each Sunday to our church community at Crosspoint here in Charlotte. This is really the first series we've done where we've actually walked through the entire book a passage at a time. For the first 19 months, we've primarily done topical messages or themes that have dealt with specific issues relevant to the audience we are reaching. I've heard from many church planters that they've resisted preaching through an entire book of the Bible because it's either too systematic and long or it's either not very relevant to where people are today. In other words, to preach through a passage as it comes up each week may force a subject upon you that's not really relevant to the context you find yourself in. Well, I have to say that this series for our church has been the most eye opening and relevant thing we've done. Our people who've never ever read the Bible didn't know that the Bible is so relevant or that it even dealt with some of the issues they've been hearing. You see, I believe that we can preach whatever text comes up in a given week and then make the necessary jump from "that world" to "our world" and connect the scripture to everyday life. That's the job of a good communicator. To bring the story of God from thousands of years ago and help our people find themselves in the story and continue to live out what was first given to a people in a different context and a different day and make it ours today. I will admit it's not always easy, but the study and preparation is well worth it when you find the newest Christ follower saying they never knew the Bible said what it says. So I say, "preach the word in season and out of season!"