The egghead brainiac reading the title of this blog might ask, "Who is this lightweight author?" The warm fuzzy emotioniac might say, "O, yes! I feel that is soooo right!" The non-thinking, non-feeling average western Christian robotiac might read it and say, (in a monotone sound) "That's exactly what I am doing". But something, no.....SomeOne....inside me is crying out, "Hear, O Israel (the people of God's present chosing and calling; Romans 2:28,29), the Lord our God is One Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength....".
Loving God is no head trip, no warm fuzzy feeling trip and it is most certainly not an empty, passion-less, plain vanilla, pale, sterile, antiseptic, uninspiring, tranquilizing trip! At the risk of sounding obvious, it is about LOVE! You remember that thing called love don't you?
Unpredictiable, breath-taking, pulse pounding, mentally consuming, butterfly in your gut experience....LOVE. Sometimes maddening because your lover makes no sense but your inner connectedness to them is stronger than your need to "win". The motivation for poetry, songs, paintings, sculptures, carvings in trees-school desks-etc. The inspiration for novels. The reason Junior High boys take a shower. LOVE.
When did we lose the capacity to see that loving God came under these same catagories? Why do we put God last on our list of "falling in LOVE"? Who in our lives gets the love that is intended only for God? What mystery somebody are we chasing not knowing that when we find whoever "they" are, that we wasted our time chasing "them" and did not pour our love on the feet of God and then kiss those same feet in worship? What church would risk everything, and I do mean everything, to promote the all out, even reckless pursuit of just flat out LOVING God?
Well, the answer to the last point is; the church that I am shepherding here in Forest Wisconsin; Living Word Chapel. We might not do it perfectly, but the last time I looked, real love was not a science. In fact, the first time most of us "fell in love" and we asked some one to explain love to us, all we got was a goofy look in return.
I will do what I know to do to lead my flock to a passionate love for God. Why? Because religion is dead and church systems are failing. Calling people to an all out love for God is the only truth that will build the Kingdom of God and potentially create an authentic spirituality that is worth embracing. The church in America is dying for change, but just rearranging schedules or bringing in different worship styles is like giving a cadaver a flu shot. We must, TODAY, start LOVING GOD like there is no tomorrow. Like Saint Janis Joplin said, "When you hold somebody, you've got to hold them like its the last minute of your life, man".
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