Finally feeling something!

I, Robert Blasingame just signed up and was approved to be a “Book Review Blogger”.  Have I really come this far?

Three months ago I hated reading.  Despised it.  Couldn’t stand it.

Now, voluntarily, I have requested to have the responsibility of reading a book and telling others whether they should read it or not.  Let’s think about this…3 months ago, I told people Satan created reading, and now I am recommending that they do this very thing.

For recap, prior to February of this year, I had read 3 books.  In my life.  Now, counting the book I am about halfway through, I have read 9 books in the last 11 weeks.

Crazy thing is, I really can’t get enough reading.  This causes a problem because books cost money.  And, it takes time to stand in a store or online looking for books you want to read, so I heard about being a Book Review Blogger for Thomas Nelson Publishers from Lindsey Nobles(@lnobles).

Basically, you sign up, get approved, and then request a book.  The book is mailed to you and you read it…ALL of it.  Once you have read it, you blog about it (200 words) and post a review on some consumer website (Amazon, etc).  That’s all.  Pretty simple, and you get a free book out of the deal.

It is my understanding, there is no limit to the number of books you can review, there is no minimum number to review.  If you sign up and realize you just can’t do it, you stop.  Pretty good deal if you ask me.  In this day of 2 year contracts, it is nice to have some flexibility.

Again, I really can’t believe I am doing this.  The first book I have requested is The Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley. I feel like I have just accepted a challenge. Hopefully I am up to the task.

Meetings are completely pointless if no action is performed after them.

As my good buddy Kent West so eloquently put it in a comment on my last post,

“Sanctifying (“setting apart”) a few hours of a day as “holy” causes us to adopt a compartmentalization mindset: “Now I am in my Holy Mode”; “Now I am in my Everyday Mode”. I believe such compartmentalization (including the special clothing) is unscriptural.

This was exactly my point on the post last week.  It really seems to contradict everything we live for if we set some “special” time to “worship”.

As I have said in previous posts I am currently a University Minister.  I love it!  The thing is though that I want to teach them regularly which means I never get to go to class.  The elders have often times told me…”Robert, get someone else to teach the class for a little while, and you find a class you enjoy so you can be fed spiritually”.

Maybe this is what “worship” should be.  A time for us as Christians to be “fed spiritually”.  the problem with this thought is that I truly believe, and I have heard many teachers say the same things, that I learn (read: get fed spiritually) by teaching.  I am fed spiritually by my service to others.

If our life is truly a living sacrifice to God as he calls it to be, then wouldn’t every second of every day be spiritually fulfilling?  It seems as though by living as Christ did, loving others no matter their situation in life, we would have a much closer relationship to God.  Not only that, we would be much better evangelists of the gospel, because we would have more credibility instead of the hypocrisy the world sees.

Just some random thoughts, feel free to comment.

This post has been a long time coming.  Been out there “Doing Hard Things” instead of in here blogging. Sorry about that I hope to have time to get back on track soon.

This past Sunday, I preached my first Sunday morning lesson.  What an experience.  Many times I have “preached” on Sunday evenings, I have taught 100’s of classes lecture style, but never a Sunday morning lesson.

For the lesson Sunday morning I spent more time preparing than ever before.  I was more ready to speak than I ever have been and yet I was also more nervous.  It was Sunday morning, people are expecting a “real” lesson.

I grew up going to church 3 times a week.  Sunday night, I was allowed to wear jeans and a t-shirt (tucked in of course).  Wednesday night I could wear the same (never shorts though, that was prohibited), but on Sunday mornings, it was slacks and a nice button up shirt, sometimes a clip on tie, etc.  Why was Sunday morning so different?

Is it really necesary to put so much emphasis on one hour of our week?  Does God really care what you look like when you come to worship him.  I listened to the song “Jesus Freak” by DC Talk last night and was hit with the realization that John the Baptist never wore a tie.  I guess he was doing worship wrong.

I guess my question still remains, why is Sunday morning so important? If God calls us to live every second of every day to glorify him, then shouldn’t everything we do be “worship”?  Why do we have to dress up.  Why is it so scary?  Should participating in worship to our God be so scary and if so shouldn’t we wake up every morning and have the same “fear”?

What do you think?  Do we as Christians put too much emphasis on the importance of “Sunday Morning Corporate Worship”, or is it as it should be.  Please comment.