Three questions about worship - CFN Newsletter 106

CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK NEWSLETTER 106

> Charles Swindoll's three-part challenge for worshippers
> Special offer: 50% off football and faith booklet
> News:
> Clash of cultures as skaters 'disrupt' cathedral services
> Now u can don8 by txt, 2!
> New school to teach creationism
> TV: BBC seeks contestants for new shows
> Sites:
> Christian advice - Woman to Woman
> Are you always in a rush? Take this test to find out
> Suffered from spiritual abuse? Get help here
> Marriage MOT: Have you forsaken all others?
> You've got to laugh: Keeping your insanity, part 2
> Members' Zone latest

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Christian Family Network
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CHALLENGE

Three Questions ... by Charles Swindoll

• How do you know if the jewel of your faith is missing? Here are three questions from author, pastor and Bible teacher Charles Swindoll designed to set you on the path to rediscovering that jewel of worship.
  

1 Is your public worship marked by creativity and variety?

Do you linger over the words of the hymn? Do you let the song sink into your soul and minister to your heart? Do you leave the service chattering about the speaker's skills or meditating on the eternal words of God?

It's time to stop reacting to the service - judging the songs, the speaker, and the length - and start participating in worship. Enter each aspect of the meeting with creativity and variety. Imagine the words of the hymn. Relive the beauty of the music. Apply God's Word immediately to a specific area of your life or to someone you know.

If we wait for the "perfect atmosphere" to worship God, we will never ascribe to him the worth he already deserves. Pay less attention to other people and concentrate more on the living Lord.

2 Does your private worship have depth and consistency?

Years ago I was working closely with a man who was trying to help me understand private worship. He went through an extremely low time in his life. I called at his home one afternoon and he wasn't there. His wife said: "I think he's down at the office."

It was raining; in fact, by the time I got to the center of Naha, Okinawa, my boots splashed through the puddles. I made my way around the corner to this small, inauspicious office. Before I saw him, I could hear him. He was singing.

The words from that great hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing trickled out through the falling rain. I heard:

"Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above."

I stood outside that little bamboo shack, looking into his candlelit room. I never told him that I came, because that had become a sacred place. His private worship was obvious to me.

I walked away, having learned more in that brief moment than I could have learned in a year of instruction. My dear friend knew how to worship publicly, because he worshipped privately.

The third question is a simple one: If you are not a worshipper, why not?

Step into the throne room with Isaiah and blend your voice with the seraphim singing "Holy, Holy, Holy." Our God still seeks our worship.

• Adapted from the sermon Worship: Let It Shine! Let It Shine! in the Growing Deep in the Seasons of Life audiocassette series (Anaheim, California: Insight for Living, 1985), GCL11B.

• For practical challenges to spiritual and family growth, head for our Advice section at http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/advice.asp

> 50% off Road to Glory for CFN

This high-colour, 36-page, glossy book contains the 2003-2004 Barclaycard Premiership fixtures arranged on a club by club basis, with interviews with Christian Premiership players (Richard Rufus of Charlton Athletic and Shola Ameobi of Newcastle United), two articles (by Damaris writers) that relate the world of football to the world of faith in a thoughtful and
non-threatening way, and 20 teasing football trivia questions.

The perfect gift for any Premiership football fan. Buy lots and give them to your friends!

Damaris are pleased to provide CFN readers with 50% off Road to Glory until 30 September 2003 (usual price £1.50, now only 75p).

To take advantage of this great offer simply:

1 Go to www.damaris.org and register to get a username and password, if you don't already have one
2 Go to the Damaris online store at www.damaris.org/shop navigate to 'books'
3 Click on 'view products' and choose the quantity of Road to Glory you require
4 Click 'buy now', keep following the instructions until you reach the checkout.
5 Proceed to the checkout and when it asks if you have a voucher for money off items, please enter: CFN. This will deduct 50% off Road to Glory and is valid until 30 September 2003.

> THIS WEEK'S NEWS

Clash of cultures as skaters 'disrupt' cathedral services

Skateboarders around the entrance to Bristol Cathedral have prompted cathedral authorities to work with the city council and the police to try and hammer out a strategy for the management of College Green.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

Now u can don8 by txt, 2!

Mobile phone users can now donate to Containers of Hope through sending the text message Give Hope Now.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/resources.asp for the full story

New school to teach creationism

A new £20m school, which will teach “creationism”, opened on Teesside on Monday.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> MARRIAGE MOT

> Check out our archived marriage tips in the Members' Zone, plus stacks more marriage resources at http://www.2-in-2-1.co.uk

Will you forsake all others and be faithful, so long as you both shall live?

Now this is a tough one! In the service when we got married this was a commitment we made to each other.

Not everyone manages to keep this, but it helps to start out with the definite decision to aim to do so. All of us fail to keep our promises to each other in some way or other, and today there are many temptations not to do so.

There is something in the first part of the promise which is key – forsaking all others. That means turning our back on the possibility of a relationship with the emotional and sexual intensity that marriage brings, with anyone else but our husband or wife. Surely that is what makes marriage so special - because it is exclusive.

It’s reassuring to know that when you allow your spouse to begin to see all the parts of your personality that you fear to let others see, they will treasure and protect that. When they open themselves up to you, then you can rest secure that you are the only one who knows them in that way. Unfaithfulness betrays that vulnerability and openness to another. That is why infidelity causes such pain.

There have been times when I have been tempted to wander into a level of relationship that is not appropriate and then those words have echoed in my mind – that I have forsaken all others.

Have you?
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> TV - BBC seeks contestants for new shows

Are you a parent who runs a busy household with three or more children? BBC TV is looking for families to take part in a new show, Fantasy Parents. All you have to do is tell them what your family's ideal life would be like. The show promises to create it for you ... and then give you some tips on how to make your fantasy a reality. To find out more, call Lizz Brown on 0161 244 3930 or e-mail lizz.brown@bbc.co.uk

Do you dream of globetrotting? Or perhaps you work with a colleague, have a friend or family member who needs the holiday of a lifetime? The BBC needs outgoing individuals (aged 18+) with good general knowledge to take part in a new programme, Right Around the World. To find out more, phone 020 8225 7361 or e-mail rightaroundtheworld@bbc.co.uk

> EVENTS

> YOU'VE GOT TO LAUGH ...

How to keep a healthy level of insanity in life - Part 2

~ As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
~ Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.
~ Send e-mail to the rest of the company to tell them what you're doing. For example: If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bathroom.
~ When the money comes out of the cashpoint, scream: "I won! I won! Third time this week!!!"
~ Tell your children over dinner: "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."
~ Every time you see a broom, yell: "Darling, your mother is here ..."

Line of the week

I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.

www.MikeysFunnies.com

> CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK THIS WEEK
(MEMBERS' ZONE) - http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/default.asp

> Advice

> Charles Swindoll's three-step challenge for worshippers
> Eric Spellman on great software you can download for free
> Kate's marriage tips -

> Resources

> Why does everyone want to be younger these days, asks Jo Glen
> Joni Eareckson Tada says: "Put on your dancin' shoes!"
> Peter Dilley talks to singer Nia about how she combines music with vital charity work in Eastern Europe

> News

> Clash of cultures as skaters 'disrupt' cathedral services
> Now u can don8 by txt, 2!
> New school to teach creationism

> Reviews

> Peter Dilley rounds up the latest Christian music releases

> Top sites this week


> Events: More of what's on near you

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