Wow! It's been a while. To make up for my lack of posting, I have something incredibly interesting to share with each of you and I hope you do take the time to read this whole post (not because my writing is something out of the ordinary, but because of the message it shares... no pun intended).

This morning while getting ready, I was stumbling around Facebook (which is a rather unfortunate way to start one's morning) and I came across this YouTube video that one of my friends had posted. At first I moved on past it, because many times they're pointless postings that waste at least 5:00 minutes of my time. However, as I was moving down the home page, the title of the video caught my eye, 10 Year Old Minister Delivers The Word.

I've seen a few videos that have been posted by over-exuberant parents who think it's so "precious" when their young child stands behind the pulpit (or even at the front of the church) and screams into a microphone as though they are delivering a sermon. So, for kicks, I decided to check it out.

What met my eyes was indeed a sight to behold. One I could watch over, and over, and over... I have never been so inspired or so challenged by someone so young. But there I was, sitting at my computer, and staring at my screen in awe as this young, 10 year old, boy named, Jared Sawyer Jr. delivered a message so powerful, it had the congregation shouting, clapping, and jumping to their feet many times throughout the service.

At first, I'll admit that I looked at the church in a stereotypical fashion. Of course the congregation was going to act in such a manner. The church is based in Georgia and the congregation is entirely of African-American decent. Oh, come on! Don't look at me in such a disgraceful manner. You can't tell me that you've never done something similar? Right. That's what I thought.

But after a while, I began to focus on what Jared was actually saying, rather than the folks in the background who were jumping around like they had ants in their pants (terrible cliche, but I had to use it). Before too long, I was so engrossed by what Jared was saying, that I rarely noticed if someone stood up to clap and so forth. His message was such a simple message, yet people became giddy over what they were hearing. Then I began to think.

Our pastors teach similar things in our churches, but do we so much as offer an "amen?" I don't think so. Why is it that we are so comfortable sitting in the pews on Sunday morning and following along with the service like sheep being led to the pasture for food? We just follow. We don't participate. We sing a song here, and pray a prayer there. We nod occasionally when we agree with something that is said during the service whether it's the devotion or the full sermon. And sometimes, if we're really feeling spiritual, we'll maybe close our eyes and raise a hand during a song.

But tell me. What is so wrong with jumping to our feet and shouting "amen?" What is so wrong with giving a "hallelujah" every once in a while? And what is so wrong with clapping out our approval? It's not reverent, you say. Hmm... perhaps we're just so stuck in the way things are, that we don't think to look outside the box. Our services are run in a specific manner (for the most part. I mean the number of songs we sing before the moderator opens the service might differ from Sunday to Sunday, but the order of the service generally remains the same). And if something goes longer than normal, or someone switches the order on us, we're like ants when a leaf lands in the middle of the line. We don't know what to do or where to go next and we become agitated.

Wouldn't it be amazing if one Sunday morning, there was no service? There would be no service because we, as a congregation, would become so caught up in singing God's praises and sharing what an amazing Father he is, and requesting prayer for those things which lay heavy on our hearts, that we'd run out of time.

We should be so excited to show up on Sunday mornings, ready to hear what God has laid on the hearts of those around us. We complain so many times when the pastor goes over 12:00 pm, because now our dinner might be burnt, or we won't have enough time to chat with the ladies in the back about all the new babies or the really cute boy we saw. And we certainly won't have time to catch up with the guys about the game the other night. Like, it's vital that we find out who won. Seriously.

Think about it, people. We sit in church for one ... maybe two hours out of our week. And we complain. Our minds become so occupied with things that we did in the past and things we are going to do in the future, that we forget the real reason we're in the location we are. God so lovingly looks down on us and thinks, I just can't please these people. I give them six days to do with as they wish. Hoping, of course, that we'll remember Him during those six days. And then ask them to praise me for one day out of their week. But all they want to do is quickly sing a song and pray a prayer so that they can socialize.

This was impressed upon my heart last Sunday when I was listening to Larry give his message, and it was reiterated this morning when I saw the follow-up video of Jared. My challenge to each of you is to become so incredibly excited about God, that you can't help feeling over-joyed about what you're hearing. So what if people look at you when you shout "amen" or raise your hands in the service or, God-forbid, stand to your feet when you're moved by what is said. They're just jealous that they didn't do it first.

... Two weeks down, two to go. These next two weeks will be a little easier on me, I'm sure. I'm teaching songs to the children during the assembly portion. Basically they are the songs that will be singing during the final program on Thursday night. Yesterday was the first day of Faith's VBS and it seemed to go decently. I just need to finish creating my slideshow and I'll be golden.

Have a good one y'all

PS - I need to find something more INTENSE to write about...