Promised Land

By Eric Tworek

Eric Tworek is a worship leader at Community Church and one of the featured blog writers for Peak Reflections. Eric encourages us to connect with God through praise and worship.

Ah, the Promised Land. It’s right there, just across the Jordan River. All we have to do is step in. The waters will part, we’ll walk across, and we will have arrived! Finally, after all that wandering in the wilderness, we will be in the place God has called us to – the land flowing with milk and honey. The center of His will for us!

But what did the Hebrews leave behind when they entered the Promised Land? They had to find their own food – no more manna. Their clothes and shoes started wearing out, and there was no more cloud of smoke by day and pillar of fire by night. All of a sudden it wasn’t so easy to follow God’s leading. Plus, there were enemies in the Promised Land.

How often have we longed for our own promised land, that place we know God has for us? We couldn’t wait to move out of our parent’s house or graduate from college, only to find hard work and debt staring us in the face. We couldn’t wait to get out of that cramped apartment and into a new house, only to find yard work, broken furnaces and washing machines, or leaking roofs, all of which cost lots of money to fix. Or how about that new car?...with the payments, extra insurance, expensive tires to replace and now it needs brakes!

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying God didn’t have those Promised Land things waiting for us. I’m just saying that sometimes the Promised Land can be a tougher place to live than the wilderness. In the wilderness we tend to stay pretty focused on God, and rightly so. We’re a little scared, a little confused, pretty needy, but very hopeful. So we depend on God and we can see His divine provision in so many ways. But when we “arrive” there is a tendency to lose that focus. We have a natural, worldly tendency to focus on the things God has provided. How sad when God’s provision becomes more important than God Himself. I hate to say it, but that’s idol worship!

So how do we keep our Godly focus? Well, I have one idea, and I’d love to hear yours. My idea is that in order to keep God large in our life we need to praise and worship Him. When we praise God and magnify Him (Ps. 34:3). He comes more into focus and we begin to see how big He really is. God is awesome and amazing and so worthy of our praise. But when we don’t do it often enough, God can grow smaller and smaller in our eyes, while the cares of this world get larger.

Psalm 34:3 (New International Version)

Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.

So download some great worship music (check out www.ccli.com Top 25 or google “free worship music downloads”). Pop in that CD or play those mp3s while you’re getting ready for work in the morning. Skip the news and sing about the Good News. Make it part of your daily routine and watch God grow right before your eyes.

I’d love to hear how you keep God large in your life or how you plan to start doing that. What songs encourage you most? Let’s help each other stay focused on Him and not the things He has given us. We serve a great big, wonderful God. He deserves our attention and praise. Ps. 34:8-9

Expanding Our Worship Experience

By Eric Tworek

Sunday was definitely one of the high points in my years as a worship leader. As I look back at some of the experiences that shaped me, I remember the first time I played on a worship team with drums. I remember directing a group of worshipers from different churches for a community Good Friday service. I remember being in the Pontiac Silver Dome with thousands of other men singing praises to God. I remember the joy of leading worship at the 25th Anniversary service for MPCC. And I will remember bridging the racial divide and worshipping with Divine Order on February 1, 2009 at Community Church.

What a joy to combine with an African American worship group and sing praises to the God who created us all in His image - red, yellow, black or white. I’m sure Sunday’s service was precious in His sight. There are certain times in life when you can feel God’s pleasure. For me Sunday was one of them!

I pray that our church will become more racially diverse. It’s our job as members and attendees to encourage this. We need to expand our vision as well as our worship experience to encompass the variety of culture that God created. As Brian pointed out on Sunday, Jesus reached past gender, age, religion and race in order to share the gospel message. Can we be expected to do less? I am reminded of how the founders of MPCC were stretched by adding contemporary music, drama, dance and comedy to their new worship experience.

God is always in the business of expanding us and moving us out of our comfort zones - not only for our own good, but also for the good of those around us.

While no church is called to be all things to all people, if we continue to expand our worship experiences God can better use us to reach those around us. Learning to worship in other styles increases our understanding of others and makes us more mature and well rounded as worshipers. It may also make us more approachable for some who may not otherwise feel comfortable here. Enjoy God and don’t limit yourself. Open up to the abundant riches and cultures of His kingdom. He may reveal Himself to you in a new and wonderful ways!

Keep praising Him!

Expressing adoration to our God

By Eric Tworek

Eric Tworek is a worship leader at Community Church and one of the featured blog writers for Peak Reflections. Eric will encourage us to connect with God through praise and worship.

In recent years the church has talked a lot about worship and worship styles. One person is more comfortable worshiping quietly in solitude, while another finds the company of others more enjoyable. Worship is personal because it involves the expression of our love and devotion to God. We can worship with our eyes closed, head bowed and our hands folded. Someone watching us could even mistake that we’re sleeping.

But what about praise and thanksgiving? Praise by definition is an active thing.

Praise, 1 to express approval of; applaud. 2 To express adoration of; glorify (God, etc.) -Webster’s Student Dictionary.

Can we praise sitting quietly with our head bowed? Maybe, but it’s not one of the ways the bible tells us to praise. The bible tells us to “…proclaim the praises of Him…” (1 Peter 2:9 NKJ). I know this makes some of us uncomfortable, but isn’t God always calling us out of our comfort zones? Some of us (including me) are uncomfortable sharing our faith or tithing or giving to the needy or visiting the sick, but those are all things that God has called to do. We can’t just write them off because it’s not our area of giftedness or personality style. We are supposed to be changed into the image of Christ, who always did what glorified God

Let me suggest that expressions of praise and thanksgiving will change us. Have you ever found that saying something out loud has more power than just feeling it inside? Kind of like the person who says, “you know” instead of “I love you”. If we praise and bring thanksgiving into the house of God, into the assembly of His chosen ones like David did (Psalms 100:4), perhaps our heart will become more like David’s (“a man after Gods own heart” 1 Sam. 13:14).

And if our heart seeks God, it will be changed and we will be more like Jesus.

After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?

Lord, will you come?

By Eric Tworek

MEET WITH ME
Song and lyrics by Ten Shekel Shirt:

I'm here to meet with you
come and meet with me
I'm here to find you
reveal yourself to me

As I wait, you make me strong
As I long, you draw me to your arms
As I stand and sing your praise
You come, you come and you fill this place
Won't you come, Won't you come and fill this place

This song puts into words what the cry of my heart in worship has been for years. Lord will you come? If I show up and sing songs of worship, will you come and fill this place with your Spirit? And there are times when that happens - when the presence of God fills the room. And there are other times when no matter how long, soft or loud I sing, God is nowhere to be found. So what makes the difference? Why does God seem so accessible sometimes and so distant at other times?

I have discovered there is no secret formula for the presence of God. God is not at my beck and call. God is not answerable to me. I, on the other hand, am answerable to God. I thought long and hard about the scripture in James 4:8: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” I really like the first part, but the second half…. “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded,” leaves me a little put off. It seems that if I want to get close to God there are a couple conditions to meet. I need clean hands - hands not involved in sin - and a pure heart that loves Christ and not the things of this world.

Over the years I have learned that it is much easier to get clean hands and a pure heart, not by trying hard to stop doing wrong things, but by simply doing the right things. The more I move towards God in my actions and thoughts, the further I move away from sin. Easy? No. Worth it? Yes!

Because the Holy Spirit dwells in me, I don’t need God to come to me as much as I need to be more aware of His constant presence. As the love of ‘things’ slowly fades, the love of Christ grows and I see Him all around. He’s in the rain. He’s in the sunset. He’s in the friends around me. He’s even in the car with me when someone cuts me off! There are still times when I feel like God is closer than at other times, but I believe I am becoming more God aware.

How about you? Do you feel close to or far away from God? Why? Drop me a note and let’s talk about it.

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Eric has been a worship leader for over 33 years, starting with a campus group at CMU. He has been leading worship at Community Church for the last four years. Eric has attended several worship seminars and read a variety of books on the subject. He enjoys helping people connect with God through praise and worship.

He has been married to Deb for 31 years. They have four wonderful children and two especially wonderful grandchildren. Eric and Deb are currently enjoying the empty nest stage of their lives.

Eric is a CMU alumnus and has been living in Mt. Pleasant since 1974. He worked as a graphic artist for many years but now is a self-employed carpenter. He enjoys many outdoor activities, especially camping with his family and singing around the campfire.