I often read or hear a servant of Christ insist that worship is “more than singing.” We are frequently told that making a meal for your family or cleaning your car or helping your neighbor are all acts of worship. When these acts are the outgrowth of our love for God and are done to demonstrate that love, I would agree that they are “worshipful,” but technically they are not worship. I’m not seeking to parse meaning with undue rigor, but we need to be precise in our definitions if we want to accurately embrace the very purpose for our existence. Worship is the actual act of ascribing worth directly to God. Worshipful actions may do this indirectly, but when the Bible commands and commends worship as our highest expression, it is not talking about anything other than direct, intentional, Vertical outpouring of adoration. While that does not have to be put to music, it does have to be direct and not indirect to rise above the “worshipful” and actually ascribe worth to God. First Chronicles 16, Psalm 29, and Psalm 96 define worship with surgical precision: “Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name” (Psalm 29:1–2). Worship is mind, emotions, and will engaged in whole-person ascription of worth.

Nothing brings glory down in church as quickly and as powerfully as when God’s people unashamedly adore God’s great Son, Jesus Christ. Not just a few enthusiasts in the front row when the service starts but a room packed to the walls with fired-up Christians. Not testimony to personal benefit resulting from gospel belief, but ascription of worth to the God of the gospel. When that happens, an unbeliever coming in will “worship God and declare that God is really among you” (1 Corinthians 14:25). A whole body of believers worshipping with their whole beings can expect to get the only thing we have to offer this world: “Is it not in [God’s] going with us … that we are distinct … from every other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:16). All church activities that dilute, diminish, or detract from worship destroy Verticality, deny the priority of doxology, and forfeit what Vertical Church is all about—glory. … (more…)

You can’t fake glory. You can’t manufacture it, or manipulate it, or manifest it at will. Only God Himself can bring glory into a church, and when He does, communities get shaken and lives get changed, and the fame of Jesus Christ curls continuously upon the shore of human hearts like a Hawaii 5-0 wave. Church is supposed to be a tsunami of glory every Sunday, and that is what we gather for. Push out of your mind your concepts of church as community, church as mission, church as evangelistic tool, or church as instruction in Scripture. Church can be all of those things with great power if God is in the house. Vertical Church points to a new day where God is the seeker and we are the ones found. In Vertical Church God shows up, and that changes everything.

This is a significant week in the life our church and our fellowship of churches, with the release of the book, Vertical Church. It’s the story of our twenty-five-year try-fail-try again pursuit of the single goal of experiencing God’s glory—and one that I fervently pray will be used in churches around the world to ignite a renewed hunger and passion for His manifest presence.

In addition, the first worship CD from our Vertical Church Band releases today…and I cannot adequately express how fired up I am about these songs of ascription to our Savior. (more…)

When Kathy and I were in seminary in the late eighties, we began to pray, “God, we will go anywhere you want us to go, but if You would allow it, we would like to pastor one church for our ministry.” I had already been a youth pastor at a church of two hundred and a singles pastor at a church of two thousand. And I had studied enough churches with significant fruitfulness to know that long-tenured senior pastorates were a key ingredient in abundant fruitfulness. I never dreamed of a church with ten thousand people; there was no such thing at the time, and my heart was much less for a big place and much more for a God place, a glory place. We prayed and prayed for God to lead us somewhere away from Chicago and hopefully back to our home country of Canada. When seminary and our two-year commitment to the church we were in came to an end, we were fervently praying for God open a door somewhere, never dreaming we were already there.

Nobody expressed an interest in our ministry from the channels we pursued, so we decided to remain in our current assignment and put some money down on a house in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. No sooner had we emptied our little nest egg into escrow than we heard from sixteen different churches around North America and even candidated at one in Winnipeg. Still, it seemed God would not lead us to abandon our house deposit. Just then, the phone rang in our little apartment behind the bookstore at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School less than a month after graduation. It was a group of eighteen people from five different churches who wanted us to lead them in planting a new church in the northwest suburbs. As I hung up the phone, I laughed out loud, and it was one of the few times the Lord spoke clearly into my spirit, “Don’t laugh.” A heaviness came over me and Kathy, and we wept tears of submission as we knelt by the couch and told the Lord we would stay if this was the place He wanted us to remain. I really didn’t want to plant a church, as any church planter I had ever known spent the bulk of his time storing speakers in his garage (more…)

It was Jack Nicholson who famously bellowed to Tom Cruise while playing Colonel Nathan R. Jessup in the courtroom scene of A Few Good Men, “You can’t handle the truth.” I wonder if the screenwriter knew how succinctly he had summarized our culture. Individual capacity to bear the weight of truth has been mortally wounded in a world that idolizes tolerance and despises anyone who threatens our addiction to autonomy. If this were only true in society at large that would be one thing, but as Christian philosopher extraordinaire Francis Schaeffer rightly observed, “The spirit of the age becomes the spirit of the church.” For that reason I confess to wondering about the capacity of most, including many church leaders, even pastors to rightly evaluate and benefit from the content of this chapter. “Can’t you just focus on the positives of Vertical Church without exposing its absence?” Though I might prefer to avoid the refutation of error, the New Testament commands it. Yet why does it seem that most who are willing to do that work tend to call all doctrinal variance false teaching and anyone with a different view a heretic? Why isn’t failure to love and work for unity as Christ modeled considered the greatest kind of false teaching? Where rebuke comes from elders in the body of Christ it should be directed against confirmed, substantive error, not disagreement over method or minor variation in doctrine, and it should come from those qualified to give it. Even ESPN realizes that veteran NFL players are in the best position to critique those currently on the field. Spiritual gifts are dangerous when expressed in isolation and not governed by the complimentary gifts found in a healthy local church. Churches were never intended to have a single focus like Jiffy Lube or Dairy Queen but to be fully biblical in all priorities. To be Vertical and powerful in God’s strength, we must labor to be all that God commands and not crouch in any corner of mutual congratulation about an isolated biblical emphasis.

I fear that challenging the church in North America about its true condition spiritually is gonna be like getting Charlie Sheen to show up for an intervention; however, I have (more…)

“A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.” (Proverbs 29:11)

A complex issue for ministry leaders is how to process the incredible amount of feedback that comes from so many sources, both in and outside the church. It falls into some basic levels, regardless of the source:

• General input (random and one time)
• Persistent input (continuous on many topics, not always negative)
• Irreconcilable disagreement without sin (Paul and Barnabas)
• Constructive criticism (always negative, but goal is helping)
• Destructive criticism (always negative, with goal to wound)
• Harsh unjust criticism (intended to tear down)
• Personal attack and character assassination (intended to destroy)

The further what you’re facing is down that list, the more this article is intended to guide you. Part of the puzzle in processing feedback requires evaluation of the person who brings it (let’s save that for another post). A.W. Tozer and many other men of God have had, throughout their ministries, a policy of ‘no attack, no defense’ when the opposition involved unjust or untrue statements from those outside of their own churches. Instead they chose silence, and I believe we should do the same.

1: When Answering Would Cause You To Sin
Every question does not need an answer. For those outside the information flow, the interrogative can be more appealing than the prerogative of love, as the former expands the ego while the latter deconstructs it. Knowing the whole story is a burden that leaders must bear in plurality, so the company or the congregation or the country does not have to carry the weight of full disclosure. In a culture where journalists dictate the information flow, we start to think getting the full scoop is the ultimate good. But seeing firsthand the failings of others without becoming disillusioned is what leaders are called to carry (more…)

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” – Ephesians 5:22-24

It’s good, on a regular basis, to review what the Bible actually says about the roles in a household. Today, let’s consider the wife’s place. But first, here’s the biblical bottom line in understanding marital roles: men and women are equal under God in every way. They are equal in importance, in standing, in significance, in privilege, and in worth. But here is the mistake often made: equality does not require or mean sameness. That is the error of the world that we use the Word of God to displace.

God’s Word instructs wives to submit to their husbands. The Greek word for submit is hupotasso. It was originally a military term. It means to subject or to subordinate yourself. The idea is to place yourself under. No one forces submission. It is a willing choice that a godly woman makes as unto Christ. It’s a voluntary commitment followed by a regular practice of yielding to her own husband.

Yield! This is the Word of the Lord. A wife’s place is to yield to her husband. If a collision is about to take place, if two people are trying to go at opposite angles, wives—your responsibility under God—is to yield at that point of conflict so it doesn’t destroy your marriage.

Here’s how John Piper and Wayne Grudem summarize submission in their great book, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. “Submission refers to a wife’s divine calling to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership and help carry it through, according to her gifts. It is not an absolute surrender of her will. Rather, we speak of her disposition to yield to her husband’s guidance and her inclination to follow his leadership. Christ is her absolute Authority, not the husband.”

The most important question (often not even asked) that a woman should answer before saying “yes” to a marriage proposal is, “Am I willing to yield to this man as Christ’s representative in my life for the rest of my life?” Failure to settle this question doesn’t invalidate your marriage—it just means that you may be in for a much harder experience in voluntarily yielding to your husband out of obedience to Christ. If that’s your situation, you will need to depend continuously on Christ for wisdom and strength as you live for Him.

Journal

How does the wife’s place as the designated yielder match and illustrate the role of the church as designated yielder in her relationship with Christ?

Prayer

Father, the place of a wife is a high calling from You to serve her husband and children out of the strength she gains from You. Help those of us who are wives to continually look to You for wisdom in speaking, in acting, and in yielding when each of these is part of our role in marriage. Thank You for making our place clear, even though it is a challenge for us. It simply reminds us continually how much we must rely on Your help. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Transcendence is the best single word I have found to describe the attributes of God that are only found in Him and what is missing too often from our churches. We are facilitators of transcendence. Our main job is to usher in the Almighty—God forgive us when we have settled for less. When transcendence is welcomed and unveiled, no one even notices the program, the preacher, or other people. Anything resembling performance seems out of place. Because all that is visible is eclipsed by what is not: God Himself moving through the church in power and meeting with His people in manifest ways.

When did we decide that relevant need-meeting was superior to awesome God-meeting? We have settled for the horizontal and become comfortable leading and attending churches that God does not. Sailing is only delightful when the wind blows, and church without the transcendent leaves us dead in the water. Does your heart hunger for the miraculous in church where God’s power is manifested in measureable ways?

May I ask some honest questions? Whether you attend a megachurch, a large church, a medium or small or microchurch—when was the last time God took you to the mat and pinned you with a fresh awareness of His size compared to yours? How have we come to be content with so little of God’s obvious presence? I believe there are reasons why good, dedicated people serving the Lord settle for so much less than what church (more…)

A real encounter with the living God changes everything. First it magnifies the Lord, and then it puts me and my ego and my sin and my burdens, that moments ago seemed so big, all in their rightful place.

That is what church is supposed to do and be. Not an encounter with the glory of God in creation, but an encounter with God in a different, even more awesome way, that only church can provide. In fact church, as a weekly experience with the manifest glory of God is the greatest lack in our day. The lost are not found because God’s glory is not revealed in church. Children wander because church is pathetically predictable or shamefully entertaining but hardly ever authentically God. Marriages flounder because arrogance grows unchecked in our hearts and is not weekly cut down by the pride-withering presence of almighty God. Church was never intended to be a place we serve God to the exclusion of meeting with Him. What I felt that morning at the edge of the Hawaiian volcano is what we need to experience in church every week. We cannot survive spiritually without that corporate connection in heart, soul, mind and strength with the One who made us. That’s what I mean by Vertical.

People Are Desperate
Twice in the past 3 weeks I have stood in a home with heart sick families shrieking in despair at the discovery of a loved one who had ended their life. A young man crumpled in his basement, gun strewn nearby as his body fell lifeless in his final second on earth. An old man blue and bloated hanging in the garage of the home he shared with no one, freed in that act of finality from the fears and loneliness that cornered and conquered his rational thought. I was in these situations and many others because a while back I decided to become a chaplain with a local police department. My ministry had become too isolated from the people we are trying to reach and disciple. (more…)

Church was never meant to be safe.
Or comfortable. Or predictable.
God isn’t any of those things.
Church is supposed to arrest our pride.
Church is meant to crush our selfishness.
Church was created to carry our heartache and comfort our affliction.
Church is where we find community, express compassion and engage in mission.
But church without God does none of that.
Make the change that changes everything and learn how to go Vertical at church.
Discover the things God has designed and given us to welcome His glory and provoke His manifest presence.
When church stops being about us, it can be about God again.
And when God comes back to church…it’s time to order more chairs.

From August to October, I’m bringing the message of Vertical Church to 40 cities across North America. Check out the trailer below, then get the details here.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. ⁷Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” – Proverbs 3:5-8

On most days, if you spend time with me, at some point you will hear me say, “I trust the Lord in everything.” Now, when I say this, I’m not trying to impress anyone else or even expect that anyone else will necessarily notice. I’m talking to myself. I’m reminding myself that part of loving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength gets down to the very practical matter of trusting Him constantly, continuously, and consciously. Like, every day, all day. I’m practicing the discipline required to not lean on my own understanding and to actively acknowledge the Lord in all my ways. There isn’t anything that fits outside of everything, and I want to trust the Lord in everything!

Now, the opening phrase of Proverbs 3:5 is “Trust in the Lord.” The most important word in that phrase is not trust (even though it’s the verb). Likewise, the most important word in my daily phrase, “I trust the Lord in everything,” isn’t trust either. The crucial, weighty word in both those phrases is Lord. You see, if I’m trying to have a robust and powerful trust in a tiny, pretty much unable and weak God who needs to be pumped up by my trust, I’ve got nothing. But even if the best I can muster up is a mustard seed of trust and faith in the awesome (the only truly correct use for this adjective) God of the universe, then I’ve got something going on!

Trusting the Lord isn’t hard as long as you are scoped into the Lord you trust. When the concern shifts to trying to measure the power, strength, or endurance of your trust itself, you’re already in trouble. But when your attention is daily turned to Him, seeking to know Him better and better, eager to worship Him and be with others who want to worship Him, trusting becomes part of the response.

I love my grandchildren. They trust me. They don’t waste any time wondering if their trust in me is big enough—they just trust because they know me. I’m their grandpa! I trust the Lord in everything. I know that trust isn’t much on its own some days. But that’s OK—because I’m trusting the Lord in everything. And that’s who really matters! —James MacDonald

Journal

How do I remind myself of the most important reasons I live the life I live?

What does it mean to me to trust the Lord? How does that look?

Prayer

Father, I trust You in everything! Help me in those times when I notice just how weak and insignificant my trust is! I welcome You into every corner of my life, Lord, so that no matter where I am and what I am doing, behind it all I am trusting You in everything. For You alone are worthy of my trust. In Jesus’ trustworthy name, Amen.