Dean Inserra

I believe that Romans 10:13 is true:

for, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

If that is true then the next two verses should be my life:

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” ~Romans 10:14-14

“If hell is real, and if people are truly in danger of spending eternity there, then there is no more urgent and important task than doing precisely what Jesus told his apostles to do before he ascended to heaven—proclaim to the world the good news that forgiveness of sins is offered through Jesus Christ!” ~Greg Gilbert

Many Christians have Romans 10:13 memorized. If that knowledge does not lead to verses 14 and 15….man, are we missing it big time.

-I am working on a book. It is going to be a long project because it is something I can only devote “spare time” to writing. My commitment to The Well is by far taking priority over writing. I spent two hours in the home of NFL legend, Raymond Berry on Thursday. He was very kind and allowed me to interview him for the project. My two favorite things are Church and sports. I will be writing about the two and I am pumped. I am also thankful we have a creative writing major at The Well who is going to be a major help. Sitting across the table from the greatest wide receiver of the pre-merger era of the NFL and AFL was seriously one of the coolest things ever.

-Great quote Regarding consumerism in The Church from a new book called  AND: “People don’t need most of the stuff we give them. In fact, there seems to be a direct correlation between providing too much and the immaturity that develops when people are given the chance to overindulge.” The authors go on to say there is only one way to overcome the problem of consumerism: “You have to remove what they are consuming.” Wow. I will be processing that one for a few days.

-I am pretty anxious about what I will be preaching on this Sunday. You need to be there and bring a friend.

-My Canes are 1-0! I do love Coach Taylor and what he is doing at FAMU.  I wish it would have been somebody different like Samford.

-This is our last Sunday at The Moon! Who do you need to invite to the warehouse on the 12th? How about to The Moon this Sunday?

You may wonder why I make such a big deal about how we use the word “worship.”

Actually, it is pretty easy.

It is important to make sure we do not revert back to an old testament definition/style of worship where it is about a time, place, and actual experience.

On the other end of the spectrum, it also prevents “Sunday Christian” type action that makes worship a destination or event that you check-off the list.

Worship done in a New Testament way is not about a time, place, or activity…it is about a lifestyle.

While everyone I know would agree with the above statement, you would never know it by the way believers describe singing on Sundays and all of the cultural terms we have placed onto the time of music that sadly is a deciding factor for how many view one’s spirituality.

I am spending this week talking about how many view the word “worship.”

Who is the worship leader at The Well?

We have so many that I can’t even count.

There are the college students who work 12 hours a week at a random job for $8 an hour and give every single week.

There are the people who show up really early on a day they could be sleeping in and clean The Moon.

There are those who don’t even get to participate in the main gathering because they are back teaching and loving The Well kids.

We have lots of worship leaders.

Somewhere and somehow down the line, we gave that title to people who play an instrument. It is common in The Church to ask the congregation to “please stand and worship.” What happens after they sit? When they walk out the door?

You will hear that someone sings really well, but they need to know how to be a better worship leader. I am begging for someone to show me in Scripture what in the heck that actually means.

Singing is biblical, it is good, it is meaningful, it is commanded, it is important.Yes Yes Yes.

I think a troubling thing in my generation is that we have defined “true worship” by how awesome the goose-bump moments are during a song and what people are doing with their bodies.

We very intentionally no longer call the song leader on stage the “worship leader.” We call him the director of Well Bands. You will not hear him spend 5 minutes during the service explaining what true worship really is. If we wanted to hear a lesson about that, we would bring the person on stage that was cleaning the bathrooms 4 hours before.

It is pretty common in a Church gathering to hear a singer state “worship the Lord in spirit and in truth!” That usually means raise your hands, close your eyes, and really get into the song. Nothing wrong with that, but when Jesus proclaimed those famous words while he was at a well in Samaria, it had nothing to do with the context in which we use it today. There was no music at that well because what he was proclaiming had nothing to do with singing.

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. John 4:24

There were two major issues Jesus was addressing in this divinely appointed encounter in Samaria:

1. A large number of Jews looked clean, pure, and holy on the inside, but were decayed and rotten inside of their hearts. Jesus used the imagery of a “white-washed tomb,” to make his point of how filthy these people truly were on the inside. Jesus said that the kind of “worshiper” The Father is looking for is one who worships “in spirit.” As in, there is a renewed heart that is constantly being renewed. This has nothing to do with singing! NOTHING. Like ZERO. It is a change of heart that is being conformed into the image of Christ.

2. Samaritans were not permitted to participate in the sacrifices and acts of worship (old system) in Jerusalem. Even if they were permitted, they would not have wanted to be there. So, they constructed their own system, one that would allow them to participate, feel comfortable, and be “right” about the proper way to worship. They used Mount Gerizim, rather than Jerusalem, to worship God. One MAJOR problem….that was not the system God set up! The point: do not construct a God or system that fits your agenda. Worship God in truth! As he reveals himself as God

So as a worshiper, I am believing and following The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob revealed in Jesus Christ. My heart and mind are being renewed day by day. Jesus said in the encounter with the Samaritan woman that a time was coming when it wouldn’t be about Temple worship or Mount Gerizim. It would be about individual lives.

Worship is how I live my life as a husband, responding inside my heart to follow the truth about what God says I should do in this role.

Worship is how I respond to those in need, based on the truth of how Jesus said I am to look out for the oppressed.

Worship is how I respond to people who have wronged me and I flat out dislike. This is based on how I live out how Jesus told me to love.

More on this tomorrow!