I have a friend who is incredibly passionate about everything he does. I am pretty sure he would spend time thinking through the best, most efficient way to zip his pants in the morning and then spend hours perfecting the process of grilling his favorite cut of steak. 

When I say he is passionate, I mean he cares and makes intentional decisions. When he cares about something, he takes time to think about everything involved in making “it” the best it can be through research, planning, trial and error, and so on. For a time, my friend lives and breathes information related to his current task. I have had the honor of working on a number of projects with him over the years. Pulling cable, hanging lights, writing drama scripts, and developing a creative plan for elements in our Sunday services. Each time I get to work on something with him, I am challenged to live more intentionally and become more thankful for him. 

At different times in my life, I have lived and made decisions on purpose like my friend. Other times, life seemed to happen to me and I made decisions accordingly. When it comes to living a life of worship, I believe we have to be intentional. Instead of just letting our day happen, we can live and worship on purpose. 

- When we wake up, we can be thankful for the blessing of life and our current life circumstances. Things like heat, a roof, and electricity to make what I strongly dislike…coffee :)

- When we prepare for our day, we can see how God has been faithful in our past, and look forward to what He can do in our future. 

- We can look for or recall Bible verses that apply to something happening in our life, or in the life of a friend/family member. 

- When we spend time with people, we can think of ways to invest in them as a friend or mentor.  

- When we “work," we should do so as though it is for the One who created us. 

- When we spend time with family, we can honor God in the way we care for, provide for, and love them.

- When life doesn’t make sense because of difficult circumstances, we can thank God for His promise to always love, protect, and care for us…even if we can’t see it in our current condition.

- We can be in constant conversation with the only One who has the power to do anything with our current circumstances. 

- When we listen to music, we can listen to songs that point us to Jesus and remind us of what God has done and what He will do. 


Friday night's worship concert is an opportunity to spend time singing words of praise and thanks to God. I look forward to these nights spent together as a family of believers worshiping through music. It is a time to slow down, focus on who God is and be intentional in our relationship with our Creator who loves us in ways we cannot fathom! 

Whatever it takes,

James