Author: Matthew Ball

“Ashes to ashes…dust to dust….” I watched them. I watched the parents as we lowered the body of a young Marine into a freshly dug grave on the side of that Virginia mountain. You aren’t supposed to bury your children – your children are supposed to bury you. We had all prayed so earnestly for healing. But in God’s sovereign plan, it was not to be. The cancer had viciously stolen their son.

I watched them that day. In the face of grief I cannot fathom, they worshiped God. “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the Name of the Lord.” They lifted their hands up through the dark shroud of sorrow and confusion and praised the Lord.

Now, I know that we should praise God even for the little things – for helping us find our keys when we lose them or for that bigger-than-expected tax refund check we got in the mail. But there is something different about the worship of a person who is in affliction. When a person is walking through a dark trial that life has dealt, yet continues to bless the Lord – that is worship of a deeper sort. Sometimes God doesn’t answer prayers like we think He should or allows things to happen that we don’t understand. The worship we offer during those times is worship that is deep and rich. When the answer hasn’t come or the miracle is nowhere to be found yet praise still rises from our lips – that is worship with a fragrance unlike any other.

The incense offered to God behind the veil was unique. Into a censor filled with burning coals from the Altar, the high priest would place “incense beaten small” (Lev. 16:13). The smoke and fragrance from that burning incense would fill the Holies of Holies like a cloud and cover the Mercy Seat. This special incense produced by a crushing, beating and pressure was what was most glorious to God. Incense beaten small produced a fragrance reserved for the Holiest of All.

Perhaps the worship that brings the most glory to God is the worship we give while in the crucible of affliction. There is a unique fragrance produced when we give praise to God even when we feel like tests and trials are crushing us. When you’re in tribulation or heated spiritual battle, yet rejoice and praise God, you are producing a fragrance of worship like none other. When you feel like the adversities and disappointments of life are beating you small – breaking you to a fine powder – yet you still trust and praise Him, you are giving an offering of worship that is a sweet incense to God. God doesn’t take pleasure in our suffering. But when we praise and worship Him during adversity, it must surely bring Him deep joy.

In Revelation 7, the elders asked, “Who are those people?” Who are those people worshiping before the throne with palm branches in their hands? The angel said those are people who have come through great tribulation! Adversity had not silenced their worship. Great tribulation had not dampened their praise. The elders took note! The angels remarked! Perhaps what captures the attention of the world more than the blessings of God on our lives is the praise we offer to God in the midst of life’s difficulties!

Can we still worship even when going through great tribulation? When the mortar and pestle of adversity seem to crush us to powder, can we still offer praise to God? When we feel beaten small by sorrow and disappointment, will we be faithful to God? When we don’t understand why God has not answered our prayer, will we still give glory to His Name? Worship that emanates from incense beaten small yields a fragrance unlike any other.

– Pastor Ball

I love to eat. One of my favorite pastimes is going out with friends on the weekend to try a new restaurant or to frequent an old regular like Cheesecake Factory or Mama Carollas. Living in Carmel, Indiana, doesn’t help. Our city is home to many great restaurants. Some, like Bub’s Burgers, have even garnered national attention through television shows like Man vs. Food. To further compound the problem, my travels around the world have created within me an insatiable craving for ethnic food. I could eat Indian, Thai, Mediterranean, Korean or Mandarin everyday!

But I’m not fat because I love food! I know why I’m fat. It’s not because I’m a connoisseur of fine cuisine. It’s very simple – I’m fat because I consume more than I expend! It’s true that calories from some foods are healthier than foods with “empty” calories. I’m sure genetics and metabolism play a role. I’m told the body can go into “ketosis” by cutting carbs which can result in weight loss. Complex chemistry and science have their place. But the bottom line remains – we are fat because we take in more than we burn up.

God never intended the human body to consistently consume more than it expends. When we do so consistently we become overweight which can lead to all sorts of health problems. The human body is more healthy and fit when, through exercise and activity, it burns up what it takes in. The Body of Christ is no different! God never intended on His church solely being recipients of His blessings. It was never His will that we consume more than we expend.

Too many Christians are chronic spiritual consumers who never give out. They just enjoy the blessings without ever passing them on. How many churches are full of spiritually obese Christians who, week after week, sit at the buffet of great worship and preaching? They gorge themselves on the Presence and Word of God. They fill themselves with all the rich blessings of Christianity, yet never expend what they consume. They don’t serve. They don’t pour out to others. They’ve forgotten what it means to be a servant.

Evangelist Bobbie Lewis preached Sunday at FAC a message untitled, “Will you take the towel?” At the Last Supper, while the disciples were arguing over who was greatest among them, Jesus took a towel and began to wash His disciple’s feet. He taught them that true greatness comes through serving others. He said, “You’ll be happy if you do what I’ve just taught you.” It’s been ingrained into us that happiness comes from being served. But Jesus taught just the opposite. He said true happiness comes from serving – from giving rather than receiving.

Are you fat, spiritually? Is your Christian experience centered more around what God and the Church does for you than what you do for God and His church? Being a Dead Sea with only inflows and no outflows will lead to stagnation and spiritual disease. Just like natural obesity contributes to heart disease, spiritual obesity leads to diseases of the heart – misguided affections, spiritual callousness, a lack of love for others, and on and on. What we receive from God and our church is given for the purpose of filling and empowering us to go out and serve our world.

It’s miserable being fat! Our clothes don’t fit right. Our energy levels run low! I’m currently exercising, cutting back my calories and feeling good as I’m losing some extra pounds. Some of the most miserable people in the world are Christians who don’t serve – Christians who take in more than they give out. If you’re looking for happiness in your walk with God – pick up the towel! True satisfaction comes when we give to others. You’ve been a spiritual couch potato long enough! Make a commitment today to serve God, your church and your world. You will discover a joy and satisfaction reserved only for those with a servant’s heart.

– Pastor Ball

Pastor Osborne’s recent comments at our Pastor’s prayer meeting provided the inspiration for this evening’s thoughts:

When we are first learning to read, we stick to books like, “See Spot Run” – a simple story about Dick, Jane and Spot. “See spot. See spot run. Look, Jane, look.” You get the idea! There’s really no plot. With a book like this, you are not reading to learn – you are learning to read. There is no character development or theme. There’s no lesson. You’re just learning to read.

You advance to read stories like, “The Three Little Pigs.” It’s still a simple book. It has the same characters throughout. It’s not complicated or deep. But you begin to learn something from what you are reading. There’s a plot. There’s a message or moral to the story.

We graduate as adults to books that are broken down into chapters. The chapters are about different things and have different themes and lessons. Events will happen in some chapters, but never again in the rest of the book. You’ll meet characters in one chapter who disappear altogether in the next and may never reappear in rest of the story. Things in some chapters that are very important may no longer even play a role in later chapters. But we understand the author knows the beginning from the end and is weaving together a story. In the end the author will have worked all those chapters TOGETHER into a beautiful masterpiece.

Our lives are not like the book “See Spot Run” or “The Three Little Pigs.” Our lives are comprised of chapters. People move in and out of our lives. Circumstances and settings change. Some things that are very important to us now will not even be on our radar in a year. Some chapters are filled with adversity, hardship or grief. Others are about joy, progress or accomplishment. There are chapters that seem uneventful, even boring, while others bring new faces and new places.

As Christians we hold fast to the promise that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). We believe that God is the Author and Finisher of our faith and that He is blending the various chapters of our lives together into a beautiful masterpiece.

There are times when we don’t understand why things are happening. We’ve all asked God, “Why?” Why did this happen? What good can become of this? Many times life doesn’t make sense. If you were to read just one chapter of a novel, it probably would not make any sense at all. It’s only when you read the whole story that you realize every chapter played an important part of the whole. When we get to the end, we will look back and see that God used all the different chapters of our lives to create a beautiful story of grace and victory.

The important thing is to trust in God. Trust that He is in control and charge of our lives. We’ve put the pen in His hand. Now we must trust the Author. We must believe that He is working all things for our good and His glory.

The last year or so has been a difficult season, both for me personally and for our church. We’ve experienced death, loss, sickness and serious spiritual battles. It’s been a chapter about trusting God in the storm. The theme of this chapter has been about walking by faith and praising God even when you don’t understand.

At the turn of the New Year, I felt a change. In the last five weeks we’ve had INCREDIBLE services, huge crowds and guests and a great outpouring of God’s Spirit. I feel like God is turning the page and beginning to write a new chapter. I know every season has some spiritual battles and adversity, but I feel like this new chapter is going to be one filled with revival, growth and progress. I sense we’re entering a season of new faces, new places and new opportunities.

I believe 2013 will be a new chapter for you as well. God has turned the page. The pain and difficulty of the last chapter will not carry into this new season. Perhaps you feel the same anticipation. Whatever the New Year holds, I know He is the Author and is working all things together for good.

~Pastor Ball