Know Me...PLEASE!!!

What’s the big deal about being known by others, anyway?

A little over a decade ago, Justin Hall, a sophomore at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, decided he wanted to record his personal diary on a computer message board for his friends to see. Mainly, he talked about video games and touring the World Wide Web (a fairly new development at the time). However, as his entries continued, they began to become more personal and emotionally revealing. This new “cyber-diary” became known as the “weblog,” or an electronic location for personal information. In a few years, the adage would be shortened to “blog,” and the idea of revealing one’s personal life to the entire world became the next big thing - and before you knew it, places were popping up all over the internet for people to congregate for the purposes of finding community.

If you’re not familiar with the “blog” phenomenon or the “internet socialization highway” that has become wildly popular in the past several years, then you are either buried in a dark hole or one of those people who believes that the computer is a fad like butterfly collars and will soon go away…or both. Regardless of where you are on the internet superhighway curve, the fact is that hundreds of millions of people are rushing to these electronic portals of community every day. “Why would people want to do that,” you might ask? To be known.

You see, being real and fully exposed is becoming more and more popular. As this next generation is maturing, there is an intense movement afoot for genuineness and reality (we need look no further than the glut of reality shows on the airwaves to understand this). The age of the silent generation is over and young people now, more than ever, on are on a quest to find out what’s authentic. As long as diaries have been kept, they have been outlets for individuals to let their hair down and reveal everything. Weblogs, socialization portals, and the like, are a way for people to make themselves known. The vast difference, however, is that what was once private is now fully revealed to the masses.

For example, here’s an average profile from one of these internet communities by a young girl named Krystyn. She says about herself:

Status: Single, by choice

Here for: Networking, Serious Relationships, Friends

Orientation: Straight, I guess

Hometown: ElPaso, TX

Body type: 5' 1" / Kinda Sexy, if you like really short girls

Ethnicity: White / Caucasian

Religion: Undecided

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Children: See Status (Above)

Occupation: Student

Often times, in an effort to be known by others, writers in these electronic societies will simply place their every thought on the page. Here’s Gregg’s mundane self-disclosure in a recent entry. He includes:

Is Math the most boring subject in the world or not? All I can remember in school is being told over and over – you’ll need this when you grow up. And now, here I am grown up, and I can’t do math. I don’t need to! I have a calculator on my phone, on my watch, in my drawer—they’re everywhere. But, sometimes, I get cought without my calculator and have to add or make a percentage..and I just can’t do it. Do you remember haw to calculate percentages…cause I sure don’t! Oops, I guess I should have paid attention afterall…

But what is all too telling are entries like this one from Jan, 19, married, and part of a “blogring” (an internet community for people of a similar affinity) known as the “suicides. She writes:

You can’t spell painted without pain. There’s a reason for the title. There’s a reason why stats aren’t accurate. There’s a reason why suicide is common. There’s a reason for the clichés. There’s a reason for it all, or at least, for most of it. Suicide is the national killer. Clichés about suicide formed for those who need to cope with losing a loved one, or for attempting and failing themselves. Not all who commit suicide want to. And no one understands suicide better than those who’ve survived it.

But I can’t vouch for everyone on my suicide. I’ve never cut. I’ve never lowered myself to drugs and alcohol. I’ve never physically hurt another person. I’ve never done half the things considered suicidal. But I attempted, a few years ago. I had my depression medicine with me while I was in the car at my mothers work. I couldn’t tell you what was on my mind, nor could I tell you why I had done it, but I did. I tried drugging myself. Before I took enough to be sent to the hospital, I ran out. I was disappointed then, but now I’m quite relieved…

To further understand the magnitude to which this extends, I invite you to take some time over the next few days and explore some of these internet societies on the internet. It’s amazing what some people will say to be known by others and make friends. Now, buyer beware, not everything out there is wholesome. In fact, some people will go to great lengths to disgust or offend you with their style of disclosure. But if you can sort through the amateuristic composure and seemingly disjointed thought patterns that accompany some people’s thoughts, I believe you will find an underlying thread throughout these cyber-communities – “know me and be my friend”

As we come to a new sermon series, we will be capitalizing on this phenomenon. The series entitled, OurSpace.com is a quest uncover the truths of living in community with others and being known by them and by God. In your worship this week, contemplate on the idea of being known and having the courage to be fully transparent with everyone…including God.

Resounding Themes:
Omnipotent God
Knowing Fully, As I Am Fully Known
Reflecting Jesus
Community

Ready, Set, READ

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

Ready, Set, MEDITATE

- Are you shocked by the “blog” phenomenon? What aspect of it do you find the hardest to understand? What part of it is attractive to you? What do you think motivated people to share their lives at incredibly deep levels with total strangers? Would you be surprised to know that many people tell the truth in self revelation on blogs? On the flipside, there are some who make-up entirely artificial alter egos – what point do they miss in the blog experience?

- Who is you best friend in this life? Why? Can you point to a single circumstance in you relationship that solidified this bond, or was it a series of circumstances that has grown and matured it? Are you able to share everything with this person? Even the darkest parts of your makeup that no one else knows? If not, what keeps you from being fully known by them? If you have, what has sharing in this way done for you?

- How is it possible for a friend to be able to love at all times? Are there times when you are unlovable? Your friends? What truth under girds all true friendships? Is it true that brothers and sisters are necessary during times of adversity? Relate a time when you’ve found that to be all too true.

Ready, Set, PRAY

God, what words could we express to capture the nature of Your character in such a way as to relate our understanding of it to You? You know all, see all, create all, possess all, and rule over all. Not one second of any minute of any hour of any day of any week of any month of any year of any century of any millennium has transpired without You first ordaining it and then noticing its passing.

What an awesome God You are!

In Your creativity, You set man and woman – male and female You created them – to be the coheirs of Your blessings. In Your eyes, it was not good for them to be alone. And Lord, even today, You desire the same for us…that we would not languish without relationship, but that we would thrive in the security that comes from knowing and being known by each other. God, give us the integrity to be authentic. Let us revel in the knowledge that there is One Who knows us to our very being…and even in that knowledge…continues to love us.

We return to You lives of honesty and gratitude. In Jesus AMEN

Ready, Set, WORSHIP!

Would I Die For You?

Have you ever truly thought about who exactly you would willingly give your life for?

In the 1998 movie “Saving Private Ryan,” Steven Spielberg brings us face to face with the drama and reality of WWII Normandy. Based on a real-life situation, the plot begins as we see an elderly man make his way onto the WWII memorial grounds on the shore of Normandy. From that point, we are whisked into a fever pitched flashback of the horrors of war as the Allies charge the beachhead and conquer the entrenched Germans. At that point, Chief of Staff, General Marshall is informed that three of a woman's sons have been killed in other battles and that she's going to receive the notifications of their demise at the same time. And when he learns that a fourth son is still unaccounted for, the General decides to send a unit to find him and bring him back, despite being told that it's highly unlikely that he is still alive and the area that he was known to be in is very dangerous.

With that knowledge in hand, the General goes against the odds and commissions a unit consisting of 8 men, led by Capt. John H. Miller (played by Tom Hanks) to be sent to find the surviving brother, Pvt James Francis Ryan (played by Matt Damon) in war-torn France, and bring him back to the family he has remaining.

As the rag-tag group of soldiers wander across the provincial countryside, it becomes obvious what the objective is and dissention begins to set in. The men wrestle with the whole idea that the army would send 8 perfectly good soldiers into a dead-end situation to rescue a single man who might not even be alive. Nonetheless, Capt Miller gathers up the crew and they continue in their search for Pvt Ryan.

Along the way, the band of brothers is met with many adversarial circumstances including illness, injury, hunger, sleep deprivation, and even death. At one point in the mission, they believe that they have discovered Pvt Ryan, only to learn that he is not the same James Ryan they seek, leaving the young man devastated by the false news of his brothers’ death.

At long last, after much sacrifice, they find Pvt James Francis Ryan, alive, well, and serving his battalion. When he learns of his brothers’ fate, he is shaken, but denies the opportunity to return home until his unit accomplishes their mission of holding a key bridge. Pressed into service, the search party (now reduced to six) take up arms with the tattered unit and await the German onslaught for control of the bridge. In the final battle scene, the true drama unfolds as Capt Miller sacrifices his own life to protect the life of the young Ryan. In his dying words, Miller exhales to Ryan, “…make this count…” With that, the Capt dies. The Allies summarily achieve victory and Ryan is returned home as ordered. In the closing scene, we see the aged Ryan kneeling at the grave of his rescuer, Capt Miller, and he reflects on the life that he’s lived in daily gratitude to the one who saved him.

Would you really give your life for someone? I’m sure many if not all of us could answer “yes” to that question with a couple of faces running through our minds…but if it came down to it, would we really? As we come to our lesson this week, we see Peter, a man of purpose and conviction standing before the Lord professing his undying allegiance – even unto death! And yet, only a matter of hours later, we find the courageous turned coward as he denies Christ three times. Yet, as we see in the Gospel of John, Jesus reinstates Peter and puts him in charge of feeding his sheep and carrying on the work of the Spirit – which will ultimately cost him his life.

In your worship this week, reflect upon the idea of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus and what is means to live a life of equal sacrifice that is worthy of the cross. Meditate on what it might mean for you to understand the significance of Christ’s death in the plan of salvation, and what your own sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel might require of you.

Resounding Themes:
Christ’s Sacrificial Death
Lives of Gratitude
Resolve Seasoned with Patience
Forgiveness Beyond Failure

Ready, Set, READ

Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75

John 21:15-19

Ready, Set, MEDITATE

- As Jesus enters into his most emotion time of his life and ministry, what does he have to say to his beloved disciples? Why does Jesus say this will all occur? How does Peter counter Jesus’ prediction? How does Jesus’ reply “up the ante?” Is Peter swayed at all? Is this in line with what we know of Peter?

- After Jesus is arrested and taken to trial, where do we find Peter? Who confronts him and what is alleged? How does Peter respond? Still again, he confronted…how does he respond? What is somewhat humorous about his first to accusers? What light is shed on of Peter’s resolve in the face of these two girls? Finally, after a third denial, how does Peter prove his innocence? Just as Jesus predicts, what occurs?

- When come to the Gospel of John, what are the circumstances between Jesus and the disciples? And Peter? Knowing this, what does Jesus ask Peter? How does Peter respond? Does his recent action match up with his response? After three rounds of similar questioning, how does Peter respond? By your estimation, does Jesus forgive Peter for his denials in the courtyard? In fact, what is Jesus really asking Peter to do?

Ready, Set, PRAY

Constant God.

Unfailing God.

Forever God.

How unmatchable is your character compared to any who have come before or will ever be! For it is you, O Lord, Who found love in Your heart for Your creation and sent Your son Jesus at just the right time. So many times, righteous Father, we have found ourselves with the heart of Peter…eager to be near You and in Your favor…quick to speak and slow to listen. So many times, our mouths have boasted our undying allegiance to Jesus’ precious name; then, as winter ryegrass in the scorching July sun, our resolve withers dormant in the face of opposition or challenge.

O God, what a wretched people we are!

Yet, You meet our inadequacies with Your perfection, our instability with Your constancy…our failure with Your triumph! Restore us once again, blessed Savior. Give us purpose, and dignity, and strength to hold fast to the charge you have given. May we feed Your little lambs, even at the expense of our lives if need be.

Grant us a willing Spirit to sustain us. This is our prayer.

AMEN.

Ready, Set, WORSHIP!

Coming Out of Ruin

Have you ever known some one who fell deeply into sin, only to overcome the failure and become a champion for God?

A couple of weeks ago, Rhesa and I were offered a pair of tickets to the acclaimed Broadway musical, Les Miserables. Accepting the tickets was a bit of a moral dilemma, as our small group was already scheduled to meet on the night of the show. Yet, after about 15 seconds of wrestling and reflection, we painfully came to the conclusion that we would go! HA!

First of all…seeing a Broadway production of a legendary classic is…a transcendent experience. The precision of the orchestra, the execution of the A/V, lighting, and props, the seemingly effortless high notes that bellow from the chest of the singer/actors – all of these meld together in perfect harmony to tell a story in song whose intent is to affect the viewers forever.

This was my first time to see Les Miserables live. I had seen the movie with Liam Neeson on several occasions and had listened to the soundtrack with some frequency in college…but I had never seen the story unfold in the drama of a theater with live players on the stage. And as much as a person goes to a Broadway show to be entertained, I was amazed at how transformative and captivating the experience was for me.

If you’re not familiar with the story line, it goes something like this.

(excerpts taken from the official website: http://www.lesmis.com/

Jean Valjean, released from prison on parole after 19 years on the chain gang, finds that the yellow ticket-of-leave he must, by law, display condemns him to be an outcast. Only the saintly Bishop of Digne treats him kindly and Valjean, embittered by years of hardship, repays him by stealing some silver. Valjean is caught and brought back by police, and is astonished when the Bishop lies to the police to save him, also giving him two precious candlesticks. Valjean decides to start his life anew.

Eight years have passed and Valjean, having broken his parole and changed his name to Monsieur Madeleine, has risen to become both a factory owner and Mayor. One of his workers, Fantine, has a secret illegitimate child. When the other women discover this, they demand her dismissal. The foreman, whose advances she has rejected, throws her out. Desperate for money to pay for medicines for her daughter, Fantine sells her locket, her hair, and then joins the whores in selling herself. Utterly degraded by her new trade, she gets into a fight with a prospective customer and is about to be taken to prison by Javert, the chief of police, when "The Mayor" arrives and demands she be taken to a hospital instead. The Mayor then rescues a man pinned down by a runaway cart. Javert is reminded of the abnormal strength of convict 24601 Jean Valjean, a parole-breaker whom he has been tracking for years, but who, he says, has just been recaptured. Valjean, unable to see an innocent man go to prison in his place, confesses to the court that he is prisoner 24601. At the hospital, Valjean promises the dying Fantine to find and look after her daughter Cosette. Javert arrives to arrest him, but Valjean escapes.

Young Cosette has been lodged for five years with the Thenardiers who run an inn, horribly abusing the little girl whom they use as a skivvy while indulging their own daughter, Eponine. Valjean finds Cosette fetching water in the dark. He pays the Thernardiers to let him take Cosette away and takes her to Paris. But Javert is still on his tail...

Nine years later there is a great unrest in the city because of the likely demise of the popular leader General Lamarque, the only man left in the Government who shows any feeling for the poor. The urchin Gavroche is in his element mixing with the whores and beggars of the capital. Among the street gangs is one led by Thernardier and his wife, which sets upon Jean Valjean and Cosette. They are rescued by Javert, who does not recognize Valjean until after he has made good his escape. The Thernardiers' daughter Eponine, who is secretly in love with the student Marius, reluctantly agrees to help him find Cosette, with whom he has fallen in love. At a political meeting in a small cafe, a group of idealistic students prepare for the revolution they are sure will erupt on the death of General Lamarque. When Gavroche brings the news of the General's death, the students, led by Enjolras, stream out into the streets to whip up popular support. Only Marius is distracted by thoughts of the mysterious Cosette. Cosette is consumed by thoughts of Marius, with whom she has fallen in love. Valjean realizes that his "daughter" is changing very quickly but refuses to tell her anything of her past. In spite of her own feelings for Marius, Eponine sadly brings him to Cosette and then prevents an attempt by her father's gang to rob Valjean's house. Valjean, convinced it was Javert who was lurking outside his house, tells Cosette they must prepare to flee the country. On the eve of the revolution the students and Javert see the situation from their different viewpoints; Cosette and Marius part in despair of ever meeting again; Eponine mourns the loss of Marius; and Valjean looks forward to the security of exile.

The students prepare to build the barricade. Marius, noticing that Eponine has joined the insurrection, sends her with a letter to Cosette, which is intercepted at the Rue Plumet by Valjean. Eponine decides, despite what he has said to her, to rejoin Marius at the barricade.

The barricade is built and the revolutionaries defy an army warning that they must give up or die. Gavroche exposes Javert as a police spy. In trying to return to the barricade Eponine is shot and killed. Valjean arrives at the barricades in search of Marius. He is given the chance to kill Javert, but instead lets him go.

The students settle down for a night on the barricade and, in the quiet of the night, Valjean prays to God to save Marius from the onslaught which is to come. The next day, with ammunition running low, Gavroche runs out to collect more and is shot. The rebels are all killed, including their leader, Enjolras. Valjean escapes into the sewers with the unconscious Marius. After meeting Thernardier, who is robbing the corpses of the rebels, he emerges into the light only to meet Javert once more. He pleads for time to deliver the young man to a hospital. Javert decides to let him go and, his unbending principles of justice having been shattered by Valjean's own mercy, he kills himself by throwing himself into the swollen River Seine. A number of Parisian women come to terms with the failed insurrection and its victims. Unaware of the identity of his rescuer, Marius recovers in Cosette's care.

Valjean confessed the truth of his past to Marius and insists that after the young couple are married, he must go away rather than taint the sanctity and safety of their union. At Marius' and Cosette's wedding the Thernardiers try to blackmail Marius. Thernardier says Cosette's "father" is a murderer and, as proof, produces a ring which he stole from the corpse in the sewers the night the barricades fell. It is Marius' own ring, and he realizes it was Valjean who rescued him that night. He and Cosette go to Valjean, where Cosette learns for the first time of her own history before the old man dies in peace. As he dies the song on his lips is sung…

And lead me to salvation.

Take my love, for love is everlasting.

And remember, the truth that once was spoken.

To love another person is to see the face of God.

What a touching story of both tragedy and a life risen from the rubble. Such is the story of Samson. Last week, we saw the great Samson break God’s covenant and fall from a very high pedestal. Yet, even in the ruin of his own sin, Samson, both blind and bald, makes a choice to pull down the pillars of his unfaithfulness and restore his vow to the Lord.

Where are you today in your walk with God? Are you like Valjean in Les Miserables, a man or woman who has been at the breaking point of sin, only to rise up and pull the pillars down to live a new, changed life? Or are you more like Javert, a person so bent on righteousness that there’s no place in your heart for love or forgiveness or mercy? Wherever you are, focus your worship this week on the unchanging truth that God forgives all sin in Jesus Christ…and more strikingly, he raises us up to a new life in his service!

Resounding Themes:
A Reconciling God
Jesus, the True Restorationist
Pulling Down the Pillars of Sin Thru Confession
Forgiveness

Ready, Set, READ

Judges 16:22-31

Ready, Set, MEDITATE

- After the fall of Samson, his blinding, and being shackled in chains, what ray of hope does the writer give us about his condition? What possible reasons could there be for including this tidbit of the story? Knowing what Samson has done, is this shocking? Warranted? For Samson, what did the growing back of his hair symbolize? What about for us today?

- After Samson is subdued, where is he taken? Why is this ironic for Samson? What do the people say and do with Samson? Again, what is the irony in this for Samson?

- In his final moments, what does Samson decide to do? By what strength does he do it? How does he regain his strength to stand up against God’s enemies once again? What is Samson’s fate? In your opinion, is this a just ending for Samson? Why or why not? Do you see any parallels with this part of Samson’s life and the story of Jesus? Why or why not? Are you in need of pulling down the pillars of sin in your own life?

Ready, Set, PRAY

Father of marvelous light, we come to You and wither in the presence of Your majesty. For in your presence, none can stand in their sinful ways. We confess our sins to you, O God. Our pride, selfishness, greed, lusts…all of these we bring to You and pray in the power of your mighty servant David:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Righteous God, as we pull down the pillars of sin that tower over us, restore to us forgiveness and the joy of Your precious salvation! In Jesus name, AMEN.

Ready, Set, WORSHIP!

The Thing I Don't Want to Do

Have you ever made an earnest vow to do/not do something, but something/some event kept you from following through?

Since I find myself straddling (ever so precariously) the middle-of-the-year fence, I look back at the first half of 2006 and I’m intrigued by my progress concerning New Year’s resolutions. Of the many goals for my life this calendar year, it should come as no shock that one of them is to lose some weight. At the beginning of the year, I had earnestly set out to lose 50 lbs in 2006. Now, that’s an ambitious goal, to be sure, but I was certain with enough conviction, it would happen.

In my first ten days, I was like a man on a mission! I drank Slimfast shakes twice a day. I cooked and ate healthy dinners. Sweets were exorcised from the pantry. Snacks were the stuff of carrots, cauliflower, and celery sticks. So long Startbucks, hello waterjug! By the evening of day 10, I laid down in bed a new man, weight falling off like condensation from a glass of lemonade…and a will to follow through. And then it happened. For if I had laid down that night a new man, the coming dawn would bring about a total opposite effect, for the very next morning, I got that call no one looks forward to…my father had died suddenly in the night. My whole world collapsed like a house of cards at the opening of a door on a windy day. In the coming weeks and months, I would try desperately to get back on track with my vow, but time after time and circumstance after circumstance, I would fail. And so, here I still sit, peering into the next half of this year, and I wonder if I’ll be able once again to regain the fire I once had to change my life forever.

Is my story a reflection of your spiritual life? Do you set ambitious goals for yourself to attain a deeper relationship with God, only to be thwarted or discouraged from your path of progress? Or do you, like most New Year’s “resolutioners,” make vows and plans concerning your spiritual life that make a awesome flash in the pan, but leave no lasting effect from your unwillingness to carry them through?

Samson was a man whose entire life was based on a vow…a commitment to the Lord. As long as he stayed faithful to his calling and God’s leading, he would be used to lead God’s people out of captivity and into blessing. Samson was renowned for his incredible strength, and as long as his hair remained uncut by the razor, he was subduable by no man’s army. However, the moment he turned his back on protecting his confidence to the Lord, he was left to his own strength – which proved to be very little.

In your worship this week, think about the vows and commitments you’ve made to God – think about your baptism and what that symbolic vow meant when you accepted Christ. Upon reflection, take time to thank God for his infinite faithfulness and that you would find renewal to keep your commitment to the Lord, to follow him all of your days.

Resounding Themes:
Majestic Father
Committed Heart to God
God’s Faithfulness
Submission to the Lord’s Desire for Our Lives

Ready, Set, READ

Judges 13

Ready, Set, MEDITATE

- Why does the writer open up Judges 13 with the word “Again…”? How does God respond to their unfaithfulness? Have you ever found yourself in a cycle of harmful/sinful behavior that seems to repeat itself over and over again? How/Have you gotten out of that rut?

- From the opening words, what do we know about Samson’s beginnings? Why do you think this was a good platform for God to do His creative work? Do you find God working in your own life through difficult/challenging circumstances to reveal His glory? Explain?

- What are some of the unique characteristics that Samson would have to exhibit to be God’s vessel. If you have the ability to research, find out more about what the “Nazarite vow” was and the purpose it served? Why was Samson’s mother required to follow it is well? Have you ever dedicated something/someone to God? What are some of the things you vowed to/not to do to show your devotion in the matter? Were you faithful? Did God respond to your faithfulness in a way you could see and understand?

Ready, Set, PRAY

How long, Oh Lord! How long will you turn us loose to our own desires and watch us fail under the weigh of our own sinfulness! For just as the apostle Paul, that very thing we want to do, we don’t; and that very thing we don’t want to do…we find our selves constantly doing! But even when temptation is our companion, we know even then you are right along side of us – still even closer than our failures. Lord, it is our desire that we would, as Sampson’s mother, abandon our own fears and wants and do everything you ask of us – no matter how extreme. Would faithfulness overshadow our selfish ambition, commitment overcome stubbornness, and steadfastness squelch fickleness. God, we declare that Your way is the only way for our lives. And now may or prayers and words match our faith and our actions. For that sake of Christ and becoming like his image I pray. AMEN.

Ready, Set, WORSHIP!