Our Passion and Pursuit
Worship Articles
by EXW Staff
August 09, 2009
– Knowing God Intimately - By Jim Feiker
All these things can drive us subtly into a lifestyle that is imbalanced and that minimizes a diligent pursuit of God. We become shallow in character, and driven by our schedule.
To pursue intimacy with God in our culture will take a change of paradigm, a deliberate choice to rethink and revamp our lifestyle. The critical question is...are we willing?
I believe that the crisis in spiritual leadership is a crisis of character, and the crisis of character is a crisis of a life deeply rooted in God.
One of our fellow journeyers had this observation to make about the Christian community:
"Pastors and parishioners alike have often confided in me, admitting that the "tyranny of the urgent" is not a theoretical issue, but a very real fact of life. This is a malady that is reaching epidemic proportions within the family of God. This was the cry of one clergyman who whispered to me following a meeting for pastors. ‘Nobody around me knows this, but I'm operating on fumes. I am lonely, hollow, shallow, and enslaved to a schedule that never lets up.'
As a result of my observations and that recent encounter specifically, I decided to do some serious thinking, reading, and praying. My journal became the anvil on which most of my private thoughts were hammered out. Thankfully I have had the time to let those thoughts linger and spawn other thoughts that drove me deeper until at the heart of what seems to be the core issue - a lack of intimacy with the Almighty. Intimacy with the Almighty calls for disciplines that are not valued or emulated by today's majority. It will not be easy or automatic. It is upstream, even against the tide of the Christian culture. It will take a deliberate choice of our will, and will always involve a radical lifestyle change." - Chuck Swindoll in Intimacy With The Almighty
How do we cultivate intimacy with God?
Psalm 63 is an art galley that pictures David's thirst and hunger to pursue intimacy with God. He displays why he wants to pursue God and enumerates some critical principles and attitudes that make knowing God intimately a reality.
Look at these words that describe his pursuit of God. "EARNESTLY I seek Him, my soul THIRSTS for you, my body (with every part of my life) LONGS for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water" (vs. 1). David likens his thirst for God to being in a desert desperately longing for water. In verse eight he says, "My soul CLINGS to You."
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This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.