The title of this blog was inspired by the song Out of Control (State of Emotion) by Keane .  The blog wasn't inspired that song...only the title!


This past Thursday, March 26th, I was able to attend the Renewal Pastor's Summit in Fort Worth, TX held at the Pantego Bible Church.  I arrived at this summit at around 5:15pm to help Gospel for Asia with a table we had setup.  We were passing out free books (get yours! It's worth reading) to anyone who wanted one.  Many pastors were there and ideally we were looking of people who might be interested in partnering with us in reaching the billions of lost in Asia for Christ.  

People were walking by and around 7pm Jim Cymbala was speaking.  For those of you who don't know who he is...he's the pastor of The Brooklyn Tabernacle in Brooklyn, NY and also a noted author.  Most well known is his book, Fresh Wind. Fresh Fire .  Needless to say, in Texas where nearly everyone is churched, people were excited to hear him speak.

While he was speaking about the need for prayer in the church as well as faith...he went on small tangent about emotion and expressing our joy, pain, love, hope for Christ and what he has done.  He went on to tell a story about an evening at his church. I was sitting behind a group of about 35 - 40 male inmates from a local prison who were praising God quite emotionally and vocally.

It was an amazing sight to see.  These men who are locked up in prison were expressing their freedom, their joy and thankfulness to God for saving them!  They were shouting..saying AMEN louder than anyone else in the place and singing louder than anyone else! Jim spoke a little about how Christians some how don't want to show emotion when it comes to Christ and the church.  

Why is that?

We can watch our favorite team score a winning touchdown. Watch Michael Jordan his the final, winning shot in the NBA finals, be inspired by his 40 point performance while having a stomach virus...BUT when it comes to celebrating the eternal, wise God, savior of my life and of this world...we fail to show our excitement and appreciation!

What are we scared of?

The passage Jim shared from was...
Psalm 119:49
Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.

The psalmist is speaking to God, reminding Him that He has promised so many things and that those promises are his hope! These promises are my hope too!  God's Word and His promises are a great comfort in time of pain and discouragement.  The psalmist says these words literally bring him to life!  What an amazing thought!  Does this inspire praise and emotion? Worship?

Verse 50
This is my comfort in my affliction; for they word hath quickened me.

I'm not talking about emotionalism...I'm talking about expressing your feelings and love to God!

What's your state of emotion? 

Posted via email from chacko's posterous