It's called - and brace for it, I kid you not, this is what it's actually titled:
3 Reasons I Want To Bleed Worship
I mean - what - the - heck - !?!?!?
That was my initial reaction, and I still can't help but wince every time it's mentioned in his article. But apart from that and the rather unsettling focus on one's own mortality, it is a good article with a good message, light years better than that "New Kind Of Man" thing. Except for the url and this 'bleeding' bit, I wouldn't otherwise be able to tell both articles were written by the same person.
So, this is not going to be a mangle, just a commentary reaction.
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Dan Wilt: 3 Reasons I Want To Bleed Worship
Ocean Elf: Urgh! *Grimace* That title - it is just - really unappealing. Recoil-worthy, actually. I just can't help it.
Dan Wilt: When you’re cut, you bleed. I bleed. We all bleed. And life cuts us.
Ocean Elf: Yeah, I get it. I'm just not too fond of this simile type stuff. Probably exposed to too much of it back at Christian summer camps and Bible studies. And this one is just ugh.
Dan Wilt: Sometimes it scratches us when a phone bill is off by a few dollars, and we’re frustrated that we must spend part of the currency we call “life” dealing with it.
Ocean Elf: *Sigh* Simply put, life ain't always fair and we feel it. Got it.
Dan Wilt: Sometimes life cuts us deep, and hard, and to the bone, like when a child is far from God, or we receive a halting doctor’s report. We are wounded.
Ocean Elf: I get it already.
Dan Wilt: We are reeling. What comes out of us then?
Ocean Elf: What comes out is a lot of stuff. A lot of unhappy stuff that we probably shouldn't hold in as much as we do, because it's not healthy bottling it up inside and denying it's there, which is a kind of a lie, and letting it eat you from the inside out either. to toss in another couple of similes, to treat an infection, you don't just pretend it isn't there, you get rid of the impurities the infection made, maybe even the diseased tissue if it was a really bad infection, and then you can clean and help the area to heal. And likewise, in swimming lessons, we learned something about resuscitation where the compressions were to let the bad air out and the good air in to get someone breathing properly. If you've been poisoned, you have to get rid of it or you won't recover.
Whew, that's a bunch of comparisons, but I hope it made some sense.
Dan Wilt: Many years ago, my grandfather, as he was being rushed from his home in an ambulance, his heart failing him, lifted his frail arms, shaking, hands to the sky and said, “Jesus, I see you, I’m coming.” (Here is my radio story about my grandfather’s last moments.)
Ocean Elf: Okay, so this is not turning out anywhere near as cringe-worthy as the title lead me to initially think.
Dan Wilt: In his greatest crisis, his moment of truth, my grandfather bled worship. Death is the biggest challenge any of us will face. How he responded here, is how I want to respond in my greatest challenges, and my smallest (but no less significant) challenges.
Ocean Elf: Good for him, good for you, more power to you if you can manage that. Or maybe I still don't really get what worship means. Because - sorry, but I just don't feel like worshiping when life hits me with a long dark tunnel. Having said that, I come back and worship and am grateful when I and my loved ones come through okay. And when on one's death bed, I agree, worshiping and being sure you are prepared for when you are about to leave your earthly life is a good thing.
Dan Wilt: I want to bleed worship. I want to bleed adoration, and thanksgiving, and love when I am cut, scratched, bruised, or harmed. I want to die like my grandfather – with worship in his heart and hope filling his eyes.
Ocean Elf: *Wince* Well, I'm really not at all keen on these similes or this style of message delivery, though the underlying message itself is just fine. But I see what you're getting at. Yes when I'm through with my life on earth I also want to be in the best standing with God as I can and be remembered with fondness by who I leave behind. I also don't like to dwell on the idea much, so, moving along. I've already covered that it's just not always possible to feel worshipful in really bad situations.
Dan Wilt: More than that, I want to live like my grandfather died, always aware that the moment I am in is part of a much bigger story, and even the mundane duties and conversations contain miracles if I will see them.
Ocean Elf: I like that.
Dan Wilt: 3 Reasons I Want To Bleed Worship
Ocean Elf: Sorry, but you just can't say that without making me twitch.
Dan Wilt: We want to bleed worship, I want to bleed worship, because:
Ocean Elf: Let's forget the bleeding and just stick to simply worship. If you mean you want to demonstrate your worship, that's fine.
Dan Wilt: 1. My Life Began, And Will End, In The Presence Of God.
Ocean Elf: Yes, acknowledged, agreed.
Dan Wilt: I’m not just doing the dishes today. I’m doing the dishes in the presence of God. I didn’t come into the world in a vacuum, and I won’t leave life as I know it in a vacuum. Neither will you.
Ocean Elf: I know.
Dan Wilt: 2. My Spouse, Children, Family, And Friends Deserve The Legacy Of A Thankful Person.
Ocean Elf: Again, agreed. And I'll add loving to that list. My family and friends deserve to remember that I loved them. Can we - uh, talk about something else?
Dan Wilt: I want to leave a legacy, an inheritance, all around me. The best inheritance I can leave is not money, furniture, land, or even a memoir. It is a thankful, worshipping life, that strengthens everyone around me, and inspires them to live the same.
Ocean Elf: Yep, agreed.
Dan Wilt: 3. My Days Are Short, Then I Will See His Face.
Ocean Elf: Ugh. I don't buy into this "life is short" business. Life is life. days are days. Instead of dwelling on how long or short, as most people seem to do the latter, let's just live it the best we can and try to take it a day at a time.
Dan Wilt: God grabbed my heart when I was in my late teens. I mean, He revealed Himself to me in my college dorm room, and I was His. Forever.
Ocean Elf: Good.
Dan Wilt: Now I’m ending my 4th decade on the planet.
Ocean Elf: We all eventually get there, and pass it, if we live that long.
Dan Wilt: Guys, it blows by very, very quickly.
Ocean Elf: That's an awfully bleak outlook. I refuse to share it.
Dan Wilt: Worship feeds us. Worship is our only fitting response to the love of God that is pursuing us at this moment.
Ocean Elf: You make it sound like God's love is on the hunt to snuff out our lives. God's love was and always will be there… Before we were born and after we die. It's a matter if it being there and if we can even manage to see/feel it, and if we accept it. I've accepted it. But yes there are times when I fail to see/feel it is there. And I need reassurance of it being there before i can start to worship again if I've been unable to. A child doesn't stop crying when scared or hurt until s/he's comforted by a parent/guardian, it's the same way with me and God. Even if it means God putting a mere idea into my head to help me to stop screaming at or for him to make things right.
Dan Wilt: Today, when you and I are scratched, or cut, or wounded, let’s ask the Lord that we would bleed thanksgiving, praise, adoration, and worship. Not only will God be blessed by our offering of love, but we will be transformed in the process.
Ocean Elf: *Wince* I'll try to rephrase that so it doesn't sound so - bleeding heart.
When we are faced with struggles, let's ask God to help us through it as well as to be thankful for what blessings we still have…
Dan Wilt: Lord, make us people who bleed worship.
Ocean Elf: *Twitch* no, make us people who worship.
Dan Wilt: +
Question: What words are you going to tell yourself today when a crisis happens? How will you create new habits?
Ocean Elf: I honestly don't know. I don't know how I'll react to anything that's unknown until it happens. All I know from a Christian standpoint is that I may give thanks, I may ask God why, I might not always have him on my mind as much as I should, or I may even scream inside my head at him if the situation is really bad and I've just emotionally had it. But I won't turn on God. I've made that promise to him, to my family, and to a dear friend who passed on in 2003, whose faith never wavered even though she was taken so early in her life. I was really upset with God for this when all she'd done was love him. But she wouldn't want me turning against God, and though my faith was seriously shaken by her death, in the end, I resolved not to blame God and turn away from him. she wouldn't have wanted me doing that, and neither would god - who wants us all together with him some day. That's just not always easy to remember when you're having a hard struggle and your mind is maybe not quite as clear as it should be. Everything's just so much more difficult sometimes.
Dan Wilt: Resource: The Essentials In Worship Video Course explores this idea in the “what is a worshipper?” section.
Ocean Elf: Hmm, interesting. Okay. A good overall message, I'm sure, talking about the concept of worship. but sorry, this bleeding thing just doesn't work for me.
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