Of Cacti and Christ by Phil

For my birthday last month, we took a short trip to Arizona to visit one of my retired preacher buddies and his wife. We had an absolutely wonderful time of sightseeing, relaxing and catching up. One of our excursions was to Saguaro National Park near Tuscon, home of the world's largest cactus species, the Saguaro. Saguaro cacti can grow up to 45 feet tall, weigh 4,800 pounds and live 150 to 200 years. (Fun fact for trivia night, Saguaro don't start growing "arms" until they are around 75 years old.) What fascinated me most was while we were there, we saw over 25 different species of cactus. After some in-depth research (aka a quick google search) I discovered there are nearly 2,000 species of cacti, including the Prickly Pear with thousands of hair-thin stickers. I know this because I spent an hour picking them out of my leg after one attacked me. Watch out, those are mean suckers!

Cacti are amazing plants that provide food and shelter for desert birds and animals (and pain for bumbling humans who get too close), but why did God make so many varieties? Only one species was all that was really necessary. The same question applies to all the colors of flowers and types of birds. The obvious answer is we serve a very creative creator who loves variety. Why is it then when we humans worship this creative God, we strive for uniformity? Instead of celebrating the diversity of people and styles God created, we build our new churches to all look like generic auditoriums and sing songs of a specific genre accompanied by the same few instruments. I remember talking to one pastor several years ago that said their church only sang songs that were played on KLOVE radio that week. Really? I'm probably overly sensitive to this because I love variety and I love to see people use their unique gifts and abilities to worship God. I want to hear you sing your praise to God, whether it sounds like blues or bluegrass, Hillsong or hillbilly. If you can play Amazing Grace on the accordion or nose harp, I'll be singing along. Worship is not about the musical style, but the message and heart of the worshipper.

On Palm Sunday we remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The people gathered on that momentous day were so overjoyed, they shouted their praise to God. The Pharisees, (the "church leaders" at that time) scolded Jesus to rebuke the crowd because that was not the proper way to worship. Jesus responded that if the people kept quiet, the very rocks would cry out in praise. Today, our individual voices and styles may not fit in the Sunday morning service, but my fellow rocks, it's time for us to cry out! Whatever your praise sounds or looks like, lift it up to our Lord and Savior Jesus! That goes far beyond music. Whatever talents and abilities God has gifted you with, use them to praise God. I have a woodworking buddy that includes three lines on each of his turnings to represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. "Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31

This Easter season, don't just be a spectator and passively watch the praise team worship God. Use every moment of every day as an opportunity to offer your thanks and praise to our risen Savior. That's true worship, and our God is worthy of everything we have to offer and so much more.

So come on rocks, we've got some praising to do!
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All for His glory,
Phil and Pam

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