Archive for July 21st, 2008

Romans 1:16 (New International Version)
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

For anyone who is new to my blog you may not know what the title of this means so let me very quickly break it down for you with a definition.

CarShip:  The act of unashamed singing and praise while still safely driving your vehicle.
Car + Worship=CarShip

CarShip is the ability to sing at the top of your lungs and worship God without caring who is watching and what kind of idiot you look like driving down the road singing like crazy.  Well this morning on my way to work that was me.  I was jamming and I know the people passing thought that I was crazy.  And oddly enough I am ok with that (ha ha ha).
However, a song actually grabbed me and just shook me this morning with humbleness and joy.  I know that you all have heard and probably had it even in your worship service, as have I.  And being on the praise team at church we sing it 2 or 3 times in practice and then again in service so I know it by heart and have always loved it but this morning the lyrics rocked me.  This being the case I wanted to share this with you and give you some time to reflect without the music.  There are times that we don’t take the time to listen to the lyrics and read them to really grasp what they mean. The song that I am referring to is Matt Redman’s “You Never Let Go”.  Here are the lyrics from the beginning through the first chorus:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back
I know You are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

This is a fundamental principle of Christianity that we take for granted.  We know God is with us “in theory” but we do not act like it.  We sometimes let the day-to-day struggles affect us like we are on our own.  We forget that God in His infinite wisdom already knows the solution to our problems, and to our struggles.  He knew that I was going to have an accident on July 13, 1997 and He knew that even though the doctor said I had a slim chance of survival that I was going to not only live but also not have any noticeable problems and be back to normal (stop laughing.)  We as Christians need to remember to look back and look how God has been there for us through the past and how He never let go of us.  The thing that is even better and is so amazing and encouraging to me is that God is faithful and loving even through consequences.  Remember we as Christians are forgiven of our sins but that does not mean that they will not also carry consequences for our lives that we must go through but He stands with us through that as well.   What an amazing God that when we spit in His face with our actions, attitudes, & disobedience; He will carry us through our trials because He loves us as only He can.   I hope that you take this time to praise Him for being the Almighty that He is!!

Remember He is only a word away, call on Him!  He will not disappoint you or let go!

God Bless ~ Tyler