MORE

“There is always MORE!” That’s the phrase the Lee University Campus Choir hears me declare again and again. I have been commissioned to equip this eighty-five-voice ensemble not just musically but spiritually. I remind them that they are not just singers and musicians but sons and daughters of God and an army of worshippers in pursuit of Jesus. Spiritual formation through worship and the word is foundational to such equipment. Many times, this generation can become easily distracted or bored with the church and what they have previously seen modeled. Religion over relationship, pervasive fear, and low expectation upon entering the house of God. Yet, in both the Old and New Testaments, scripture is replete with examples of encounter, the miraculous, and those hungry for MORE.

In the book of Exodus, Moses understood the importance of a nation being marked by the presence of God and refused to go forward without Him. It was in this very place of encounter that Moses cried, “Please show me Your glory” (Exodus 33:18, NASB). This encounter with God began to cultivate a hunger for more of God. He wanted to see God’s face, but instead, Moses saw His glory. That is why I truly believe that when His glory has marked you, you will search for it all the days of your life. The prophet Isaiah had a similar encounter where He “saw” the Lord and the train of His robe filling the temple. The seraphim were calling out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies. The whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah 6:3, NASB). The only response was repentance, which was met with atonement. It was from this place of encounter that Isaiah received his commission to go, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me’” (Isaiah 6:8, NASB). In both instances, God encountered these men with MORE.

Jesus encountered the woman at the well in John 4. Initially, she came to draw water, yet soon realized that this Jesus was offering something more. In that moment, Jesus established the kind of worship the Father was seeking. Jesus said, “But a time is coming, and even now has arrived, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers” (John 4:23, NASB). The woman was forever changed by her encounter with Jesus, thus compelling her to witness to and bring most of her city to also encounter Jesus. Worship is not a moment that we have designated in some sterile order of service. It is not a set of songs nor charismatic demonstrations—but rather a lifestyle of pursuing and encountering Jesus…the only One who is worthy. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6, NASB). The hungry are satisfied with HIM! Needing Jesus and living for MORE of Him leads to perpetual satisfaction in His presence.

There is a fight for the affection of this generation's heart, with the enemy of our souls offering counterfeits for that which satisfies. Yet fullness in life can only be found in His presence. The psalmist David writes, “You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalm 16:11, NASB). Worship allows us to encounter and believe the MORE that God has for each son and daughter. We don’t have to level off in our relationship with Jesus or just rinse and repeat something that worked 20 years ago. We can behold His glory each day and be changed. Paul writes, “But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NASB).  My heart for this generation is to KNOW God, believe His Word, and experience MORE of His glory than they ever imagined possible.  There is ALWAYS more in Him.

Rhea Marshall

Director of the Lee University Campus Choir

Cleveland, TN