| quote of note |
| “The nature of a paradigm is such that it cannot change unless it is replaced" - Sarah Sumner |
| nehemiah project |
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| from my library |
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| online biblical study resources |
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| worthy endeavors |
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| Monday, May 05, 2008 |
| Thoughts on Worship from Marva Dawn |
Marva is one of my favorite authors. I thought I would post a few quotes from a book I am reading called "Is it a Lost Cause? Having the Heart of God for the Church's Children." You can get it here. Anyways, here are the excerpts. They are all found on page 77.
"...so many churches throughout the country...have confused worship and evangelism, and in doing so have prevented the community from equipping its off-spring to have the heart of God and, therefore, to be missional - that is, participating in God's mission - in the world."
"I grieve that many congregations have turned their worship services into "happiness" celebrations and thus foster the selfish consumerism that their members have already learned from the world, instead of nurturing in them the authentic Christian discipleship that brings genuine Joy and service to the world."
"The church always needs both old and new music, continuity as well as reformation, a sense of the heritage of faith going all the way back to Abraham and a conciousness of the need to put the faith in accessible forms and new wineskins."Labels: children, church, evangelism., missional, music, worship |
posted by Unknown @ 8:25 AM   |
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| Monday, January 21, 2008 |
| The Struggle to Fear - A Poem |
To Fear God is to worship and obey him.
Allow him to guide the steps of my life.
Setting aside fear of the loss of control.
Fleeing from the thought of self dominance.
Facing his light, allowing it to shine on all the dark places.
Knowing that what is shown is not too dark for him.
Trusting that his love is enough.
Believing that his grace is sufficient.
I gladly fear the Lord.Labels: fear of God, poetry, self evaluation, self sufficient, worship |
| posted by Unknown @ 9:47 AM |
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| Wednesday, January 16, 2008 |
| The Practice of Looking Back |
I am not good at reflecting. I officiated a memorial service today in a nursing home. The point of the service was to look back at the lives of the residents who died and how they influenced us. That got me thinking about "looking back" in general. I am no t good at it. I am much more of a daydreamer about possible things to come. I can sit and imagine great plans and visions of future endeavors, but rarely do I sit and reflect on what has just happened.
What happens when I don't reflect is that I don't remember correctly who I am. I remember coming across a book about three years ago called "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat", by Oliver Sacks. He is a neuroligist and the same person played by Robin Williams in the movie "Awakenings". I read a few chapters of this book which described some of Sacks' experiences as a neurologist over the years. The one story that I remember is when he described a patient he treated who suffered from Korsakov's disease. This disease is one that impedes the short term memory and one is always having to reorient themselves to who they are, their context, and their situation.
Situations, whether good or bad, can make me forget as well. If I am faced with hardship, I forget the blessings in my life, and that God has continued to take care of me. I don't reflect on the big picture and am too focused on the small view of what is right in my face. Setting a pattern of reflection in one's life guards against this. I have been trying to journal in my Moleskine lately. Journaling, blogging, talking, thinking, all ways of reflecting that I am trying to increase.
Isn't part of the church's role to reflect? Maybe reflect isn't the right word. Maybe remember. I don't know if that is the right word either. Dwell in the story of who God is and who we are. Isn't this one of the key elements of corporate worship? When we get together to sing songs of God's goodness, his future, his present; when we read the scripture that tells us the story of his acts; when we say the creeds to each other; we are reflecting, placing ourselves in the context of who we are and who God is.Labels: church, Korsakov's disease, reflections, remembering, worship |
| posted by Unknown @ 1:00 PM |
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| Friday, November 30, 2007 |
| Happy Birthday Charles |
 I was at my alma mater yesterday, that is, Asbury Theological Seminary. My wife works for a law firm that is located in Lexington and so she travels down rather frequently. I love to go with her, mainly so she doesn't go alone, but also because I get to go back to a place I miss, ATS.
Yesterday was a surprise, for as their chapel service they had the tercentenary (300 years) celebration of the birth of Charles Wesley. Charles is the brother of the more well known John Wesley. However, Charles' work might and probably is more well known now than John's for the bulk of his work came to us through song. Charles wrote over 6500 hymns, many of them still favorites today. For example, "And Can it Be", "Hark the Herald Angels sing", and "Oh for a Thousand Tongues to Sing." I would have to say that "And Can it Be" is not only my favorite Wesley hymng, but my favorite all time. So, yesterday I was able to participate in song and in word in the celebration of this man Charles Wesley and more importantly, the God who called and energized him to do what he did. It was pretty cool. One of the things that impresses me about Charles Wesley is that as a preacher, and a hymnist, he placed great effort in placing his theology in his hymns. For a while, we in the church have been singing songs that at best have been weak in theological content, and at worst have been devoid all together. I do admit that new song writers are beginning to catch the "Wesley-like" spirit, but we still have much to learn from Charles. To show this here are a few lines from "Love Divine all Love's Excelling" : 1 LOVE Divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven, to earth come down! Fix in us thy humble dwelling, All thy faithful mercies crown; Jesu, thou art all compassion, Pure, unbounded love thou art; Visit us with thy salvation, Enter every trembling heart.
2 Come, almighty to deliver, Let us all thy grace receive; Suddenly return, and never, Never more, thy temples leave; Thee we would be always blessing Serve thee as thy hosts above, Pray, and praise thee, without ceasing, Glory in thy perfect love.
3 Finish then thy new creation, Pure and spotless let us be; Let us see thy great salvation, Perfectly restored in thee; Changed from glory into glory, Till in heaven we take our place, Till we cast our crowns before thee, Lost in wonder, love, and praise! Great Stuff! Thanks Charles! And thank you God for the gift of this life that is still impacting the world for your Kingdom today. Labels: Asbury Theological Seminary, Charles Wesley, hymns, praise, singing, theology, worship |
| posted by Unknown @ 10:10 AM |
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| Thursday, March 01, 2007 |
| Why We Worship. |
Will Willimon is beginning a series of posts on worship. I enjoy reading what he has to say about most anything. Take a read here. Here is a quote to wet your appetite.
"The most serious, most delightful business of Christians, when you get down to it is “to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” In other words, to worship. Whether we are glorifying and enjoying God in church in our music, sermons, baptisms, and prayers our outside of church in our social concern, witnessing, and charity, it is all for one purpose: to glorify God and to enjoy him forever."
Labels: church, willimon, worship |
| posted by Unknown @ 3:59 PM |
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| Monday, February 26, 2007 |
| The Cult of Celebrity |
Behind the Super Bowl, the Acadamy Awards seem to be gaining momentum as a "much watch event" within our culture. I admit I too wasted a few hours sitting in front of the tube watching the endless parade of pop icons pass by in clothing that cost more than my house, and I got sucked into it. The question I have a few days removed from the display of famous people giving other famous people accalades is this, "Why do we care so much?".
I think it is because we are a society enamered with celebrities. That is, we love the idea of the famous; with their beautiful faces and bodies, their endless amounts of money, and their glittering lives full of cocktail parties, tropical getaways, and expensive cars. More even than these things, humans have an inner yearning to "look up to someone", unfortunately we usually look up to the wrong someone.
A Biblical story comes to mind that illustrates this. It's story of the people of Israel depicted in 1 Samuel. Yahweh had saved their ancestors from Egyption slavery, led them through the wilderness into the promised land, and had forgiven them and protected them over and over again, regardless of their "stiff necks". Yahweh had proven to them his love and care for them, and what do they do? They ask for a human king. Why? Because everyone else has a king and they want one to. I think it is because their yearning to look up to someone became misdirected.
In our culture today there is definitely a focus on the celebrity, almost a cult of celebrity. The church is not absent from the temptations that plagued the people of Israel. We too look for celebrities in our midst to look up to. Maybe we look up to them for different reasons than fame, money or beauty, but none the less we create celebrities. The danger in this is placing our trust in those that are not perfectly trusthworthy.
When talking about our culture's "cult of celebrity", I am sure there are other dangers not listed in this brief post. Just something going through my head. Any thoughts? Labels: 1 Samuel, celebrity, culture, worship, Yahweh |
| posted by Unknown @ 1:43 PM |
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| Thursday, February 22, 2007 |
| Has Music Hijacked Worship? |
| I saw this on Odyssey and thought it interesting. I have felt this with out being able to articulate what I have felt. What do you think. Read here. Labels: liturgy, music, worship |
| posted by Unknown @ 2:28 PM |
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