This is so cool!
http://www.faithandleadership.com/blog/07-16-2010/john-schmalzbauer-small-denominations-surprising-influence
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
upcoming worship arts conference in the East...
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| Do come if you can. More info at |
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Disparate thoughts on Prayer and Worship
Prayer and worship – 1) How much is any relationship defined/formed by the conversations which express and characterize it? How much is this true of my conversation with God?
2) Can new vocabulary build/extend or progress in the devotional relationship?
The quality of communication, the vocabulary, the length of time spent and thoughtful consideration behind the conversation at least reflect the nature of the relationship.
Prejudice warning: I think we humans tend to limit God, (for instance when we) control the ways and words He uses to speak to us, to reduce Him to manageable concepts which fit our understanding and stop Him from saying something unexpected or counter-productive.
With our in-built preference for music we know, and our liking for the familiar, the congregation is always going to opt for well-known, popular material in it's most familiar form. Nothing wrong with that, on the face of it. But they also need to trust that when we introduce something new, different or unfamiliar, it's worthy of their attention. That's not always an easy trust to gain; when we do get it, such a trust is hard-won.
'Modern' thought focused on how concepts in the Word inform our intellect, but also allowed that the Spirit can communicate at a sub-linguistic level (ie. tongues, music). In 'post-modern' times, we may experience (and prefer) the Word communicating in other-than intellectual media (audio-visual, story, etc). However, for the cautious modern mind, this has the danger of a lack of intellectual control; the narrative undermines the modern need for constraint and categorization.
We love to say "God never..." or God always..." but the Bible doesn't encourage this in many cases.
The exceptions? God never changes (Heb 13.8), His loving-kindness endures forever (Psalm 136), nothing is impossible with God... (Lk 1.37).
Feel free to add more texts in comments...
2) Can new vocabulary build/extend or progress in the devotional relationship?
The quality of communication, the vocabulary, the length of time spent and thoughtful consideration behind the conversation at least reflect the nature of the relationship.
I think we humans tend to limit God...Prayer - and other vocabulary used in worship - can be seen as essentially 'one side' of the conversation, answering and in response to the Word and the Spirit. We like to stay in control, in familiar territory.
Prejudice warning: I think we humans tend to limit God, (for instance when we) control the ways and words He uses to speak to us, to reduce Him to manageable concepts which fit our understanding and stop Him from saying something unexpected or counter-productive.
With our in-built preference for music we know, and our liking for the familiar, the congregation is always going to opt for well-known, popular material in it's most familiar form. Nothing wrong with that, on the face of it. But they also need to trust that when we introduce something new, different or unfamiliar, it's worthy of their attention. That's not always an easy trust to gain; when we do get it, such a trust is hard-won.
*************************************
'Modern' thought focused on how concepts in the Word inform our intellect, but also allowed that the Spirit can communicate at a sub-linguistic level (ie. tongues, music). In 'post-modern' times, we may experience (and prefer) the Word communicating in other-than intellectual media (audio-visual, story, etc). However, for the cautious modern mind, this has the danger of a lack of intellectual control; the narrative undermines the modern need for constraint and categorization.
We love to say "God never..." or God always..." but the Bible doesn't encourage this in many cases.
The exceptions? God never changes (Heb 13.8), His loving-kindness endures forever (Psalm 136), nothing is impossible with God... (Lk 1.37).
Feel free to add more texts in comments...
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