I did it. I did it without even really thinking and I didn’t really mean to cause a stir. I wrote a sentence about my thoughts on a popular blog and didn’t really think about the consequences. I didn’t mean it to be a personal attack – but how can it not be a personal attack when we say something even slightly negative about someone’s blog – the place where they poor out their lives for the world to see? But here’s the cool thing – even though I was negative (without really meaning to bash or criticize) – just share a thought – Los contacted me gently, asking me why I said what I said in all fairness. I think that was a big thing to do from a well established blog finding a blog rookie like myself mentioning a small note of criticism. I’m really thankful for his reaction and hope God can still be honored and glorified through my mistake. I added an edit to the original post as well.
What I Blog About – From Wordle
Since Billy Chia just confessed that he is a “church addict” after entering his blog into wordle, I wanted to see what would come about if I did the same thing. Here it is:
The best thing about it – every time I refreshed, the words “worship” and “happened” always showed up prominently. Thank You, Lord, for reassuring me that “worship happened” every time we have gathered!
Blog Love – Some Links You Should Check Out
Shannon shares a great series on Maturity in Christ. I’d highly encourage reading all parts. Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, a bit more, and a bit more!
Brad Loser (loh-ser, not loo-zer!) is going through Worship Matters. If you want some detailed thoughts from some folks going through the book, definitely check it out. He shares quite a bit, so be prepared for some reading, but it’s worth it.
Billy shares a really fantastic post on complaining and feedback to follow up his humorous post that he posted in response to Ragamuffin Soul’s “you-asked-for-it” question. I think I’m one of the few people that actually recommends not reading Ragamuffin soul, but I thought Billy eventually turned this around quite positively. *EDIT* Los contacted me directly with a very positive comment asking why I said this in the comments. I really appreciate it and explained why I said this below. I shouldn’t have said it and should have let people come to their own decision about his blog. I do apologize for that and hope we can all be at peace. The power of words are quite incredible at times.
Russ has a fantastic story about his privilege to be Fred’s guest at National Worship Leader Conference and hang out with some of the more famous worship folks.
Lorie King has a featured article on The Worship Community on how to enhance stage presence. I think her perspective is right on with all of these tips.
Finally, Fred has a wonderful post about making sure we focus on good things happening and celebrate victories.
Have a fantastic weekend, everyone! More thoughts from my teaching this Sunday will come next week.
As I was recently re-listening to Come Weary Saints I couldn’t help but notice an interesting choice of instrumentation on the title track. I’m not sure exactly because I purchased the mp3 set and don’t have the pdf handy to check instrumentation, but I’m pretty sure they are using a harp at the end of the song. It very well could be a nylon stringed guitar – but I think it’s a harp. I had never thought of using harp as a worship team instrument before, but now I think I could definitely find some ways to do it – which leads me to my question:
Apart from David Crowder’s crazy rigging of a Guitar Hero© controller, what is the most different or unusual instrument you’ve seen used by a worship team? I’d love to hear it all – even if you’re from another country and think that using a guitar is unusual!
Scripture will never cease to amaze me. It truly is “living and active” as the book of Hebrews says. So often I will come across a verse that I’m sure I’ve read before but all of a sudden it will become alive and breathe amazing new life into me. It is also amazing that God chose to use Greek as the primary language of the New Testament. More on that in a minute.
Hebrews 10:14
One of the verse that has jumped out at me lately and spoken to me over and over again is Hebrews 10:14. Let’s take a look:
For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
At first glance this might not look like a particularly amazing verse of Scripture – but it is so packed full of truth that it is mind-blowing. The part I want to take a quick look at now is the phrase “perfected for all time.”
Greek’s Perfect Tense
Unlike the English language, Greek has a lot more ways of saying things just by switching to a different tense. We English-speaking folks think of past tense, present tense, and future tense. In Greek there is the perfect tense, combining all three tenses into one, signifying that:
- Something happened in the past.
- Even though it already happened, the results of what happened are continually happening in the present.
- The results of what happened will continue to happen forever in the future.
The phrase “perfected for all time” is in the perfect tense in Greek. So what’s amazing is, Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross not only happened – it happened with lasting results. And these lasting results won’t fade. In fact, they’re eternal. Do you realize what that means for us? We change daily. We can’t rely on ourselves. We will not go a day in our lives without sinning. But if we trust in the Cross and what Jesus did there, the power of what happened didn’t stop! It is continually applied to us if we are trusting in the blood of Christ! Even though we waver and fall, our status in Christ doesn’t! Even though we offer imperfect offerings because of our sin – Jesus has made them perfect forever through His blood!
What an amazing promise!
I hope you’re all enjoying a lovely Tuesday morning! I wanted to point you to a few resources today:
From the Rebelution: Brett Harris just posted this great article on worship. Very cool to see the younger generation stepping up.
National Worship Leader Conference: If you’re like me and have a hard time getting to any worship conferences lately, you can “go there without going there” in a couple of different ways. A couple worship leaders I’ve connected with are currently attending the National Worship Leader Conference in Austin, TX. Jim Drake is keeping a pretty regularly updated twitter feed. And Fred McKinnon will be blogging and posting to his twitter feed as well. Slake, Worship Leader magazine’s new blog, will be blogging from the conference as well.
Also, I will be preaching at our church this week. For the rest of the week, I’ll blog on thougths that God leads me to as I prepare for the message.
