Categotry Archives: food for thought

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Re-Thinking Worship (Part 6–The Lost Art of Reflection)

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, worship

And so we keep going…there’s just so much to say on the subject of worship. (Links to the previous posts are found at the end of this one.)

I have been a big fan of corporate worship. By corporate worship I do not mean worshiping corporations. 🙂 I mean the act of coming together as a people to worship God–as a people, in one accord. I still like that dynamic when it happens, and I think God does, too. Looking through the Bible, and through history, it seems like God has a tendency to manifest Himself when people come together with the common purpose of seeking Him. (Pentecost is just one example of many.)

This is a preview of Re-Thinking Worship (Part 6–The Lost Art of Reflection). Read the full post (932 words, 2 images, estimated 3:44 mins reading time)

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Re-Thinking Worship (Part 5–These Songs We Sing)

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, worship

Okay, continuing the thread on worship (read parts one, two, three, and four here)…

I’ve been pondering on this blog about why, as a worship leader, I have become bored with corporate worship as we currently practice it. It’s caused me to start deepening my understanding of worship beyond just the singing of songs, to focus more on the weightier matters of the heart, to consider that worship can involve all of life, and even to reimagine what other sorts of things we can do that could be called “worship.”

This is a preview of Re-Thinking Worship (Part 5–These Songs We Sing). Read the full post (981 words, 2 images, estimated 3:55 mins reading time)

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Post, Post, Post, Post–a Posting about Posts

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought

The title alone of Brother Maynard’s latest post made me chuckle…

The Post-Modern Post-Emergent Post-Evangelical Post-Charismatic Post-Fundamentalist Post-Label

…and his first sentence made me think.

“It’s gone so far now that we’re blogging about how we’re tired of talking about the topic we’re blogging about. Again.”

This is a preview of Post, Post, Post, Post–a Posting about Posts. Read the full post (450 words, 2 images, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

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The Thing About Boys and Girls, and the Weird, Sort of Twisted Way I Am Able to Tie It In with the Church

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Categories: food for thought, My Story

(For those tracking on my series of posts about “Re-Thinking Worship”, fear not; we’ll return to that thread soon. Today, I want to share an excerpt from a book I’m working on. Please don’t copy this without my permission.)

I know there’s a season in the childhood of young boys when they are not supposed to like girls. For me, I can’t remember such a time. Oh, when I was four or five, I bought into the girls-have-cooties thing for awhile, but that was mostly because other boys were saying so. I suppose at that time I could have taken girls or left them, but I never remember a time when I disliked them.

This is a preview of The Thing About Boys and Girls, and the Weird, Sort of Twisted Way I Am Able to Tie It In with the Church. Read the full post (1565 words, 2 images, estimated 6:16 mins reading time)

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Re-Thinking Worship (Part 4: Expansion, not Replacement)

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up), worship

I’ve mentioned in the previous posts in this series that I’m in the process of re-shaping my whole paradigm of worship. J.R. Miller left a comment that highlights an important point here, and one that deserves clarifying. Here’s a quote from his comment:

“The emphasis I get then is, not that you are seeking tear down what others are doing or what many enjoy, but seeking to “worship” through music in new and diverse ways.”

This is a preview of Re-Thinking Worship (Part 4: Expansion, not Replacement). Read the full post (513 words, 1 image, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

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Re-Thinking Worship (Part 2: The Overflow)

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, worship

Have you ever considered how true worship happens?

One of the most significant differences I see between Christ-following and other religions and belief systems of the world is in the area of worship. There’s a picture in Revelation 5 that illustrates this point.

This is a preview of Re-Thinking Worship (Part 2: The Overflow). Read the full post (871 words, 1 image, estimated 3:29 mins reading time)

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Re-Thinking Worship (Part One of Many: "Weightier Things")

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, worship

A few months ago, I mentioned the irony that I am a worship leader but bored with worship music as I know it. I’m just in the beginning stages of re-thinking this…but I think I’m beginning to understand why.

Worship has always been at the foundation of our ministry, and part of our life-calling. We’ve led worship and taught the principles of worship to many people in many places. And I have experienced God’s presence in remarkable ways in the atmosphere of worship. But now I’m getting little glimpses of understanding that tell me that all this stuff I thought I was expert in has just been barely scratching the surface. And I think the reason this is dawning on me is the very fact that I am bored with all this. My heart for God hasn’t gone away, but it’s like all this just isn’t enough anymore.

This is a preview of Re-Thinking Worship (Part One of Many: "Weightier Things"). Read the full post (980 words, 2 images, estimated 3:55 mins reading time)

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If God Is My Father, How Can Jesus Be My Boyfriend?…

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Categories: food for thought, missional, theological questions

Umm….don’t linger there too long. 🙂

A good friend of mine said something recently that has really resonated in my soul. He said, “Every metaphor breaks down at some point.” NOW does the title make a little sense? 🙂

Since the fall of man, when man essentially became separate and alienated from God…God has been on a mission to redeem man back to Himself, to restore the relationship that was lost. It is a constant theme throughout Scripture, and I believe it continues today. Emergent/Missional types like to refer to this idea as “Missio Dei”–the mission of God.

This is a preview of If God Is My Father, How Can Jesus Be My Boyfriend?…. Read the full post (801 words, 1 image, estimated 3:12 mins reading time)

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The Journey

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up)

In a recent post, I ended with this remark:

“Sometimes it takes looking back just a bit to see how much God has used your experiences to shape you. Perhaps this is why the journey is every bit as important as the destination.”

I’d like to expand on that thought a little bit today.

When I was a teenager in a Christian school, I had to struggle through The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. I only recall bits and pieces of the story (not a leisure read), but what has stood out to me over the years is that it was a journey. All of Christian’s growth and change came as he traveled, and the people he met along the way and the experiences he had contributed to his growth.

This is a preview of The Journey. Read the full post (919 words, 2 images, estimated 3:41 mins reading time)

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Just Some Stuff I’ve Learned

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought

Sometimes it takes looking back just a bit to see how much God has used your experiences to shape you.

It’s as if I can look at myself now, and the “me” back a few years ago, and it looks like two different people. Since embarking on this journey of deconstruction, I can hardly believe how my thinking and actions have changed over the years.

Here are a few examples of what I mean:

This is a preview of Just Some Stuff I’ve Learned. Read the full post (452 words, 1 image, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)
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