New Song: 10,000 Reasons

As the Israelites spend their time complaining in the desert, we are reminding ourselves to be thankful and praise our God.  Last week we learned Matt Redmen’s song, 10,000 Reasons.  It’s simple, but draws directly from one of my favorite psalms…Psalm 103.  Yes, it is a simple song, but it has a difficult and powerful message.  It’s difficult because we are so influenced by our circumstances and powerful in that God saves us from everything and calls us to worship which is our purpose.  Praise God no matter the time of day or what is happening in your life or even if you are facing death itself…praise God!  So, in true Worship360 style, let’s dig in…

Chorus
Bless the Lord O my soul 
O my soul
Worship His Holy name
Sing like never before 
O my soul
I’ll worship Your Holy name

Drawing from the NKJ, the chorus comes directly from the first few verses which read, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!”  Then Vs 1…

Verse 1
The sun comes up
It’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass
And whatever lies before me
Let me be singing 
When the evening comes

Jumping to Psalm 113:3, we see this first verse comes from  the psalms, “From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord’s name is to be praised.”  Verse 2…

You’re rich in love 
And You’re slow to anger
Your name is great 
And Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness 
I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons 
For my heart to find

Do you remember when Moses asks to see God’s face?  God tells him that he can’t handle it!  God hides Moses in a crack in a rock and shows his back while proclaiming His name.  ”The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness”   Jumping back to Psalm 103:8-13, we see the psalmist remembering the same story.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever…and then we come to the end of the song and the end of life…

Verse 3
And on that day 
When my strength is failing
The end draws near 
And my time has come
Still my soul will 
Sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years 
And then forevermore

Again, we see the verse reflecting the psalm from David’s experience.  I can relate to this too because just a couple weeks ago, I stood at my Grandfather’s grave and placed a red carnation on his casket.  Even though he lived to be 99 years old, in comparison to God it’s as if we are grass or flowers in the field.  My Grandpa Ward loved the Lord so in death, we know he was held safe by our merciful and eternal God.

As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him…-Psalm 103:15-17

So sing like never before!  Bless the Lord, oh my soul!  Worship His Holy name!

This is the writer, Matt Redman, talking about the song…

And here is a recording of it…I used this one because I love the congregational singing!

Communal worship

The official term is “corporate worship”, but I prefer “communal” instead.  Either way, the point is the same.  In an iPod world, God still calls us to come together and worship as a group to do something we can’t do by ourselves.  Jim Altizer unpacks the three “R” words (what we should do) that we need to consider in communal worship.

I appreciate the way Jim unpacks this.  He challenges us to not be so “possessive” of God’s word in the communal worship gathering…He points out that actions help us experience the story of God.  While I appreciate his explanation of anamnesis and his challenge to get more creative, I was hoping to hear some more creative ideas that are still rooted in biblical and historical example.  For example, how about performance art in the style of Ezekiel?  How about outdoor services on opposing hills in the style of the the Israelites reciting blessings and curses to themselves?

Now, I know that Jim’s goal was basic understanding.  He wasn’t trying to push the envelope for physical action.  And his explanation becomes a challenge.  Are we creating worship experiences that are truly communally driven or are they performance driven?  What do you think?

Understanding Baptism

Baptism has been in my thoughts.  We baptized 23 people two weeks ago and I keep seeing them go into and come out of the water.  I replay a few of the testimonies in my mind and smile.  This might be a good post for later, but for now I will leave you with a poem I was forwarded from my wife and fellow blogger, Sara.  It was originally printed in the Writer’s Almanac.

In the heat of late afternoon…

by Gary Young

In the heat of late afternoon, lightning streaks from a nearly
cloudless sky to the top of the far mesa. At dusk, the whole south
end of the valley blazes as the clouds turn incandescent with
some distant strike. There is a constant congress here between
the earth and the sky. This afternoon a thunderstorm crossed the
valley. One moment the ground was dry, and the next there were
torrents running down the hillsides and arroyos. A quarter-mile off
I could see a downpour bouncing off the sage and the fine clay
soil. I could see the rain approach, and then it hit, drenching me,
and moved on. Ten minutes later I was dry. The rain comes from
heaven, and we are cleansed by it. Suddenly the meaning of baptism
is clear to me: you can begin again, and we are saved every day.

“In the heat of late afternoon…” by Gary Young, from Even So: New & Selected Poems. © White Pine Press, 2012.

The Kinema Commonwealth Reminds Me That Process Matters

My roomie from college is an independent film-maker.  That sounds cool, but you probably don’t even know him.  So let me tell you…Matt is a grounded believer-artist who has faith, vision and facial hair that just won’t stop.  Yeah, he’s that cool.  Anyway, he recently wrote an article about his current project and the method used in making it.  It’s called the Kinema Commonwealth Manifesto.  It’s basically a call for artists to value people involved in the process as much as the final product.  Theologically, it is a call to recognize that we are created in the image of God.  He writes,

The crux of the manifesto is that as filmmakers we want to create filmmaking environments that are based on respect for individual filmmakers, the larger community and the film itself.  Rather than have a bottom line drive decisions, we wanted our love for people and the craft to shape our decision-making process.

Great stuff and something I’ve spent some time thinking about.  Communities that come together around a specific goal, especially if that goal is artistic, have always fascinated me.

The early church is held up as an example of a Spirit filled community.

The bohemian arts community in Paris in the 1900’s was an example of an artistic community.

Both communities would have been exciting places as people came together for a specific purpose.  What would it have been like to be with the disciples after Pentecost?  What would it have been like to hear conversations between Igor Stravinsky and Claude Debussy?  I am intrigued because people don’t always get along and if those people are artists the odds of community drop even lower.  Artists don’t play well with others and especially not with other artists.

With a strong sense of artistic direction and a tendency to be introverted, artists including myself, find it easier at times to work alone or find others who are willing sacrifice themselves for our vision.  There is only one problem.  This is not the way God designed us and isn’t the best way for believers to create.

I have heard about major church productions that hundreds of people come to each year.  However, I also hear rumors of backstage conflicts in those same shows.  Verbal abuse and extremely long rehearsals seem to be part of the expected process.  Interestingly enough, every backstage story always ended with the line, “…but the show was amazing.”  The assumption being that since the end product was powerful and impacting for the community, a little strife along the way didn’t matter.

To this my response has always been, “process matters”.  Andrew Hill writes about the idea of process.  “…The process of offering sacrifices to God as part of Hebrew worship was every bit as important as the final product – a complete sacrifice pleasing to the Lord.”

As I’ve already mentioned in other posts, the edification of the believers is an acceptable act of worship.   And we’ve acknowledged that worship is all of life.  Therefore our preparation for corporate worship or Christmas theatre begins in rehearsals and brainstorming sessions and continues through the final production.  A truly God honoring service or production only honors God if everyone involved is built up in the process and drawn into community.  As Hill continues,

“We should find the fulfillment of our humanity in a life of community in the kingdom of God.”

Relationships matter. Community matters.  Process matters.

Not only does process matter, but a healthy process in the context of the faith community, is a productive way to function.  Theatre (and film) fit into this context in being a collaborative art:  the medium that requires a writer, director, actor, costumer, set designer, builder, and the list goes on, to work together.  Not only that, drama requires a community in which to live.  It doesn’t happen when you’re alone at home in your living room on a Friday night.  Drama takes community to create and community to perform.  My point is simply this:  if one of the primary ways to worship in the New Testament is through the edification of believers and that happens in community, then drama is a complimentary fit in that it requires community.  In our drama team at church, we have “community time”, but I am often tempted to skip it for more “useful” rehearsal.  The reminder is clear:  community and process matters.  As author Madeleine L’Engle writes, “We do not create alone.”

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Check out a few pics from the ECC Home Tours and the recap article on the UB Central website here: http://ubcentral.org/2012/01/06/christmas-at-our-church-fort-wayne-ind/

Reaction vs Biblical Response

Great quote from Bob Kauflin based on his recent trip to Australia.  He speaks to the tensions at work in the church today and how we so many times miss God’s call for music to connect our head knowledge with our heart’s emotion.  It was never designed to be an either/or situation!  Check it out…

Reacting to what other churches are doing wrong is not the same as pursuing what is biblically right.  It’s one thing to say we don’t want to be as wild emotionally or as dead liturgically as the church down the street. It’s another thing to say we want to promote biblically informed, natural, whole-hearted responses to God’s glory in Christ. Reactions don’t necessarily lead us in the right direction.

Pastors and music leaders need to teach more on the place of music, affections, and expressiveness in our gatherings.  I’ve spent the past 14 years in my present role trying to understand more biblically how music functions in the gatherings of God’s people. I discovered early on that my views were primarily rooted in my own experiences and what I’d seen in others. Of course I used scattered Scriptures to support what I did and believed. It wasn’t until I read books like Engaging with God by David Peterson and Music Through the Eyes of Faith by Harold Best that I saw my own short-sightedness and pragmatism. God has said quite a bit about how he wants to be glorified in His people when they gather and what role music plays. It’s our joy to listen and seek to apply what He’s said. Music is too powerful a medium, our culture too musically addicted, and people too concerned about what others think, for pastors and leaders not to speak directly to these issues.

Hidden in Our Hearts by Jeff Barker

I have had the honor of knowing Jeff Barker at IWS.  He has challenged me and also helped quite a bit by sharing pieces of his thoughts, work and writing with me.  I grabbed this article from the IWS newsletter and thought I’d share it with you.  I am inspired by Jeff’s dream and I hope you are too.  Enjoy…

I am on sabbatical from Northwestern College—my other school when I am not at IWS. I am living this semester in the Pacific Northwest, where Karen and I are working alongside Pastor Jon who is committed to reclaiming the orality of scripture. For starters, every Sunday Jon speaks his sermon’s scripture text from memory.

We arrived at this church around the same time as Noel, a young worship leader fresh from doctoral coursework (not at IWS, but another fine seminary). Last week I sat in Noel’s office in conversation about presenting the Bible in worship—in particular, God’s Word as testimony, story and drama. I explained that it was natural that I would spend my sabbatical at this church because reclamation of biblical forms often requires one particular starting point: memorization.

“I think this is how my seminary mentor would respond,” said Noel. “He would argue that there is a serious danger in presenting the Bible from memory in public. The memorization itself may be a distraction. People will notice how fascinating and unique it is that the passage has been memorized. But they might stop paying full attention to the scripture. In other words, the form of presentation might obscure the content.”

“Here’s my dream,” I said. “I dream of the day when presenting the scripture from memory will no longer be unique. I dream of people from the culture at large saying, ‘Isn’t it fascinating that Christians place such a high value on Bible memorization? If you go to one of their worship services, you always hear someone speaking whole passages from memory—and not just the pastor or the worship leader. No. Everyone in the church seems capable of speaking straight from the book.’”

I asked Noel, “How will our people catch this vision unless they see it modeled in the church’s most public and formative gathering—the worship service? And how will it be modeled unless the church’s leaders lead the way?”

We do not want scriptural content to be obscured. We want the form of a presentation to support the content. And we want the opposite as well. We want the content to be presented in an appropriate form. What can we learn by reclaiming the forms in which the scriptures were created? What can we learn by following the practices of a people who wrote God’s law upon their hearts?

Before I left Noel’s office, I said, “I’m going to meddle. I offer you this challenge. In your worship planning, are you willing to have at least one verse spoken from memory every Sunday by you or someone on the platform?”

Noel said, “I’m there.”

As pastor of worship and discipleship, Noel will sometimes preach. Yesterday Noel preached his first sermon at this new church. His text was the final seven verses of Jesus’ high priestly prayer (John 17:20-26). He looked us in the eye and spoke the words that Jesus prayed for us. I must admit that I was distracted a bit from the content of Jesus’ words because I was so thrilled that Noel was speaking them from memory. I expect that, after a while, my experience with Noel will be the same experience that the rest of this church has had with Pastor Jon. Jon said to me, “When I first came here eight years ago, people would often say, ‘It’s so fascinating that you speak the scripture from memory!’ Do you know how often I hear that now? Never.”

Today, I got up early and went out to a local coffee shop. As I flipped open my laptop, I glanced over at the next table and noticed a kindly gentleman grinning at me. “I’m Paul,” he said. “I saw you present the Psalm in church yesterday. I’m involved in our pastor’s scripture memory project. When I started, I struggled to memorize a single verse. Now I have whole chapters. It’s changing my life.”

Jeff’s book, The Storytelling Church: Adventures in Reclaiming the Role of Story in Worship will be released and available on Amazon any day now.

What Do Different Church Traditions Think about Worship?

Have you ever wondered why ECC worships the way it does?  Or have you wondered why different churches worship the way they do?  These were compiled by the late Robert Webber of IWS fame and WorshipTraining.com. (Ancient-Future Worship)

Approaches To The Theology Of Worship | WorshipTraining

Theology is a reflective discipline. That is, people who do theology reflect on the truth of Scripture and the insights of the church in a systematic way. Systematic reflection on worship results in a theology, or rather, theologies of worship. In this section, theologians of various Christian traditions reflect on their worship and attempt to articulate the words and actions of this worship in a systematic form. Interpreters bring their own experience to the subject they interpret. One who constructs a theology of worship is not exempt from this hermeneutical method. Personal perspectives can often illuminate the broad and varied patterns of Christian worship. This section offers three views on the theology of worship: a liturgical approach, a free-church perspective, and a charismatic interpretation.

Liturgical Worship Approach: Enactment Of Salvation History

For those who approach worship from a liturgical and sacramental point of view, Christian worship is an action which recalls the events of the history of salvation. This recollection, which is based on biblical models of worship, is not simply an intellectual remembering; it becomes an actual participation in the saving event through forms of worship empowered by the Holy Spirit and received in faith.

Free-Church Worship Approach (ECC): Ascribing Worth To God

Free-church worship occupies a middle position between the liturgical/sacramental forms of worship and the informal worship of many charismatic churches. Whereas free churches may follow a formal order of service, their worship does not conform to historic Eucharist-centered liturgies. This worship has three objectives: to speak to God, to listen to God, and to respond to God—a sequence based on the ancient biblical structure of proclamation and response. This style of worship is found in evangelical and fundamental churches as well as in many mainline Protestant congregations.

Worship is the ascription of worth to God for who he is and what he does—just as the psalmist expresses it:

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.  Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. (Psalm 96:7–8)

Charismatic Worship Approach: Responding To The Spirit

Worship, for Pentecostal and charismatic Christians, is an expression of the experience and empowerment of the Holy Spirit—an event which for many brings the Scriptures to life and continuously incarnates Jesus Christ in his church. The release of a life of praise, of intercession, and of spiritual gifts for ministry takes place in the setting of the body of Christ at worship.  Although tongues and interpretation are an important manifestation of the Spirit in the worship of Pentecostals, emphasis is also placed broadly on others gifts of the Spirit, including those of healing and prophecy.

And for a brief overview of theologies…

Reformed worship focuses on the majesty of God’s transcendence and the frailty and sinfulness of humans. Reformed worship captures, proclaims, and enacts the gospel.

Lutheran worship calls people to faith again and again through the proclamation of the Gospel through Word and Table. In this service, God acts and the people respond. In form, Lutheran worship is both evangelical and Catholic.

Baptist worship seeks to develop a worship rooted in Scripture, it is more inclined to rely on general principles for guiding worship rather than on literalist model of worship based on Scripture texts alone.

Anabaptists see the church as a radical body of believing disciples. Worship arises out of this community of faith and is simple and egalitarian. It recounts God’s story of redeeming love through the ongoing experience of the community of faith.

Wesleyans are deeply concerned to define worship as more than public acts. Worship has to do with all of life, with relationships, and with vocations. In deed and thought believers continually act out their relationship to Christ.

New Song: All Because of Jesus

It’s a little late because we’ve already learned this song and ironically, we will NOT be singing it this weekend.  However, I think it’s a good idea to know what we are singing and the scriptural basis for it.  So try to remember the new song, All Because of Jesus.  Remember?  It’s a rock’in song that reminds us that true life is only found in Jesus.  I especially love the lyric, “it’s all because of Jesus I’m alive / it’s all because the blood of Jesus Christ / that cover’s me and raised this dead man’s life…”  Got it now?  So let’s jump in…can you hear the guitar into?

giver of every breath I breathe

As Genesis 2:7 says, ”then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”  Its basic, but it’s good to remember that we are God’s creation and apart from God’s breathe, we are dust.  You!  Dust!  It’s a little weird, but true.

author of all eternity
giver of every perfect thing
to you be the glory

Despite having more wisdom than any other person ever born, Solomon turned into a bitter old man.  In Ecclesiastes 3:11 he writes,  ”[God] has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.  I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live…”  God’s ways are far above ours…in the  time that we have, we should be joyful that the God of eternity has given us so much SO THAT we can give him glory.

maker of heaven and of earth…no one can comprehend your worth

As Paul writes in Philippians 3:8, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ…”

king over all the universe
to you be the glory

Isn’t it fascinating to think about Jesus ascending into heaven and being hailed as the conquering hero?  That would be amazing.  Paul gives us the big picture of this…”but in these last days [the Father] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe…After he had provided purification for sins, he [Jesus] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” -Hebrews 1:2-3  In other words, Jesus helped make this whole world and now is sitting down beside the Father in perfect glory.

I’m alive because i’m alive in You

Thank you Lord!  ”When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins…”-Colossians 2:13

it’s all because of Jesus I’m alive
it’s all because the blood of Jesus Christ
that cover’s me and raised this dead man’s life
it’s all because of Jesus I’m alive

This is the main point of the whole song…we are the walking dead until we meet Jesus.  You could envision a zombie horror flick with zombies grunting and walking around with stiff arms and legs looking for someone to eat!  On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t envision that…Paul says it a bit better here…”But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”  -Ephesians 2:4-6  YES!

every sunrise sings Your grace…the universe cries out your praise…i’m singing freedom all my days…now that I’m alive

There are a number of different scriptures to draw from here.  Lamantations and Psalms to name two of them, but check out Galatians 5:1.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

So many times I take my salvation for granted, but we are alive because Jesus experienced sin, death and even Hell on the cross for us so we wouldn’t have to.  I pray for all of us that we wouldn’t live as zombies, but that our lives would cry out his praise as we experience real freedom and life in Christ.

The Power of Faith and Art

Are you enjoying the summer as much as I am? It’s our first full summer in our new house so we’re still pulling weeds and putting down mulch. I was feeling a little discouraged about our slow progress until our neighbor commented, “You’ve done more than the last two owners combined.” So when it comes to landscaping, you can call us “slow and steady”.

I am reminded again and again how much I appreciate the time and talent everyone in this ministry gives to the people of ECC. As I was reading an amazing series of essays from the book “Refractions: a journey of faith, art and culture” by Makoto Fujimura, I stumbled upon this quote…

“Art addresses us in the fullness of our being…There are some truths about life that can be expressed only as stories or songs or images. Art awakens, enlarges, refines, and restores our humanity.” -Dana Gioia.

I fully believe that when the truth of God is combined with art, this is true. And for us, this is our part in the Kingdom of God. As we say each weekend before we hit the platform, “WE EXIST TO GIVE GLORY TO GOD AND TO HELP OTHERS WORSHIP”. This weekend may we all help awaken, enlarge, refine and restore others through our art in the power of God.