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Wednesday, January 28, 2009
I just come for "the worship." ![]() It happened again the other day. . . . . I was talking to a friend about where he goes to church on Sundays. He said this, "I go to (fill in the blank) for the worship and then I leave and go to (fill in the blank) for the teaching." Tuesday, January 27, 2009 This just in. Interesting NY Times story on Chris Tomlin Check it out. Here's my question: What captures this NY Times reporter's attention?
posted by John David Walt | at 1/27/2009 02:51:00 PM
| 4 comments
Learning to Read again. . . . . in worship. The way we approach and read Scripture may be the single most important factor in Christian worship. Most often, I experience Scripture being approached in worship services like a treasure chest. It's highly valued and the task is for the leader to reach in and pull something out that is relevant to our every day lives. We approach the Bible as a functional text, like a handbook or worse, a rulebook. I call this the extraction approach. I'm searching for the immersion approach. Rather than asking what we can extract from this book to make our lives work, what if we asked a different question: How might we become immersed in it's Story, swept up into its movement, captured by it's central character and enthralled in its mystery. It's a different way of reading, altogether. "It's a different way of reading, altogether." (pardon the airplane joke if you didn't get it.) Consider this keen observation:
posted by John David Walt | at 1/27/2009 03:01:00 AM
| 8 comments
The apostolic way of reading and preaching Scripture is to see Jesus Christ as the subject of the entire Bible, the subject of all history. He is the single overarching story of all time. He is the meaning of the entire narrative of human history. He is seen everywhere. He is in every event. . . . The Bible nourishes us . . . because it reveals Jesus Christ . . . who now lives in us and calls us into the new humanity.How might we do this? First we must rediscover the wisdom and beauty of the ancient patterns of reading Scripture in worship, most notably the use of time-tested, pre-selected weekly texts centered around Jesus. Second, we have to recapture a way of following Jesus through the totality of his life in the midst of our "real time." If his story controls, our agendas fade. This is the only way our agenda can be subverted. The best way I've seen this unfold in worship is through ordering our entire sense of time around this story. (i.e. our calendars and our clocks). We need to rediscover the wisdom and beauty of the ancient ways of doing this and find creative ways to contextualize these practices in our 21st century reality. Monday, January 26, 2009 Inauguration Prayer from Bishop Gene Robinson To complete the trifecta, here's the inauguration celebration kick-off prayer from the Right Reverend Gene Robinson. Thoughts? Observations? Analysis? "A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God's blessing upon our nation and our next president. O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will... Bless us with tears - for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS. Bless us with anger - at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Bless us with discomfort - at the easy, simplistic "answers" we've preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future. Bless us with patience - and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be "fixed" anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah. Bless us with humility - open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world. Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance - replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger. Bless us with compassion and generosity - remembering that every religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world. And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States. Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln's reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy's ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King's dream of a nation for ALL the people. Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times. Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead. Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States. Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims. Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters' childhoods. And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we're asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand - that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace. AMEN." posted by John David Walt | at 1/26/2009 03:01:00 PM | 4 comments
Inauguration Benediction of Joseph Lowery God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou, who has brought us thus far along the way, thou, who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee. Labels: civil religion posted by John David Walt | at 1/26/2009 03:01:00 AM | 0 commentsSaturday, January 24, 2009 Rick Warren's Inauguration Invocation I've heard mixed reviews on the invocation offered by Rick Warren at the recent inauguration ceremony for President Barack Obama. Not that I'm in the business of reviewing prayers, but this was a particularly interesting one and a quite unique situation. I will print the text of the prayer below (as transcribed) and invite observations, analysis and other ponderings about the prayer, it's features, it's perceived appropriateness and so forth. Did he hit the mark or miss the moment? Because actual words make up only 10% of communication, take a look at the short clip capturing the prayer above. Let us pray. Still to come-- Bishop Gene Robinson's prayer and Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowry's benediction prayer. Friday, January 23, 2009 Presidential Inauguration as Worship? ![]() All of the elements were in place for a bona-fide worship service. Take a look at the order: The gathering, (2 million strong pressed into the Temple Courts) A few questions: (first what am I missing?) 1. Who was the god and how do you assess that? 2. If it was a particular god, what does the separation of church and state mean? 3. What faith was lifted up and celebrated? 4. What story or stories were being remembered in the service? Which was primary or most prominent? 5. What are the implications of these fascinating dynamics? Resist the temptation to engage in soap-box ranting or raving here, try to engage in careful and thoughtful analysis. Pretend you are an anthropologist who discovered the DVD recording of this service 1,000 years later. How would you analyze what was happening on this day? Labels: many faces of worship, story posted by John David Walt | at 1/23/2009 03:01:00 AM | 6 commentsThursday, January 22, 2009 Worship and the Tournament of Stories. Part 1 ![]() How do we make sure we are living out God's Story in the World and not just our own stories in God's name? Our worship will make all of the difference. The big distinction: Which story are we remembering in worship? Is our own story or our faith community's story the primary narrative? If so, we will read Scripture in a way that serves those stories. We will pull things out of Scripture and drop them into our story in a way that serves biblical notions of holiness or Christian behavior or good marriage or building campaigns or financial giving (stewardship) or financial gaining (prosperity), to name a few. OR is the epically cosmic and personally intimate story of Father, Son and Holy Spirit the big consuming story that has our attention. If so, we will read Scripture in a way that draws us, our lives, our families, our communities, and all our needs and problems into the story of Creation and Fall, Israel and Jesus, the Church and the Final Consummation. This way of reading and worshipping trains us to see the vision of God's Kingdom and to live as though it were a present reality. (i.e. to walk by faith.) The outcomes of these two ways are vastly different. The former will lead to getting some good things done in a pragmatic, biblical and often Christian way. Downside: we stay in control. The latter will lead to an impractical abandonment of our lives in love to God for the World. Downside: we lose control. Consider this quote below. Part two will follow soon. The story of God is still being written. Our present is given meaning by the past work of God, and God's future casts its beacon backward so as to remind us how our present life and witness have consequences into eternity. On the other hand, this perspective presses the importance of the church's coherence with the biblical drama, its mandate to continue this particular narrative and in particular ways. It is, after all, the story of God, not our story. With so many chapters having already been written, and with the final chapter already firmly in place, the options for intervening material are limited, if we are to continue this story. Accordingly, our task is to align ourselves with these landmarks on the biblical terrain--or, better, to write ourselves, to inscribe ourselves, into the biblical narrative, so that our sense of past, present, and future is congruous with the story of the universe found in Scripture. Christian faith is lived at the confluence of personal, ecclesial, and blblical narrative. Joel Green, The (Re-)Turn to Narrative from Narrative Reading, Narrative Preaching, citing Gabriel Fackre, 'Narrative Theology from an Evangelical Perspective," in Yandell, Faith and Narrative, p.188-201.AND DON'T FORGET. . . New items daily on the YARDSALE. posted by John David Walt | at 1/22/2009 03:01:00 AM | 7 comments Monday, January 19, 2009 Worship and our Lost Story ![]() It happened again this week. No matter where I go to speak in the context of a worship service I get an email like this. J.D., we need to know your themes so we can get that to the band so they can choose songs for the worship sets. Are you looking for something soft and intimate or loud and celebrative? (i.e. the youth pastor version of this question: do you want them up or down?) "What kind of response are you looking for? Any particular response songs come to mind? I experience it almost universally in worship services I attend, and to be sure, I have done it plenty of times myself. I can often tell what kind of "key word" search the worship leader utilized to select the songs. Pastor to Worship Leader: "I'm preaching on the holiness of God this week. I need some good songs." Worship set: 'Holy Holy Holy,' 'Holy is the Lord,' 'God of Wonders,' and (choose your favorite song that uses the word 'holy.') I'm still waiting on this one. Youth Pastor to Worship Leader: I'm preaching on the perils of masturbation this week. I need some good songs." Worship Leader to Pastor: "uuuuuhhhhhhh." Worship set: 'Give us clean hands,' .................... 'Oops! I did it again!' ......... What if we moved away from this sermon-centric model of worship? What if we agreed that worship can be tied to no other agenda; no matter how relevant-- not our sermon series, not the altar call, not the stewardship campaign, not the 'idol gives back' routine, not the Super Bowl for crying out loud. What if the musical portion of our worship ceased to be a 'platform' for the speaking portion? What if we ceased forcing our worship services to motivate, or worse, shame our people into applying our three points to their already over-applied lives? What if our worship, week after week after week, became a moving story (more like '24' or 'Lost' which inspire a religious-like following). What if our worship, including the sermon, (which is an act of worship) became "Story-centric," cohering around the mighty acts of God and particularly around the pre-existence, conception, birth, life, death, resurrection, appearances, ascension and reign of Jesus Christ; and all of this constantly bathed in the Spirit empowered reality of Pentecost? What if 'going to church' re-oriented us to (situated us inside of) the real story going on in the Universe, reminding us of who we are and why we're here? What if we poured all our creativity into that kind of worship design and leadership? What might happen? Labels: story, What if worship posted by John David Walt | at 1/19/2009 05:33:00 PM | 18 commentsSaturday, January 17, 2009 Check out my YARDSALE. ![]() Because I've tried to focus this blog in a particular way around a conversation about Christian worship I don't put much of anything else up here. And yet I am interested in a lot of other things. I recently opened a new site called YARDSALE, where you can find the kinds of treasures (and trash) I previously posted in the "14 Stations....." posts. So check it out-- subscribe-- and enjoy. Because in French, "internet" means "to share." ;-)
posted by John David Walt | at 1/17/2009 12:14:00 PM
| 0 comments
Thursday, January 15, 2009 Training Sight to See the Beatific Vision Here's a good quote for Epiphany: Second, the church's assemblies mst again become places of seeing. We are told by Scripture that in the Kingdom this world's dimness of sight will be replaced by, as the old theology said it, 'beatific vision.' It is a right biblical insight that God first of all speaks and that our community with him and each other [and it is of first importance] that we hear him and speak to him. It does not, however, follow, as Protestantism has made it follow, that to listen and speak we must blind ourselves. In this age, accurate hearing is paired with dimmed vision: it is precisely a promised chief mark fo the Eschaton that accurate hearing will then be accompanied by glorious sight. And in this age, the church must be the place where beatific vision is anticipated and trained. (Robert Jensen, How the World Lost its Story. p.135. (essay in collection). This thought invites a lot of other thoughts and inquiries. 1. Would you consider your worship gatherings places of "seeing?" Most worship gatherings I go to these days settle to be places of feeling and thinking. 2. How are we cultivating and training our people to "see" and to "behold" the 'beatific' vision? 3. What is the 'beatific' vision? 4. How are we utilizing media and electronic imagery to inspire and train this kind of sight? How do we use such means to "substitute" for this kind of sight? 5. What are the limitations? 6. How might we be misusing electronic media and imagery? 7. What if one of the main questions we pondered about our worship experiences was, "What did I (we) see?" 8. Your question here? Labels: epiphany, worship and media posted by John David Walt | at 1/15/2009 03:00:00 AM | 7 commentsTuesday, January 13, 2009 Epiphany and The Blind Leading the Blind ![]() One thing we want never to characterize worship leaders and designers: "The blind leading the blind." Think about it. In the midst of the seduction of Eden, we get this exchange: 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."Then this: 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. How does one become aware of blindness while their eyes are open? Now look at this. In the midst of the Epiphany of Emmaus we get this exchange. (Luke 24). Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16but they were kept from recognizing him...... 25He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ[b] have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. .....When he ![]() was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"Anybody want to take a shot at some theological/doxological analysis from these "eye-opening" texts? Any "epiphanies" ???? Labels: epiphany posted by John David Walt | at 1/13/2009 08:40:00 AM | 2 commentsSaturday, January 10, 2009 The Many Faces of Worship Something radical happened between here: and here for those of you involved in worship ministries (or any ministry for that matter) who may not be familiar with this man, it's worth your time to learn about him. Here's the wikipedia. Here's the telling of his life's story. Labels: many faces of worship posted by John David Walt | at 1/10/2009 09:07:00 AM | 2 commentsThursday, January 08, 2009 Worship and the Practice of Seeing Epiphany is about seeing. Jesus echoes Isaiah when, in the midst of his parable teachings, he says:
Think about it. In order to "see" and not just look, one must have "eyes to see." The best worship design and leadership trains our sight (often without our knowing it), shows us where to look, and what to look for, but only the Spirit can make us see. So what's the secret to "seeing?" I think it begins with the humble disposition to recognize I have not seen it all yet. Somehow, the pride of my familiarity must be broken. I must learn to read anew. Just when we think we have extracted all the "relevant" applications out of the text, we must remember that reading Scripture is less about getting something out of it, and more about getting ourselves into it. I am looking for worship design and leadership that opens doors into vast chambers of revelation, orienting me with the kind of World God is making, where mountains bow down and oceans roar and the trees of the field clap their hands in joy. This kind of worship begins with an epiphany, wherein we behold the manifestation of Jesus Christ. There's so much to say here-- but people don't read long blog posts. ;-) Let me give a favorite pastor and a profound poet the last words on this entry.
Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush aflame with God, To design and lead this kind of worship, we must recover the humility to see and the faith to take off our own shoes. . . . Labels: epiphany, practicing the story, story, worship posted by John David Walt | at 1/08/2009 10:20:00 AM | 1 commentsTuesday, January 06, 2009 The Feast Day of the Epiphany of Our Lord ![]() Yes, friends, today is the Day of Epiphany, the day when the people of God (for centuries) remember and celebrate the visit of the Magi. It's actually more of a door than a day. Epiphany opens up a season of worship wherein we ponderously explore the manifest mysteries of the Incarnation, the Word become flesh and dwelling among us. The coming days will lead us on a grand pilgrimage through the Son of God's mysterious childhood, his baptism, and the miracle at the wedding in Cana, all culminating with the mountain top experience of his transfiguration. An epiphany isn't discovering something new. It's finally seeing something old. To have an epiphany is to finally see what you've been looking at so long; something mysterious and sublime long obscured by the ordinary and mundane. It's the sudden opening up of the eyes of the heart. Epiphany breaks out as the Spirit draws us to participate with Revelation (i.e. the Word of God). First we hear. Next we see. Then we behold. This defines the dance of worship; hearing the Word, seeing the Vision, beholding the Mystery of God and finally becoming the dream. It is my conviction that we become what we behold. For those of us who design and lead worship-- How do we create space, shape environments and build pathways that help to catalyze our participation with revelation such that epiphanies happen? How does worship become a better context for epiphany? posted by John David Walt | at 1/06/2009 07:38:00 AM | 3 comments Friday, January 02, 2009 Worship Quote of the Week: Jesus is our worship. ![]() The biblical teaching that Jesus is our worship dispels all notions of self-generated worship. . . . Worship discloses the work of Jesus Christ. He himself is the eternal leiturgia (liturgy) of God. . . . Jesus Christ does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. As God incarnate, he is our obedience, he is our faith, he is our new life, and he is our eternal intercession before the Father. . . . So what then is the worship that the people of God do? We remember God’s saving deeds and anticipate his vision, his final rule over all creation. Robert E. Webber, Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2008), 108-109. That's a good word for January 2-- "Jesus is our worship." Note the way this sentence makes Jesus the subject rather than a mere object. If Jesus is the object-- "we" the people tend to get the verbs. Think about the last worship service you attended or designed or led. Who got the action words in the songs, prayers, sermons and so forth? It may sound like a subtle distinction I am making. It is, in fact, huge. Anyone see what I mean? More to come on the Worship and Mission Series soon. Labels: quotes posted by John David Walt | at 1/02/2009 05:12:00 PM | 9 comments
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