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On Vacation. No Posts Until Week of August 10
posted by John David Walt | at 7/29/2009 10:03:00 PM
| 1 comments
A Poetic musing on the role of preaching in worship.
FARMStrong has been on a bit of a poetry fast, albeit unintended. Here's a piece I've been musing over which I think is on its way to poetry. I think a lot about the nature of real preaching. In an age where many preachers are aspiring to become "Communicators," we may be losing the deeper realities of the sacred genre of speech known as "preaching." check it out. I call the piece
ALL YOU CAN EAT.
true preaching reveals the place where Word and Spirit meet
affording an encounter with Divine Realities
eyes seeing the story
ears hearing the Kingdom
mind comprehending Mind
pen scratchings cannot capture it
paper cannot possibly map the course of God-Words
recordings can't remember the Living Voice
like storing water water in cupped hands
Spirit musings never fit into an mp3
so put down your pencil
and lift up your heart,
don't get the tape
Lean forward.
Listen Now!
and realize
the stream of heaven
is not download-able
not for canteens
immediate consumption required
open bar,
all you can eat buffet.
It's got a ways to go for sure. What am I trying to say here? Preaching was never meant to fill a storehouse with knowledge, but to create a context for the comprehending of Love. What are you seeing/hearing in these musings?
Monday, July 27, 2009
Worship Quote of the Week: The Lewis Admonition
In the trajectory of that last post on novelty v. innovation in worship-- here's a quote I call "The Lewis Admonition." I share it with our worship design team every year in our training week (a.k.a. Levite Camp). A worship service works best when, through long familiarity, we don’t have to think about it. . . . The perfect church service would be the one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God. but every novelty prevents this. It fixes our attention on the service itself; and thinking about worship is a different thing from worshipping. . . . Tis mad idolatry that makes the service greater than the god. A still worse thing may happen. Novelty may fix our attention not even on the service but on the celebrant. . . . There is really some excuse for the man who said, ‘I wish they’d remember that the charge to Peter was’Feed my sheep’; not ‘Try experiments on my rats’, or even ‘Teach my performing dogs new tricks.’" C.S. Lewis.
HT to Chad Brooks, our Team Leader, who reminded me of this via a comment to the last post.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Lewis Admonition. And someone tell Clive those things will kill him!
Labels: quotes
posted by John David Walt | at 7/27/2009 07:29:00 AM | 5 comments
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Worship Design Thought: Are we choosing novelty or innovation
In worship, familiarity can breed contempt, but predictability creates a sense of trust. There's a fine line.
Familiarity = Announcements + 30 minutes of singing + 40 minutes of preaching + 10 more minutes of singing.
The common mistake: engaging in novelty to break familiarity. Think about the last time you experienced "novelty" in worship. (i.e. motorcycles, parachutes, silly songs with Larry, etc.) I heard one worship leader say it this way, "We never want people to know what's coming; keeps them on their toes."
On the other hand, predictability is one of the gifts of Tradition.
Tradition = Biblical call to worship, corporate praying, the reading of God's Word, corporate-personal postures for expression, structured silence, holy embrace of one another, Prophetic Preaching, Creedal Affirmation, Preistly blessing, Apostolic sending, etc.
The problem: we allow Tradition to slip into the rut of familiarity, leading us to novel solutions. It doesn't have to be this way. The answer isn't novelty, it's innovation. We must learn to innovate and improvise on the Tradition in ways true to God and true to people.
It's another reason worship designers and leaders must grow in their capacities to think theologically about their calling and craft.
Guitar in worship = Innovation
Guitar hero controller in worship = Novelty
Summing up: Moving from Familiarity to Predictability in worship requires choosing careful innovation over attention grabbing novelty.
Labels: worship design
posted by John David Walt | at 7/23/2009 09:00:00 AM | 11 comments
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Many Faces of Worship: Interstellar Edition
Here's a story on the famed Apollo 11 mission that missed both the elementary school text books as well as the 40th anniversary celebration. It turns out that Buzz Aldrin celebrated the Eucharist on the surface of the Moon. Check out this quote.
“In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.’ I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O’Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly. …I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”
HT to Omar. Read the whole story on Eric Metaxas blog.
Labels: many faces of worship
posted by John David Walt | at 7/22/2009 01:13:00 PM | 1 comments
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Worship Quote of the Week Blaise Pascal, born in 1623 in Clermont, France, lived a short life of profound significance. From an early age, his insatiable thirst to learn could not be quenched. He early achieved fame as a mathematician, a scientist, a physicist and a philosopher. Among his inventions were the calculator, the hydraulic press and the syringe. At the age of 31, he experienced a mystical encounter with the living God after which he left his studies behind to pursue theological wisdom and understanding. He died of stomach cancer before finishing his most famous and celebrated theological work, The Pensees. After his untimely death at the age of 39, his servant found a parchment sewn into the lining of his coat with an inscription describing his encounter with God. It follows:
In the year of grace, 1654, on Monday, 23rd of November, Feast of St Clement, Pope and Martyr, and others in the Martyrology. Vigil of St Chrysogonus, Martyr, and others.
From about half past ten in the evening until about half past twelve.
Fire!
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob,
Not of the philosophers and scholars.
Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.
God of Jesus Christ.
"Thy God and my God."
Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except God.
He is to be found only in the ways taught in the Gospel.
Greatness of the Human Soul.
"Righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee,
But I have known Thee."
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.
I have separated myself from Him.
"They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters."
"My God, wilt Thou leave me?"
Let me not be separated from Him eternally.
"This is eternal life, That they might know Thee, the only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
I have separated myself from Him:
I have fled from Him,
denied Him,
crucified Him.
Let me never be separated from Him.
We keep hold of Him only by the ways taught in the Gospel.
Renunciation, total and sweet.
Total submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.
Eternally in joy for a day's training on earth.
"I will not forget thy words."
Amen.
Ever think of sowing something like this in the lining of one of your jackets? I'm considering it. ;0)
Labels: quotes
posted by John David Walt | at 7/21/2009 10:19:00 AM | 4 comments
Sunday, July 19, 2009
JESUS IS LORD!
posted by John David Walt | at 7/19/2009 08:22:00 PM
| 0 comments
Friday, July 17, 2009
The 3 most important words for worship. . . .
They declare our most central creed. They form our most basic call to worship.They define God. They define us. They speak of the past and they tell of the future.
They orient us with primacy, supremacy and ultimacy. These 3 words define the first thing and they define the last thing.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.
The 3 words?
You tell me. Take a shot at it. What are they?
Now, what would your worship gathering look like this weekend if they became explicitly central, implicitly core, and foundationally clear? How would you do it?
Go for it.
Labels: worship design
posted by John David Walt | at 7/17/2009 09:25:00 AM | 10 comments
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Many Faces of Worship: "If Only" You will need 8 minutes and 11 seconds for this one. It's the power of a movement-- our movement-- only they aren't aware of it yet.
I watched this with my youngest, Sam (3). No kidding, about half way through he started dancing too.
If only. . . . . . .
Observations????
Labels: many faces of worship
posted by John David Walt | at 7/15/2009 09:40:00 AM | 1 comments
Monday, July 13, 2009
Take me out to the ballpark (i.e. worship service)
In a gentler age, a trip to the baseball park yielded an excellent place for conversation and reflection. It seemed like silence punctuated each pitch. Yes there was the occasional organ "Charge!" and the signature antics of the local announcer, and of course the cheering of fans at a base hit, but for the most part, watching baseball was an experience in quiet observation and intimate conversation. Have you been to the ballpark lately? Between every pitch a loud base-thumping version of something like, "Who let the dogs out! Woof! Woof! Woof!" blares out of the speakers. There must be a hundred buttons in the press box, each signaling a different noise effect. There's simply no silence any more. It changes the nature of the ballpark not to mention the game itself.
I suspect the same might be said of worship. Back in the day, the simple liturgical structures, lent themselves to more quiet spaces. With the advent of the worship band, things began to change. Between music and speech, there's simply no empty spaces any more. In fact, silent spaces are often viewed by pastors as awkward transitions where people don't know what to do and feel uncomfortable.
Here's a best practice for worship design and leadership: Be Quiet. Create intentional space for silence and lead people into that space. Teach worshippers the essential dynamic of "Stilling and quieting the soul." (see Psalm 131 Some scholars believe the word "Selah" appearing throughout the Psalms calls for a silent reflective pause in the Psalm. There's plenty of biblical precedent. Be Quiet. Find a way to weave this into worship regularly. Someone I think does this well is Matt Maher. What if you tried tithing the time-- 10% of the time be quiet. In an hour that's only 6 minutes and yet that seems like an eternity to us doesn't it.
So what happens when we are silent in worship?
Labels: Best Practices
posted by John David Walt | at 7/13/2009 08:50:00 PM | 7 comments
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Praying the Story in Worship
I once wrote a book called Praying the Story, yet I speak of it so little here. I recalled this material in a worship service just the other day. As the pray-er stood to pray, the Spirit took us somewhere. He remembered segments of the biblical story in ways that convinced me he had been there. These stories lived in his heart and mind, becoming his very own memory. He prayed them in first person, referencing "us" instead of them. Amazing-- the Spirit transported me there too. It went something like this,
"Lord God, you saw us there at the waters edge. You saw the awful armies of Pharaoh breathing down our necks. The only way through was an impossible way. But you reminded us that nothing is impossible with God. You made a way through the sea. And you know us Lord, that we still find ourselves in that spot today, between dying and death. We can't make the house payment. Pharaoh is gaining on us. We can't beat the cancer. The waters cry doom. (insert any variety of suffering circumstances here). But you are a God of the impossible. We say it with Sarah. We shout it with Jeremiah. 'Nothing is impossible with you.'We were there that awful night, watching your son on the ground as he cried out, 'Abba! Nothing is impossible with you.' Pharaoh of the Pharisees chased him. The waters of death mounted. And Jesus, we remember what you said. "Not my will but your will be done!" [[you see where this is headed]].
What do I learn from this way of praying? 1. To pray like this that story must become my own memory. 2. From the inside of this Story, we can see the living God-- far better than through a series of abstract qualities. 3. This way of praying isn't escapist, but rather it locates us squarely in the midst of our circumstances, identifies us deeply with those who have gone before and grants us the gift of standing in a place I call "Covenant Leverage."
I'll have to develop that idea in a future post, so for now-- what do you think about this? Make sense?
Labels: practicing the story, prayer
posted by John David Walt | at 7/09/2009 09:13:00 PM | 4 comments
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Designing Worship: Asking the best first question
In one of our recent conversations, Zion Dreamer posed some sharp practical questions about worship design. She asks,
When you meet with your design team - what is your opening question or statement?
From my observation of worship services, most worship leaders, pastors and designers approach worship with this first order question: How can we create an environment and/or shape an experience where people will encounter the presence of God?
It's not a bad question; nor is it a wrong question. I just don't think it is the right first question. What question do I ask first? Thanks for asking. Here it is:
How can we remember the Live Story of Father, Son and Holy Spirit such that we become reoriented inside of it, encounter God and engage in his mission in the World?
Can you see how these questions might lead to very different outcomes? Your thoughts?
Labels: worship design
posted by John David Walt | at 7/08/2009 04:58:00 PM | 7 comments
Friday, July 03, 2009
The Many Faces of Worship You are not even going to believe this one. It's the Postlude (exit music) from Trinity Wall Street (Episcopal) Church.
Another HT to The Firstborn Son.
Labels: many faces of worship
posted by John David Walt | at 7/03/2009 01:24:00 PM | 2 comments
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Worship Quote of the Week
Seeker-oriented contemporary churches argue that worship does not need to present the whole gospel. The purpose of worship, they say, is to get people in the door. Then, after they have gained a hearing, they present the gospel in small-group settings. This argument may be good marketing, but it fails to understand the biblical purpose of worship. Worship brings glory to God because it remembers God’s saving deeds in the past and anticipates God’s culmination of his saving deeds in the new heavens and new earth.
Robert E. Webber, Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2008), 85.
Here's what I like about this quote. Anytime we attach any agenda to worship, no matter how good, we start down the road toward idolatry. We don't witness to non-Christians by worshipping. The Spirit witnesses to people through our worship.
The difference-- the former will quickly lead us down the path of marketing. The latter comes through fastened attention and loving adoration of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
posted by John David Walt | at 7/01/2009 07:11:00 AM
| 11 comments
Today...