RCL Proper 13B / Ordinary 18B / Pentecost 9

READINGS: 

2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a: Nathan confronts David with his sin and calls him to repentance.

OR Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15: God sends manna to feed the Israelites in the wilderness.

Psalm 51:1-12: David’s psalm of repentance after Nathan committing adultery with Bathsheba.
OR Psalm 78:23-29: God’s miraculous provision of food for the Israelites in the wilderness.

Ephesians 4:1-16: We are united in Christ, but each with unique gifts given by Christ to sustain us and give us life.

John 6:24-35: Jesus, the Bread of Life.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:

God sustains life, giving nourishment and the “tools” (gifts) we need to face life’s challenges, even in the desert. Christ is the Bread of Life who feeds, unites, equips and sustains us.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: Human dissatisfaction has brought great pain to our world and it’s people through excessive consumption and greed, through jealousy and its outworkings in corruption, theft, violence, hoarding and disparity. But faith has, as a central challenge, the call to contentment, simplicity, sustainability, and trust in God to care for and sustain us. Our functional atheism with regard to this faith must be released and repented of, for all our sakes.

LOCAL APPLICATION: It is all too easy to seek our nourishment, provision and fulfilment in what does not satisfy. We complain about what we don’t have and covet the ‘stuff’ that we believe will satisfy our inner emptiness. But, ultimately we need to recognise that only God can feed us and fill us. This assurance, once experienced, will lead us into a life of simple contentment that is both sustainable and life-giving.

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Enough
Admitting My Gifts

Hymn Suggestions: 
Trust And Obey 
O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Be Thou My Vision
Only In You (Link to the Music page of the Sacredise.com web site. Scroll down for preview, mp3, chord chart and lead sheet).  
Breathe (A simple anthem from Delirious that reminds us of God’s abundant love – link to video). 
Your Grace Is Enough (Link to YouTube Video)

Video:  
The Story of Stuff (Link to site)   
Contentment (A lovely meditation video) (YouTube)

Technorati tags: Revised Common Lectionary, Worship, Ordinary 18B, Proper 13B, Pentecost 9, Contentment, Faith

Your God Is My Devil

Some years ago I read that William Barclay, whose daughter had died in a boating accident, was told by a listener that God had taken his daughter because of his “heretical” views on things like the virgin birth. Although the person left no name or return address, Barclay commented on his radio show that if he could have contacted the person to respond, he would have said, “your god is my devil.”

While watching this video today, I found myself responding with exactly this thought – the god of these people is my devil. How does faith ever deteriorate to this level of hatred and callousness? (And the child at the end made my skin crawl!)

Technorati tags: Westboro Baptist Church, hate speech, religion, bad faith, God

RCL Proper 12B / Ordinary 17B / Pentecost 8

Here are links and resources for this week in the RCL. Enjoy. 

READINGS: 

2 Samuel 11:1-15: David sleeps with Bathsheba and then plots to have Uriah killed in battle.

OR 2 Kings 4:42-44: Elisha feeds a crowd with only a bag of grain and 20 barley loaves.

Psalm 14: God sees humanity's corruption and will deliver those who obey God.
OR Psalm 145:10-18: God's kingdom is everlasting and God uplifts the oppressed, fallen and poor.

Ephesians 3:14-21: God's infinite love, and God's willingness and ability to accomplish more than we ask or think. Empowerment from God's limitless resources.

John 6:1-21: Jesus feeds the multitude and then walks on the water to meet the disciples in rough seas.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:

God's resources and provision for those in need is limitless. God's love is infinite and God seeks to do for us more than we can ask or imagine. Yet in this world of abundance, there are times when, Like David we see only scarcity – a limited “resource” that can only be had by one (or the privileged ones). The call of the Gospel is to trust God to provide and for us to heed the call to be the ones to “feed them”.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: Our society has been built on a belief in scarcity – only a few can have wealth, only a few can have power, only a few can “win”, only a few can live “the good life”. Yet the way we define these things, and the scarcity that these definitions create, have not brought us joy or happiness. Now, in a world where our interconnectedness and dependence on one another is seen as never before, we can begin to imagine a new world – a Kingdom of God type world, where God's abundance of grace, mercy and life are the basis from which we can share resources equitably and fairly, finding joy and happiness and life in simplicity and true abundance.

LOCAL APPLICATION: In our own lives, especially at this time, we struggle with a sense of scarcity, and the temptation is to draw our resources to ourselves and become more closed fisted. Yet, when we ope our heats and faith to God's abundance, we begin to find peace, rest and the ability to share what we have with others. In every family and community are those who long for us to share our plenty (even when it feels like little to us).

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Plenty
A Simple Choice

Hymn Suggestions:
For The Beauty Of the Earth
Take My Life And Let It Be (We like to sing this to the tune of Bette Midler’s song “The Rose”. It works really well – you might want to try it!)
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
How Great Is Your Love (Link to Video – not a great video, but it will give you a idea of how the song goes). 
Over The Mountains And The Sea (A simple anthem from Delirious that reminds us of God’s abundant love – link to video).
Blessed Be Your Name (Link to Video)

Video:  
Make Poverty History (YouTube)  
Nelson Mandela On Poverty (YouTube)

Technorati tags: Revised Common Lectionary, Proper 12B, Ordinary 17B, Pentecost 8, Worship Resources, Prayers

RCL Proper 11B / Ordinary 16B / Pentecost 7

This is the second Liturgical Experiment post to go up this week, which brings me back up to date. Phew! Enjoy. 

READINGS: 

2 Samuel 7:1-14a: David asks to build a temple, but God promises a dynasty and a son who will build the temple.
OR Jeremiah 23:1-6: Because of the bad shepherds of Israel God promises a descendant of David who will lead and care for God's people well.

Psalm 89:20-37: God's promise of love, protection and a dynasty for David.
OR Psalm 23: David's psalm of God's care, provision and protection.

Ephesians 2:11-22: Jews and gentiles together are united in Christ and made part of the glorious dwelling for God's Spirit.

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56: Jesus ministers to the people who are like sheep without a shepherd, and touches all who need healing.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:

The David narrative continues as David dreams of building a temple for God. But, God promises David that the temple will be built by his son and that a dynasty of people close to God and ruling Israel will flow from David. God's intention of “dwelling with” human beings, of being united with us, is beginning to be seen more clearly.
In the Gospel, we see the outworking of this promise as Jesus, the “King in the line of David” cares for and heals all who come to him. As Paul observes in the letter to the Ephesians, the presence and compassion of God through Jesus is intended to bring all people together in unity with God and each other.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: This week there's not a lot of difference between the global and the local, except to recognise that the same need for inclusion and reconciliation is present on a global scale. In global leadership structures there is a need for developing nations to be included not just as observers, but as decision makers and participants. In the global economy, there is a growing need for new , inclusive and collaborative ways of doing business as opposed to the old, competitive, exclusive and single-dimensional ways. There is space for large and small, for rich and poor, for hits & niches. We just need to include.

LOCAL APPLICATION: In every community are people who need to be included, people who need healing and who, although different from us, also carry the image and Spirit of God within them. If we seek to know and experience God's compassion and presence, we will need to begin seeing the Christ in these others, we will need to work for reconciliation and unity wherever we can, and we will need to become people of inclusion.

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Finding God Together
The Ones We Long For
God You Are Enough (Psalm 23 paraphrase)

Hymn Suggestions:
Help Us To Help Each Other, Lord
Christ From Whom All Blessings Flow
You Are (Link to website with link to download the free mp3).
Freely, Freely (God Forgave My Sin) (Link to Video – not a great video, but it will give you the melody of the song if you don’t know it). 
God Of The Moon And Stars (Amazing song by Dutch worship leader Kees Kraayenoord – link to video).

Video: 
God Is Not A Man (Michael Gungor Band) (YouTube) 
Playing For Change – Stand By Me (An amazing video and an amazing story – link to site)

Technorati tags: Revised Common Lectionary, Proper 11B, Ordinary 16B, Pentecost 7, Worship, Inclusivity

RCL Proper 10B / Ordinary 15B / Pentecost 6

This post was supposed to go out last week, but with the Amahoro-Africa gathering, I was unable to publish it. So this is the first of two Liturgical Experiment posts to go up this week. Enjoy!

READINGS: 
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19: David brings the Ark to Jerusalem & Michal despises him for dancing..
OR Amos 7:12-15: King Amaziah tells Amos to stop prophesying, but he prophesies destruction on God's command.

Psalm 24: The earth is the Lord's – only the pure can enter God's holy place.
OR Psalm 85:8-13: God speaks peace and brings blessing to God's people.

Ephesians 1:3-14:  God has been kind and gracious to us, bringing salvation first through the Jews and then to all people. God has seals us with God's Spirit.

Mark 6:14-29: John the Baptist is beheaded.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:

The cost of following/worshipping God: If we choose to follow Christ, we will find ourselves confronting the darkness and injustice around us, and will inevitably be challenged, dismissed, persecuted, scoffed at or ignored. We carry a cross, and seek to bring life to others, but they still have the choice of whether to receive it or not.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: The faith that follows Christ is based on the life and teachings of one who preached non-violence, resisted injustice, offered compassion to the marginalised, and was tortured by the powers-that-be. However, today, Christians have a reputation for using violence to achieve their aims and “protect” their interests. In the US, a recent study showed that the group of people most likely to support torture is Christians. Clearly, we have forgotten how to take up the cross, and need to face the violence and persecution we perpetrate, as much as we seek to love those who persecute us.

LOCAL APPLICATION: Faith in Christ has, for many Christians today, become a way to a life comfort, ease and acceptance. However, devotion to Christ is often misunderstood by others, and following Christ will inevitably lead us into conflict with injustice and evil. It is in these moments that it is good for us to remember that Jesus calls us to take up a cross. Each person can identify those places in their own lives where they are being called to carry the cross at this time.


RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
You Deserve It
Fists and Hands

Hymn Suggestions:
When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
O God Of Love, O King Of Peace
O The Wonderful Cross (Link to video).  
Let There Be Peace On Earth (Link to video of Gladys Knight singing this song at the 2008 Memorial Day Concert in Washington D.C.). 
Song for the Nations (Well known song by Chris Christensen. I couldn’t find a link to a preview of the song, but Integrity’s hosanna recorded it years ago, so it should be in the CCLI database)
Everyone Belongs (Link to preview page – click on the song title in the media player in the left sidebar to hear a preview – it’s the second song).

Video: 
Non-Violence Music Video (YouTube)
Gandhi’s Speech on Non-violence from the 1982 movie (YouTube)

Technorati tags: Revised Common Lectionary, Proper 10B, Ordinary 15B, Pentecost 6, Non-violence, Peace

Amahoro

I’m into the the first full day of Amahoro, and taking a bit of time out to rest up and catch up on myself and also do a little blogging. Yesterday started with supper and then a housekeeping session, and finished with a keynote presentation by Amahoro founder Claude Nikondeha. His focus was to reflect on Desmond Tutu’s “spirituality of transformation”. The following thoughts stood out for me:

According to Desmond Tutu, “it seems that in this universe, redemption of any kind happens only through some form of suffering”. Claude then reflected on how Africa has looked to the West as a mentor in spirituality. But the West is expert at avoiding suffering at all costs. He asked the question: “Is this how we want to respond to suffering in Africa?”

I also found his approach to the contemplative stance of transformational spirituality helpful. He offered this quote (no reference given): “So much is happening on earth that cannot be fixed or explained, but it can be felt and suffered…” This is contemplation that I want to learn to engage in.

This morning Kenso Mabiala spoke about post-colonialism, and expressed a number of reasons why it is important for Africans to embrace this strategy of facing oppression, subjugation and domination. I found his explanation of the need for Africa to re-discover an authentic identity very moving, and fascinated by the way he connected post-colonialism with the doctrine of the Trinity (emphasizing God as three inherently in relationship) and Pentecost (celebrating ‘otherness’ and diversity).

In responding to questions he also made this powerful statement: “Theology is always contextual, which is why we must read the Scriptures in community – to hear the reading of the other”. This is my paraphrase, but I think it captures his meaning.

All in all a good time so far. I’ve had a number of really exciting conversations – with Methodist colleagues, with Tracy Howe of the Restoration Project and in my small group which included Brian McLaren.

More thoughts to come…

Technorati tags: Amahoro, Claude Nikondeha, Kenso Mabiala, Tracy Howe, Brian McLaren, Post-colonialism, spirituality, transformation

How Much God

A friend of mine sent me this quote on my Facebook page. Very thought provoking.

I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please
Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don't want enough of him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant.
I want ecstasy, not transformation.
I want the warmth of the womb not a new birth.
I want about a pound of the eternal in a paper sack.
I'd like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
How much of God do you want?

Wilbur Reese

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Technorati tags: God, Spirituality, Sacrifice, Consumerism

RCL Proper 9B / Ordinary 14B / Pentecost 5

Resources for this week in the Revised Common Lectionary.

READINGS: 
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10: David becomes King over all Israel & establishes his throne at Jerusalem.
OR Ezekiel 2:1-5: The prophet is sent by God to a rebellious people: “They will know they have had a prophet among them”.

Psalm 48: Jerusalem's glory – overwhelming even enemy kings arrayed against it. God defends it.
OR Psalm 123: We look attentively to God for mercy.

2 Corinthians 12:2-10: Paul's thorn – God's strength made perfect in weakness.

Mark 6:1-13:  People in Jesus' home town don't believe. Jesus send out his disciples to preach.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:

David, the shepherd boy, is established as king over all of Israel – power that he recognised was given and expanded by God so that he could “shepherd God's people”.
In the Gospel, Jesus faces the rejection and unbelief of people in his home town, but continues his ministry anyway. He sends his disciples out to preach and serve the surrounding towns, but allows them no rations or luggage – they minister in weakness and dependence on God and the hospitality of the people to whom they go.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: One unfortunate facet of life in our world is the abuse of leadership. In business, politics and even religious life, leaders need to be called back to the leadership of service. Humility and an openness about struggles and weakness can open leaders to collaboration with those they are called to lead. As followers of Christ, it is our calling to hold our leaders accountable to healthy servant leadership.

LOCAL APPLICATION: The call to follow Christ is a call to serve – to shepherd, not in the sense of lording it over others, but in the sense of caring for them, seeking their well-being, and offering them appropriate protection and love. In every life the opportunities to serve come silently but frequently. These opportunities to shepherd others can be received as a gift from God and used as opportunities to grow and to expand God's grace and love through the world.


RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
God
Good Shepherd

Hymn Suggestions:
Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
O Loving Lord, Who Art Forever Seeking
May The Words Of My Mouth (Link to video). 
Lifesong (Link to video).
Lord, Reign In Me (Link to video).

Video: 
Servant Leadership Video Survey
Scene from “Amazing Grace” (From Wingclips).
Wingclips “Leadership” page.

Enjoy these resources. Feel free to add any other resources you know of to the comments below.

Technorati tags: Revised Common Lectionary, Proper 9B, Ordinary 14B, Pentecost 5, Worship, Leadership, Servanthood

RCL Proper 8B / Ordinary 13B / Pentecost 4

Resources for this week in the Revised Common Lectionary.

READINGS: 
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27: David laments the death of Saul and Jonathan: “How the mighty heroes have fallen”.
OR Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15; 2:23-24: God does not desire death for humanity, but life.

Psalm 130: God offers forgiveness and redemption from sins.
OR Psalm 30: God answers the cry of the anguished, and turns mourning into dancing.
OR Lamentations 3:21-33: It is good to wait for God’s salvation. God is good to those who depend on God.

2 Corinthians 8:7-15: Out of plenty we can excel in giving. Balance and sharing ensures their is enough for all.

Mark 5:21-43: Jairus’s daughter is raised and the woman with an issue of blood is healed.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:

The David narrative skips to the death of Saul & Jonathan. In spite of Saul's persecution, David honours and grieves him, and mourns the loss of his king and his friend, Jonathan. David embodies God's love even for the “fallen mighty”.
In Mark's Gospel we see Jesus caring for both the rich Jairus and the poor, rejected woman. Both are met at their point of need, and both are able to receive the grace of God.
God's love and care for the broken and hurting, and God's desire to bring them to healing and rejoicing. God judges but is always working mercy and grace, to both greatest and least. A call for equality and recognising the dignity in all.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: The world is a place of great inequality, exclusion and division. Wars are fought and resources are hoarded as we fear and suspect the “other”. Yet, God calls us to view even our enemies as recipients of God's grace. God calls us to embrace all, and work for a world of inclusion, sharing and mutual respect and understanding.

LOCAL APPLICATION: Whoever we are, we can be assured of God's grace, but as we receive it, we recognise that it also includes those who are different from us – it reaches indiscriminately to rich and poor, great and least. If we can wait for this grace, receive it and celebrate it in us and others, we find our grief turns to joy, and we begin to live a life of inclusion, sharing and grace.

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Glorious The Grace
The Love That Ignores Limits
Resources from the Church of England (Prayers & Resources: The Peace Of The World)

Hymn Suggestions:
All Things Bright And Beautiful
Come Let Us Sing Of A Wonderful Love 
I Cannot Tell Why He Whom Angels Worship
Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace (Link to lyrics and a link on the page to listen to the tune). And here’s a link to a video of Sinead O’Connor singing this song.
Servant Song (Brother let me be your servant) (Link to lyrics and a link on the page to listen to the tune). And here’s a link to a video of a beautiful choral presentation of this song.
Shine Jesus Shine (Link to video)
You Are (Direct link to mp3 – Right click and select “Save Target As…”)

Video:
Jesus Etiquette (The Work Of The People)
My Neighbour’s Music (The Work Of The People)

I pray that these resources are helpful as you plan and lead worship. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to make the Liturgical Experiment more helpful. 

Technorati tags: Revised Common Lectionary, Proper 8B, Ordinary 13B, Pentecost 4, Inclusivity, Grace, Worship

RCL Proper 7B / Ordinary 12B / Pentecost 3

Continuing the Liturgical Experiment.

READINGS:
1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49: David defeats Goliath.
OR 1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16: Saul appoints David as commander, but grows jealous.
OR Job 38:1, 8-11: God challenges Job – who keeps the sea in its boundaries?

Psalm 9:9-20: God hears the cry of the poor and will bring about justice.
OR Psalm 133: God’s blessing on unity.
OR Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32: God stills the storm for those who travel the seas.

2 Corinthians 6:1-13: The hardships and sacrifices of Paul’s ministry.

Mark 4:35-41: Jesus wakes from sleep in the boat and demonstrates his authority by calming the storm.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
The narrative of David’s rise to prominence continues. God chose the least child of one the least families and tribes to become king. Now David’s success over the powerful giant, Goliath, with no armour and just his sling, causes celebration. But as David is recognised and celebrated, this upsets the powers-that-be (Saul).
In the Gospel reading, the disciples face their own fear and weakness in the face of the storm’s fury, but then are amazed and awed by the authority of Jesus over the natural elements. A simple command is all it takes to bring the waves and wind into peace.
Key elements in these reflections is the way we deal with power and authority in the light of God’s purposes and reign, and the authority of Jesus.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: The poor and weak in our world suffer from great injustice at the hands of the powerful and wealthy. The burden of debt on poor countries outweighs any stimulus or aid they receive, and trade restrictions create an uneven playing field which makes the weak weaker and the poor poorer. It is shocking to realise that cows in the European Union are subsidized to the tune of $2.20 per day, while millions of people in Africa live on less than $1.00 per day.

LOCAL APPLICATION: We each deal with power relationships on a daily basis – between parents and children, between teachers and learners, between citizens and government, between employer and employee. In some of these relationships we hold power, and in others we don’t. In some we own the “wealth” (be it expertise, opportunity, relationships, material possessions, or money) and in some we are the poor. The Gospel gives us clear challenges about how we navigate these power dynamics, and reminds us that the ultimate authority to which we answer, and which we are called to imitate, is that of Jesus, who always favours the poor and weak.

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Loving Through The Storm
In The Stillness
Jesus In Disguise
Help As We May
The Call Of Compassion

Hymn Suggestions:
God Is The Refuge Of His Saints
For The Healing Of The Nations,Lord, We Pray With One Accord
Fierce Raged The Tempest O’er The Deep
God Of Justice (Link to video) 
A Life Of Love (Matt Redman (I think) – from Soul Survivor. I can’t find a link, though) 
Kyrie Eleison (Oldy but goody from the Fisherfolk – again, no link, I’m afraid)

Video:
The Miniature Earth


I pray that these resources are helpful as you plan and lead worship. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to make the Liturgical Experiment more helpful. 

Technorati tags: Revised Common Lectionary, Proper 7B, Ordinary12B, Pentecost 3, Worship, Justice, Power, Poor, Weak, Wealth

RCL Proper 6B / Ordinary 11B / Pentecost 2

In my previous post on the Liturgical Experiment I mentioned that I was going to be offering resources through this blog. In creating new resources for next week I inadvertently deleted this one, so I’ve had to recreate it (and I’ve back-dated the publication date so it appears in the right place on my blog). I’ve learned to not just edit a old post to maintain formatting when creating a new one.

Anyway,here are the resources for this week. Enjoy!

READINGS:
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13: God rejects Saul as king, and David is anointed as king over Israel.
OR Ezekiel 17:22-24: A small shoot becomes a great tree. God gives life, raises up and cuts down.

Psalm 20: A prayer for God to protect and nurture.
OR Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15: Praise for God’s faithfulness and love which make the godly flourish.

2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17: Longing to be with Christ, but living as new creatures in Christ.

Mark 4:26-34: God’s reign is like seeds producing fruit or becoming mighty trees..

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
David’s anointing demonstrates God’s authority over those in authority, and the way God nurtures people calling them to grow and produce fruit. The challenge to Saul was to take his responsibility seriously, to remain under God’s nurture and direction, and to produce the fruit God called for. He failed to do this and was rejected as king.
Jesus speaks about God’s reign as a growing organic thing, producing fruit and growing from a tiny seed into a mighty tree.
Key elements in these reflections is God’s nurture of people and all growing things, and the call to be those who produce fruit that nourishes. This is not just a “spiritual” metaphor, but also a call to practical action.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: Growing things in our word are under threat as a result of human consumption and our failure to be stewards and nurturers of our world. Human waste damages our environment and harms numerous creatures, while also, ultimately, threatening our own survival on this planet. The Scriptures’ use of organic, growing metaphors to speak about God’s work in human affairs and God’s reign among us, is telling – God cares for all of creation, not just human beings, and God’s salvation extends to the entire universe.

LOCAL APPLICATION: Each of us is called by God and given opportunities, abilities and tasks that we can accomplish for the greater good. The call of God is that we choose to remain under God’s care and guidance in order to produce fruit that will last. We seek to avoid the temptations of Saul and become arrogant and self-serving, and embrace the anointing of David, who while one of the least, was given a noble task to perform.

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Praise Be To You
That Life Would Teach Us

Hymn Suggestions:
All Creatures Of Our God And King
Praise To The Lord, the Almighty, The King Of Creation
Indescribable (Link to Video)
Creation’s King (Link to pdf of Sheet Music)
Creator King (Link to Video) 
Canticle (Scroll down to the song on the list and click on the play button to listen to the song)

Video: 
The Rainforest Project 


Well, that’s it for the first week of the Liturgical Experiment. I’d love to hear any responses, suggestions or comments. Let’s see how well I’m able to keep this up. Please pray for me!

Technorati tags: Revised Common Lectionary, Proper 6B, Ordinary 11B, Pentecost 2, Worship, Justice, Creation Care

The Liturgical Experiment

I have been sending out an ezine for a couple of years now with resources for worship. About a year ago I started specifically picking up on the readings of the Revised Common Lectionary and building resources around these readings. This has been well received so far, for which I am grateful. The struggle it has caused for me, though, is that every month I have a week where I go crazy scrambling to create and source the resources I need for my ezine. As much as I have tired to build a weekly routine around this work

Technorati tags: Revised Common Lectionary, Liturgy, Worship, Justice

, I just haven’t managed to do it.

So, I have decided to change my strategy a little. Instead of just providing resources once a month, I am going to create, each week, a blog post with links, resources and thoughts, around the readings of the Revised Common Lectionary. I will work about a month in advance, so that people who need time to prepare for their services will get these resources in good time. What I hope this will do is help me become more disciplined about spreading my work over each week, rather than a hectic rush at “ezine time”. I also hope it will focus the content of this blog a little more and give it a clearer reason for being, and a more useful content. This doesn’t mean that I won’t continue my odd rambling thoughts in addition to the liturgical work, but at least it will provide a thread that will run through the blog more consistently. I’m calling it an experiment because, until I’ve tried it for a while, I don’t know how sustainable it will be for me, and I don’t want to commit until I’m sure I can keep it going.

The focus of my liturgical experiment, and the core of the resources I will be seeking to create, is to link the act of worship with some of the significant issues of justice and social concern that we face in the world today. Which issue I address will be determined by what emerges for me out of my reflection on the readings. I will also be very happy if readers of this blog will contribute thoughts and suggestions for issues, themes, resources or links that I can add to the resources that will be offered here.

So, here’s to my new liturgical experiment. Please pray for me!

PS. The first instalment is coming later today. Look out for it!

Marriage And Gender – What A Conundrum!

I have long been disturbed by the way the so-called “Gay Debate” has been framed in Christian circles. I realise that much has been written about it in the blogosphere, and I certainly don’t intend to add to the noise. But, I do worry about the dualism that has been the focus in almost every discussion and every article I have read. The dualism of which I speak is this: There are only two kinds of people, men and woman. All men are a certain way (from Mars as some would have it), and all women are a different way (from Venus). I guess this is human nature – to simplify complex issues and to ignore the nuances that challenge clear and practical solutions to what we consider problems.

Then, today I read a fascinating article written by a woman who was born a man, married his wife as a man, and then was changed, surgically, into a woman, while remaining married to his/her wife. In the article she explores the challenges this creates in terms of the legalities of marriage in the United States. Essentially what their situation meant, was that both she and her wife were legally “female” and yet they were also legally married, although they lived in a state where gay marriage was, until recently, illegal. She mentions that, should they have gotten divorced, or if her spouse had died, she would have been treated differently by different states. Some refuse to accept surgical gender change operations, and so, in these states, she would still have been considered a man and would only have been allowed to marry a woman. In other states, she would have been recognised as legally a woman and would only have been allowed to marry a man. What a conundrum!

And while some may argue that this is a situation that is caused by the human “sin” of having gender re-assignment surgery, the same conundrum occurs when the person is gender re-assigned by no choice of their own – like in the case of androgen insensitivity syndrome, where the person is born chromosomally male, but develops the physical body of a female (without uterus or ova) because of the body’s inability to respond to androgens. In states where gender is defined by chromosomes (XY = male; XX = female) the androgen insensitive wo/man is actually legally a man, and therefore only legally allowed to marry a woman!

So, as we debate what the Bible says about homosexual marriage, perhaps we can be honest enough to admit that there are some situations that occur in our contemporary world, and our contemporary experience of marriage and sexuality, that the Bible makes no mention of, and offers no clear direction for. And perhaps we can move beyond the simplistic “the Bible says so” response to what is a complex and mysterious part of our human make-up.

Just a few thoughts on my part….

Technorati tags: Bible, Homosexuality, Gender, Sexuality, Marriage

The Voice

I am really excited about this. I have just discovered a new version of the Bible that is being released (do we really need another one? perhaps yes). It is called The Voice and it brings together scholars, writers, poets and musicians to try to capture both the accuracy of a good translation of the Scriptures and the beauty and poetry of the original biblical writings. The idea, as I understand it, is to create a Bible that recaptures the spirit of the biblical story as a whole and perhaps opens the door for people to read the Bible in a new way which moves beyond the “single-verse-plucked-out-of-context” approach that we all too easily fall into in today’s church. As Chris Seay says in this video: “We want more people to be familiar with the whole story of God.”



I have downloaded the free copy of the Gospel of John that is on the web site, and just reading the first few verses has already inspired me:

1 Before time itself was measured, the Voice was speaking. The Voice was and is God. 2 This celestial Voice remained ever present with the Creator; 3 His speech shaped the entire cosmos. Immersed in the practice of creating, all things that exist were birthed in Him. 4 His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light. 5 Light that thrives in the depths of darkness, blazing through murky bottoms. It cannot, and will not, be quenched.

I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these!

Technorati tags: Bible, The Voice, Scripture

Oil Companies and Climate Change

Here’s an interesting ad that Avaaz is trying to get on the air. I suspect that it may be controversial in some places, but it certainly resonates with me.

If creation care is recognised as a significant part of the Gospel of Jesus, then it may be helpful to use videos like this in worship to stimulate thinking and discussion around these topics, and to listen to God about what just responses Christ-followers can make as we seek to care for this planet that is our home.

Just a thought….

Technorati tags: Avaaz, climate change, oil companies, creation care, worship, justice

The Great Pacific Garbage Dump

Many people in the US probably saw this Oprah show, but perhaps others didn’t. Whatever your position on climate change might be, a situation like this should be unacceptable, and the need for greater awareness and care of creation is, in my mind, obvious.


What am I talking about? Between California and Japan is an area the size of the state of Texas in which tons of human garbage have accumulated, killing marine life and polluting the ocean. If this doesn’t indicate that something in our behaviour needs to change, I don’t know what does. You may debate the science of climate change, but from a discipleship perspective, caring for creation is simply a biblical mandate – as, fortunately, many Christians – even evangelicals who are unconvinced of global warming - are beginning to understand.

Technorati tags: Creation Care, Climate Change, Environmental Protection, Great Pacific Garbage Dump, Oprah

Democracy

I've just returned from casting my vote in South Africa's fourth democratic election. It was a great feeling to stand in queues with others who want to be part of this process.

In front of me was a homeless man carrying his few possessions with him. As we entered the hall, we made space for a woman in a wheelchair and her family to go ahead of us. And we were all smiling at each other and enjoying the moment. Each of our votes was as important as the other, and while we may all have disagreed about who we were voting for, we shared in one process.

It was a privilege to be part of this moment. In the words of Marcus Borg, this was a thin space for me - a place where I was aware of that reality that is bigger than any of us, but that embraces us all.

Another Wonderful Surprise

A couple of years ago my family gathered around the computer after discovering, on YouTube, the amazing story of cell phone salesman Paul Potts winning the reality TV show Britain’s Got Talent. I was blown away by how this timid man changed after his voice repeatedly stirred the audience to tears and cheers. I loved the story because Paul was, by his own admission, an unlikely winner – an unlikely star. He didn’t have the connections or the looks, and by entertainment industry standards, he was way too old.

Now it’s happening again. A wonderful, unexpected 47 year old woman named Susan Boyle began her audition by making Simon Cowl roll his eyes in disbelief. It only took a couple of notes from that voice to change everything – even getting Amanda Holden, one of the judges, to give a standing ovation while the performance was still in progress! (Embedding has been disabled for this video, but the link takes you to the YouTube clip of her amazing performance).

I love these moments. They defy the artificial standards that we have set up for success, talent and appearances. They show that the “industry” no longer has a monopoly on who can make a living from their art and talent. These moments reveal a different world that is growing and emerging – one that is slowly changing the celebrity-, wealth- and power-driven models of influence and living that have so long dominated our world. It may sound like a strange thing to say, but watching a moment like Susan Boyle’s is, for me, a glimpse of God’s kingdom (I prefer the word “commonwealth”) at work in our world.

Thanks for the gift of faith, Susan. Now about that CD I’m busy producing…

Technorati tags: Music, Susan Boyle, Britain's Got Talent, Kingdom of God

Mother Theresa & Worship

I read a wonderful article this morning by worship leader Gerrit Gustafson on the CCLI website. In it he humbly and honestly shares about his encounter with Mother Theresa in Calcutta, and how surprised he was by her perspective on worship. after trying to give her a couple of worship recordings (which she refused, saying they had no equipment to play them on), he asked her – on a friend’s advice – what worship meant to her. Her eyes lit up and she quoted Matthew 25 - “whatever you do for the least of these, you’ve done it for me.” This encounter changed him, and helped him to see that worship is not just about loving God, but also about loving what God loves – human beings, most especially the least.

It’s a warm and inspiring article and very well written. But, I couldn’t help but be distressed by one of the comments in response to it:

”I love to worship God. The way we are to worship is in spirit and in truth. (Jn 4:23) M. Theresa, humanly speaking, did a lot to help the suffering of the lepers of Calcutta, but by teaching a false gospel she condemned her hearers to a Christless eternity. Truth matters!”

I can’t help but wonder how it is that faith in Christ – and worship of Christ – can sometimes lead us into this kind of compassionless, legalistic and judgemental way of being (and we all do this in one way or another). Surely the work of worship, and those who lead it, is to open ourselves to the whole of the Gospel – including the parts that call us to justice, service and compassion. Surely, we should be transformed more and more with each encounter until we begin to reflect something of the Christ who spent most of his time with “sinners” and outcasts, and who in death pronounced forgiveness on his killers.

If our worship does not do this, then what is the point?

Technorati tags: Mother Theresa, Gerrit Gustafson, CCLI, Worship, Justice, Service, Compassion, Faith

Corrective Rape?!

I don’t care where you stand on the “issue” of homosexuality, this is completely unacceptable, and it is happening here in South Africa. I post this, as shocking and disturbing as it is, because I feel that I can do no other than my little bit to raise awareness of this reality.

Whatever happened to “love your neighbour as you love yourself”?

Technorati tags: Rape, Homosexuality, South Africa, Sexuality, Love

Money

I am disturbed by what I am learning about money. I have never been one who believes that money is evil in and of itself, and I still think money is ethically neutral. However, I have become increasingly convinced that the way we deal with money is one of the primary ethical issues of our time.

We live in the midst of the greatest financial crisis of our generation which, as I understand it, is the result of greedy people setting up a risky system that made lots of money, but had few, if any, safe guards. What I find interesting though, is that this crisis has brought about huge spending on aid and stimulus for the wealthy, when the ongoing crisis of poverty, which has been around for millennia, remains largely unaddressed. Money, it seems, really does reveal our priorities.

Now I find myself outraged again. The Dalai Lama has been refused entrance to South Africa for a Peace Conference. Is he a threat to our national security? No. Has he ever done anything to offend or attack our government or our democracy? No. So why has he been refused entrance? The official story is that his presence would have drawn attention away from our 2010 Soccer World Cup celebrations. But, the publicity over our government’s rejection of this icon of peace has created a far greater overshadowing effect than allowing him in ever could have – and this, I believe, was foreseeable.

Which leaves me with only one conclusion. South Africa has strong trade links with China. China is opposed to the Dalai Lama for reasons of which we are all aware. So the South African government, fearing economical reprisals from China, refused entry to the Dalai Lama.

Money does it again. Or, at least, the love of money.

And so I find myself wrestling with my own relationship with money. I find myself searching my heart for any signs that I may be falling in love with money. I find myself becoming increasingly angry that so much evil and injustice is allowed to be perpetrated in our world simply because the money flows in the most expedient direction.

In worship terms, I find myself becoming more and more grateful for that simple act of worship called the offering. I am pleased that we continue to teach ourselves the discipline of giving in order to break the tyranny of consuming. I pray that my worship may continue to teach me to be generous and content with just enough for my needs. And I pray that worshiping communities everywhere will continue to do this work, so that, little by little, our relationship with money may grow healthier in this world.

So, I’m an idealist. I could do worse….

Technorati tags: Money, Dalai Lama, South Africa, Economic Crisis, Worship, Offering

The Cost of Conviction

This post has been coming for a while. I’ve been nervous to write it because I suspect that some readers may misunderstand and some may want to set me straight. I may well lose some readers, and perhaps some subscribers to my ezine. All of which will simply define all the more starkly the sadness I feel over the way this issue is being dealt with in the Church. So be it.

The truth is what I’m about to write is an important part of my story – although it didn’t actually happen to me – and it needs to be written. I have just discovered this week, after a year-long journey of prayer, possibility and closed doors, that I will be moving to Cape Town at the end of the year. I am very, very excited about this move, and I am really looking forward to living in Sea Point and getting to know the Atlantic Seaboard of Cape Town. The reason for this move is simply that Knysna has been wonderful, but too small and remote for my ministry to be sustainable. As a result, my wife, who is the minister in the Methodist Church that I attend, has been seeking an invitation to a bigger city, so that I could be in a place where travel would be easier and where I could reach more people and churches more easily. I am grateful to her for being prepared to uproot herself and our family to support my work in this way.

Along the way to this new opportunity, there was one particular experience that grieved both of us very deeply. After a journey of many weeks, including an interview with the leaders of the church, a Methodist Church in Pretoria issued a verbal confirmation to Debbie that they wanted her to be their minister from January of 2010. We were excited about this church – it is growing, it has lots of resources and is a haven of creativity and life-giving ministry. Also my family lives in Gauteng and my son is studying in Pretoria, so it all seemed to fit.

Then one of the retired ministers discovered a chapter that Debbie has written in a new book that was released this year called What Are We Thinking? (Learn more or get a copy from Dion’s blog). According to the account given to us, this colleague (whose name we do not know) made copies of her chapter and handed them out to the leaders of this church. After reading what she had to say, they contacted her and said that they were rescinding their verbal invitation, and would need to deliberate further. It became increasingly clear that they were now going to reject her, and so after much prayer and thought, Debbie accepted the offer from Sea Point Methodist Church (who have no problem with what she has written).

What was it that caused such a stir and resulted in this unfortunate turn of events? Debbie’s chapter was based on her Master’s Thesis (in Narrative Therapy) and was about Insiders and Outsiders – Pastoral Care with Christian Gay Women. In it Debbie explores the experience of a group of gay women who love Jesus and seek to express their spirituality as part of a Christian community of faith – a local church. Debbie makes it clear that she is affirming of these women and wishes that the Church could be more accepting and inclusive toward them. She allows them to tell their stories of rejection and abuse, their attempts to find “deliverance” from their homosexuality, and their longing for a place of comfort and inclusion in the Church. It is a well written chapter and one that is a significant contribution to the conversation that our church is currently having around homosexuality and the Bible.

The church in Pretoria, though, could not handle being cared for by a woman who openly supported gay Christians, and so they chose to ignore her outstanding track record of ministry, the overwhelmingly positive references from the leaders of the church where she currently serves, her compassionate and challenging preaching, her deep commitment to pastoral care of all people and her ability to bring all-ages together in worship that is creative and transforming. The loss, I’m afraid, is theirs.

I am proud of my wife – that she was prepared to nail her colours to the mast and write a chapter that she knew could have this kind of impact on her ministry. I am proud that she was gracious through the whole process. And I am proud that she is now going to a church that is so excited to have her as their minister. I’m also proud that she’s going to be embarrassed by the glowing way I’ve written about her on this blog!

Technorati tags: Moving, Christianity, Homosexuality, Faith, Bible, What Are We Thinking

Changing The Soundtrack

I am so excited by an article I read this morning in the online version of Sojourners magazine. It seems that Christian musicians in Nashville are becoming more aware of justice issues, and are beginning to address the global crises of poverty, AIDS, sex trafficking and war through their music and ministries.

What excites me about this is that I have long had an uncomfortable feeling about the music that we use in most churches I am involved with and learn about, and the music that has been the soundtrack of the church both within worship services and outside of them. For so long our songs have all been “bless me, Jesus” songs, and have focussed on our personal encounter with God, without this encounter leading us anywhere. Now, we are finally waking up to the fact that worship services need to lead us into lives of justice and service – the kind of lives that Jesus calls us to when he says “take up your cross”.

I’ve also just started reading a book by Mark Labberton (here’s a link to the church he pastors) called The Dangerous Act Of Worship which explores similar themes. I think, finally, the soundtrack of the Church is changing. Can you hear it?

Technorati tags: Worship, Christian music, Justice, Church

The Work of Leading Worship

I'm interested by the way the work of worship leadership is evolving at the moment. Historically - at least in the denomination I belong to, this was a task that was performed by trained clergy, and was seen as focused around the celebration of the sacrament and the preaching of the word. It was a theological and pastoral task, which sought to facilitate an encounter with God that brought wholeness and spiritual depth to worshippers and which led them into lives of service, compassion and Christlikeness.

Now, it seems, this task has become one that is focused on musical and creative leadership. I watched a training video by Paul Baloche the other day in which he taught that worship leaders should not pray much between songs, but rather just focus on leading the music. In many churches I have worked with, worship leaders have no training, but are appointed simply because of musical ability.

I wonder when and why this shift has happened. I wonder what it says about our current practice and theology of worship. I wonder what impact this has on the mission and character and witness of the Church in the world.

I guess I'm going to have to reflect on this and write about it more in the future, but I do know that it leaves me with a disquiet in my soul...

Time

Time is a commodity that seems to be in short supply in our world. Ironically, it’s the one thing that the poor seem to have much more of than the wealthy – so much for “time is money”!

One thing I find strange is how the church conforms to the view of time that is embraced by the world around it. When I lived and worked in Johannesburg, I found the pace of work and life in the church was as hectic and busy as that of the surrounding city. When we moved to Knysna, we had to learn not to impose this pace on the church here, because Knysna – and the churches in it – are far more laid back.

I can’t help wondering whether we’ve missed a significant feature of our spirituality in this dynamic, though. The Scriptures are clear that God has a very different way of viewing time. In the language of the ancient Greeks, our view of time would be called chronos – the linear, goal-oriented way of dealing with time, which inevitably leads to a sense of panic and burn out because there’s never enough time to accomplish all our grand schemes. But, there’s another way of viewing time. The Greeks called this kairos, and it speaks of an appointed time, a time that has significance and that does not flow in a linear, sequential fashion. Rather, kairos focuses on the moment, on patterns and seasons, and on what is most important at any point. In the world of kairos there is always more than enough time, because it is viewed through the lens of eternity.

Worship is designed to order our sense of time, using Sabbaths, and Festivals in the Church Calendar, and regular gatherings for worship to move us out of the driving current of chronos and into the gentle flow of God’s kairos. In worship we begin to see our lives and our time differently. We begin to recognise more clearly what is really important, and what is consuming undeserved time. We learn to pace our lives according to the rhythms of God’s grace, and of our natural world and personal make-up, and we start to find freedom from the tyranny of chronos.

This doesn’t mean we throw our watches away and opt out of the world’s time frame. Rather, it means that, while we may still move according to old chronos-oriented rhythms, there is a different frame of reference, a new way of understanding our commitments and an altered sense of priority that enables us to find a sense of calm and openness to the Divine promptings, even in the busy-ness of daily life.

So, here’s the challenge. How can you begin to open yourself to a new understanding of time? How can you allow worship to be your teacher? Perhaps you can allow things to slow down a little when you pray or worship, allowing more time for silence and reflection. Perhaps you can enter into the spirit of each liturgical season a little more mindfully (Lent is happening now – a good place to start). Perhaps you can work on developing a habit of pausing regularly through your day to listen and respond to the Divine Voice. Whatever your choice, I pray that you’ll explore ways to allow your worship to order your understanding and use of time – because to do so is to embrace tremendous healing and life.

Technorati tags: Worship, Church Calendar, Time, Chronos, Kairos, Sabbath, Liturgy

Context

Everything we do, everything we are, every relationship, every thought, every value, every belief happens in a context. We don't exist in a vacuum. We live in a world of impressions, perceptions, meanings, assumptions, habits, customs and interpretations. These influences form our context, and our context, in turn, forms us.

The challenge of context - and it's one that many of us miss - is that we can, to a large extent, choose our context. We can decide whether our context is narrow - centred on ourselves and our own specific needs and concerns - or whether our context is wide - formed by concerns and meaning that is beyond us, larger than us.

You don’t have to look far to see the impact of living with a context that is too small. The effects are everywhere, from the financial crisis, to the widespread poverty in the world, from conflict and war over disputed ideologies or territories, to the extinction of species through human carelessness and consumption. Clearly there is a strong case to made for the necessity of the quest to widen our context.

So, how do we do this? How do we move beyond our own small concerns and ideas and begin to live in a context that goes beyond ourselves, that is large enough to lead us into a different, more inclusive, more compassionate and more life-giving way of being? There may be other ways, but in my experience, one of the best ways is to worship. One of the most powerful and significant purposes of worship is to order our context – to move us out of ourselves and into the wide context of God’s person and work, God’s purpose and priorities.

Clearly our worship often fails to do this, perhaps because, although we claim it is about God, it actually ends up being about us – our musical preferences, our needs and hopes, our prayers and friendships. I’m not knocking this – for worship to fulfil its function it must engage us where we are and move us on from that point. The problem is that it often doesn’t move us, except perhaps into some emotional experience that leaves us as quickly as it is generated.

So, here’s a call, to worshipers and worship leaders, to begin to allow our acts of worship to become uncomfortable. To begin to spend more time in the kind of praise that leaves us in awe of God’s compassion and justice. To begin to do more heartfelt and honest confession, so that we face our own darkness, and seek to live more openly in the light. To begin to search the Scriptures more diligently to catch a glimpse of God’s heart, God’s priorities and God’s cross-carrying call.

If we allow it to, our worship – and every song, prayer, symbol, word, and act that is part of it – can lead us into a wider context for living – a context that lifts us out of ourselves, and connects us with the world that God loves; a context that changes not just us, but all who meet us because of the reflection of Jesus that is seen in us; a context that takes us out of our safety and comfort and smallness, and into a radical, frightening, vibrant, exciting, creative, unpredictable and abundant life. As Jesus said, the Spirit blows where it wills – and so it is with everyone born of the Spirit. May our worship be the womb where we are truly born again into this Spirit-directed world.

Technorati tags: Worship, Prayer, Transformation, Spirituality, Church, God, Jesus Christ

A Theology Of Worship

Here's a thought-provoking and disturbing article about United Methodist Churches and their views of their worship and the theology that underpins it. Dean McIntyre of the General Board of Discipleship alerted me (and others on his list) to it, and it offers some sobering insights into what's going on in the UMC. Truthfully, I suspect this is true of a lot of churches, not just in the USA but in South Africa and around the word, as well.

I find myself increasingly challenged to do the work of theology with regard to worship in the seminars I lead. I often get asked to focus on practical skills and tools, and I do that gladly. However, I worry that the practical actions without a solid theological framework will always fall short of creating meaningful worship experiences for our people. I'm not sure that I agree with all of the theological conclusions in the article, but that's ok. The point is not that we all have the same theology of worship, but that we al do the work of developing a solid theology for the worship we lead in our churches. So if, when asked "What is your theology of worship", more than 30% of respondents say that they don't understand the question, I think we have a serious problem on our hands.

The theology that underpins our worship is what drives and focuses the way we structure our services, the way we choose songs, the way we pray and the way we preach. And, ultimately all of this impacts - massively - the way our people are formed in faith, which in turn impacts the influence that Christ-followers have on the world, for better or worse. Perhaps one of the reasons that the literalist, fundamentalist brand of Christianity is so pervasive in the Church today, and has become the primary lens (I believe) through which the world views the Church, is that we have failed to do this crucial theological work. If you want to explore some of the work that I have done around the theology of worship, you can take a look at the following resources:

1. My book - Food for the Road - Life Lessons from the Lord's Table - seeks to understand worship by exploring the sacrament at it's centre - Holy Communion - and then understand how this changes how we live.

2. The articles section on the Sacredise web site has a number of short articles that explore how we understand worship.

3. Blog posts here, here, here and here give an introduction into some of my thinking on this issue - although there is still more that I need to write about this.

4. I have a chapter in the newly released book What Are We Thinking - Reflections on Church and Society from Southern African Methodists (Edited by Dion Forster and Wessel Bentley) that seeks to start a conversation around liturgical (worship) theology for the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (there is also a lot of other great theology in this book, including a chapter by my wife, Debbie).

Technorati tags: Worship, Theology, Church

Efficient Worship

Worship is a strange activity. In our measurement obsessed world, it really makes very little sense. There is no "product" that is produced to sell or give away to increase our bottom line, or raise someone's standard of living. There is no great discovery that is sought, no wonderful new system to develop to make our lives work more fluidly. I guess Bill Gates is right when he says "religion is an inefficient use of time".
But what worship offers is something far more valuable. Worship reminds us that life is often found not in efficiency, but in the creative, mysterious, symbolic places of our lives. These places may not make sense in a benefit-to-energy-expended sense. But they make sense in the economy of opening-ourselves-to-the-unknown. And this is where life's great discoveries and adventures are found.
So, here's to a life of worship that defies efficiency and embraces the "wastefulness" of allowing the mystery and wonder of God and God's world to form and challenge and change us.

Wideness

I was reading this blog post from Adam Walker's blog ( a really interesting perspective, by the way). What struck me was two lines, that I think I am going to be quoting and meditating on for a long time to come.

The first was a reference to Lewis Smedes reciting a line from an old hymn:
There's a wideness in God's mercy like the wideness of the sea.

The second was a quote from William Sloane Coffin:
It's always a good time to change your mind when to do so will widen your heart.

Amen.

Technorati tags: mercy, Adam Walker, Lewis Smedes, William Sloane Coffin, religion, faith, compassion

A New Look At The End Times

Today I was made aware (through The Ooze Blog) of a new book that has been written to explore what the Bible says about the end times.

I am really excited about this simply because I have long been fascinated both by the biblical views of the end times, and of the way the Bible has been interpreted and the rather emotional and dogmatic ways that end time prophecy is often preached.

In my own journey I have gone from fundamentalist waiting for Jesus to come at any moment, along with little care for the world that was "going to be destroyed anyway," to a deep commitment to learning to care better for the world, and a conviction that our hope as Christians is not to wait for a future second coming, but to be living in such a way that Jesus comes again and again to those we encounter.

I have yet to read the book, This Book Will Change Your World - I've only downloaded it now - but I'm looking forward to it. And, if you pass on the word, you can download the ebook free!

Check out This Book Will Change Your World here.

And check out the post that let me know about it at The Ooze here.

Technorati tags: Theology, End Times, Bible

The Tools Of My Trade

Work is going well on my new CD. I'm about at the halfway point now - about two thirds of the backings are recorded, and I'm almost ready to start on the vocals. Then it's the careful and time-consuming task of mixing it all down - listening back to the songs hundreds of times, tweaking equalisation settings, reverbs and adjusting the relative levels and positioning of the instruments and voices to create a single cohesive whole. I love the process, as tiring as it is, and I get totally lost in the endless possibilities, and the pure creativity of it all!

But, to do this work, requires tools. Most of mine are the instruments I play. I am not able to hire in additional musicians, so no one on this album has previously recorded with Sting, Aretha Franklin or Madonna ;-). It's just little ol' me, my friend Clint, who drums, and my wife Debbie who will be adding her voice on some of the lead and most of the backing vocal arrangements. I have learned to work within my own limitations, and hopefully, maximise my strengths to create a sound that is mine, and that I can be proud of. And it's these tools that help me to do it:

First there are my trusty guitars. I'm first and foremost a guitarist. This is where my musical journey started, and every song of mine features the guitar very strongly. The collection here includes my pride and joy - my Taylor 355 CE 12 String (a gift from my parents, bought in Mississippi last year), my Garrison G30-12-CE, which has six of the strings removed to make it a six string (a job it does exceedingly well), my Ibanez Artist electric (which has been with me since my 21st birthday - also a parental gift), my Samick accoustic bass, and my son's Maxwell electric bass. Finally, the most recent addition to the family is my "no-name-brand" mandolin - a cheapy that I bought for only R650-00, but that sounds great!


Then, providing amazing support to the guitars, there is my Roland RD-300sx. It is such an amazing digital piano, with weighed-key action, full size keyboard and that great Roland piano sound (and no, I'm not paid to advertise!).





Finally, courtesy of Clint, my friend and church drummer, there are the trusty Roland V-Drums, that make it possible for me to get as close to the sound of a live kit, without the hassle and expense of a drum cage and a set of drum microphones.

So, that's what makes my music work. It's amazing what can be created with a small collection of instruments like this - and I've had such fun pushing these instruments to see what they can do. It shouldn't be too long now before the final product is ready to be heard and tested! Watch this space!

Technorati tags: Music, Musical Instruments, Roland, Taylor, Garrison, Ibanez, Samick, Worship

Pure Praise

I promised Fred, from The Worship Community, that I'd let you all know about an online Bible Study that is happening over there, based on the book Pure Praise, by Dwayne Moore.

The idea is to read the book, follow the daily devotional guidelines, and then participate in the forums at the Worship Community so that we can learn from each other and together grow in our own expression and understanding of worship, our intimacy with God and our ability to lead others in worship.

For my South African readers, it's going to be a bit of a problem getting the book (Fred is working on getting a .pdf download, but we're not sure if this will happen), but for my international readers, you may want to consider starting your new year off with this 9 week study.

I'm hoping just to glean some insight from the forums, even though I probably won't be able to get the book myself, so I'll be checking in from time to time to see what's happening there. Why don't you join me?

Technorati tags: Worship, Praise, Bible Study, Dwayne Moore, The Worship Community

Food for the Road

I am so very excited to announce that finally my book Food for the Road: Life Lessons from the Lord's Table is now available on Amazon.com. To check it out click on this link. It's taken me a while to work out how best to do this, and I have finally managed to get through all the hoops, get the book printed by CreateSpace - an Amazon.com print-on-demand company - and get it listed on Amazon, but now it's finally done! What a great way to start 2009! Now, to get my CDs listed as well...

By the way, the book and my CDs are also available as digital downloads from the Sacredise website, and, for South African customers, as physical products. Food for the Road is also available as an eBook from Mobipocket (another Amazon.com company).

Please take a moment to check out this book, and if you've read it, please take a moment to write a review (assuming you have the time ;-) ).

Technorati tags: Communion, Food for the Road, Worship, John van de Laar

Quiet Advent

This blog has been very quiet for the last month. There have been two main reasons for this. the first is that I've had a lot of commitments to the worship in my own community. We've been responsible for the local Hospice Carols by Candlelight which was held in our open air shopping centre, Woodmill Lane, on the 17th of December. Then tonight we have a wonderful children's musical - The Great Late Potentate - happening at our church (The Knysna Methodist Church) at 6:00pm - for which I am the musical director. In addition, there are the usual Sunday services and planning and preparing that goes with that.

The second reason for my great silence is that I'm in the process of recording my new CD. I'm very excited about it - it's an attempt to bring together in music two important themes: our devotion to and intimacy with God, and God's call to justice and to bringing God's purpose into visibility in our world. I want the songs to bring worship and justice together in a way that is singable, worshipful and congregation-friendly. Early feedback on the songs from the few people who have heard them (and the on few songs that have already been used in church ) is very encouraging. I'm now about a quarter of the way through arranging and recording. The CD should be launched early in the New Year, so watch this space for more information!

So, come the New Year, I should be blogging more frequently again. But, for now, all I can say is: May Christmas be a blessed time for you and yours, and may the subversive, compassionate message of this season change how you face 2009. May the message of the Christ, and the opportunities of a New Year lead you into a life that is more fully alive, and that brings life to all others that you touch.

A Charter for Compassion

In a world where religion is often criticised for being divisive and violent, it is encouraging to see how many religious people are working to change the conversation and to recreate both the reputation and the practice of religion.

The Golden Rule - "Do to others as you would have them do to you" - is almost universal in religion. All the major religions include this command in some way, and yet so often religion has failed to live up to this, and has chosen rather to destroy others who are different in language, culture, race, gender, sexual orientation or religion. Well now, people of faith are pushing against this exclusive and violent expression of religion.

Today I discovered an amazing web site called Charter for Compassion. Embodying the best of religion, this site is working to create a charter that al people of faith can embrace to express and live the compassionate heart of their religion. The video on the home page is well worth viewing, and if you can participate, please do so.

Here is part of the description of what the site is about from their About page:
"The Charter for Compassion is a collaborative effort to build a peaceful and harmonious global community. Bringing together the voices of people from all religions, the Charter seeks to remind the world that while all faiths are not the same, they all share the core principle of compassion and the Golden Rule. The Charter will change the tenor of the conversation around religion. It will be a clarion call to the world."

Thank God that the religious conversation in our world is growing and changing like this. I pray for great impact and great participation for this amazing initiative.

Technorati tags: Charter of Compassion, Faith, Religion

Ode to The Church

I received an email today that included a deeply insightful article by Ron Rolheiser about the Church. He speaks about many of the reasons that people retain their faith, and even their denominational identity, but fail to actually attend church. Many of his explanations are very helpful and thought-provoking. One he doesn't mention is the simple generational dynamic. A large proportion of those who now carry the weight of decision for their families and who decide whether they will go to church fall into what is known as Generation X. This Generation tends to be bad at 'joining' - as evidenced by the fall in new memberships among all sorts of clubs and organisations. Church is just another place that they're reluctant to 'join' for a number of reasons that I don't have space to explore now. I am convinced that it's just a matter of time before we see people returning to the Church when the next generation - the Millennials - begin to seek the belonging and structure that Church provides.

The real point of this post, though, is the Ode to the Church that Rolheiser quotes from the Italian spiritual writer, Carlo Carretto. These words give a realistic and passionate reflection of what it's like to be committed to the church - I share these feelings, and found myself liberated to hear someone else voice them so eloquently.

How much I must criticize you, my church, and yet how much I love you! You have made me suffer more than anyone and yet I owe more to you than to anyone. I should like to see you destroyed and yet I need your presence. You have given me much scandal and yet you alone have made me understand holiness. Never in this world have I seen anything more compromised, more false, yet never have I touched anything more pure, more generous or more beautiful. Countless times I have felt like slamming the door of my soul in your face - and yet, every night, I have prayed that I might die in your sure arms! No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you, even if not completely you. Then too - where would I go? To build another church? But I could not build one without the same defects, for they are my defects. And again, if I were to build another church, it would be my church, not Christ's church. No, I am old enough, I know better.

Technorati tags: Ron Rolheiser, Church, Carlo Carretto, Generations

And We're Back!

Wow, what a week it's been. After trying in vain last week to get log in details from my web host (who did not respond to any of my attempts to contact them), I discovered yesterday that the company had been sold, and the hosting arm was to be shut down! I had already started a new hosting account with another company (who I have used successfully before - why did I ever change?), so things on that front were back on track.

Yesterday I managed to prove to GoDaddy that I am the legitimate owner of the Sacredise.com domain, and they allowed me to transfer the domain into my own (new) account. Today the transfer was completed, and the site is back up and running!

Now, I just need to upload the site to the new web host, change the DNS settings on the account in GoDaddy, and Sacredise.com will be safe and secure in her new home - and since I now control the domain it's unlikely that this kind of problem will happen again. At least, here's hoping!

Thanks to all of you who sent supportive emails, and who have been praying through this cyber-crisis.

Technorati tags: Web Hosting, GoDaddy, Sacredise.com

Web Site Down!

In the last few days, some readers of this blog may have tried to access the Sacredise web site. If you're not on my ezine mailing list then you would think that the site has gone down (if you follow the url you get a "this domain is parked..." page).

Basically here's what's happened so far: It seems that my domain registration renewal fee has not been paid. Now, this is included in my hosting account, and I paid my hosting renewal about a month ago. So, my web host failed to pay the GoDaddy fee. Now, my site has gone down, and my web host (ThatsWhy.net) contact (Jonathan Blindell) has gone AWOL. I have been trying for three days now to contact him, but he doesn't return my calls, text messages or emails.

So, now I'm in the frustrating position of being ready and willing to pay GoDaddy to renew my registration, but with no log in details to make this happen. I have also opened a new hosting account with another web host, but I have no way to change the DNS settings to get them to point to the new host's servers once I've uploaded my web site. The domain is still registered to me, so that, at least, is good news. But, I need to find out what my log in details are to get this sorted out. Does anyone know how I can go about doing this without actually getting them from the absent web host?

I think I can get them to change the email address associated with the account, and then get the details sent to me, but that will take days. I'm looking for a quicker way to get back online.

In the meantime, I've learned an important lesson - make sure you have all the log in info for anything you do online - and preferably register your domains yourself, separately from your hosting company. Then just use the host to do just that - host.

Anyway, I don't know how long it will take, but I do promise this - Sacredise,com will be back!

Technorati tags: web hosting, domain registration, Sacredise.com

Praying for the Bull?

I couldn't believe this when I saw it, but it seems that it's true. A group of Christians gathered around the statue of the golden bull on Wall Street to pray for the economy.

Praying for the economy? I have no argument with that! But, to gather around the bull, lay hands on it, blow the shofar (goats horn), and wave flags? Surely at least someone could have made the connection that this would look (even if it wasn't intended) awfully like the story in Exodus 32?

Here's the video on YouTube, and a link to P.Z. Myers' blog where he wrote about it

Technorati tags: Wall Street Bailout, Golden Calf, Worship, Economy

JournEase

This week I was contacted by Lisa Cole, and informed of her amazing new site, JournEase. This ministry has grown out of Lisa's own journey through her father's death. as he was cared for by the caregivers of Montgomery Hospice in Rockville, MD.

On the night that Lisa's father died, the family gathered around his bed and sang his favourite hymns. The hospice workers mentioned how meaningful this would have been for him, and noted how few families have this ability or opportunity. And, so, in memory of her father, and to fill this gap, JournEase was born - a ministry that provides music of comfort and hope for those who are dying, or are journeying through grief.

The music is available to listen to on the site, and mp3s are available for purchase (there are also a couple of free tracks for download). The music is beautiful in its simplicity and has a meditative quality, while exploring themes of grief, dying and hope. I am absolutely certain that this is a music ministry that is deeply needed, and that will grow from strength to strength.

Thanks, Lisa, for providing this amazing resource!

Technorati tags: JournEase, Lisa Cole, Death, Grief

Spirituality

Here's a great quote that I read on the blog of my colleague and friend, Steven. It pretty much sums up how I feel about, and what I believe about, spirituality - (Thanks for the post, Steve):

Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence.
- Anthony de Mello

Technorati tags: Anthony de Mello, Spirituality

George W. Bush's Legacy

Here's an interesting quote about the outgoing US President which I read on Doug Chaplin's blog, written by the British columnist, Boris Johnson.

Democracy and capitalism are the two great pillars of the American idea. To have rocked one of those pillars may be regarded as a misfortune. To have damaged the reputation of both, at home and abroad, is a pretty stunning achievement for an American president.

I'm sure there would be many who would challenge his analysis of Bush's presidency, but it certainly makes you think, doesn't it?

Technorati tags: George W. Bush, Boris Johnson, The Daily Telegraph, Democracy, Capitalism

Worship That Freaks You Out

Here's an Annie Dillard-esque reflection on worship by David Ker. It certainly makes you think.

And I liked this comment on the post by Doug Chaplin.

Technorati tags: David Ker, Doug Chaplin, Annie Dillard, Worship, Reverence, Prayer

The Many Faces Of Music

I read a fascinating article today about the use of music in the current political upheaval in South Africa. Apparently both the ruling ANC and the splinter group of so-called 'dissenters' had conferences in Cape Town this past weekend that expressed their message and feeling through music. The article, written by Mpush Ntabeni, in the Mail & Guardian, only reflected in detail on the 'dissenters'' conference, since that was the one the writer attended. It was fascinating to read how once again the African tradition of protest through song came into play. For details, you can read the whole article here (and it's really worth clicking through to read it!).

As I reflected on this article, I was reminded of the many ways music has been used in protest - by the slaves who had been ripped from their African homes and forced to work in the fields of the "new world", by the marchers and protesters of the Civil Rights protest movement in 1960s America, by anti-apartheid activists and protesters in South Africa. What is amazing about these musical expressions of protest, is that many of them were written and sung by people of faith. Many of these protest songs had strong religious themes, and many have become songs of worship (think of the spirituals that were sung by the slaves, but now are deeply and universally loved, like "Oh When The Saints").

There is no doubt in my mind that one of the roles of worship music is rightfully that of protest and of calling for justice. Songs of lament, songs of prophetic complaint, songs of comfort to the oppressed - all of these have a long and distinguished history in the worship of God's people. Perhaps one of the reasons that there is some question about the role of music in worship into the future is that the proud prophetic tradition of worship music has been lost (or at least neglected) in the popular worship of the Church.

In the light of the current global economic crisis, the challenge of global warming, the reality of religious conflicts and the plight of millions who live in dire poverty, I believe now, as much as ever, is the time for worship song-writers to be writing songs of protest and justice. In my own small way I'm beginning to try - and I'm working on a new project that will make some of these songs available - so stay tuned for more in the comings months!

Technorati tags: Music, Worship, Protest, Justice

A Prayer from Max Lucado

In the face of the financial crisis we are all facing, here's an amazing prayer from writer Max Lucado that I received via email today. The link goes to a video of Max Lucado praying this prayer in a worship gathering.




You Have Our Attention, Lord
A prayer by Max Lucado - October 2008

Our friends lost their house
The co-worker lost her job
The couple next door lost their retirement
It seems that everyone is losing their footing
This scares us. This bailout with billions.
These rumblings of depression.
These headlines: ominous, thunderous -
“Going Broke!” “Going Down!” “Going Under!” “What's Next?”
What is next?
We’re listening. And we’re admitting: You were right.
You told us this would happen.
You shot straight about loving stuff and worshipping money.
Greed will break your heart, You warned.
Money will love you and leave you.
Don’t put your hope in riches that are so uncertain.
You were right. Money is a fickle lover and we just got dumped.
We were wrong to spend what we didn’t have.
Wrong to neglect prayer and ignore the poor.
Wrong to think we ever earned a dime. We didn’t. You gave it. And now, tell us Father, are You taking it?
We’re listening. And we’re praying.
Could you make something good out of this mess?
Of course You can. You always have.
You led slaves out of slavery,
Built temples out of ruins,
Turned stormy waves into a glassy pond and water into sweet wine.
This disorder awaits your order. So do we.
Through Christ,
Amen

Technorati tags: Prayer, Wall Street Bailout, Worship, Max Lucado

Bono Gets It Right (Again)

Here's a really challenging and thought provoking quote from Bono which I found in the Sojourners newsletter:

"It's extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion dollars to saved 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases."

I guess it really is all about what we have the will for....

Technorati tags: Bono, Poverty, G8, Wall Street Bailout

Intimacy Explored - Part 2

To get the background to this post see the previous instalments here and here.

I've long been working with a model of worship that uses intimacy - particularly that between a loving, monogamous couple - as a metaphor to lead us into deeper understanding of this mysterious practice. As previously noted, intimacy (my favourite definition of which is "mutual self-disclosure") has three elements. The first is attentive listening. The second, and the one this post will explore, is vulnerable sharing.

If I seek intimacy with another person, I need to allow them into my story. This means that I need to be prepared to share with them, honestly and with vulnerability, my journey, my background, my likes and dislikes, my strengths and weaknesses, my hopes, dreams and fears, and all the things that make me who I am. As I share this, it's not just words and information, but my essence, my spirit, reaches out through my sharing to touch and connect with the other. The depth of the intimacy is determined by how vulnerable I'm prepared to be, and how much I'm prepared to share.

In worship, in our intimacy with God, a similar dynamic occurs. our worship has been designed over centuries to allow us - the people of God - to bring our story into the sanctuary and share it, honestly and vulnerably, with God. That's why we pray prayers of confession - admitting our weaknesses, blunders and sins. That's why we pray for ourselves and others, and for our world. We bring our stories, with all their glory and depravity, all their sacrifice and selfishness, all their aspirations and delusions, before the God who, we trust, can handle it all and love us anyway. And as we share, our spirits reach out to touch and connect with the Spirit of God.

That's why I get a little concerned with the way worship is "packaged" in some parts of the Church. We deny that anything can go wrong in a Christian life. We point fingers at those who don't measure up to our standards - be they moral, intellectual or doctrinal - and we create an environment in which our brokenness gets hidden, and we strive to outdo each other with how "blessed" we are. This leaves our worship shallow and empty - no intimacy at all.

Worship that is true intimacy with God requires lament - shaking our fists at God because we feel betrayed when prayers aren't answered or life deals us a blow. True, deep worship requires heartfelt, tear-stained, broken confession and happy celebration. We do weddings, baptisms and funerals in Church because these things help us bring our story in all of its colours, textures and seasons, intentionally into God's Presence, and we are changed by the encounter.

So, when we share testimonies, when we preach, when we pray, when we sing, we need to ensure that we include the whole gamut of human experience in our words, actions and symbols. We need to make space to focus on individual issues, community concerns and social justice struggles. We need to make sure that we don't fall into the trap of triumphalism -  pretending that we are always "victorious" and nothing can go wrong. We need to create a worship environment that is as comfortable with groaning and tears as it is with laughter and singing. And we need to allow time for people to bring their own personal stories into the worship - whether through silent or spoken open prayer, through participation in the service as readers, musicians or pray-ers, through testimonies or altar calls.

When we allow our worship to be a place where we bring our true selves, our whole selves to God, it becomes a place of liberation and healing. And this is the worship I long for.

So, how do you allow your story to play a part in your worship? How can you do this more? How does this understanding of intimacy with God change your worship practice, if at all?

Technorati tags: worship, intimacy with God, confession, prayer, lament

Mamma Mia!

Disclaimer: I am, and always have been, a huge ABBA fan - and I'm proud to say it!

On Sunday night I took my family to see the movie version of Mamma Mia!. When it came out as a stage show to Johannesburg a few years ago, my wife and I saw it and loved it. The movie was even better. In fact, in my ignorant opinion, this was some of the best film making I've seen in years. Now before you roll your eyes, hear me out.

Let's face it, the whole point of Mamma Mia! is the music of ABBA. The story was never the point, it's just an excuse - and it shows. It's a simple, straightforward contemporary relationship tale - a girl trying to work out which of three possible candidates is her father. Under normal circumstances, this would almost guarantee that the movie was not a classic, and that it would have limited appeal - mostly to ABBA fans and aging, nostalgic Baby Boomers. But, somehow, this movie transcends those limitations to become one of the funniest, most entertaining films that I've seen in recent years. To take something that could be really cheesy and make it into a quality experience is no easy task - which is why I call this a great example of creative film making.

To start with, I am deeply impressed with the big name stars who were prepared to jump in with both feet, lose a bit of dignity and just have fun. It was clear in every scene that the cast was just having a blast (although, to be honest, I don't think anyone other than Meryl Streep could have pulled off The Winner Takes It All with such emotional power). And I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of Pierce Brosnan in a multi-coloured and sequined cat suit!

Then there were the great touches of direction - from the Greek Tragedy type chorus (very hammed up), to the over-the-top, don't-take-this-too-seriously flippancy of the "staging" (I loved the guys dancing in flippers during Lay All Your Love On Me). I haven't laughed out loud like this in ages in a movie, and the cast did a good job of carrying the singing - even though many of them did not have great voices.

So, what can I say? Just go and see it, and expect to have lots of fun in the process. Oh, and make sure you've got a CD of ABBA songs to play in the car on the way home - you're going to want to sing along, and they frown on that in most cinemas.

Technorati tags: ABBA, Mamma Mia, Movies

Prayer for Our Country

I received an interesting email today. It was a call to pray for South Africa - a noble sentiment with which I agree wholeheartedly. But, I had one problem with this email. It quoted a few of the usual Bible verses about God healing nations when people pray, and then it offered a written prayer that I was supposed to pray and agree with. Here's where the email lost me.

The prayer it offered was that God would give us, here in South Africa, a "godly leader". Now I want a godly President for South Africa as much as the next person, but I doubt that it's God's job to make this happen. In a democracy, the President we get is the result of the collective wishes of the people in the nation. In South Africa, this means that the political party that will run the country is elected by a majority of votes in a general election. The person who becomes President is the person who is the President of that political party - voted into the post by members of that party. At the moment, the President of the ANC, and the most likely next President of South Africa is Jacob Zuma - a controversial figure.

Reading between the lines, I get the sense that the person who started this email campaign feels that Jacob Zuma is not a good candidate for President. I can respect this view. However, here's where I get lost. This person, who clearly doesn't want Jacob Zuma to be President, is now asking people to pray that God will override the democratic process, and install someone else (which I assume would be someone to this person's liking) as President.

Is this God's job? Is this what prayer is for? (I suspect there may be similar prayers flying around in the US at the moment around the US elections - and in that case, there are probably equal prayers in favour of both candidates. Now, what is a God to do?) My feeling is that if we want a "godly" President (and there may be some debate as to what that means), we should work within our society to grow and highlight the values of a nation that is just, equitable and peaceable. Then, we work within the democratic process to bring in leaders of stature, integrity and courage. If we fail to do this work, then we should not expect God to miraculously swoop in and save us from our apathy.

If we want a godly President, perhaps it would be better if we prayed more for the one that we have - and the one that we will have after the elections next year. Now, this is a prayer I can say "amen" to.

Technorati tags: Jacob Zuma, Prayer, Politics, South Africa, Elections

The Worship Community

I have been a member of The Worship Community for a long time now, and it's been a great place - a forum for worship leaders and worshippers to support each other, and discuss issues that affect us. It's a great place to hear what others are doing, and to learn from each other. I've really enjoyed participating in the forums, and I've met some amazing people - not least the founder, Fred McKinnon.

Well, today I heard that one of my articles has been published on the site. This is very exciting, because it gives me a chance to share some of my experience and thinking with worship leaders from around the world. I have also received a couple of very encouraging comments from readers.

So, I invite you to check out The Worship Community, and stop by to read my article, What Difference Does Worship Make? if you're interested. And if you do, please leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Technorati tags: Worship, The Worship Community