Category Archives: Worship

Thoughts About “Icons”

Recent blog activity has been caught up in a discussion over the Manhattan Declaration. This is a statement coming from Catholics, Orthodox, and Evangelicals concerning three major points about our current culture in America. The debate is over whether this is just some right wing political move or it’s legitimate.

Some of the disagreement comes down to theology. How can an evangelical stand alongside a Catholic? Some objections (like from John MacArthur) raise up old lines of division that show the Body of Christ really has a hard time standing together for just about ANYTHING without an argument breaking out. (There’s a reason it’s called the “family” of God, I suppose.)

Some objections raised would be Catholics and Orthodox theology. Perhaps it’s also the veneration of saints and icons. There are fundamentalists and Evangelicals who have a serious problem with the saints and icons of the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

This stirred my thoughts. In my own sordid sense of humor, I would present the idea that while we don’t have “icons” in the sense of the Orthodox Church, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Reformed and other Protestants do have our own versions. We take the “high” road and say it’s not worship. But I would argue there are times we fall into celebrity cults in the Church.

It’s a serious issue I’ve seen raised since the days of Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker. Now, it’s even hit the Reformed movement. The likes of Mark Driscoll and others raise serious questions about our tendency to celebrate certain people. I am NOT saying Driscoll and others seek worship! I am saying we tend to set these guys up in places they do not belong.

I would offer (in a sense of humor kind of way) some of our Protestant “icons” through the centuries.

Luther

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calvin

 

 

 

 

Graham

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hinn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driscoll

Piper

What Happens When We Dwell?

Colossians 3:16,17: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

When we are feasting on the word of Christ, when Christ is truly dwelling in us…RICHLY… there is a great dynamic about coming together. We come ready to share. We come ready to worship, to FEAST. There is a song in our hearts.

Imagine a great potluck where everyone comes with their finest dishes. They have anticipated coming together, so they have spent time putting together fabulous dishes that will add to the potluck. They are excited about sharing those recipes and seeing the delight on people’s faces when they taste that food! These are people who have learned how to cook and when a potluck is called, everyone eats well!

Now imagine a potluck that is called but even the good cooks don’t prepare. The week got busy. They were rushed. They forgot there was a potluck.

Maybe they prepared a great dish last time and people kind of turned their noses up at it. Maybe they worked hard and everyone else brought Doritos. So they think, “Why bother?”

Or, imagine a potluck where no one is ready. No one has any idea how to cook. One person brings a bag of chips. Another brings a 2 liter of Pepsi. There are 20 people.

When we come together… are we ready? Is the feast of the Lord truly in us? Do we understand that our presence at a worship service should ADD to that time? We have a feast prepared if we are dwelling in the Word of Christ.

But too often we think of church as a full service restaurant. We come in and WE are to be served. Someone else prepares the meal, and we don’t care HOW they prepared it. So what if they used illegal immigrants! If the food tastes good, so what?

We come to church and look to be “wowed.” We WANT to be spoon fed. Why should WE prepare?

That is not really a place of joy or long-lasting abundance. It might be a hot night at the local bar or a great meal at an expensive restaurant we can afford once in a blue moon. But it’s not abundance.

Come to the feast. Bring your best. Dwell richly in the Word of Life. Share it with others. Watch abundance flow.


Wow. 0 for June! I know I don’t blog much, but I missed JUNE!

Seems life is keeping me busy. Where I am focusing currently is worship and different means of worship. Part of it is study, where I am currently reading Evagrius devotionally. I want to continue to learn from the Desert Fathers and hear their heart for God.

At some point I may return to Merton and “Seven Storey Mountain” as well.

Tozer’s “The Knowledge of the Holy” calls out to be read as well! So many books…


Wow. 0 for June! I know I don’t blog much, but I missed JUNE!

Seems life is keeping me busy. Where I am focusing currently is worship and different means of worship. Part of it is study, where I am currently reading Evagrius devotionally. I want to continue to learn from the Desert Fathers and hear their heart for God.

At some point I may return to Merton and “Seven Storey Mountain” as well.

Tozer’s “The Knowledge of the Holy” calls out to be read as well! So many books…