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A new generation of bold faith
May we rise up and insist not on our own ingenuity and skill, but let us call out for the very presence of God. We have become so skilled at drawing a crowd, but in our skill to draw a crowd, we have substituted that for the very presence of God. We have fallen into our own ingenuity trap and…
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Worship and the Image of God
As I work my way through Jason B. Hood’s book, Imitating God in Christ: Recapturing a Biblical Pattern, I am continually struck by his boldness in the view of humanity. We are created in the image of God and that means something. I grew up with “worm theology.” That old gospel song, “At the Cross,” had the line: “Would he devote that sacred head…
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An Outpost of Eternity
I desperately want to end the “small church” / “big church”… “growing” church/ “NOT growing” church… debate. I won’t. I will never get away from it and no matter how long I pastor, it will always be in my mind. But I want MORE. Not more “numbers.” I want more realization in my heart… and in the hearts of those I meet…
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Ritual
For those who make the claim, “I’m not ‘religious,’ I’m ‘spiritual,’” this word is like death. For Pentecostals, this word is like death. I grew up hearing about “dead rituals.” What I have come to realize is that rituals are not “dead.” As believers, it is often US who are dead. We’re just blaming something else. Ritual belongs in life.…
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Crazy Thought of the Day — On Worship
We need to get the notion out of our heads that “worship” is the singing part of a church service. Worship is declaration. It’s not just singing something. It’s not just connecting with some emotion. Worship is the declaration that JESUS IS LORD. By implication that means we are saying, “JESUS is Lord, and no one else is.” It is…
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Songs We Need to Think About
I wish we would actually think about EVERY worship song. I have unreasonable expectations. But this one jumped out at me today as I was in a chapel service. This line: “I want more of you, God.” I reflected on that, then heard this word from the Lord drop into my heart: “When you hear MY request of having more…
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Knock off the fake worship!
The reading in Advent will usually get around to Isaiah and this year it dives right into Isaiah 1. To put it succinctly, God is not happy. As I work on the Sermon on the Mount and a “pro-life ethic,” I am drawn to the parallels here in Isaiah 1. A quote I posted from Craig Keener really drives at the…
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N T Wright on Worship Songs
Worship Songs from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.
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Spine Tingling Worship
When it comes to church, and I am Pentecostal when I reflect on this particular subject, we just flat out like “excitement.” There is emotion in our lives, so we don’t try to pull out emotion when it comes to singing and praise in a church service. As Pentecostals, we like to pray for people and things happen. But it…
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Comfort for Us Who are Left Behind
Not “Left Behind” (like that book series). Left behind as we remember those who have gone on before us. 1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. 2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster,…
Category: Worship
