This video starts a little slow, but really comes around in the end. My wife and I had the chance to see John Piper at the text and context conference at Mars Hill in Seattle. He has a wonderful way of delivering the Gospel in its simplicity and its entirety at the some time. Blows the mind!
For the last forty days the church that I attend has been going through a curriculum put out by Pastor Warren called Forty Days of Community, a series I have struggled with. As part of the series I chose to include the bible study God has blessed us with into the small group portion of the Forty Day curriculum. It has been trying to meld the methods and content of Pastor Warren into the culture of our group. Though we have struggled through it and watched the video (some slept through it), and read the devotional (well....), it has proven to be beyond me to reconcile it to the group in a way that I felt content with. To put it bluntly I screwed it up.
Last Wednesday night was our last Forty Day group meeting, and instead of turning the group over to Pastor Warren, I decided to pull the content for that evening from the previous Sunday sermon ( also part of the Forty Day curriculum, and well delivered by our pastor, thanks Stacey) and Mark Driscoll's Vintage Jesus (page 160something). It was the first time that I ever lead a topical Bible Study, though I think it went rather well. Worship is an all encompassing topic. We spent time defining what worship was and wasn't ( we decided that music was only a very small part of it ), and what worship looked like practically in our lives.
Here are a few of our talking points...
We are all worshippers Christian or not
Worship isn't a musical style (thank you Jesus!)
Worship is holistic and on going
Without sacrifice or a person or object of glory, worship is not happening
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hop laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel...
Colossians 1.19-20
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
and I ramble....
November 4th was a very exciting day for me. Because it was a day that conservative leaning elements of the Church in America can look back on as a great stepping off point. A victory if you will. An opportunity to divorce ourselves from a political party that has been groping us for far too long. To pack our bags only with the Gospel and go out into the world as the bride of Christ and not the servant of a political party. Hopefully when you cast your vote, it wasn't for an old man from Arizona, or a young upstart from Chicago. But, for the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. Who's platform is to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. What could be more important? Nation first? America the hope of the world? Where do you cast your lot?
I've been wrestling with a decision I made a few months back to change jobs. There was a lot of excitement surrounding the idea of becoming an electrician and though I didn't expect to be where I am today, here I am. I have been driving to and from Crescent Junction everyday ( 1.5 hours each way ) and it is exhausting me and my family. I use to be very involved in my church and community, but this new job is robbing me from a lot of what is important to me. Sometimes I wish I had kept that lesser paying job, where at least I was a part of a community and not a collective of individuals.
Early this morning I had an hour in our church's prayer room and I opened my bible to 1 Corinthians 12 and the verses that jumped out to me were vs 21-26. To me it describes a community that is interlocked in both its strengths and weaknesses, and a community like that takes some sacrifice. To have the same care for one another? Treating the less presentable parts with a greater care and modesty? Suffering together and sharing the honor? Can we truely do this?
These verses are followed by a section on various giftings given by God and how they range in authority in the church. Paul talks much in 1 Corinthians of the churches need of structure. An organization of individuals (vs 27) committed to Christ and his teachings, individually unique yet collectively united. Chapter 13 is filled with the gooey adhesive that we call love, showing us how we can propel this community daily. An honest reading of Chapter 13 tells me one thing. Love isn't about me, is it.
Paul paints a picture of a faith community that is sacrificial one person for another. With purpose, vision and direction that is bonded together in the love of Christ. To what extent were its members committed? To what depths did they have to submit their lives to it?
I titled my blog Move Sucks Move after a line from a Rage Against the Machine Song - Renegades of Funk -. That spoke a lot to me of were the church in America is going. We are a stone statue that is coming to life. The church has painstakingly crafted itself as a perfect, clean and pure marble statue to this nation that is cold to the touch and unbearably heavy. Though I don't agree with Rage Against the Machines' violent and revolutionary overtones (anarchy and Christ are incompatible), I can't help but feel that there is something in what motivates them that is redeemable for God's Kingdom. And that is seperation. We are called to be in the world, but not of it. How we have compromised for the world, HOW I HAVE COMPROMISED!
Its been awhile since I 've been into the music vain. I just picked-up the new Lecrae album (rebel) on iTunes tonight, and boy am I impressed. I turned to my wife after listening to the second track "Don't Waste Your Life" and confessed to her "This is good!" I couldn't help myself.
I first was exposed to Lecrae at a Mars Hill event in Seattle where they performed "Send Me", a track off of his previous album "After the Music Stops" where my wife launched herself out of the seat engaging in the call to respond!
Before Christ, I listened to a lot of rap. 2Pac, Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang, Master P, Busta Rhymes. After I began to followed after Christ's call and was exposed to "christian" rap, I felt as if it was a little wanting. I appreciate what their doing at Reach Records, and I'm sure in other studios across the US, and world.
