Bored With Contemporary Worship

I ran across this post from TheWorshipCommunity.com and thought it was worth discussing,

Bored With Contemporary Worship:

Musicademy caused quite a stir when they published this thoughtful post recently.

We don’t want to say it. It sounds like we’re consumers, wanting more entertainment, and we know that’s not the problem. Worse, it might sound like we’re tired of God – when we know we’ve only just scratched the surface of the infinitely creative, dynamically relational being he is.

Hence the collective sigh of relief in the London School of Theology Deep Calls to Deep conference when the outgoing Director General of the Evangelical Alliance, the highly respected and deeply passionate Joel Edwards, used the ‘B’ word without apology or caveat. ‘We’re bored in worship’. You could almost see tense shoulders sag and bright eyes perk up. We’re allowed to say it Our worship has become boring’ It was like permission, not to whine or complain or place blame people do that enough about worship anyway, but to admit the weaknesses in our contemporary corporate worship lives and to begin to address authentic, fundamental and God honouring change.

His full quote expresses it best:

“There is something about the charismatic movement which brought something new and fresh. It came out of something new God was doing.

I am thirsty for something new again. I have to confess to you that mostly on a Sunday morning I am bored And I wonder if one of the reasons why people are not singing is because they too are bored.

It may be a good thing to discover what you would write down if you spent two months noting what songs are sung on a Sunday morning. I cannot believe that so much of our repertoire has become so narrow. So predictable. That the formation of what we do on a Sunday is so utterly predictable. And I think to myself, how come the God who has formed the constellations and put the stars in place and has a new idea every second, doesn’t have something new for us for a Sunday morning? I wonder whether he might not be vaguely bored too.”

And so a conversation is stirring between worship leaders, pastors, songwriters, congregations, and radical thought the communities we are trying to reach, about how we might innovate our worship. No one person, movement or website has all the answers, but we’re pretty sure the questions begin with how we get out of this predictable, narrow, reality-dodging, inward looking spiral towards a creative, indigenous, multi-sensory, outward-looking expression of worship.

via Bored With Contemporary Worship : TheWorshipCommunity.Com.

The original post has some thoughts regarding the problem and solutions but I didn’t want to post them here. I wanted to hear what you have to say about the subject.

Are you bored with Contemporary worship? Do you long for something new and fresh? or are you very content with the way it is?

Posted by Gary in Intimacy W/God, Worship

To Find Him Where He Can Be Found.

God speaks to me sometimes by sending the same message in different ways over a period of time and then I have what I call a coalescing moment where it all comes together.

I just had one of those when I received a my daily email from the Copelands and from a friend on Facebook from Zimbabwe. We have never met and I don’t know why he found me and asked me to be his friend. He has 6 friends and I am the only one not from Zumbabwe.

Since launching into ministry in January I have had an interesting ride. I am living the dream but have been plagued with fear and doubt shortly after making the decision. Building the kingdom has been in my heart for over 10 years. At a workshop for worship with Job Vijil I knew this is what I was born to do. God has always been faithful so why the worry?

I say He is my strength and my shield, my ever present help in time of need. I’m standing on the Word but I haven’t spoken in in weeks. Instead I have been speaking death. A couple weeks ago my amazing wife scolded me strongly for the way I’m talking and she is exactly right. She is such a blessing to me. The Word of God is the final word but I must put it to work by speaking it out.

I am reminded of a short prayer by Hans Ur von Balthasar I apologize if I’ve posted this before:

Harassed by life, exhausted, we look about us for somewhere to be quiet, to be genuine, a place of refreshment. We yearn to restore our spirits in God, to simply let go in him and gain new strength to go on living.

But we fail to look for him where he is waiting for us, where he is to be found; in his Son, who is his Word. Or else seek for God because there are a thousand things we want to ask him, and imagine that we cannot go on living unless they are answered. We inundate him with problems, with demands for information, for clues, for an easier path, forgetting that in his Word he has given us the solution to every problem and all the details we are capable of grasping in this life.

We fail to listen where God speaks; where God’s Word rang out in the world once for all, sufficient for all ages, inexhaustible. Or else we think that God’s Word has been heard on earth for so long that by now it is almost used up. That it is about time for some new word, as if we had the right to demand one. We fail to see that it is we ourselves who are used up and alienated, whereas the Word resounds with the same vitality and freshness as ever; it is just as near to us as it always was.

Hans Ur von Balthasar, Prayer. Trans. Graham Harrison (San Fancisco: Ignatius Press, 1986)

Today I committ to being in His Word and daily seeking Him in the secret place for His direction. I encourage you to do the same.

Blessings as you walk with Him.

Posted by Gary in Bicycling, Civics, Faith, Intimacy W/God, Personal, Worship

Frontier School of the Bible update

An update from this post, followed up by this, this, and this.

I received this on May the 6th and it got buried in my inbox. Sorry for the lateness. but here it is.

We’ve been waiting to receive this update and it came this morning. We are praising God for His amazing work!
This morning the Wyoming Department of Education granted FSB a leadership school exemption. This will allow them to operate as they are now without having to be working toward accreditation or licensing.
With this type exemption they are allowed to only grant diplomas rather than degrees, but they are working toward FSB having a religious exemption which would allow degrees to be offered. FSB’s attorneys have never experienced better cooperation with State leaders than with FSB’s situation, and cannot imagine a better development up to this point.
Thank you for the many prayers you have given on behalf of FSB. May God greatly bless you!
Please continue to pray that the details regarding FSB being granted a religious exemption will be worked out.

Posted by Gary in Civics

10 keys for effective worship leaders (10)

1. Submission to the Leader

2. A Lifestyle of Prayer

3. Preparation

4. A Lifestyle of Obedience

5. Excellence

6. A Lifestyle of Personal Worship

7. Humility

8. Vision

9. Love for Gods Church

Todays Key:

10. Love for Gods Word

Last but certainly not least and maybe the most important of the list.

Psalm 1:2 says “blessed is the man whose delight is the law of the Lord”.

Job 23:12 says “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

Jeremiah 15:16 says “Your word to me was the joy and rejoicing of my heart”

1 John 5:3 says “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome”

His commandments are not burdensome. As worship leaders we must know and have a love for His Word. We must be able to rightly divide the word of truth. It is in His word we find wisdom and understanding of how to lead those entrusted to us. Our team day to day and the congregation on Sunday. Unless we have heard from God we have nothing of value to give.

I’ll leave you with this thought from

Hans Ur von Balthasar:

Harassed by life, exhausted, we look about us for somewhere to be quiet, to be genuine, a place of refreshment. We yearn to restore our spirits in God, to simply let go in him and gain new strength to go on living.

But we fail to look for him where he is waiting for us, where he is to be found; in his Son, who is his Word.

Or else seek for God because there are a thousand things we want to ask him, and imagine that we cannot go on living unless they are answered. We inundate him with problems, with demands for information, for clues, for an easier path, forgetting that in his Word he has given us the solution to every problem and all the details we are capable of grasping in this life.

We fail to listen where God speaks; where God’s Word rang out in the world once for all, sufficient for all ages, inexhaustible. Or else we think that God’s Word has been heard on earth for so long that by now it is almost used up. That it is about time for some new word, as if we had the right to demand one. We fail to see that it is we ourselves who are used up and alienated, whereas the Word resounds with the same vitality and freshness as ever; it is just as near to us as it always was.

Hans Ur von Balthasar, Prayer. Trans. Graham Harrison (San Fancisco: Ignatius Press, 1986)

If we are going to be effective in ministry at any level, or in life, we must develop a love for Gods Word. They are the words of life where else can we go. In the busyness of life and ministry I exhort you to be unbalanced in the time you spend with Him.

Blessings

Posted by Gary in Practical, Worship

10 Keys for effective worship leaders (9)

1. Submission to the Leader

2. A Lifestyle of Prayer

3. Preparation

4. A Lifestyle of Obedience

5. Excellence

6. A Lifestyle of Personal Worship

7. Humility

8. Vision

Todays Key:

9. Love for Gods Church

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says to Peter “I will build My Church”.

The Church is His. They are His people. We have been asked to steward it until He returns.

The Church is not a place for my self actualization, or primarily an outlet for my gift. I have stated many times as leaders we must recognize, call out, equip, and release people into the fullness of their calling and gifting.

However the Church is not a vehicle to be used by me.

Phillipians chapter two says Jesus divested Himself of any self interest and was obedient to the point of death on a cross “therefore” God placed Him. We must have the same attitude.In order to be placed in the fullness of our calling we must lay down our life for the Kingdom.

We must serve His people.

When we have a proper understanding of our position in the body and our responsibility to serve Gods people it brings perspective and gives us more patience knowing God has our best interest at heart. The desire in your heart was put there by God and He wants it for you more than you want it for you. Lay down your life for the kingdom and watch God do a miracle in the body and in you.

Blessings,

Number ten is here.

Posted by Gary in Practical, Worship

How to fail at blogging

I’m sure in the manual for blogging the chapter under failure says something to the affect of ignoring your blog and not posting for two weeks almost guarantees failure

They say the best way to come back to something is start slowly but I’m going to work hard to catch up then settle in to normalcy, whatever that is, again.

First a little update then finish the 10 keys for effective worship leaders.

It seams like I’ve been very busy but not accomplishing much. The last three months have been frantic with preparation. Planning retreats, preparing messages and worship sets, writing a mini book, re working songs and getting them recorded. It’s been fun and I like to be busy. Now the book is in the hands of trusted friends full of wisdom and the songs are nearly ready to be recorded and the waiting has begun. trying to figure out where to go from here.

I’m trying to rest and trust God for the next step but it’s a struggle. I like to be busy. I have the most amazing wife and great friends who encourage me to “enjoy” this time because things will get busy soon enough. I know they’re right it’s just hard for me to wait.

In a couple of weeks the Enter conference will be underway and I’ll be very busy. You should come and check it out. It’s a great conference I promise you will be fed and encouraged.

Thanks for reading and being a part of this journey.
Blessings,

Posted by Gary in Personal

10 keys for effective worship leaders (8)

1. Submission to the Leader

2. A Lifestyle of Prayer

3. Preparation

4. A Lifestyle of Obedience

5. Excellence

6. A Lifestyle of Personal Worship

7. Humility

Todays Key:

8. Vision

Vision is a word we throw around a lot. I always hear people quoting Proverbs 29:18, we have all heard the importance of vision, I just don’t hear much vision casting going on.

Vision is what you see, the end result of what your doing. It’s not  a goal or an elevator speech. It can be very long and drawn out. It all depends on what you “see”. The best example I know of is the Hillsong vision, “The Church I See“. Don Cousins asks the question this way. “What will it look like when your done?”.

Every time we stand in front of our people we should be casting vision. What is your vision for the ministry entrusted to you? It needs to be big enough for people to come under and have their own vision flourish. (yes those entrusted to you have their own vision and yours needs to be big enough for theirs to fit into). What is your vision for the service this morning. What is your vision for the event were working on? What are you expecting God to do in this rehearsal?

Lets stop talking about vision and start casting it.

Blessings,

Number nine is here.

Posted by Gary in Practical, Worship

Frontier School of the Bible update

An update from this post, followed up by this, and this.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for praying about our meeting with the Department of Education. We had very good dialogue with them, but there are still issues not fully resolved. Our lawyer and the Wyoming Attorney General’s office will continue discussing the situation to find a solution. We have one week to work on this, as the deadline to start the process for accreditation or licensing is currently April 30th.

Frontier School of the Bible

Please continue to pray, this is far from over.

Blogged with the Flock Browser
Posted by Gary in Civics

Levity for the weekend.

Sorry I’ve been a bit busy this week preparing for a worship retreat so not blogging or much of anything else. I will finish the final 3 of the 10 keys for effective worship leaders next week.

For now here’s a little levity as we go into the weekend.

Posted by Gary in Just for fun