God Is Here!
By Gerhard Tersteegen

Lo, God is here! Let us adore,
And own how dreadful is this place!
Let all within us feel His power
And silent bow before His face;
Who know His power, His grace who prove,
Serve Him with awe, with reverence love.

Lo, God is here! Him day and night
The united choirs of angels sing;
To Him, enthroned above all height,
Heaven's host their noblest praises bring;
Disdain not, Lord, our meaner song,
Who praise thee with a stammering tongue.

Gladly the toys of earth we leave,
Wealth, pleasure, fame, for Thee alone;
To thee our will, soul, flesh, we give -
O take, O seal them for Thine own!
Thou art the God, Thou art the Lord;
Be Tou by all Thy works adored!

Being of beings! May our praise
Thy courts with grateful fragrance fill;
Still may we stand before Thy face,
Still hear and do Thy sovereign will;
To Thee may all our thoughts arise,
Ceaseless, accepted sacrifice.

As floweres their openikng leaves display,
And glad drink in the solar fire,
So may we catch Thy every ray,
So may Thy influence us insprie;
Thou Beam of the eternal Beam,
Thou purging Fire, Thou quickening Flame.

He also said that one should take one's missed prayers seriously since 'having them on your neck is a big reason for falling behind'.

And just before their senior pastor took the platform, we had a coffee break.  They actually have Starbucks in their worship auditorium.  You guessed right---I had a cup.

The senior pastor preached for about forty-minutes from Luke 13:1-5.  I enjoyed it.  But after praying at the end of his message, he did something that I never expected:

He said that he was sensing in his spirit that someone in attendance had a pain in their side and needed healing.

Anyway, my beautiful and wonderful wife who knows more about computers than I do (no I'm serious.....we were at a friend's house the other day and we played 'battle mode' in Halo {it's probably not called battle mode, but.....} and she totally beat me like Michael Vick would a non-profitable pit bull {sorry}.....of course, I probably shouldn't have chosen gold for my Halo army guy's suit color, but my guy did look really cool.....and I did kill her character once, but that was while she was in the kitchen for some reason)......whoa! That was the longest parentheses ever. I lost my train of thought. Oh ya! My awesome wife totally moved my whole Guitar for Worship blog from blog.com to wordpress. She even imported all the comments. Seriously. She's incredible. And I didn't even ask her to do it.

So welcome to the brand new Guitar for Worship blog! (I think I said that already, but my parenthetical stuff was so long, I've forgotten now.)

http://guitarforworship.wordpress.com 

Please update your bookmarks and blogrolls and such, if you would be so kind. On this site I'll share my humble and definitely-could-be-wrong opinions about guitar tone, guitar style, guitar mindsets, guitar gear, gear reviews, gear demo videos, and other music related stuff, all as it pertains to glorifying God through the music.

And you'll also get random pictures like this:

(This picture personifies how incredibly happy I am to be at wordpress. Don't ask questions. Just feel the happy.)

Splendid.
Karl.

If you read my post Division and Confusion Part II, you know that we were wondering if one of our leaders was staying or going. She left so I am now the tambourine leader.

We also learned that our regular leader will be leaving us at the end of the month to live in Europe for a while. It is a great opportunity for her husband and they are going to take it. This means I am also the regular dance leader.

We had some events this past month where we invited people to attend our services and in that month we received negative comments about dress every week. Whereas in the couple of years before this, we had a comment maybe once or twice a year.

The latest ones were about gum chewing and certain womanly detriments attributes moving. I heard this news first and felt so bad that I had to tell our leader. When I told her she just looked at me with a "I can't believe someone said that" look in her eyes.

I even debated not telling her at all, but figured that the person that told me would tell her anyway,which is exactly what happened. At least our poor leader was not blindsided by the comment and could truthfully say that she had spoken to us already.

I also realized that with all the comments we are/were under spiritual attack. I even told our leader "It's starting already." A different person in the group said the same thing when she heard about it.

We were all frustrated and disheartened that people were looking at that instead of worshipping Him. And there is/was the danger of us becoming more self conscious and less able to worship when we dance. And I can tell that I had to work much harder to keep my mind on worship instead of being self conscious.

Making matters worse, the person who told me this said the people that noticed it were there three weeks ago at one one of our events. So that happened three weeks ago and we didn't hear about it until two days before the next event.

I figure that we were told this because they wanted the problem corrected before the next event. The thing is people were already overbooked cooking and getting things ready for this next event and no one had time to purchase new things. And truthfully, something should have been said sooner than two days before the next event.

It is not coincidence that this happened during the last month of Av and this month of Elul . Elul is known as the month of preparation or month of repentance before we celebrate Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur. In fact lots of people I know come under spiritual attack at this time of year. Satan does not want people renewing their commitment to Adonai and he knows how important these three months (Av, Elul and next month Tishrei) are.

Now we have to wait and see if we receive any more comments. I surely hope we will not.

Powered by ScribeFire.

I have been wondering if Tony Hall would do another album ever since he started a church in Ohio.  Tony used to lead worship at Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley.  He was defineately blessed with the gift to sing.  A few years ago he left Simi Valley to plant a church in Ohio.  I have listen to a few of his sermons over the Internet and I enjoy his style of teaching.

Psalm 43:4 - "Then I will goto the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy."

The kids were pumped and ready to go and with every passing hour were asking "when are we leaving to go up to the church?". Check in at the church was at 9:00PM, with a worship service to begin at 9:30PM. So, you can see why the wait seemed so long. But soon, the time came and we left. My wife decided to stay home and finish getting the house ready for the 10th graders to come over after the worship service at church.

Since it was late and I had already had a long day at work and then helped get the house ready, my intent was just to drop the kids off and go home, even though my wife had suggested that I stay for a little while. Once there, I thought I'd stay to see a few people and then possibly stay to hear Nick Thurmond and his band. I am so glad I stayed.

The service was AWESOME! It was so awesome that for the next 2 and a half hours, yes you read that right, I was completely drawn in by the music and then riveted to every word that the speaker, Ken Freeman, had to say. It was a powerful time of praise and worship with an engaging message on evangelism.

As the music started, all the kids rushed right to the stage, singing their hearts out, with hands lifted high, pouring their hearts out to God. Worshiping with the teens is a lot different than worshiping in the adult service. No one rushes the stage or sings and moves with the freedom and spontaneity that they do. It would really be a kick if we did though. Anyway, back to the teens. I decided I had to move down front right with them. The room was charged and hearts were being prepared. As a dad, an added joy was watching my 3 kids just let it go, even my youngest there, who is my most reserved child. It added to the charge that I felt in the room.

Finally, it was Ken's turn. He's a very energetic, straight-shooter who lays it right out there. You could sense the conviction in his heart and his passion for what he spoke about. Although his message was directed at the youth, his words constantly challenged me to evaluate my effort and effectiveness in witnessing and sharing my faith. I found myself falling short, very short. He closed with a powerful invitation, where a number of kids accepted Christ. Praise God!

As we finished, it was about midnight. I don't think anyone in the room was tired. I know I wasn't. I am so glad I stayed. To have missed that would've been a shame. I thank God that He started working on me to get me to stay for a little while and then He just pulled me in until there was no way I was leaving. What a great time and a great start to the Back to School Retreat!

John Piper on music in worship:

When I read this quote from Michael Raiter's article, "The Slow Death of Congregational Singing," I thought about a decision we made at Bethlehem 13 years ago. The article said:

I was at a convention recently, seated near the rear of the auditorium. The music team at the front were ‘leading' (and I use that word advisedly) and we were singing. Well, we were meant to be singing.... I turned to a friend next to me and commented, "No-one's singing". He looked at me as if I'd just observed that no-one was flying. Of course they're not singing; we haven't really sung here for years.

Thirteen years ago we asked: What should be the defining sound of corporate worship at Bethlehem, besides the voice of biblical preaching?

We meant: Should it be piper organ, piano, guitar, drums, choir, worship team, orchestra, etc. The answer we gave was "The people of Bethlehem singing."

Some thought: That's not much help in deciding which instruments should be used. Perhaps not. But it is massively helpful in clarifying the meaning of those moments.

If Bethlehem is not "singing and making melody to the Lord with [our] heart," (Ephesians 5:19), it's all over. We close up shop. This is no small commitment.

I agree with Piper on this (I know, big surprise right?).  I love the question, "What should be the defining sound of corporate worship at Bethlehem, besides the voice of biblical preaching?" and the answer even more, "The people of Bethlehem singing;" and he's right, it needs to go beyond that.  We need to ask, "Why are they singing?"  Is the congregation singing because the music makes THEM feel good?  Are they singing out of obligation to the social structure of the church?  Are they just going through the motions?  Or are they worshiping Jesus from their hearts?

I think the problem is that most of us are doing something other than worshiping God at church (let alone with our lives).  Whether our service style is "contemporary" or "traditional," they are almost always a mix of rituals that have lost their meaning and personal preferences.  And if we're honest, most of us don't come to church ready to worship.  We don't come broken and ready to kneel at the feet of Jesus.  We come masking our hurts and our struggles, our selfishness, our pride, and our need for recognition, social status, and to be fed spiritually.  In short, it's almost always about us.  It's difficult for us to "make a melody to the Lord with our heart" when we're focused on ourselves.

HT: Take Your Vitamin Z

You, Holy Father, are King of heaven and earth.
You are Three and One, Lord God, all Good.
You are Good, all Good, supreme Good,
Lord God, living and true.

You are love. You are wisdom.
You are humility. You are endurance.
You are rest. You are peace.
You are joy and gladness.
You are justice and moderation.

You are all our riches, and You suffice for us.
You are beauty.
You are gentleness.

You are our protector.
You are our guardian and defender.
You are our courage. You are our haven and our hope.
You are our faith, our great consolation.
You are our eternal life, Great and Wonderful Lord,
God Almighty, Merciful Saviour.

Prayer in Praise To God - St. Francis of Assisi

One primary concept of the ME (not "Methodist Episcopal," mind you) church, as I understand it, is that there are no paid ministers; these churches are supposedly very mutual in how they conduct assemblies, not focusing on one individual.  For me, that's an attractive idea.  Once, in Missouri (which was quite possibly the third-to-worst year of my life), we actually got to visit a nearby ME church.  A Bible class was led by a affable, 75ish gent in a celery-green suit, and the worship time wasn't, if you know what I mean.  That's about all I remember about the occasion. . . .

Until I caught a blurb tonight about Missouri ME churches that honored one Ellis J. Crum, compiler/editor of the Sacred Selections song book.

May I hasten to a self-defensive, preemptive comment:  I rarely intend to name names in a negative light in this forum.  I'm generally appalled by the mere suggestion of this type of writing.  I mean, I don't even know the man, and I don't know much about him.  But I do know his primary work, the song book, and it is not in any sense exemplary.  I'm only slightly embarrassed to say that some in my extended family referred to it as Scarred Selections.

This book is one of a few that I really don't think I'd ever want to add to my collection of 40 or 50 church song books.  There's just no point.  It adds nothing to the repertoire, and it takes away plenty.  What really gets me is not that Crum was honored, or that there is a tiny subset of churches in a nationally insignificant denomination that apparently has a nice, little tie to Crum.  I'm sure he's a nice man, a respectable man, a sincere believer.  The problem is that -- and here I adopt an orthodox Jewish wailing and moaning posture, beating my breast -- no church in my heritage seems to manifest much idea of what praise and worship is.

The phrase that really set me off tonight?  The engraving on the plaque:  appreciation was expressed to Crum for his "literary and musical efforts to help the church praise God."  I realize this sounds as childish as anything I've written here so far, so I'll just continue on this path.  Gimme a break!  Sacred Selections contains so little praise content, and even less musical quality, that it repulses me.  And we CofC Christians fiddle around with tripe while much of the rest of Christendom at least eats snack foods, and sometimes has a salad or some grilled fish!

Maybe mutual edification isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Or maybe it, just like corporate worship and most other things we humans get our hands on, is just messed up.

Download Unconditional
right click and "Save Target As"

Recorded & Produced August-September 2008 by Nate Gass
Written by Jay Jenison

Performers:
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Shakers: Jay Jenison
French Horn: Andrea Gass
Tambourine: Jason Alm
Additional Instruments: Nate Gass

Notes: This was another song we used to play for worship at Cana. I always loved the joy this song evoked and I wanted to convey that in every element of the song. I thought Phil Specter’s Wall of Sound technique would be the perfect fit, so this is my attempt at imitating that in my apartment. I’ve always thought this was just such a wonderful song, a great piece of songwriting on Jay’s part.

Today, like yesterday, has been all about Annual Appeal collecting at a local supermarket. At lunchtime I managed to watch the last part of qualifying for the F1 Belgian GP tomorrow. It was turning out to be just an ordinary working day when I finished off the collecting, just a few things to finish off for Sunday worship.

I arrived back at the hall with our display boards, wondered why the alarm hadn't been set, and then saw the mess of the floor and the smashed office door! At this moment I came face to face with the young man who was attacking the safe with a fire extinguisher (which unfortunately had gone off in the office) - we exchanged the briefest of words and he escaped the way he had come in, the broken kitchen window!

So it just remained to call the police, and arrange for some boarding up. The kitchen can't be used tomorrow for refreshments and my office is completely boarded up - I just hope I took everything out I need! The forensic team will call on Monday morning and I'll have to think about getting a new door! Nothing was taken and the money is safe - just a lot of damage, cost and inconvenience!

This is the second time this year I've been confronted with someone in the hall after a break-in, and the fifth break-in we've had in the same period!

One of the reasons for doing this is so that I can participate in the Lord's Supper at this church. Since they practice close (or closed) communion, membership is a prerequisite. I have no problem with that, since I have long considered the practice of communion in the evangelical church to be not only irreverent, but a bit misguided. Most of the time, there is a raucousness that is unsettling to me, and I have never like the practice of having communion only once per month. I have always thought that there was more going on in the supper than was presented in the Bible Church theology. I understand the rhetoric, but think that there is more of a reaction against Roman Catholicism at the root of their practice than a careful exegesis of scripture.

The doctrinal distinctives of the Lutheran church are closer to my own understanding of what is going on in communion. Not that I am the final authority on the truth, far from it. In fact, my evening prayer has always been that the Father would lead me in the true faith, and I consider the Word of God to be the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. I am not a big fan of solo-scriptura.

One of the passages that has bugged me is found in 1 Corinthians 11:

"For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."

The consequences for eating & drinking the bread & wine in an unworthy manner is that one is guilty of the body & blood of the Lord. In fact, if you eat & drink in an unworthy manner you eat & drink damnation to yourself because, as the passage says, you do not discern the Lord's body.

Now I grew up understanding that the body & blood of the Lord was present in, with, and under the bread & wine. Real presence, not mere symbolism. When I got saved and joined the Bible Church, I was instructed that the body & blood were not really present and that the Lord's supper was both an ordinance (law) and that it was only a memorial, kind of like what we do when we honor veterans who have died for our country.

And the elements changed in the Bible Church. They were no longer bread & wine, but crackers & juice. I even heard a story about a church that ran out of the bread during the communion and used garlic bread that they were making for a church supper afterward. The pastor joked that there were more people lined up in the back of the church the next time communion was served. Small matter? You decide. But I think it's indicative of the cavalier attitude that is prevalent in the evangelical church and is a direct result of downplaying any idea of a real presence by putting the emphasis on the memorial aspects of communion.

The view that takes Jesus at His Word, "this is my body; this cup is the new covenant in my blood" seems to be a more direct and clear understanding of what Jesus meant to establish at the last supper, and more consistent with the consequences of misusing communion than a strictly memorial view in my opinion. Although it is one of the places at which evangelicals may stumble in their understanding of Reformation theology, it is not an obstacle that cannot be overcome. One only has to experience the lack of depth in evangelical worship to yearn for something more meaningful, and to begin searching the Scriptures to "see if these things are so".

So the teaching begins and so the searching. Actually, the searching has been going on for 20 years. It's just that now I am closer to the answers and actually encouraged to ask the questions. I am looking forward to joining with the others in the next class, and continued discussions with the Pastor. Someday soon, I will be able to participate fully in the life of this new church, in communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and fellowship with the people of God.

Until next time, have a blessed Lord's Day. Peace in Christ,

Doug

If you haven't seen my twitter over here         ---------------------->

School of Worship is here on a retreat in Kansas City...Missouri, Not Kansas.

It's been cool and refreshing, we're here on the last day. I don't have much time, but I've learned some cool stuff. Been in the prayer room for a bit, that was super cool. It wasn't what I had expected though! I'll go into detail in a later post.

Also, I think IHOP's thermostat is broke they freeze it during sessions. So, I along w/ a ton of other SOW'ers snagged a cool OneThing Hoodie on clearance, 3 bucks!

-cD

Following our deacons retreat our alt worship group went to an art co-opp community. We had made contact with a few local artist at the art store down the street from our offices that had informed us of the community gathering.  We weren't sure what to expect but we were pumped meeting with some local artist.  We really want to put an emphasis on art in our worship gatherings and we want to do it as locally and organically as we can (we don't want to just going out and buying a bunch of posters and decorations.  It turns out the night was more Indie Rock concert than it was art show.  The experience pushed us all much further than we expected.  

Being in crowed is usually a pretty comfortable place for me last night however I felt like I was walking in another world for a few hours.  I was really taken back at a community that had formed around a common idea/passion/love...art.  Reflecting from last night I couldn't help but see how this community is probably not accepted in many of our church buildings.  There's a part of me that secretly wants to arrange for a group from this community to show up at one of our regular church gatherings just to see people's reaction.  I'm reminded too that a few hundred years ago that it was the church that first turned its back on the arts.  With the rise of scientific methods and the age of reason, the arts begin to disappear from the walls of the Church.  It's no surprise that people thought we were crazy last night.  I'm pretty sure encounters like this don't happen on a regular basis here.

I can't wait to see where this goes.  It was really exciting to catch a glimpse of this new community.  I'm not sure what a worship experience would look like that fully embraced art as an expression of worship but I'm sure we'll figure it out over time.  This alt worship journey has been great so far...but if I'm honest it leaves me with more questions than answers...and I think that's ok. 

I drove home last night unable to shake the stark differences in the two groups I meet with last night.  I'm sure there are some that might think we were crazy for even considering this adventure but I'm not sure where I experienced God more last night....or perhaps I am but am just afraid to put it in writing.

We worship a God who reveals himself to us.  God has revealed himself to us through creation (Romans 1:20), the scriptures (Luke 24:32), the works of his hands(Exodus 14), the life and works of Christ (John 5:37-40). Today, when God reveals himself through answering a fervent prayer, or through a scripture we read, or through another person - it is vital for us to stop and respond to him in worship.  When God brings revelation, worship should be our first response.

We live in the midst of a society that has seen and heard it all.  It’s rare for things come as a surprise to us.  Few things are worthy of awe.  If there happens to be some rare moment when we are floored by some type of news - whether good or bad - the sensation quickly wears away like the imprint of a wave on the beach.  Very soon it’s impact is washed away.  Do we allow that to happen when we see God move?  Are we quick to forget the glorious deeds God has done?

Moses was a man who was continually the recipient of revelations from God.  From a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-3), to God’s audible voice (Exodus 3:4-6), to seeing the glory of God’s presence walk past him (Exodus 33:12-23).  He encountered God in a completely unique way - he knew God face to face (Exodus 33:11).  There was a richness to this relationship, an intimacy that went beyond the realm of religion into the depths of a sacred friendship.  However, even in the midst of such an understanding of God, Moses frequently forgot the power and strength of his God. 

My prayer for us is that we would be reminded of the ways God has revealed himself to us.  That we could be still and meditate on the wondrous things God has done in our lives to make himself known.  I pray that we would not be a people who have become so “familiar” with God that we lose our sense of wonder and amazement.  Instead, we would fervently recall the wonders of our God.  

As we lead worship, may our hearts erupt with praise, echoing the song of Moses, declaring - “Who is like you, O Lord! Majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonder?”  I pray we would respond to God’s revelation with awe and amazement at the reminder that there is no one like our God.

I also bought a dresser which I'm excited about. Kara loves putting things together, figuring out puzzles, and once you get her started on a project she won't quit until it's finished! She is amazing! We started putting this dresser together a couple of nights ago and it was after a long day and we had almost finished but needed to break for the evening. So we finished it right before she left to go to ATL for a volleyball tournament. YAY! just got a text they are on the way back to savannah and they won one game.

There is lots going on lateCHURCH. Everything is being ordered and coming in. It's really exciting. All the print material has been ordered...flyer's, business cards, banners and info table banners. Man it's almost here. latechurch will soon be meeting at the LUCAS theatre on september 21st! EVERYONE COME! It's going to be so good! Praying hard for everyone at LC. Check out dave talking about our move to the lucas here.

In the midst of everything that is going on I've been trying to find time to simply be, and rest. A scripture that has been on my heart a lot is John 15. Without remaining in the Lord, I wouldn't be able to do anything..period. Thank you for all your prayers! Love you all lots!

mattbo