Myths of Worship- Pt2

0 comments Posted by RDA2 at 10/22/2010 04:43:00 PM

Myth #2

Worship is just about music

I don't have a lot of time, so I'll just cut to the chase. If you think worship is limited to music, then you are missing out on some really good experiences with God. God created us with a sense of beauty that cries out to be expressed ( to Him of course). Some of us express it through music because that how we have been gifted. Many of us have no idea how to express ourselves to God because we have been programmed to think that there are only a few ways to do it. If God truly did create this world and all of the things in it speak to His handiwork; then we have more than a few ways to worship him. To make this short: prayer, visual arts, meditation, dancing (yes, i said dancing), giving, serving,etc. the list is endless and only start with you giving God what is His: yourself. After that, what God does with your gift is totally up to Him. Although based on what i've seen (Grand Canyon, Niagra Falls, duck-billed platypus) it definitely will not be boring.

 

Myths of Worship

0 comments Posted by RDA2 at 10/22/2010 04:42:00 PM

It's all about ___?
Myths of Worship: Myth #1
1. Worship is about me
As a Worship Pastor, I have had to field the question this question alot: "Why do you
choose the songs you choose" Every worship leader deals with the same issue: how to
make sure you're not choosing based on your preferences? One thing to remember is
that worship is not about you (it's definitely not about me ). It's about God. Many of
us have heard this quote:
Roman 12:1 (ESV) I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship
God is always the point of our worship but it goes much further than just looking to Him.
It requires us to respond to Him in a complete surrender of body, soul, and spirit. After
all, God is a spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
When giving ourselves as a sacrifice, we abdicate any choice or personal preference. We
simply submit ourselves to be used as God sees fit. We trust that He will do the best
with us and for us. When we do this, our direction of worship is sure and sound. A
byproduct of this is that there is a humble assurance that what comes to our mind (after
it passes the pride test) is truly what God intends to be done/said/ or sung.

 

Transitional Notes- pt1

0 comments Posted by RDA2 at 8/10/2010 08:04:00 AM

More transitional rambling about the fact that my blog often stays unaltered for months at a time. If i look back at this , I see a pattern that is becoming even more clear. Cycle, periods of time where things are becoming just a little more clear. I wish i could get it all out in one fail swoop. There are thoughts, ideas, concepts whatever in my head that spring up fully formed and have very little need of refining. Those are easy, but it the more complex things that skip around the edges of my mind that bother me. I'm not saying that they are profound or grandiose. I'm not even saying that they would work. It's just that they exist in some type of shadow realm that I wish i could bring into the light and see them . Question come about in my mind...are these stray thoughts ones that should be pursued , developed, or are they just diversions away frm other ideas that are more concrete (dare i say important)

 

Discipleship in 3 Words

0 comments Posted by RDA2 at 7/10/2010 08:01:00 AM



"Come follow Me" Jesus speaks these words to individuals throughout His ministry.
"Come" invites us to move from where we are, to literally get out of the boat. This is an invitation to relationship.
"Follow" helps us understand that this is a journey, not a destination. It doesn't tells us where we will be going , only that we will need to travel to get there. This is a declaration of work
"Me" gives us focus. No matter how hard, or long the journey; if we focus on being with Him, we'll get there. Not only that , Jesus Himself will show us how to walk as He walks with us. This is a confirmation of fellowship.

To sum it up: Discipleship is a relationship journey that requires us to trek great distance with Jesus as he both leads, walks beside, and even carries us in the Way

Amazing what we can get from three words.....

 

Notes on The Call- Chapter 3 "The Haunting Question"

0 comments Posted by RDA2 at 8/08/2009 09:32:00 AM

"Responsibility does establish identity, but we are not responsible because of our identity; instead we have an identity because we are responsible." - Vaclav Havel


I posted this quote as a status for Twitter/Facebook for a while. Thinking it was not only poignant but actually fairly condemning. It reveals that most of my thinking has been backward concerning the various "identities" that have been bestowed upon me. I say bestowed because nearly all of them have come or been granted to me by God. Son, Husband, Father, Uncle, Pastor, etc. All of these things have been granted to me by God through many means (miracle of birth, favor of choice, you name it) and the more that is laid out before me, I am aware of the difference between "title" and "identity". Have parents, you're a son. Have a wife, you're a husband. Have children, you're a father. All of these remain titles though until you accept and live out the responsibility that you have been "called " to.

Os Guinness writes of the "biography question". The ever present "Who am I?" Am I just another person who fits into some pre-defined categories? Am I who I make myself to be? Am I who I am fated to be? The answer is that there are elements of the first three questions in the overall answer but it all falls flat without acknowledging He who seeks us out in the first place. He calls us. He calls me. I am who God calls me to be.

Well, at least that's the goal :) More later, I seem to be being "called" by my youngest son to come and play.

 

New book- The Call

0 comments Posted by RDA2 at 7/24/2009 08:49:00 PM

I was recently given a surprise gift by a friend. It came in the form of a book, written by Oz Guinness , called simply "The Call". I mention this because I will probably be posting more than a few thoughts about this book. I am two and a half chapters in and it already has caused more valuable introspection than any book I have read in the last 8 years.


Best quote from chapter 2

"The secrect of seeking is not in our human ascent to God, but in God's descent to us. We start out searching. but we end up being discovered. We think we are looking for something; we realize we are found by Someone."

Seekers Sought! Remind you of anyone?

 

Complex prayer practice- Step 1

0 comments Posted by RDA2 at 5/07/2009 06:11:00 PM

Do you have something that you want to say?  Something that you just need to get off of your chest?  Do the words inside seem like they are ready to just burst out of your chest?

Do me a favor, just talk.  Out loud.  Really.  The people in the car next to you won't care (they'll care that you're reading someones blog on your phone while driving, but they won't care if you talk out loud.)  

Do me another favor....tell God about it.  Sounds weird , i know.  

-Speak to Him like you would a close friend....no wait, speak to Him like you're absolutely desperate for someone to hear you.
-Don't wait for the "best time" to talk. Just bust down the door and start talking.
-Don't hold back...I have a feeling He knows anyway.
-Be honest about how you feel. 

Last favor.. I promise (at least for the short duration of this blog)

Listen
- Don't look for the lightning.
- Don't wait on the wind.
- Don't feel for the thunder or the earthquake.

Listen for the still, small, quiet, comforting, Voice of the only one who could possibly under how you feel at the moment.

Try it , what do you have to lose?

 

What's up with the title?

0 comments Posted by RDA2 at 4/27/2009 09:45:00 AM

A several years i was lead to venture out of my normal spiritual practice and do something off the wall: Plant a church.  This idea was met with seemingly equal amounts of support and scorn (I'm not sure what the percentage was).  As my wife and i were thinking/discussing this idea, my oldest daughter came up with a question:


 "Dad, what the name of the church going to be?"  

This being so early in the process, i realized that i hadn't really thought about what to call this work. There is something within me that says names are important, i believe they carry within them the origin of an idea. Well at least they do for me.

"Gideon's Call Fellowship", I replied.  This was not something i had running around in my mind.  

But the name fit.  More on what happened with the church plant later.....

Years later , when trying to blog for the first time, the thought of Gideon crossed my mind again and the issue of direction came to the forefront.  I have always struggled with what do in my life.  Whether it was too many options, too many talents (subtext!!!!), or whatever.  I had a hard time deciding on what i needed/wanted/desired to do.  Cue my friend, Gideon.  

Gideon was a young man who, reluctantly, was given a seriously difficult task by God.  Before taking this task, he wanted assurances:
a)  the task that God had for him was the right one
b) that he (Gideon) was the right one for the job

So we have Gideon using a unique way of inquiring of God.  He takes a fleece (a covering made of sheep's wool) and lays it down on the ground.  Gideon's verification would come if, in the morning, his fleece was wet and the ground was dry.  Next morning, fleece is wet and ground is dry.  Gideon wanting ABSOLUTE confirmation decides to reverse the parameters and wants the fleece dry and the ground wet.  Next morning,  fleece is dry and ground is wet.

I'm not constructing a sermon or lesson so I'll get to the point.  Gideon wanted assurance.  Direction would come later.  As a matter of fact, once he was assured of what God said (the task was right and that he was the one for the task),  all of the other weird, miraculous, supernatural stuff took place later.

What's with the title?  The title of this blog remind me to always look for the same things that Gideon look for.  Assurance of God's leading and assurance that i am the man He as called for the task.

 

Lame excuse for not blogging

1 comments Posted by RDA2 at 4/27/2009 09:34:00 AM

I came into the blogging world late.  It is not something i do habitually because writing is not something i absolutely love to do.  I have mentioned this in a different entry but it's rather difficult for me to let go and just write some things down.  I remember a English Writing and Comp class i had at UT (Austin, of course) where the T.A. gave us an assignment.  The assignment was to "free write" at least thirty minutes a day,  but I could never get the hang of just sitting down and writing about whatever came to mind.  I say all of this because current events in life require me to sit down (on a regular basis), and just write.  This seemingly new thing for me will probably not help anyone else but it will be therapeutic for me.  If you instend to read this, hang on.  The ride could get bumpy (and if you're a literary critic, keep your comments to yourself :)  )

 

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