Field notes on life and mission with God after Christendom
Why do Christians “go to church?” To prove something to God or someone else? Is it a lifestyle choice? When it comes down to it, what is worship for?
Justin Bieber made the headlines recently with a statement he made in an interview about Christianity and church-going, and tacos. Here’s what he said:
“You don’t need to go to church to be a Christian. If you go to Taco Bell that doesn’t make you a taco.”
Every church is “liturgical.” The question is what our current liturgy is actually DOING, and if that is aligned with God’s vision for his church.
I first began dreaming about planting a church back in 2005, partly because I was beginning to see some weaknesses in the stuff we did on Sundays every week.
We were a Vineyard-esque evangelical church, so we’d sing worship songs for 30 minutes or so, take an offering, hear some announcements, hear a sermon, and have a time of ministry (with more singing). Pretty much every week, that was the pattern.
Many churches do a little something special on Easter. They crank up the choir or play an inspirational video or perform a dramatic reading.
Sometimes it’s an entire theatrical production with tickets and everything.
[Read more…] about Are You Leading Worship or Just Providing Entertainment?
On a huddle call a few weeks ago we were discussing the Lord’s Prayer, talking about how to use it as a tool to help those we lead connect with God in more substantial ways. One person asked an interesting question:
“Why isn’t thanksgiving a part of the Lord’s Prayer?”
Scripture seems to present thanksgiving as a fundamental pattern of interaction with God, so why doesn’t Jesus teach his disciples to pray their thanksgivings? It’s a fascinating question.
[Read more…] about Why Isn’t Thanksgiving in the Lord’s Prayer?
Random thought today. Recently in my daily Scripture reading I came across the story of the shining face of Moses. It’s an interesting tale: Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments and freaks everyone out because “his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.” They aren’t used to their leaders glowing, so they put a veil over his face.
I don’t think this was some kind of special miracle God performed in order to validate Moses’ leadership, I think it was simply a by-product of spending so much time in the presence of God. Moses absorbed so much of God’s glory that it was leaking out of his face. He was glowing with the glory of God.
