Decanted Recanite

canite domino canticum novum

Yesterday morning we had a smaller choir, two worship leaders with one quitar and two violins that charmed me completely, and not a very full house. The music was not technically very intense. The tone was more laid back due to Wade's and Annie's personalities. I thought it was the kind of change that one could hardly plan, but that was very, very nice. It wasn't about new music or anything "challenging". it was just uncomplicated and sincere. Additionally there was a very young lady combining dance with what appeared to be American sign language at the back of the church. She was near the door to the sound booth, a place to which Nancy Davis has advised me to go and dance during the services. I loved it. Just my thoughts.

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." ~Aldous Huxley

M

Nat, I have been meaning to ask....What did you think of the band Roman Candle, in light of our discussions about including more varied worship? Did you find their music worshipful?

Andrew

Nat....thanks for the blogs. Will pray for Annie. Had a few thoughts on "experiencing" God...

I actually do think that we should strive to be conscious and aware of the holy spirit. We don't "experience" the holy spirit because of our weakness and blindness, our limits as humans, but God is gracious even as we fumble along. God continues to work in our lives, even when we are unaware. But I think the fruit of maturing in Christ is that we do experience His presence more and more. We learn to identify His subtle and simple presence.(Just a closer walk with Thee...)

I think part of the problem is more the expectation that the experience has to be intense and vivid. When we live with the deeper truths that have been revealed to us, and believe to be true, we are not dependant on emotionally intense experiences. We can always "experience" the hope that comes from the knowledge of who we are in Christ and who we are becoming through his good work. HOPE is an experience, one perhaps not as well understood in a "get it now" culture. Sometimes the experience of God is a quiet peace that comes from remembering His promises.

I can relate to often not "experiencing" God, and I try not to beat myself up when I feel disconnected, (bad christian...bad christian) but I take that thirst as a cue to take a drink, and I pray for a fellowship that is real and satisfying. When I do reconnect it is often in a very simple way, sometimes as simple as being more patient or open to others.

A fellowship that is not experienced is too abstract for me. Aren't alot of the psalms about guys who were crying out to God and asking that He make His presence known?

Good questions.

Andrew

Twenty-Four Seven, anyone?

Any thoughts on the 24-7 prayer? Have you gone? You should.

This Sunday

Annie Hoyle will be leading our worship gatherings this Sunday (with Wade Baynham helping her out). She was recently hired as the Worship Intern for the Youth Ministry, and Carlye Daugird had asked me to "quasi-co-supervise" Annie with her. Annie, as you probably have sensed, has a lot of talent, a fervent love for the Lord, and a wonderfully charismatic spirit. I feel strongly that these gifts will help her become a wonderful leader; they already have on many levels. I am excited about this opportunity for her.

Do a couple of things, if you would:

• Pray for her - her leadership Sunday morning, her nerves, her confidence, etc.

• Let me know how it all goes. Rachel and I will be in Asheville attending the wedding of David Spencer and Jane Lawrence. One "fear" is that the music may be a little "low-key", with guitar and violin being the only instruments (with the choir also singing on a few songs). There is also a philosophical question at work as well: is "low-key" a bad thing? Of course not, but it is possible that it could be...well, let's not launch into all that just now...just let me know any thoughts you have about this Sunday morning.

Thanks, y'all. Peace out.

Experience? Part II

Brian Funderburke [Duke Div. student and Young Adult Intern at the BC] and I get together for lunch every once in a while. He is a very deep intense thinker and carer about theology, worship, God, and good stuff like that. Without a prompt from me, he commented on how the expectation in a worship service like ours (perhaps in most contemporary evangelical churches) is that in order for it to be 'true worship', one must consciously "experience" or "feel" something. Brian contends that there is more going on in worship than just our "experience" -- that we are joining in with the saints past and present in proclaiming the glories of God, that the Holy Spirit is present whether we "feel" it or not, that there is something different that happens when we gather to worship as a community than when we are worshipping alone. I gave him the visual of the field of pods from The Matrix, and how even though there is a gathered community of people, we still are worshipping in our own little pods.

While I think we must look outside ourselves and our personal experience(s) to truly measure what it means to worship, I still believe we leaders need to be aware when/if people are not connecting to God through our corporate worship gatherings. How do we balance this?

Experience?

I think there is often too much emphasis on one's "personal worship experience", from the perspective of both the worshipper and the worship leader(s). From the planning/leading standpoint, I often feel that the (unrealistic) expectations are that the leader (a) give people a "powerful worship experience" (not sure exactly what that is), and (b) see to it that this experience is not distracted, disturbed, or foiled in any way at all.

After all, there is only One Who is able to give us a "powerful worship experience" in the first place, am I right? He is not going to be thwarted by some worship planning miscue or some baby crying in the auditorium. If He's got something to say to me/us, He's gonna say it...and if it's truly a work of or word from God, there will be continual Conversation loooooong after we've left the building.

So, that leaves the age-old question still staring us in the face: exactly what then is the role of the worship leader?

Something of Worth

I was struck by Don Taylor's comments on Sunday morning when he announced the dedication of the Williams family's new house. He reminded us, complete with his DonTayloresque intensity, that God is in the business of turning death into life. That is true on sooooo many levels, and that is why God is worthy of praise.

We're having the band Roman Candle play on Sunday morning. Some of you may have heard of them. They are a local band who is gaining national recognition for their latest record. They, among others, are playing the Carolina Hope Festival on Sunday, 1 October. Many of their members have been coming to our church off and on over the past few years. In addition to playing a song or two of theirs on Sunday morning, I asked them to be the 'worship band' as well. We practiced last night, and they've got a really sweet spirit. We had a really fun time. I also learned that Skip the lead singer and Timshel the keyboardist were married (to each other) on the same exact day as Rachel and me! Wow. Crazy.

OK, I really love you guys.

i loooove you guys

this is just a note to say that it is officially on my radar screen to put something of worth on here this week. see ya later on...........