A while back, a Facebook friend and fellow writer, Steve Hutson, posted an article that critiqued much of modern worship. Some valid points, some not. The resulting discussion motivated me to further explore worship. If we are to follow Jesus, what we worship and how we worship will drive the depth of our faith. At its core, worship celebrates the reality that…
Read MoreFresh Cliches
Fresh clichés. An obvious paradox, right? Maybe not. I wonder about some clichés that often get ignored. Sunday worship as a fresh start on the first day of the week. A chance to get lost in worship, to acknowledge our shortcomings, to gain forgiveness. So true it’s become a cliché. But as a cliché for that, Sunday’s not enough. If I wait until Sunday for refreshing, I can accumulate…
Read MoreWhy Worship Together?
Some lies have more truth than falsehood, which merely increases their danger. Such as, “I love God, but I can worship him just as well at the beach or the mountains.” I tend to agree, mountain trips often provide some of my best worship. Immersed in the transcendent beauty of God’s creation, away from the overpowering touch of man, my ego shrinks as I get lost in God. But if the truth in that quote becomes an excuse for not being in gathered weekly worship, then it becomes a dangerous lie. We eliminate part of what God designed worship to be. We decrease our godliness. Our preferences have more value…
Read MoreRelentlessly Seeking
In an almost New Testament manner, an earlier church we attended had a satellite campus at a winery east of Temecula. The pic above shows the view the gathered believers have during worship. This last Sunday, just after the sermon began, a small, yellow-breasted bird flew up to the window, beating his wings trying to get in. Tiring, he flew back to a grapevine branch, rested, then resumed his attempts to enter God's presence. After a few moments he tired…
Read MoreTranscendence--In All the Wrong Places
One of my closest lifetime friendships was forged in high school and college. Ken and I then both followed Jesus, both left, only I returned. Ken has trekked the world. His innate curiosity and hunger for knowledge has led him to many worship events, in many faiths. During one of our conversations on his yearly trip back to the states, he offered, “Worship is funny. I visit my parents’ evangelical Christian worship, or that of my Muslim friends, and they all look the same.” Ken saw an outer similarity, but missed…
Read MoreGod Touches
Decades back, Wayne and I yearned to be the next stellar photo/journalist pair, and headed to Yosemite for material. He’d take the pics; I’d write the copy. You’ve heard of us, right? Yeah, thought so. On the long ride up, Wayne mentioned he saw every scene for its potential picture value. I thought that diminished one’s appreciation of creation’s beauty, so we chewed on it a bit. He didn’t convince me, until…
Read MoreCursed by Quality
A few years back on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, our pastor made it a long week off. Most of the praise team grabbed the same opportunity. Totally deserved, by all of them. After decades as a pastor (not once leading music, praise God!), I know that spiritual leaders need recharging. Jesus patterned that for us, by the way. I suspect he knew some would slide into workaholism.
But their absence impacted the overall worship service. Our pastor does a fine job applying solid Bible truth to living as a follower of Jesus. Our praise team leads in both energetic and meditative genuine worship. And, frankly, the fill in teacher and pared down praise team just didn’t deliver the quality I…
Read MoreBack to Worship
About 2 months ago, our church re-opened with outside worship. That first week in the tent brought me to tears as we sang “All my life you have been faithful, all my life you have been so, so good” with 100s of fellow followers and our family taking up an entire row. This is what we were made for: gathering to praise God with one another. Two weeks ago we moved inside, and…
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