We’re weather obsessed: Websites like Intellicast.com track active storm systems, while Wind Map (pictured above) shows active wind patterns at hint.fm/wind
I think we’re all afraid.
Different reasons in each case, but I know that my American friends — who comprise the majority of readers here — are wondering quite literally which way the wind is going to blow. Communities not devastated by hurricanes and tornadoes have been shattered by gun violence. It makes you want to build a shelter in the basement and then just stay there.
I base some of this on a monitoring of some of the worship songs that some churches did over the weekend. A recently released song by Tim Timmons invites me to Cast My Cares while Sunday Setlist founder Fred McKinnon borrowed a mainstream music song, Home by Phillip Phillips which reminds us we’re not alone.
Years ago, in a very accusatory tone, people said, ‘Christianity is a crutch.’ In other words, people who can’t get by need a faith to face the hard times. But in 2013, I believe that while we need the God’s strength to face each moment of the day, we want to have a faith that is more than just a coping mechanism.
Jesus promised us an abundant life. The Greek translated means in great quantity and in superior quality. ‘Where is that abundant life?’ people might well ask. Of course an abiding joy doesn’t mean circumstances are perfect and everybody is — to quote a children’s song from another era — “inright, outright, upright, downright happy all the time.” No, an abiding joy transcends the circumstances; it is joy in trials, peace in storms.
…Still, I think you’re going to see more worship songs that deal with our anxieties and our fears. Our own worship this morning began with the Brenton Brown song All Who Are Thirsty.
All who are thirsty
All who are weak
Come to the fountain
Dip your heart in the stream life
Let the pain and the sorrow
Be washed away
In the waves of His mercy
As deep cries out to deep
We sing Come, Lord Jesus, come
Our music and our sermons are allowed to reflect the times we live in and the situations we face. God’s Word doesn’t change and we need our worship and teaching to be Word-directed and Word-centered, but at the same time, we have to acknowledge the felt needs people are experiencing.
The past weekends at Thinking Out Loud have contained a number of columns that Monday-to-Friday readers miss. Be sure to scroll through the back pages of the blog and feel free to comment.
As someone who has spent a lifetime in and around Christian music, whenever I visit a church I often make my way to the front after the service and converse with the worship team, especially when I know one or two of the musicians.
A few weeks ago I did just that, and we started talking about songs that have the possibility of two parts being sung at the same time. Then we talked about ‘call and response’ songs where the worship leader sings a line and then the congregation repeats it. Then we talked about songs that parts for men and women.
At that point someone on the team said, “We don’t do men’s and women’s parts here.”
Days later, I was sharing this story with someone who knew exactly where I had been and they made an interesting comment, “I wonder how many times in the course of a week someone at that church begins a sentence with ‘We don’t?’
So true. So sad. Some Christian institutions have policy after policy; operating guidelines carved in stone for no particular reason. My feeling is, if you don’t have worship songs that offer something where women’s voices and men’s voices can highlight their unique giftedness, then next week would be a good week to start.
I hope the place where you worship isn’t characterized by a spirit of ‘We don’t…’
David Murrow has been blogging up a storm lately. We just used one of his pieces here last week, and I can’t reblog everything he writes; but on the other hand, I cant ignore his more recent post, Why I Am Not Too Excited About Church Planting. His basic thesis:
Everyone’s planting the same church.I’ve visited half a dozen young church plants over the past two years. And they are virtually indistinguishable from one another. See if this lineup sounds familiar:
Approximately 15 minutes of praise music, played by a rock band.
A projector, sound system and stage lighting
A separate nursery and children’s program concurrent with “big church”
A 25 to 40 minute sermon delivered by a young, informally dressed man
An offering, plus maybe a sacrament (communion, etc.)
A closing song or two, also led by the rock band.
Service length: between 70 and 90 minutes.
Well, he’s got that right. And don’t forget the 60-second video ‘title package’ which precedes the sermon…
So annually we have thousands of churches re-inventing the wheel. But years ago, the phrase “a different kind of church” was all the rage. How did all these different churches end up so much the same?
He concludes this section by noting, “We haven’t had this much conformity in worship since the days of medieval Catholicism.”
It’s the new, high-tech liturgy. But all that tech for both the primary service and the alternative service for children involves gear and set-up. It is both capital intensive and labor intensive. And it rises or falls on the ability of the pastor to resonate with everybody. No pressure. Murrow concludes:
If we’re planting 4,000 churches a year at $125,000 per congregation, that’s half a billion dollars per year going into church planting in America alone. Seventy percent of that money is going into churches that won’t exist in 24 months. Church plants will consume 40 million volunteer hours this year. Couldn’t these vast resources be more profitably employed for the Kingdom?
Yes, David, they could, and they should.
One thing that he notes here that I feel very strongly about is the existence of mortgage free church buildings that are hosting dwindling congregations. Michael Frost has been instrumental in spreading awareness of this situation, and his own church in Manly, Australia — a congregation known as Small Boat Big Sea — successfully integrated into a building that was underutilized. Murrow writes:
Most church buildings are owned debt-free. Many of these churches sit empty 160 hours a week. And they’re half-empty on Sunday. Why don’t existing congregations allow new churches to meet in their paid-off buildings at alternate times? (We’re already seeing this as ethnic congregations are using existing churches for Sunday afternoon services.)
I encourage you to (a) take 3-4 minutes to re-read all this at David’s blog; (b) share this article with senior leadership at your church who don’t object to doing some critical thinking. Here’s the link.
Kickin’ it off with a strange report that — literally — gets under the skin of atheists and reveals the potential, no make that the probability for beliefs in God they would never acknowledge.
“…no one had ever done research to determine if international child sponsorship really works…” Well, now they have, and it looks good on Compassion International.
Add Marcus Mumford of the band Mumford and Sons to the “They like Jesus but not Christianity” list, at least that’s what he told Rolling Stone.
The petition calling for the release of Saeed Abedini, imprisoned in Iran is nearing 500,000 signatures.
What happens when creative worship-leader types lock horns with linear-thinking pastor types? Innovative ideas are often given the “no” treatment. Why can’t we all just get along?
Got Roman Catholic friends who believe the wafer and the wine actually become the body and blood of Christ? Here are some reasons for rejecting transubstantiation.
Now you can get a personalized Bible with your name inserted in 7,000 different places. Will you accept the Personal Promise edition as your personal Bible?
Know a teen dealing with self-image issues or some kind of physical trait that erodes self confidence? Check out the story of 19-year old country music singer Chelsea Musick.
On a similar theme: Here’s a refreshing post from an 11-year old blogger who reminds us that God made us just as we are.
Are you a church mutt? These days many of us borrow what we consider to be the best elements from a variety of denominational streams. A classic post from 2010.
There is now some finality to the Canadian side of the story involving the then co-hosts of Canada’s national daily Christian talk show and money investors lost in a Ponzi scheme, in the form of a March 15th ruling by the Ontario Securities Commission.
Do we too many music links? Maybe it’s because I haven’t heard quartet music in a long time, but this two-verse hymn seems to have a barbershop harmony quality.
An Australian TV outlet does a 14-minute exposé of Hillsong Church with a particular axe to grind concerning the church’s tax free status.
Is the way forward in church planting that the pastors will have other jobs; be bi-vocational? Well, yes and no.
Francis Chan talks to Canadian interviewer Moira Brown about leaving his church and starting up again in Northern California. (This is a part two of two-part interview; 15 minutes each.)
Want more transparency in the church? How about this Belgian church constructed in 2011 out of transparent steel?
If you tell people you don’t smoke because your body is “a temple,” then you need to know that in 2013, sitting is the new smoking.
A new digital edition of “the quad” the four books of Mormon scriptures includes some editorial changes reflecting “shifting official view on issues like polygamy, the Church’s history of racism, and the historicity of LDS scripture.”
It’s not too late to send a gift: Benny Hinn and former wife Suzanne were scheduled to be remarried last week. And since that link was older — but detailed — the answer is yes, it happened.
Mark Burnett tells Inside TV that “weird things” happened as they filmed The Bible miniseries. You’ll like the snake handler’s report.
“Teenage girls aging out of foster care and/or orphanages are known as the highest ‘at risk’ group in our nation. It’s estimated that a teenage girl on the streets will be approached within 48 hours by a pimp…” Read the stats and one city’s game plan.
Christian rapper Lecrae is performing along side his mainstream music counterparts at SXSW, the South by Southwest festival…
…And the updated list of the Top 200 Calvinist Christian blogs is now online; or at least one person’s version of it.
The offbeat ‘gay worship band’ story got way too much coverage last week which is why I would never link to it.
Here’s how Religion News Service was handicapping the race to be Pope on the weekend. Even though this final four may be old news by the time you read this, I left it here for comparison (if RNS keeps it online).
A greater concern for the cardinals during a conclave week is if it goes into overtime and finds them running out of clean laundry.
People from five religious ‘tribes’ will try to convert Catalina an atheist — who looks slightly like Tina Fey — on the latest contest from The Drew Marshall Show titled Soul Survivor.
We leave you this week with a classic scene from Meet The Parents.
Regular readers will know this already, but I’ve never quite come out and said it: I find it somewhat snobbish when bloggers publish link lists where anything older than 2-3 days is considered obsolete. A true link sleuth will unearth some great material and won’t be concerned if the post is dated 30 days ago. If it was true then…
Essay of the week: Church Planting in Montreal. A somewhat typical couple has been living together for ten years but has never gotten close to having any kind of spiritual discussion. And that’s just one challenge. The Quebecois version of Hybels’ “unchurched Harry” is quite different from “Harry” in the rest of North America.
Runner up: Remember that feeling when you were young and you came home from school only to find nobody home and you immediately thought everybody had been raptured? Well, it happens to not-so-young college students, too.
While everyone else on Sunday night was watching The Bible miniseries on History, one blogger was putting the final period on his review even as the credits rolled. I guess that way you get to say, “First!” (The cable channel show beat all the big networks in the ratings.)
If you know people whose Christian faith is characterized by what they are against, may I suggest you copy and paste this article and email it to them.
For people who don’t know how to use a “table of contents” in a book, The Alpha Bible presents the Bible books in… well you know.
Given the success of The Book of Mormon, a Broadway production by The Foursquare Church denomination on the life of Aimee Semple McPherson probably seemed like a good idea at the time.
The idea of gospel tracts probably seems somewhat archaic to most readers here, but the concision of these short presentations actual suits present attention spans. Now 31 Good News tracts are available on audio.
As someone whose entire wardrobe was purchased at Goodwill and Salvation Army stores, this is scary: Pat Robertson allows the possibility that those shirts and sweaters could have demonic spirits attached. (That’s why Pat buys professionally tailored suits, I guess.)
Once we know the name of the new Pope, the new Pope has to choose a name. Past Pope picks included these. (You remember Pope Urban, right?)
How is it possible that this great song by the Wheaton College Gospel Choir has had less than 2,500 views in two years? If this don’t bring a smile to your face, your mouth is broken. Watch, copy the link and share.
Jon Acuff finds himself in a prayer meeting with someone who gives a whole new meaning to the phrase too much information.
If you missed it January, Shaun Groves shares songwriting secrets for worship composers. But ultimately, “I think worship writers have parted with standard songwriting practices because they’re creating with the live experience in mind. So their priorities are much different from those of a traditional songwriter.”
The people at Thomas Nelson flatly refused us a review copy of this, but I’ll be nice and tell you about it anyway. Jesus: A Theography is a new book by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola combining theology and biography with –[free review time expired]
…Mind you, that was already better than this guy’s review. “After a while, I finally put the book down and said enough.” (When you accept a free book you do agree to finish reading it.)
Remember Anne Jackson? Well she’s still kicking around, still writing, and apparently this Friday is a special day.
Nadia Bolz-Weber, the Lutheran with attitude, shares her struggle preparing to preach on The Parable of the Vineyard. (Open the audio link in a new tab, then click back to follow the text; the whole sermon is about ten minutes.) Actual quote: “…you’d think that I’d totally remember a parable where poop is mentioned.”
On our fifth birthday, we introduced you to Derek the Cleric. We had a tough time that day choosing between two cartoons and thought we’d stretch the written permission we received to do just one more.
I don’t do repeats here until the piece is a year old. So a new month always offers new items from the previous year that you may have missed… (Apologies to email subscribers…this is long!)
A Letter to the Nominating Committee
Dear Nominating Committee;
Visiting your church for the first time last Sunday, I noticed an announcement in the bulletin concerning the need for board members and elders for the 2012-2013 year. I am herewith offering my services.
While I realize that the fact I don’t actually attend your church may seem like a drawback at first, I believe that it actually lends itself to something that would be of great benefit to you right now: A fresh perspective.
Think about it — I don’t know any one of you by name, don’t know the history of the church and have no idea what previous issues you’ve wrestled with as a congregation. Furthermore, because I won’t be there on Sundays, I won’t have the bias of being directly impacted by anything I decide to vote for or against. I offer you pure objectivity.
Plus, as I will only be one of ten people voting on major issues, there’s no way I can do anything drastic single-handedly. But at the discussion phase of each agenda item, I can offer my wisdom and experience based on a lifetime of church attendance in a variety of denominations.
Churches need to periodically have some new voices at the table. I am sure that when your people see a completely unrecognizable name on the ballot, they will agree that introducing new faces at the leadership level can’t hurt.
I promise never to miss a board or committee meeting, even if I’m not always around for anything else.
I hope you will give this as much prayerful consideration as I have.
Most sincerely,
This Song Should Be the Anthem of Churches Everywhere
I was scrolling through the CCLI top 200 worship songs, and it occurred to me there is a song that really needs to be there; in fact it really needs to be part of the repertoire of every church using modern worship.
Eddie Kirkland is a worship leader at Atlanta’s North Point Community Church, where, just to warn ya, the worship set may seem to some of you more like a rock concert than a Sunday service. But I hope you’ll see past that and enjoy the song.
We want to be a church where freedom reigns
We want to be a people full of grace
We want to be a shelter where the broken find their place
We want to be refuge for the weak
We want to be a light for the world to see
We want to be a love the breaks the walls and fill the streets…
All are welcome here
As we are, as we are
For our God is near every heart
If those sentiments are not the goal of where you attend on Sundays, frankly, I think you’re doing it wrong.
Here’s another version of the song that was used as part of North Point’s Be Rich campaign, where each year, instead of reinventing the charity wheel, NPCC members flood secular social service organizations with money and volunteer hours.
Watch the song a few times, and then forward the link to today’s blog post — http://wp.me/pfdhA-3en — to the worship leader at your church.
If a church of any size desires to live up to what this song expresses, there’s nothing stopping that church from changing the world.
Qualifying “It Gets Better”
One of the Church’s biggest failures of the past decade has been our reaction, and over-reaction to the LGBT community, especially to those who — absent the treatment they see their peers receiving — hold on to a faith in the Messiah-ship of Jesus Christ.
On the one hand, there are the usual conservative voices who insist that any gay sympathies constitute an automatic ticket to hell. Frankly, I am curious to see who shows up to picket at their funerals.
On the other hand, there are among the more progressive progressives, certain Christian bloggers who in their compassion have thrown out a lot of the core of the Bible’s ideal for family, procreation and partnership.
And now, to add to our confusion, we discover that Psalm 139, the scripture used as a major element in the argument against abortion, is used as a rallying cry for gay and lesbian Christians. Regardless of which translation is employed.
Anyway, I’ve already blogged my personal place of balance on this issue, but in thinking about it this week, I’ve realized that my particular choice of words has a bearing on another commonly heard phrase particularly among teenagers who either come out of the closet by choice or who are outed by their classmates.
The phrase is, “It gets better.”
For the bullied, the confused and the lonely, I certainly hope it does. Soon.
But I have to say this, and maybe this can be your response as well, “It gets better, but it doesn’t necessarily get best.”
In other words; I’m there for you.
I understand.
I’m not someone looking at this from the detachment of an outsider; I’ve read your blogs, I’ve looked in to your online discussions. I do get it.
But with all the love in my heart, I just think that ultimately, God has something else in mind which, because He made it, is perfect.
So yes, it gets better, thought it doesn’t necessarily get best.
A Powerful Story Echoes Three Decades Later
This was recorded nearly 30 years ago at a Christian music festival somewhere in Canada. Nancyjo Mann was lead singer in the band Barnabas. I always knew that I had this in my possession — on VHS, no less — and have always felt that more people need to see it. For those of you who knew me back in the days of the Searchlight Video Roadshow, you’ll remember that I often closed each night with this particular testimony.
Save Saeed: Over 333,000 individuals have signed the petition to save American Pastor Saeed Abedini; imprisoned in Iran. He is cut off from contact from his wife and young children; he has no voice. Yet, each time someone signs the petition for his freedom, they lend their voice to the fight for his freedom.
A researcher discovers a classic 19th century hymnal with “social justice themes … reflected in hymns protesting against child labour and slavery.” And hymns lamenting “unrighteous taxes.”
While these articles abound online, someone reading this right now may need to look at these six warning signs of depression.
Anabaptist theology is becoming… well… trendy. Here’s one blogger’s list of those who he considers either recent or long-term members of the Anabaptist camp. (Some of them unofficially…)
We mentioned professor John Walton here a while back, here’s a 30-minute video of him teaching on the book of Job.
Not sure if I’ve linked to this before or not: In its third year, the online Dictionary of Christianese. Here’s an example of the detail they get into with the phrase red-letter Christian.
BibleGateway.com has added The Voice — a translation using dramatic script style — to its list of available Bible versions. Users of the online service get instructions in how to use this unique text.
Know a worship leader looking for ideas? You can’t do better than clicking all the links in the comments section of this week’s Sunday Setlists.
Just like universities agree to honor some of each others credit courses, four Reformed denominations and the Roman Catholic Church have agreed to honor each others infant baptisms. (For some this confirms that the CRC denomination is not evangelical.)
Here’s how some churches look at the issue of copyrights involving music or materials. This example is not a good example, though.
Church planters sometimes are often guilty of reacting to existing trends or conversely, copying existing trends. There are three other factors that can motivate planters, and certain risks and dangers in all five types.
When you release a dove ceremonially, it’s not supposed to be attacked by seagulls.
Should communion (Eucharist, Lord’s Supper) be done with a common cup or several cups? Actually, that’s not the issue; the real reason I posted this is because it’s a great example of taking Bible study notes.
Or this question: Should Churches shift weekend service times to accommodate the Super Bowl game? Perry Noble’s church did.
Last week Rachel Held Evans linked to a trio of articles with the common theme, Do Christians idolize virginity? One of the recommended articles is being recommended here as well; the story of a girl who believed that, in her words, I am Damaged Goods.
For my local readers who enjoy Robin Mark’s annual visits here each summer, here’s the best version of the John Wesley song I can find. (YouTube audio.) Watched it three times on Saturday.
Michael Belote has a very lengthy, heartfelt article on dieting that he then uses as springboard for looking at our spiritual diet. There are some great principles here including this question: Am I using the right fuel in the right amounts? This is a five-star blog post!
We’re a bit late arriving at this one, but this February list transcends time. Here are 28 ways to show gratitude that are good anytime.
Wanna start a church in Orange County, California? You’d be in good company, and there are currently 17 churches for sale.
A New Jersey pilot credits her faith in God for her and her passenger surviving a crash in the Hudson River.
When Michael Hyatt spoke to real estate professionals about social media, he discovered they didn’t know what to post to Twitter or Facebook. Here are his ten suggestions.
Canadian hockey player Mike Fisher, now with the Nashville Predators, made Brad Lomenick‘s young influencers list for January. Here’s his testimony and a link to his Zondervan-published biography.
The Calvinists gotta hate this song; but probably the Arminians are glad they have enough free will to turn off bad church music. Click for The Free Will Song.
For something more contemporary… I’ve never been to the blimeycow YouTube channel before, but this take on five-minute instant worship songs, is far too cynical.
…Click the images for sourcing from Clark Bunch’s blog (top) and Close to Home (below)…Feel free to add your favorite recent Christian blog links this week in the comments…
This week’s linkelele (you pronounce it like ukelele).
Kent Shaffer has gone back through ten years’ worth of charts from The Church Report and Outreach Magazine and has compiled a list of 493 churches to watch on the basis of growth, influence, innovation, church planting and sheer size.
This is the one not to miss: The principal figures in the Chick-Fil-A /LGBT conflict last year get together at Dan Cathy’s invitation to Shane Windmeyer and Shane ‘comes out’ (in a different way) at Huffington Post to explain why his organization has dropped the boycott of the fast food restaurants. [HT: Kevin]
As a pastor, Andy Stanley was impressed with the ‘pastoral’ side of President Obama following the Newtown tragedy. But when he called him the ‘pastor-in-chief’ many people took it out of context.
And now it’s time for … wait for it … a clergy fashion show. What are the hot trends for clergy vestments this spring?
Nadia Bolz Weber is somewhat disappointed that snarkyness and sarcasm aren’t spiritual gifts. Dont read this; click the player to get the audio. (Warning: The church’s yoga classes are mentioned in the sermon.)
The man who gave the Christian world talking vegetables has relaunched the Jelly Telly website as Club Jelly Telly, a subscription based site with more than 150 hours of video for kids for only $5 per month. They’ve also added all of the content from the What’s In The Bible series…
…And at his blog, Phil Vischer’s weekly (Tuesday) podcast has a special guest, an associate professor at Wheaton College with a specialty in Christian Education who may or may not have given birth to Phil many years prior. (You’ll just have to listen.)
Flashback video of the week is from the veteran ‘Rock ‘n Roll Preacher’ from the Jesus Music days; Chuck Girard sings the much more mellow song Lay Your Burden Down.
And speaking of the Jesus People days, another veteran, Kelly Willard is still performing, set to do an Orange County coffee house in February.
The 15-year-old son of a former Calvary Chapel pastor has been charged in a murder that included the pastor, his wife and three children.
In a video made months earlier, former Mars Hill Bible Church (Grand Rapids) pastor Shane Hipps previews his now-available book Selling Water By The River. A fuller book rundown is available on the Relevant Magazine podcast.
Add a link of your own — insert a recent Christian blog story in the comments…
Looking for more? Visit the Friday Link List at fellow Canadian Kevin Martineau’s blog Shooting The Breeze by clicking the icon below for a recent sample.
As someone who has spent a lifetime in and around Christian music, whenever I visit a church I often make my way to the front after the service and converse with the worship team, especially when I know one or two of the musicians. 
