This past Sunday in Wales, a group of elders gathered at their church building to pray. The ancient stone chapel had been without heating since a group of construction workers shut off the gas supply to the building earlier in the week, then forgot to turn it back on for the weekend. It was judged […]
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Posted 22 April 2008
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Church Buildings § Daily Scribe § Elders § Music § Technology
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Tagged: amplified music, camel's hair, chapel, Church Buildings, church musicians, electricity, heating, House Church, instruments, locusts and wild honey, loss of power, mega-church, pipe organ, PowerPoint, praise team, preaching, presence of the Holy Spirit, sound engineers, Technology, true worship, Wales, worship band, worship service
In speaking of music, Longfellow described it as “the universal language of mankind” and Tolstoy called it “the shorthand of emotion.” Every human being knows from experience how their deepest joys can give rise to exuberant song and they have often learned how to paint their deepest sorrows with the darker colors of music; thus […]
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Posted 25 September 2007
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Music
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Tagged: genuine worship, Longfellow, manipulation, mass producing worship, Music, music and emotion, music in worship, Neitzsche, passion for music, praise and worship, recreating emotions, repetitious songs, surprised by God's Spirit, universal language, worship leaders
This past weekend we traveled to the Manchester area where I spoke to a group of believers about true worship. I had chosen the passage where Paul and Silas found themselves arrested, beaten, and thrown into jail for their ministry to the demon-possessed slave girl in Acts 16. My intention was to show that worship […]
Several months ago, someone left a comment suggesting that the reason the early church met in homes, rather than larger buildings like temples or synagogues, was because they were just fledgling "church plants" and did not need a building to accommodate everyone. He said, "You do with what you have and be content." The same […]
What does Hebrews 10:25 mean in relationship to church worship services on Sunday? Does the New Testament command these weekly meetings or have we simply assumed something that the biblical writer (and the Holy Spirit) never intended to say? As someone involved in church leadership, even on a denominational level, for many years, I need to answer these questions. Are we talking about something that is a cherished custom or is it more than that: a biblical command?
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Posted 04 August 2007
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Tagged: Christian worship, church discipline, Custom or Command, guilt and manipulation, Hebrews 10:25, human tradition, intertestamental period, Jesus Christ, Jewish customs, New Testament, not forsaking the assembling, synagogue, weekly gatherings, what does the Bible say, worship services
It’s always puzzled me. A couple of Christians begin talking about starting a new church, say, in a new housing development or community. They decide to gather in their living room each week to test the waters and they soon discover the joyful simplicity of “ekklesia” as experienced in those early years of Christianity. They […]
