“I have absolutely nothing to say about this.”

@SarcasticLuther (Nadia Bolz-Weber) tweeted: every week I look at the texts for Sunday and think “sh*t. i have absolutely nothing to say about this. i’ve had a good run but it’s over” I love it. Refreshingly truthful. While it might seem like having nothing to say about a Scripture text is a bad thing, it [...]

Read Full Post »

The Golden Rule for Worship Bands

The bands I work with probably get tired of hearing me say it – but I’m not sure it can be said enough: “Less is more.” Having the musicians/singers be picky about when they play/sing does a lot for the dynamics of a song. But it also does something on a spiritual level. It allows [...]

Read Full Post »

Modern Art Stations of the Cross

An interesting take on “The Stations of the Cross” by Paul from St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. These would make a great reflection piece on Good Friday.

Read Full Post »

Worship leaders can be cool. Biblical worship can’t be.

From Bob Kauflin… By nature, “cool” describes something that the world esteems as hip, desirable, elitist, and perhaps elusive. Biblical worship is very un-hip, hated by the world’s value system, and a gracious gift from God to those he has redeemed. It involves magnifying the glory of Christ and minimizing our own glory. It means [...]

Read Full Post »

Pecking order of worship leadership

Who is really leading worship during a service or gathering? I would say the Holy Spirit, the pastor, and the worship musicians (in order of priority). The Holy Spirit is always the first and most important leader of worship. The Spirit’s preparation and work began long before the service was a twinkling in our eye. [...]

Read Full Post »

Instead of a Show – Jon Foreman

I hate all your show and pretense The hypocrisy of your praise The hypocrisy of your festivals I hate all your show Away with your noisy worship Away with your noisy hymns I stop up my ears when you’re singing ‘em I hate all your show Instead let there be a flood of justice An [...]

Read Full Post »

What can the church learn from Apple?

Does your church take design seriously (architecture, worship, long range planning, etc.)? Does your church offer guest-friendly “try before you buy” environments? Is your church’s view of the world present in how you design worship? Does your church welcome the question “Why is it like that?” around the subject of worship? How much attention is [...]

Read Full Post »

Greater Than Putting Flowers on a Grave

From the Ekklesia Project: And while a decoration of a grave may dwell on our loss, All Saints’ Day sharpens our focus on the resurrection. A death date on a gravestone may remind us of the day someone “left us.” The tradition of lifting up the death dates of historic Christian martyrs calls us to [...]

Read Full Post »

Reformation Day Resources

Reformation Day is October 25. Here is an order of worship from Reformed Worship that contains a lot of Reformation-era texts: This order of service was prepared for Reformation Sunday 2003 at First Presbyterian Church, Royal Oak, Michigan. It includes several liturgical elements from the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, including contributions from Luther [...]

Read Full Post »

Mystery – by Charlie Hall

This is one of the most creative attempts at a worship music video I’ve seen in a while. The low-fi feel is perfect. Lyrics are: Sweet Jesus Christ my sanity Sweet Jesus Christ my clarity Bread of heaven broken for me Cup of salvation held up to drink Jesus the Mystery Christ has died and [...]

Read Full Post »