Feb
6
Worship: A Transforming Encounter With God
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Worship is our top priority as Christians. We were made to worship. I’ve always enjoyed the statement from the Westminster Confession which reads: “Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.” Inasmuch as this is true, I’d like to recommend a book for your edification and enrichment on this all important topic. It’s entitled “Experiential Worship” by Bob Rognlien, NavPress, 2005.
The author, a Princeton educated Lutheran pastor from Torrance, California, who has led his congregation in worship renewal for a number of years, defines worship as “nothing less than a personal encounter with the living God. God comes to us and we respond; the mysterious and transforming intersection is what we call worship.” Another way to talk about our response to God’s overture of love toward us, according to Rognlien, is simply “loving God.” The framework of his book is derived from the scriptural answer to life’s most compelling question, “Why am I here on the planet?” The answer is found in the words of the Great Commandment of Mark 12:30 - “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” For Rognlien, worship is essentially loving God with our whole being - heart, soul, mind, and body. Read more
Oct
9
Worship Is More Than the Music
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Recently Tim Mathiesen introduced me to a magazine entitled RELEVANT (Relevantmagazine.com). One of the articles in the October issue included responses from church visionaries who were asked the question, “What trends in worship styles do you see coming?” I was intrigued and pleased with the responses of two visionaries in particular. One was Rob Bell who said, “I believe the old polarities (traditional vs. contemporary) are fading.” He went on to suggest that the church focus on worship that changes lives more than on issues of style. In the same article, Erwin McManus said, “What do we mean by worship styles? Why do we still equate singing and even what we are doing on Sunday with the whole of worship? There is something powerful about singing to God as an act of worship, but it is time to re-frame our perspective and our language to genuinely encompass all of life as worship.” Read more
