mighty-to-save-13

“For: The Institute of contemporary And Emerging WorshipStudies, St. Stephen’s Univeristy; Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt”

I created this PowerPoint presentation to introduce the song “Mighty to Save” to our congregation.  The theme for that Sunday was reaching the world for Christ.  The beginning of the song talks about everyone needing a Savior.  I choose pictures of people from all nationalities that looked distressed.  For the chorus pictures of crosses and mountains was the theme.   The bridge talks about shining a light to the world and light houses seem to fit the image of that.  For the last chorus I showed pictures of  people being baptized from all over the world.  Then the final scene was a quote about it being our business to witness to our world. 

One of the topics that we have talked about is being “Salvificstorytellers.  I feel this song really points that out.  The them is about us shinning our light or being Image bearers to the world so that all may see and be saved.  What better statement to make and what better message to teach to our congregation. 

Jesus told his disciples to go out into the world and witness.  We sometimes forget to take the message we are taught every week in worship out to the world and community around us.  God needs us to be His hands and feet.   The world needs missionaries to go to the far reaches of the planet for Christ but He also needs us to witness right where we are at work, church, shopping.  We may be the only Jesus some people see and that is the point I was trying to make with the presentation.

Once God created man we decided we wanted to be God and go our own way. Sin entered the world when we decided we knew more than God. From the point that sin entered the world God has been pursuing His creation. He has tried many ways to reach out to us and we kept walking away. His final solution to rescue us was to send His son into the world to take on our sin and pay the final price for us. God is not someone who sits back on His throne and watches His creation as we struggle through this life. He is at work in the world to help us and guide us along the way.

The kingdom of God is manifested in Jesus Christ. Through His life, death and resurrection he brought the kingdom of God to man. We represent the kingdom of God when we share our stories, love and lives with our community and the world. We are to reflect God’s love back into the world. The church is to be a community where we can come together to worship, learn, and be prepared to present Jesus Christ to the world around us.

Our final destiny will be to live for eternity with God in heaven. The church will continue it’s mission to bring Christ to people and people to Christ.

“For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt”

This week we were studying about the nature of humans.  It has been an interesting topic.  It has challenged my thoughts about a lot of things.  Still trying to wrap my mind around some of the things discussed.

What does it mean to be human?  That was the question we had to answer this week.  Dan Wilt in his video spoke of humans being subcreators.  He said that everyone was creative not just those in the occupations that we normally think of as creative.  God gave us this wonderful world and wants us to create something new from His creation. 

The fact that we are Image Bearers of God was also discussed.  I know this to be true but have just never thought of it in these terms.  I know that we must make sure our lives held to a high standard, especially those of us in leadership in the church who are so visible to our community.  N.T. Wright said in his video that we are like a slanted mirror.  God shines down and we then reflect Him into our world.  I must think more about what I am reflecting out into my world.

Humans as salvific storytellers was the other thought that I found very interesting this week.  We know that from early childhood that we love a good story.  That is why the use of testimonies are so powerful.  God takes the stories of our lives and uses them for His purposes.  It also challenged me about what I posed in my first blog about a new song from New Life Church.  The song is “Overcome”.  It is a beautiful song about how God gets us through the tough times.  But I was troubled by the bridge of this song.  Which goes, “We will over come by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony”.  I was judging what they were saying incorrectly.  I failed to think about how testimonies do change lives.  I failed to realize that if we don’t tell our stories then we are failing God. 

Well, I had hoped that this course would challenge me and my thinking on worship.  That is being accomplished.  I look forward to the rest of this course and the next two to follow. 

“For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt”

Our study this week has taken us on a journey to confront our thoughts on the heaven and earth as well as the nature of God.  It has been very interesting reading and also very thought provoking.  So many of the stories I have known so well but have never thought of them in the light of the theology that was presented this week.

The video and reading that Dan Wilt shared with us on the nature of God was very compelling.  I couldn’t take notes fast enough and at times had to stop the video to catch up.  He stated that there are 4 different natures of God.  God as creator (the God who creates), God as King (The one who reigns), God as Trinity (The One who relates) and  God as Savior ( the One who acts).  (1)

God as Creator (The God who creates):  I love this nature of God.  As a musician who creates it is comforting to think of God as a creator.  As one of my classmates said they had thought of God as creation as having a check list of things that need to be done.  But Dan offered a different glimpse into the creator.  God breathed and the heavens exploded with stars.  He talked in his video of a playful God that picked up a ball of clay and held it in His hands as He molded and worked it into the earth.  Then of a loving God who picked up some dust and form a human being out of His great love for us.  I love what Dan says in his book Worship Theology:  “God designed a cosmos of astounding  complexity, beauty, immensity, and intricacy – and invited us to go exploring.” (2)

God as King (The one who reigns):  God created the heavens and the earth and He reigns over them.  All of his creation worships Him.  When we come to worship we are deferring to someone as sovereign over the resources, gifts and offerings of our lives. 

God as trinity (the one who relates):  This section was very interesting.  The idea of the trinity is one that we have such a hard time wrapping our minds around.    In his video Dan talked about a circular dance.  That God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are involved in this circular dance with one another.  They all exist in one personality.  When God created us He reached out and invited us into this dance with him.  We join him but then sin came into our lives and we stepped out of the dance and every since then God has been perusing us to rejoin the dance. 

The final nature of God is God as Savior ( the one who acts):  God as Son moving into our lives to save that which was lost.  God is a God who acts and intervenes in His creation.  Again in his video Dan talked of who the Son built a bridge on Calvary to fix the sin in creation and give us a path back to the father.  He gave His life for ours and is the redeemer who paid our debt. 

I find these descriptions of God very compelling.  These are all things I have always known but hearing them with a new voice is interesting.  I like the descriptive way that Dan has described these natures of God.

(1)    Dan Wilt, essentials*blue: Online Studies in Worship Theology & Biblical Worldview – Online Course Text (New Brunswick: The Institute Of Contemporary & Emerging Worship Studies), p. 10,12,13,and 18

(2)  Dan Wilt, essentials*blue: Online Studies in Worship Theology & Biblical Worldview –    online Course Text (New  Brunswick: The Institute Of Contemporary & Emerging Worship Studies), p. 10

“For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt”

This is the first week for the course Essentials blue Studies in Worship Theology and Biblical Worldview.  It has been many years since I was in college course.  It has been an eye opening beginning.  I have enjoyed the readings but have been overwhelmed with the amount.  My daughter who is a senior at Cedarville College said “Welcome back to college, Mom.”  I am looking forward to this journey.   

I find Brenton Brown’s comments in his video interesting.  I have always believed that music has huge effect on our worship.  Music can enhance worship or destroy it.  But the thought that people remember what is sung before they remember the sermon had not really occurred to me.  Or rather I should say I’ve never really thought about it.  Therefore, I agree that worship leaders must look at the message and theology we are presenting to our people. 

I was at a worship committee meeting at my church this week and the devotional that was read was about this very same subject.  It spoke of the power of music in our worship services.  The music of David soothed Saul and our music can teach and help our people draw near to God.  Music can reach people for Christ when sometimes nothing else can. 

I have always looked to link our musical message with the message of the sermon.  But I must say I have never really delved too deeply into the theology behind the words.  But I think without realizing it I am conscious of it.  There have been songs that just didn’t sit well with me and I didn’t always know why. 

There is a new song out that I love the theme and everything about it points to God except the 3rd line of the bridge.  “We will over come by the blood of the Lamb (absolutely the only way) and the word of our testimony”.  It is this last part that troubles me.  What was the intention of this phrase?  Because it is not our testimonies that will help us overcome.  I feel it in my bones that they were not trying to covey that our testimonies will do anything for us.  I have heard and done music from this church in the past and have been blessed.  I know they went through a very difficult time in their church.  They had a shooting one Sunday and some of their people were killed.  And their pastor had just resigned after some very troubling headlines came out about him.  This song was birth during this very low time in their church.  I know it is very important to check the theology of our songs but we need to be careful to look for the true meaning behind the words.

I recently heard the same comments about a Paul Baloche song.  They pulled one line out of it and said it was incorrect theology.  I was stunned because I had never felt that about that song.  I apologize I don’t remember the song or who said this.  It was an on-line posting that I was reading.   

So, I guess through my ramblings what I am trying to say is I’m excited to awaken a more intentional theological eye for the music I select.  I think it has always lain dormant within me and at time like that “hidden stream”, which N.T. Wright talked about in his book Simply Christian (1), it has burst through to the surface. 

(1) N.T. Wright, Simply Christian. (New York: HarperOne, 2006) pg 20