Author Archives: Jim
We’ve Come to Worship, but Will We Worship God or Ourselves?
Dan Lucarini’s, in his book Why I Left the Christian Contemporary Music Movement, has some thought-provoking and counter-cultural takes on contemporary worship. One that gets right to the heart of the issue is this one:
“When we try to feel an experience of affirmation from worship, we are not worshiping God. We are worshiping our own egos.” (pp. 56-57)
In other words, when we come to “worship”, if our goal is to get some type of positive experience out of it for ourselves, we are not really coming for Him. In essence, we are “worshipping” our own egos. If our motivation in coming to worship is for what we will get out of it, then we are worshiping. We are just worshipping ourselves, and not the Savior.
Whoa there fella, that is a huge statement. Practically everyone I have ever served on a worship team with or led, Read the rest of this entry
Worship Leading Gone Wild: What Can Happen When Worship Becomes A Song…..
Sometimes the truth contained in satire can pierce like a sword. The scene this video portrays about worship leading gone bad is one of those times. After I stopped laughing, I began to ache. This is how things truly are in some circles. In many churches that I have visited over the past 3 years, it seems that simply getting people to sing is the goal. It doesn’t matter what we actually sing about, Read the rest of this entry
Does Worship Really Need To Be Exciting?
Over here at Not For Itching Ears, we don’t often repost what others have written. Today is an exception. Andrew, over at The Reformed Reader, wrote an excellent article called “Does Worship Really Need To Be Exciting?” I wanted our readers to get the opportunity to consider that very question. I have included an excerpt of Andrew’s post along with a link back to the entire post. And now, our featured presentation:
“I’ve been reading through Kevin Roose’s book The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University. If you have an interest in learning about evangelicalism and fundamentalism, this book, written by a Brown University student who enrolled at Liberty University for a semester, is a great volume to read. Informed by George Marsden’s more historical Fundamentalism and American Culture, this is a fun and witty memoir of someone who decided to “act the part” of a Christian fundamentalist for a semester.
I was especially struck by Roose’s contrast between the simple, Quaker worship meetings of his youth and the contemporary worship at a local megachurch. He writes:
You can see why I didn’t go to [Quaker worship] meeting[s] much. As a kid groomed on cartoons and video games and Little League, an hour of motionless silence was excruciating. At Thomas Road, on the other hand, there’s almost too much stimulation. The stage lights, the one hundred-decibel praise songs, the bright purple choir robes, the tempestuous bellowing of Dr. Falwell – it’s an hour-long assault on the senses. And all you have to do is sit back in your plush, reclining seat, latte and cranberry scone in hand, and take it all in. It’s Church Lite – entertaining but unsubstantial, the religious equivalent of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. And once the novelty wears off, once the music becomes familiar and the motions of praise become pro forma and mechanized, you start to realize that all the technological glitz and material extravagance doesn’t necessarily add up to a spiritual experience. [emphasis added]
Today, from my perch in the Thomas Road choir loft, my mind wandered back to the little brown house with stone steps. I think I’d appreciate the minimalist Quaker worship more now than I did as a kid. It didn’t have Jumbotron screens or a five thousand-watt sound system or a cafe in….” To read the rest of this great post, follow the link below.
http://reformedreader.wordpress.com/2011/08/27/does-worship-really-need-to-be-exciting/
“Evangelical Christianity Can BEST be described as…………” Take our Poll and tell the World
How would you best describe Evangelical Christianity? We have assembled some of the most common descriptions of EC in our poll. Taking the poll is easy. You can choose more than one answer, so feel free to combine answers. You can not add your own description to the poll, but you can leave comments. We intend to Read the rest of this entry
This Worship Service is About……..YOU baby!
Regular readers of this blog should be familiar with my view of today’s “worship” “service.” In a nutshell, I think many good-hearted and well-meaning leaders have taken the church down the wrong road. I have written on it extensively in articles like: Whatever Happened to the Message of Christianity?, Rethinking Contemporary Worship: Can We “Bring Him More Than a Song?”, George Barna: The Seeker-Sensitive Church Model: Dumbing Down Disciples , or Does God Give Us Freedom To Worship Him Anyway WE Want to? and many other posts. Today’s post is more of a satirical and humours look at the issue of the songs we are singing in church. What makes satire funny is that there is often a little truth in it. That’s why I find this re-wording of the famous Carly Simon song “You’re So Vain” so funny. There is a Read the rest of this entry
How Contemporary Christian Music and the Seeker-Sensitive Movements Failed a Generation
“It’s 1994, and Michael Stipe recently lost his religion. It’s before Bieber and bling, before ordering a latte required six qualifying adjectives. In coffeehouses across the country, bored teens slouch on thrift-store couches nodding along to the Cranberries’ “Zombie.” Weezer breaks into the alt-rock scene with the Blue Album; Green Day tops the charts with the first punk rock song to whine about a lousy therapist. In April, hordes of fans gather in Seattle Park to mourn the death of Kurt Cobain. A few months later, 350,000 people make the pilgrimage to Read the rest of this entry
Blasphemy! If You Want the Congregation to Worship More, Try Singing Less
Worship is fast becoming a topic we avoid at all costs. Much like discussing politics, discussing worship preferences and style, the should and should nots, the rights and wrongs, is not polite conversation. It can and has led to all out war. Challenge the status quo and you may have the same charges leveled against you that they leveled against Jesus: “Blasphemy…He is worthy of death!” Read the rest of this entry
Pray This 400 Year Old Prayer: “May I Live My Life To Honor You”
The following prayer was first offered back in the 1600′s. It is from the largely forgotten deposit of the Puritan Movement of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These people knew God and they certainly knew how to pray. We can learn a lot from them. They are written in old english. I have updated a few outdated words and changed the Thee’s and Thou’s to make it more 2011. However, they still have the feel of that era. This prayer, “A Disicples Renewal” along with many others, Read the rest of this entry
A Worship Song for the Hard Times: “As Long As You Are Glorified”
Does your worship service look more like a High School pep rally?
You remember those days, don’t you? The cheerleaders and the band would work us up into a frenzy, trying to fire us up for the Friday night game. Much of today’s corporate worship reminds me of those days. everything is so upbeat and wonderful. Week after week, upbeat and wonderful, life is one victory after another, aint it all great type of stuff. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not advocating that everything be the exact opposite.
However, sometimes we are living on the other side, aren’t we? Life is hard, you’ve lost a loved one, a job, your kids are making horrible choices, the doctor just gave you the bad news, your worried about the future, your __________________ (fill in the blank). Sometimes, as we gather with other believers, we are not feeling upbeat, wonderful or victorious. Those type of songs, don’t always help pull us out of that.
That is why I like this weeks song, “As Long As You Are Glorified”, by Mark Altrogge. It reminds us that God is control of all things, and that no matter what I am going through in my life, Read the rest of this entry
The Apostle Paul on the Contemporary Church: “Don’t Abandon The Gospel!”
Not for itching ears is a blog dedicated to discussing the serious issues that face the evangelical church. The main issue, as we see it, is that the church has grown perilously close to abandoning the Gospel. All around us we see churches relaxing their grip on it, in danger of fumbling it. In a recent message I delivered titled “Don’t Abandon the Gospel”, I took a look at what the Apostle Paul challenged the church of his day with. Based on 2 Timothy 4:1-8, it provides a clear remedy: Read the rest of this entry
Our Top 5 Most Read, Most Interesting and Most Debated Posts of the Year
It is hard to believe that August is fast approaching, and that 2011 is more than half in the tank already. We have had some very interesting debates and discussions here at Not For Itching Ears. In case you missed them (how is that even possible) I have posted their links here.
Our Top 5 Most Read, Most Interesting and Most Debated Posts of the Year…. Read the rest of this entry
Sometimes, You Just Need to add Ice and All Your Problems Vanish!
A friend of mine posted this photo of his dog on facebook, and I immediately connected with it! As it keeps getting hotter and hotter, this old boy seems to have the right answer! Look closely, I think he is sleeping!
I haven’t had time to write lately as I have been moving my family across the country! It is a lot of work, and it is quite time consuming. I should be back wrinting in August.
“Dad, you were right……” Happy Father’s Day!
“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” Charles Wadsworth.
Why didn’t they tell us THAT in parenting class!
Sunday Morning Funnies: Something else All Men Inherited from Adam. Happy Father’s Day!
If history is any indicator, then a sinful nature is not the only thing we inherited from Adam as this comic depicts.
Saturday Morning Funnies: Where Did All The Pastors Go?
The old school pastor seems to be a dying breed, as this comic strip suggests.
400 Year Old Prayer: “May I Live a Life Worthy of You”
The following prayer is from the largely forgotten deposit of the Puritan Movement of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It testifies to the richness and color of evangelical thought and language, as well as their devotion to the Savior. This prayer and others can be found in a book titled “The Valley of Vision”, by Arthur Bennet. I have included them in this blog so that others can use them in their own prayer life as a springboard to a more faithful walk with Jesus. These prayers are 300-400 years old! They were written in old English,but that should not get in the way if you don’t let it.
Need of Jesus
Lord Jesus,
I am blind, be my light,
ignorant, be my wisdom,
self-willed, be my mind
Open my ear to grasp quickly your Spirit’s voice,
and delightfully run after His beckoning hand;
Melt my conscience that no hardness remain,
make it alive to evil’s slightest touch;
When Satan approaches may I flee to your wounds,
and there cease to tremble at all alarms.
Be my good shepherd to lead me into green pastures of your Word,
and cause me to lie down beside the rivers of its comforts.
Fill me with peace, that no disquieting worldly gales may ruffle the calm surface of my soul.
Your cross was upraised to be my refuge,
Your blood streamed forth to wash me clean,
Your death occurred to give me a surety,
Your name is my property to save me,
By you all heaven is poured into my heart,
but it is too narrow to comprehend your love.
I was a stranger, an outcast, a slave, a rebel
but your cross has brought me near,
has softened my heart,
has made me your Father’s child,
has admitted me into your family,
has made me joint heir with yourself.
O that I may love you as you have loved me,
that I may walk worthy of you, my Lord,
that I may reflect the image of heaven’s first-born.
May I always see your beauty with the clear eye of faith,
and feel the power of your Spirit in my heart,
for unless he move mightily in me
no inward fire will be kindled.
For More of these old Prayers, visit our prayer page https://notforitchingears.com/prayer-of-the-week/400-year-old-prayers-1/
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