Selective reading! We read verses to support the points we want to make, to reinforce what we already know or what we want to teach. We do not read carefully and openly. We are often too focused and too little aware. There are aspects of well-known verses that we overlook. The early church spent time …
Category Archives: Worship
It’s Sunday Again: Reflections from Honduras
I awoke early this Sunday morning to the sound of the birds singing. They were doing what they do every morning. They depend on God who supplies their needs and sustains them, but they don’t know it’s Sunday. As the dawn brightened, the dogs started barking as they do every morning. They don’t know it’s …
Continue reading “It’s Sunday Again: Reflections from Honduras”
It’s Sunday Again: Sitting Where You Sit
Today I will sit where most churchgoers sit. I will sing and pray, I will listen and contemplate what God wants to communicate to his assembled people on this day–mediated through the study and insights of another member of the faith community. My public involvement is that I have been asked to guide the thoughts …
Making Announcements
Most of the time, there is a lot of room for improvement in the way announcements are done. Announcements are often done poorly down at the church (and in other places!). Announcements, especially at the end of an assembly or meeting, are not the time to say hello and greet people, not the time to …
It’s Sunday Again: Praise
An amazing thing has occurred–in the discussion of biblical concepts and ideas, the church has come down in many places against praise! We make fun of praise songs. We make fun of repeated choruses (despite the repetition of the Psalms, for example Psalm 136). One brother spoke of “7-11” songs–seven words eleven times. Such does …
A Cool Sunday Morning in Honduras
Today is the combined worship service that follows the seminario. Guests who were present for seminario but have not yet begun the journey home, along with members of many of the Tegucigalpa area churches, will assemble on the Baxter campus to worship–perhaps as many as 700-800 Christians. The singing is always superb, the prayers heart-felt, …
Worship: Part of my Spiritual discipline
Both Christians and those who are not Christians want to know the answer to the question: How can I experience the transforming power of God? A common answer involves corporate worship. A Barna survey from a few years ago suggested that 47% of churchgoers understand worship as an activity undertaken for personal benefit. The average …
Mexico: Reporting In
[It’s good to be back in the States after 6 days in Mexico. I didn’t have any opportunities to blog, or even to check emails during the whirlwind trip. I’m in the States for 10 days now before I leave for Ecuador, and I’ll try to make up for lost time!] After putting in print …
Freedom in Christ
Yesterday was a special day in the spiritual life of the church where I worship. Our goal for our assembly was reflected in our theme: “Gripped by Worship”. We sought to see God and were overwhelmed by his majesty and greatness. We thought about our own weaknesses and inadequacies and were saddened, yet willing to recommit as living …