Church Music...

I found these questions to be very convicting and insightful...

- Do you get bored when someone reads a longish passage of Scripture in your church? Do you start wishing they’d get on with the music?

- Do you need music playing in the background for the reading of Scripture to affect your emotions?

- Does a prayer seem too “plain” or “stark” to you if it doesn’t have music playing behind it?

- Do you feel depressed a few weeks after a worship conference because you haven’t felt close to God in a long time?

- Do you desperately look forward to the next conference you’re going to attend because you know that, finally, you’ll be able to feel close to God again?

- If you’re in a big church with great music, are you able to worship when you visit your parents’ small rural church?

- Do you ever feel worshipful in the middle of the week, at work, at school, etc. just because of thinking about God and his grace? Or does that only happen when the music’s playing?

- Do you tend to feel closer to God when you’re alone with your iPOD than you do when you’re gathered with God’s people in your church?

- Do you feel like you just can’t connect with other believers who haven’t had the same “worship experiences” that you have? Can you only connect with other believers who “know what it feels like to really worship?”

- Is your sense of spiritual well-being based more on feeling close to God, or knowing that you are close to God because of Jesus Christ?

This was a part of a series of posts over on the 9Marks blog by Greg Gilbert. I would encourage you to read them (the first is here). There is some back and forth on the subject that is helpful in keeping a focus on God-centered worship, not on emotion or music centered worship.

The bottom line, I suppose, is that it would do every Christian well to do some honest heart-searching about what makes them feel “close to God.” Can you feel close to God just by reading or saying the words, “In Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”? Would you be able to function in a church that’s great in every way except the music? If not, you probably need to give some thought to whether your spiritual life is dependent on something it should not be dependent on.

Obama's Testimony

Mike Huckabee isn't the only Christian running for president. I've said to many people that I read Barack Obama's testimony, and I believed he had a genuine conversion.

This is a little snippet of it from his interview in Christianity Today.

"I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals,"
- Barack Obama, Christianity Today

Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ. I don't agree with them on several issues, however much of what they believe is orthodox Christianity. You can find out more about them here.

I think his comments about Jesus, which do show a bit of a liberal understanding of His work, are none the less something that should be more emphasized in Christianity generally. Helping those less well off is the work of the church, but sadly we have gone away from that, and allowed the government to do the churches job, to the detriment of all.

So... don't believe the rumor going around that Obama is a Muslim. And pray for him, pray that his journey of faith would lead him ever closer to Jesus.

Willow Creek Says, Oops...

This is VERY interesting... if you are involved in the evangelical church that is.

Willow Creek church, outside of Chicago, has done a study. The study found that their main practice for spiritual growth (church programs) was fundamentally flawed and didn't work!

This has ramifications for many churches (including my old church) that are in the "Willow Creek Association" which follows many of the practices Willow Creek employed.

The interesting thing is this... Bill Hybels, the Senior Pastor at Willow Creek, looked at the study, and said "We made a mistake."

That is the correct response! Humilty is SO needed in the evangelical world.

I pray they will correct the flaws, and lead other churches to do the same, and that we will really begin to see some major spiritual growth across the nation!

I found this on Between Two Worlds.