"For us let it be enough to know ourselves to be in the place where God wants us, and carry on our work, even though it be no more than the work of an ant, infinitesimally small, and with unforeseeable results."
-- Abbé Monchanin

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Quote for the Day


"The final secret, I think, is this: that the words 'You shall love the Lord your God' become in the end less a command than a promise. And the promise is that, yes, on the weary feet of faith and the fragile wings of hope, we will come to love him at last as from the first he has loved us--loved us even in the wilderness, especially in the wilderness, because he has been in the wilderness with us. He has been in the wilderness for us. He has been acquainted with our grief. And loving him, we will come at last to love each other too so that, in the end, the name taped on every door will be the name of the one we love."

--Frederick Buechner
Listening to Your Life (this passage from A Room Called Remember)

Sunday, June 17, 2007

More Worship Thoughts - HBA CEW 2005

This is a video I made of Christian Emphasis Week at Hawaii Baptist Academy in 2005. The theme that year was tied to the cell phone ads popular at the time where a guy walks around asking, "Can you hear me now?" The idea was to get students to listen for God.

As I observed the programme and students, I wondered if God could be heard above the noise of the "worship services." I also wondered how many people were aware of the voice of God speaking through the service ministries that were part of the week. How many thought to listen for God during the free time between scheduled events?

This video was my effort to stimulate an evaluation of the week.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Me Worship



Continuing the theme of selfish "worship" is this video from the same YouTuber as the Me Church video.

When we make worship into entertainment, can we expect anything else?

All of this brings us back to the questions:

"What is worship?"

"Why worship?"

"What is the church?"

"Why belong to a church?"

Friday, June 15, 2007

Me Church

Unfortunately, this "parody" isn't a parody. If reflects what many churches have become in order to attract crowds. We've gotten Romans 12:2 backward and have conformed to the world rather than having our minds (and values) transformed.

Thanks to the YouTubers who made this video.