Layers

I had the honor of speaking at a camp out in Iowa earlier this summer. On the first night of the camp, a drama team performed a powerful skit where they painted a picture of Jesus on the cross. They left it displayed on a music stand next to the stage.

Being somewhat of a jerk, it took me all of 4 seconds to realize that I needed that music stand for my Bible and notes. So, I had a friend move the painting. Notice I didn’t actually move it myself. I’m not that much of a jerk. In my defense, I did ask him to keep it displayed in a prominent place. He gently placed it in the center of the platform, which was decorated with various road signs (ah, classic youth camp), where it stayed all week. It wasn’t until the very last night that I noticed he had set the painting right next to a sign that read ‘one way.’

Layers. While I was preaching my heart out all week long, another sermon was quietly telling a story behind me. I believe there are layers to our worship design that most people will never notice…including us. But they are there. Telling the story. Scripted by the Spirit, unseen but unmistakable.

Give it a Read Through

Team-- I am involved with Chris Tomlin's worship leader resourcing/equipping site called Worship Frequency. I write and moderate on a message board called "Worship Seminary." I haven't done anything there in a while and intend to re-start "classes" in the fall. I've been working this summer with Chad Brooks and Omar Al-Rikabi to prepare some you-tube formatted teaching segments. I am hoping some of you will be willing to join me in this work as "adjunct faculty members." ;-)

For now-- I want to ask you to read through the article printed below. It's one I will soon publish on this website. Let me know if it reads clearly and seems helpful to you. If you see how it may be strengthened please let me know in the comments section. I need you to read it asap as my deadline is approaching.


Psalming: Cultivating The Practice of Being Led in Worship
J. D. Walt

For the past several years I have been working alongside Chris Tomlin as he writes songs and leads not only worship but worship leaders. One thing I have observed about Chris and other good worship leaders is their own willingness to be led in worship. One of the key evidences of this is the way the Psalms find a home first in their hearts and only secondarily in their music. The Psalms give us a language with which to respond to God. It is, after all, the primary worship book of the Bible. Someone once said that of the 66 books of the Bible, 65 speak to us and one speaks for us. The Psalms provide a lexicon, both the grammar and syntax of the creative and redemptive capacities of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Several years back I wrote the short reflection below in response to Chris’s work and at the invitation of Matt Redman for one of his worship resources. As I read back through it, it seems as relevant as ever and so I offer it with significant revision here as a resource for you.

As I have written in other places, leading worship requires a different quality of vision. Leading worship requires a vision born of contemplation. My MacBook Pro dictionary widget defines contemplation as “the act of looking thoughtfully at something [or someone] for a long time.” [insertion mine] Two persons stand side by side gazing at a majestic mountain. To one, the mountain stands still and immovable, stretching into the heavens. The worship leader sees the mountain bowing down before God. The untrained eye sees an ordinary forest. The worship leader sees the trees of the field clapping their hands in glorious adulation. Part prophet and part pastor, noone trains us in this way of seeing like the Psalmist.

Worship leaders must constantly re-learn the art of being led in worship if they are to cultivate this imaginative capacity of seeing. One of the key practices is what I call Psalming. Psalming, in my experience, means inviting the Holy Spirit to utilize the Psalmist as a personal worship leader. The Psalms are filled with a quality of vision that has the capacity to train our imagination. A life immersed in the Psalms results in our learning to see through the eyes of faith. They don’t present us with truth, rather they both comfort and confront us with revelation. The Psalms literally lead us to recover a proper vision of God and an honest self-understanding, training our speech and even our melodies in the work of Spirited, truthful worship. Before the Psalms become a resource for leading worship or writing songs they must become our own house of prayer, the place where we are at home with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For purposes of this article, let’s take a look at Psalm 65, utilizing The Message translation, as a way of revealing how the Psalms work in this fashion.

1Silence is praise to you, Zion--dwelling God, And also obedience. 2You hear the prayer in it all.

This word is a crucial reminder to those who are accustomed to associating worship with sound. Silence is praise. Matt Redman has written a song inspired from another part of the biblical wisdom literature, Ecclesiastes, where we see this word, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” (5:2) Habakkuk exhorts us, "But oh! GOD is in his holy Temple! Quiet everyone--a holy silence. Listen!" (2:20, Message) The New Living Translation of the Bible, interprets the little word “Selah,” found throughout the Psalter, as a call to an interlude as part of worship. Perhaps Selah could imply silence. Silence in God’s presence gives room for the Holy Spirit to issue the call to worship, reminding us that authentic worship does not begin with us but with God.

Silence in the awareness of God’s presence becomes praise. But as the Psalmist repeatedly shows us, attention to God’s presence brings awareness of our condition. How much time do you spend every day in a posture of silence before the Lord? When is the last time you spent any significant time in quiet with God?

We all arrive at your doorstep sooner or later, loaded with guilt, 3Our sins too much for us--but you get rid of them once and for all.

The Psalms remind us, there is no substitute for physical posture in prayer. It’s perhaps an overstatement, but I increasingly believe that one’s prayer time will take on the character and shape of one’s physical posture. Often, in our worship at the seminary, we begin by calling everyone to find a posture of reverent submission before God. With many kneeling on the floor, others prostrate in the aisles and still others standing-arms outstretched, we simply worship together for a time in complete silence. This silence invariably leads to both spoken and silent confession. One cannot encounter the presence of God long before remembering they are the dust of the Earth. Physical posture prepares the way for confession and confession prepares the way for the Lord, opening up portals of redemption and vistas of sight. But here lies a pitfall for worshippers. The key to this worship act is confession, not magnification of sin. To confess is to agree with God about what is true, not to wallow in a sea of inescapable depravity. Modern Christianity has made much of the doctrine of the Fall of humanity and little of the doctrine of Creation. Be reminded worshippers: the original state of creation is blessing and wonder not sin and curse. The Psalmist leads us through our sin that we might behold God in the holy habitat of redeemed Creation, both cosmically and personally. This movement is everywhere in Scripture. Consider how the writer to the Hebrews frames it,

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 12:1-2

Hebrews 12 exhorts us with a call to worship on the heels of the prior chapter which unfolds a stunning, storied panorama of revelation. I will write more on this in a future essay. For now, we must finish the present race.

4Blessed are the chosen! Blessed the guest at home in your place!
We expect our fill of good things in your house, your heavenly manse.
5All your salvation wonders are on display in your trophy room.
Earth-Tamer, Ocean-Pourer, 6Mountain--Maker, Hill-Dresser,
7Muzzler of sea storm and wave crash, of mobs in noisy riot--
8Far and wide they'll come to a stop, they'll stare in awe, in wonder.
Dawn and dusk take turns calling, "Come and worship."

The Psalmist leads us to cultivate the practice of wonder. Leading worship requires a holy imagination. The late Rich Mullins captures it as he sings, “And everywhere I go I see you.” Beginning with Israel and continuing in the Church, our God is shaping a people whose every-day reality is defined by His presence. The late poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning puts it this way, “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; and only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.” One who leads in worship needs a sacramental quality about their vision and imagination. I think of it as the ability to see the big in the small. Think of the Lord’s Supper. In a tiny morsel of bread and a sip of wine we see the Son of God lifted up on the cross for the entire World. Though I don’t subscribe to a Roman Catholic theology of the Lord’s Supper, I much appreciate John Paul II’s encouragement that we must “rekindle Eucharistic amazement.” The Psalms form a school for worship leaders, opening the eyes of our heart to see God alive and at work all over the place.

9Oh, visit the earth, ask her to join the dance!
Deck her out in spring showers, fill the God--River with living water.
Paint the wheat fields golden.
Creation was made for this!
10Drench the plowed fields, soak the dirt clods
With rainfall as harrow and rake bring her to blossom and fruit.
11Snow-crown the peaks with splendor, scatter rose petals down your paths,
12All through the wild meadows, rose petals.
Set the hills to dancing, 13Dress the canyon walls with live sheep,
a drape of flax across the valleys.
Let them shout, and shout, and shout!
Oh, oh, let them sing!

Let us learn to see the Psalmist as our personal worship leader, one who has traveled the path and knows the terrain. May we recover a life-giving practice of being led in worship, re-learning the art of confession and contemplation. The Psalms journey us from silence to submission through sin to seeing, where worship becomes an artistic response of radical amazement.

John David (J.D.) Walt, Jr.

Do We Really 'Want' Community?

It seems like every book you read, or come across, has the word community. I have heard many folks, including pastors and church leaders even use communal lingo…“We long for community”, “how do we become a true community of believers”, and so forth. Interestingly, many local churches are identified by the word community: “Community Baptist Church”, “Christ Community”, etc.
Now, it is without argument that many Christians long for relationships and a sense of belonging, however, when we use the word community, do we really mean ‘community’?
Do we realize that with true community comes authenticity, truth-telling, confession, discipline, obedience, self-less giving, and so forth?

Henri Nowen states that:
“The Christian community is a community which not only creates a sense of belonging but also a sense of estrangement. In the Christian community we say to each other, ‘We are together, but we cannot fulfill each other…we help each other, but we also have to remind each other that our destiny is beyond our togetherness…
The basis of the Christian community is not the family tie, or social or economic equality, or share oppressions or complaint, or mutual attraction, but the divine call...Therefore, as the people of God, we are called ekklesia (Greek--kaleo=call and ek=out), the community called out of the old world into the new…
Wherever true community presents itself, discipline is crucial…Community thus is obedience practiced together…
So, where does God lead us as a people? This question requires that we pay careful attention to God’s guidance in our life together, and that together we search for a creative response.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer echoes Henri Nowen, and even suggests that:
“Christian community means community through and in Jesus Christ…The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is vital between us.”

So, what do you think?
1. Do you agree with Nowen’s and Bonhoeffer’s assessment of ‘community’?

2. How does their assessment of community impact the way we approach the WDT?

3. In what ways does this influence how we design Chapel and other venues for the ATS ‘community’?

WDT T-Shirt Contest: Urgent Deadline July 31st

Guess what, y'all?

...free sandwiches?

...rides on a go-cart?

NO! We're having a WDT T-Shirt Contest. The t-shirt concept with the best "team-theme" related to worship design and us is the winner.

Deadline: July 31st. You have plenty of time to think up a design. The thinking part will take you about 5 minutes. The application, maybe 5 more minutes. The payoff? An awesome shirt and the joy of a creative endeavor.

How to submit: Post your design either as a comment to this post OR as your own post.

THE CATCH: You have to submit an entry. Am I being mean? No, this will make it all more fun. Trust me.

Example entries:

(1) I want the WD-T-shirt to be pink with daisies in the shape of a cross with WDT 07-08 in silver iron-on letters.
(2) White v-neck Hanes t-shirts with grape-juice and anointing oil stains showing our fervor for the Eucharist. AND "WDT 07-08" on the front.

See, this is fun and easy, but make it something good, b/c we have to wear it. At the end we'll vote. You can submit a pic if you want.

Here's my official entry:

Front: Levite Camp 2007, ATS Worship Design Team with this AWESOME PIC

Back: A name of your choice, first name, last name or nickname, with your team number, also of your choice

e.g, Fleming
2

See, like a real team :). Good times, and let's get those entries flowing.

Questions for this year

When I came to Asbury, I had two questions that I wrestled with fairly often. What is holiness? santification?

Now, I have another: What is "good" worship?

The latter question has been a great topic to explore while I've been on WDT.

What are your big questions for this year? What would you like to learn during your internship?

Worship in the Seminary Community

"Thinking about the future of Christian leadership, I am convinced that it needs to be a theological leadership. For this to come about, much--very much--has to happen in seminaries and divinity schcools." --Henri Nouwen

Note: Let's have this be a fun, no-pressure blog, i.e. this is not a grade, and no, I won't correct your grammar ;).


What does it mean that we Asburians are a theological seminary who worship together? We come to seminary to prepare for ministry, to learn from the Lord and about the Lord. Classes, relationships, worship, and service all play a part in the spiritual formation that occurs? In this context, what does it meant to be a worshiping body?

Henri Nouwen gave a lecture concerning Christian leadership that is published as the book In the Name of Jesus. He writes about theological thinking and theological education being what the church needs now.

He writes, "What, then, is the discipline required of a leader who can live with outstretched hands? I propose here the discipline of strenuous theological reflection. Just as prayer keeps us connected with the first love and just as confession and forgiveness keep our ministry communal and mutual, so strenuous theological reflection will allow us to discern critically where we are being led."

I'd like to point out that our blog is a great place for "strenuous theological reflection" that doesn't have to be stuffy or impractical. I recommend this short book. What Nouwen writes about prayer, confession, and forgiveness is absolutely necesary, so we miss that part of his argument.

Nouwen continues, "Few ministers and priests think theologically....Most Christian leaders today raise psychological or sociological questions even though they frame them in scriptural terms. Real theological thinking, which is thinking with the mind of Christ, is hard to find in the practice of the ministry. They will think of themselves as enablers, facilitators, role models father or mother figures...but that has little to do with Christian leadership because the Christian leader thinks, speaks, and acts in the name of Jesus, who came to free humanity from the power of death and open the way to eternal life....The task of future Christian leaders is not to make a little contribution to the solution of the pains and tribulations of their time, but to identify and announce the ways in which Jesus is leading God's people out of slavery, through the desert into a new land of freedom."

Nouwen applies these thoughts to seminaries and divinity schools,
"Thinking about the future of Christian leadership, I am convinced that it needs to be a theological leadership. For this to come about, much--very much--has to happen in seminaries and divinity schools. They have to become centers where people are trained in true discernment of the signs of the time. This cannot be just an intellectual training. It requires a deep spiritual formation involving the whole person--body, mind, and heart. I think we are only half aware of how secular even theological schools have become. Formation in the mind of Christ, who did not cling to power but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, is not what most seminaries are about. Everything in our competitive and ambitious world militates against it. But to the degree that such formation is being sought for and realized, there is hope for the Church of the next century.

Nouwen has a great point. We can easily put aside the things of God for our own ambitions. It is important to ask the Lord to show us where we do that in our own lives. I do think ATS is one of the rare institutions that is characterized by spiritual formation. I like that he said "body, mind, and heart."

So, what does this mean for worship? You tell me :).

You guys are going to love this. . . . . .

By now, you should have received our Worship Design Team Summer Reader. This fantastic collection of articles and essays captures the conversation we are attempting to incarnate through our worship design work. I know you may be a bit fatigued in the reading department--- but I promise---- this is stuff you want to read. Please engage with it and lets enage on the ideas through this venue.

Some Guidance for our Summer Worship Design Reader (i.e. Rules of Engagement)

1. Think of this reader as an artists palate for worship design. There are three primary colors: red, yellow and blue—Story, Trinity, World. It’s not paint by numbers. The articles will cross the boundaries of the subject headings. It’s going to be a messy read. Colors are going to get mixed up and blended, but that’s the point. Don’t feel like you have to read this in order. In fact, if you don't connect with an article within the first two hours of reading-- skip to another. ;-)

2. Read with a highlighter and a pen. Mark it up. Engage it. Write in the margins. Often in reading something your mind is stirred to make other connections. Capture those immediately by writing them down. It will be useful in coming back to it later.

3. Blog some of your more developed thoughts. Start your own blog and use it as space to work out some of your less developed ones. Tell us the web address and we’ll have fun getting involved with you in this way. Try www.blogspot.com It’s free and can be done in 3 quick steps. We in the Chapel office are a “blogging” culture—which is to say we look for every possible way to grow meaningful relationships. You can see those of us who have blogs by looking at www.asburyblog.net year.

4. Immerse yourself in the Story of Scripture this summer. This is the primary text. Ask the Spirit to take what may have become a “work-place” and make it a home for you again. Camp out in our Hebrews 11 project-- day and night.

5. Spend time in prayer for one another, for the seminary community and for our worship work in the coming school year. As Paul says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (eph 6:18) Don’t you love the freedom Paul inspires with respect to prayer here!

6. Enjoy God this summer. Get lost in His love and remember that the more you enjoy Him—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—the more He enjoys you. Is that true? It sounded good. Give it a think and a try.

Now-- go back to the prior post on the "Lewis Admonition" and get involved in the conversation.