God is Not Chump Change

Okay, so I am pumped after a week off. It was a great time of rest and rejuvenation. I am feeling closer to communities and I am enjoying life with other members of the body of Christ. Which brings me yet again, to another observation point. In these chapters that I read, there is a lot to do with signs or symbols. Also, just the way we do worship represents things of the past, or remembrance of something. It is really important to me that I take these things seriously.

So simply put in this chapter is the fact that, in worship we: as the body of Christ, are summing-up the Christ event in our worship. We do this by centering worship around Christ, coming together as the bride of Christ, and we are looking forward to Christ's return. Now, how often does that specifically come up in my worship? Let me answer for myself...      not often. I think my worship is just a little bit out of sync with this. Yes, it is easy to get distracted in worship, but not to focus on Christ as the center, or looking forward to Christ's ultimate return, or recognizing the body as the hands and feet of Jesus is just wrong. I feel ashamed to say this, but I am not going through those motions. I know I am not alone in this either.

If we tune ourselves to God's will he will initiate our worship and guide us through that process. If we focus on our emotions, or the music, or life, we will short-change God and we will just worship our flesh. Their can only be one who we worship. One is the answer. Don't sell your relationship with God short.

Another thing that I have to work on is just expressing myself in worship. In the book it talked about the importance of signs in worship. We raise our hands in worship, we bow, we kneel, we sit, and stand. Why are these things important? It in itself isn't important. It is all about that act signifying something else. The Eucharist isn't just a small snack at the end of a service. There is rich meaning in all these signs. For me, I need to focus on what these signs more in worship. If we can truly remember the significance of these things God will be praised.

I think it is very important to not just go through the motions when it comes to worshipping God. I am just as guilty as the next person. So lets give it our all in worship. Let's remember the importance of Christ and what he has done for us. He deserves our praise.

Matt Brown

Early Church Community

Kairos moment for me in this week is about a community. God is teaching me about community through the actions of the early church. The bond of the community was so strong back then. They were willing to face persecution and they met in private homes. This is such a huge risk. They basically risked their lives to worship God. This model of a church community is something that I admire. 

I like how the Early Church gathered for an agape meal as well. They were willing to spend time with each other in fellowship. I want to be a part of a community that is like that; investing in each other, and enjoying company of other people. A body that has many talents, but unites as the bride of Christ. 

This week I am just realizing the importance of community in churches. In my life the most evident community is that of my school. I am there 5 days a week. I want to see that community thrive. It is a body of young people united in the purposes of learning to be better studiers of music and better followers of Christ. I see a good community there. But I invision a greater community. 

So all this talk on community is just a little random, and not too cohesive, but let me elaborate more on my personal observations. I observe that I am investing in my school community as much as I think I should (I am self-critical about this). I also observe that I am not deeply rooted in a church community at this present time. I know both of those  things are not good. I believe God is trying to teach me more about community and I am willing to listen. 

Matt

Covenant and Worship

In reading Chapter 1 and 2 of the book Worship Old and New by Robert Webber, God was speaking to me throughout the chapters. Specifically in the nature of covenant. It may just be that I have been reading many other things on covenants, but I really like what Webber has arranged in this book on worship.

Covenant's are essentially an agreement between two parties. Okay, that sounds nice. It has a legal feel to it. Well, what if we go deeper. Covenant's establish relationships. Both parties, or people agree to something and this forms a covenant relationship between them. Now we have something that I can relate to. We have a relationship with God. Good, now that we already know and understand that let's move further.

Israel had a covenant with God. They assembled at the foot of Mt. Sinai and established a covenant with God.  Moving on from that point in the story, I find an interesting thing when it came to Israel and covenant worship. Israel maintained their identity as the people of God and their relationship to God by worshipping Him. They maintained their covenant relationship with God by worshipping Him. That in itself was a kairos moment for me. That means I maintain my relationship with God in my worship to Him. This has a downside for me, the church and Israel. When we forget our covenant and worship idols, we forfeit our worship to God. It is lost just as we are when we forget who God is.  But we can renew our relationship and our worship will once again be new.

We will continue to fail, because of our sinful nature. We can not maintain a covenant relationship with God. Jesus came to do what we could not do. He made a way to establish that covenant between us and God. No man could do that. It is only through Christ that we can live.

Lastly I want to touch on another thing that this chapter has taught me. God initiates our worship. And then we respond to it. I always seem to forget that response portion of worship. It goes hand in hand. We respond by remembering, anticipating, celebrating, and serving.

Matt

Steiger

Okay so this post will be different than most of the other posts I write. This week was lecture series. During lecture series, they normally bring guests in to tell us about their ministry or something of that sort. This year (as well as the last two years), David Pierce came to the college to tell us about his ministry, Steiger International. David has a great story about how he has gone into dark areas to spread the gospel. He has started a band called No Longer Music and they put on a show in "Heavy Metal" and "Death Metal" shows all over the world. At the end of the show they present the gospel and invite anyone who would like to receive Jesus, to come forward. This is great and awesome.

David, can seem a little unorthodox because of his appearance and his commitment to ministry. He came to the school and had recruitment in mind, throughout the entire series. That isn't a bad thing. I could easily start on a soap box about how I am not a big fan of what he is doing. I believe that we need people like David though. It isn't my ideal ministry, but I believe it is his. God is doing great things through him and his entire team. I think he is so fussy about recruitment, because he has to be. If you are called to this ministry it needs to be a full commitment. You can't just waltz into Amsterdam and start preaching the gospel unless you are prepared for it.

So to wrap this thing up. I think David is a great tool that God is using. Does it look pretty, no. But, I don't think that doing the work of the kingdom is supposed to look a certain way. We can judge all we want, but it is not up to us to judge. So lets support him as he pursues God.

Matt Brown

Writing Songs

Well it has been a little while since I have last posted in this blog. Now is the time to get back to it. Songwriting was the topic in class this week. Songwriting is one thing that I am not particular thrilled about. Don't get me wrong, I think some people are just blessed with creativity and passion for songwriting. I am not. The thing is, as worshipers of God, we are called to sing a new song unto the Lord.

I could enlighten you with some tips that I learned in class about writing worship songs, but I choose not to. I can tell you from experience that songwriting is tricky. Here are a few things that I learned from my personal experience.

     1. Listen to the song played back a few times. Sometimes just listening to it you can hear if   something is working or not. 
     2. Let other people listen to the song and listen to the input that they give you. If other people don't like your song, chances are, it needs work. Not saying it's a bad song, just saying to put some more time into it. 
     3. Don't fall in love with your first draft of the song. Just know that you are going to change it a few times. Most songs aren't fully written in one day. Take some time to work on the song a bit. 
     4. Don' be afraid to ask people for help. Their are plenty of people more talented that can help you and inspire you.

Those are just a few tips that have helped me. The biggest thing to remember is that we write songs to glorify God, because He is worthy of our songs. He is the object of our affection. So pursue Christ and write songs that will glorify Him.

Matt Brown

Carpe diem

Carpe diem -Seize the day! This motto has been engraved into me ever since I saw the movie Dead Poets Society. If I might add it is a wonderful movie. It was first said by the Roman poet Horace. It is a great model for people to live their lives. Make the most out of every opportunity that comes your way. I admit that some days I live by this and other days I do not. Some people are better at this than others. This phrase does get old though. What if we divided the day into sections and instead of saying ,"seize the day" we said, "seize the moment." This small change is pivotal and will make a huge difference in your life

 In Greek there are two words used for time. One is kronos. Kronos refers to our chronological time frame. One day is 24 hours, one hour is 60 minutes, and one minute is 60 seconds... You get the point. The second word used for time is kairos. Kairos refers to God's timing and things in kairos time are much more weighted on the content of the moments. For example, if you have to give a presentation or speech, and you are not prepared for it, five minutes can seem like an eternity. But what about the five minutes leading up to that presentation? They fly by a little too fast and seem like seconds. This is kairos. Some moments mean more and have a lasting effect on you. God works in this time frame.

We need to be longing for kairos moments with God. If we listen to the Holy Spirit he can make this happen. God is constantly speaking and we are usually off in chronologicaLand not listening. I can tell you from experience that if we stop listening long enough, God will shake things up. And, when God shakes things up you will be on your knees listening. I don't mean that like God is my big brother and if you pick on me long enough he is going to take you outside and whoop your rear. I mean that like when God speaks you realize how Holy He is and how small you are compared to His Holiness.

          Let me tell you a little story of one of these moments in my life. This is probably the biggest one thus far in my life. Setting -I was working as a mechanic for a small city. The job paid really well for a 19 year old. It was a union job and I was making bank! Some other things to point out is that I was leading worship at a small church and dating a girl for about 6 months. So to put it in the terms of a 19 year old I was living the dream. Can you just guess what the focal point of my dream was? Myself. I was living life, looking to better myself.

          Without notice everything was ripped right out of my hands. I was laid off from my job. I thought it was a joke, but it wasn't. In the following two weeks I had so many realizations of who I have become. God shook me and I was listening. God showed me glimpses of who He is. This was only the beginning of a transitional point in my life. I lost my job on Friday and by Sunday I spoke (more like wept) in front of the entire congregation. I told them that I wasn't worth leading them into a time of worship. I need to be an example, and I was more like an example of what not to do. The following year I did a lot of listening to God and made big changes in my life. I broke up with my girlfriend and had enrolled in college. That specific year in my life I lived moment to moment and each moment God showed up and showed me more of who He is. In those moments we realize who we really are and if we want to live by God's standards we will make a change.

That was the biggest transition of my life but it was only a year. What was different about it? It was a year that I decided to listen to God. I decided that this life isn't my own and that my decisions need to be aligned with God's vision.

These kairos moments can be big like my year long journey or they can be small moments. The most important thing about them is that we will listen to God and make changes. If we hear God and don't change we will just harden our heart. We need to live for those moments that we encounter God. You will know you've made the right choice when the goal isn't about you. It's all about God and about His people. Don't harden your heart and be selfish. Life to serve God and serve His people!

Matt Brown

There's a time for daring and there's a time for caution, and a wise man understands which is called for. -John Keating

My thoughts exactly

Okay so in class we went over how a soundboard is operated and its function. Now that that boring part is out of the way let me get to something far more interesting.

Let me highlight on a few things about the status of my week. It has been a lazy week for me. That has its good parts and bad. I've been reading every so often in my spare time. I believe that reading is great and that we need to consistently be inspired by books, or movies, or art, or anything that is beautiful. I loved getting inspired. I see the beauty of God speaking through so many of these things. For example it is raining now and as much as I personally hate the rain, it is God giving us life through it. Things get greener, and life is breathed through the rain. So I will sit on my back porch and thank God for giving us life and the rain. 

One of the books that I am thoroughly enjoying is called The Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. The Wild Goose comes from an ancient Celtic word An Geadh-Glas. This is the same word that the Celtic Christians called the Holy Spirit. It sounds sacrilegious calling the Holy Spirit a wild goose, but it kinda makes sense. Its dangerous and unpredictable, it has a mystery an a sense of uncertainty.  This is what chasing the Holy Spirit is. It's not so much as us following the Holy Spirit we need to be chasing Him. That is a real wild goose chase.
         

The Sea of Galilee

 Something I really took away from this book is that God will challenge our assumptions. We try to prove everything and assume we understand what God is doing, or what the world is doing. We can't. God wasn't created in our image was he? No, we were created in His image. We can't fully understand what His plans are. How about I throw a good story in here. A leading oceanographer says in the last few millenniums their has been weird atmospheric phenomenons causing the Sea of Galilee to form floating ice chunks. This may happen once every thousand years. This is how he believes that Jesus walked on water. I believe that Jesus waled on water because that is what the bible says happened. Also I think it would be equally impressive to see Jesus surfing on an ice chink in the storm. This is just one way we try to understand God. God is omniscient. We must not try to put an understanding on who He is. We can't prove everything. Sometimes the only way to prove something is to deem it a miracle.

I'm sure I will give you another great book review possibly in another post. I don't just read one book at a time. There is several.

Be inspired and look for God in everything. He is there.

Matt Brown