Weekend Update

Been braindead with a nasty cold all weekend so I didn’t post anything. But I picked up Wrath of the Lich King on Thursday night, got it installed and let it patch, and rolled my Death Knight on Thursday night. I haven’t had so much fun playing that game since vanilla WoW and Molten Core. The class is fun and versatile, but keeps you thinking while playing. I hit 70 quickly and went to Northrend and started looking around and I must say I’m very impressed with what Blizzard’s given us so far. The architecture is different than what we’ve seen so far, the environments seem more lifelike and interactive, and the feeling of a war being fought around you is strong – NPC characters are engaged in combat everywhere you go. Even the usual “hack-n-slash” quests I’ve seen so far are improved by integration with other quests and good explanations – instead of the typical “go to a cave and kill 12 ogre warriors and 10 ogre mages” it becomes “raze the vrykul fortress and burn their barracks.” I’m really looking forward to trying out the new instances as well.

Also discovered this weekend the music of Zoe Keating, an avant cellist, and her One Cello x 16 project. It’s really quite interesting from a technology standpoint what she’s done with the real-time recording and layering when she plays live, but from a musical standpoint it’s simply beautiful music. I’ve found it to be very relaxing the last couple of days, and the absense of vocals keeps it from being a distraction if I have other things to do. If you’re not familiar with her work, I’d suggest checking out “Tetrishead” as a good representation (at least of what I have heard so far). She has several videos up on Youtube as well.

Also, my comment moderation system is having some issues right now, not sure what’s going on but hopefully they’ll be corrected soon. If your comment gets stuck in moderation land and you don’t see it appearing on the page after a few hours, blame WordPress and/or Akismet.

Values and Principles of Worship, revisited

There’s actually more to what we did, and what I believe, than what I put in that last post.  I’ve incorporated those ideas further into this outline, and rearranged some of the old ideas as well. Expanded thoughts are below the cut.

Purpose Statement:
Worship is form of expression and communication to God from believers. It is therefore personal and individualized while remaining solidly truthful and pleasing to God.

Three Principles For Worship:

  1. Worship should be truthful. (Rom 11:33-36, Ex 20:16)
    • Songs should be doctrinally and biblically sound.
    • Lyrical content should be valued over form, but with neither being devalued.
  2. Worship should be God-centered. (Col 3:17, Ps. 95:6, Rev 5:12)
    • Focus of songs should be on God.
      1. Songs should be unique to God’s character
      2. Songs should not focus on the singer or his response – they should be the response.
    • Songs should not be overly controversial, as only the Gospel should be a stumbling block.
  3. Worship should be a personal experience. (various Psalms)
    • Worshippers should feel comfortable to express worship in their own way.
      1. Worship leaders should allow for differing levels of physical response to worship.
    • Worship leaders should strive to provide a worship environment free of distraction.
      1. Songs should be familiar, or made familiar, to the worshippers.
      2. Musical style should be relevant and familiar to the worshippers.
      3. The leaders should be skilled in the role in which they serve.
      4. Worship leaders should not “perform” – it is not a concert.

Continue reading Values and Principles of Worship, revisited

Values and Principles of Worship

Purpose Statement:
Worship is form of expression and communication to God from believers. It is therefore personal and individualized while remaining solidly truthful and pleasing to God.

Four Principles For Worship:

  1. Worship should be God-centered. (Col 3:17, Ps. 95:6, Rev 5:12)
    1. Focus of songs should be on God.
  2. Worship should be truthful. (Rom 11:33-36, Ex 20:16)
    1. Songs should be doctrinally and biblically sound.
    2. Content should be valued over form, though neither can be devalued.
      1. We should avoid seeing a certain style as “better” than others.
      2. Song lyrics and content should be valued above the song’s musicality.
  3. Worship should be a personal experience. (various Psalms)
    1. Worshippers should feel comfortable to express worship in their own way.
    2. Songs should not be overly controversial, as only the Gospel should be a stumbling block.
  4. Worship leaders should strive to provide a worship environment free of distraction.
    1. Songs should be familiar, or made familiar, to the worshippers.
    2. The leaders should be skilled in the role in which they serve.
    3. Musical style should be relevant and familiar to the worshippers.

I wrote this three years ago, as a guideline for our worship team at my old church. I think it’s a rather concise statement of my beliefs on the nature of corporate worship. I thought I’d post it here as an example of what I believe on the subject, as well as to get feedback.

Bright spots

The Suns looked and played like champions tonight. Can they come back from a 0-3 start? It’s unlikely, but a guy can dream, right? Shaq, Bell, and Diaw all played  world-class basketball. It was fun to watch.

Been listening to a lot of different music lately, stuff that I haven’t listened to in a while. It’s been kind of a pick-me-up, just hearing some of that old, familiar music. Jars of Clay, David Crowder, Jennifer Knapp. Also on the more high-energy side, Sonata Arctica, Machinae Supremacy. Anyway, its good to keep variety in your playlist.

Also, I got to talk to Heathir for the first time in… a while. It was good getting to talk to her again, I’ve missed her.

I’ll hopefully be posting a new study in the next day or two, after I get to talk to Brian. It’s been a kind of busy couple days, and I’m fighting off an irritating cold, so I haven’t been writing much. See you all soon.