I find myself at a spot in time when I'm reading quite a bit of E. Stanley Jones and I came across this in my daily reading yesterday.
"The Holy Spirit came upon the waiting group not in the Temple nor in a synagogue but in the upper room. And the upper room was a home (Acts 1:13-14). The Holy Spriti came upon them when they were in the most common place-a place where we all live-a home. Under that apparently insignificant fact lies a deep significance. It was an amazing emancipation for religion. For up to this time religion had been associated with sacred places...Now the center of gravity in religion shifterd from services to service....Religion was put where it belongs-the human heart....Holy persons gathered together make a holy place, not the other way around. This coming of the Holy Spirit on persons, rather than on places, was one of the most important happenings in history. It took religion out of the magical and put it in the moral. And in doing so universalized it. And further it saved the Temple. For the Temple was no longer the center-the persons in the Temple were. As such the Temple could be used."
From Mastery by E. Stanley Jones
Is what we are looking at - X-ile, a way that God might begin to save the Temple of the Modern era, Church with a big C?
I'm looking forward to catching up with you all next week!
Dana
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
More thoughts on worship
Tonight's meeting was a bit quicker than they have been normally and attendance was low, but it allowed us to get to know each other better. The discussion was much more relational than theological. It's all part of what we need anyway.
Sometimes it is very illuminating to read and search the Bible using different translations from time to time. Your mind's eye catches something you haven't seen before. That happened to me as I was looking for more passages on worship this week. I searched "The Message" and found this in 1 Corinthians 14:24-33.
"24 But if some unbelieving outsiders walk in on a service where people are speaking out God's truth, the plain words will bring them up against the truth 25 and probe their hearts. Before you know it, they're going to be on their faces before God, recognizing that God is among you.
26 So here's what I want you to do. When you gather for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an insight. 27 If prayers are offered in tongues, two or three's the limit, and then only if someone is present who can interpret what you're saying. 28 Otherwise, keep it between God and yourself. 29 And no more than two or three speakers at a meeting, with the rest of you listening and taking it to heart. 30 Take your turn, no one person taking over. 31 Then each speaker gets a chance to say something special from God, and you all learn from each other. 32 If you choose to speak, you're also responsible for how and when you speak. 33 When we worship the right way, God doesn't stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches - no exceptions. "
Paul offers some pretty clear instructions to the Jesus followers in Corinth and beyond.
+ Be plain in speech so that visitors will be able to fathom what you're saying.
+ All the followers should come with something to contribute in worship.
+ Don't let anyone hog the meeting time.
+ No speaking or praying in tongues without one who can interpret for the group.
+ The choice of whether you speak and what you say and how you say it is your responsibility.
+ Worship should bring harmony not confusion.
The mainline churches are mostly used to having a small group of people who handle the details of worship. What Paul is suggesting here would be a radical decentralization of the process and a radical reliance upon the Holy Spirit to provide the spiritual food for worship.
It makes me hungry. Any thoughts?
Sometimes it is very illuminating to read and search the Bible using different translations from time to time. Your mind's eye catches something you haven't seen before. That happened to me as I was looking for more passages on worship this week. I searched "The Message" and found this in 1 Corinthians 14:24-33.
"24 But if some unbelieving outsiders walk in on a service where people are speaking out God's truth, the plain words will bring them up against the truth 25 and probe their hearts. Before you know it, they're going to be on their faces before God, recognizing that God is among you.
26 So here's what I want you to do. When you gather for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an insight. 27 If prayers are offered in tongues, two or three's the limit, and then only if someone is present who can interpret what you're saying. 28 Otherwise, keep it between God and yourself. 29 And no more than two or three speakers at a meeting, with the rest of you listening and taking it to heart. 30 Take your turn, no one person taking over. 31 Then each speaker gets a chance to say something special from God, and you all learn from each other. 32 If you choose to speak, you're also responsible for how and when you speak. 33 When we worship the right way, God doesn't stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches - no exceptions. "
Paul offers some pretty clear instructions to the Jesus followers in Corinth and beyond.
+ Be plain in speech so that visitors will be able to fathom what you're saying.
+ All the followers should come with something to contribute in worship.
+ Don't let anyone hog the meeting time.
+ No speaking or praying in tongues without one who can interpret for the group.
+ The choice of whether you speak and what you say and how you say it is your responsibility.
+ Worship should bring harmony not confusion.
The mainline churches are mostly used to having a small group of people who handle the details of worship. What Paul is suggesting here would be a radical decentralization of the process and a radical reliance upon the Holy Spirit to provide the spiritual food for worship.
It makes me hungry. Any thoughts?
Saturday, August 23, 2008
August 26th meeting at Cafe Dalat
We agreed this week to meet at Cafe Dalat (5615 Central NE, just east of San Mateo) at 5:30pm. It's a Vietnamese restaurant. www.cafedalat.com The vast majority of the menu items are under $9 each.
Distilling worship
We have been spending a lot of time lately talking about what the essence of worship is. As mainline Christians, most of us in the cornerstone group are accustomed to the usual three songs, a message, a prayer and an offering. That's an oversimplification, obviously, but it's not far from reality. But is that all there is to worship? Are we getting everything we should in the process? Are we adding things that don't belong?
I had a conversation with a friend this morning about how we are looking at the idea of worship in a variety of settings. Once we have the essence of worship in mind, then we need to begin to figure out how worship is accomplished in a coffee shop, a park, a home, a bar, a mall, or wherever.
In our discussion at Garduno's this week several ideas came up. Worship is praising God. Worship is connecting to God. Worship is relationship. Worship is growing. Worship is surrender to God and is therefore intimate. Worship is possible by one's self, but is most often a communal experience.
I was looking through Jesus' "sermon on the mount" in Matthew 5-7 this morning. It always challenges me. Today I was reading from "The Message" and discovered this heading: "A Life of God Worship." "Uh," I thought, "this ought to be applicable to our discussion." The interesting thing to me is that I wouldn't have normally labeled this a teaching on worship. Eugene Peterson, the translator, is guiding us towards a broader, and perhaps a more authentic understanding of what worship is and can be.
My digested version of the text comes out with Jesus pointing us towards: Giving over getting, Focusing on today (being present in the moment), Focusing on God's reality, not the world's masquerade, and Recognizing God's hand in everything.
I had a conversation with a friend this morning about how we are looking at the idea of worship in a variety of settings. Once we have the essence of worship in mind, then we need to begin to figure out how worship is accomplished in a coffee shop, a park, a home, a bar, a mall, or wherever.
In our discussion at Garduno's this week several ideas came up. Worship is praising God. Worship is connecting to God. Worship is relationship. Worship is growing. Worship is surrender to God and is therefore intimate. Worship is possible by one's self, but is most often a communal experience.
I was looking through Jesus' "sermon on the mount" in Matthew 5-7 this morning. It always challenges me. Today I was reading from "The Message" and discovered this heading: "A Life of God Worship." "Uh," I thought, "this ought to be applicable to our discussion." The interesting thing to me is that I wouldn't have normally labeled this a teaching on worship. Eugene Peterson, the translator, is guiding us towards a broader, and perhaps a more authentic understanding of what worship is and can be.
My digested version of the text comes out with Jesus pointing us towards: Giving over getting, Focusing on today (being present in the moment), Focusing on God's reality, not the world's masquerade, and Recognizing God's hand in everything.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Birthing a new community of faith
It is hard to believe that just a few months ago this community of faith was only yet a dream in the minds of a couple of fired-up United Methodist clergypersons in New Mexico. God has moved us to join together and begin seeking the members of our cornerstone group. This cornerstone group will be the seed for growth of the community and the incubator for its practices.
We seek to realign the Way of Christ as practiced in The United Methodist Church by forming a community of those beyond the margins of the mainstream church. There are many people who have been hurt or dismissed by the imperfect actions of the Church. Those people need to know that Jesus can be found in other places that are ready to be more flexible and more open than many churches. We contend that both the old and the new can coexist for the benefit of what Jesus called the Kingdom of God.
Our premise is that the modern church is comparable to the Jerusalem Temple of the Israelites of old. For a long period of time the Israelites relied upon the Temple as their sole place of worship. During the Babylonian exile, the Temple was destroyed and synagogue worship began to be practiced. It was community based. Even after the rebuilding of the Second Temple, the synagogues continued. Today we face a mainstream Christian religion dominated by "temple" worship: Many coming to the central locus of worship. We generally lack the synagogue component: An abundance of more local places to worship in more intimate ways bringing the faith out of the walls of the church buildings to where the people are.
Imagine a community of faith emerging from a mainline denomination that has no building, nor wants one. A community of faith built entirely of bands of people willing to explore new practices of Christian faith using Wesleyan roots and themes. Imagine worship taking place in the community - in a bar, in a coffee shop, in a park, at the mall, or wherever the Spirit leads! A community where contributions are almost entirely used for the needs of the community. If a participant in a band has a need, or a friend of a participant is in need, the community will be able to respond with prayer, service and financial support, if called for.
We will be missional, relational and incarnational. We will be out in the community for practically everything we do. We strive to live up to the example and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. We seek to be bearers of Jesus' love in a world suffering from a drought of such love. We believe that the relationships built between the members of the bands and their relationships with God are integral to the potential to grow as humans.
There is a concurrent effort to build such a worship community in Houston, Texas. Please keep this community in your prayers. We will post more information on the organization as the language is polished and clarified.
We seek to realign the Way of Christ as practiced in The United Methodist Church by forming a community of those beyond the margins of the mainstream church. There are many people who have been hurt or dismissed by the imperfect actions of the Church. Those people need to know that Jesus can be found in other places that are ready to be more flexible and more open than many churches. We contend that both the old and the new can coexist for the benefit of what Jesus called the Kingdom of God.
Our premise is that the modern church is comparable to the Jerusalem Temple of the Israelites of old. For a long period of time the Israelites relied upon the Temple as their sole place of worship. During the Babylonian exile, the Temple was destroyed and synagogue worship began to be practiced. It was community based. Even after the rebuilding of the Second Temple, the synagogues continued. Today we face a mainstream Christian religion dominated by "temple" worship: Many coming to the central locus of worship. We generally lack the synagogue component: An abundance of more local places to worship in more intimate ways bringing the faith out of the walls of the church buildings to where the people are.
Imagine a community of faith emerging from a mainline denomination that has no building, nor wants one. A community of faith built entirely of bands of people willing to explore new practices of Christian faith using Wesleyan roots and themes. Imagine worship taking place in the community - in a bar, in a coffee shop, in a park, at the mall, or wherever the Spirit leads! A community where contributions are almost entirely used for the needs of the community. If a participant in a band has a need, or a friend of a participant is in need, the community will be able to respond with prayer, service and financial support, if called for.
We will be missional, relational and incarnational. We will be out in the community for practically everything we do. We strive to live up to the example and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. We seek to be bearers of Jesus' love in a world suffering from a drought of such love. We believe that the relationships built between the members of the bands and their relationships with God are integral to the potential to grow as humans.
There is a concurrent effort to build such a worship community in Houston, Texas. Please keep this community in your prayers. We will post more information on the organization as the language is polished and clarified.
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