"It Is All Worship"

Courtesy of Storied Theology I read this article on worship. It's probably nothing you haven't heard before, but it's definitely something you need to hear again and again.

...in the American church we have so equated worship with cultural habits that we fail to see how biblical worship is even worship at all.

A Proposal

Instead of the time of nonsense worship being before the preaching of the word, how about it coming after? The word initiates, reveals, tells, and the worship responds and includes the worshiper in the story of God's new creation, all the while maintaining the tension of already but not yet.

Is this something you'd like to see happen in your church (if it isn't already)? Why or why not?

Contemporary Christian Worship

What do you think of contemporary Christian worship in the mould of Hillsong and its kind? Does the sight of yet another beautiful person standing atop a concert stage leading worship -- with roughly 2,347 almost-but-not-quite-as-beautiful musicians and singers in the background -- make you want to hurt somebody (Darlene Zschech, for example), or does it make you glad that so many (young) people have a forum in which to worship God through song...even if that song is sentimental enough to make James Blunt cringe?

I am as yet undecided on such matters.

The following is an example of the kind of worship I'm referring to. Before viewing the clip, there are two things you should know. First, I like this song. Yes it contains the line "Clothed in rainbows of living colour", but think of all the great songs through the ages that speak of rainbows: Somewhere Over the Rainbow, My Favourite Things, and Moon River to name three.

Second, I'm quite fond of Kari Jobe. She doesn't know who I am, nor do I really know who she is, but I'm not going to let such trifling matters get in the way of true love. Make no mistake about it: She will be mine; oh yes, she will be mine.

Finally, a list of things to look out for:

The Native American guy beside Jobe who looks completely out of place. (To preempt accusations of racism, I'm not just saying that because he isn't in a casino or a Steven Segal movie.)

Chris Daughtry on drums.

The numer of guitarists on stage. (Beat that Lynyrd Skynyrd!)

The guy who does a vocal harmony at 2:29.

The spanish guitar run at 3:52. I'm beginning to think every worship song should find space for at least one spanish guitar run.

The last minute and a half. Mayhem.

So, you whose opinion I immediately disregard trust. How do you feel about this modern phenomena? Is it to be embraced or lamented, or something in between?