Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
School has started in these parts, but, since all the young 'uns are long past school days, we don't have to finish summer just yet...and we have summer-ish things left yet on the calendar. So I'm not going to try and start a new study just yet; I've still got stuff left from the wedding to take care of and some other things on the burner that are just going to need some attention, so posting will likely be rather sporadic for the next two to three weeks.
I will talk just a bit about a book I read whilst I was on the blogging break. I finished about three books that had been sitting on the nightstand for forever; unfortunately I let too much time go by between starting and finishing the books that I really don't feel like I could do them justice in a discussion (although I do want to go back and re-read at least one of them). But I read Jeremy' Riddle's The ReSet in about a week and want to go back and look again at a couple of chapters that really resonated with me, just to get the insights in deep.
Our worship pastor recommended it and it sounded especially timely, so I snagged one from The Big Bookstore That Now Sells Everything. It is aimed at worship leaders, but honestly it also applies to anyone who is creative or who leads others and struggles with walking it out for God's glory....not letting the whole thing go to one's head, so to speak.
The chapter on dreams is one that I am going to go back and re-read; he wrote sentences almost identical to some of my journal entries, which was kinda chill-inducing, if you know what I mean.
Ultimately, everything has to die to the whole idea of personal ambition so that it can be reborn as response to the love and mercy of God...including the dreams that originate with heart desires. Jeremy expresses concern over the performance mentality that has pervaded church ministry...that we perform on a stage (ok, 'platform' is the accepted term) for the approval of folks in the audience (erm....congregation). How do we stay on the side of true worship without wandering over into concert performance?
He pointed out that some of the purest forms of worship recorded in the Bible (e.g., David dancing before the Ark; Mary of Bethany pouring her bottle of nard on Jesus) were met with disdain or even disgust from others who were present. He's right, of course, but I had not thought of it in exactly those terms.
He wrote that worship that is pure in heart but imperfectly executed will be far more pleasing to God than that which is marvelously performed from wrong motives...so, who is the true audience of all worship? If it doesn't please God, is it even really worship?
When you take into account that worship is how we live, not what we do on a platform with a microphone, that gets real for everyone...not just folks who are 'leading worship'.
I found the book easy to read and personally challenging; if you're looking for food for thought on the subject...highly recommended.
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