November 28, 2007
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audio messages
If you have a long commute and would be interested in listening to some messages... http://www.wccc.net/blogs/gospelprism/virtual-m-div/
(I haven't listened to many of these, so I can't endorse them all... but it's definitely a source of thought-provoking material...)
Also, came across an interesting quote tonight:
In my experience, evangelical worship tends to be almost entirely praise oriented. But if one looks at the Psalms, the most common category is laments, psalms in which the worshipper pours out his complaint to God and prays for help and healing.
In our congregations there are many who come to worship bearing great pain in their souls, and they need the opportunity to express their woes to God. If the way is not clear for them to do so, they will feel even more excluded and cut off from their fellow worshippers and from God.--Gordon Wenham, from http://themusickeplace.blogspot.com/, from another book
Comments (3)
You told me a few weeks ago about a blogger you thought I'd enjoy. I can't find the post where you told me. Could you tell me again?
Now I've read your post instead of just commenting on it. What an interesting thought. I think we have lost the idea of shared suffering. Sure, we pray for the cancer victim and the traveler, but when one is heartsick over sin or other woes, do we share in? I don't see it happening all that often, especially corporately. We don't feel like baring our hearts to others is "acceptable." And, when someone does, how do we react, especially if the person isn't a close friend? The idea of worship being both ends of the spectrum--joy and sorrow--makes sense.
This seems to be a cultural thing, esp. here in our country. There's this pressure to have it all together so to speak, and not be as vulnerable by sharing our inadequacies or the times where we've messed up, etc... I do like that my church has a time of sharing between the sermon and song time, and it's often stressed that the sharing time is just as much a part of worship. It's amazing the things that people have said and opened up about their lives (the good and the struggles and sin), and it does make us closer to each other as worshippers and fellow believers.
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