Here are some great ideas for creatively enhancing times of encountering God in worship with a variety of sight and sense flairs. I tend to stay with candles, music and visuals, but these ideas go far and wide.
Here is another site Jonny is connected with – a small group connected with St. Mary’s exploring worship ideas:
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Dan, thanks for the link! Jonny’s got some neat ideas, and ones we’ll most definitely use in our worship in the future. Thanks!
worship is the outcome of a righteous life not emotional manipulation by trained professionals using cheap tricks, techonology, commercial songs, and group psychology. When we love God and our neighbor we will pray together, study together, fellowship together, remember and worship our Lord Jesus Christ BECAUSE we have been living for Christ and following his commandments. Worship is not entertainment no matter how interactive it gets.
alrighty then … i like it … makes me think, laugh and such … i might use some of it with the gals … thanks dan
Mark, I think that you may have missed the point of this. These “tricks” simply enable more people to get in to God’s presence more easily. Removing hurdles is always a good thing. Why do we all read English bible translations when we could study Hebrew and Greek…..because of one word, accessibility. We use simple love songs when we gather because it means that it’s easy for people to relate, get in and in some cases get saved. . We have art and beauty for a reason, it removes the hurdles that man puts up and God wants to knock down. If these things are done with the correct heart then God will use it.
Good comments all around. Yes, Mark, I appreciate your heart and the sincerity with which you’re writing. I would echo Graeme’s response.
What is a bridge for one, a “space or environment” that opens one up to God and His wonder, is not a bridge for another. To demand that everyone approach God the same way would be naive and (spoken as a worship leader/pastor for 20 years) unfruitful.
These are meant to be bridge-builders, and yes, the scale can tilt for anyone leading a liturgy, choosing a songlist or creating an environment, toward manipulation. But the heart behind it is everything, and trying fresh things keeps our intimacy with God alive in the same way trying new things keeps my relationships with my wife and kids alive.
It’s about the heart, and about the fruit. “Art and beauty are for a reason,” Graeme said, and I agree. These days, I and many friends fill a beautiful room with candlelight to worship – why? Shouldn’t we be able to do it under flourescent lights that use cheap bulbs in drywalled buildings like everyone else? Yes, we can, but it doesn’t mean we should. The atmosphere aids the interaction.
It’s about building bridges. Lectio Divina, an ancient Christian practice aiding us in hearing God through the scriptures would fall in this camp of “encounter aids.” The space and time world is important, as is the physical world, despite the Gnosticism and dualism in the Church today. Fresh ideas can create fresh encountering grounds for unique individuals.
Yet, I do think people can be manipulated, and I would not have chosen to call it “Worship Tricks” as he did. That is unfortunate.
Another analogy that just hit me as I was reading Dan’s comments. If I took my wife to a McDonalds for a romantic meal to demonstrate my love I would have different level of intimacy (or not) than if we went to a classy Italian with candles, soft music and “ambience”
We talk all the time about church but how many of us know, not simply in theory, but in a practical way what it is? When the church comes together that time is for them -it is for believers. It is not a time for unbelievers. If Christians are walking by faith in righteousness then there is no need to build bridges to God with tricks, music or pyschology!
If you want to see believers worship then employ the teachings of Titus 2.
It really is about fruit for God! If what the modern and postmodern church is presently doing is effective then why are aproximately 40% of church attendees non-christians? Why do 90% and more young people abandon the faith?
Atmosphere means absolutely nothing! If it did the Roman Catholic Church would be at the top of the heap! I’ve been to mass! I’ve been to Orthodox churches! Talk about dead! Somehow when Jesus said neither this place nor that place but in spirit and truth he knew what he was talking about! go figure!
Folks need an “encounter experiance” for sure! they need to encounter the teaching and precepts of Jesus and follow them every day. they need to encounter fellow believers who will help them pratice their faith. they need to encounter repentance!
I suppose, with out trying to bash the poor folks, that your average charismatic or pentacostal would be the ultimate encounter folks historically. So, where’s that got the majority? I mean you’re speaking in tounges, casting out demons, encountering miracles yet going home and slapping the wife around, stealing time from work, ignoring the kids, speeding down the road, etc. until it’s time for the next encounter. It’s not totally fair to throw stones since we all need some introspection in these areas!
We need to speak to the mind and conscience of individuals. We need to spend time in long term relationships with each other. We need to consider ourself first to not be a stumbling block.
The last thing we need to worry about is reaching the emotions and egos of folks.
Finally we need to leave space for the Word of God and the Spirit of God to speak to the mind and conscience of believer and unbeliver. It is amazing how scripture says we do not need any man to teach us! We have the Word and the Spirit! We need to stop manipulating others and start living the Word ourselves! When we do that God will use us in the lives of others. Then we will worship in Spirit and in Truth! It isn’t about what i feel or write on a shed wall – it’s all about what God writes on my heart’s wall.
Mark, I see where you are coming from, but your assumption that this is all manipulation is too simplistic. We worship a creative God, when we use our creative abilities it honours God and reflects His character. To supress that, I believe, grieves the heart of God. Read the parable of the talents. I encountered God through simple love songs and in an “atmosphere” I related too…otherwise I may not have got in. Jesus spoke the language and operated in the culture of the 1st century Jewish working man, was He being manipulative, no He was relating to those around Him. God has always spoken to men in their own language, look at Jesus’ stories and cultural refrerence points. God already builds bridges to us through His creation (go stand in a mountain range). I want to be like Him, I want to stand in a bar full of broken people with my guitar bring worship and words of life into a dark place…that’s where it’s at. God will teach us, you are right, but we have a job to do with the gifts we have been given. Finally it’s very dangerous to make sweeping generalisations and assumptions as to the hearts of the people doing this stuff, let God worry about that, He will be the judge.
i wonder if a better title would be “worship thingies that i have found to be relevant and have worked for moi” … i think it’s kind of nice of him to open up his repertoire for us to muse over and use.
one of the things that really irks me, is that often, as i am preparing for stuff for the gals at my church – God twists my arm to read something to them out of a Chicken Soup book. cough … gag. some people love these books … i find them pithy … but they speak to the hearts of my audience. hummmm.
btw: i like the idea that 40% of the people who go to church are unbelievers … i thought it was way less!!! gives me hope that the doorsteps of some churches are still approachable.
it’s all a matter of perspective i guess.
I think maybe it’s more a problem of keeping things in their proper categories? Like I posted earlier “What is Church?”
Church is all who are children of God through redemption in Christ Jesus. Church is not something you do or go to. Church is people! It isn’t tradition, function, style, buildings, or denominations. It is simply all who worship the Father in spirit and truth.
So, when believers meet together – something we often and mistakenly call “church” – what is the purpose. It seems from the bible – gasp – that “church” is for believers! I know looking into the Word is considered old fashioned, out of date, intellectual, modern… but it is the only thing we have to go on.
The early believers met together and four things characterized their time together; study of the apostle’s doctrine (letters that would become the bible), fellowship, prayer and the Lord’s supper (communion).
The believer’s time together was to encourage, rejoice, learn, rebuke, etc. Basically, it was a time to be together, apart from the world and sin, so they would be strengthened to re-engage their world for Christ. Paul makes this clear in his letter to Corinth where he rebuked them for their allowance of immorality while in assembly. He specifically states that if God wanted them to not spend time with sinners He would have taken them out of the world clearly showing we are to have a pure fellowship and then to go back out into the world.
Today’s “church” is a corporation designed to attract followers by presenting the most attractive Sunday morning entertainment. It almost exclusively focuses on extorting an emotional response from the audience so they feel as though they’ve gotten their money’s worth. It leaves the audience in a state of dependency, constantly looking for their spiritual “crack”.
The tips and tricks I’ve read so far do much to manipulate a passive emotional response but almost nothing to drive true spiritual living during the week into one’s life. What I mean by passive is that worshippers are assumed to be in a state apart from God and they must be led into His presence. Very little room is left for genuine self-actuated response on the part of the believer. Interaction is highly controlled and conditioned.
This low view of participants guarantees they will remain in a dependant state. Often I think it says more about those in leadership positions, arrogantly, they think too highly of themselves and too little of the Spirit of God acting with in the body of Christ.
The typical “worship” service starts with songs, gives way to a message, and usually ends with a call to repentance and belief in Christ. Isn’t this backwards? Wouldn’t it be more proper to start with an explanation of the fellowship, the brotherhood, the Church and a call to repentance, followed by in-depth study of the Word, then prayer and finally praise and worship (including song) to our Savior?
As I’ve consistently stated – the key to worship is living a righteous life for God during the week so that when together in community we truly worship apart from psychological tricks and games. No amount of tricks will ever replace that.
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