Coram Deo: SSU Fall 2005

Last evening I and a bunch of SSUniversity students led in a 2 hour Coram Deo evening, complete with candlelight, ancient prayers, soaring violin, faculty serving communion and praying for each student individually.

It was sweet. The band did a great job, with minimal practice. We had some brief musical glitches, and I was very tired (and hungry), but it came together well and served the community at the launch of the new school year.

I added up the hours again it takes, from start to finish, to do a simple event like this. It was unplugged in sound. Including gear setup, chord charts, PowerPoint, typing, enlisting, songlists, prayer lists, rehearsal, event, tear down, gear delivery and wrap up, about 12 hours.

I should video-tape the process at some point, for the bright eyed worship leader who just loves this stuff. I do too, but I’m getting tired after so many years of similar work.

Life is good, no matter the labor. What a privilege to lead people into the place of worship encounter. What a privilege — it’s always different, each time.

AVAILABLE NOW

Sheltering Mercy and Endless Grace help us rediscover the rich treasures of the Psalms—through free-verse prayer renderings of their poems and hymns—as a guide to personal devotion and meditation. Sheltering Mercy helps the reader pray Psalms 1-75; Endless Grace leads in prayer through Psalms 76-150.

The church has always used the Psalms as part of its prayer life, and they have inspired countless other prayers. Each book contains 75 prayers drawn from the Book of Psalms, providing lyrical sketches of what authors Ryan Smith and Dan Wilt have seen, heard, and felt while sojourning there. Each prayer is a response to the Psalms written in harmony with Scripture. These prayers help us quiet our hearts before God and welcome us into a safe place amid the storms of life.

These artful, poetic, and classic devotional books are a perfect gift, and feature compelling stunning illustrations and hardcover binding, offering a fresh way to reflect on and pray the Psalms. Co-written with Ryan Whitaker Smith, Brazos Publishing.

Pre-Order below, and join my email list, to get author notes and updates about the book and events around it. 

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