Praise Music Industry Has Led Many Churches To Exchange Worship for Emotionalism - Les Lamkin, longtime church music leader

Consider what (not who, but what) is being adored in much of current Praise Music. It is certainly not our Triune God’s great saving work celebrated throughout history and in our own lives. Rather, it’s our own emotional status, our own emotional wants, our own psychological selves.

With the sweeping popularity and utilization of songs produced by the Praise Music Industry - specifically those from non-denominational megachurches like Bethel and Hillsong - the having of an emotional experience has trumped all other criteria for determining faith and practice during Sunday services.

Here's the problem; the Bible never connects worship to emotion or music. It encourages emotion as a response to experiencing God - but it also warns against allowing emotion to be our sole guide regarding faith and practice.

Worship is supposed to be the gathered congregation together accepting God's invitation into God's way of life; into the Divine Life of God as it is expressed in selfless and absolute love of God lived out forever in the Trinity as community.

Worship is meant to be formative too, not merely expressive.

The music currently coming out of the Praise Music Industry has reversed all this and made worship about us individually, our individual wants, our individual feelings, our individual emotions..

Consider the thematic and lyrical content of much of current Praise Music; it is certainly not God’s great saving work celebrated throughout history and in our own lives. Rather, it’s our own emotional status, our own emotional wants, our own psychological selves.

Current Praise Music Industry culture has substituted the Divine Communal Life of the Triune God with content that is borderline-sensual, manipulative, has a lot of emotional-neediness, and prioritizes instant emotional gratification.

The full article is available here

How Christians Should and Shouldn't Speak About Creation - Brian Zahnd

Instead of saying un-Christian things like, “This world is not my home,” “It’s all going to burn,” and “Environmentalism is idolatry,” listen to how wise Christians have always spoken about Creation.

This year Earth Day falls on a Sunday.  So I thought I’d say a few words about how Christians should and shouldn't speak about Creation.

First, Christians should never say…

"This world is not my home."
This world is our home! And it’s the locus of God’s saving work. The blessed hope is not “we’re going,” but “Christ is coming.” Our eschatological hope is resurrection, not evacuation. The risen Christ is not a ghost, he has flesh and bones; he eats fish and honeycomb.

"It’s all going to burn."
What a horrible, ghastly thing for a Christian to say! Especially when it’s given as an excuse for justifying environmental exploitation. In Christ we have a hopeful eschatology that says, “It’s all going to be renewed.” (And if you want to work from 2 Peter 3:10, say, “It’s all going to be refined.”)

"Environmentalism is idolatry."
Never say that. Instead say, “This is my Father’s world.” In giving humanity “dominion,” God made us park rangers of Planet Earth. Environmentalism isn’t idolatry — it’s the original vocation given to humanity. Environmentalism isn’t idolatry — but greed is! In Revelation we’re told that God will judge “those who destroy the earth.”

So ...

... instead of saying un-Christian things like, “This world is not my home,” “It’s all going to burn,” and “Environmentalism is idolatry,” listen to how wise Christians have always spoken about Creation.

• The first step for a soul to come to know God is contemplation of nature.
  –Irenaeus (120–202)
• The whole earth is a living icon of the face of God.
  –John of Damascus (675–749)
• If we learn to love the earth, we will discover what it means to be truly alive.
  –Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)
• A wrong attitude toward nature implies, somewhere, a wrong attitude toward God.
  –T.S. Eliot (1888–1965)
• How we treat the earth defines the relationship that each of us has with God.
  –Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (1940–)

The full article is available here

A Tribute To Jack Casey: One Of The Greatest Men I've Ever Known - by Jeff Wiersma

I’m far from the only person who has given this kind of tribute to Jack in the days since his passing. That speaks to the far-reaching impact he had and his legacy of being a humble, kind, and giving man. I will never forget how he always greeted me with his trademark, “Heeeey theeeere” and a handshake

A great man, Jack Casey, has completed his life’s work. This has caused me to reflect back on the 40 years that I was blessed enough to know Jack and be in community with his family.

I’m not sure that I can adequately express what Jack and the Casey family have meant to me in my life ... how they influenced who I am as a person, how they helped to shape my spirituality from my earliest years ... but I'm going to try.

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Jack specifically helped to shape my concept of how a man with integrity and emotional honesty served in leadership in a church (along with my dad of course, another old softy). He was kind, welcoming, authentic and accommodating.

He and Lois - along with my folks, the Van Dyke's, the Dykstra's, and several others - were brave enough to start a brand new church. Part of the reason they did this was so that people who weren’t churchgoers would have somewhere that they could feel comfortable attending; where broken people could be real and didn’t have to fit any mold - somewhere they could come as they were to find some acceptance, unconditional love, and hope. (If you know even the first thing about me, you know how deeply that example has been imprinted into my DNA).

Jack and Leo took on preaching in addition to their busy work and family lives. (Jack was always better at keeping sermons under 25 minutes. I take after my Dad I think).

So many benefited from that courage and vision that it can be easy to take it for granted, but it wasn’t a sure thing by any means. It was a definite risk in a community in which they and their young families were all deeply ingrained church and school-wise.

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The Casey family opened their home to me as a child and were a second home when my parents were off visiting my older siblings at college/etc when I was in grade school. Being the youngest and therefore closest in age to me (4 years my elder), Scott made me feel welcomed, included, and at ease. He clearly had that modeled for him by his parents.

The Casey family continued this kind of hospitality, opening their home as foster parents for Bethany Christian Services.

I cut my teeth as a church leader (both band and generally) under the leadership of Jack’s oldest son John, who led me with the same empowering and enabling qualities that his father lived out. 

While getting my feet under me leadership-wise, Jack always made sure to seek me out to encourage me and tell me "nice work" and "good job."

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I’m far from the only person who has given this kind of tribute to Jack in the days since his passing. That speaks to the far-reaching impact he had and his legacy of being a humble, kind, and giving man.

As Mike O'Brien once said, “No one gets extra points for loving Jack Casey, bc EVERYONE loves Jack Casey.”

I will never forget how he always greeted me with his trademark, “Heeeey theeeere” and a handshake.

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“May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

- traditional Gaelic blessing

The Disconcerting Rise Of Self-Proclaimed Megachurch Apostles - Jeff Wiersma

A group of mostly self-proclaimed “apostles,” leading ministries from North Carolina to California, has attracted millions of followers with promises of direct access to God through alleged "signs and wonders."

In August 2017, Christianity Today's Bob Smietana interviewed authors Brad Christerson and Richard Flory about their book, The Rise Of Network Christianity.

Their book is about the group of mostly self-proclaimed “apostles,” leading ministries from North Carolina to California, has attracted millions of followers with promises of direct access to God through alleged "signs and wonders."

The following are some insightful, albeit disconcerting, excerpts that resonate with what I have perceived and discerned.  To me, these observations are disconcerting to me - because it always concerns me when emotionalism, devotion to a “chosen” leader, and financialization are driving forces in a movement.

I've seen first-hand the abuses of power that often result from the lack of oversight and accountability and celebrity-leader dynamism.  I've observed the kind of misguided teaching and psychologically damaging cultures that result from it.

I know many people who have suffered long-term emotional and relational trauma from attending these types of churches. 

Multi-level marketing reaps millions 

Many of these "apostles" run megachurches, among them Bethel Church in Redding, California. But their real power lies in their innovative approach to selling faith. They’ve combined multi-level marketing and Pentecostal style alleged signs and wonders to connect directly with millions of spiritual customers. That allows them to reap millions in donations, conference fees, and book, MP3, worship cd and DVD sales.

Trickle-down spirituality, devotion to the leader

The leaders of this movement don't have the same "priesthood of all believers" theology as the Protestant Reformers, because their power flows down from particular "apostles," and then others who are "under them" can access it.   

Despite being similar to established prosperity gospel preachers, this group is unique in that they really think God has put these "apostles" on earth to transform the world.  It's a sort of trickle-down Christianity, which spreads its ideas through marketing and media production.

No oversight and accountability, lots of hype. 

They consciously avoid any kind of formal organization or denomination (aka "oversight and accountability").  They can just go straight to the market activities.

Between social media, the internet, and conferences, they have figured out ways to leverage big, hyped-up, (emotionally-manipulative) experiences.  It is a completely different discipleship than the weekly rhythm of church life in community.   

These leaders don't engage in a lot of self-reflection about the dangers of holding major power without any oversight.  We haven't seen a lot of self-awareness on their part.  They think they are an instrument of God - and that's all they need.  There's a suspicion of accountability structures. 

Nonviolence Is The Way Of The Cross - Brian Zahnd

CRC Has Been Welcoming Refugees For Decades - Immigrants Are A Blessing Not A Burden

The Resurrection Is About The Kingdom Coming Here - J Wilson-Hartgrove

The Cross Is Where Jesus Endures Human Inflicted Violence - Brian Zahnd

Call To Worship: Ambassadors of Hope and Promise (based on 2 Corinthians 5:20)

God, guide our lives in service to your world. Make us ambassadors of the promise of your hope. Open our eyes to see your world as you see it, God. Open our hearts and our spirits to follow your path. Help us to be people who bring good news to those victimized by injustice and suffering.

God, your love makes all things new again. For this incredible gift of grace, we give thanks.