The broken, the beaten, the 'outcasts', the 'heathens' arrive
The rich and the poor enter through the same door; side by side
Those who rejoice stand with those with no voice; hand in hand
Cultures together with pleasure. United we stand.
We can all find a home here
A place to belong
Where brothers and sisters
Can sing out one song
And the love that we find here
Quenches our thirst
It’s the body of Jesus
This is the Church.
A family of strangers arranged through the dangers of life
To talk to, support you and walk you through hardship and strife
Let’s celebrate great things. Relationships growing so strong
Standing on touchlines at all times, cheering us on!
Jimmy Orr © 2010
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Monday, 8 November 2010
Manly Worship?
It has been argued time and time again that contemporary worship songs are 'too feminine'. Love songs to Jesus are labelled 'Jesus is my Boyfriend' songs and regarded as stumbling blocks for the 'man's man' in the church. There are too many phrases like 'pouring out my heart', 'you're beautiful', 'I love you'; songs are filled with lyrics loaded with girly words such as precious, lovely and 'darling of heaven'.
I have three initial thoughts on the subject.
Firstly, a lot of the 'Jesus is my boyfriend' style songs are in fact written by men. Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and a whole host of other male contemporary song-writers. How does singing these songs written by these men of God make worship 'too feminine'?
Secondly, How is it that men are happy to use 'feminine' language to say that a curry was 'beautiful' or that their team's goal was a 'lovely' strike, or that their car drives 'like a dream' but as soon as they're in church trying to engage in worshipping God - who is far more beautiful and lovely than any dish or sporting achievement or vehicle - feminine language is a stumbling block?
Finally, I do agree that variety of language, themes and styles can only be a good thing in the Church's worship repertoire. The psalms are full of a blend of masculine and feminine poetry. We do need to widen our scope for describing our emotions and thoughts and theology and expressing our worship. But refusing to worship using songs because they're 'too girly' is not the answer.
Blokes of the church, Man Up!
I have three initial thoughts on the subject.
Firstly, a lot of the 'Jesus is my boyfriend' style songs are in fact written by men. Tim Hughes, Ben Cantelon, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and a whole host of other male contemporary song-writers. How does singing these songs written by these men of God make worship 'too feminine'?
Secondly, How is it that men are happy to use 'feminine' language to say that a curry was 'beautiful' or that their team's goal was a 'lovely' strike, or that their car drives 'like a dream' but as soon as they're in church trying to engage in worshipping God - who is far more beautiful and lovely than any dish or sporting achievement or vehicle - feminine language is a stumbling block?
Finally, I do agree that variety of language, themes and styles can only be a good thing in the Church's worship repertoire. The psalms are full of a blend of masculine and feminine poetry. We do need to widen our scope for describing our emotions and thoughts and theology and expressing our worship. But refusing to worship using songs because they're 'too girly' is not the answer.
Blokes of the church, Man Up!
The Big Story: Part 1
The Bible. It’s true the 'good book' is actually a collection of 66 books and that those sixty-six books are divided into two testaments, the old made up of 39 books and the new with the remaining 27.
It’s true that some of those books are historical books, same are poetry books some are visionary books some are letters and prayers and songs.
It’s true that many different authors from different eras in history contributed to the books that have been canonised (that is they’ve been especially and prayerfully selected and compiled and set apart as being holy)...
But while all this is true, there is One Big Story that threads its way through each and every page. Whether it’s blatantly obvious and explicit or shrouded in mystery and hidden away in some kind of cryptic prophesy... the Big Story is there. All the books are interconnected and entwined and meshed together. All part of The Big Story.
** This picture illustrates all the cross references between every chapter of every book of the Bible**
“In the beginning... God”
The Big Story began long before the first words of Bible were even scrawled on the first piece of parchment. And like all good stories, we’re introduced to the leading Character - God.
Throughout this story we discover all about his character and personality as he gradually reveals more and more about himself. This story is all about him, and he was there at the beginning, in fact, he was there before it began. He has always been there. He is truly eternal, which doesn’t just mean that he will never die but it means he has always been. He is God.
When he calls himself ‘I AM’ in the Second Book, called Exodus, he isn’t lying. He just IS. He always has been, he is right now and he always will be. And he is Perfect and Unique, and he’s unique in his perfection. He is unlike anything or anyone else ever. The One and the Only. Supreme and Sovereign... He is God.
Thankfully for us he knows that he is God – because if he didn’t know he was God it would prove that he wasn’t God but he does know that he is God and he loves the fact he’s God and so all is right with Everything.
So, we have our lead character. We are introduced to God. A God who is and always has been one and three - a mysterious trilogy of deity within one perfect and unique God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in an eternally perfect and loving relationship – “God in three persons, Blessed Trinity”. The Hero of our Story, God, is different. He is perfect community and yet he is one. He is love, and also lover and beloved. He is God. He is Holy, set apart, distinct. And before time began, before anything was ever created, before even the slightest hint of a big bang, God was – Father, Son and Spirit – in perfect loving community within Himself. Worthy of all glory, all honour, all praise…
Hello?! he hasn’t done anything yet! Often in our songs and in our prayers we praise God for what he’s done, which is a good thing, but He hasn’t done anything at this point and yet that doesn’t have any effect whatsoever on how worthy he is, on how amazing he is, on how holy he is, on how great he is. He is God which means that by his very nature, the very essence of who is he, the very core of his being, by the innate, natural, inherent basis of who he is… he is entirely and exclusively worthy to be worshipped! We worship him primarily and wholly for Who He Is because He. Is. God!
It’s a good start to a story isn’t it?
It’s true that some of those books are historical books, same are poetry books some are visionary books some are letters and prayers and songs.
It’s true that many different authors from different eras in history contributed to the books that have been canonised (that is they’ve been especially and prayerfully selected and compiled and set apart as being holy)...
But while all this is true, there is One Big Story that threads its way through each and every page. Whether it’s blatantly obvious and explicit or shrouded in mystery and hidden away in some kind of cryptic prophesy... the Big Story is there. All the books are interconnected and entwined and meshed together. All part of The Big Story.
** This picture illustrates all the cross references between every chapter of every book of the Bible** And so it begins, Genesis chapter 1, beginning at verse one...
“In the beginning... God”
The Big Story began long before the first words of Bible were even scrawled on the first piece of parchment. And like all good stories, we’re introduced to the leading Character - God.
Throughout this story we discover all about his character and personality as he gradually reveals more and more about himself. This story is all about him, and he was there at the beginning, in fact, he was there before it began. He has always been there. He is truly eternal, which doesn’t just mean that he will never die but it means he has always been. He is God.
When he calls himself ‘I AM’ in the Second Book, called Exodus, he isn’t lying. He just IS. He always has been, he is right now and he always will be. And he is Perfect and Unique, and he’s unique in his perfection. He is unlike anything or anyone else ever. The One and the Only. Supreme and Sovereign... He is God.
Thankfully for us he knows that he is God – because if he didn’t know he was God it would prove that he wasn’t God but he does know that he is God and he loves the fact he’s God and so all is right with Everything.
So, we have our lead character. We are introduced to God. A God who is and always has been one and three - a mysterious trilogy of deity within one perfect and unique God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in an eternally perfect and loving relationship – “God in three persons, Blessed Trinity”. The Hero of our Story, God, is different. He is perfect community and yet he is one. He is love, and also lover and beloved. He is God. He is Holy, set apart, distinct. And before time began, before anything was ever created, before even the slightest hint of a big bang, God was – Father, Son and Spirit – in perfect loving community within Himself. Worthy of all glory, all honour, all praise…
Hello?! he hasn’t done anything yet! Often in our songs and in our prayers we praise God for what he’s done, which is a good thing, but He hasn’t done anything at this point and yet that doesn’t have any effect whatsoever on how worthy he is, on how amazing he is, on how holy he is, on how great he is. He is God which means that by his very nature, the very essence of who is he, the very core of his being, by the innate, natural, inherent basis of who he is… he is entirely and exclusively worthy to be worshipped! We worship him primarily and wholly for Who He Is because He. Is. God!
It’s a good start to a story isn’t it?
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