Worship is a staple in most churches. As music, it has been used for centuries as a way to glorify God.
The normal worship scene consists of a band playing a number of songs a few times over and the congregation singing along.
But there is a new wave of worship leaders who are starting to experiment with the next phase of worship.
The original form of worship was not what you see thesedays. It was using the talents that God gave you in whatever way you could to glorify Him. Whether that was playing an instrument or using your mind to design something, as long as it was done for His glory, then that is considered praise.
The new evolution of worship is just that; using whatever talents God gave you to praise Him publicly. My ideal worship would be this: a worship band playing songs that come from the heart, not practiced and pre-chosen weeks before, leading the people and not playing for themselves. This all surrounded by people praising God in other ways: painting as they embrace the music, digital graphics done on a screen, perhapse a sculpter moulding a peice of clay into an abstract that portrays how he feels about the song.
Worship need originality, creativity and passion. Its coming to the next step.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Moments of silence
With Rememberance Day yesterday to honor the men and women who have fought for our freedom and current way of life, you would think that everyone would respect that day. A friend of mine was at a Tim Horton's in St.Thomas yesterday with his family, out for a morning coffee, when the staff at Timmies announced that there would be a few minutes of silence. With trumpet music playing in the background and all conversations and work stopped, the silence was broken after about 3 minuets with a customer in line who exclaimed out loud something like "this is stupid" and proceeded to walk out of the building.
I find that so conceeded. How pressed must you be to need a hit of coffee that you would disgrace the day and anyone who has fought and died to defend the defenceless? Is it that hard to be quiet and patient for a few minuets of your year to honor the day? I mean like who was dying in those few minutes in which you chose to tap your craving that you had to leave for and not keep your mouth shut.
It was tasteless and childish. I hope that the rest of this guy's life is filled with old coffee and spoiled doughnuts.
I find that so conceeded. How pressed must you be to need a hit of coffee that you would disgrace the day and anyone who has fought and died to defend the defenceless? Is it that hard to be quiet and patient for a few minuets of your year to honor the day? I mean like who was dying in those few minutes in which you chose to tap your craving that you had to leave for and not keep your mouth shut.
It was tasteless and childish. I hope that the rest of this guy's life is filled with old coffee and spoiled doughnuts.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
First story post
Writing has always been at the back of my mind for a way to get some of the thoughts out of my head before they eat my brain like a pig at an hawaiian feast. Of the various attempts at making words work, most of which found their way quickly to my trash can, I figured I'd post a more recient one that I am liking so far. Here is the beginning of it, the rest is on the link below. The story isn't done yet, still a work in progress...i'll post the rest when finished (if ever). Enjoy. Or hate.
FATE
from Latin fatum, literally, "what has been spoken"
by aaron robb
One often wonders how events somehow come together in such a fashion that they seem to be predestined. Hands of the so called "fates" drive our lives, sometimes erratically and sometimes they seem to group together certain people who have nothing in common but destiny. This certain grouping of fates starts with our journey with Matthew.
Matthew Jackson was a calm man. Friends recent and past will tell you that they had never seen him angered or overly worried. Some in college figured he was stoned most of the time due to his placid nature, but those who knew him really well knew that it was just his personality. This came in handy when he decided to become an arson inspector for an insurance company. Seeing burnt out buildings every day would be depressing enough, but to make things worse they sometimes come with a dead body. It just happens that the latest assignment was just that. An old factory in a small town had been burnt down in what looked like an accident, but it got bad when the body of a homeless man was found inside. The police said it was an electrical fire, but when Matthew and the local fire marshal looked it over, they ruled it arson. And this meant Matthew had to watch the medical examiner expect the body found to get any evidence to send back to his company.
Now on his way home, the 4 hour drive in the dark was not looking very pleasing. He just got off the phone with his wife, who now was in bed, and was missing his own soft pillow. His mind mulled over the case from earlier today, thinking what forms he needed to fill out in the morning and making mental notes of what he had to do. He was almost in a daze when his headlights caught the figure of a man on the side of the road. He barely had time to snap out of his daze and swerve his car back into his lane before he just missed clipping the hitchhiker. It took a few seconds of shock before his heart beat normal again. Then a few extra seconds until his humanity kicked in and he realized that the poor man back there was standing in the rain on a highway where he may be the last car for hours. He slowed his car down and pulled over. Throwing it into reverse he slowly backed along the shoulder until he glimpsed the figure in the distance. By now the hitchhiker had seen him reversing and started to walk his way. A handful of seconds later Matthew rolled down the passenger side window and looked and looked into the tired wet face, noticing that fate wore an army green coat and pants.
Lucas started his day like any other: woke up from a bad dream, looked around and realized that it wasn't a dream; he really was sleeping in an abandoned house on a bare mattress that was made 60 years ago. He had found the house a few days back after hitching a ride on the back of a farm truck out into the country. He had to get away from the city for a while; there were a few groups of people who were now looking for him, including the police due to a report or two of Lucas breaking and entering. He had never done anything to hurt anyone, but being homeless with no money he had to do a few things to keep himself alive, and that meant finding food however he could. Needless to say, he had decided it was best to lay low for a while and headed right out of town.
THE REST HERE
FATE
from Latin fatum, literally, "what has been spoken"
by aaron robb
One often wonders how events somehow come together in such a fashion that they seem to be predestined. Hands of the so called "fates" drive our lives, sometimes erratically and sometimes they seem to group together certain people who have nothing in common but destiny. This certain grouping of fates starts with our journey with Matthew.
Matthew Jackson was a calm man. Friends recent and past will tell you that they had never seen him angered or overly worried. Some in college figured he was stoned most of the time due to his placid nature, but those who knew him really well knew that it was just his personality. This came in handy when he decided to become an arson inspector for an insurance company. Seeing burnt out buildings every day would be depressing enough, but to make things worse they sometimes come with a dead body. It just happens that the latest assignment was just that. An old factory in a small town had been burnt down in what looked like an accident, but it got bad when the body of a homeless man was found inside. The police said it was an electrical fire, but when Matthew and the local fire marshal looked it over, they ruled it arson. And this meant Matthew had to watch the medical examiner expect the body found to get any evidence to send back to his company.
Now on his way home, the 4 hour drive in the dark was not looking very pleasing. He just got off the phone with his wife, who now was in bed, and was missing his own soft pillow. His mind mulled over the case from earlier today, thinking what forms he needed to fill out in the morning and making mental notes of what he had to do. He was almost in a daze when his headlights caught the figure of a man on the side of the road. He barely had time to snap out of his daze and swerve his car back into his lane before he just missed clipping the hitchhiker. It took a few seconds of shock before his heart beat normal again. Then a few extra seconds until his humanity kicked in and he realized that the poor man back there was standing in the rain on a highway where he may be the last car for hours. He slowed his car down and pulled over. Throwing it into reverse he slowly backed along the shoulder until he glimpsed the figure in the distance. By now the hitchhiker had seen him reversing and started to walk his way. A handful of seconds later Matthew rolled down the passenger side window and looked and looked into the tired wet face, noticing that fate wore an army green coat and pants.
Lucas started his day like any other: woke up from a bad dream, looked around and realized that it wasn't a dream; he really was sleeping in an abandoned house on a bare mattress that was made 60 years ago. He had found the house a few days back after hitching a ride on the back of a farm truck out into the country. He had to get away from the city for a while; there were a few groups of people who were now looking for him, including the police due to a report or two of Lucas breaking and entering. He had never done anything to hurt anyone, but being homeless with no money he had to do a few things to keep himself alive, and that meant finding food however he could. Needless to say, he had decided it was best to lay low for a while and headed right out of town.
THE REST HERE
Monday, November 06, 2006
Come hither Robin Hood!
As attention spans get smaller and bigbox stores get larger, it has come to this writer’s attention that the world seems content to be separated by class and money. The wealthy are getting richer off of first world nations’ hunger for anything that makes life easier and more fun, while the poorer nations are only getting…well…poorer.
Its amazing how self-centered and cheap people are as we see in a recent study of church tithing (giving of money to the church). While the bible recommends giving upwards of 10% of what you make to the church, a meager 1.5% is actually given. Could you imagine the tens of millions that the church could be using to help the poor (if that is indeed what the ‘church’ did with the money)?
What if the 50 richest people in the world gave even 10% of what they made to the poor countries to aid with relief or just to get healthcare.
A modern-day Robin Hood character is what I am suggesting to relinquish this divide of rich and poor. We have tried asking for money (and some does come to the aid of those in need when you show photos of crying children with no shoes in mud huts). There have been celebrity charities and spokespeople (some of which have done amazing things, thank you Bono). But what the world needs now is a vigilante whose only goal is to take from the rich who spend money on frivolous things without thinking about the money, and get it to those who need it. Someone who works under the cover of night and secrecy, whose ambition it is to not have the glamour of being in the spotlight for doing these deeds but who does it for the glory of those in need. There are so many Prince John’s in the world today, although some take the form of entertainers or tycoons, and who aren’t evil animals (see the children’s cartoon for reference on evil animals), but still they ‘hoard’ and ‘tax’ without giving back.
Where is our arrow-shooting, law-evading hero? Has our society become so registrated and policed that there is no hope for people who will do what is right and take from the rich? Why doesn’t the world care about the people dying every day from hunger and lack of healthcare?
It is because society thinks that there are ‘other people’ helping and that they don’t need to because of those good Samaritans. Ignorance is a great inhibitor of feelings and thoughts, especially if it is something that you only see on TV, where fact and fiction get so jumbled up that the subconscious mind has a problem deciphering.
I say let the Robin Hoods come! Lets start a revolution where having too much money doesn’t give you the leisure of being ignorant. You don’t need that extra Porsche, or that fifty thousand foot addition onto your second guesthouse. Beware those who are wealthy and don’t help humanity! Keep your silver pouches in eyesight, for you never know when a hero will come out of the forest’s shadows to snatch it from your carriage!
Its amazing how self-centered and cheap people are as we see in a recent study of church tithing (giving of money to the church). While the bible recommends giving upwards of 10% of what you make to the church, a meager 1.5% is actually given. Could you imagine the tens of millions that the church could be using to help the poor (if that is indeed what the ‘church’ did with the money)?
What if the 50 richest people in the world gave even 10% of what they made to the poor countries to aid with relief or just to get healthcare.
A modern-day Robin Hood character is what I am suggesting to relinquish this divide of rich and poor. We have tried asking for money (and some does come to the aid of those in need when you show photos of crying children with no shoes in mud huts). There have been celebrity charities and spokespeople (some of which have done amazing things, thank you Bono). But what the world needs now is a vigilante whose only goal is to take from the rich who spend money on frivolous things without thinking about the money, and get it to those who need it. Someone who works under the cover of night and secrecy, whose ambition it is to not have the glamour of being in the spotlight for doing these deeds but who does it for the glory of those in need. There are so many Prince John’s in the world today, although some take the form of entertainers or tycoons, and who aren’t evil animals (see the children’s cartoon for reference on evil animals), but still they ‘hoard’ and ‘tax’ without giving back.
Where is our arrow-shooting, law-evading hero? Has our society become so registrated and policed that there is no hope for people who will do what is right and take from the rich? Why doesn’t the world care about the people dying every day from hunger and lack of healthcare?
It is because society thinks that there are ‘other people’ helping and that they don’t need to because of those good Samaritans. Ignorance is a great inhibitor of feelings and thoughts, especially if it is something that you only see on TV, where fact and fiction get so jumbled up that the subconscious mind has a problem deciphering.
I say let the Robin Hoods come! Lets start a revolution where having too much money doesn’t give you the leisure of being ignorant. You don’t need that extra Porsche, or that fifty thousand foot addition onto your second guesthouse. Beware those who are wealthy and don’t help humanity! Keep your silver pouches in eyesight, for you never know when a hero will come out of the forest’s shadows to snatch it from your carriage!
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