It is a strange Sunday for me as I write this. After having written fifteen articles on the need to be in worship with others on Sunday, I find myself sorrowfully not able to be in worship myself this morning.
My mother suffered a catastrophic stroke several weeks ago. She had written out multiple and very specific advance directives, all of which were ignored by the first hospital to which she was taken. After winding our way through the medical system, going into skilled nursing with feeble and failed attempts at rehab, she ended up at a different hospital. They carefully read her directives and said, after noting the multiple violations, “What is going on here?” |
|
Read more...
|
|
Today, I've reached the final excuse that actually sparked the whole series of the top fifteen reasons for avoiding transformational worship gatherings.
The other fourteen ranged from complaints about the checkered history of the church to frustration over unclear and divergent doctrines to the personal sense of feeling unworthy, unwelcomed, or unknowledgable about the mysteries of church language and customs. |
|
Read more...
|
|
Several weeks ago, I watched this year's induction into the Football Hall of Fame. In almost every case, these exceptional athletes first gave honor to discipline of practicing their faith as a key factor in their athletic success. Clearly, church life had permeated their hearts and minds. Football was their occupation; excellence their goal; but the development of their souls through worship was not discarded or put aside in the process. |
|
Read more...
|
From the beginning of this series on why people avoid worship, I’ve defined worship as a time when unrelated people gather together to acknowledge God and intentionally move beyond our humanness into an understanding of the Holy. An integral part of transformational worship lies in the connection we make with others think differently than we do.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
|
