My Wife is a Minister of the Word

My wife is a minister of the Word.  What I mean by that is that she is a proclaimer of the Gospel.  She works part-time as a labour and delivery nurse at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, but it is more than a job for her, it is a vocation. A vocation is a calling. It …

How to Write a Worship Song

The guys at Blimey Cow have this for all the future songwriters out there.

21st Century Hymns

One of the benefits of setting up the PowerPoint for worship on Sunday is you often have to type the words to the songs into the computer. I have often found a profound sermon hidden in the words of a hymn we will sing (often more profound than the sermon I was going to preach). …

Worship is Beyond Words

Worship is a profound topic worthy of deep and humble reflection which is why I am always skeptical of people who have simple answers to contemporary worship issues. Worship is grounded in the profound notion that God is completely other.  He is not in any way part of His own creation nor is he obligated …

To Serve is to Suffer

International news has taken a dark turn in the past couple of days for the cause of Jesus Christ.  It was reported on Saturday that ten aid workers were shot dead in Afghanistan  last Friday. Today the Toronto Star reports that Christians in China are being attacked by mobs, who have the unofficial backing of the Chinese government. …

Our Weekly Meal Together

This Sunday we are talking about Mark 14: 22-31 where Jesus institutes what we call 'The Lord's Supper.' or the observance of Communion. In my church tradition, we observe this symbolic feast each week. This wasn't just any meal that Jesus was eating when he did this but was actually the Passover meal that Orthodox …

Two or Three Gathered

An often misunderstood text is found in Matt 18: 20, “For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them.” I once heard this verse being used as a directive that Christian fellowship with a local church was not needed since all that is necessary for a legitimate worship service …

Me Worship

So long as man remains free, he strives for nothing so incessantly and painfully as to find someone to worship -Dostoyevsky You were made for worship.  We fulfill our purpose in life when we are worshiping. It's not a question of if we will worship, but what, or who we will worship. In our Acts …

Dangerous

I have been working like crazy lately to get a paper done for a course I finished last month.  It is late but I almost have it done.  It is about worship and I have been reading a lot of books on the subject.  One of my favourites that I would like to reread when …

An Open Letter To My Song Leader

This is not a letter to any particular song leader, or worship leader but a general letter to all who serve or lead in worship. Dear Song Leader, First of all, I want to express my appreciation for what you bring to a worship assembly. It is difficult to sing in front of a group …