In Seattle, Mars Hill churchgoers regularly tweet throughout the service. In New York City, Trinity Church marked Good Friday by tweeting the Passion play, detailing the stages of Jesus' crucifixion in short bursts. At Next Level Church, outside Charlotte, it's not only okay to fuse social networking technology with prayer; it's desirable.
On Easter Sunday, pastor Todd Hahn prefaced his sermon by saying, "I hope many of you are tweeting this morning about your experience with God."What is "twittering"? (tweeting)
Voelz and David McDonald, the other senior pastor at Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, Mich., spent two weeks educating their congregation about Twitter, the microblogging site that challenges users to communicate in 140 characters or less. They held training sessions where congregants brought in their laptops, iPhones and Blackberrys. They upped the bandwidth in the auditorium. (Finding God on YouTube)
* * *
A while back I saw a guest at our church typing into his
Blackberry during the sermon. I thought that he might be making sermon notes (and maybe he was). But now I wonder if he was answering emails or "Twittering".Can we ever leave electronic devices alone? For an
HOUR?Do our minds have to be constantly going? Can't we just "be
still" and listen to God's voice?It used to be that cell phones were the big annoyance. In
restaurants, movie theatres and sometimes church. Now Blackberrys?
Texting? Where will this end?Or will it ever?
It seems to me that we are so fixed on our gadgetry that we cannot enjoy silence and calm. Many times we don't greet those walking past us because we're involved in a cell phone conversation already. All of our "quiet" times are filled with gadgetry.
And now worship services too?
What is worship about anyway? Or better still, WHO is
worship about? It's about HIM. God. Jesus. It's FOR
Him. It isn't about us!Think about it.
And leave the gadgetry at home.
You'll enjoy it.
THE HEART OF WORSHIP, by Michael W. Smith
Verse 1:
When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart
Bridge:
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart
Chorus:
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
Verse 2:
King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve
Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath
Bridge:
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart
Chorus:
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
And it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
Chorus:
I'm coming back to the heart of worship,
And it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
Monday, May 04, 2009
What Is Worship About Anyway?
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