Archive for October, 2006

This one’s for the worship leaders.

If you haven’t already, go and bookmark www.worshiptogether.com. This site highlights a different worship leader or band every week, along with some great goodies.

Let’s take this week for example. Featured are Chris Tomlin and Matt Maher with their song “Your Grace is Enough”. You can download free sheet music for the song, read a bit about Chris’s background and new album, and then delve into Matt’s Bible study on the topic of God’s grace.

Also worth a mention are the Shure Notes articles on church sound, giving handy tips on getting the most out of the audio gear you have available, and what to look out for when shopping for new toys equipment.

But what gets me visiting the site again and again is the New Song Café video segment - in my opinion the single most useful resource on the net for worship musos. The song writers play through their song (invariably on the guitar) and then teach you how to play it, showing the exact chord shapes and techniques they use. Awesome!

For me, this is a huge testament to “the heart of worship”: artists literally giving away their trade secrets, so that God may be glorified through their songs in worship services all around the world. It speaks volumes for where these guys are at.

Unfortunately old episodes of New Song Café aren’t archived, although they are sometimes repeated. But it’s definitely best to get it while it’s hot!

Matthew 18:20
“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them”

This is probably the most important verse about friends in the bible. Having Christian friends, why? Because when you come together with them, there God is.

How many Christian friends do you have?

What is the time with them spent doing?

Do realize that God is there at your gathering?

Have you ever tapped into God’s presence, that power, when you spend time together?

Lord, help us to become more aware of You, where and when we meet our friends, to really use that time positively, edifying each other, and learning more about You!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

You don’t really expect the bible to say much on friends, but this verse so clearly states the importance of having friends. We think its just natural, part of our social nature. But actually its biblical! God did not create us to be alone but in relationship with the other people around us he has created!

Lord, thanks that you created friendship, thank-you that you created me to need friends!

At our last Bible study a rather random question surfaced: “If you saw a bench with a sign on it saying ‘Wet paint’, would you still touch it?” All of the guys agreed that they would. Thinking that it may be just a guy thing (since it was a guys’ Bible study), we promptly got sms’ing some ladies in our address books to ask them the question as well. It turns out that it’s not a guy thing, as most ladies would also touch it… So it got me thinking why?

After much thought I think I have a reason. I think it’s because as humans we think truth is more reliable when experienced. We can all read, and we all know what the words ‘wet paint’ mean, yet somehow we need to touch it, or experience it, to know that it’s true.

(more…)

Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity

Proverbs 18:24
A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs is full of wisdom on friends and right relationships.

To me Proverb 18 speaks about someone – a friend - who is closer than family, Jesus Christ himself.

Sometimes it can either be easy or hard to see Jesus in that role in our lives, but its good to keep in mind that he would love to fill that role as well.

What about Jesus , what value did he put on friendships?

Matthew 10 highlights the 12 disciples Jesus had.

Matthew 26:36 points out that he chose 3 of those disciple to pray for him.

So out of all the people who followed Jesus and listened to his teaching , He chose 12 people to invest more time and energy to. And then out of the 12, He chose Peter, James and John to be more intimate with.

Look at the friends in your life; see if you have the 3 categories, acquaintances, close, and intimate friends. Secondly look at the ratio of time you spend on the people in those groups , are you giving your most intimate friends (which can be family or spouse) the most amount of time and energy and accountability?

Lets go to the old Testament:

Read about David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel 20

They actually made a covenantal relationship as friends.

Think about the people in your life whom you have that sort of serious, till we die kind of friendship.

If not why not what is stopping you?

Ephesians 5:22-24

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

The main point I want you to notice in the readings about submission is the type of relationship between the wife to the husband (the one women always get upset about!), but more importantly the one the one between the husband and Christ. In the church the body submits to the head, us to Christ – women to man, BUT Christ always submits to his Father God. And so the husband is to be under the submission of Jesus Christ , and honestly what women wouldn’t want that for her family!

Lord, in marriage please teach me your way of submission and the type of relationship that will bring you glory.

If you’re one of the hordes buying into the MySpace phenomenon, you’ll have some idea of how big this new social networking site could be for online Christian community-building - the very concept at the heart of the iChurch vision.

The wonderful news is that the MyChurch team have just opened up registration to churches and members outside of the States. The site is still in beta (a work in progress), and the international features especially might need some bugs smoothed out. That said, MyChurch is definitely both usable and useful in its current form…

In the short time that I’ve spent with it, I’ve grown to love MyChurch even more than I hate MySpace.. and that’s saying a lot! It’s intuitive, ad-free (!) and looks great too… ahhh, can you smell the fresh air?

If you’re keen to join the forefront of internet church (Church 2.0? ), go to www.mychurch.org, sign up and then add me as a friend.

w00t! rejoicing!

…
Update: to find out a bit more about MyChurch.org, listen to this “minicast” feature from GeeksandGod.com:

[audio:http://www.geeksandgod.com/audio/minicast13.mp3]

Today’s reading is as much for the guys as it is for the girls so no skipping it!

A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.

She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.

She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.

She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.

She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.

She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.

In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.

When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.

She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:

“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Looking at the passage , find the type of relationships between men and women.