Writings on the Wall

by brand new - give it a listen. track 3 is so great.

many thanks to wally for this pickup.

you know i am…click here and find out! dove one onward ho!

GOING TO SEE DEATH CAB!!

oh yea! cant wait…

been working on this tonight - here are some thoughts. enjoy. sorry, it’s kinda long. let me know your thoughts….
My theology of worship begins with simply looking at the original words that were used in the scriptures. Two words are used in the Old Testament: shachah, which means to prostrate oneself, to bow down or stoop before and abad, which shows the idea of work, bond-service, or labor. In the New Testament, one word is primarily used, proskuneo, which means to crouch, to revere and adore, a picture of kissing the hand and bowing down. These words help provide the foundation for my theology of worship.
Simply, I believe worship is a response. It is a response to who God is, what he is doing, what he has done and what he will do. We see this all over the scriptures; in Exodus 34 when Moses has an encounter with God in verse 8 we are told he bows down and worships. In Revelation 4 we get a glimpse into the responses of many people worshipping God. There is a throne that Jesus is sitting on and everyone is falling facedown and worshipping him.  This passage in Revelation shows us that worship is getting the true holy God in proper view – first and foremost on the throne – and how that pulls out of us declarations of worth, acts of service, the desire to sing our hearts out to our creator, falling facedown in awe of him. In Romans, at the end of chapter 11, after Paul has laid the ground work of some rich theology, he ends up in worship. His response after studying how amazing our God is, is to exclaim in verse 33 what a wonderful God we have. This leads us to Romans 12 where Paul pleads with us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. God has done away with the old system of offering sacrifices of animals and now we must live a life that is a sacrifice to him. Our act of worship is to live a life of sacrifice to him.
So as we see in the scriptures – worship is a response. It is a physical response as well as an intellectual response. I believe that body posture has much to do with worship as well. As we worship – our body posture is an outward expression of what is happening on the inside. We must educate our congregations that worship is so much more than singing songs. So many time we make worship all about us – what songs we like, if we felt good, what our preferences would be. This cannot be. When Jesus is on the throne, the center of our lives, than everything we do is in response to that. We must be a part of restoring God’s kingdom here on earth. The Jewish idea of ‘tikkun olam’ – mending the world – speaks volumes to me about worship. My life is one of worship – a full-time response to who God is and what he has done and is doing in my life.
Three responses of a worshipper that we see reflected in scripture are humility, surrender, and obedience. In James 4:7-10 and Micah 6:6-8 we see the attitude and posture that our hearts must have as we strive to be more like Christ. In Exodus 3 and 4 Moses is constantly making excuses but always obeys. His response is here I am – have your way. Also, in Isaiah’s encounter with God he has a proper view of God, confesses and declares “here I am, send me”. A true worshipper sees obedience as an opportunity to commune with God, like the Jews in Exodus 19:7-8. They heard the desires of God and immediately responded, no questions asked.
I desire to become part of a community that is living every moment of life fully aware of God’s presence in this world., recognizing that worship is more than something musical, a specific style, or a form.  Worship is my life lived as an outpouring of a relationship with my creator.  I desire to be a part of a community that celebrates the goodness of God with every aspect of our lives, through a variety of rich and deep expressions.

finished In A Pit… over the break. good stuff. now i have picked up Kite Runner from my mom and Running with Scissors. started reading running with scissors and i am loving it! after that its on to the runner - heard some great stuff about this book. man, i love reading.

so most of you know we are moving soon. we REALLY need to rent our apt. if you are in the houston area or know someone who is and needs a place to live, PLEASE CONTACT US! here is a link to our apt info:

5454 Newcastle Dr

also, you can email me at : onajourney@gmail.com or leave a comment here and i will get in touch with you. thanks!

so this morning i have been listening to our newest pickup:

wow. 5 cds of sufjan and christmas loving for 20 bucks! this is a must have for sure. we are back in houston - and headed off to church. more updates from nc to come…

for the update - go here: our story begins. it has been an amazing time so far! happy thanksgiving to you all!

so after a bumpy ride in the wind and rain we finally landed and made it safe home to nc. matt and allie were at the airport with my folks - so the timing of their drive was perfect! it has been a great night of some nc style bbq and great times catching up. time for bed - looking forward to our stay here. maybe a little bojangles tomorrow…hehhheh

101 Glen Hearth Ct. here we come! we leave tomorrow at 3pm and matt and allie are meeting us there - cant wait! it is going to be a party. if you are in nc - give me a call. we will hang. see ya soon…