Yesterday we had our first "Experience God" Sunday at CrossTalk (our catchy name for sunday school). Scott and I thought it would be cool to bring the students together once a month to experience God in a new and unique way.
I thought yesterday was great. We wanted to experience God through Worshiping Him with singing. Sounds unique doesn't it? Well, we did it a little different than you might be thinking. It was set up as a "Worship through the Ages" and we looked at how people praised God through song in Jesus' day (or how we think the chant sounded), we then looked at what singing praises to God looked like for the monks. Thanks to Nate Cripps for showing us how Gregorian Chant would have sounded like, and even explaining the latin you were chanting.
We then moved on to more familiar territory. We sang old hymns. Starting back in 1707 we sang a song that has been praising God for over three hundred years. Very cool! We moved from hymns to the spiritual songs/hymns of the 19th century, then went right into the awesome 80's! Shine Jesus Shine still has a special place in my heart, a place that I don't like to think of very often...which takes us to the point of the day. God can be praised, even if we don't like the style of song we are singing.
Let me say it again. God can be praised, even if we don't like the style of music.
That is something that plagues our churches here in America! That is something that plagues our church at Believers Fellowship, starting with me. I need to remember that when I sing to God, it is about Him. It is about praising Him, and not about pleasing me or my favorite style (which is early 90's white Christian rap ie. DC Talk style).
So next time you go to church, and there is worship through singing, try to praise God even if you don't like that music.
Look for more "Experience God" Sundays on the last Sunday of every month. It will bring a fresh view of God as we experience Him in a different way every month.
much Love,
Johnny
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Back from retirement
Remember those cool Michael Jordan commercials where everyone would sing..."I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be like Mike!" Well, Michael Jordan retired from basketball to go play baseball. He didn't quite make the cut, and went back to basketball. Then he retired again because he was getting old...but he came back.
That is sort of like this blog. We didn't exactly retire, but we certainly seemed to. But on the flip side, I don't think anyone read those first two blogs to begin with. Hopefully that will change. And hopefully this blog will serve it's purpose.
A place to get the most up to date info on Crosswalk Student Ministries. For instance, we now have a purpose statement. It is...
We are a community striving to glorify God by growing in the Lord, living the grace of Jesus Christ, & sharing the truth to the people we encounter.
So look for all that we do as a ministry to reflect at least a portion of that.
This blog will also be a great place to hear the heart of what God is teaching Johnny and Scott. We will be candid and honest with you. We promise.
Oh, by the way! We had to say good bye to our awesome Middle School staff over the summer. We want to pray for Reid as he starts his career at Denver Seminary, where he will pursue a Master in Counseling. You can check what he's up to by going to his blog www.reidintoit.blogspot.com. Laura also stepped down from youth staff after graduating from the University of Washington Tacoma. She is still helping out on a volunteer level though, which we are very grateful for.
And with that team leaving, we say hello to our newest hire...Scott Schubert! He comes to us from Colorado via California. He is a really neat guy, and you should get to know him. He has a huge heart for training up students to love God with all thier might, and love thier neighbor as themselves. Look for future posts from him, as he will be sharing the blog with me.
And that does it. We are back from retirement...sort of. Look for info about midnight madness soon! It is going to be rad.
much Love,
Johnny
That is sort of like this blog. We didn't exactly retire, but we certainly seemed to. But on the flip side, I don't think anyone read those first two blogs to begin with. Hopefully that will change. And hopefully this blog will serve it's purpose.
A place to get the most up to date info on Crosswalk Student Ministries. For instance, we now have a purpose statement. It is...
We are a community striving to glorify God by growing in the Lord, living the grace of Jesus Christ, & sharing the truth to the people we encounter.
So look for all that we do as a ministry to reflect at least a portion of that.
This blog will also be a great place to hear the heart of what God is teaching Johnny and Scott. We will be candid and honest with you. We promise.
Oh, by the way! We had to say good bye to our awesome Middle School staff over the summer. We want to pray for Reid as he starts his career at Denver Seminary, where he will pursue a Master in Counseling. You can check what he's up to by going to his blog www.reidintoit.blogspot.com. Laura also stepped down from youth staff after graduating from the University of Washington Tacoma. She is still helping out on a volunteer level though, which we are very grateful for.
And with that team leaving, we say hello to our newest hire...Scott Schubert! He comes to us from Colorado via California. He is a really neat guy, and you should get to know him. He has a huge heart for training up students to love God with all thier might, and love thier neighbor as themselves. Look for future posts from him, as he will be sharing the blog with me.
And that does it. We are back from retirement...sort of. Look for info about midnight madness soon! It is going to be rad.
much Love,
Johnny
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