My latest morning live session gave some insights into my own experience with Christian Deconstruction. If you aren’t familiar with this phraseology, think of it like tearing down a house in order to see what the foundation is made of. Many Christians go through this process once they are confronted with a crisis of adversity or prosperity. Jesus spoke about this directly in his parable of the different soils in Matthew 13. While only one of the plants in this parable bore fruit and proved to be genuine, two others looked like legit plants until they were confronted with trials, adversity, or the pleasures of this world. When those came around they were shown to be what they were, a fake plant. Personally, I went through this deconstruction process at the end of 2017. I was very suddenly without a spouse, job, or church. My roles of husband, pastor, ministry leader, and churchman were removed and I was left to consider what my faith really rested on. Was it based on what I wa...
Each Sunday of Advent I'll be featuring a different Christmas song we use in our worship. Hopefully, you'll be introduced to some new and engaging songs that will bring freshness to your personal and corporate worship. ( 12.2 - O Sing a Song of Bethlehem / 12.9 - Christ the Lord is Born Today / 12.16 - When He Comes / 12.23 - In the First Light ) "O Sing a Song of Bethlehem" text by Louis Benson, melody by Lucy Broadwood and Ralph Vaughan Williams Alternative arrangement and lyrics- "How Suddenly a Baby Cries" by Keith and Kristyn Getty , released on Joy: An Irish Christmas , 2011 (this is the Getty's arrangement which gets pretty upbeat at about 1:40 into the song) You can find this original hymn in most of the hymnals at church. It is number 167 in ours. I like both arrangements of this tune as each emphasize different elements. Why I recommend this song for worship- The hymn text of this song traces the life of Christ from the cr...
"You Are God Alone (Not a God)" by Philips, Craig, and Dean, released on Let the Worshippers Arise (2004) Why I recommend this song for worship- As we come before the Lord in worship, it is important to remember Who we are worshiping. We aren't coming before a famous singer or venerated politician. We aren't about to see our favorite sports team play. This is God we are addressing. This song reminds us of who God is and why He is worthy of our worship. It takes the focus off us and fixes our eyes on the Father. The melody honors the lyrics and lets us build on different themes emotionally and musically. This song has always been a great reminder to me of God's sovereignty and leaves me standing in awe that He could love someone like me. Changes I've Made- I haven't adjusted too much with this one. They keys posted below are both pretty singable, but I would recommend doing it in A (or G with capo 2 for guitar). Any lower and the verses get ha...
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