lumière de monde
Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes let me see
Beauty that made
This heart adores You
Hope of a life spent with You
So here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You're my God
And You're altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me
King of all days
Oh so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came
To the earth You created
All for love's sake became poor
And I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
And I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
matt redman
entries
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
OMW THIS ROCKS!!!!!!!! along the same lines as the previous post....
Sometimes I Dress Like a Pagan
Sometimes I dress like a pagan.
I don't wear a pentagram, like this stereotypically GenX pagan from totl
I often dress casually, but thats not necessarily pagan.
The question of what Jesus would wear has been chewed over in many emerging church circles, but no absolute certainty has been achieved. We do know he was given his one-piece garment and it was a QUALITY item, fought over at his death.
Last week I went to church with holes in my jeans. Someone (not a church goer) commented that in her day, people “dressed up” for church. I asked her whether she was assuming that God was always formal in His dress preference. It's very possible that when God turned up for his first appointment with humans, he would have worn something appropriate for that meeting. And since the meeting took place in a lush and verdant garden, He was probably NOT dressed in a suit. Maybe he was dressed like a farmer?
A good description of “pagan” in found in the Bible.
Jesus said “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:28-35
[Chip Bell has some excellent thoughts on Kingdom Economy as he tackles these verses]
It seems that worrying over fashion, and running after the money to buy it, is a pagan activity. But the question remains:
How do pagans DRESS while they are running after such things as what to eat or drink (are restaurants the new temples?) or going shopping for clothes (are shopping malls the new temples?), or just dressing for success and financial security?
Hollywood gives us some fashion clues . . .
Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas) from the movie WallStreet models the kind of clothing that greedy pagans wear when they are running after such things as wealth, success and financial security. Gecko gives give fashion tips to Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) on how to dress for success.
LOVE THAT TIE!!!! Now there's a real pagan!
The Devils Advocate is another revealing movie about greed and pagan dress codes.
In the movie, Lucifer incarnate (Al Pacino) helps his protege to climb the ladder of success and look good doing it - despite risking his soul in the process.
Sharp suits!!!!!
A more recent movie suggests the the devil wears Prada.
Ahhh . . mmmmmm . . . .
But there are times when I also dress like a pagan and other times when i just wear what i feel like.
What would I wear to meet God?
Something appropriate, I would hope.
Like, if God was meeting me on the golf course, I would probably dress like this:
Technorati Tags: christianity
and I assume that God would be appropriately attired also.
A site named Slice of Laodicea had a recent post on pagan dress and blue mohawks, like those found in those “emergent” churches. In case you were wondering, my son's blue mohawk has been replaced with a basic hairstyle - yes, its red - but its very simple.
Nothing pagan about dying your hair - otherwise half the senior citizens in my old church need to repent!
But I tend to differ on how pagans dress. And sometimes I dress like a pagan. . .. . . when i attend traditional
Christian churches that insist i dress like a pagan or Christian conferences . .
Wait a minute . . . where's my pagan tie?
But God understands. And although people look at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart. Thats why its good to fear God and a trap to fear the opinions of people.
- posted by SunnyD @
6:20 PM
This article by
Mark Driscoll is fabulous food for thought, and just so happens to address one of the issues I'm constantly considering.....
A while back
"Dear Abby" was asked a missional theology question. A debate ensued when one of her readers asked if people should be expected to dress up for church. The responses were all over the map:
- A priest who likely wears a dress/robe curiously said, "I'm appalled at how some people come dressed for Sunday worship. . . . What has become relaxed is the attitude, the respect and reverence people have for worship and church buildings. . . the lack of respect and reverence to worship is disgusting. These same people would never allow their children to play in a sporting event out of uniform, or apply for a job interview themselves dressed inappropriately. Sunday worship should be no different!"
- Diana from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, wrote in, "More important than what people are wearing is the reason for being in church in the first place. Maybe it would be better if we could all enter God's house blind. If we can't see what people are wearing, we can leave our judgments and prejudices outside and use the time to learn more about God's purpose for our lives."
- A cowboy from Iowa wrote in, possibly with a crayon, "That we worship is more important than what we wear. That letter reminded me of the story of the old cowboy who visited a new church in his jeans and boots. After the service, the pastor greeted him and remarked, 'We enjoyed having you here today, but before you return, you should have a talk with God about proper attire in church.' The next week, the cowboy returned wearing the same clothes, so the pastor approached him again. 'I thought I told you to speak with God about what to wear when you came here,' he said. The cowboy responded, 'I did. But he said he didn't know because he'd never set foot in here!'"
- Barbara from Pennsylvania wrote, My pastor says no one would consider dressing casually if they were going to be in the presence of our president or any other dignitary. Why would we consider anything less for our Lord? Makes perfect sense to me."
- And Matthew in Peoria wrote, "Church is where you go to give praise to the Lord, not check out what others are wearing. If 'Dismayed' feels put out because someone isn't dressed the way she'd like, then maybe the services should be held at Macy's so she can feel more comfortable."
The entire exchange raises an interesting series of questions, such as:
- If God is our Father and the church is our family, should we view going to church services as a formal event or a family event?
- If we are to welcome the poor and socially outcast, does a dress code essentially push such people away from church?
- If people become overly worried about their appearance instead of their heart, are they like the Pharisees that Jesus chastised for only washing the outside of the proverbial cup?
- Is the church building somehow a magical sacred space like the Old Testament Temple? Or is it simply a place where God's people gather that is no more and no less sacred than the homes they live in, now that the Spirit has been released from the Holy of Holies into the whole earth?
- Do we think that Jesus the homeless guy who was born in a barn was dressed up when He held church outdoors?
- Why should we press for formal dress in church when one of the only passages in the New Testament that speaks about what to wear to church rebukes women for dressing up to the degree that they turned church into a fashion show (1 Timothy 2:9-10)?
- When Jesus says that people judge the outward but God is looking at the heart, does that mean that as long as women don't show up in clear heels looking like they need an aluminum pole to dance around, appearance is really a secondary matter?
- Since we are supposed to be hospitable and welcome people to church as missionaries, does it not make sense to dress like "normal" people rather than make normal people dress up like "church" people?
At our church I usually preach in a button-up shirt, jeans, and boots. A number of our worship bands, especially the indie rock ones at the evening services, play in t-shirts, jeans, and flip-flops. This is something I've been thinking through since I will be preaching a twelve-week series on questions about Jesus this fall. For the series, I am planning on wearing some funny Jesus t-shirts to show how much of a pop-culture icon Jesus is. They say things like:
- Jesus is watching you smoke that weed!
- Jesus is watching you download porn!
- Jesus is my homeboy
- Buddy Christ (from Dogma)
- Jesus vs. Satan (from South Park)
- WWJD for a Klondike Bar
- I heart Jesus and french fries
"Dear Abby" hit one of the more debated missional theology issues in our day that is related to many other issues, such as how we view God (e.g., daddy, boss, or president), church buildings (e.g., God's special house or just another room), what constitutes a church (e.g., a formal building or a people who love Jesus), and the feel of a church service (e.g., formal meeting or family reunion).
- posted by SunnyD @
5:57 PM
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
- posted by SunnyD @
10:24 PM
Sunday, September 02, 2007
"Alison needs" aka "meme"
Google your name followed by needs... then record the top ten results besides other people's memes... you can comment following each in italics.... can be quite amusing... similar to the meme where you tyoe your name followed by "is".... X-D
1)
Alison needs to argue something like this: heat exchangers are not required, but when they do exist, then the Criteria require that one determine what ...
(uhhhmm... riiiight...)
2) alison needs a nap badly
(tis true!)
3) "Alison Needs Males"
(Steve for sure!)
4) alison needs you to host a Coordination Group meeting in the coming year
(cuz she's so un-coorinated... umhum...)
5) Alison needs to type up a letter
(yes, letters are good, and i am bad for slacking in that )
6) Alison needs a team of committed people to pray for her and her ministry.
(I'm sure she does... )
7) Alison needs to see her leadership is not simply a service she is performing
(ok... then what is it???)
8) Alison needs help to get in the hole
(sure... what the black hole?? sounds exciting...)
9) Alison needs to learn how to pose in pictures
(yeah... ok so i'm not the most stunning photogentic person... :-p)
10) Alison needs a trim picture published by agswann
(whatever that is...)
- posted by SunnyD @
1:32 PM
