Archive for ‘The Institute’

January 30th, 2009

Fully alive


For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology course with Dan Wilt.

We become like what we worship.¹


Let’s take a moment and consider this.

First, what are things that people worship?

Career, power, money, food, God, people, achievements, sex, clothes, tv, status, books, religion, beauty, peace…the list could go on & on & on.

Now think of what/who you worship.

Contrast the characteristics of what/who you say you worship to the characteristics of your life.  Does your life resemble what you say you worship or does it resemble something else? What are you giving most of your time, money, energy to? Answering these to questions should give us insight into what or who we are worshipping. We become like, we reflect, the characteristics of what we worship.

Here’s the thing, every human being is a worshipper.


It’s in the fabric of our being. Our Creator, God created us. He created us in His image. He created us to worship. God created us to worship Him.

In the beginning humans reflected God. What was once a brilliant reflection of God was shattered when sin entered the world. Humans’ relationship with God was changed forever.

Through Jesus, God’s given us a way to become a new creation – to reflect once again His image.

As NT Wright asks:

“So what happens when we worship the Creator God whose plan to rescue the world and put it to rights has been accomplished by the Lamb who was slain?”²


We gaze in love and gratitude at the God in whose image we were made. We grow and we discover more of what it means to be fully alive.“³

Fully alive what does that mean for you?


¹N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, Why Christianity Makes Sense (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006), p.148

²Ibid

³Ibid


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January 23rd, 2009

Jaw-drop astounding

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology course with Dan Wilt

Last year I was driving our car and my daughters were with me. The trip was memorable. It was not the destination that made the trip memorable, it was the conversation we had on the way to our destination.

Olivia: Mom, do we worship 3 gods?
Me (trying to cover my surprise): No, why would you ask that?
Olivia (reciting a prayer she’s learned from preschool): God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit.
Me (thanking God that I knew the prayer): What comes after ‘God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit?’
Olivia: 3 in 1.
Me: That’s right Olivia. God is three – Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit and one. The three are God. We have a word for it – the Trinity.
Olivia: Oh.


Olivia shifted the conversation to another topic with the speed and agility that 5 year olds have when it comes to switching topics.  I have to admit, I was relieved to be done with the topic.


The Trinity.

It’s a difficult concept for us to grasp isn’t it? How can God be three, yet one?

I’m reading a book by N.T. Wright that has impacted my understanding not only of God as Trinity, but also my understanding of the Kingdom of God (heaven meeting earth).
In Simply Christian, Why Christianity Makes Sense Wright skillfully outlines the role God the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit have in reclaiming all of creation.
Wright’s explanation of how heaven meets earth has jolted my view of the Kingdom of God. More specifically, Jesus’ work bringing heaven to earth and joining them together forever ¹ along with explaining the Spirit’s role in our lives.

God offers us, through the Spirit, the gift of being at last what we know in our bones we were meant to be: creatures that live in both dimensions of his created order.² Right now the Holy Spirit is reclaiming me, my human self, so that I ‘can be both part of the new creation in advance and someone through whom it begins to happen here and now.’ ³

astoundingThat’s jaw-drop astounding to me!

God as Trinity lets us see how God relates to humankind⁴ and I’m not waiting for Olivia to bring up the topic for us to start talking about it again.  The conversation has already started in our house.

I want to understand and I want my girls to understand God as Trinity not for the sake of knowledge, but rather so we can know our Father, our Savior King and our Helper more and more as we live out our lives reflecting Him.

The Kingdom of God is here. The whole world is God’s holy land and we Christ followers are called to be part of that reclaiming.⁵

What are your thoughts?

Would you be comfortable talking with a 5 year old (or an adult) about the Trinity?

Interested in reading Simply Christian? You can find it here.

¹N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, Why Christianity Makes Sense (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006), p.102
²Ibid, p.136
³Ibid, p. 126
⁴Dan Wilt, Essentials in Worship Theology PDF, The Nature of God, p. 13
⁵N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, Why Christianity Makes Sense (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006), pp. 125-126

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January 16th, 2009

We all have it.

For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology course with Dan Wilt

There is something we all have.

We carry it with us, deleting from it, adding to it, &  making revisions. Whether we want it or not, we have it.

What we think of God. What we think about God.

Each of us have thoughts, ideas and concepts of God. Who He is or isn’t. How God pertains to our lives. Our beliefs about Him. We may or may not be able to give a brief summary, write a paper or book on it, but we all have thoughts, ideas and concepts of God.

There is a word for this:  theology.

How we live our lives can’t help but be influenced by our theology – what we think about God.

Theology shows itself over time, in the way we live, the way we relate, the way we communicate and in the way we worship.¹


Where do my beliefs about God come from?

Have you every asked yourself that question? If you have, then you know the torrent of questions that follow it. There is no easy or quick answer. Once you set out to answer that question, you begin a journey that can continue for the rest of your life.

For me that journey means reading the bible and moving beyond what the words say. Reading the bible and understanding what it means AND learning how to live the meaning out in my own life. My journey includes asking questions of those who are living out the life of a Christ follower as well as learning from the lives of Christ followers who have lived before me.

This journey is not a question to gain more knowledge. If that is what it turns into, then I’ve missed  a crucial part of this journey. It’s a path I’ve chosen to take because I want my life to be one that is pleasing to God. I desire to be a good and faithful servant with all that God has entrusted me with.

Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you;collect my counsels and guard them with your life.

Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom;
set your heart on a life of Understanding.
That’s right—if you make Insight your priority,
and won’t take no for an answer,
Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold,
like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,
Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours;
you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God.

And here’s why: God gives out Wisdom free,
is plainspoken in Knowledge and Understanding.
He’s a rich mine of Common Sense for those who live well,
a personal bodyguard to the candid and sincere.
He keeps his eye on all who live honestly,
and pays special attention to his loyally committed ones.

So now you can pick out what’s true and fair,
find all the good trails!



Proverbs 2:1-9 (The Message)


Theology, we all have it. What are you going to do with yours?

¹Dan Wilt, Essentials in Worship Theology (PDF from essentials *blue, Studies in Worship Theology and Biblical Worldview), p.3

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