When Worship and Praise is Shelved

Can Christians be honest in admitting that praise is absent?

Chris Tomlin sings a song that has grabbed the core of my heart. While the lyrics of “I Lift My Hands” speak of God’s love, mercy, & faithfulness, it is a repeated refrain within the song that seizes me. It’s not the talk of God as our strength or refuge or healer—which can be found in the song—but this:

I lift my hands to believe again.

What? Believe again? Could it possibly mean that we once believed and now –DOUBT? Did we once lift our hands in worship and glorious praise only to now stand with wilted head and dangling hands in our pain, doubt and disbelief?

Worship for Dummies

Like a Georgia Pine in a sea of Dogwoods, Marva J. Dawn’s Reaching Out without Dumbing Down. A Theology of Worship for the Turn-of-the-Century Culture, stands out among the myriads of writings on worship. It tops my list of books on worship.

Knowing how to fit culture into our worship—and not the other way around—is the primary focus of Dawn. Culture cannot be avoided in our worship, and true worship should not elude us because of our culture. Dawn’s concern is that the American Christian’s worship is being “dumbed down” because

The New Tolerance

Tolerance is a word that is commonly used today to mean something it was never intended to mean. Today, when you hear the word tolerance it most likely is used in the context of acceptance and approval. But this is not what the word was intended to mean.  Staying true to its meaning, to tolerate means to “put up with error.”  Toleration, in its purest sense, refers to the ability to “live with” something we don’t approve. In order to tolerate, we must first disapprove, dislike, or disagree.

I don’t tolerate steak. I tolerate brussell sprouts.

I don’t tolerate chocolate. I tolerate coconut.

I don’t tolerate air conditioning. I tolerate high temperatures and humidity.

I don’t tolerate the smell of chocolate chip cookies baking. I tolerate the smell of cigarettes.

Paul Copan states it well, “We tolerate what we disapprove of or what we believe to be false or erroneous.” If disappointment or dislike didn’t exist then we would not have a need for toleration. To quote Copan again, “It is because real differences exist between people that tolerance become

What’s So Great about Christianity

“It is the little whisper, if we will hear it, that our science even today rests on religious foundations.” Though not a common thread in Christian conversation, this statement is just one example of the author’s assertion that science, philosophy and mathematics are interwoven, and belong, within Christianity.

Seeking a Balanced View of Jesus?

It could be argued that there are two extremes in beliefs regarding Jesus Christ. For instance, some believe that Jesus is God who was incarnated in earthly flesh. Others, however, go to an opposite extreme and argue that Jesus did not exist. In the middle of these two radically opposing views is a professed balanced belief that Jesus is a true historical figure and, though not God, was a good moral teacher. This belief could be summarized like this, “I accept Jesus as a great moral teacher but I refuse to believe he was, or is, God.” Yet, how rational is this middle-of-road view?

Think Less, Pray More…Not!

The church sign along Five Forks Trickum Road in suburban Atlanta shouted its message: Think Less, Pray More. I didn’t like it!

The Stranger at Six Flags

This is a story difficult to write. I shudder even as my fingers touch the keyboard. Though it happened over a decade ago, it still has the power to send me into a near panic attack.

One of the traditions in our family is for me to take each of our children on a trip to Six Flags over Georgia when they turn 7.  Our son Seth turned 7 over the winter months, and so when spring came in 1999 the two of us rose early one morning and drove down from Elizabethton, Tennessee to Atlanta to enjoy the day on roller coasters, water rides, bumper cars and other amusements meant to thrill or bring smiles. It was a memorable day.

This story focuses on a bridge in the park. This bridge is strategically placed over one of the water rides. Those on the bridge, as the ride comes crashing down a steep slope, are splashed with water just as the ride hits the pool at the bottom of the slope. On a hot day it’s not uncommon to see people lined across the bridge waiting for the big splash to cool them.