"DRAW ME CLOSE" CONVERSATION

I am NOT going to give my opinion on Chuck Colson’s article in Christianity Today called Soothing Ourselves to Death; however, for those of you not following blog-world, it has been a source of much discussion over the last few days. In the article Colson is blasting the song “Draw Me Close” (a contemporary worship song we’ve never done at Parkview… but has been on the radio a lot). More specifically, Colson uses his thoughts about this song as a basis to critique the weaknesses of contemporary Christian music in the church. I am not going to spend time on the specific argument in this post, but did want to share with you part of Bob Kauflin’s thoughts on this issue. He shares some really good points about what it is we need to be about when it comes to selecting and singing music within the church. If you want to read his thoughts in entirety click here.

Bob Kauflin on the issue…

"Is Draw Me Close symptomatic of a larger problem in Christian hymnody? I think so. For more than a hundred years we’ve favored emotional, response-type songs over songs that magnify the nature, attributes, and works of God. We need both, and more songs that help us do both at the same time. We tend to pit doctrine against devotion and both camps end up the worse for it. Is singing this song proof that a particular church has gone off the deep end into subjectivism and man-centered emotion? No. Are there better songs to sing in congregational worship? I believe so.

This is far more than an issue of hymns vs. contemporary choruses. There are sentimental, feeling oriented hymns, as well as contemporary songs with rich theological content. It’s an issue of pastors taking responsibility for what their churches are singing, leading them wisely into truth-based affections, and making sure that good fruit is being produced in their lives. It's also an issue of all of us making sure that we're not taking pride in the particular songs we sing or don't sing.

May we all proclaim the beauty, authority, and truth of Jesus Christ with our lives, remembering that neither passion nor propositional truth is out of place when we worship God. They were meant to go together."

WORSHIPHOUSEMEDIA.COM

Last night I spent about four hours on this site looking through video options for an opening Easter service video. I’ll probably spend another four hours this weekend sorting out images and clips for some other elements in the service. All this to say that if any of you reading this are music, arts, or media directors (or volunteers) in your church, this is a service you’ve got to take advantage of. Most “professional” video sites charge in the neighborhood of $50-$150 for an individual clip. The motion videos on Worship House are around $6-$10 a clip. Granted the downloadable mpeg format is a little grainy, but you can get the DVD for just as good a price. The greatest thing about Worship House Media is that you can access thousands of clips, preview them for content and quality, and download them on the spot.

NOT ANOTHER TOMLIN SONG!

There is a reason that three of the songs we'll be singing this Easter are Chris Tomlin songs. He is a gifted songwriter with a heart for God! It looks like the Gospel Music Association agrees. He just won five trophies at this years GMA award ceremony. For more on this years winners click here.

LEARNING: WHAT A PAIN!

I just read this quote from Mortimer Adler's essay, “Invitation to the Pain of Learning", as quoted on Justin Taylor's blog "Between Two Worlds." It's a great challenge about the price that is worth paying to be a life long learner.

"Whoever passes by what is over his head condemns his head to its present low altitude; for nothing can elevate a mind except what is over its head; and that elevation is not accomplished by capillary attraction, but only by the hard work of climbing up ropes, with sore hands and aching muscles."

To read the full quote go here.

A MUST FOR WOMEN: GIRL TALK

I stumbled across this site while reading a blog by Josh Harris, the Teaching Pastor at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. This blog is called “Conversations on Biblical Womanhood, and Other Fun Stuff.”
(CLICK on the blog title to visit the site)

The web log is written by Carolyn Mahaney and her three daughters Nicole, Kristin, and Janelle. Carolyn is a wife, mother, homemaker, and the author of Feminine Appeal and Girl Talk. During her more than 30 years as a pastor’s wife, Carolyn has spoken to women in many churches and conferences, including those of Sovereign Grace Ministries, which her husband, C.J., leads. C.J. and Carolyn have three married daughters and one twelve-year-old son, Chad.

Guys… get lost! … this is for women!

GOOD THINGS TO COME

Over the last few weeks at Parkview we have been going through a Lenten teaching series in preparation for our Good Friday and Easter celebrations. As previously posted, our Easter weekend theme is Encounter: Experience the Story (Good Friday) and Explore the Truth (Easter Services).

Following our Easter celebration we are going to take five weeks in the series, The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fantasy? Who Really is Jesus? Our specific text for this series is Mark 8:27-9:37. We will look at Jesus as the Messiah, Sufferer, Son, Healer, and Servant.

Following the “Who Really is Jesus?” series, we are going to go into a series called "Living Successfully" on the very practical and engaging book of “Proverbs.” Here are a few message titles from this series; “Listening to Parents and Welcome Rebuke” (bring your kids to this one.... ha!), “Guard Your Heart”, “Be Careful, Not Carefree”, and “Find Wisdom.”

The next six months of services at Parkview promise to both challenge and encourage us in our walk with Christ!

PRAY AWAY

Please pray for our keyboard extraordinaire Dan Van Oss’ family. His father has been in UI hospital for several days with some brain bleeding that has caused some significant memory loss along with several other problems. Please pray for them as Dan, his mom, and brother try to figure out what the next step will be in his health care. The key to him being healthy from this point on is careful control of his blood pressure.

Also, the tech department in Parkview has been facing a lot of challenges in the loss of Technical Director Dan Grimes, the reorganization of staffing, and in some family issues that have come up. The staff team (Phil, Bill, Don, and Kent) and amazing volunteers are all doing a great job, but need prayer as they face the large task of helping this “titanic sized” ministry move forward.

No update from the Boer’s yet. Please let me know if you have any closely related prayer concerns. I’ll try to post requests at least once a week.

PS: Don't forget to pray for God to use our Easter services in a powerful way. It's going to be a busy few weeks!!!

READING WAS NEVER THIS EASY

For those of you who are starting to appreciate some of the great internet resources like blogs and other news sources, you might appreciate "Google Reader." This reader collects all your blog posts (and other information) and centralizes it into one location, so you're not surfing all over the web to keep abreast on new articles and information. Thanks to Greg Mazunik for providing a little instructional step-by-step below. He also included a link which links you to a video walk through (probably best for those of you with high-speed internet).

- - - -

Step 1: Go to reader.google.com

Step 2: Create Google account (or sign in if you already have one)

Step 3: Create a reading list (search for blogs by a keyword or by a specific URL [like an RSS or Atom feed])

Step 4: Subscribe, and Google does the rest

Also, I found a good how-to that already exists:

http://andywibbels.com/flash/google_reader.htm

WHY DEO GLORIA

I took the term “Deo Gloria” from the phrase “Soli Deo Gloria”, which is one of the “Five Solas” (Latin phrases) that emerged during the protestant reformation in the early 16th century. The Roman Catholic Church of that day had become very socially and theologically corrupt, which inspired men like Martin Luther & John Calvin to lead the church into the reformation period. Here is a quick thumbnail of what these phrases stood for:

1. Sola gratia (by grace alone): Savlation comes by grace alone and not by any merit on the part of the sinner.

2. Sola fide (by faith alone): Justification (the legal dismissal of the penalty of our sins) comes through faith in Jesus Christ only, and not by good works.

3. Sola scriptura (by Scripture alone): The Bible is the only inspired and authoritative Word of God, and it is self-interpreting for all people (i.e. we don’t need a Pope, Bishop, or Coucil to interpret for us).

4. Solus Christus (Christ alone): Christ (not Mary, the saints, nor priests) acts as the mediator in bringing salvation.

5. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone): Since our salvation is accomplished only through the grace of God, then all glory is due Him alone.

WELCOME TO MY NEW BLOG!

Welcome to “Deo Gloria” which means, “to God be the glory.” I look forward to continuing to keep you all informed on the various happenings within the Arts Ministry at Parkview via this weblog. At times I may invite some contributors to write entries that will update you on happenings within the ministry, or share devotional or instructional thoughts on various issues.

One great feature to blogspot is that you can leave comments without having a blogspot account. All you need to do is select “anonymous” and you can leave a comment anytime from anywhere with no strings attached. There are means by which you can get blog entries in e-mail format and there are also services by which you can get a daily digest of multiple blogs. More on that later….

In closing, I want to thank Lane DiVirgillio Swenka from “Immobiliere Global Webhosting” for agreeing to help manage this site. Lane is not only a skilled business owner and technician, but he is also a dedicated volunteer in the tech ministry at Parkview.

Until next time, “Deo Gloria!”