Just finished reading the book Emerging Worship by Dan Kimball.

Dan is one of the leaders of the emerging church movement. Check out their website at www.vitagechurch.com

The book has a number of powerful thought provoking questions on what it means to be the church. One of the interesting facts to me as a student of Churches is that if you roll back the clock a few years ago there was a huge battle in Christianity. Worship wars if you will where churches were confronted with a percieved need to make sure they have contemporary worship, and churches were torn apart at times over the issues.

It seems in some ways the pendulum has swung back in a different direction as many young people are turning from the megachurch type church services to an ancient future post-modern style that blends much of the beauty of the ancient church with the technologies of todays. Multi-sensory worship. A desire to shun consumerism in churches in favor of returning Christ to the center. The thought that church isn’t something to be shopping for, it’s a place of sacrificial service, and giving, and pouring out. The worship is UNTO God, not for us. Of course we get the side benefits of enjoying it as well as God loves us so much…

He speaks of the need to be missional, to know are areas, study them and then reach out in real and relevant ways. I tend to be very MODERN in my thinking, and in many ways I think the Clay County, and SW Jacksonville area still probably posesses a fairly modern mindset. I love the tactil, multisensory, arts approach and think it really has a place in church life. I have no doubt God will continue to use a diversity of styles to reach the diversity of people in the world.

It’s cool to see people pouring everything they have out in an attempt to reach people for Jesus. To think about how people learn, to think about what would really help a person put the priniciples of Jesus in to practice. They challenge the thought process that the 3 point 35 minute service with a great performance during worship is the best way for people to learn. I tend to agree that it is not, that churchlife is much more than a meeting place, a service time, a small group. We are the church whever we go..

Although I don’t see Journey in this flow, I think when we do "Why Wait Till Sunday" and analyize our thought processes on church we will bring in many different flows, arts, tacticle worship, prayer stations, and other things to show some of the diversity of ways in which people worship God and while different, all can be celebrated.

If you want your thoughts on church challenged in a good way pick up a copy of "Emerging Worship"

If you want to dig deeper into my warped brain and read more of what I have read over the past year or so visit: http://astore.amazon.com/godfirsrevo-20