If you are new to this blog....

Welcome! The primary purpose of this blog is to explore and encourage around what it means to be winsome and sent into the world for God's glory. If you are new here, the definition of "lighthouse-searchlight" or our missional journey is a good place to start. Come peruse the blog and add me to your RSS feed!

Friday, January 29, 2010

con ed clips - kristyn and keith getty

I am attending a continuing education event in Grand Rapids, MI, entitled the Calvin Symposium on Christian Worship. On the first day I was here I went to a seminar and then a vesper service led by Kristyn and Keith Getty, Irish composers and worship leaders. Here are some clips of their wonderful music.

Seminar - "Behold the Lamb (Communion Song)" - verse three




Vespers - "Kingdom of the Lord" - I'm unsure of the title... just got that from the lyrics. They were trying to do a sound check before the service and asked if we minded if they played something Irish. No, we didn't mind at all!




Vespers - "In Christ Alone" - perhaps the piece they are best known for... you'll have to turn your volume down - the congregation sang thunderously.




Vespers - Jamming. After the service was over they waited a good long while then launched into this spontaneously. I missed the first part getting back up to the front to get a good view, but what I got was still plenty good!



*These were filmed on my daughter's iPod nano. So yes, I was on the front row in every case. There is no zoom feature. :) I tried to look like I wasn't stalking them.

con ed clips - jeremy begbie

{UPDATE: I added two clips from Saturday morning}

I am attending a continuing education event in Grand Rapids, MI, entitled the Calvin Symposium on Christian Worship. One of the speakers was Dr. Jeremy Begbie, formerly a professor at Cambridge and now teaching at Duke Divinity School in the area of theology and the arts. I heard him some 10-12 years ago at my church in Lenoir and was thrilled to hear him again at the symposium.

He spoke Friday morning on the structure and nature of music as a metaphor for understanding God's revelation and redemptive history. Sometimes it makes sense in the moment; sometimes not. But there is always hope, for there are larger over-arching stories and a grand meta-narrative arching over all time and creation.

In this first clip, Begbie is speaking (sorry, very short clip) of the power of music to shape, move, and change us (and that before even considering words!). Likewise, God's Word and Spirit re-time and re-shape us.




The next clip is Jeremy playing a Schumann piano piece to illustrate all that he lectured about. There is no explanation in the clip - it's just a beautiful and poignant performance of this piece.




This is a clip of Jeremy's Saturday morning lecture, which was on our future being brought into our present through the work of the Holy Spirit. This clip is a segment about Jesus Christ as our "worship leader" - perfectly and eternally presenting redeemed humanity in his person before the throne of God. We (and our earthly worship) are united to Christ and that Heavenly worship through the work of the Holy Spirit. This also has the memorable line, "I wish for once there was a worship band with one ugly person... so I could relate."




Jeremy ended the Saturday presentation with an exceptional performance of a Bach violin piece arranged for piano. The performance is supposed to illustrate a number of the musical-themes-as-theological-metaphor of the two days of lecture. It also stands on its own as a memorable piano performance.



And yes, I sat VERY close to him. :)

Monday, January 18, 2010

waiting...

Some times I make a good decision because I know what I'm doing.

Other times I kind of stumble into it. But I suppose one form of wisdom is at least recognizing the latter situation when it is happening.

I would have liked to start 2010 with a grand new vision for the new year. I would have loved to blog on Jan. 1 and layout personal or ministry goals, but I had nothin'. Nor has it come. Folks would ask me what exiting plans I had for the new year and I would just answer with an impressive, "Ummmm...."

Now here's the bit of wisdom I've kind of backed into. There's a part of me that wanted to "whomp up" such plans (to quote an old friend). Frankly, I was just too exhausted after a glorious Advent/Christmas and a week of family gatherings around my uncle's death. And what I have stumbled into is the biblical principle of waiting on the Lord.

Ideally, I would have done this out of wisdom or maturity on my part, but I'll take what I can get, even accidental godliness! :)

And what has happened in these three weeks of kind of laying low and listening quietly?

God has brought several new people into my life and the life of my congregation. These are folks with a keen and special calling to missional ministry. Through various means and people, they have connected with me and our congregation because of the kind of lighthouse/searchlight ministry we've been doing. I also got to see several of our elders plug into a presbytery-wide training event and share what we've been doing in that context.

All that has been encouraging and also reminded me that I do not bear sole responsibility for "firing the lighthouse." In fact, as I reflect on the metaphor and the calling, I realize that one real point of growth will be when others in the church not only understand but initiate lighthouse/searchlight ministry on their own. Sometimes - like now - I think the only way to give space to that kind of growth is to wait on the Lord.

So, intentional or not, I'm trying to pay attention as I go, to what God has already spoken in His Word:

The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.” The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently For the salvation of the LORD. (Lamentations 3:22–26)

Tag Cloud

2014 2015 accountability acts advent archive art arts ash wednesday aslan assurance audio auditions authenticity bands belief bigotry blessing blob bloggers blooper reel bluegrass body of christ book book reviews boomer boundaries breadth of worship builder bus calling Calvin Symposium cd ceilidh change character of god chart christmas church church partnerships civility commandments commentary communication community con ed confession confirmation contemporized hymns crisis CS Lewis culture D.Min. dance darkness death definitions denomination depth of worship discernment discipleship discourse dismissal dissertation drama early church easter ecclesiology ecpc emergent church error evangelism excellence exile exodus experience experimentation facebook failure faith family of God father fear fellowship fellowshippres following forgiveness friendship frost fruit frustration funerals GA ga219 ga220 GAhelp generations genX gift gifts girl scouts good news Google gospel grace gracious witness gspc youth hands health highlights holy spirit holy week hope hospitality humility humor hymn image of God imago dei improvisation incarnation inclusion index information insider language institutions interns invitation iTunes james jazz Jeremy Begbie john piper jonah joy judgment Keith and Kristyn Getty kids kindness language law lay renewal leadership legalism lent license life light lighthouse linked articles links listening liturgy loneliness love lyrics maddie shuler meme mentoring mercy metanarrative mgb commission millenials ministry networks miscellaneous mission missional missional identity missions moderator montreat mumford music narnia neighborhood neighbors new wineskins new year news newsletter NEXT NEXTchurch nicaragua noticing obedience obstacles organizations outreach palm sunday parenting participation pastor pastoral ministry pcaus pcusa peace performance peter pgf pictures plagues planning podcasting poetry politics ponderings pornography post-modernism prayer preaching presbymergent presbyterian global fellowship presbytery publishing questions racism reader reconciliation recordings recycled goodness redemption reflection refugees relationship relationships repentance retreat righteousness risk roadblocks rss rules sabbatical safety salt samaritan satan satire scotland searchlight searchlight 2.0 sectarianism self-righteousness seminaries sermon snippets sermon-song sermons shalom sheep shepherding sin small church social media song songwriters songwriting spheres of influence spirit spiritual lessons spiritual power stewardship stories story sub-culture summary sunrise talent challenge tears technology teenagers Ten Commandments terrorism testimony theater theft theological education top posts tragedy transformation translation travel trees trinitarian worship trinity trust truth twitter union with christ valentines VBS video virtual reality vision waiting website wednesdays out wee kirk welcome witness word cloud wordle words workshop worship writing year-end YL you tube youth