the breadth of worship - new devotional book release

I am working on a series of short devotional books suitable for personal or small group study and discussion.  The first in the series is on worship and is entitled, The Breadth of Worship.  You can order copies from my Lulu Storefront, or if you are in Charlotte, I have a short run and can sell them to you at a discount and save shipping costs.  The books sell for $8 locally (I'll discount bulk orders) and $8.95 + shipping online.

 

Chapters include:

Service as Worship   [sample chapter] PDF
Obedience as Worship
Yielding as Worship
Loving God as Worship
Worship in Community
Worship in Humility
Worship as Praise
Worship as Participation

From the back cover:

The Breadth of Worship is an eight-part study on the biblical meaning and significance of worship in the life of the Christian and the church.  Condensed from doctoral studies, then preached as eight sermons, this material has been compiled in a format that is accessible to the lay reader and organized as a devotional self-study on the vitally important topic of worship.

Chapters explore key worship principles and how we are to understand worship through service, obedience, yieldedness, love, community, humility, praise, and participation in Christ.  There is also a resource section for further study.

the depth of worship - acoustic preview ep release

During and since my sabbatical in 2009 I have been working on recording a worship CD of hymns and original songs.  As a preview to this project, I have released an "acoustic preview EP" that features four hymns (with original choruses and arrangements) and one original song from the CD.  All the mixes on the EP are guitar/vocal arrangements while the full CD will feature full-band arrangements.  At this point, these CDs are only available locally at Good Shepherd, but I would willing to mail them if folks will cover the postage.  The cost is $5 locally or $6.50 to package and mail.  Please e-mail first and I'll provide details for ordering.  Or, if you are in the Charlotte area, stop by Good Shepherd for your copy.

 

Here's a link to the preview album on Bandcamp. You can listen to all the songs or download for free.

WNE yr 2 - groups

The first Wednesday I presented the 12 options, explained them, and asked people to write their top three on a slip of paper.  On the second Wednesday we set up group meeting areas for the six most popular groups and let people gravitate where they wanted.  We had directions like those I've posted for games, service, and headline news at each station.

As it has turned out, the groups that formed are as follows:

1. Basics of Faith group: meets at the church for visitors and newer Christians
2. Book Discussion group: chose "Same Kind of Different as Me" for their first book
3. Service group: has already written notes to our shut-ins and college students and visited one of our shut-ins; has plans to put up flyers in the neighborhood for "Helping Hands" handyman services.
4. Live Music group: several of us play live bluegrass music at the coffeeshop on the corner, and usually have several others come to chat.  This format really does a good job of inviting interaction with the patrons.
5. Movies/Headline News: the same set of folks were kind of split between these two topics and have been a little hit or miss in attendance.  I'm still waiting to see if the group solidifies or not.

I'll keep you posted on how things go!

[Update: February, 2011]

6.  Group Home Guys: the small group with guys across the street has resumed.  They come over for dinner with their house manager and mix and mingle with us, then several church volunteers lead them in a small group study and prayer.
7.  Tutoring: some kids from down the street come before dinner and meet one on one with several church members (including one 5th grader!), who work on homework, reading, and other school assignments.  The kids have been staying for dinner and the children's programming, and their parents have come along a couple of times as well.  We are trying to recruit some more church volunteers so we can expand to some other children the elementary school counselor has indentified along with one of our chief school volunteers.