Byron Cage - Great & Mighty

I love this worship song. Enjoy!

Back in the day when things were cool (in my Erykah Badu voice)

One of the most memorable theme songs ever!

Just for kicks, I thought I'd talk about how we used to do things "back in the day." Mind you I was a member of my church choir and a community choir. Most of these are things my praise team doesn't do any longer.

• We used to have Bible study before choir rehearsal.
• We used to be late and end up missing Bible study. (convenient, eh?)
• We used to eat during rehearsal sometimes. (Chips, pop, candy. So sad.)
• Before closing prayer, we'd each have to recite one verse from the Bible. You couldn't say "Jesus wept."
• We used to always wear uniforms on Sundays. Black and white, all black, all white for first Sundays, and rainbow colored blouses if we were really feeling jazzy. lol
• We used to host or sing at midnight musicals Memorial and Labor Day weekends. Those were the days!
• We considered congregational songs praise and worship. (e.g., God is a Good God, Lord I'm Running Trying to Make 100, etc.)

Can you think of anything you used to do back in the "good old days?" Comment and let's reminisce together!

Let the church of the future say "amen"

In an effort to find a place where my husband and I might worship together, I visited a church suggested by an acquaintance of mine. I did a little research before I went because when I don't take the time to research, I end up at a place like the Christian Science church (true story). Everything seemed legit so I decided to give it a try.

This was actually my first time attending what I call a "modern" or contemporary church service. My definition of modern is non-traditional. No hymns, no pews, no dress code, coffee allowed in the sanctuary and people drinking, use of AV tools (videos, bible verses and sermon notes displayed on a large screen), referring to scriptures by announcing their page numbers, modern sounding music, greeters - not ushers. I've been in church all my life, but this was something very different. I've even attended a predominately white southern church and it was far different from that. In fact, I'm still a tad undecided about whether I liked it or not. But, it was all Bible-based so no arguments from me there.

They sang 3 songs that I did not know and they were all very pop-sounding. I think the congregants found them a little difficult because not a lot of people were singing. In this respect, the P&W experience was more like a concert and not very participatory. But maybe this is what a modern church service is like.

I think God is dealing with me about my personal views on church. I feel like I need to look past the physical and even past the way I typically think. I think we (church folks including myself) are doing a piss poor job in bringing others to Christ and into fellowship. We often say "all are welcome" and "come as you are," but when people who are not carbon copies of us come, we have a lot to say under our breath (eg, why did she/he wear shorts/their club clothes/their hair rollers to church?! [cuz yeah, they do that at my church sometimes]) Do we really think that the average person who knows little about God/Jesus/Christianity would enjoy our church services? More specifically for me, would the average urban person in my church's community find our worship service remotely appealing? I feel the need to connect on a different level and perhaps in a different environment to help me see myself more clearly and others differently.

Let me say for the record, my goal is not to find a new church home! I love my church. However, sometimes it's refreshing to hear and see something different because God isn't just the God of black churches, or charismatic churches. He's the God of many denominations, cultures, music genres, and traditions. While I'm not ready to physically put my name on the roll of the modern, "church of the future," I most certainly appreciate their role in the Kingdom.

Blessings

NLC's sunrise service on the beach

NLC is my "other" church

This Saturday is New Life Covenant's Sunrise Service on the lovely shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago. (6300 S. Lake Shore Drive) I went last year and it was great.

Get there by or before 4:00 a.m. if you want to find parking. NLC doesn't mess around. These are some church-going folks!

Check out the church's calendar for more info.

Pop-up worship

Reposted from Travis Greene's FB page :)

I love the concept of pop-up worship! If you're in Charlotte, check out Casey J and Travis Greene at this free event Monday at 6 pm.

Smokie Norful - No One Else

Here's a great upbeat praise song to add to your set. Leggo Chicago!

Worship at MLB game (White Sox vs Mariners)

I'm so happy to plug that the Chicago White Sox are having a special event called Faith Day where a few club members will share their faith with attendees. And remember my previous post from Vertical Church Band? Well, they're performing at Sunday's event as well.

For more info including tickets to the game, check out:
http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/ticketing/groups/gsg/gsg.jsp?loc=faith

Leggo Sox!