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Showing posts from May, 2014

Leading Worship In All Its Forms

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Photo by Matt McChlery The church I go to is typically evangelical in nature. Church is an informal, yet important gathering together on a Sunday. Testimonies are shared, we pray, we sing modern worship songs, we hear Bible teaching (sermons). We have a band and play guitar, keyboards and drums. I enjoy going to 'worship conferences' to learn more about my role, leadership and how to do things better. But, as I have said in previous blogs 'worship' is not music. It is an attitude or positioning of the heart towards God, giving Him our focus, our attention, our praise and adoration. So as a Worship Leader who sings and plays guitar on a Sunday, how else am I supposed to be leading and facilitating worship. What other ways can I lead people into the presence of God? Recently a lady in our church held a seminar about Spiritual Formation and how the use of 'spiritual disciplines' can in fact help to transform us into becoming more Christlike as well as aid

The Just Church - Encounter, Explore, Engage

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I have just come to the end of reading through the book ‘The Just Church’ by Jim Martin from IJM (International Justice Mission). The book is divided into two distinct parts, the first of which I have looked at in previous blogs. In this second part the style and emphasis of the writing takes on a more practical tone. This section deals with three key phases IJM have identified for churches that are serious about getting involved in justice ministry to go through in order to be the most effective that they can be within this tough area of ministry. The three phases are: Encounter, Explore and Engage which all aim to connect the whole church with the work of justice both locally and internationally in a variety of ways. Practical advice and tips are given alongside some road-tested stories of successful implementation. Tables and charts are drawn out to help provide an organised, intentional focus to the development of identified aims and areas of need. Although some may be