Making Sense of the Voices

For: The Essentials Blue Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt

Week 1 has been completed. And oh, what a journey it has been. The material is so rich, so powerful, so transformational.

I woke up this morning with an 'epiphany'. It is starting to click. It is beginning to make sense. There is much I am learning. Some of what I am learning is just for me. Some of it is for me to share with others. All of it is permeating how I am approaching the class I am about to teach.

My synthesis of the "Aa-ha moment" is this:

In her book, "The Healing Presence", author Leanne Payne talks about man being created in the Garden in perfect vertical communion and relationship with God. When man fell, he became "bent". He became focused on himself, on creation and on his desire to be like God. All of time since has been God's pursuit of man to bring Him back into the vertical position, back in perfect relationship with Him. (1)

Man was created for Eden… in perfect beauty. In Eden was ultimate fairness and justice. In Eden, man had unobstructed relationship with God. In Eden was full and complete spirituality. But man chose poorly, seeking to go his own way. Creation's relationship with Creator was broken. Sin entered the world and all of the consequences followed. The space in our spirit that God longed to fill became a gaping, empty hole.

God pursues us through the 4 voices we have been pondering this first week.

God, Who is beauty, calls out to us through creation, "Look at Me. I am beauty that will never fade.

God, Who is justice, calls out to us from the unfair and brokenness around us to say, "Look at Me. I am putting things to rights."

God, Who is Trinity, calls to us through our desire for relationship, "Look at Me. I created you to have relationship with Me. I desire relationship with you."

God, Who is spirituality, calls to us through our longing for something more in this life, "Look at Me. I am Who you seek. I am What you need. I am the only fit for the hole inside that longs for something more. I am the 'something more'. I am everything."

…to be continued.

(1) Leanne Payne, The Healing Presence (Grand Rapids: Hamewith Books, 1989, 1995) p. 59-60

Overwhelmed and Challenged… by Essentials Blue

For: The Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

I have been on a journey into Blue. Essentials Blue, that is. I have been "Stumbling into Mystery" as Dan Wilt puts it with the title of his eBook. I am attempting to grasp that which cannot be contained in my finite brain.

My journey begins with the echos of voices that point beyond themselves. The "longing for justice, the quest for spirituality, the hunger for relationships and the delight in beauty". (NT Wright, Simply Christian, Introduction page x). Which of these voices cries loudest to me? How are the worship songs being used today doing in expressing these voices? What about the songs I'm using?

Thoughts surrounding the echos swirl in my head. Every time I think of a song, I now run it through the paces, so to speak, to see if, what and how it handles these voices. But then, that was the point.

Which voice gets the most credit? Which voice seems to be neglected or inadequately expressed? How do I interpret these voices in my own life?

Questions have been raised. Answers are illusive.

I know the pieces will fall into place as the course continues, but the issue for me is that I am only 1 week away from teaching a series of classes designed to identify, train and equip worship leaders for my church's cell group ministry as well as our healing prayer ministry.

How do I capture and communicate the essence of worship Theology, that which I have been swimming in for only a week, in a 90 minute class? It seemed easy enough - until I dove in.

Now, I'm going to go try and stare at the sun. (NT Wright, Simply Christian, Part 2)

The Introduction to Essentially Cathy

OK, so I've been watching this worshiptraining.com thing evolve over the past three years since I met Dan Wilt at a Southeast Vineyard worship leaders conference I helped to plan and execute. In July 2008, I thought I was on my way to St. Stephen to do the official "Masters in Ministry" program. Just days after a conversation with Dan in the green room at a pastor's conference where we had just led worship, my world fell apart. I don't mean that I hit a bump or two. I mean my entire world, everything that I knew, everything I used to identify myself… was completely wiped out.

I spent the next year just trying to survive, regroup and heal.

Out of His sweet mercy, God placed me in a new church family, one that had nothing to gain, lose or protect by taking me in and embracing me. They had no frame of reference for who I was, what I did, or what I could do for them. I was just a broken woman in desperate need of some hope.

I found it.

Here I am a year and a half later standing face to face with my destiny. I'm still not back at 100% after those devastating losses. Nor does my life look anything like it did the summer of 2008. Nor would I trade what God has done through the losses, pain and brokenness for anything. But I know that my heart beats faster and stronger when I talk about developing worship leaders, when I dream of mentoring up the generation behind me to do what I've done for 20 years.

On the eve of 2010, I opened up yet another email from Dan advertising one of the Essentials courses and I felt God say, "It's time". It's time for me to jump into the pool and get equipped for the job that is before me - so here I am! Let's roll.