an advent prayer by JD

read this on JD Walt's blog...thought i'd republish it. its an advent prayer:

Almighty God, Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, giver of the Holy Spirit, we gather to thank you for the gift of Christmas and for Advent, the season of preparation. With every week the lights grow brighter, our anticipation heightens and our attention sharpens. We affirm that the Spirit of the Lord God is upon us: because the Lord has anointed us. (Isaiah 61:1)

We are looking to you, the Mighty One, who has done great things. Teach us to worship you. Show us what it means for our souls to magnify the Lord. Instruct our spirits in what it means to rejoice in God our Savior. (Luke 1:47-49) For you have done great things for us and we are filled with joy. (Psalm 126:3) You have clothed us with the garments of salvation and covered us with the robe of righteousness. (Isaiah 61:10)

We affirm that the Spirit of the Lord God is upon us: because the Lord has anointed us.

As the Son of God was formed in Mary’s womb, so we bless you because your Spirit is forming His life within us for the sake of the World. In a time of unparalleled prosperity, we come before you to pray for the poor. Across the world, countless millions of children roam the streets in search of their next meal. We stand in your presence now on their behalf. In our own community we witness some of the worst poverty of all: lonliness. Make us to be good news to them. We take our stand with them now.

We affirm that the Spirit of the Lord God is upon us: because the Lord has anointed us.

We remember the brokenhearted, those whose loved ones have been lost to the hatred of war, the violence of disease, the injustice of death. As those among us stand, receive it as prayer and bind up their brokenness with our love.

We affirm that the Spirit of the Lord God is upon us: because the Lord has anointed us.

As your anointed, we plead for release to the captives. For many of our brothers and sisters around the world, the Gospel has meant persecution and captivity. By your Spirit, cause some among us to stand now as prayer for their release and reward. We pray for friends and loved ones in our midst who have become prisoners in webs of addiction. Make our standing on their behalf to become the seeds of your deliverance, the planting of the Lord, to display your glory. (Isaiah 61:3)

We affirm that the Spirit of the Lord God is upon us: because the Lord has anointed us.

Give these for whom we pray a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. (Isaiah 61:3) Fill their mouths with laughter and their tongues with shouts of joy so that it may be said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” (Psalm 126:2)

Lord Jesus Christ, make our lives and our life together to magnify you. Cause our glad tidings and good singing to combust into worship that moves the World. We bless you, the one who is, who was and is to come as we pray the prayer you taught us:

so i was wrong...HOORAY!!!

LSU is playing for the national championship. in a year of such absurdity in college football, i shouldn't have been surprised. we'll take it , though. and honestly, tOSU has no shot.

and the christmas nonsense begins...

i love christmas this much

goodbye national title hopes...

in honor of the death of LSU's chances to win it all, i offer two videos; for some reason, these songs popped in my head after the horrible loss today.





i hope to see you again next year--

inaugurating worship--a response

here's chapter one of j.d. walt's worship seminary videos. i'm gonna just react to these; i think they hold some cool ideas, questions, and truths.



i love, LOVE, the symbol of the candle of His presence; ever burning, ever present in the sanctuary, the light of the world, ever-illuminating and all-consuming flame! it's Jesus who gives light, for He is light. we who have seen His light and responded to it are welcomed into the mystery of light. we become light as He is light--paul calls us children of light, who were once in darkness, but no more...

children of light taking in light, consuming it as it consumes us, bringing light as it creates light...wow

in 1 chronicles 16, the ark, which marked the very presence of God, was being brought back to jerusalem, back to its proper place in their culture. david knew that the presence of God had to be restored to its proper place in their lives, to be given the honor and reverence He is due. his instructions to the levites were specific: to celebrate and thank and praise the God of isreal (v. 4), or more specifically to be about the praise, celebration and thanking of God. to be ever praising--it became their job, their task, their aim...their reason for being. without giving too much away of whats coming up in the series, this point is very important. people set aside for the praise and thanking and celebration of God...

i think there's a link between positioning God in His proper place and even having the ability to respond with celebration, thanksgiving and praise to God. the isrealites had lost the ark, the symbol of God's power and presence, to their enemies years before, and even when Saul was king, the ark was not positioned back into the temple in jerusalem. the temple was central to almost all of the social aspects of jewish life, all the rituals of worship, remembrance and cleansing, and above all reminded the people that God was to be central to all of their actions and interactions. when God was not the center, every aspect of life lost what gave it its meaning, and through that, their culture of faith was weakened.

so if this occasion marked the beginning of the continuous worshiping of God by the people set apart for those purposes, it must noted that it accompanies the positioning of God in His right place, in the place He deems best, right, and good in their lives.

or, to simplify things a bit, lives centered around God are marked by continuous praise to God.

could it be assumed, then, that where there is a lack of worship, there is also a lack of proper positioning of God?

perhaps positioning is the wrong term--it implies we put God where we want, when i don't think that's necessarily the case. instead, it implies a relationship between the placement of God and our everyday living--that's something we do have control over. what relationship do we have with the presence of God in the details of our day? how do we make choices that make Him central to all those things? how do we as a church encourage and even enable people to centralize Christ in their everyday?