Worship MythbustersWorship Mythbusters | debunking

**Anson Sexton you WON the drawing for the FREE CD. Email to Rich-AT-WorshipMythbusters.com to claim it! This is Episode 16, September 2012. My name is Rich Kirkpatrick and you are listening to WorshipMythbusters.com. This podcast is about debunking popular thinking about worship that may be more myth than truth. Presenting a myth each episode, we employ the socratic method with guests from all over the world as we talk about praise and worship. We invite you to join in the conversation. ESSAY: Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. Psalm 96:9 Beauty is a word that some of us apparently are afraid of when it comes to worship. Some have said it is not “manly” enough to describe God. Romantic language might be good for some, but there indeed is a sub-culture among some leaders that is calling for an end to God-and-girl-friend lyrics in our songs. I appreciate the discovery and manhood movement. However, beauty is biblical. And, men love beauty! Yes, we love feminine beauty, but we also love the sight of a mountain vista, the expanse of the sea, and the power of a storm raging. Beauty, is not wholly owned by romantic love. Beauty is in the story of a soldier sacrificing for his fighting brothers, saving them in the battle.  Beauty is what makes us inside go “awe” at the sight of it. In fact, that word “awesome” explains the kind of beauty the psalmist speaks of here. Our savior was beautiful on the cross during that awful moment of his crucifixion. Look at the word awful and then the word awesome. The are very close in meaning. Beauty can also be like both of these words. For us men, women are beautiful because they can dethrone our power with simply the design of their curves. Why be afraid to explore beauty and believe God wants us to see his glory in such a way? We love to hate our culture, but we copy it far too much on this issue. To be moved by the beauty of God is a gift and blessing. It is one that requires us to gasp for air, realizing that God is the source of each breath. So, make his praise glorious. Make it beautiful. Be like the young hymn writer of another era, Isaac Watts, and employ poetry. In fact, be like the psalmists of the Bible and express your worship in a way that reflects the magnificence of God. To make his praise beautiful is simply to be honest about who God is and revel in it. It leads to a trembling like the most amazing sunset that your eyes have ever gazed upon. Indeed, dare I say, that the beauty of a woman that stops you in your tracks is like how seeing God is. Now, its not romantic! In fact, seeing a beautiful person is not romantic. It is a split second of seeing an image bearer of God shine. What we do with that after that moment is our depravity talking. This in fact is what beauty does. It reveals God’s holiness and perhaps our lack it. So, of course we fear it. Some of us would rather keep things more rational in our worship. But, we are to worship God as humans, not as Spock! A scientific dissection of God through theological words may be useful in anchoring our creed, but we also need to simply see God and respond humanly. There can be beauty in theology. Yes. And, to not take theology that far is to also cheat ourselves from blowing our minds about how beyond us God is. If our theology does not bring us to be in awe of God then we are empty from it. So, make your praise full of beauty. Offer it with the trembling that we humans should naturally feel when our Creator walks in the room. CD GIVEAWAY On this Episode of Worship Mythbusters we have artist, worship leader and singer songwriter Staci Frenes. And, we are going to give away a free CD. All you have to do is go to worshipmythbusters.com (this post!) and leave comment that says you want in the drawing. On next Monday September 17, I will announce the winner! Also, if you go to RKblog.com and leave a comment on the post about Staci Frenes and this Episode you can be entered a second time! Show Notes: Staci Frenes links: www.stacifrenes.com World Vision www.worldvision.com

**Anson Sexton you WON the drawing for the FREE CD. Email to Rich-AT-WorshipMythbusters.com to claim it! This is Episode 16, September 2012. My name is Rich Kirkpatrick and you are listening to WorshipMythbusters.com. This podcast is about debunking popular thinking about worship that may be more myth than truth. Presenting a myth each episode, we employ the socratic method with guests from all over the world as we talk about praise and worship. We invite you to join in the conversation. ESSAY: Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. Psalm 96:9 Beauty is a word that some of us apparently are afraid of when it comes to worship. Some have said it is not “manly” enough to describe God. Romantic language might be good for some, but there indeed is a sub-culture among some leaders that is calling for an end to God-and-girl-friend lyrics in our songs. I appreciate the discovery and manhood movement. However, beauty is biblical. And, men love beauty! Yes, we love feminine beauty, but we also love the sight of a mountain vista, the expanse of the sea, and the power of a storm raging. Beauty, is not wholly owned by romantic love. Beauty is in the story of a soldier sacrificing for his fighting brothers, saving them in the battle.  Beauty is what makes us inside go “awe” at the sight of it. In fact, that word “awesome” explains the kind of beauty the psalmist speaks of here. Our savior was beautiful on the cross during that awful moment of his crucifixion. Look at the word awful and then the word awesome. The are very close in meaning. Beauty can also be like both of these words. For us men, women are beautiful because they can dethrone our power with simply the design of their curves. Why be afraid to explore beauty and believe God wants us to see his glory in such a way? We love to hate our culture, but we copy it far too much on this issue. To be moved by the beauty of God is a gift and blessing. It is one that requires us to gasp for air, realizing that God is the source of each breath. So, make his praise glorious. Make it beautiful. Be like the young hymn writer of another era, Isaac Watts, and employ poetry. In fact, be like the psalmists of the Bible and express your worship in a way that reflects the magnificence of God. To make his praise beautiful is simply to be honest about who God is and revel in it. It leads to a trembling like the most amazing sunset that your eyes have ever gazed upon. Indeed, dare I say, that the beauty of a woman that stops you in your tracks is like how seeing God is. Now, its not romantic! In fact, seeing a beautiful person is not romantic. It is a split second of seeing an image bearer of God shine. What we do with that after that moment is our depravity talking. This in fact is what beauty does. It reveals God’s holiness and perhaps our lack it. So, of course we fear it. Some of us would rather keep things more rational in our worship. But, we are to worship God as humans, not as Spock! A scientific dissection of God through theological words may be useful in anchoring our creed, but we also need to simply see God and respond humanly. There can be beauty in theology. Yes. And, to not take theology that far is to also cheat ourselves from blowing our minds about how beyond us God is. If our theology does not bring us to be in awe of God then we are empty from it. So, make your praise full of beauty. Offer it with the trembling that we humans should naturally feel when our Creator walks in the room. CD GIVEAWAY On this Episode of Worship Mythbusters we have artist, worship leader and singer songwriter Staci Frenes. And, we are going to give away a free CD. All you have to do is go to worshipmythbusters.com (this post!) and leave comment that says you want in the drawing. On next Monday September 17, I will announce the winner! Also, if you go to RKblog.com and leave a comment on the post about Staci Frenes and this Episode you can be entered a second time! Show Notes: Staci Frenes links: www.stacifrenes.com World Vision www.worldvision.com

Mel McGowan of Visioneering Studios Show Notes: Learn more about Mel McGowan and his work with Visioneering Studios with the links below. Mel’s blog: http://melmcgowan.com Visioneering Studios: http://www.visioneeringstudios.com/ My Refuge House: http://myrefugehouse.com/ This is Episode 15, July 2012.   My name is Rich Kirkpatrick and you are listening to WorshipMythbusters. This podcast is about debunking popular thinking about worship that may be more myth than truth. Presenting a myth each episode, we employ the socratic method with guests from all over the world. Sacred Spaces Its not just an old piano, it’s a functional musical instrument that tells a story. It’s 100 year history is seen in the patina of the finish, and the scars on the ivory keys. By ship from San Francisco, via train from Chicago, this piano was brought to a city called Eureka up the coast in California where it lived a life of many years leading worship. Eventually it ended up in the church basement. Then a family rescued it. A musician played on it and composed music in his living room, leaving the rings of a coffee mug and other gentle scarring. It ended up in a storage unit, locked away in a garage for months after some hard transitions in life for the owner of this piano. It came time to empty out this storage unit. So, as a token of friendship he gave it to me as a special gift, only allowing me to pay him for the furniture dolly underneath. And, only after much insistence on my part. Now, I write music on it, leaving my own rings from coffee drinks. When people come to my front room, they see an old piano with handwritten notes, computer printouts of lyrics and microphone cables. They also see the scarves and ceremonial knives from Ethiopia. The message is not just “old piano” it is “writing companion” and inspiration. It is a sacred space in my home for me. Design of space is indeed important in our houses of worship. What messages are we sending with seats facing forward in a square concrete tilt-up? Do we realize our spaces as opportunities for human interaction, or just the hearing of a sermon and reception of a worship team’s performance? Often we do not. The rush to fill a space and be efficient often falters with the very goals and core beliefs. A sacred space must intentionally lead people to see the messages we intend. And, with that we invite response and interaction that matches the message. I’ve led worship in multipurpose rooms with scoreboards and basketball hoops to Orthodox churches with icons and mystery. Part of my experiences with sacred spaces led me to write the song, “Sacred Place”. From the walls of the cathedral, let me heart echo your praise. From the heights of the steeple, let me thoughts of you be raised. The spaces we design matter, as they are the context we communicate the most important messages about our faith and devotion to God. We do need to have a discussion as creatives about the spaces we design and execute. Often, it is not just the platform and sound system that will impact the response. How did people arrive from the curb? What does the front door say as you enter? How does the ambient lighting reflect the mood of the moment? All of these and more go beyond the front of your church. And, all of them add up to setting the expectation of the worshipper in your environment. For this episode, I interview Mel McGowan of Visioneering Studios. Mel, before founding this company that designs spaces, he worked for Disney. Here is the interview we had just a few days ago.

Mel McGowan of Visioneering Studios Show Notes: Learn more about Mel McGowan and his work with Visioneering Studios with the links below. Mel’s blog: http://melmcgowan.com Visioneering Studios: http://www.visioneeringstudios.com/ My Refuge House: http://myrefugehouse.com/ This is Episode 15, July 2012.   My name is Rich Kirkpatrick and you are listening to WorshipMythbusters. This podcast is about debunking popular thinking about worship that may be more myth than truth. Presenting a myth each episode, we employ the socratic method with guests from all over the world. Sacred Spaces Its not just an old piano, it’s a functional musical instrument that tells a story. It’s 100 year history is seen in the patina of the finish, and the scars on the ivory keys. By ship from San Francisco, via train from Chicago, this piano was brought to a city called Eureka up the coast in California where it lived a life of many years leading worship. Eventually it ended up in the church basement. Then a family rescued it. A musician played on it and composed music in his living room, leaving the rings of a coffee mug and other gentle scarring. It ended up in a storage unit, locked away in a garage for months after some hard transitions in life for the owner of this piano. It came time to empty out this storage unit. So, as a token of friendship he gave it to me as a special gift, only allowing me to pay him for the furniture dolly underneath. And, only after much insistence on my part. Now, I write music on it, leaving my own rings from coffee drinks. When people come to my front room, they see an old piano with handwritten notes, computer printouts of lyrics and microphone cables. They also see the scarves and ceremonial knives from Ethiopia. The message is not just “old piano” it is “writing companion” and inspiration. It is a sacred space in my home for me. Design of space is indeed important in our houses of worship. What messages are we sending with seats facing forward in a square concrete tilt-up? Do we realize our spaces as opportunities for human interaction, or just the hearing of a sermon and reception of a worship team’s performance? Often we do not. The rush to fill a space and be efficient often falters with the very goals and core beliefs. A sacred space must intentionally lead people to see the messages we intend. And, with that we invite response and interaction that matches the message. I’ve led worship in multipurpose rooms with scoreboards and basketball hoops to Orthodox churches with icons and mystery. Part of my experiences with sacred spaces led me to write the song, “Sacred Place”. From the walls of the cathedral, let me heart echo your praise. From the heights of the steeple, let me thoughts of you be raised. The spaces we design matter, as they are the context we communicate the most important messages about our faith and devotion to God. We do need to have a discussion as creatives about the spaces we design and execute. Often, it is not just the platform and sound system that will impact the response. How did people arrive from the curb? What does the front door say as you enter? How does the ambient lighting reflect the mood of the moment? All of these and more go beyond the front of your church. And, all of them add up to setting the expectation of the worshipper in your environment. For this episode, I interview Mel McGowan of Visioneering Studios. Mel, before founding this company that designs spaces, he worked for Disney. Here is the interview we had just a few days ago.