Noordegraaf’s Weblog

For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

When starting this essentials*blue course, I was preoccupied with God’s righteousness. Following the course helped me to put this into words and to balance it with other aspects of His nature. Now, when finishing the course, I am at awe again of God’s beauty. I have learned that taking time to remember God — His majesty and power and grace and beauty — is not just a privilege, but a responsibility and a precaution. I am inspired to ‘reawaken hunger for beauty at every level’; I want to celebrate ‘the goodness of creation’ and ‘the healing of the world, the new creation itself’ (1)

The song that I wrote as the final project for this course, is inspired by Habakkuk 3, where Habakkuk is celebrating the beauty and mercy of God. While he waits for God to answer his questions and complaints, God shows up and reveals Himself to him. Habakkuk’s response then is to burst out into praise. In doing so, he describes Gods beauty. The idea that stands out to me in this scripture is that even though darkness had arrived in Habakkuk’s live, his land was destroyed and his farm was burned, he shouts for joy to God.

This teaches me that it does not matter what we go through or what circumstances we are in and that despites anything: God is always faithful; His beauty never change; His majesty will reign forever; His love is endless and eternal. We can enter into His presence anytime and He will minister His peace and strength to us. Praise God!

1. N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, p. 201.

For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

pdf lyrics and chords in dutch:

ik-juich-voor-u-mijn-heer1

(right click: save as)

pdf lyrics and chords translated in english:

i-shout-for-joy-to-you1

mp3:

For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

Although I was really joking during the conference call about making an architectural piece for the final project, the idea stood me by and I came to design a watchtower. For the making of this tower, I am inspired by the life and story of Habbakuk, that I will shortly retell below (1):

Habakkuk lived 600 years before Christ in Judea, and he was a farmer. His land was destroyed by the armies of Nebukadnezar. His farm was burned, his family broken. Habakkuk calls to God: ‘how long do I have to cry out for help before you listen?‘ (Habakkuk 1:2).

Habakkuk’s life has fallen apart and his repons was to firing all his questions straight to God. He wrote a massive complaint. Then Habakkuk waited. ‘I’ll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I’ll wait to see what God says, how he’ll answer my complaint’ (Habakkuk 2:1). In his watchtower he takes distance, he waits, staring to the world. He listens, waits on what God will say. ‘But oh! God is in his holy Temple! Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!’ (Habakkuk 2: 20). And then God revealed Himself, on His time. He was there, and He spoke: ‘but the person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive’ (Habakkuk 2: 4).

The visualisation that I’ve made represents Habakkuk standing on a watchtower, waiting for the anointed One. The watchtower powerfully symbolizes a place where we can meet God. It is a symbol for a quiet, secluded place, that Jesus describes in Matthew 6:6 as the ‘inner room’: ‘Go into your inner room and shut the door, pray to your Father who sees you in secret’. In a watchtower you can take distance, you walk away from the earth and start knocking on heaven’s door. It’s the entering place where you can meet with God. It’s the place where heaven meets earth, and where God’s kingdom will be born. It’s crucial for our daily Christian life to go to a watchtower for silent worship and to let our vision be restored and to find rest.

From personal experience I know that waiting is hard to do. It is a place where you loose control and where your goals in life can become fuzzy. It is a place where your mind can go wandering and where your heart sighs. However, it is also the place where you build faith and trust and where you learn true intimicy with God. And it is true that God will not disappoint us in our waiting; He will always show up! The end result may not always be what we have anticipated, but it will be God given. We have the promise in Jesus and a father who sees us!

(1) The passages from Habakkuk are from: Eugene Peterson, The Message.

For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

What is worship?

Worship is the central act of Christian identity and is to lift one’s mind, acts and heart to God. Worship is to tune in with the angels and anything created singing:

(I devote my life to..) the One on the Throne! To the Lamb!

The blessing, the honor, the glory, the strength.

For age after age after age (1)

Worship is to trim the sails of life to God and to live for Him, to be true ‘homo adorans’ (worshipping man). Worship is timeless, never ending and dynamic. Our lives touch upon God and God bends down to touch us, over and over again. Worship is about change; we cannot stay the same when we are in His presence. He is like the sun, changing our color when we life for Him. He colors us Jesus-like; pointing to the Father, caring for the poor. Worship is therefore always ‘attached to our engagement with the tangible needs around us’ (2) and ‘in tune with His principles and justice’ (3).

What does music and creativity have to do with it?

God is the creator of heaven and earth. As imagebearers of God we were created to worship Him. As imagebearers we are, like God, creators of beauty.

Music is, like all acts of art: a ‘highway into the centre of a reality which cannot be glimpsed, let alone grasped any other way’ (4). That is, when we sing songs, we ‘do worship’, we express our relationship with God, we consume His love for us and love Him back. By aligning our songs to Him we declare Him alive and present and express our willingness to get to know Him better and further. By worshipping Him, we affirm His existence and affirm Him as our Lord and give Him dominion over our lives as the only and true God.

Time has learned that through music we have a perfect opportunity to worship together, to have community, to share our Faith.

How does worship further the Kingdom Story in the world?

Through worship we first of all make the story real and relevant; ‘ we sanctify present time by enacting the past event of Jesus in time, which transforms the present and gives shape to the future’ (5). Worship reveals the story and opens up bits and pieces of God and His kingdom. Trough worship we bring ‘ words of truth’ (6). Worship also makes us participants in the story since we activate our part of the relationship with God. Through worship we can shed light on the variety of God’s dimensions and glorify them all. We need more then a lifetime and endless songs to describe His beauty, spirituality, righteousness and relational being.

How should all of the above affect how we lead worship as worship leaders?

All of the above should make us honored to be in the position to shed light on Gods greatness and to lead people to a greater intimacy and knowledge of their God. We should be aware of the great opportunity of worshipping together in unity through music. We should try to reflect all the dimensions of Gods character, and not narrow Him down. It also should make us responsible for doing this rightly and conscientiously and to live our life’s in tune with what we are singing. It is also an invitation to put our souls and minds upon Him alone and to be led by His Holy Spirit. We ought to be humble and extremely joyful at the same time cause He is our God and He wants to be worshipped.. by us!

1. Eugene Peterson, The Message, Revelation 5: 13

2. David Ruis, Simple Devotion To Christ (IW Master All, P.24)

3. Gary Best, Singing The Song Of The Kingdom (IW Master All, p.24)

4. N.T. Wright, Simply Christian (p. 201)

5. Robert Webber, The Christian Year: A Primer (IW Master All, p.246)

6. Brian Doerksen, The View From Here (IW Master All, p. 85)