Dan Wilt Telling The Story Of “It Is Well” By Horatio Spafford

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Essentials In Worship Theology

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Essentials In Worship Theology is an exploration of foundational worship theology and worldview – the nature of God, people and worship. Based around N.T. Wright’s Simply Christian. You can take this course at any time on your own. Or you can join in with Scheduled groups. See the Courses tab for details.

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WorshipTraining said 1 year, 7 months ago:

Fully Human – What Does It Mean To Be A Human Being?

We’re a quirky bunch, we human beings. In the whole of the created order (at least on planet earth) we uniquely bear the imago Dei, the image of God, expressing God’s benevolent kingship in the world through governing, loving, stewarding, relating and tending to this world and one another.

Begin to define what it means to be human. In a sense, we’re exploring who it is that we lead into worship. Use words, phrases and ideas from Simply Christian, and the vids and media in your piece. In other words, present a brief theological + anthropological (meaning “focused on humans) reflection that articulates what human beings are all about. Feel free to integrate ideas about the Garden, the Fall of humankind, etc., but you will spending more time on those ideas in the next weeks.

Here is a suggested outline to help you (optional):

1. Fully Human: What does it mean to be a creative being (beauty + work of our hands)?
2. Fully Human: What does it mean to be a relational being (community + relationships)?
3. Fully Human: What does it mean to be a just being (society, leadership + stewardship)?
4. Fully Human: What does it mean to be a spiritual being (worship, eternal + made for heaven and earth)?

Please keep paragraphs to a maximum of 5 lines long and keep the entire post to a maximum of 250 words (about 20 lines of text). Keeping it short will allow more people to read your post and get some discussion going.

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Duncan John Newsome said 2 months, 2 weeks ago:

Creative Being
The revelation that we are sub-creators under God, imitating the Father helps to explain the hard wired, whole brained creativeness, deeply ingrained gift from the Father in each and every human being. The joy experienced by every human in sub-creation within their passion is a reflection of the joy in God in the use of His gift. By using our creativity it unlocks the ability to see through the mundane and grayness of our fallen world to see and appreciate Gods creation in all its glory.
Relational Being
Building from the Trinity who is God, and having been made in His likeness it removes any option we as humans have of not having a relational nature. Our creativity (in God’s image) is meant to build community creating and reinforcing a strong sense of “we” drawing us into the global spiritual family sharing intimate nature of God with each other in prayers and actions.
Just Being
As stewards of the King, we are called in our roles both in church community and the greater community to call people up to what they were meant to be through encouragement, mentoring, coaching etc, not breaking them down, thus restoring the “we” community and right relationship with God.
Spiritual Being
We are made in His image, and are God’s visible stamp on creation. God is about restoring, recreating, and redeeming; forming a new humanity who are tasked with being salvation storytellers, bringing the stories of the true humanity of Jesus, of cosmic redemption, of the joy and love of the Father. We are the means by which the glory of God is reflected to His creations and which praise and worship is reflected back. We have a responsibility within this to ensure that we lead the communities (the family of God) responsibly in worship and not distort the lens through which praise and worship is offered.

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Dan Wilt said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

Keep it all comin’ guys. Responses and all.

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Cynthia Miller said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

@scottaylor Scott, I, too, like the way Dan Wilt summed this our primary mission, “tell the story of salvation.” It just makes everything sound so simple for when we get side tracked and off course from seeing things in others. When we would tend to pass judgement, become agitated, question what we see, want to do the saving and converting, stop! And “tell the story of salvation” with the spirit of community, reminding them of and calling them up to their God image, in some creative way.

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Cynthia Miller said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

@saracruzer “babies who are not picked up and nurtured suffer drastic health and emotional consequences” Sara this is a mouthful, and touches the core of my heart. What a picture to so clearly show how early this part of who we are is effective in our lives and to think that we grow to a point where we try to avoid it (relationships) because of a few bad experiences… Wow. Thank you.

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Cynthia Miller said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

To be fully human means to be a sub-creator of God, using things to create things. It means to be a reflector of God’s image to others – portraying love, stewardship, care. It means to be active in relationships/community reminding others of their God image and calling them up to that which God made them. It also means to be a deliverer of the message of salvation, God’s rescue plan, redemption and reconciliation – not trying to “save” but to remind them of and restate the message.

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Dan Wilt said 3 months, 3 weeks ago:

Good posts and interactions, guys. Once again, I was moved by the ideas we are talking about related to what it means to be God’s, to be God’s creation, to be God’s ImageBearers, SubCreators, CommunityBuilders and SalvationStorytellers.

To be a worshiper is getting very, very big. Such good comments, especially about relationships and creativity.

Okay, we’re turning into our final week now. Immerse yourself in the reading and videos, and begin to think of a Creative Project that will capture some idea that was very important to you through EWT.

Check out the Creative Project link on the right if you have any questions.

A Reminder: For Certificate folks, make sure you have 4 solid blog posts up (reflections on each week of our class), and the Book Summary post and Creative Project up before you send in the Module Completion form. Grades are based on the thoroughness of the posts, some attention to grammar, etc. (so proofread), and the content of the rest. Easy B, harder A is what I always say!

Looking forward to seeing this week flourish into our vision of worship together.

Praying for you,

Dan

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Scott Taylor said 3 months, 3 weeks ago:

@jltnjazz Great point at the end. We press toward the goal and through that may His Kingdom reigns in us. We are his vessels and as long as we are will, He will use us. May we seek to share these thoughts to those around us that they will to understand who they are made to be.

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Scott Taylor said 3 months, 3 weeks ago:

@sarahcruzer It is crazy the effects not having relationships with each others has. As much as I love time to reflect and be alone. I am certainly thankful that I have nurturing relationships that all serve different spots in my life. The cool thing is when we can put our creativity and uniqueness together for His Kingdom.

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Sarah Cruz said 3 months, 3 weeks ago:

Creative Beings: humans are creating in the likeness of God, who is the ultimate Creator. In his image, every human, whether an artist or an accountant, creates. It is part of our nature to make, mold and move the elements around us.
Relational Beings: As the trinity shows the ultimate dance of relationships, humans echo that truth in our own lives. Humans can not live without relationship – babies who are not picked up and nurtured suffer drastic health and emotional consequences. Isolated prisoners lose all sense of sanity and self. And it is in the context of relationships that we learn, grow, and blossom most. We are created in this aspect of God.
Being A Human Being: We find our place on society by taking advantage of the natural talents and abilities given to us, we use those abilities to work, to both lead others, and to steward creation and talent. We are given relationships and resources to care for, and when we do this to the best of our ability, we are worshiping our creator.
Spiritual Beings: it is nearly impossible for men and women to truthfully deny that there isn’t more to this life than just the dust and clay of our human existence. Our relationship with God, and the intersection of heaven and earth that we experience through Christ is the constant undertone of our lives. We are not simply a collection of cells that pops in to life one day, and then fades away again a few decades later. We take part of a grand story, where one day creation will be renewed. We are called to live in that reality, and to call others to live in it as well.

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John L Nabors said 3 months, 3 weeks ago:

1) To be a reflection of Him we must use our abilites to show his creation or the recreation of self through him. To best do that we must be the vessal He will flow though. Our work/offering will be His reflection.
2) We all have the desire to be part of “something”, to share. As Christians we are compelled to be with other believers because we can better understand one another but as a result we also want to share with those outside.
3) Being just is also part of the reflection. We know what is right but we must choose to do so. By accepting this we can better serve and make better use of our rersources.
4) We must focus on the eternal and at the same time we can become the point of intersection.We must walk on this earth, to be in the earth but not of the earth. The example of our walk will teach more than any words we can use. We will fail but we cannot stop. As Paul said we are made strong through our infirmaties.

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Scott Taylor said 3 months, 3 weeks ago:

What does it mean to be a creative being? We learned last week that one of the four key aspects of God’s nature is that He is Creator. If we are to learn what it means to be fully human, we must understand that we were created in His image. This means that we are sub-creators and that his creative nature is reflected in us. Because of all this we, his creative image, are able to create beauty worthy of God’s attention. This is what we do when we worship.

What does it mean to be a relational being? In this week’s video, Dan Wilt said: “Human beings are community builders; we are made to relate to one another and to God.” In the garden Adam had direct relationship with creation and God Himself. Yet God still said in Genesis 2:18 “It is not good for man to be alone.” I believe that God knows we need one another to share in the joys and pains of life. This is why community as a church is so important—because we recognize our need for God and each other.

What does it mean to be a just being? In Simply Christian this week, we learned that within all of us is a need to see things put right. If humans were created in God’s image, then it is human nature to seek justice. This tendency in us reflects God’s nature as King. A just king is a good king, a good leader. It should be natural for us to honor the King by leading a life that is full of love, goodness and wisdom, always looking for a way to establish and be good stewards of His kingdom.

And finally, what does it mean to be a spiritual being? Dan Wilt wrote: “Our primary mission is to tell the story of salvation.” In everything we do, from our worship to our daily interactions with people, we are to point people towards the savior of the world. Let it be our honor to tell His story, and reflect all the goodness of His nature.

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Polly Lohrmann said 7 months ago:

@jackel230, I definitely was encouraged after reading your post. What a great reminder to set our hearts on eternity since this world has nothing for us. Thanks!

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Polly Lohrmann said 7 months ago:

@mbaker, I really enjoyed reading your post! I liked your statement
about being a reflection of God’s holiness. Definitely something to remember as we strive to be more like Him!

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Polly Lohrmann said 7 months ago:

@brandydunbar, Loved reading your thoughts this week! Both of the phrases you wrote about are great reminders of who we are worshiping and how to continue to grow in the likeness of Christ!

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Polly Lohrmann said 7 months ago:

1. What does it mean to be a creative being (beauty + work of our hands)?
God created us so that we may create and give glory back to Him through our creativity. My favorite point in the video,”The Nature of Human Beings”, regarding our creativity was when Dan Wilt talked about how we are of ultimate value and worth to God and we are made to be transparent lenses that glorify the God whom we reflect. The problem comes in when our transparency becomes opaque and takes the attention off of God and focuses on ourselves. Since God gave us everything we have and made us out of nothing, when we create something, all of the glory is His.

2. What does it mean to be a relational being (community + relationships)?
As sub-creators, we are stewards of what God has give to us. “We are like an angled mirror. We reflect God’s image into creation…Then we reflect back to God” – N.T. Wright. As humans, we need to be in community with one another and building one another up in love. As worship leaders, it is part of our job to facilitate community through our worship.

3. What does it mean to be a just being (society, leadership + stewardship)?
As worship leaders and as image bearers of God, the way we lead should be a direct reflection of who we’re living for. We want to live in such a way that honors God’s original intention. Any calling that we have can be corrupted if misused.

4. What does it mean to be a spiritual being (worship, eternal + made for heaven and earth)?
We are apprentices of Jesus Christ. And through His saving grace, we can boldly proclaim His story to lead others out of darkness into the Kingdom of light.

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Dan Wilt said 7 months, 2 weeks ago:

On the question of “why are we creative; do we just need to believe that?” Note that the biblical does not talk about microbiology, astrophysics, black holes, or the 500 species of snail that exist.

The key is – it doesn’t intend to. We can infer from the initial creation that we are made in the image, the tselem (likeness) of the Creator. This leads us to infer something about our drive to “make” things (the nature and vocation position on human creation).

Remember this guys; we are given the privilege of being those who fulfill the Scripture – “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; it is the glory of kings to seek it out.” We get to participate in thinking about our role as humans in this mysterious life project.

Not all things come to us with a literal passage and verse; we get hung up with realities in our daily lives if we demand that of the scriptures. We have to infer, tie threads together, and draw conclusions to live well in the presence of God across a lifetime.

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Dan Wilt said 7 months, 2 weeks ago:

You guys rocked the free world with this week’s discussion. Here is my video synthesis for Week 3 & 4. Now, it’s creative project time. http://screencast.com/t/FcIBOtSsKU

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said 7 months, 2 weeks ago:

Really like how you phrased this. Amen!

brandydunbar said 5 days, 21 hours ago: I also love the phrase Wright used that we become like what we worship. That just rang so true in my spirit. As Gods creation we are to worship Him. We begin to see His glory and we start to realize just what he has done and how much He truly loves us. How can we not turn and worship him. I feel like I am just getting a bit of this and there is so much more but I love the thought of reflecting Gods nature back to him and to the world. I look forward to learning how to be fully human and learning the things God has for me, us .

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said 7 months, 2 weeks ago:

Although I can see what you’re saying, the Bible also tells us that we are made in God’s image, and He is THE Creator – the ultimate in creative persons! Perhaps it’s our definition of creativity that needs to be revisited. You can creatively parent, you can creatively maneuver through traffic, you creatively organize your day, or this weeks worship service. Even accountants, who often seem like very factual, non-creative people, are very creative with numbers! Bless you, d

Thornton Woerner said 4 days, 9 hours ago:

However, not to be a wet rag, but I found no text that states God called us to be creative. That sounds to me to be a “nice idea’ that, “if we were God that’s what we would want”, but I don’t think it’s scriptural. Of course there is no text that I can find that warns us to not be “creative” either. Ecclesiastes reminds us of our purpose at the end of that book, and being creatve was not listed.
——Scott

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