Go Read About Worship
Justin Baeder's article at The Ooze is well worth reading - for the first time if you haven't already done so. I linked to it earlier this year and am happy to do so again. (Merry Christmas, Justin, from your Secret Santa, who has got the whole blogosphere reading your writing.)

I continue to wrestle with the issues that Justin raised. He is so right that we spend so much time on that one hour of the week as if that is what being a Christian is all about. Each week I watch my wife and the office staff spend an incredible amount of time getting ready for Sunday worship. The average pastor probably spends a greater percentage of their time on Sunday morning- planning, study and writing the sermon, etc. I have a hunch that the same pastor would get in big trouble if they spent the week bringing people to Christ and never preached a sermon. They would lose their job if they found out that they were too busy making disciples to plan a "super" worship.

Some of this goes back to the "mega-church" model we have seen in the last 20 years. The adaptation of entertainment-style worship has moved us into an over-dependence on a style and approach that requires lots of time. It also goes back further than that to the Sunday-morning worship as the center of life in the midst of a community that by and large was Christian. Sunday morning defined which branch of the family we were part of. We also moved into an understanding that evangelism happened in the midst of worship thanks to revival and the Great Awakening in our American history. All in all the result was that worship was th center.

It is time to move into a new understanding of worship and its style(s) and place(s) in the making of disciples- and for the community's life. Thanks to Justin for raising the issue and to his Secret Santa for reminding us of the wonderful article.

Another Good Article on the Moravians
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune had an excellent travel article on Old Salem, NC, in today's paper.

The cobbled streets and tidy red-brick buildings around a true village green are relics of yet another attempt to create a utopian community in early America.

This time it was the Moravians, a German group whose attempts to reform the Catholic church predate Martin Luther by about 100 years. Their New World experiment worked, for a surprisingly long time, and in some ways is still working.

It certainly worked for me.

Go for whole article. (Free registration required.) They did a good job. Thanks!

"Razzle Dazzle" and "Almost" Don't Count, Guys
The Play of the Day. New Orleans Saints and Jacksonville Jaquars. Jacksonville leading 20 - 13 with 11 seconds left.
Then:

1-10-NO25 (:11) (Shotgun) A.Brooks pass incomplete (P.Spicer).

2-10-NO25 (:06) (Shotgun) A.Brooks pass to D.Stallworth to JAX 33 for 42 yards. Lateral to M.Lewis to JAX 26 for 7 yards. Lateral to D.McAllister to JAX 21 for 5 yards. Lateral to J.Pathon for 21 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Score is now 20 - 19. What an ending. No time left. Overtime is sure. Sure?

J.Carney extra point is No Good, Wide Right Final- Jacksonville 20, New Orleans 19.

Now that must hurt.

Orange Alert Level
We are living in a new world, I know. Post-9/11 is a time when we must always be aware that the world is small and anything can happen anywhere. Should we be afraid? No. That gives the terrorists the victory. Should we be cautious? Of course. Should we turn our Christmas into a time of hiding and violence. Absolutely not.

The Magnificat

46 Mary responded,
   “Oh, how I praise the Lord.
47 How I rejoice in God my Savior!
48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
   and now generation after generation
   will call me blessed.
49 For he, the Mighty One, is holy,
   and he has done great things for me.
50 His mercy goes on from generation to generation,
   to all who fear him.
51 His mighty arm does tremendous things!
   How he scatters the proud and haughty ones!
52 He has taken princes from their thrones
   and exalted the lowly.
53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things
   and sent the rich away with empty hands.
54 And how he has helped his servant Israel!
   He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful.
55 For he promised our ancestors—Abraham and his children—
   to be merciful to them forever.”

For centuries this has been a call to the oppressed and the oppressor; it has been a promise of hope to all who would listen; it has been a reminder that the things this world thinks are essential are anything but.
  We try to make it about political-
but it is far too radical for that.
  We try to make it about religion-
but it is far too important for that.
  We try to make it spiritual-
but it is far too material for that.

   It is about incarnation- making God's life and love real. Which is what Christmas is all about.