Martin Smith (Delirious?)
On paper it should never really have made sense: Delirious? should never have got as far as they did. No band had that came before them had ever...
Martin Smith (Delirious?)BLOGS
Blogs » Martin Smith (Delirious)
How Do You Define Worship?
Defining worship is a bit of a tricky one. I recently watched a documentary about Turner, the great impressionist painter, who was famous for the way he captured light. Turner was a master at painting the unpaintable, working in the open air, often in dodgy weather. He used to work furiously fast, so that he'd capture the changes in the light, landscape and sea as they happened. The TV presenter, an artist in their own right, set out to try and paint like Turner one afternoon, but found that as they began to paint the light, the sea, the sky, they could not begin to do justice to what they were encountering. The sky was simply too massive and luminous, the sea too powerful and textured... it was almost impossible to capture them on a simple canvas. When we try and define worship, we often find ourselves in the same position. Worship is such a vast concept that no one definition can contain it. Instead, I find I end up collecting little quotes and ideas that give me glimpses of the incredible, dynamic adventure that we call worship. Here are a few definitions, but I'd love to hear your favourites too, so please add your own below: A definition we've been using a bit with Worship Central is: “Worship is the total alignment of our heart, soul, mind and strength with the will of God. It is our whole-hearted response to God’s extravagant love and mercy.” I also love Roman's 12's all-encompassing "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice" Then these are few I've heard again recently that I think are great... “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” (William Temple) "Worship is a deliberate and disciplined adventure in reality." (Willard Sperry) And for something a bit different, an Eastern Orthodox perspective: "Christian worship is the response of men to the Divine call, to the 'mighty deeds' of God, culminating in the redemptive act of Christ." (George Florovsky) Basically, it's all about Jesus... "Worship is not primarily man's initiative but God's redeeming act in Christ through his Spirit." (Nikos A. Nissiotis) Basically, it's not about us, it's all about Jesus...
Journeys into Space
Martin Smith writes "Life is a little different for me right now. I have just broken my personal record of 5 Saturdays at home in a row. In fact I have completely shattered it as I’m now up to Saturday number 12 without being on the road somewhere." In that time I have become the king of the family bike ride, learnt to cook chicken fajitas and watched almost every single Match of the Day. I’ve even played bass at church for the first time ever which was more nerve racking than playing at Milton Keynes Bowl! Yes, I’m in transition, on a journey to something new without knowing what it is or where it is or how long it will take to get there. I have spent the last 20 years with a microphone in my hand, travelling continents in pursuit of spiritual explosions. I’ve always believed in the power of music and the crazy concept that it can break peoples hearts. It’s not a new concept though, in fact the shepherd boy David knew that when he played his harp the ‘atmosphere’ around him changed so much that there was always an emotional explosion. I love words, words are powerful, but music is more so. It can weave between the defenses of a hard heart and reveal the depths of love, joy, pain and regret. King Saul knew all about this when everytime David strummed it must have felt like the boy was playing upon his very own heartstrings. A strange thing is happening to me. I’m discovering an amazing commodity. It’s called ‘space’. It’s revealing a world to me that I seldom knew existed. Time to walk, read, fall in love again and spend minutes not just seconds gazing upon my childrens faces as they sleep. I’ve nothing really against the ‘100 mph’ worship sets and the challenge of cramming 19 songs into 22 minutes but I feel a new thing coming. I’m seeing again that ‘space’ is as important as content. Silence as important as singing. Our music and art filled with more beauty, more grace and definitely more space. It’s in the layer beneath the text that God speaks to us, it’s in the silence we hear Gods heartbeat and without knowing the sound of Gods voice, simply, we are scuppered. For the first time in 20 years I don’t have a plan and I’m learning again to wait. Waiting is difficult for someone used to not having to, but the joy that can be found in the space is indescribable. My son Noah said my fajitas were ‘wicked’. That can make a mans heart explode! Follow
Martin Smiths New Blog
“Not in goals, but in transitions are people great.” (Emerson) Many of you know that things are changing. I don’t mean the surface things like an impending change of government, the price of US dollars or the fact that Mary-Anna, my 2 year old is starting nursery school in September. No. I’m talking about a spiritual ‘shift’ and whenever this happens the tidal wave it produces always destroys and rebuilds the culture we live in. Let’s bring this down to earth a bit. We have enjoyed 30 years of ‘free’ western capitalism but frankly, we now do not have the money to pay the rent. I’m quite excited though, because I believe in God. I believe in a God who gave us hundreds of stories about about the moments when he showed up just at the right time and in the right place. Moses at the red sea, Gideon and his ‘jam jar’ firelights, even sending his own son Jesus to open the eyes of a blind man. I’m very excited because I believe that God is coming and he will not be late. When the world is changing, we simply have to fix our eyes on Jesus who is unchangeable and unshakeable. I have been incredibly inspired by an article I read by William Bridges. He says, ‘Change, especially in these complex times, can seem like “launching out from a riverside dock to cross to a landing on the other shore—only to discover in midstream that the landing is no longer there. (And when we look back at the other shore, we see that the dock we left from has just broken loose and is heading downstream!) We are often stuck in transition between situations, relationships, and identities that are themselves in transition.” This is the nature of contemporary life. Transitions “begin” with an ending (i.e. marriage is the end of singleness; a promotion is the end of a former job, routine and friendships, etc.). Transitions move next into a confusing, stressed nowhere of in-betweenness (think of college grads who have not landed a job) and finally morph into a new beginning. Unacknowledged, unprocessed endings stand in the way of moving forward to new beginnings. We have to let go of the old thing before we can pick up the new—not just outwardly, but inwardly, where we keep our connections to the people and places that act as definers of who we are. Even positive changes (being accepted to the school of your choice or having a baby) produce these unexpected losses because to an extent that we seldom realize, we come to identify our selves with the circumstances of our lives’ Good stuff eh! I have a hunch about something. In all our business, In all the ‘good’ we do. In all the empire building of big ministry and brand driven churches it’s time to press the pause button. Those of you who are brave may even want to press the ‘stop’ button. Let’s be with Jesus. I say that I love him and adore him, in fact I built a career around singing about it but in all the ‘good’ I forgot to do it. I forgot to sit on a hill and talk to Jesus. I stopped climbing trees just to sing him my songs, read him my love letters. I had learnt to go to battle in the Kings ‘armour’ when deep down I was always just a shepherd boy with a sling. I am learning that ‘good’ is not ‘great’. If there is no ‘great’ beneath the ‘good’ then we will die. How do we be great? We spend time with someone who is greater. When all around is moving, shifting and the future uncertain there is no need to panic. If we find Jesus again we will be so enthralled, so happy that we will forget we are in transition anyway. If we have him inside our lives then the ‘good’ we worried about will lose it’s appeal anyway in the light of ‘his’ face. In 2 Samuel ch 19 we read that when David was re instated as king, he offered Mephibosheth acres of fields in return for his commitment. The invalid boy had no interest in the land because in that moment all he cared about was being with the king. Mephibosheth said. "I am content just to have you safely back again, my lord the king!" I’m learning that God doesn’t want my voice, he just wants me. It’s great to be back. Martin Smith 10.03.10 http://www.worshipcentral.org
© Copyright 2009-2010 Kingsway. All Rights Reserved.
Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy and Legal Information