Top 5 things I miss about 90s worship.

Well, it’s a time to… umm… remember Jesus Sacrifice, you know, the wine grape juice representing his blood, and the bread wafers/wonderbread/croutons/whatever-is-easy-and-on-hand representing his… you know… body…

Is it just a symbol? (really?) Is there more to it than that? What does it all mean? (really?)

This is such a profound and meaningful experience. A wonderful gift that Christians have been given by Jesus to communicate so much! So much, indeed, that eventually Christians came to think of the bread and wine ACTUALLY BEING the body and blood of christ! (After all, he DID say “This IS my blood. This IS my body.” (didn’t he? (actually, no.. he didn’t.)) (triple parenthetical statement +15!)

My point here is that we evangelical types tend to take one of three stances on the issue:

1. Happily mystified
2. Completely confused
3. Overly simplistic and naive

It’s an issue I’ve been studying out for about a year. Grappling with to try and gather a sense of peace about the issue. I’m starting to get there. I’ve recently read a book (recommended by our sound guru) that cleared a lot of air for me. I’d like to formally recommend it to you all.

The Meal Jesus Gave Us: Understanding Holy Communion by Tom (N.T.) Wright is a quick read and was tremendously helpful for me. Michael Green wrote in the forward of the book:

“Nothing is more central to Christian practice than Holy Communion. Yet, curiously enough, little attempt is made to explain it. So many outside the Christian community are just puzzled by it, and many within the church go to Communion from habit but know very little about how it arose and what it means. This is the ideal book for both thypes of reader. It is written by one of th foremost New Testament scholars in the world, who has the enviable ability to write with engaging charm.”

The back of the book gives a nice summary:

…Tom Wright explains in clear and vivid style the background to the Last Supper, the ways in which Christians have interpreted this event over the centuries, and what it all means for us today.

If you lead worship and communion, you should read this book.

Dear brothers & sisters, My question is: On the “See the Morning” CD by Chris Tomlin, the song “How Can I Keep From Singing” is listed under the lyrics as Traditional. I was wondering who wrote it, what year, is this the original melody? Thanks, LA

Information about most traditional songs can be found on CyberHymnal.org which I find to be a great resource for historical information. This particular song can be found here.

Tomlin’s version of the song, which appeared on his album “See The Morning” was co-written with Matt Redman and is loosely based on the original song.