Who is this Jamin guy anyway?
I am the husband of one and the homeschooling father of five. I am a singer, songwriter, and a worship leader who plays guitar and piano. I am the Executive Director of Trinity Arts Center, a small Christian Arts Academy in Eastern Tennessee. I'm also a guitar teacher and -- I spend about half my time building web sites and helping companies organize their thoughts, fine tune their products, and turn their customers into company evangelists. I've been involved with four music projects in my life -- Hot Pink Turtle, Spin Radio, Stand Like Stone, and of course, Jamin Rathbun. I'm also training to be an Ultimate Fighter (that's not true). = )


Just a couple thoughts on worship today...


Now that I think about it... It's a bit misleading to describe the activity of singing as "worship" or -- the one who leads singing a "worship" leader? The Bible talks about worship in many contexts but not (as far as I know) in reference to music or singing. Music and singing are usually described, not as worship -- but as praise. Sometimes, like in the passage above, the activity of singing is paired with the idea of having a positive attitude in your heart toward God but -- I don't think it's accurate to present the act of singing as the most common form of worship, let alone, as the only form which, I think, would be the common assumption.

From what I gather... The majority of the Biblical descriptions of worship include images of sacrifice, submission, and focus toward God, many times, including bowing or taking a submissive posture. Many examples include text that describes worship as a "planned" activity but -- there are also cases where individuals fell down spontaneously and worshipped, in response to a specific act of God's kindness or mercy. Many of these cases include spoken praise as part of the process but -- none (in my brief review) that include singing.

So why is it that our corporate "worship" consists primarily of singing? Is it because that's the only form of worship that is deemed convenient or acceptable? Is it too awkward or embarassing to lie face down and worship God? Is there just not enough room in between the seats to do that comfortably? Is hand-raising our modern equivalent? There are several examples of raising hands during prayer but -- I couldn't find an example of raising hands during singing. It's kind of frustrating to discover how little I know about this subject after about 10 years of leading others in doing it... Sheesh.

Anyway... Maybe we should try it sometime? What would you lay at His feet? What would you offer to Him? How should you respond to God after having been dramatically saved from certain death? Sing to him? Maybe. More likely... You would bow at His feet and thank him over and over again. You would offer to do something for Him. You would, at least for that moment, focus entirely on Him. Using my analogy from last month, you might grasp tightly to His feet or to His hands as your body, almost involuntarily, expressed its gratitude.

Maybe it's time to try something new? Something more from the heart and less from the mouth? what you discover.

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© 2006 Jamin Rathbun & Superdink.com. All rights reserved.

This month's related stuff:

I have an RSS feed for this page. (if you're into that kind of thing)

A shameless plug for the Arts Center my wife and I are starting. Visit Trinity Arts Center for more info.

Sponsor a child through World Vision.

Avant Ministries -- a different kind of missions organization focused on short cycle church planting.

Check out my worship "lens" at Squidoo.

July 24th is the deadline to submit songs for the Integrity Songwriter's Workshop.