When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.” The house of Israel called it manna…
Witness
“I wish there were some way we could understand how important dietary law has been to the people of Israel. Most of us have eaten bacon all our lives, and we do not think twice about combining milk and meat, but if we were first century Jews, the very thought would make us break out in a cold sweat. It would be like coming to church one morning to find pork chops and whiskey on the altar instead of bread and wine.” Acts 11:1-18…
Improvisation
“A different type of fusion, represented by a mixing of jazz and classical music, also emerged as an important movement during the 1970’s….No artist better exemplified this powerful synthesis of disparate styles than pianist Keith Jarrett. The influence of classical music is, at times, as pronounced as the jazz ingredients of his playing…The calling card of (Keith) Jarrett’s achievement is…his ability to blend these various sources of inspiration into a coherent, persuasive whole. Nowhere is this clearer than on his…
Toward Sunday
We continue with week 4 of our worship series: Yes to the Mess: Surprising Lessons from Jazz & Acts. This series is structured around a book called Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz by Frank J. Barrett. Throughout this worship series we will hold Barrett’s reflections on jazz in creative tension with the development of the earliest church as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. This week worship at The Table will explore the balancing of freedom…
Yes to the Mess
“Jazz improvisation assumes that there is affirmative potential waiting to be discovered from virtually any utterance, any chord, any note.” from Yes to the Mess by Frank J. Barrett, p. 44. What are some affirmative potentials waiting to be discovered from practicing your faith? How might you act on one of those potentials this day?
Witness
This week our worship will be rooted in Acts 9.36-43. “Peter knelt down and prayed – Tabitha opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. (9.40) I have known many folks who have died. Some of them my close friends. One of them my father. I prayed next to the lifeless body of my father. He didn’t come back to life. I believe my prayers went unanswered. With his death part of me died too. The part of me…
Improvisation
Classically trained pianist, Friedrich Gulda, said that Jazz offers, “the rhythmic drive, the risk, the absolute contrast to the pale, academic approach I had been taught.” (from NYT) Watch Gulda improvise with the brilliant Herbie Hancock. Watch for the interaction between the two men. What do you observe? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toZdvTBMvOk]
Toward Sunday
We continue with week 3 of our worship series: Yes to the Mess: Surprising Lessons from Jazz & Acts. This series is structured around a book called Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz by Frank J. Barrett. Throughout this worship series we will hold Barrett’s reflections on jazz in creative tension with the development of the earliest church as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Outline for Yes to the Mess April 7 Jazz: Mastering the…
Ruptures
“Evangelical friends of mine are always trying to trim the corners and smooth the rough edges of what they call My Witness in order to shove it into a tidy, born-again conversion narrative. They want an exact date, even an hour, and I never know what to tell them. The dateable conversion story has a venerable history. Paul, the most famous Jew to embrace Jesus, established the prototype of the dramatic, datable rebirth. He was walking on the road to…
Yes to the Mess
“Most of what goes on in this world is unseen. Planets orbit, flocks migrate, cells and organs work in the darkness. And love does its work. Skeptics look for proof of God, as if God were Bigfoot, as if The Holy One were any more provable than love or humor, as if paparazzi could somehow catch Spirit taking out the trash. No, God is The Unseen One. The closer we come the more there is only mystery. Fools never realize…
Witness
Our passage for this week tells the dramatic story of Saul’s conversion. He receives a new name, a new passion and new life grounded in sharing his witness of Jesus. I’ve never had a religious converson like that. A conversion that changes me instantly. Not yet anyway. I have had other sorts of reversals in my life; changes in which I am instantly different. The first time I had great sex. Becoming a mother. Losing my father. I know that…
Improvisation
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlTeCe30m84] In this recording of a live performance of “Moanin” by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers from a concert in Belguim 1958, listen to each solo improvisation. Notice how each musician begins from the point where the previous musician leaves off.
Toward Sunday
We began a new series yesterday! Yes to the Mess: Surprising Lessons from Jazz & Acts. This series is structured around a book called Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz by Frank J. Barrett. Throughout this worship series we will hold Barrett’s reflections on jazz in creative tension with the development of the earliest church as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. This week worship will be rooted in Acts 9.1-20. This is the story of…