hope that inspirits ...

i am seriously loving my Theology of Worship course. 

so much so, i'm sharing a bit of it with you today. 

if you have a cuppa in hand,

here's something to munch on from today's readings. 

Dan Wilt's ebook *Stumbling into Mystery*.

"Shalom - the Hebrew word that we translate as “peace,” is a theological term packed with meaning. For worship leaders, artists and creative influencers in a postmodern world, it would serve us well as we narrate the Kingdom story to have a grasp on this term. Shalom speaks of a holistic peace, peace that goes far beyond feelings, or just the absence of war or pain. The peace that the Bible calls us to sing about, to put into words and poetry and songs and images, is the peace that is coming with the world completely put to rights.
In the beginning, we had shalom with God, with our environment, and with one another. We had healthy partnership between the sexes. We had meaningful vocation (callings) and work to which we could give ourselves. We enjoyed peace and connection with nature and the rest of creation all
around us..." 


but things changed when sin entered.  small word, big impact... 


"The players change across history, but the reasons for our internal battles do not. We want something, James says, but don’t get it – and so we fight one another to receive what only God can give..."


thankfully, we don't stop here.


"Shalom is entering the world through the Spirit of God, through the way opened by Christ, and we as his followers are participating in that bringing of wholeness to the world. Empowered by the Spirit of God, we bring peace to the situations that God has given us to influence. Peace of mind, peace of heart, peace of circumstance, peace of government, peace of society, peace of relationships – in all of these arenas we are Christ’s ambassadors." 


isn't that an awesome line of thinking to follow?


"As Christ’s ambassadors, every act of forgiveness, reconciliation and hope-giving is now a new creation act – an act of shalom-making, or peace-making. We anticipate the age to come every time we make a choice to act in love, in shalom peace, and not in hatred or bitterness. We welcome and exemplify the age to come every time we as a community gather around one of us who is weak and broken. We bear the age to come every time we participate in bringing beauty into the world, whether it be in a church building or on a pub stage. We participate in acts of the new creation to come when we pray for the sick, care for the poor, pick up the fallen, confront social powers that
dehumanize people, and on and on and on."


what amazing opps we have all around us to be bearer's of shalom - God's shalom.  bringers of hope - the hope with roots. roots that go down deep into the soil of God's love.  hope that inspirits.

let's take every opp available to us today to BE who we're called and created to be. 

blessings on your BEING and the DOING that will result...