When the right song drifts into our lives at the right time, it can hook us beneath the radar of our rational defenses, turn us inside out, and draw out those bits of our selves we keep tucked away or cannot otherwise access.
At it’s best, this is what liturgical music has the power to do: swell up through the vernacular, flesh-and-blood, toes-in-the-dirt space in our lives and shape our bodies into a living, communal life with Jesus and one another.
If we want to enter a season like Lent, walking with Jesus into his death and resurrection, liturgical music helps open our hearts and shape our steps for being fully, genuinely present on that journey.
Natasha Sistrunk Robinson is a member of the Missio Alliance writing team, a mentoring coach, and author who will be leading a pre-conference workshop at Awakenings 2019: The Life of the Church for the Sake of the World. Want to…
Rhesa Higgins is the founding director of eleven:28 ministries, a co-sponsoring partner of our Awakenings Gathering. Rhesa and other members from eleven:28 ministries will be onsite throughout the gathering, offering spiritual direction for those who are interested with costs covered…
Written by Josh Sweeden, Dean of the Faculty and Associate Professor of Church and Society at Nazarene Theological Seminary.
“Seminary” has long been synonymous with clergy preparation. Now in addition to the task of preparing professional clergy, seminaries (schools of…
Reports emerged this past week regarding the Southern Baptist Convention’s history of sexual abuse by hundreds of church leaders. The New York Times reported:
The San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle reported Sunday that their six-month investigation found about 380…
Here at the start of 2019, Missio Alliance turns 7 years old!
As the father of a 7-year-old myself, I have some perspective on this season of life. Observing my daughter, I see a growing awareness of, and confidence in,…
This Week on Seminary Dropout…
Carolyn Custis James is an award-winning author and international speaker. She blogs at www.carolyncustisjames.com, as a Leading Voice at MissioAlliance, and at Huffington Post, is an adjunct faculty member at Biblical Theological Seminary, and a consulting editor for Zondervan’s Exegetical Commentary Series on the New Testament.
Is a hotdog a sandwich?
This is the first of our three-part series on Fitch’s upcoming book: The Church of Us vs. Them.
We talk about “clobber verses,” the narrative arc of Scripture, and how the Bible gets turned into an “enemy making machine.
Written by Josh Sweeden, Dean of the Faculty and Associate Professor of Church and Society at Nazarene Theological Seminary.
“Seminary” has long been synonymous with clergy preparation. Now in addition to the task of preparing professional clergy, seminaries (schools of…
This article was originally published at New Leaf Church Planting Initiative. Reposted here with their permission.
The New Leaf Blog is excited to offer a daily Advent Reader for 2018. Sign up here.
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