March 15, 2016 ·

On Bells and Pomegranates

“All these senses are being engaged, soft cloth pomegranates are allowing us to be able to worship Him with our sight and sound and touch and smell and taste, engaging the whole person to worship God. The smells and the bells can compel us to dwell in God's presence. I think this is why we're starting to see in a lot of evangelical churches the rise of the worship arts pastor. Have you seen this? Just recognize, wait a second, we need it to be people who craft and shape environments in which people encounter the living God through worship, word, communion, community, engaging us physically. As I like to say praying with your body, the whole person. So what we're learning here is that God calls us to worship Him with the ordinary, with our clothes, with things like bells and just pomegranates, fruits and colors, fashion, craftsmanship. Remember the Holy Spirit came upon these people. … The ordinances aren't always just ordinary. God loves it when we experiment and mix it up a bit.”