Discerning Reader's Best Book of 2003! We are not created to worship. Nor are we created for worship. We are created worshiping. Too often Christians have only thought of worship in terms of particular musical styles or liturgical formats. But a proper view of worship is far larger than what takes place in churches on Sunday mornings. Worship is not limited to specific times, places or activities. God is by his very nature continuously outpouring himself. Because we are created in his image, we too are continually pouring ourselves in various directions, whether toward God or toward false gods. All of us, Christian or not, are always worshiping, whether or not that worship is directed toward God. We are unceasing worshipers. The fruition of a lifetime of study, reflection and experience, this volume sets forth Harold M. Best's understanding of worship and the arts. Widely respected as one of the foremost thinkers and practitioners in his field, Best explores the full scope of worship as continuous outpouring in all settings and contexts. With careful exposition and eloquent analysis, Best casts a holistic vision for worship that transcends narrow discussions of musical style or congregational preference. On this broader canvas, Best addresses popular misunderstandings about the use of music and offers correctives toward a more biblically consistent practice of artistic action. Incisive, biblical, profound and comprehensive, Best's landmark volume is one by which all other statements on worship and the arts will be measured.
Unceasing Worship
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"Unceasing Worship is a cut above the rest of the books on worship. Drawing on a lifetime of learning, artistry and leadership, Best writes with clarity, passion and deep humility about the great loves of his calling: the triune God, the Bible, churches, and music and the arts. There's encouragement, insight and challenges for every pastor and worship leader in this refreshing and inspiring book. Unceasing Worship is a rare gift of wisdom that combines clear thinking and warm-hearted devotion." (Robb Redman, pastor, Forest Hills Presbyterian Church, Helotes, Texas, and author of The Great Worship Awakening )
"In a world filled with easy reads, this is a decidedly hard book. But it is exceedingly wise, and wisdom takes time and work--and love. Harold is my friend, and I know how agonizingly he labors over each word and phrase. That passion is alive on every page of this miraculous book. Like many of you, I have struggled alone all my life trying to understand what it is God wants of me when he calls me to worship. Harold Best has emerged from a din of voices to let us know we are not alone in our struggle to understand what worship demands, asks for and is. After all, this does not pretend, like so many others have pretended, to be an answer book. There is only one of those. This book is the sound of a voice, behind what was before a locked door. It invites us to struggle together to join together in unceasing worship to the One who alone deserves to be praised." (Michael Card, songwriter, musician and author of Scribbling in the Sand and A Fragile Stone )
"Most books on worship are filled with historical data or practical ideas. This book stands out because it is chock-full of wisdom. Every five-page segment leaves the reader with thought-provoking insights and questions to ponder, drawn from a fruitful lifetime of wrestling with how we can faithfully honor the God who created and redeemed us. "Especially insightful is Best's insistence that worship must never be limited to what happens in a public event on Sunday morning. This theme makes this a book on worship not only for worship leaders but for all worshipers who seek to renew their spiritual life. Consider studying this, one chapter at a time, with your church council, board or worship leadership group." (John D. Witvliet, Director, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship )
"I am particularly attracted to the theological development of continuous outpouring. That the triune God continually outpours toward creatures and creation, and we to him, breaks new ground. It challenges convention and makes us approach worship and artistic expression with new eyes." (Robert Webber, founder, Institute for Worship Studies, and Professor Emeritus, Northern Seminary )
"Harold Best has given us a full-field theology of worship. It is also written from the heart. Best hits the high notes and charts the pitfalls of humanity's instinctive, unceasing worship of God. Outstanding!" (Paul F. M. Zahl, Dean, Cathedral Church of the Advent. )
"Worship is simply the most important action in which any of us will ever engage. Harold Best tells us why. Worship is also distressingly conflicted, mired in contentious controversy and cheapened by clichés. Harold Best tells us why. But he does more, far more: in well-crafted sentences and arresting images Harold Best immerses in the deep and wide world of worship in which we receive and respond to God with 'all that is within me.' " (Eugene H. Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College )
"One could not praise this book too much! Harold Best follows his own advice and writes with 'richness, range, comprehension, and temperate and timely word choices.' His phrases are weighty and elegant; a vibrantly truthful person, his language always points out idolatries, invites our reform and celebrates the grand diversity of the creation's worship-full 'outpourings.' If we would live what Best teaches, both we and our churches would be revived!" (Marva J. Dawn, author of Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down and A Royal "Waste" of Time )
"In this book Harold Best has given the church a gift--the gift of understanding that worship is a poured-out offering of love to Jesus that we give him every day of our lives, with the wonderful effect that our corporate worship on Sunday is all the better for it. Along the way he exposes our fallenness as worshipers, our capacity for idolatry (especially music), and the real but limited role of art forms as conveyors of truth. Prophetic, timely, compelling--just what the Lord of the church ordered." (Paul Basden, senior pastor, Preston Trail Community Church, Frisco, Texas, and author of The Worship Maze )
"In a world filled with easy reads, this is a decidedly hard book. But it is exceedingly wise, and wisdom takes time and work--and love. Harold is my friend, and I know how agonizingly he labors over each word and phrase. That passion is alive on every page of this miraculous book. Like many of you, I have struggled alone all my life trying to understand what it is God wants of me when he calls me to worship. Harold Best has emerged from a din of voices to let us know we are not alone in our struggle to understand what worship demands, asks for and is. After all, this does not pretend, like so many others have pretended, to be an answer book. There is only one of those. This book is the sound of a voice, behind what was before a locked door. It invites us to struggle together to join together in unceasing worship to the One who alone deserves to be praised." (Michael Card, songwriter, musician and author of Scribbling in the Sand and A Fragile Stone )
"Most books on worship are filled with historical data or practical ideas. This book stands out because it is chock-full of wisdom. Every five-page segment leaves the reader with thought-provoking insights and questions to ponder, drawn from a fruitful lifetime of wrestling with how we can faithfully honor the God who created and redeemed us. "Especially insightful is Best's insistence that worship must never be limited to what happens in a public event on Sunday morning. This theme makes this a book on worship not only for worship leaders but for all worshipers who seek to renew their spiritual life. Consider studying this, one chapter at a time, with your church council, board or worship leadership group." (John D. Witvliet, Director, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship )
"I am particularly attracted to the theological development of continuous outpouring. That the triune God continually outpours toward creatures and creation, and we to him, breaks new ground. It challenges convention and makes us approach worship and artistic expression with new eyes." (Robert Webber, founder, Institute for Worship Studies, and Professor Emeritus, Northern Seminary )
"Harold Best has given us a full-field theology of worship. It is also written from the heart. Best hits the high notes and charts the pitfalls of humanity's instinctive, unceasing worship of God. Outstanding!" (Paul F. M. Zahl, Dean, Cathedral Church of the Advent. )
"Worship is simply the most important action in which any of us will ever engage. Harold Best tells us why. Worship is also distressingly conflicted, mired in contentious controversy and cheapened by clichés. Harold Best tells us why. But he does more, far more: in well-crafted sentences and arresting images Harold Best immerses in the deep and wide world of worship in which we receive and respond to God with 'all that is within me.' " (Eugene H. Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College )
"One could not praise this book too much! Harold Best follows his own advice and writes with 'richness, range, comprehension, and temperate and timely word choices.' His phrases are weighty and elegant; a vibrantly truthful person, his language always points out idolatries, invites our reform and celebrates the grand diversity of the creation's worship-full 'outpourings.' If we would live what Best teaches, both we and our churches would be revived!" (Marva J. Dawn, author of Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down and A Royal "Waste" of Time )
"In this book Harold Best has given the church a gift--the gift of understanding that worship is a poured-out offering of love to Jesus that we give him every day of our lives, with the wonderful effect that our corporate worship on Sunday is all the better for it. Along the way he exposes our fallenness as worshipers, our capacity for idolatry (especially music), and the real but limited role of art forms as conveyors of truth. Prophetic, timely, compelling--just what the Lord of the church ordered." (Paul Basden, senior pastor, Preston Trail Community Church, Frisco, Texas, and author of The Worship Maze )
About the Author
Harold M. Best was for many years the dean of the Conservatory of Music at Wheaton College. An organist and composer, he has been a mentor and model for musicians, artists and church leaders. He has also served as president of the National Association of Schools of Music and has written extensively on matters of curriculum, culture and educational policy issues. He is the author of Music Through the Eyes of Faith.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"nobody does not worship",
By
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This review is from: Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts (Paperback)
Harold Best posits that "nobody does not worship." He develops the idea of "continuous outpouring," saying that God has eternally been continuously outpouring and that human beings, as creatures made in God's image, are also created "continuous outpouring." For humans, that outpouring is expressed in worship. In fact, all human beings are always in a state of worship. The problem is, worship is not always directed God-ward. For the Christian, though, because of Christ's work, our worship can be redeemed and can be directed toward God.
Best understands that all of life is a matter of worship--of honoring and serving that which (or the One whom) we value. Moreover, Best understands corporate worship to be a continuation of the worship Christians do even when they are not assembled together. Thus, there is no need to have a "call to worship" at the beginning of a corporate worship service, as though worship was something Believers need to begin doing for a while (and which they will stop doing in an hour's time or so). Rather, there is only One call to worship and once we respond to it, our lives are lived out in continuous worship. Interestingly, if all of the Christian life is a matter of worship, then evangelism can easily be seen as an invitation (or a call) to the Unbeliever to worship.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great base knowledge to build upon,
By
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This review is from: Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts (Paperback)
This is a great book for anyone wanting to build their knowledge of the theology of worship. It sets the ground for learning about how people interact in a worship gathering. It is impossible to know how to engage people in a worship gathering without first knowing how we all worship in everyday life.
3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Theology of Worship,
By tygre "tygre" (memphis) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts (Paperback)
I picked up this book because it was recommended by Tim Smith, worship pastor at Seattle's Mars Hill Church. Best writes on a scholarly level, carefully expounding his points, so this is not a book one wants to blaze through. It needs to be chewed slowly and digested. What's here, though, is sensational. Kudos to the team at IVP for publishing this and a number of other great books like Know the Truth.
The middle section, in which Best treats on worship and the arts, is perhaps the best. Highly recommended.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Worship is at once about who we are, about who or what our god is and about how we choose to live. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
continuous outpourers, unceasing worship, seeker sensitivity, authentic worshiper, continuous outpouring, artistic action, continuous worship, selective love, triune self, policy theology, corporate assembly, corporate gathering, best lemonade, continuing worship, living epistles, mutual indwelling, truth center, corporate worship Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Holy Spirit, Old Testament, New Testament, Word of God, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Christ Jesus New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Worship is at once about who we are, about who or what our god is and about how we choose to live. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
continuous outpourers, unceasing worship, seeker sensitivity, authentic worshiper, continuous outpouring, artistic action, continuous worship, selective love, triune self, policy theology, corporate assembly, corporate gathering, best lemonade, continuing worship, living epistles, mutual indwelling, truth center, corporate worship Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Holy Spirit, Old Testament, New Testament, Word of God, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Christ Jesus New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 17
books:
See all 17 books this book cites
4
books
cite this book:
- Engaging With God (Apollos) by David Peterson in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Works of Love : Kierkegaard's Writings, Vol 16 by Søren Kierkegaard in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Epistle to the Romans by Karl Barth in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Private Devotions by Lancelot Andrewes on page 103, and Back Matter
- Bondage of the Will, The by J. I. Packer on page 88
See all 17 books this book cites
- A Sacred Sorrow: Reaching Out to God in the Lost Language of Lament by Michael Card in Front Matter
- With All Thy Mind: Worship That Honors the Way God Made Us (Vital Worship, Healthy Congregations) by Robert P. Glick in Back Matter
- Christian Worship: Its Theology and Practice, Third Edition by Franklin M. Segler in Back Matter
- Exploring the Worship Spectrum: Six Views (Counterpoints) by Paul Basden in Back Matter
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