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A Royal "Waste" of Time: The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World (Paperback)

by Marva J. Dawn (Author) "To worship the LORD is - in the world's eyes - a waste of time..." (more)
Key Phrases: royal waste, church marketers, worship participants, Grand Rapids, New York, Holy Spirit (more...)

3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for This Urgent Time by Marva J. Dawn
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Product Details

Paperback: 377 pages
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (June 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 080284586X
ISBN-13: 978-0802845863
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #322,881 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
To worship the LORD is - in the world's eyes - a waste of time. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
royal waste, church marketers, worship participants, book about worship, deep symbols, worship folder, missional church, catechumenal process, pop spirituality, holy splendor, pop spiritualities, initial sermon, worship planners, church marketing, eschatological tradition, genuine story, concerning worship, good worship, guest preacher, being church, common lectionary

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Grand Rapids, New York, Holy Spirit, United States, First Testament, Infinite Center, Jacques Ellul, Jesus Christ, Downers Grove, Wendell Berry, Beautiful Savior, Lost Cause, Lord's Supper, Truly the Community, Burger King, New Testament, William Fore, Abingdon Press, Augsburg Fortress, Leszek Kolakowski, Martin Luther, Rodney Clapp, San Francisco, The Consuming Passion, Changing World

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 89 books:

Modernity on Endless Trial by Leszek Kolakowski on 6 pages
The Humiliation of the Word by Mr. Jacques Ellul on 5 pages
A Gift of Hope by Rh Value Publishing on 5 pages
Sexual Character: Beyond Technique to Intimacy by Marva J. Dawn on 5 pages
Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting by Marva J. Dawn on 5 pages

See all 89 books this book cites

7 books cite this book:

The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call by Marva J. Dawn on page 165, Back Matter, and Back Cover
Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God by Marva J. Dawn on page 115, and Back Matter
Morning by Morning: Daily Meditations from the Writings of Marva J. Dawn by Marva J. Dawn in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Enemies With Smiling Faces: Defeating the Subtle Threats That Endanger Christians by Donald C. Posterski in Back Matter
Shaping a Christian Worldview: The Foundation of Christian Higher Education by David S. Dockery in Back Matter

See all 7 books citing this book

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down by Marva J. Dawn

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ChurchNext by Eddie Gibbs

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Shaped By God's Heart by Milfred Minatrea

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Discerning the Spirits by Cornelius Plantinga Jr.

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	78% buy the item featured on this page: A Royal "Waste" of Time: The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World 3.8 out of 5 stars (6) $13.60
	10% buy Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for This Urgent Time 4.2 out of 5 stars (19) $13.60
	4% buy Truly the Community: Romans 12 and How to Be the Church 5.0 out of 5 stars (1) $12.24
	4% buy Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting 3.6 out of 5 stars (8) $12.24

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

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4 star:		(1)
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3.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A Royal Waste" is a great investment of your time, July 30, 2001

By	Esther Hetrick (Lansing, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This book is very helpful in understanding and interpreting our postmodern culture as it impacts worship. The author describes God as our "Infinite Center", and worship as "immersed participation in all the fullness of God's splendor." She emphasizes the need to "be Church" to our culture. The author also deals candidly with many of the music issues affecting worship today, especially the "traditional" versus "contemporary" struggles, and worship and evangelism issues. While many authors offer practical suggestions for "what works," she gets to deeper levels, reminding us that worship is not a matter of taste, that evangelism itself should not "drive" what happens in worship, that we cannot sacrifice substance for style. Throughout the book, she reminds the reader that she is not seeking to provide answers for "being church" in our culture, but she invites us to ask better questions about the meaning and purposes of worship in postmodern times, and how our worship practices form us to be God's people. Reading this book is definitely not a waste of time!

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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond Singing, November 10, 2003

By	Mark Van Steenwyk "Van S" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

Those who have read anything by Marva Dawn will love "A Royal 'Waste' of Time." Those who aren't familiar with her work are in for a book that is very compelling and challenging. This book isn't merely about worship singing; it is about being a church community centered on the worship of an Infinite God. The book articulates a missional ecclesiology focused on biblical worship that engages the world.

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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars nice ideas, poor execution, January 23, 2008

By	M. Hackworth - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Marva Dawn has some great ideas and insights on worship: we need to think theologically about how we go about setting up a worship environment rather than being stuck in traditionalism or blindly following the latest trends of church-marketing strategists; worship should be about God, not about evangelism; et cetera. I agree with these statements, and while she does give a bit of practical advice on how we should go about doing this, I felt like I gained most of what I needed to from the book merely by reading the back cover. I found her writing to be distracting and unprofessional...(is it really a common practice to cite yourself that often? or to complain about your visual impairments several times in a book? or to spend so much time defending your previous work against criticisms?), and probably at least half of the book is merely revisions of work she has published elsewhere. This leads to a very hodge-podge feel, what with the addition of her own sermons interspersed throughout the book. I might also mention the fact that although she claims to be impartial, her writing comes across as very slanted toward "traditional" worship style. If you attend a church that uses contemporary worship styles or doesn't have an organ, prepare to be somewhat offended, or at least feel like you're not the audience she's writing to. Again, I think she does have some great ideas, but overall this is not a book that I would recommend. If I didn't have to read this book for a class I'm taking, I would have put it down a long time ago.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars This book hits the mark
In my opinion, this book hits the mark, and Marva Dawn has a prophetic view of contemporary culture. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Tim

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book
As a Catholic, I have enjoyed reading Marva J. Dawn's book "Reaching out without Dumbing Down" as well as this book. Her theology is close to ours in so many ways.

Published on April 24, 2007 by Cade_One

2.0 out of 5 stars Great for Corporate Worship. Bad for True Worship
A Royal Waste of Time is another character sketch on "how to do" Worship. Although, highly insightful on Corporate Worship, Dawn misses the mark on true Biblical Worship. Read more

Published on January 3, 2005 by Doc Adams

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