Lynn001
04-13-2008, 10:39 AM
I read the book A Heart for Worship for a college ministry class and wrote a review on it as part of our assignment. It is an excellent book, very powerful, and I found myself putting it down numerous times to pray and worship God because it moved me so much as I read each chapter.
Has anyone else read it?
I have included my book review below for those who have not read it.
- Lynn
BOOK REVIEW
The subtitle, “Experience a Rebirth of Worship,” immediately sets the stage for what LaMar Boschman presents in the one hundred ninety-two pages contained within the covers of his book A Heart of Worship.
He begins with the basic premise that we are all worshippers, but if God is not the object of our worship then someone or something else is. Therefore, God does not call us to worship, but He calls us to focus our worship in the right direction—toward Him and not toward anything He has created or we have devised. Additionally, Boschman emphasizes that God is passionate and, since we were created in His image, we are also to be passionate and to worship God from the depths of our hearts and with our entire beings.
General principles of worship are set forth in the first half of the book in order to guide each of us to fully experience a true worship encounter with God. Boschman repeatedly stresses that simply having knowledge about worship will not bring a renewal of worship in one’s own life. In order for each of us to exhibit the proper response to God’s revelation of Himself to us, our worship should not be limited to the intellectual realm but must also be expressed in the physical realm. Each of us must have a heart that is ardently focused on God, which is then evidenced by our attitudes and our actions.
Some of us may feel unworthy to worship a holy God, but, as Boschman points out, “worship is totally concerned with the worthiness of God and not the worthiness of the worshipper.” Again, the focus is on God and not on the worshipper.
Boschman admonishes us to avoid being goal-oriented, but to be Christ-centered, in our worship. Many of us come to a worship service expecting to “get something out of it”—a blessing, a healing, etcetera. As true worshippers, however, we should come instead with only Christ in mind—what we can give to Him instead of what we can get from Him.
The second half of the book begins with an historic walk through the passionate worship of the Early Church, then on to the “spectator worship” of the Dark Ages as congregations watched worship become the privilege of the clergy, past the positive and the negative aspects of the Reformation, and then finally to the freedom that is found in charismatic worship today. Boschman is careful to include the value of the liturgy as a guide for the worshipper, which can be blended with spontaneity for a “worship experience that is Christ-centered and well-rounded.”
He concludes by challenging worship leaders to experience personal worship renewal in order to bring worship renewal and rebirth to their congregations. He follows that charge with several principles of worship to equip leaders as they take their private worship experiences from their “prayer closets” to their congregations.
He also warns leaders of the dangers of worshipping for the congregation instead of showing the people how to worship for themselves. He compares the worship experience to a stage on which the main players are the members of the congregation, the leaders on the platform are simply the stage crew, and God is the audience. Oftentimes, the stagehands get in the way and perform the worship for the players, thus hindering true worship by the congregation.
LaMar Boschman’s approach to the subject of worship is refreshing and exciting. We can sense his exuberance in the words he has chosen to describe what worship is and how we can each have our own meaningful worship encounter with God. As a minister, I felt personally challenged to examine myself and my relationship with God to be sure it is what it should be so that I am not hindered in any way when I lead others into a worship encounter with God for themselves. Boschman’s unrestrained enthusiasm was contagious, and I found myself repeatedly setting his book aside so that I could spend some time worshipping the magnificent God expressed in each chapter.
A Heart of Worship is an excellent tool for the individual worshipper, as well as the worship leader, to remind us of the true object and nature of our worship and to give us guidelines and lifelong challenges to bring about a rebirth of worship in our own hearts and the hearts of our congregations. In our quest for worship encounters with the living God, Boschman succinctly reminds us that “No one will ever be able to say, ‘I know everything about praise and worship’ . . . None of us have arrived, because Christianity is not a destination. It is a journey. And we’ll never have complete knowledge and understanding of worship, though we can always keep learning.”
© 2007, by D. Lynn Jacobs
Has anyone else read it?
I have included my book review below for those who have not read it.
- Lynn
BOOK REVIEW
The subtitle, “Experience a Rebirth of Worship,” immediately sets the stage for what LaMar Boschman presents in the one hundred ninety-two pages contained within the covers of his book A Heart of Worship.
He begins with the basic premise that we are all worshippers, but if God is not the object of our worship then someone or something else is. Therefore, God does not call us to worship, but He calls us to focus our worship in the right direction—toward Him and not toward anything He has created or we have devised. Additionally, Boschman emphasizes that God is passionate and, since we were created in His image, we are also to be passionate and to worship God from the depths of our hearts and with our entire beings.
General principles of worship are set forth in the first half of the book in order to guide each of us to fully experience a true worship encounter with God. Boschman repeatedly stresses that simply having knowledge about worship will not bring a renewal of worship in one’s own life. In order for each of us to exhibit the proper response to God’s revelation of Himself to us, our worship should not be limited to the intellectual realm but must also be expressed in the physical realm. Each of us must have a heart that is ardently focused on God, which is then evidenced by our attitudes and our actions.
Some of us may feel unworthy to worship a holy God, but, as Boschman points out, “worship is totally concerned with the worthiness of God and not the worthiness of the worshipper.” Again, the focus is on God and not on the worshipper.
Boschman admonishes us to avoid being goal-oriented, but to be Christ-centered, in our worship. Many of us come to a worship service expecting to “get something out of it”—a blessing, a healing, etcetera. As true worshippers, however, we should come instead with only Christ in mind—what we can give to Him instead of what we can get from Him.
The second half of the book begins with an historic walk through the passionate worship of the Early Church, then on to the “spectator worship” of the Dark Ages as congregations watched worship become the privilege of the clergy, past the positive and the negative aspects of the Reformation, and then finally to the freedom that is found in charismatic worship today. Boschman is careful to include the value of the liturgy as a guide for the worshipper, which can be blended with spontaneity for a “worship experience that is Christ-centered and well-rounded.”
He concludes by challenging worship leaders to experience personal worship renewal in order to bring worship renewal and rebirth to their congregations. He follows that charge with several principles of worship to equip leaders as they take their private worship experiences from their “prayer closets” to their congregations.
He also warns leaders of the dangers of worshipping for the congregation instead of showing the people how to worship for themselves. He compares the worship experience to a stage on which the main players are the members of the congregation, the leaders on the platform are simply the stage crew, and God is the audience. Oftentimes, the stagehands get in the way and perform the worship for the players, thus hindering true worship by the congregation.
LaMar Boschman’s approach to the subject of worship is refreshing and exciting. We can sense his exuberance in the words he has chosen to describe what worship is and how we can each have our own meaningful worship encounter with God. As a minister, I felt personally challenged to examine myself and my relationship with God to be sure it is what it should be so that I am not hindered in any way when I lead others into a worship encounter with God for themselves. Boschman’s unrestrained enthusiasm was contagious, and I found myself repeatedly setting his book aside so that I could spend some time worshipping the magnificent God expressed in each chapter.
A Heart of Worship is an excellent tool for the individual worshipper, as well as the worship leader, to remind us of the true object and nature of our worship and to give us guidelines and lifelong challenges to bring about a rebirth of worship in our own hearts and the hearts of our congregations. In our quest for worship encounters with the living God, Boschman succinctly reminds us that “No one will ever be able to say, ‘I know everything about praise and worship’ . . . None of us have arrived, because Christianity is not a destination. It is a journey. And we’ll never have complete knowledge and understanding of worship, though we can always keep learning.”
© 2007, by D. Lynn Jacobs