It’s a question probably dating back to the days when the first overhead projectors entered the church building on Sundays. Or, perhaps, it’s not a question dating to back then. Probably it’s not even a question today. Either way, I don’t care. I ask instead: What’s your image of God? Not so much how you imagine Him, but how you see Him visually at church, on the camp, while you read the Bible to your kids…
Being actively involved with photography for more than two years now, I’ve realized more than ever before how powerful a visual image can be. Moreover, how much an image can reflect and at the same time direct our perceptions of a certain subject. Take a bottle of Coke, for instance – it’s never advertised static, dry and lukewarm, with dull colors… ‘Cause, frankly, who wants a Coke like that. It more sounds like being British tea at 4pm – boring and a thing from the past (for most people, that is). The energetic and fresh Coke image also makes you wish the Coke be that way – it kind of sets the standard for you.
There’s so much thought going into graphic design when it comes to advertising. Sadly, though, there’s little thought put into the graphics and design accompanying our faith. read more
They (the believers) devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs wede done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:42-47, NIV
The book of Acts is one of the books that come closest to my heart. Probably because the Old Testament is a bit farther from my personal cultural experience and Revelation simply has too many variables when it comes to interpreting its meaning. Acts, however, speaks at a level I seem to understand easier. Well, anyways. These few verses have been on my mind lately because a few weeks back I was sitting at church on a Sunday, I heard an announcement of a conference and suddenly I thought – It appears that only at conferences we come close to living as it’s described in the quote above. read more
This paper has been written by me in the course of my theological studies at European Nazarene College (www.eunc.edu). You may use this text as a part of your work provided that you give credits to its author – Petar Neychev. If you have questions – please, leave a comment or contact me through the Contact Us page.
One of the corner stones of Christianity is the personal relationship between men and God. This intimate relationship is also one of the basic needs in our life. Understanding all this, we come to the question “How do we reach and maintain it – this crucial connection with God?” The answer is: through bowing down, prostrating, serving, venerating… worshiping God (ISBE, WORSHIP). Worship, true and false – today many find it rather simple, but as we will see later, it is not. Often, it is very difficult to distinguish true from false worship, but this is not to say that it is impossible. There is enough information in the Bible, concerning the basics of true and false worship, and some of them will be presented later in this paper.
The goal of this work is to present a comparison between the false worship, which we find in the Bible, more specifically in the book of Exodus, chapter 32, and the problem of false worship in contemporary Christianity. In the process of comparison, true worship will also be discussed.
One of the major causes for the great complicity of worship is the variety of people’s inner personal experiences and external expressions. A good example of inner experience would be “an imaginative event which brings us before … God” (Webber 46). On the other hand, body language is one way of externally expressing worship – physically bowing down, or even laying down (Webber 46). Christian worship, however, does not confine simply to imagination and body language, although one of those aspects of worship is often thought to be more important than the other, but still not excluding the latter from the list, and thus shrinking the concept of worship. Christian worship is a lifestyle. Thus, the question becomes – how do we maintain a life, which is pleasing to God? read more