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TEDtalks w/Bible verses
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I say this without a shred of hyperbole: nearly all the problems of contemporary Christendom can be traced back to a defective view of worship.
Even most of the best churches, that otherwise seriously believe the Bible, don't pay attention to what it says about worship.
Evangelism
Outreach
Marketing
Entertainment
TEDtalks w/Bible verses
Theology lectures
Impressive rock concerts
God's people gathering before His presence
God renewing His covenant relationship with His people
God's people receiving grace from Him
God's people responding with praise
God's people returning a portion of the grace He has given
GOD'S PEOPLE DRAWING NEAR TO HIM.
Read that again, and again, and again. THAT is what worship according to the Bible is.
He CALLS us into his presence (Lev. 9:3-5).
He speaks, and we respond by gathering before His face.
Historically, this is where the "call to worship" is derived.
Historically, this is why a confession of sin was ubiquitous in worship.
They ascend into His presence by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Hebrew ascension offering was a shadowy picture of this.
We are cut up by the two-edged sword of the Word and ascend up to God.
It is not the time for neither a lecture nor an infotainment self-help talk.
It is the time for God's people to be shaped by His Word.
When we read the whole Bible, worship without food is UNTHINKABLE.
We shouldn't get the peace offering less often than those in an inferior covenant.
Historically, the church followed it closely.
But since the disaster that is the Second Great Awakening, worship became what it is now: a spectacle that may or may not be well-meaning.
More from Religion
As the Fall of man was a consequence of the pursuit of our own good, this quest intrinsically contains the possibility of our return to The Good. The route back to The Good was only revealed by The Way [Jn. 14:6], so we might say that Christ incarnates to complete the Circle.
Each thing is moved by, implicitly converted or turned back to, its own good by its cause of procession - which is principally God.
"Via est nobis tendendi in Deum." - St. Thomas Aquinas, which is to say that:
Christ, who as a man, is the way of our tending (back) into God.
Ezekiel 10:6 | When the LORD commanded the man in linen, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel.
"So I saw the glorious wheel move." - Dante, Paradiso 10.145
As Scripture and Dante see God's providence in circles, so did Boethius and Platonists more
Aquinas with, "Eadem est via qua descenditur et ascenditur." [SCG 4.1.3], brings back Heraclitus to the medievals, "The way up and the way down is the same." [Diels, B60]
The way up and the way down are the same.
Each thing is moved by, implicitly converted or turned back to, its own good by its cause of procession - which is principally God.
"Via est nobis tendendi in Deum." - St. Thomas Aquinas, which is to say that:
Christ, who as a man, is the way of our tending (back) into God.
Ezekiel 10:6 | When the LORD commanded the man in linen, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel.
"So I saw the glorious wheel move." - Dante, Paradiso 10.145
As Scripture and Dante see God's providence in circles, so did Boethius and Platonists more
Imagine a set of concentric circles. The inmost one comes closest to the simplicity of the centre, while forming itself a kind of centre around which revolve those which are set outside it. The circle furthest out rotates through a wider orbit.
— \u300e\U0001d622\U0001d633\U0001d633\U0001d636\U0001d634\u300f (@arrus_kacchi) December 26, 2020
Aquinas with, "Eadem est via qua descenditur et ascenditur." [SCG 4.1.3], brings back Heraclitus to the medievals, "The way up and the way down is the same." [Diels, B60]
The way up and the way down are the same.
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1/“What would need to be true for you to….X”
Why is this the most powerful question you can ask when attempting to reach an agreement with another human being or organization?
A thread, co-written by @deanmbrody:
2/ First, “X” could be lots of things. Examples: What would need to be true for you to
- “Feel it's in our best interest for me to be CMO"
- “Feel that we’re in a good place as a company”
- “Feel that we’re on the same page”
- “Feel that we both got what we wanted from this deal
3/ Normally, we aren’t that direct. Example from startup/VC land:
Founders leave VC meetings thinking that every VC will invest, but they rarely do.
Worse over, the founders don’t know what they need to do in order to be fundable.
4/ So why should you ask the magic Q?
To get clarity.
You want to know where you stand, and what it takes to get what you want in a way that also gets them what they want.
It also holds them (mentally) accountable once the thing they need becomes true.
5/ Staying in the context of soliciting investors, the question is “what would need to be true for you to want to invest (or partner with us on this journey, etc)?”
Multiple responses to this question are likely to deliver a positive result.
Why is this the most powerful question you can ask when attempting to reach an agreement with another human being or organization?
A thread, co-written by @deanmbrody:
Next level tactic when closing a sale, candidate, or investment:
— Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg) February 27, 2018
Ask: \u201cWhat needs to be true for you to be all in?\u201d
You'll usually get an explicit answer that you might not get otherwise. It also holds them accountable once the thing they need becomes true.
2/ First, “X” could be lots of things. Examples: What would need to be true for you to
- “Feel it's in our best interest for me to be CMO"
- “Feel that we’re in a good place as a company”
- “Feel that we’re on the same page”
- “Feel that we both got what we wanted from this deal
3/ Normally, we aren’t that direct. Example from startup/VC land:
Founders leave VC meetings thinking that every VC will invest, but they rarely do.
Worse over, the founders don’t know what they need to do in order to be fundable.
4/ So why should you ask the magic Q?
To get clarity.
You want to know where you stand, and what it takes to get what you want in a way that also gets them what they want.
It also holds them (mentally) accountable once the thing they need becomes true.
5/ Staying in the context of soliciting investors, the question is “what would need to be true for you to want to invest (or partner with us on this journey, etc)?”
Multiple responses to this question are likely to deliver a positive result.
