The tension of Worship

I have always been struck by the ambiguous meaning of the word worship, not for what it means, but for how it is used. However, the tension that my title suggests is more to do with sung worship. I am aware that the songs we sing, the way they are sung are not always to peoples liking. Although there has to be a way in which people engage with them, the most important question that each worshipper must ask is not "Do I like this song?" but more "Does this song teach me something of God?". I suppose it is a bit like that in our lives as well (our wider worship if you like) the things we do and say should not be about what we get from it, but what God gets. So next time you thing "I don't like that song, or the music is too loud", ask yourself, "What is God getting from this and are people engaging in worship?" and if you can see the answer to the second part is 'yes', then just close your eyes, thank God that others are worshipping and look forward to the next song when you might have the same experience. Just so you know, nothing has sparked this post, it just is something that I constantly have to remind myself and others.

Holidays

Holidays always fill me with loads of blogs to write and then when I get back, they are the first thing to go in the busyness of catching up.
It seems ages ago that I was on holiday (it was) and for one reason or another I ended up (don't ask why) to an evening with a christian musician. I brought the tickets for me and my mum and then went along. Now, I am unsure what I went to, was it to show his latest songs (no, because there were some old ones), was it to remind us of all his songs (no, because we sang some other peoples songs as well), was I meant to be singing along, was this worship that I had paid for?
So many questions. I tried to sit back and enjoy it, but the questions as to what I was actually at, kept coming along.
If it was worship, I felt a bit bad I had to pay for it... anyway, I think I just realised that sometimes we need to be clear about what we are doing. For some people, yes, they are happy to go on for the ride, not really knowing where it is all going, others need to know.
So next time I do something, should really take that into consideration!