{"id":3058,"date":"2014-11-10T10:25:26","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T15:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/?p=3058"},"modified":"2014-11-10T10:25:26","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T15:25:26","slug":"psalm-121","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/","title":{"rendered":"Psalm 121"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right\"><em>by Dawn Holt Lauber<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>This past June, the church I serve \u2013 a multigenerational congregation of long-term families \u2013 received a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Lilly Foundation. The grant funds a year-long project in which our church will seek to <\/em><em>enhance our commitment to intergenerational worship through the Psalms and the creative worship arts &#8211; <\/em><em>from the visual and song, to drama and the written word<\/em><em>.<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I lift up my eyes, where is my help?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I\u2019m looking up, I\u2019m looking out! Where, where, where is my help?!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3059\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2014\/11\/DSCN4377-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"DSCN4377\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2014\/11\/DSCN4377-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2014\/11\/DSCN4377-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>I\u2019ve known these words from Psalm 121 for a long time; I\u2019ve sung it, read it, prayed it many times. How often in my prayers have I stopped at this first verse, even when I know the answer lies in the next verse. Still, it is hard, in the valleys of life, to get past that first question and wonder if I am being heard. But I miss much when I stop at that first verse. In one verse, I call out to the Lord. And with seven more verses the Lord gives back to me His promises; for one verse of anguish and uncertainty, the Lord returns each unspoken petition with a promise.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">During our church\u2019s summer season of Prayer and Petition and Psalm 121, I sought the comfort and assurance of verses 2-7. I live in New Hampshire each summer, near Pilgrim Pines, the East Coast Covenant Conference Center. It is a good annual respite \u2013 a sabbatical of sorts &#8211; for this New Englander now living in Chicagoland. On\u00a0my daily morning walks, as I prayed over\u00a0Psalm 121, I looked up at the wild green\u00a0hills of Mt. Monadnock. In the shadow of those massive hills and trees, one could easily feel overwhelmed or insignificant and call out \u2013 <em>where, where is my help?<\/em> But with each step and each day, the words of Psalm 121 took root in my head and my heart with renewed confidence \u2013 <em>my help comes from the Lord, my help comes from the Lord, my help comes from the Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">People talk of needing to establish \u201cownership\u201d of something before it can truly become part of them. So, even though Psalm 121 is the kind of descriptive poetry that I relate well to, I decided to put the prayer of Psalm 121 into my own words, and let them indwell with a new articulated purpose.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I am the only one who will give you the help you need.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I will not let you stumble or fall, but will help you persevere. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I will protect you, take care of you.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I never stop watching out for you.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">You can sleep because I never sleep.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I never even close my eyes.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\"> I am your defender, protector. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I am your shelter from life\u2019s challenges.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I am present; I am as close to you as your right hand \u2013 always by your side to defend and protect. I will protect you 24 hours a day from the harsh physical elements. When you forget to take care of yourself, I will not.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">There is nothing too evil in this world that I cannot protect you from it.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I will be the guardian over your whole life and I will keep you safe.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I will guard every moment of your life. When you are born and when you die. But also every morning when you wake up and go about your day. When you leave for school or come home from the office. When you go to the grocery store or come home from the soccer field. When you visit a friend in need, or when you come home from a doctor\u2019s appointment. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #008000\">I will be there. Forever.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">My prayer is daily, sometimes hourly. Back in the autumn Midwest, I may no longer have the hills as a physical reminder to lift my eyes, but the need to lift my focus out of myself is ever-present. To look outward and upward and remember: <strong>My help, my help, my help comes from the Lord, Savior and Keeper of my life. Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>Dawn Holt Lauber is a professional singer and recording artist. She has served as the Director of Worship at Glen Ellyn Evangelical Covenant Church in Glen Ellyn, IL, as well as on worship teams for Triennial, and the East Coast and Central Conferences. She is the project manager for the Calvin grant. This post continues a series on worship in an intergenerational context.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=3058&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Dawn Holt Lauber \u00a0 This past June, the church I serve \u2013 a multigenerational congregation of long-term families \u2013 received a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Lilly Foundation. The grant funds a year-long project in which our church will seek to enhance our commitment to intergenerational worship [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Psalm 121 - Worship Connect<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Psalm 121 - Worship Connect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Dawn Holt Lauber \u00a0 This past June, the church I serve \u2013 a multigenerational congregation of long-term families \u2013 received a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Lilly Foundation. The grant funds a year-long project in which our church will seek to enhance our commitment to intergenerational worship [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Worship Connect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-10T15:25:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2014\/11\/DSCN4377-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2a9c0653d22be1c964cd7f0645e111d\"},\"headline\":\"Psalm 121\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-10T15:25:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":761,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/40\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/DSCN4377-300x225.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/\",\"name\":\"Psalm 121 - Worship Connect\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/40\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/DSCN4377-300x225.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-10T15:25:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2a9c0653d22be1c964cd7f0645e111d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/40\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/DSCN4377.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/40\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/DSCN4377.jpg\",\"width\":4000,\"height\":3000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/psalm-121\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Psalm 121\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/\",\"name\":\"Worship Connect\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2a9c0653d22be1c964cd7f0645e111d\",\"name\":\"Chris\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5a4b3e4efadbb183a0f0f581f13e3ba4a6ee252291cedf6042820ed3ff05a34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5a4b3e4efadbb183a0f0f581f13e3ba4a6ee252291cedf6042820ed3ff05a34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5a4b3e4efadbb183a0f0f581f13e3ba4a6ee252291cedf6042820ed3ff05a34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Chris\"},\"description\":\"Chris is an ECC Worship Artist currently serving at First Covenant Church of Omaha, NE. Though he was born and raised in Rochester NY, Chris is a third-culture child, a dual citizen of the United States and Switzerland. In addition to voice and guitar, he is also plays French Horn and Saxophone. His wife Liz is also a musician, and they have been married since 2004. They have three kids, a daughter named Aurora (Rori), a son named Caedmon (CJ), and a daughter named Brielle (Bria). He graduated with a self-designed B.A. in Music in Christianity from the University of Rochester, studying and writing on the interactions between music and the Christian faith in the postmodern paradigm. He received his M.A. from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2008 in Intercultural Studies, an Anthropology and Sociology degree that specializes in Christian Missions. He\u2019s been a missionary in Australia, India, Mexico, and Haiti, and has served as a worship pastor previously in Mitchell SD and Lenexa KS. His passion is to see worship become a missional endeavor, that the Church understand their faith in the broader context of the imitation of God and participation in the Kingdom of Heaven, rather than as an event on Sunday mornings. He hopes one day to do a PhD in Anthropology, studying how our worship practices ought to be understood in relationship to the changing cultural landscape of the Western world. Chris is also a photographer, and enjoys days out with his family and camera. He loves to read, to scuba dive, and to kayak. It\u2019s hard for him to say no to a Hawaiian pizza, and has been known to frequent coffee shops for a caramel latte or an iced Chai.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/randomthoughtsbychris.blogspot.com\"],\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/wc\\\/author\\\/chrisl\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Psalm 121 - Worship Connect","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Psalm 121 - Worship Connect","og_description":"by Dawn Holt Lauber \u00a0 This past June, the church I serve \u2013 a multigenerational congregation of long-term families \u2013 received a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Lilly Foundation. The grant funds a year-long project in which our church will seek to enhance our commitment to intergenerational worship [&hellip;]","og_url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/","og_site_name":"Worship Connect","article_published_time":"2014-11-10T15:25:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2014\/11\/DSCN4377-300x225.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Chris","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chris","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/"},"author":{"name":"Chris","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/#\/schema\/person\/e2a9c0653d22be1c964cd7f0645e111d"},"headline":"Psalm 121","datePublished":"2014-11-10T15:25:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/"},"wordCount":761,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2014\/11\/DSCN4377-300x225.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/","name":"Psalm 121 - Worship Connect","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2014\/11\/DSCN4377-300x225.jpg","datePublished":"2014-11-10T15:25:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/#\/schema\/person\/e2a9c0653d22be1c964cd7f0645e111d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2014\/11\/DSCN4377.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2014\/11\/DSCN4377.jpg","width":4000,"height":3000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2014\/11\/psalm-121\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Psalm 121"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/","name":"Worship Connect","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/#\/schema\/person\/e2a9c0653d22be1c964cd7f0645e111d","name":"Chris","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a4b3e4efadbb183a0f0f581f13e3ba4a6ee252291cedf6042820ed3ff05a34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a4b3e4efadbb183a0f0f581f13e3ba4a6ee252291cedf6042820ed3ff05a34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a4b3e4efadbb183a0f0f581f13e3ba4a6ee252291cedf6042820ed3ff05a34a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Chris"},"description":"Chris is an ECC Worship Artist currently serving at First Covenant Church of Omaha, NE. Though he was born and raised in Rochester NY, Chris is a third-culture child, a dual citizen of the United States and Switzerland. In addition to voice and guitar, he is also plays French Horn and Saxophone. His wife Liz is also a musician, and they have been married since 2004. They have three kids, a daughter named Aurora (Rori), a son named Caedmon (CJ), and a daughter named Brielle (Bria). He graduated with a self-designed B.A. in Music in Christianity from the University of Rochester, studying and writing on the interactions between music and the Christian faith in the postmodern paradigm. He received his M.A. from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2008 in Intercultural Studies, an Anthropology and Sociology degree that specializes in Christian Missions. He\u2019s been a missionary in Australia, India, Mexico, and Haiti, and has served as a worship pastor previously in Mitchell SD and Lenexa KS. His passion is to see worship become a missional endeavor, that the Church understand their faith in the broader context of the imitation of God and participation in the Kingdom of Heaven, rather than as an event on Sunday mornings. He hopes one day to do a PhD in Anthropology, studying how our worship practices ought to be understood in relationship to the changing cultural landscape of the Western world. Chris is also a photographer, and enjoys days out with his family and camera. He loves to read, to scuba dive, and to kayak. It\u2019s hard for him to say no to a Hawaiian pizza, and has been known to frequent coffee shops for a caramel latte or an iced Chai.","sameAs":["http:\/\/randomthoughtsbychris.blogspot.com"],"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/author\/chrisl\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3058"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3064,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058\/revisions\/3064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}