A new book about worship...family worship

So, I am always looking for good books. New research. New ideas. New ways to say old things. Books that explain something from a different angle. Books that challenge, inform, upend, encourage.

I'm usually pretty careful of two things. First, I am careful to not always read books by writers who are "on my team." It's important, I think, that we are reading things by writers who come from a different perspective, or by writers who we might think we won't agree with completely.

Second, I am careful to read books that have some "street cred." By that, I do not mean that a book must have the approval of all reviewers. I mean that they should be found respectable and worthy of engagement, even if someone does not agree with everything said.

Well, I found one such book that fits these criteria. And I offer it to you, parents and families, as a resource. Oh, and I'll be blogging and talking through it over the next several weeks. If you want to read along, I'd invite you to get a copy also.

The book is: Family Worship, by Donald Whitney. You can find it, of course, on Amazon here.

It's a small, very readable book--a total of 52 pages of reading material, plus a few pages of an introduction at the beginning and a couple pages of discussion questions at the end. You can read it in one evening, I am sure. But, we'll stretch it out over a few weeks to really get into the ideas and practices.

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Worship is growing on me as an idea and a Christian practice. It's growing on me because, well, it seems we as Christians are always talking about it and using the word. But in our popular Christian talk, I think we often misunderstand or under-evaluate what it's about. And, well, it really irks me sometimes. Not because "we're doing it wrong." Nope. It's because I think we're really missing out and selling ourselves short of the sort of life God has invited us into. So, "worship" is something I've been thinking and reading about a lot lately. Mostly because I want to understand.

So, I'm looking forward to getting into this book about family worship and asking, "How do we worship as families?" Let me be clear: this is not asking, "What does it mean for families to go to church?" Going to church and singing songs of praise are not the same as, or at least do not exhaust, what it means to "worship." We all know this. But somehow this given knowledge doesn't always make itself manifest in our speech, thought, and action. 

A couple things to think about as we begin...

• On a scale, where do you consider "worship" in the life of your family? ("0"= it's not really part of our family life; "5"= we are a worshipping family)
• What is "worship"? What does a life of worship look like to you and your family?

Get the book. Follow along. Let's read and learn together about worship. And if you don't have a family that you're currently living with on a daily basis, this is still for you. Join the conversation.