John Randall Dennis Reviews

Added December 19, 2004

Living Worship

A Biblical Guide to Making Worship Real in Your Life

Author: John Randall Dennis
Publisher: Bethany House
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: November 2004
Genre: Nonfiction: Christian/Worship
Format : Trade Paperback
Price: $11.99
ISBN: 0-7642-2928-1
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

John Randall Dennis's resume is impressive is a songwriter, producer and worship leader. His compositions and arrangements have been widely recorded by nationally known Christian artists. Knowing this, I was not sure what to expect in a book authored by Dennis, but looked forward to exploring the subject of worship in his book, Living Worship.

Dennis says in part, in wrapping up at the end of his book (pg. 131):

"...worship isn't music, and it isn't merely a twenty-minute segment in a church service before a sermon. It's not a form and it's not works. It is a multidimensional response to God that focuses on His persons and His works. It really is a diamond of many facets."

Early in the book Dennis talks about the way worship was once defined, is defined, and is mis-defined. Some think it is the music portion of service. Some think it is all about prayer. He also covers whether it should be done in a temple (church, sanctuary), on just Sundays, or at certain times of day. Then he says (pg. 116):

"Living Worship is restricted to only one particular location: the place where you are."

Hard to beat that as a definition of when and where we should worship. He goes on to say (same page):

"Living Worship is not restricted to special seasons or days of celebration. We live worship moment by moment in the presence of the Lord, honoring Him in our hearts. We live worship when we are open to allowing God to awe us in the everyday."

The book sets out to provide a clearer and more accurate definition of what worship was, is and should be. This is done by character studies.

Dennis lets his readers see people from the Bible and the way they worship-and what fruits grew from such worship. Readers get a close look at Isaiah, Job, David, Hannah, John and others. We see that people like Job who had everything taken from him in one horrific afternoon still found it necessary to fall to his knees, bow and worship God.

At the end of each of the twelve chapters Dennis provides a key point or two about the subject of each chapter. For example, in chapter 11, a chapter entitled: Simple Acts of Worship, the key points are: Expressive worship affects our souls, and Worshipers can safely express themselves entirely. These key points help readers recall and manage the information shared with them in a bite sized, well, key point.

He also includes a scripture verse, worthy of memorization, and questions that we can ask ourselves about our own worship practices. Additionally, he supplies a generous list of resources that will allow interested readers to continue on in the study of proper worship.

At 138 pages, I assumed I could whip through the book in a sitting and move on to something else. Don't let the compact size of the book fool you. Dennis writes with a no-nonsense style that states the meat of the matter, leaving out any fluff or filler. There is so much information, I think it would be difficult to just read chapter after chapter in a sitting. I would suggest reading a chapter a day, and then reflecting on the points made, the examples shared and the purpose uncovered. Enjoyable, and engaging, Living Worship forces the reader to examine their own style of worship and compare it to Biblical worship and decide if the current ways measure up. I know I learned something new from each and every chapter. I know I will go about the way I worship differently. Living Worship is a book that impacted something important in my life-the way I worship the Father. That's powerful!

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