Great Expectations?

My posting has been VERY sporadic in recent months--even years--but here's something that's been rolling around in my head for a very long time;

What if, upon arriving at your usual church one Sunday morning you discovered that all was gone except for one willing and able-minded preacher equipped only with a Bible? How many people would stay to hear the Word of God taught and applied? Of those people, how many would purposefully and eagerly join in worshipping God? And, how many would return the next Sunday knowing this is how it would be again?

What, if anything, might we have come to expect--or even demand--from our churches that is not supported in Scripture?

Worship: Al Mohler (Part 3)

Finally, here's Part Three of Al Mohler's "The Recovery of Authentic Worship"

Worship: Al Mohler (Part 2)

Here's Part Two of Al Mohler's "The Recovery of Authentic Worship".

Worship: Don Whitney on God-Centered and Biblical Worship

Here's another article by Don Whitney on worship, Worship Should Be God-Centered and Biblical.

Worship: Al Mohler talks about "The Recovery of Authentic Worship"

Here's Part One, "The Whole Earth Is Full of His Glory".

Worship: an article by Don Whitney on private worship

"How can once-a-week worship satisfy the heart of those who know and long after God?"

"How can you meet with God and not be compelled to want to meet with Him more often than just what is convenient once a week?"

I always have a handful of topics I'm researching, studying, and pondering. So, from time to time I'll provide a link to an article or post on a particular topic that I found helpful and/or challenging.

One ongoing topic has been worship--here's an article by Don Whitney (author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, a book hubby and I have been through together several times, and use frequently in discipleship and counseling--and HIGHLY recommend) challenging us to recognize that "private worship is an essential part of a healthy relationship with God".

Handel's "Messiah"

Yesterday one of my daughters noticed that I was listening to Handel's Messiah during my morning Bible reading. At the time I commented that I never tire of listening to it because it is so incredibly rich with scripture, and how I did not know enough of the 'spiritual' history behind Handel, or his Messiah.

Well, today while doing some on line research on the topic of worship, I was delighted to stumble upon THIS, and thought some of you might find it of interest too!

Hopefully sometime this week I'll have time to download my Messiah CDs to my MP3 player!





(image from wikipedia)

Heard in the Bible Belt...

..."our Saturday evening service is for those who want Sunday all to yourself...early Sunday service so you can have the rest of Sunday for yourself..."

I heard this advertisement recently on one of our local Xian radio stations--this church apparently wants to help people get church 'out of the way' so they can get on with their life and really enjoy it.

This is a classic example of 'man-centered' thinking and practice--no regard for pleasing God through our sacrifice of worship and praise.

Heard in the Bible Belt...

..."untamed, undignified, passionate, and raw [worship]."

This is how a local church was advertising their worship service(s) on one of the local Xian radio stations this past weekend. I don't know about you, but I'm having some difficulty understanding these words in the context of Biblical worship.

Avoiding the "ditch" on the topic of Revival

(This is a rather lengthy introduction, if you haven't the time, scroll down to the links I offer)

I grew up attending churches of a certain denomination, so I've been to countless 'revivals'. As a matter of fact, up until the last few decades it was a standard part of the annual 'church calendar' to coordinate a 'fall' revival and a 'spring' revival. Back in the 60's and 70's these revivals were scheduled to last a full week--Sunday through Sunday--with a church service and/or activity every evening during the week.

Having grown up in that culture I was surprised to learn--after the Lord saved me in my early 20's--that 'revival' isn't about daily meetings, altar calls, knocking on doors, pot-luck suppers, fruitless professions, emotionally charged confessions, or great choir/musical presentations (all of which I gladly participated in).

Personally, I believe that the church as a whole misuses and misunderstands the term 'revival' just about as much as they misuse and misunderstand the term 'miracle'. In the late 70's and early 80's I was lead to believe that the "Jesus Freak" movement and the subsequent second-blessing/charismatic/third wave movement was in fact a modern-day 'revival'.

I think it's safe to say that once you've seen/experienced something aberrant within Christiandom, you are not likely to continue on in your Christian walk passively or unquestioningly. I do realize that there are two 'ditches' in which you can find yourself as you walk along--one is the ditch of apathy, and the other is the ditch of cynicism (where I believe our emergent friends are gathering).

As I began to question and examine the Biblical view of 'revival' in light of our modern-day 'revivals' I soon found that many others had questioned and/or defended 'revivals' of their day. So, it's no surprise that in the mid to late 80's I ended up encountering the writings of Jonathan Edwards.!

So, all that to say this! I've been working my way through Edwards' "Religious Affections" (both the original and an abridged version!) and have also been taking the opportunity to consider the thoughts of others on Edwards' and his contributions to the topic of 'revival'. I do this because I most certainly don't want to inadvertently find myself in either ditch--apathy or cynicism. I try to approach all church and Christian living issues/matters in the same matter--which as you might imagine makes for some pretty lofty reading goals!

Here's what I recently added to my looooooooong list of reading on the topic (posted at the Ligonier blog):

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 1)

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 2) ~ The Relevance of Edward's Distinguishing Marks

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 3) ~ Negative Marks

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 4) ~ Positive Marks

The Spirit of Revival (pt. 5) ~ Applications

Worship or Entertainment?

"Much of what passes for worship today is nothing more than lightly baptized entertainment, and therefore is idolatrous. It is idolatry from which serious churches must distance themselves. Our principle must be (with apologies to Luther): 'Let us, therefore, repudiate everything that smacks of entertainment.' "

THAT is what deeply concerns me about the church today, so I was encouraged to read THIS article today posted by Ligonier.

Our oldest daughter and I are still visiting churches as part of her "Survey of Denominations" course, and we've seen the entertainment factor over and over again--not in all churches, but most (one church used concert-esque 'fog' on it's stage prior to the music team's arrival--I resisted the urge to find a cigarette lighter, hold it high and start stomping my feet on the floor). :-)

There's nothing wrong with 'excellence' in what we do, but in many cases we are forcing our assumptions about worship on the church and failing to hold those assumptions up against God's Word--thus offering man-centered worship rather than God-centered, God-honoring worship.

For Bibliophiles: Jerry Bridges on Worship

Surprisingly, a week or two ago I had a 'free' afternoon! What does a full-time stay-at-home, home schooling mom DO with a 'free' afternoon? Go to bookstores, of course! :-)

While at our favorite local used bookstore I found a used book for $1.95, I Exalt You, O God: Encountering His Greatness in Your Private Worship, by Jerry Bridges (check it out here at Amazon)

This find was a special 'find' for me because Jerry Bridges has been a favorite Xian author of mine for many years, and the topic of worship has been of particular interest to me over the years for a variety of reasons--some of which include my former charismatic theology & practice, and our recent "Survey of Denominations" church visits.

Since I hadn't heard of this book before (published by Waterbrook Press in Colorado Springs, 2001) I was cautious (not surprising if you know me!) but curious how he would approach this topic. I'm on "Day 8" of his 31 day plan and have been very pleased and challenged by Bridges' emphasis on knowing who God is through His word in order to equip us to worship Him privately and corporately. In his introductory comments Bridges says,

"Our Worship must be in harmony with what God has revealed about Himself in His Word. It is possible to have zeal without knowledge (Romans 10:2). For example, if we stress only one side of God's attributes--say, His mercy and love--without also stressing His sovereignty and holiness, we're not worshiping in truth."

This, I'm afraid, is where the church today continues to 'flirt' with the world as it pertains to worship--private and corporate. The average professing Christian today has become satisfied to attend and/or experience worship, in lieu of pursuing a lifestyle of worship through a growing knowledge of who God has revealed Himself to be and what He requires from His creation. Bridges warns us,

"To attempt to worship God in only the narrow sense of praising Him without also seeking to worship Him in our whole way of life is hypocrisy. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they were going through outward motions of worship, but their hearts were not committed to God. "You hypocrites!" He said, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men' (Matthew 15:7-9)."

Hypocritical worship--mindlessly going through outward motions, giving lip service, performing prescribed acts--is a danger for all Xians. But as we grow in our understanding of what true worship is, we become better prepared and equipped to identify our own hypocrisy, confess it, repent from it, and pursue worship that is pleasing to God in 'spirit and truth'. It requires our heart AND our mind, it is not 'letting go' as some would have us think. It is an active, conscious engaging of our mind in order to inform and direct our heart--our affections--Godward.

Where's the Preaching of God's Word?

We have purposefully designed Olga's "Survey of Denominations" course to identify and evaluate various facets of present-day 'man-centered' theology and worship. One of those is the diminishing of preaching God's Word--we note the time devoted to every facet of the worship services we attend, and we note the content of every facet to determine the church's focus and emphasis.

"...the pragmatic and “seeker-sensitive” approaches to contemporary worship because they tend to diminish the proper place of preaching and replace it with quasi-spiritual forms of sheer entertainment (music, comedy, drama, and whatnot). Any trend that threatens the centrality of God’s Word in our corporate worship is a dangerous trend." ~John MacArthur (emphasis mine)

Thus Saith...

"God is no gainer even from our worship. He was in no need of that external glory of His grace which arises from His redeemed, for He is glorious enough in Himself without that...What was it that moved Him to predestinate His elect to the praise of the glory of His grace? It was, as Eph. 1:5 tells us, 'according to the good pleasure of His will.' "

A. W. Pink ~ The Attributes of God