Worship Archives - Page 20 of 24 - Kuyperian Commentary

On December 9, 2014 By Dustin Messer In Books, Theology, Worship Like

The End of the World as We Know It

“The implication of a true eschatological perspective will be missionary obedience, and the eschatology which does not issue in such obedience is a false eschatology.” -Lesslie Newbigin

In his brilliant new book A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology, J. Richard Middleton points out that Revelation 21:3 shifts from the singular to the plural in reference to God’s people:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them [singular], and they will be his peoples [plural], and God himself will be with them as their God.

This shift, says Middleton, shows “the general thrust of the biblical story, which expands the boundaries of the covenant people to include all humanity.”

In the Old Testament, we learn that the children of Abraham will be as many as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore (Gen 22:17). The shocking surprise of the New Testament is that, through the New Covenant, those children will be made up of every tribe, tongue, and nation (Rev 5:9). Thus, the biblical story, from Abraham forward, can be summed up as: person (Abraham) to people (Israel) to person (Jesus) to peoples (the multi-ethnic church).

Currently, we’re living in the “peoples” part of the story, the final and climactic act. This can be seen by looking at where the church is located globally (26% in Europe, 37% in the Americas, 24% in sub-Saharan Africa, and 13% in Asia and the Pacific). Of course, you can see the same reality by looking at local churches in which multiple families, races, and cultures are represented. This diversity, Revelation 21:3 reminds us, is not a result of socio-economic or political realities. No, this diversity is nothing less than a sign of the present in-breaking of Christ’s inclusive reign. It’s a sign that when Christ went down to the grave he secured the treasure once buried in a field. It’s a sign that the leaven of the kingdom is working its way through the dough of the world. It’s a sign that Heaven’s seed has been planted, and the fruits of its tree are abundant enough to feed the nations. Indeed, the melting of homogeneous worship can only mean the Spring of Pentecost is here; the King is summoning his peoples! <>racer game online

On December 1, 2014 By Steve Macias In Theology, Worship Like

The Purple Christ at Advent

The Incarnation of Color

Sunday was the first Sunday in the 2014 Advent season and the beginning of a new liturgical year. For many Christians, this was marked by advent candles, purple vestments, and hymns longing for the coming of our savior. In Advent, we remember that the God who created all things, descended down into our world and became one of us. Through the divine mystery of the incarnation, the Almighty communicates his transcendence through the physical world around us.

A long study can and has been made about the coordination of particular colors with the seasons of the year and nearly every historic branch of Christianity has embraced both a liturgical Calendar with symbolic colors to mark the days. As we look back to a time when the darkness of man was pierced by the advent of a new and great light – we should see the new redeemed world as the refracted beauty of Christ’s perfect light. It is not merely from darkness to light – but from the utter darkness to the light of lights. The light of God’s promise was once raised colorfully above Noah and is now is the light of the world and the light of life. Christ has moved the world from a dark and cold blackness into the warm spectrum of hope.

A Horse of a Different Color

St. John’s work uses color to invoke particular ideas to the mind of his readers. In Revelation, a white horse is not merely descriptive, but instead serves as a reminder of the holy victory of Christ to a people nearing a time of great persecution. White becomes more than a color and embodies a feeling or encapsulates an idea. For this same reason, white continues to invoke the queenly idea of purity and beauty as a bride wears her dress down the aisle. To the first century Jewish reader, white is the Diamond of Naphtali and the clear Jasper of the New Jerusalem and this beauty of the kingdom is conveyed through a color.

Dr. Peter Leithart describes this phenomenon in relation to the essence of who our God is, “God is a communicative being. He doesn’t just use words; He is the Word. He made us in His image and likeness, as communicative beings. Even if we keep our mouths firmly shut, we cannot avoid saying something; we cannot not communicate. ”

The Calendar and the tone of the Gospel

Christ’s Church, through the use of vestments and paraments, has employed liturgical colors in accordance with the church calendar to focus our devotion on particular themes and tones of the Gospel.

In the Advent season, the color purple is used to symbolize the coming of a royal Messiah, our King Jesus. It is the beginning of the church year, just as the birth of Christ is the start of the gospel. In Advent we prepare for our Lord’s coming in three ways: celebrating his incarnation at Christmas, remembering his coming into our hearts, and anticipating his coming again to judge the quick and the dead. During Advent we recall Israel penitently waiting before the Messiah appeared. As the prophet Isaiah said,

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

The color purple should always remind you of this Scripture. During Advent we should place both this scripture and the color purple before the eyes of the people.

The Purple Christ at Advent

The wine our Lord chooses to demonstrate his real presence is purple and Melchizedek teaches us that wine itself is a kingly substance. Wine is symbolically identified with the blessings of the kingdom throughout the Scripture. This is what James B. Jordan calls “the eschatological Messianic kingdom feast.” The promised land in the Old Testament and the kingdom of our Lord in the New Testament are richly portrayed as places abounding with wine. Thus the color and substance work together, developing a rather pointed imagery – particularly relevant to the time of Advent.

The Bible describes the high priest’s clothing as fine linen and purple, and our Lord makes a reference to this in his parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man is dressed in purple and fine linen — Jesus’ hearers would have seen an allusion to the high priest here. Christ’s reference to purple draws a literary connection in the minds of listeners. Christ’s nature as a our high priest is shown in biblical imagery as well; as when He was arrested, the Roman soldiers girded him in a purple robe. The color is not meaningless, but rather directs us to the notion that our high priest was to be the sacrifice, the royal sacrifice.

Christ Cleanses the Temple From What is Common

Attention to liturgical detail is in no way foreign to Christian thought or an innovation of Roman authorities. A familiarity with the Pentateuch reveals that God has plenty to say about the way he would like to be worshiped and these ceremonies were revealing the beauty of Christ. As Percy Dearmer rightly points out,

“Our Lord attended the ritualistic services of the Temple; nay, He was careful to be present at those great feasts when the ceremonial was most elaborate. Yet no word of censure ever escaped His lips. This was the more remarkable, because He was evidently far from ignoring the subject. No one ever appreciated the danger of formalism so keenly as He: He did condemn most strongly the vain private ceremonies of the Pharisees. Also, on two occasions He cleansed the Temple, driving out, not those who adorned it with ceremonial, but those who dishonoured it with commercialism. That is to say, His only interference with the ritualistic worship of the Temple was to secure it against profane interruption.” (The Parson’s Handbook)

Thus the richness of the church calendar is ever present. I pray that during Advent – we may be penetrated visually by the truth of God’s Word. May the purple of this season remind us of our High Priest and King Lord Jesus. May we be intentional in demonstrating God’s truth in all areas of life, both in the church and in our homes.<>рерайтер копирайтер

On October 7, 2014 By Adam McIntosh In Theology, Worship Like

The Sacrament of Music: Why Your Church Worship Should Be Pagan

Todd Pruitt writes that worship music is often viewed as “a means to facilitate an encounter with God,” or as a means of drawing close to God. He believes this to be a great theological error and that it resembles “ecstatic pagan practices,” though he provides no evidence for this assertion. Quite profoundly, Pruitt critiques non-sacramental Christians for attributing a sacramental status to music. He then presents several problems with emotionally-driven worship.

There ought to be no disagreement with Pruitt on the dangers of emotionally-driven worship. When edible bread and wine are replaced by audible beats and melodies, God’s people will become malnourished. Yet, at the same time, the error is an imbalance of sensory stimulation, not the idea that music facilitates an encounter with God. (more…)

On August 28, 2014 By Luke Welch In Worship Like

The Weapons of Our Warfare: Children in Worship

The enemies of Jesus don’t like it when children get involved, because God has designed them as a weapon and as a reminder of God’s strength. If children are increasing, and if they are present amongst the worshipers, then they spell the coming doom of God’s enemies. They display the faith of his people, both in being faithful hearts themselves, and in showing off the trust their parents have in God. They are a tangible threat to godlessness. This is attested in multiple instances in scripture.

Let’s look together at a short Psalm (Ps 8) that helps us to see down into the inner workings of the war to build God’s kingdom – we will find out that one of the largest gears in the mechanism, one of the most powerful and necessary components in the wheels of the church, is the presence of children in God’s service of worship.

I expect this Psalm to be a good tool for talking to your children about their special job in the church service – and that job is: “to silence the enemy and the avenger.”

Before we can get a hold of this Psalm, we need a moment’s look at how God instructed rulership and kingdom expansion to come about in the first place – so turn to page one of the Bible and look down at verse 28.

God’s first command for his King, Adam, on how to rule was through a process of childbearing, and working with your children to bring the world under God’s reign.

“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth,” (Gen 1.28).

See this list of five:

be fruitful
multiply
fill the earth/land
subdue
rule

PSALM 8 – The Weapons of Our Warfare

Psalm 8 is a worship song which is all about this very passage. Psalm 8 is about Genesis 1.27-28. Psalm 8 is about creation (“the work of your fingers,” v.3). It specifically mentions the principalities made on day 4, the moon and the stars, which Genesis 1 says are made over the earth to “rule over the day and night.” This is no coincidence: they are symbols of dominion, and the theme is all about dominion and ruling over the earth in this Psalm. Verse 6 says, “You have given [man] dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet…” And then it lists land, sky, and sea creatures. Just like Gen 1.28 does! This is a Psalm about taking God’s majesty and the glory of his name and his rule outward to the whole earth!

But remember, in Genesis 1.28, in order to rule, you have to be fruitful and multiply. In order to take dominion, the church has to have babies. And Psalm 8 dives right into baby-having as the first related action to the bringing of the kingdom of God’s majestic name:

“O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.”

God gets the war for his glory underway this way – when the doctor spanks the newborn covenant member, that first gasp for air and the subsequent screaming – that is holy music. It shuts the devil up.

He can hear the majesty of God’s covenant name displayed over another life, and he is dumbfounded.

And we, like David, who sang to shut the mouth of the demons of the king of Israel, we sing. We sing David’s words to shut the mouths of the demons. We sing David’s words in Psalm 8 about the dominion of Genesis 1. And when we sing in church to make his name glorious with Psalm 8, then we confess in music that our babies are made as the work horses of the front line.

Tell your kids they have a job. That God has chosen them for glorious array in battle. That he has spectacles to make of enemies, and mouths of devouring adversaries that need to be shut. Tell them that they are needed in the Lord’s service of worship, and that no one else can take their place, and tell them that this we know for the Bible tells us so.

And if your toddlers are too young to follow the words of the Psalms in church, then have them make a joyful noise and hum. And if your babies are too young to hum along to the tune, just bring them to show them off. Show off your faith, and show off God’s promise. And don’t worry, they’ll make plenty of noise. You won’t have to manufacture that part.

Oh church! Oh holy dominion takers – open your ears for battle, listen as the kingdom comes at the noise of covenantal invaders, born to take up seating space in the sanctuary with car seats and diaper bags. Born to take up space in the worship of the King, edging out darkness with the chosen praise, ordained for your Sunday morning brush with the power of God saving the world.

And if you are unable to have children, or more children. If you are older, or widowed. If you are caught lonely and wondering what to do – then pray that the Lord would bring the kingdom, and that he would send a blessing of childbearing to your church. Help the parents of children to feel comfortable with the hard process of teaching babies to get a little more mature each Sunday. Help them not to fear the noise their children make.

Oh church, the noise of children in the sanctuary has at times been treated as a little lower than the angels. But let’s make it our job instead to crown it with glory and honor, as we hear the kingdom come.

—-

Luke Welch has a master’s degree from Covenant Seminary and preaches regularly in a conservative Anglican church in Maryland. He blogs about Bible structure at SUBTEXT. Follow him on Twitter: @lukeawelch<>реклама в интернете раскрутка а дешево

On August 1, 2014 By Peter Leithart In Culture, Worship Like

Leithart: High Tech Medievalism

I heard a revealing statement recently while visiting a home-bound Roman Catholic woman. She was upset that she couldn’t make it to Mass. Not to worry, she added warmly, “I’ll watch a Mass on television.” That got me to thinking. Of course, this woman had no choice. She was too ill to get to church. But the thousands in TV “churches” who do not have the same excuse, What are they thinking? What do they expect to get out of watching a Mass or a worship service on TV?

This woman’s view of the Mass is nothing new, of course. During the Middle Ages, the “worshippers” would mill around in the back of the cathedral striking business deals and catching up on the latest gossip. Then, a bell would ring from the altar. Everyone would stop and look, standing on tiptoe and pressing forward. The host was being elevated held up before the congregation by the presiding priest. The people believed that they could receive grace by just viewing the consecrated bread. In fact, that was about all they were allowed to do. It was one of the main achievements of the Reformers to include the congregation in the celebration of the communion.

So, there’s nothing new about TV Masses. The TV Mass is just a high-tech resurgence of the worst of medieval spirituality. Television raises questions, however, that would challenge even the most ingenious scholastic. Medieval theologians seriously debated whether or not a mouse eating a piece of consecrated bread received the body of Christ. Modern scholastics will be faced with equally taxing questions. Can grace be communicated by satellite? Can a Mass be taped, or does it have to be live? What about Cable? VCRs? Does replaying of taped Mass have any effect on the grace communicated?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not taking potshots at the Roman Catholic Church. After all, they’re relative newcomers to the TV world. Protestants (can we really divide Western Christianity into Catholic and Protestant?) have grasped the telecommunications opportunity with gusto, long before the Catholic church showed a glimmer of interest. But, then, Protestants invented the “drive-in” Church. (I’ve always wondered if the deacons (-esses) wear roller skates as they distribute the elements.) Before that, Protestants invented the camp meeting and a host of other grotesque distortions of Christian worship. One pastor told me that he had heard a TV evangelist tell his audience to go to the fridge, get some bread and grape juice, and join the – what should I call it? – the studio congregation in a celebration of communion!

There’s a serious point here. Really, there is, I’m not just venting my spleen…

The crucial question: What is TV evangelism all about anyway? I write this with a straight face. What is the point of TV ministries? The Bakkers hinted at their answer on Nightline. They told Ted Koppel that they had been offered a guest spot on The Late Show. That’s the show Joan Rivers left. It is without doubt one of the most distasteful and anti-Christian shows on television. And the Bakkers were seriously thinking about taking the offer! A TV station in Tennessee was thinking about picking up the old Jim and Tammy show! And Jim and Tammy talk incessantly about returning to their ministry at PTL (or whatever it’s called). Clearly, for the Bakkers, their TV “ministry” is just a form of entertainment. They’re just another celebrity couple, like the ones who are featured in People and National Enquirer. (Maybe Jim and Tammy have been featured too; I haven’t been grocery shopping lately.)

So, what’s all this mean? Does it mean we abandon the mass media? Turn it over to the devil? Of course not, in His providence, the Lord has given us valuable tools for reaching vast numbers of people with the gospel. And we should use these tools.

What it does mean is that there are inherent limitations to what we can do through the mass media (or the ‘Mass’ media for that matter). We shouldn’t use our tools uncritically. The medium of television, for all its power of persuasion, simply cannot take the place of the church as the agency of Christian dominion. After all, it’s primarily a medium of entertainment. Of passivity. More than that, there is an inescapable and irreducible personal dimension to the Christian life that is lacking in television “churches.” It centers in the personal fellowship with the other members of Christ’s body, fellowship around His Table.

I know, I know. I sound like a reactionary traditionalist – I know. I should come into the twentieth century. The century of the sleek, high-tech Church. Perhaps there is some nostalgia lurking behind my reaction to the Bakkers. But let’s not be deceived. A Christian civilization is not built by dramatic media splashes, as important as they can be in the short run. A Christian civilization is built by faithful men and women who week-by-week reconsecrate themselves to the Lord in Word and Sacrament, and who day-by-day seek to obey the Lord and take dominion in their particular callings. Some sincere and faithful men and women have been and will be called to work in mass media. For that we should praise God, but let’s not expect too much of them.

Published with written permission from Dr. Peter Leithart. Edited and Updated from The Geneva Review, September 1987.

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On July 24, 2014 By Peter Jones In Culture, Worship Like

Liturgy as Emotional Discipline

Moderns tend to view emotions as inevitable. We cannot help what we feel. Paul says, “Not so fast.” Throughout Paul’s epistles he encourages us to feel certain things and to not feel other things. One of the best examples is Romans 12:15 where Paul encourages us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Here are two expressions of emotion that Paul commands us to feel. Come on Paul, you know I cannot just conjure up weeping! There are numerous other examples as well. Our emotions are not a runaway semi careening towards the bottom of the hill. We are to corral our emotions, to discipline them, so that we feel what is appropriate to each circumstance. There are times we are supposed to feel anger, joy, love, etc. Christians often speak of training our minds to think righteous thoughts (Romans 12:2), but we do not speak of training our emotions to feel righteous feelings (Romans 12:10-12). Our whole life is to be brought into conformity to God’s Word, including our emotions.

One of the main ways we learn emotional discipline is through a fixed liturgy (worship service) that includes a variety of tones. At my church, we walk through the same basic pattern every week in worship. God calls us. We confess our sins. We hear God’s Word read and preached. We eat together at the Lord’s Supper. Finally we leave with God’s blessing to go out and bless the world with the gospel. Each step has its own tone. The call is exciting, the confession of sin more sad, the forgiveness of sins is filled with joy, and so on. The tone is not dictated by the feelings of the person in the pew or by the pastor. The tone is dictated by what we are supposed to feel at each part of the worship service.

When we enter God’s presence we should be excited that God has called us into his presence. We may not feel excited when we enter God’s house. We may feel discouraged or distracted or apathetic. Yet the minister does not change the call to worship to match our feelings. At our church the call to worship is a Scripture reading usually followed by a response of the people. Here is one example. I read Psalm 96:1-4 and then we have this exchange:

Minister: In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

People: Amen! Matthew 28:19

Minister: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

People: And also to you. Romans 1:7

Minister: I will sing unto the Lord

People: For He has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 13:6

The congregation (or the minister) may not feel like they are getting grace and peace from God. They may not feel like God has dealt bountifully with them. But their feelings do not dictate truth. God does. By opening our service this way, the minister is saying, “This is what you are supposed to feel because this is truth.” He is saying bring your emotions in line with the truth.

The same could be said of each part of our worship service. We kneel each week and confess our sins. Does every member of my congregation feel like they are sinner each week? Do we always want to get down and declare “Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep?” Well no, of course not. After we get done publicly reading God’s Word the whole congregation says, “Thanks be to God.” Do we always feel like giving thanks for God’s Word? Maybe the reading was too long, too boring, or I just don’t want to hear God’s Word this week. On one level that does not matter. We are to be thankful for God’s Word no matter how we feel. More than that we are train our emotions to be thankful for the Word. We may not feel like eating the Lord’s Supper with our brothers and sisters in Christ, but we do it anyway. We may not feel blessed by God at the end of service and yet a benediction (blessing) from God comes anyway whether we want one or not. Why? Because how we feel at the end does not dictate the truth.

A good liturgy will force us to examine our emotions. We will have to do and say things we don’t feel like doing. But a good liturgy should do more. It should train us to feel what we ought to feel when we are confronted with our sin, God’s Word, our brothers, and interacting with the world. A consistent liturgy with the proper Biblical tone for each part will discipline us emotionally. We will not just learn to think Biblically, but we will are also learn to feel Biblically. A good liturgy will help bring our emotions in line with the reality of God’s Word.<>game online mobile рекламма

On July 17, 2014 By Steve Macias In Theology, Worship Like

What the Priesthood of All Believers is NOT

Two Controversial Concepts

There are few ideas as likely to breed contention as the two I intend to discuss below. Both relate to how a Christian is counted in the body of Christ and both speak to how we understand the Church’s catholicity. The first idea, sure to cause a stir anywhere it may appear, is the notion of hierarchy. Merely mentioning the existence of such a dirty thing as hierarchy comes across as un-American and surely anti-Christian in many modern circles, but if we take our Bibles seriously, we must recognize that hierarchy is inescapable. The second idea, which sorely needs to be discussed in Christendom, is the pernicious heresy of individualism. An idea which again brings forward, in American Christians, a tenet that may be seen as central to our faith and devotion. Yet despite the number of “Independent Bible Churches” erected, the nature of this oxymoron remains glaring. A Christian cannot be born, exist, or grow independent of the body.

These two concepts, hierarchy and individualism, are often given the syncopated resolution of the “priesthood of all believers.” In the minds of many, this doctrine is understood to mean that all the priestly functions of the clergy are available to all those who are believers, that our equal access to God means that we all have equal roles and rights in the Church. I believe much of this is due to our strong apprehension to any thing “Roman Catholic-y.” The result is the deletion of any distinction between the ordained ministry and the laity. This flattened view of the Apostolic order either obliterates the concept of ordination or undermines the meaning of the sacraments, oftentimes accomplishing both.

Understanding the “priesthood of all believers” begins with recognizing what this concept is not.

The priesthood of all believers in NOT the Papacy of all believers.

The Papacy does not have its own direct divine revelation from God, the Pope is not infallible, the Pope does not have universal jurisdiction, and neither do we. The priesthood of all believers is not an opportunity for each individual Christian to develop their own theology. No believer today comes to Christ through their own innovation, for we all must come to Christ through the historic community of believers. Too often have I heard, “All I need is my Bible.” This is the formula for a new cult, not orthodox Christianity. “My Bible” through the work of the Holy Ghost was given to the care of the Church. As the body of Christ, the Church has recognized, preserved, taught, translated, printed, and distributed “my Bible” to the Christians of the world throughout history.

“Me and my Bible” individualistic Christianity does not promote the purity of the Gospel, but serves instead to create mini-popes. If we are entitled to our own interpretation, who is to say what is correct? Like the Pope, we don’t speak ex cathedra. We have the received faith of the Bible, of the Creeds, and of the Church. Which in the progression of history have served to conciliate each other against individualism.

The priesthood of all believers in NOT the Presbytery of all believers.

What is the true Church? Who are the True Christians? Are Roman Catholics Christians? How about Mormons?

The priesthood of all believers is not an invitation for Christians to sit in judgement of the salvation of other Christians or to develop their own standards for what constitutes a Christian Church. For those unfamiliar with the term, a presbytery (or classis) is a leadership council of higher ranking clergy that rule over various issues that may arise from the church. As a human institution, the Church will always face a degree of scandal throughout history, but Christ appointed Apostles who appointed Overseers, Presbyters and Deacons to handle human conflict that may arise in the church.

This hierarchy was established to protect the unity of the Church and the verity of the Holy Gospel. Returning again to the idea of a received faith, the Bible serves as the ultimate authority in establishing the various Church officers and our historic faith outlines the basics of what it means to be a Christian. It is this emphasis on our continuity with the historic Church that explicitly limits women and homosexuals from serving as Overseers, Presbyters and Deacons. To ordain a woman or a homosexual not only serves as a contradiction to the Bible, but is also against the accepted order of ministry we have in the writings of those serving at the time of the Apostles through the Ecumenical councils and to very recent Christian history.

Remembering that the intention of the Reformation was to restore the Holy Catholic and Apostolic church, not to create a new Church. Their goal was to return to the undivided Church of the Creeds. No Christian alone acts as an Ecumenical council and cannot impose their particular dogmas upon the conscience of otherwise faithful Christians. The “priesthood of all believers” does not give me the authority to excommunicate a papist unsubmissive to the five points of Calvinism, and it does not give Rome the right to excommunicate me for refusing to acknowledge the immaculate conception of Mary. Yet, refusing to recognize a Biblically ordained hierarchy creates this exact situation. To receive the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is to recognize that the councils of the first five centuries have spoken to all things necessary to salvation and upon these I can add no extra burdens.

The priesthood of all believers in NOT the Piety of all believers.

Authority and hierarchy were quickly challenged after the establishment of the early Church. Roman persecution tested the integrity of the men assigned to protect the faith and while many were heroically martyred – some fled or gave over Bibles to the Romans. These leaders were then labeled, “traditores” and their entire ministry was called into question. Was their ordination invalidated by their lack of moral character? Was someone baptized by one of the “traditores” really baptized? In the 4th century, a group under the leadership of Bishop Donatus leveled such a charge and denied the ordination and authority of a Bishop who didn’t meet their new standard. This small North Africa sect inserted a division in a way that many modern Christians seem to employ regularly: priesthood by piety.

Against the Donatist idea of the priesthood by piety, St. Augustine drew a distinction between the visible and the eschatological church, not as two churches but rather as two moments in one and the same church. His position was that here on earth the church is holy, but not all its members are holy; it is the Body of Christ, but still having wheat and tares. Instead of deriving the piety of the Church from the level of virtue of its individual members, he maintained that the piety of the Church is based entirely on the holy nature of its Head, Jesus Christ.

In it is this framework that we can trust nothing more than the authority and hierarchy of the Church. In the balance of authority between the Overseers, Presbyters, Deacons of the universal Church against the Councils and Creeds in light of the Holy Writ, there is the surest form of appeals we can hope for on Earth. Every just sphere of authority whether it be civil or familial follows the church’s example in this hierarchical process of appeals. Our faith is then put into the received faith and order of Christ and his Apostles and not the trust of mere men. Modern individualism imbibes all the dangers of Donatism by refusing either the authority of Ancient Christianity and the hierarchy of its living church.

The Priesthood is His Priesthood

The Priesthood of All Believers is to be primarily understood in relation to worship. The Reformation wrestled some very important aspects of worship back from Rome. The first is the participation in worship, much of the medieval mass is done at the altar by a particular priest at the exclusion of the congregation. Even singing and the recitation of scripture was taken over by lectors and choirs. The reformers gave the music, singing, and scripture responses back to the church and returned congressional participation to the liturgy. The priesthood must be more than simply participation for it to be a true priesthood, it must have initiation and rites attached to its purpose. Like the Aaronic line, we are brought into the priesthood through a rite of baptism. Through baptism one is granted the authority to come to the Lord’s table and commune with Christ. This idea of eating the “sacrifice” should in itself remind us of the priestly language of the Old Testament. We are made partakers of the Sacrament by the nature of our priesthood. Thus, the nature of the “priesthood of all believers” is primarily sacramental.

By partaking of the sacramental body of Jesus Christ, we are exercising the true meaning of our priesthood. By eating his body together, we become part of the one body of the Church with Christ as its head. The sacramental meal in the Eucharist is the ultimate rejection of the individual as we all partake of one body together and in subordination to the hierarchy as our pastor acts as Christ feeding us the body of Christ. As we all partake of the one loaf, we become one body, one priesthood of all believers.<>site аудит а онлайн

On April 4, 2014 By Peter Jones In Theology, Worship 3

Solomon’s Great Prayer and the Declaration of Forgiveness

This post is a little more exegetical than I typically put on here, but I think it is worthwhile addition to Kuyperian.

Israel had been waiting for this day since she came out of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 12:5, 11) God had promised he would dwell with Israel in a permanent house. Now that day had come. After years of preparation by David followed by years of building by Solomon, the temple was finished. All Israel had been called by her great king to dedicate the temple with prayer and feasting.

Solomon’s prayer in II Chronicles 6:12-42 (see also I Kings 8:22-53) is one of the great prayers in Scripture. Solomon, the great king, the son of David, kneels down on a bronze platform and raises his hands to heaven (II Chronicles 6:13). He then prays to the Lord.

Solomon begins by reminding the Lord that He is merciful and keeps his promises. (II Chronicles 6:14-17) He then adds that the Lord is not confined by human hands to this temple. (6:18) Yet this temple is special and Solomon asks the Lord to remember his people which pray toward this place. (6:19-21) You might think that Solomon wants the Lord to hear their prayers so they can be delivered from their enemies or they can prosper as a nation or any other number of reasons. But Solomon wants the Lord to hear their prayers and forgive them. (II Chronicles 6:21b) Solomon’s great concern is that God would forgive Israel. This concern is woven through the entire prayer:

6:22 If anyone sins…

6:24-25 If your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You and return and confess Your name…hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people.

6:26-27 When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you when they pray toward this place and confess your name, and turn from their sin…forgive the sin of your servants.

6:28-30 When there is famine, blight….when each one spreads out his hands to this temple then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive.

6:32-33 This section is interesting because it does not specifically mention the forgiveness of sins. It is talking about when a Gentile prays to the temple. Solomon asks that God “would hear from heaven and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You.” While forgiveness is not mentioned, it could certainly be implied given the context.

6:36-39 When they sin against You…and repent…forgive your people who have sinned against you.

II Chronicles 7:12-17 is God’s answer to Solomon’s prayer. Solomon prays in chapter 6 and the Lord promises forgiveness in chapter 7. Here is 7:14- If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. The Lord promises Solomon that he will forgive the sins of his people.

There are several items of note to gather from this prayer and the circumstances surrounding it.

First, the forgiveness of sins was a central concern for Israel. Here is the most important event in the history of Israel outside of the exodus (maybe even more important than the exodus) and at the center is forgiveness of sins. Here is one of the greatest kings in his greatest moment and forgiveness of sins is central. We often think of the Old Testament as preaching forgiveness, but in a hidden, concealed way. Solomon’s prayer shatters that idea. They knew they needed forgiveness of sins. They knew only God could provide it.

Second, the temple was about Israel’s sins being forgiven. There are many things Solomon could have emphasized the day the temple was dedicated. But his prayer centered on the forgiveness of sins. For Solomon, the temple existed in large part to be a place of prayer, but a specific kind of prayer, confession. It was huge building reminding Israel that God was the God who forgives. (Psalm 99:8)

Third, Solomon expected Israel to repent of her sins. The entire prayer is very gospel oriented. Israel sins. God disciplines her. She repents. God forgives. The life of every Christian body and every individual Christian is summed up in this prayer. As Luther said, “The entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

Finally, God promises to forgive. God does not leave Israel wondering. He tells Solomon in 7:14 that when his people repent and pray he will forgive. There is no doubt that this promise is behind three other great prayers in the Old Testament, Ezra 9, Nehemiah 9, and Daniel 9. All of these are confessions of sins. Isn’t it interesting that four of the greatest prayers in the Old Testament are all about confession and forgiveness?

Here are three points of application.

First, we should be regularly confessing our sins both corporately and privately. I would hope this was a given, but unfortunately it often is not. When I ask my children to pray after family worship I give them four options: praise, ask for something, pray for someone, or confess a sin. Guess which one never gets taken? Confessing our sins does not come as naturally as it should. It is easy to talk about confessing our sins. It is much harder to actually confess them. While private confession is often emphasized corporate confession can be neglected. We should be confessing together that we are sinners.

Second, every church should consider having a declaration of forgiveness in worship. Our worship service begins with a call, followed by a time of confessing our sins. When we are done confessing our sins I say, “Almighty God who is rich in mercy has given His only Son to die for us, I therefore declare to you that all of your sins are forgiven in Christ.” Every week my people are reminded that God forgives them. Every week my people are told that they are clean because of Jesus. We need this every week. We need someone telling us that cross of Christ is still there with mercy for all our sins. The Church, the new temple (I Peter 2:5), is the place where the forgiveness of sins in Christ should be declared regularly and emphatically. (Luke 24:47)

Third, we must believe that God actually does forgive our sins when we repent and confess them. Before we confess our sins in worship our congregation recites I John 1:8-9. Here is that great promise, just like in II Chronicles 7:14, that God can and does forgive. One of Satan’s greatest ploys is to keep bringing up our sins. We confess them. He sends us a postcard reminding us of how wicked we are. The guilt comes back. I remember as a kid lying in bed confessing sins I had confessed dozens of times before trying to make sure I was “really” forgiven. Oh, how we need to hear and be reminded that he is faithful and just to forgive all our sins.

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On April 3, 2014 By J. Luper In Worship Like

Fellowship of Suffering

In a recent article on the Christian Post, Dr. Cornelius Plantinga of Calvin Institute of Christian Worship voices a sobering critique of contemporary evangelical and reformed worship, observing that discussion of sin is disturbingly rare. Plantinga says this is seen chiefly in the obsolescence of rites of confession, and in the songs of the churches, where the “biblical tradition of lament, which is all through the prophets and the Psalms is gone, just not there.”

Plantinga hits upon a crucial point: the psalms (whether spoken or sung) have been absent from church liturgies for decades. Therefore, it’s no surprise that weighty biblical issues like sin, judgment, confession, and lament have become passé. Abandonment of the psalter results in an impoverished liturgical vocabulary, invites trite sentimentalism, and substitutes stilted emotive ecstasy for the broad biblical palette of spiritual affections. Confession and lamentation become foreign once the psalms are lost.

However, the presence of confession and lamentation requires not only appropriate liturgical forms, but a people who are willing to acknowledge the realities of sin, suffering, and injustice in their lives and in society. Communities are shaped by liturgy, but liturgies also take shape according to a communal ethos.

Increasingly, churches are generationally, racially, and economically segregated. Whether by design or not, this has occurred in large part because churches have attempted to be relevant to a fault, deploying marketing campaigns to create an enticing “brand,” borrowing sales techniques to bolster growth, and eschewing tradition in favor of trends. Such a strategy leads to demographically-homogenous congregations. By courting the culturally savvy and elite, churches truncate the body of Christ and cut themselves off from those who have a historic memory and experience of oppression, struggle, and suffering (e.g., the elderly, poor, racial minorities, disabled)–people who would be much more familiar with the vocabulary of lamentation and confession (even imprecation) than the typical hipster evangelical.

To be sure, evangelical churches are populated with plenty of suffering people. And as Plantinga notes, “Ceasingly cheerful worship does not fit with the lives of people who come to worship.” Notwithstanding, the chirpy aura of many modern churches discourages corporate recognition of sin and voicing of lament. Would such a lopsidedly optimistic atmosphere be as plausible and as entrenched if the church better reflected her identity as the new humanity in Christ, and embraced all classes, colors, and ages in her worship and fellowship? Perhaps, then, the pathway to biblically faithful worship needs to include not only recovery of the psalms, but reconciliation of division within the church.<>online mobi реклама а в гугл

On March 4, 2014 By Uri Brito In Worship Like

What is Shrove Tuesday (or Fat Tuesday)?

Shrove Tuesday is a day of feasting. It marks the conclusion of the Epiphany Season. On this day, the Church feasts before she enters into a more solemn and penitential season called Lent, which is referred to as a Season of Confession.

Shrove Tuesday is celebrated with a pancake dinner, which is accompanied by eggs and syrup (bacon can be added–and it should).

This day provides the Church an opportunity to celebrate once again the abundance of the Gospel in our lives and in the world. The glory of the Epiphany season is that Jesus has given us life and life more abundantly (Jn.10:10). Following the rich feasting tradition of our Hebrew forefathers, the English speaking Church has broadly practiced Shrove Tuesday for over 800 years.

What’s the Importance of this day?

As a tradition of the Church, and not an explicit teaching in the Bible, the individual or churches are not bound by such traditions. However, if churches do practice this, it is important for members to join in this festive occasion. It provides the Church another healthy excuse to fellowship and form greater bonds through a delightful and bountiful meal.

On the day before we enter into the Lenten Story where Jesus commences his journey to the cross, Christians everywhere in the English speaking world will prepare rightly by celebrating God’s gifts to us, so that we can rightly meditate, fast, pray, confess and repent by remembering the sufferings of Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2).

What if my Church does not do Shrove Tuesday?

Assuming the congregation is silent on the issue and has not taken any strong constitutional or theological position on the matter, then as a family you are also free to celebrate Shrove Tuesday. You may also want to invite friends over to enjoy a pancake dinner.

To Shrive

Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the 40 days of Lent (Sundays excluded from this number). Whether your Church has an Ash Wednesday service or not, Shrove Tuesday is still valid as a way of celebrating the Christ who has given us all things, including His own body for our sakes (I Pet. 2:24).

Shrove comes from the word shrive meaning to confess. As we celebrate, let us not forget that the Christian life is, as Luther stated, a “life of daily repentance.” Confession is not just reserved for Lent, but it is for all seasons. But on this Lenten Season, we receive a particular reminder (through our liturgical readings and singing) that a repentant heart is a clean heart before God (Ps. 51:2).<>