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On October 17, 2013 By In Worship

Good things badly

Guest Post by Benjamin Miller

I don’t usually write about personal pet peeves, but recently one of mine got triggered, and I’m inspired to write about it, so . . . there.

I’m from the neck of the ecclesiastical woods known as “conservative” and “Reformed.” We’re known for small churches that keep to the old paths. I love the old paths; I can’t say I’m crazy about the smallness – I certainly don’t regard it as a virtue – but it depends on why we’re small. Which brings me to my pet peeve.

I hear all the time from leaders of small churches that are struggling in various ways: “Well, we don’t need to concern ourselves with results or numbers; we just need to be faithful doing what God has told us to do, and leave the outcomes to Him.”

This sounds really good. It has a nice pure ring to it. Do your duty. Be faithful at it. Let God be God. I’m down with all of that.

But one thing I almost never hear in conjunction with this is the possibility – just the possibility, mind you – that we’re doing all the right stuff, but doing it really badly. We’re preaching the Word every Sunday. That’s a good thing, but what if our preaching is just plain boring? We’re maintaining tried-and-true traditions in worship, but what if our liturgy is desultory or plodding? What if the whole atmosphere of our worship is stale, yea, even funereal? We’re not out there “peddling” the gospel with gimmicks and glamor, but what if our outreach (and our inreach, for that matter) is dull, unimaginative, uninspired, and pretty darn pessimistic (not that we expect bad things to happen; we just don’t expect much of anything to happen)? We’re Christ-centered, but what if we talk about Christ in a way that leaves Him apparently disconnected not only from the everyday life of the guy who walks in off the street, but even from the lives of most of the people nodding (take it as you will) in the pew?

I’ve sat through “faithful” Reformed sermons that were simply horrible; you didn’t have to be a communications major to figure it out. I’ve listened to sermons full of true sayings about God and the gospel that were so badly constructed, so hard to follow, so freighted with in-house jargon, so gloomy, so emotionally manipulative, so interminable, and/ or so out of touch with the real world, that all I wanted was to go stretch my legs – and I’m a pastor, for crying out loud. I’m supposed to like sermons.

Don’t even get me started on the stuff that happens before and after the sermon. I’ve been trotted at breakneck pace through liturgies without a moment to get my emotional bearings. I’ve puzzled my way through liturgies without any discernible theme or logical order. I’ve sat through good liturgies led by people who, to all appearances, couldn’t wait for it to be over. I’ve heard prayers that droned on for twenty minutes, followed by sharp admonitions about failure to stay focused. I’ve been subjected to song selections and congregational singing that would soothe the dead. It’s all “faithful.” It’s all doing our duty. It’s all – in principle – good stuff. And I think we ought to be ashamed of ourselves.

Then there’s the whole outward face of the church. We small conservative Reformed folk aren’t known for caring about reaching the lost – if God wants them to come, they’ll come; and if He’s really working in their hearts, they’ll love bad sermons and boring worship as much as we do. (I exaggerate mildly for effect.) Amazingly, this is sometimes true. People do come to worship, and they do sometimes stay. I wonder, though: Why are we so bad at taking the gospel out to where everyday life happens? Why doesn’t our message seem to “connect” outside the walls of the church? Why don’t we work harder at meeting people where they actually live, talking about questions they’re actually asking, using media to which they can actually relate? Why do we think preaching the Word and administering the sacraments inside the four walls of the church is where all the action is, and fail to develop anything approximating excellence in taking the Word out into the world? What’s with all these drab, outdated websites (if we have them at all); church leaders who are social media illiterate; and “outreach” events that consist of handing out church postcards door to door? Are we trying to be ineffective? Worse, are we self-satisfied because, after all, we’re doing our duty behind closed doors every Sunday? Really?

There’s no excuse for doing good things badly. There’s no excuse for poor preaching, deadness in worship, or outreach literature that looks like it was printed twenty years ago. “At Iconium,” writes Luke, the apostles “spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed” (Acts 14:1). This isn’t a denial of God’s sovereignty; it’s a simple statement of human responsibility. Preach like Jesus really is the Logos and communication matters. Worship in a way that’s well thought-out, engaging, lively, and participatory. Act like you expect the gospel to do something, in worship and outside the walls of the church. Cultivate good ideas, stuff that will grab people’s attention. Tell great stories that lead naturally to the Great Story. Be creative: think about how to relate the gospel to the real lives of real people out in the real world who have never heard the term “effectual calling.” Speak in such a way, inside and outside the church, that people believe. Who knows? Maybe God will start to fill our small churches, and not only we but also thousands of others will have great cause to glorify His name.

Ben Miller is the organizing pastor of Trinity Church in Huntington, New York. he blogs at Relocating To Elfland.<>seo услугипродвижение ов в yandex

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On September 21, 2013 By In Wisdom, Worship

Does Praying More Times Make God More Likely to Answer?

Jupiter (St Petersburg)

Jupiter – someone who won’t expedite your prayers.

 

A friend wrote me a question, and I think the answer might be beneficial to many of us.

Does praying a lot make God more likely to act?

I think the answer to the quantity question raised by “you have not because you ask not,” is that God is not impressed with quantity for the sake of quantity – but that he looks for faithfulness that happens to express itself in many prayers. It is found in the faithfulness to ask about everything that you need. You will either be a person who goes to God, or a person who goes elsewhere with your needs and complaints and desires.

 

LET’S SEE WHAT JAMES ACTUALLY HAS IN MIND

When James says “you ask not,” he isn’t saying that they are not ever trying to get any needs met by anyone – I believe he is indicting them for asking elsewhere. He indicts them (in 1.8, and 4.8) for “double-mindedness.” Which is a term for idolatry. It is spiritual two-timing. We know this because James 4.8 is referring to a pair of images in Psalm 24.

(more…)

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On September 18, 2013 By In Worship

A Biblically Sound Worship Ministry

A Biblically Sound Worship Ministry

  1. Will be overseen and preferably led by the qualified, male elders in the church. Three important words: qualified, male, and overseen. These elders should regularly study God’s Word and read articles and books so they can help lead a faithful music ministry.
  2. Will make it a priority to hire a full or part-time music pastor, who could shepherd the church through music and song. This man will be trained theologically, pastorally, and musically. My point is that if a church has the ability to hire more than one pastoral staff member this position should be at the top of the list.
  3. Will seek to be faithful to God’s Word in content and form. One key to this is numbers 1 & 2.
  4. Will sing God’s Word, especially the Psalms. And will constantly be searching for more of God’s Word set to music.  We are grateful for hymns. But hymns are not God’s Word.
  5. Will study at the feet of God’s people from the past, seeking to use tradition wisely.
  6. Will not be afraid of contemporary songs or forms, but will use them wisely to convey God’s Word.
  7. Will highlight the voice of the congregation. This means most songs, after they are learned, will be accessible to most of God’s people. It means there should be regular singing without the aid of instruments.  It means instruments should support the people’s voices not overwhelm them.
  8. Will sing songs that have a variety of tempos, moods, lengths, and themes.
  9. Will express this variety using the God-given resources in the congregation.
  10. Will be grateful for all they have, but will seek to use all they have to push on to greater Biblical maturity.

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On September 17, 2013 By In Worship

How Should We Pursue Maturity in Worship Music?

       

The Psalms 2

 There are two temptations that nip at our heels as we pursue reformation in worship. The first is to believe that older is automatically better. This group clings to the past like it is a magic charm. To them it is a window to better days when the church was “more pure.” There is no maturing in the church for this group. For this group, worship music is largely culturally defined, but the culture is an older one. The second temptation is to assume that newer is automatically better. The culture has moved on from “Holy, Holy, Holy” and if the church is to reach the culture she must move on as well. There is very little to learn from the early church for this group. For this group, worship music is to a large degree culturally defined, but the culture is the newest one. Let’s be clear, while the first error does exist, it is the second error which is the great temptation of our age. We must move on. We must be relevant. The great sin of our age is to look old.

            We should aim to avoid both these errors.  As we pursue reformation in church music here are some things to remember.

  1. We should be grateful for what we have. We live in an age of complainers. We whine about everything, including church music. Yes, there is always room for improvement. Yes, we all cringe at certain songs. Yes, it would be nice if we had the Psalms that were not paraphrased. Yes, it would be nice if we had better contemporary music. But God has been good to us. We have a great musical heritage from Ambrose to Luther to Wesley. We have more and more Psalms being set to music every year.  Growth comes from gratitude not from grumbling.
  2. Any reformation in church music must be built on the foundations of love for Christ and love for his people. If we seek reformation because we want to be “traditional” or because we want to be “relevant” or because we want to be “exciting” we are going to make fundamental mistakes.  Love for Christ and love for the Church form the center. Without love our songs are empty and vain.
  3. Musical growth is dictated by God’s Word not by our current culture or a past culture. That means our primary means of evaluating our singing will be the Bible.
  4. We should want to thoroughly ingest the older songs and the older ways of singing. These men are our fathers in the faith. We should sit at their feet before we seek to stand on their shoulders. This does not mean we will like all their songs or methods. But it does mean that each church should seek to live within the stream of Christian tradition. No church should sing only new hymns and choruses and completely reject the older tradition. This only shows arrogance.
  5. We should seek out new, theologically sound music to introduce to the congregation. No church should only sing older stuff. I do think a lot of newer stuff is weak, if not heretical, but not all of it is. There are God-honoring songs being written.  We should not be afraid of incorporating these into our local church music.
  6. We should be cautious in accepting worship music advice or songs from theologically inept musicians, whether they are on a church staff or in the pew. Here is why a lot of contemporary worship music is weak: worship music in the modern church has ceased to be overseen by the elders of the local church.  I am not saying elders must do everything.  But they must oversee it all. Music is a teaching ministry. If the church is to have theologically robust songs they must have theologically robust men writing them and evaluating them. The elders are the guardians of God’s Word. Yet for some reason they leave one of the most potent parts of worship up to other men (or women) who are not fit. Here is what Titus 1:9 says an elder must do.  “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”  Too many worship leaders and those who write church music do not fit this description. Also many elders do not read and study enough to know what God requires of a church’s music ministry.
  7. Each church can and should have its own local sound that uses local talents and resources, but still functions within the tradition of the broader, historic church.  If you have a piano player, then don’t grumble because you don’t have drums or guitar. If you have a guitar player, use him. Two churches separated by thousands of miles should sing songs that have similar content and doctrine. This comes from faithfulness to God’s Word. But these same two churches may sound very different.
  8. This does not mean sound is irrelevant. Some sounds are inappropriate for worship.  Some tunes do not match the words they are being sung to. Some types of music drown out the voice of the people. Or they are designed to create false emotional responses. Or they are designed to highlight the musician instead of the people. Or they are associated too closely with worldliness. The musical sounds in our churches will vary, but that does not mean any sound is acceptable for corporate worship.

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On September 17, 2013 By In Worship

How Jesus Wants Us to Pray

Maes_Old_Woman_Dozing Old Woman Dozing, Nicholas Maes

Please note – I have amended this essay to fix a conflation of passages, a mistake I made in its original publicationa.

Jacob wrestles with Jesus at the gate of the house of God, and he hangs on unceasingly for he sake of goal of the prize of the blessing from his wrestling partner. Jacob vows and follows through: I will not let you go unless you bless me. And after Jacob wins, the defeated Jesus hands over the goods – the blessing Jacob sought. And yet, there is something Jesus would not give him. Jacob asked for his name, which Jesus had not given out yet. Jesus refused. And he also wounded Jacob with a simple touch. We know that Jesus let Jacob win. But within the limits Jesus set, Jacob did win after a long, hard battle.

Jesus tells us to pray this way, like a persistent Jacob – or in Jesus’ parables in Luke – as a persistent widow, and as friend willing to annoy his friend in the middle of the night. We are to knock, as the widow would at the judge’s door. Or we are to pursue our friend in the middle of the night, when he is most likely to relent for the sake of the annoyance. The widow’s great weapon for defeating that judge is, indeed, “persistence.” The friend’s effectiveness is in his annoyance! And all this with a wicked judge, and a bothered, groggy friend. God is not evil or tired, so even better for our labor of persistent annoyance. God is not wicked that he should ignore us, nor is he short fused or sleepy that we should annoy him. But he says the action of prayer will work closely enough to make these analogies our guide. Bother him like he is failing to give you justice, and use annoying repetitiveness as your weapon. He will condescend to be limited, and at some point we will fill up the measure he has set before him, and he will arise and get to work for our benefit.

Of course remember, he NEVER gives out what he doesn’t want to give out, or what we ask for before it is time to get it. So you can’t actually force God to do what you want. But he will let you badger him into doing what he already wants to do. He is just waiting for your voice to rise persistently. He wants a wrestler out of you.

He may also wound you in the process. He wounds to show what power he will use to bless you. He wounds you to remind you that you are not the source of the blessing that he will bring. He wounds to mark you with a persistent reminder of the good God who stooped to the willingness to play a game of uncle, and who let you get your knee between his shoulders before he said “you win.”

Jacob wasn’t stronger than Jesus. He was just more persistent than the limit Jesus set beforehand. He was doing what Jesus wanted him to do.

When man begs at the gate of the friend in the middle of the night, he is doing what Jesus wants him to do.

When the old woman persists in annoying the judge, she is begging and badgering for justice the way Jesus wants her to.

What Jesus will not give us is what he himself does not wish to give us. He will do what he wants to do.

Persistence, repetition, patience, and asking according to the will of God. This is what he wants us to do.

One last note – Common to Jacob and the story of the friend, the wrestling with God is at night. This is a natural time to pray, and many pray when they wake in the mid-night. Jesus’ disciples could not stay awake while he prayed mid-night. But this is also meaningful to our struggles. Struggles always feel like night time, and so we are reminded not to sleep through our troubles, but to see the trouble, the night time as a signal that the friend is in the right situation to be annoyed into action. Instead of thinking, God will do nothing – think, this is exactly when God wants me to bother him into acting. Into doing.

And after we persist, he will let himself be beaten into action, but he will arise to prove himself powerful (and often to prove us weak), and he will act in a way that his strength is displayed.

It isn’t magic we can wield, but it is a prescribed formula we can trust. It is not a formula we can time to know when we will flip the switch. And if we ask for what he does not want, he will say no. But we must learn that often we have not because we wrestle not.

—–

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<>статистика поисковых слов

  1. Thanks to Nathan N., my faithful friend for pointing his Nathanic finger and saying “You are the man…who has mixed up two similar passages.” Accordingly, I repent.  (back)

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On September 10, 2013 By In Worship

Worship: The Time & Place of Personal Integration

altar sacrificeOne of the Apostle Paul’s most famous descriptions of the church involves an individual human body:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27, ESV)
One could easily think that Paul is arguing from the premise that every human person is a unified body. In a biological sense that seems self-evident. But the Bible can speak of people as driven or controlled by various body parts. Paul must be arguing here from the ideal human person–the one who has matured. Paul himself is a large part of the Scriptural witness that affirms that human beings are often bodies in which the parts are at war with one another. Thus:
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. (Romans 6:12-19, ESV)

Also:

So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I pummel my body and make it a slave, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:26-27, ESV)

Likewise, James compares controlling one’s speech as “taming the tongue” and further compares such discipline to that of domesticating wild animals (James 3). Notably, James calls such rule or dominion over one’s tongue a form of wisdom, reminding us of Lady Wisdom’s declaration “by me kings reign” (Proverbs 8.15).
Jesus himself warned of how one part of oneself could mislead the rest:
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30, ESV)
So it seems that while the human person should function as a unity, a person can, in a sense, be a cluster of warring members. While this should not be so, it nevertheless is often true.
One way to think of what is going on is to differentiate between the de jure and the de facto–legal terms for what is officially true and what is true in reality. While we owe much to others, we are each, once we reach maturity (viewed as a legal age) de jure owners of ourselves. But are we de facto masters of ourselves? The concept of self-ownership is a foundation, but it must be used to build self-mastery–from de jure to de facto.
Furthering us in this process is one of the purposes and benefits of regular Church worship. To show how this follows from Scripture, we need to get some basic points about the worship system or sacrificial system that was given by God through Moses.
WORSHIP AS TRANSFORMATION
As we follow Paul’s admonition in Romans 6 and master ourselves into a single whole intent on serving God, we can more and more fully respond to Paul’s summons to worship in chapter 12:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.  (Romans 12:1, 2; ESV)
Sacrifices were cut up by the offerer (not the priest, he simply took the pieces and fed them to the fire). All the appropriate parts had to be offered. (Some were also cut off and thrown away, just as Jesus advised. My working assumption for now is that, in the New Covenant, we are liberated from sin to an extent that we can offer all our parts. Jesus was using an analogy for struggling with sin from the Old Covenant sacrifices but didn’t wanta literal application to our body parts).
I may be wrong, but I think many Evangelicals believe that the fire on the altar that consumed the sacrifices represents God’s fiery wrath on sinners. This is a mistake. The fire on God’s altar represents God himself and his glory and presence. It is true that unrepentant, unforgiven sinners find God’s presence to be torment (thus the imagery from Revelation 14.9-11). But that makes no sense for sacrificial animals that have been washed and had the unclean parts cut away. The sacrificial meat, remember, is treated as holy, not as defiled.
In the sacrificial system established under Moses, the animal takes the curse of sin for the offerer when the offerer kills it. The blood is carried near to God’s presence on the altar to display the evidence that death has taken place and there is no further judgment to come. Then the animal goes up into the altar where it is turned to smoke and goes further up into heaven–into God’s glory cloud like the cloud that came down on Mt. Sinai or that later filled the Tabernacle and still later entered Solomon’s Temple. The cloud that Ezekiel saw and, in a vision, penetrated to see God’s throne carried by Levitical angels.
This, after all, is exactly what happened to Jesus. He is killed. His blood pours out on the ground for all to see. Then he is transformed by the Spirit. He is raised from the dead and then ascends to His Father in a cloud.
One more piece of evidence that burning the sacrifice represents transformation and elevation or ascension, is that the items put in the fire with the animal (incense, cake of bread) is also what is kept inside the Holy Place. The altar was set up outside the doorway of the Tabernacle. The Holy place was the first room on the other side of the entrance where only priests could pass through. So putting the animal on the altar seems to correspond with a priest approaching God’s presence in the Tabernacle. The second room where no one could go but the high priest represented the highest heavens and there were two golden statues of angels representing the Guards in God’s own throne room. So it is no surprise that, when Jesus was taken up in a cloud, two men in white were seen as well.
And by going through this process, Jesus became to us, among other things, “wisdom from God” (First Corinthians 1.30). He was made our Greater Solomon.
Before killing the animal and then putting it through this transformation, the offerer was to place his hands on the animal to appoint it as his representative. So the animals death and “resurrection” are supposed to apply to the worshiper. We are supposed to be transformed by God’s presence in worship. Our minds are to be renewed in wisdom and torn away from the folly of the world’s alleged “wisdom.”
SUMMONING EVERY ONE OF US & ALL OF US
 
Many times in the Bible God’s people are summoned to gather as one before the Lord’s presence. But what is odd is that we also see in the Bible sometimes a person summons all of himself in the same way he would summon a group of people to gather together.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits… (Psalm 103.1b, 2; ESV).

David here summons his soul, and then summons more: “all that is within me.”

When God calls us to worship, he calls us altogether (all-together) to gather as a single whole. Just as we are affirmed as one body with fellow Christians as we listen to God’s word, pray to him, sing psalms and hymns, and eat and drink bread and wine together when we “come together as a church” (First Corinthians 11.18), so we are each taken apart by the word of God (Hebrews 4.12) and put back together as new whole person, glorified by contact with the glory of God.
We are, if you will, disintegrated in worship and then re-integrated better than before. And in that transformation, you learn to rule yourself and everything else better by a true wisdom. You are renewed in your mind.
One final comment. I don’t know that we can reduce this transformation process to understanding new truths or some other intellectual process. While hearing good preaching and learning new things is important, it might not happen every week. Does that mean going to church was a waste of time? I have to say no. Even though church can be “done wrong,” we should expect that meeting with God in a special way has power that affects us even if we don’t learn anything new or feel inspired by some aspect of the service.

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On August 29, 2013 By In Books, Worship

Book Review: Desiring the Kingdom

James Smith 2 James K. A. Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom is one of the harder books I have reviewed.  The reason is simple: his main thesis is important and needs to be digested by Christians and especially pastors. But some of his details and unanswered questions left me queasy.

His main thesis, in my words, is that rituals or liturgies shape our desires and our desires cause us to do what we do. Therefore rituals, liturgies, and worship have tremendous influence over our lives. But the influence is subtle. He would argue, and I think rightly, that what we learn in the liturgies of our lives can undo what we learn in a classroom setting. This is one of the reasons why a parent can give a child all the correct doctrine and that child still leaves the faith.  Often the parents’ daily liturgies undo their teaching.  He does a great job of showing how the world has competing liturgies. In chapter 3 he lists the mall, entertainment, and the university as secular liturgies that compete with the Church.  He then spends a long chapter discussing what a historical Christian worship service means and how it shapes our lives.  He argues persuasively that the Christian life is more about formation than information.  Here Dr. Smith is at his best. I really enjoyed his discussion of liturgies and desire, as well as how he illustrated his points. As I read, I thought about the liturgy at my church and what we are teaching.  But I also thought about what I do at home. What am I teaching my children through our various family liturgies? I also thought about what I want, my desires and where they come from. Why do I want what I want?  I do fear that many of my desires are shaped by secular liturgies and not by the Scriptures and Christian practice.

I wrote this review in March of 2012. Since that time my thoughts on the interchange between desires and thoughts have continued to grow. So I wanted to add this to the review. Rational, logical, thought has an important part to play in the Christian life. It is just as important as desires. These two play off of each other and feed into each other. My agreement with Dr. Smith’s main thesis should not be read as our desires are superior to rational faculties. Ideas and propositions change us in tremendous and dramatic ways. The value of Dr. Smith’s book is that it emphasizes a point that has been minimized among the reformed men. But the danger of his thesis is that ideas can be put in the back seat. Here are a few other points in the book I liked besides the main thesis mentioned above.

  1. Dr. Smith is a professor at Calvin College, so his burden is for the university. One of the triumphs of the book is his plea for Christian colleges and universities to be rooted in the local church. He describes the Church as the sanctuary with the university being one of the small rooms connected to the sanctuary.  For too long, universities have seen themselves as separate from the church, instead of an extension of it.  Smith says, “The task of Christian education needs to be reconnected to the thick practices of the church.” (p. 220) This needs to be fleshed out some, but overall the concept is a good one.
  2. Dr.  Smith also does a good job of showing that the quantity of our liturgies matter as much as quality.  Thus our liturgies Monday through Saturday must line up with our liturgies on Sunday. For most of the book this is implicit, but in the last chapter he makes the point explicit as he discusses the Christian university. (p. 226-227) I think quantity is also why people can have a wonderful, biblical liturgy on Sunday and yet, that liturgy not impact their lives. They are immersed in a Christian liturgy for 1 to 2 hours on Sunday, but swimming in secular liturgies the rest of the week.  It is not a surprise that the secular liturgies win.
  3. There is one other point, which I do not remember Dr. Smith making, but seems to follow from his thesis. What he describes works best in a local or parish setting. In other words, his thesis wars against impersonal classrooms and churches where the teachers and pastors have only limited interaction with the parishioners and students. I am not saying it can’t work with larger groups, but it would be more difficult.  The formation he is aiming at would be hard without the personal connection between pastor/parishioners and teachers/students.

Here are the things I did not like about the book.

  1. Despite his rhetoric about countering secular liturgies, Dr. Smith often sounds like he is reciting one.  For example in his discussion of the confession of sin in the worship service he says this, “We create institutions and systems that are unjust, not only because of individual bad choices, but also because the very structures and systems of these institutions are wrongly ordered, fostering systematic racism or patriarchy or exploitation of the poor.”  (p. 178) This sounds like a list of talking points from a liberal Hollywood actor. It is hard to see how this is counter acting any secular liturgy.  Also there is no discussion of abortion or sodomy in the book, despite the fact that these two sins are a primary part of the current secular liturgy. I agree that racism and exploitation of the poor are sins. But is racism more rampant than our culture’s hatred of children? Yet abortion goes unmentioned. It seems that Dr. Smith has been selective in which secular liturgies he is willing to call out. Liturgies such as feminism, the pro-choice movement, environmentalism, and sodomy all get a pass. Of course, the church has been influenced by our consumerist, materialistic culture, which Dr. Smith addresses. But he leaves out obvious sins that accompany greed, like abortion and sodomy. His failure to address prominent secular liturgies, left me raising my eyebrows.
  2. There is little emphasis on the Bible as the check on our liturgies and Christian formation. This is why Dr. Smith can say with a straight face, “The minister raises her hands.” (p. 207) He does quote from the Bible from time to time, but it does not seem to guide his thinking. There will not be true Christian formation without a deep love for and obedience to the Scriptures.  His first chapters are filled with philosophers and sociologists, but very little Bible.  It is precisely because liturgy is so powerful that it must be biblical. We cannot merely say that we are doing Christian liturgy. We must prove it biblically. Dr. Smith did not need to do that in his book. But he did need to show more clearly that the Scriptures were guiding this thinking.  If a Martian read his book, he would never know that the  Bible was the compass that guided Dr. Smith’s thinking.
  3. There is little discussion of the role faith in Christ plays in being formed by liturgies. One thought that kept pounding my head was. “Yes, I know liturgies are powerful. But I also know men and women who have sat under biblical liturgies for decades and yet live rotten, evil lives. How do these two truths fit together?”   The deciding factor in our lives is a growing, vibrant faith in Christ that works itself out in obedience to his word.  Christian liturgies can become instruments of death when someone participates apart from faith in Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sinners. On page 208, he briefly addresses the problem of good liturgies not transforming people. He plans on discussing it in volumes 2 and 3.  But even in the footnote there is no mention of faith as a factor.  Maybe he assumed that faith in Christ was an understood prerequisite to a faithful liturgy. However, I did not get that impression.  His failure to speak of  faith in Christ as the key to liturgy transforming us was a glaring omission.
  4. Finally I disagreed with the quote from Stanley Hauerwas, which Dr. Smith approves of.  “Becoming a disciple is not a matter of a new or changed self-understanding but of becoming part of a different community with a different set of practices.” (p. 220) Paul and Jesus are constantly trying to tell Christians how they are to view themselves. You are salt and light. You were dead, but now you alive. You have been raised up with Christ.  Our self understanding shapes our practices. And our practices also shape who we are.  I know Dr. Smith’s focus is on the latter of these two. But the former is true as well. A proper self-understanding is essential to Christian formation. Proper self-understanding is believing what God says about Himself, the world, and us. However, one of the great acts of the Christian imagination is to view ourselves how God views us.  If I  have understood Dr. Smith correctly, then I think he overreaches.  This might seem picky, but it isn’t. Christian formation is not simply about new practices and a new community. To say that is inadequate and can lead to a presumption that taking part in a Christian liturgy automatically forms me into a Christian.

The book was a wonderful, thought provoking read that made me evaluate numerous facets of my life, my family’s life, and the life of my church.  However, there were some noticeable gaps in the book that I hope he addresses in volumes 2 and 3 of this series.<>биржи для копирайтеров отзывысколько стоит контекстная реклама гугл

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On August 27, 2013 By In Theology, Worship

Why Sing the Bible?

Back in July Pastor Uri Brito wrote a post on ten reasons to sing the psalms. My article is similar, but different enough that I thought it was worth posting. I sent this to my congregation last year as part of a longer article on singing in worship. Point number four is paraphrase of a section St. Athanansius’  letter to Marcellinus on the interpretation of the Psalms. It can be found as an appendix in his book On the Incarnation. 

The major tool God has given us to cultivate music that honors him is the songs in the Bible, including the Psalms. The Lord saw fit to give us one hundred and fifty psalms along with numerous other songs in the Scriptures, such as Exodus 15, I Samuel 2, Isaiah 12, 26, Luke 1:46-55 and the songs in Revelation. The Lord did not intend for us to sing only these songs, but He did intend for us to learn these songs and use them as the foundation for newer hymns. Without making the songs of Scripture a priority, our worship is guaranteed to be impotent. It is odd that the evangelical church says they love the Bible, but most refuse to sing it.  One of great tragedies of the modern church is that she has left the Bible as the first source of her songs.

As we learn the songs of Scripture we will reap several benefits. First, we will sing words and phrases we have never sung before. There are not many contemporary songs that say things like, “You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.” (Psalm 3:7) Or, “He shall have dominion from sea to sea.” (Psalm 72:8) Or, “They have shed the blood of saints and prophets and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” (Revelation 16:6). Often our language is influenced by movies, pop culture, or our friends. If we want our language to be shaped by Scripture then a good place to begin is the songs of Scripture.

Second, as we sing these songs we will be reminded that we have enemies and are engaged in a battle which only ends with Christ’s second coming. 137 out of 150 Psalms either explicitly or implicitly refer to enemies. Most of the songs in the New Testament have a similar theme. Look at Mary and Zacharias’ songs in Luke and the songs throughout Revelation. These are fight songs, songs of an army going out into the world to wage warfare and conquer for (and with) Christ.  Could it be that the Church is losing the battle because she does not even know she is in one? Singing Scripture will help rid of this amnesia.

Third, as we sing the songs of Zion we will find a great amount of variety. It is odd how many hymns and choruses sound the same both in tone and words. Scripture has similar themes, but these themes are expressed in an assortment of ways. There are short songs. (Psalm 117 and portions of Revelation) There are long songs. (Psalm 18 and 119)  There are songs of grief and pain. (Psalm 3 and 137) There are songs of great joy and gladness (Isaiah 26 and Mary’s Song in Luke 1) There are songs about God’s great majesty. (Exodus 15 and Psalm 111) There are songs about how men are supposed to live. (Psalm 1, 112, 128) There are songs with a repeating chorus. (Psalm 136) There are songs by Moses, Solomon, David, Hannah, Mary, Asaph, Isaiah, Zacharias and the angels.  We could go on and on. This means the songs in worship should have a variety of lengths, tones, and themes. Scriptures songs rightly done should never be boring.

Fourth, the songs of the Bible give us words for any situation we find ourselves in. And not just any words. We will have God’s word in our hearts and in our mouths. If we are sad let us sing Psalm 137. If we are joyful let us sing Psalm 150. If we are about to do our quiet times, let us sing a section of Psalm 119. If we are walking in nature let us sing Psalm 8 or 19. If we are considering Christ’s work on the cross let us sing Psalm 16 or 22. If we are rejoicing at the downfall of our enemies let us sing Exodus 15 or Psalm 7 or Revelation 11:17-18. If we have sinned let us sing Psalm 6 or 51. When we do this we are not just singing, but we are singing God’s Word. And His Word is sharper than any two edged sword, mighty to save, comforting for our souls, and strong to tear down the fortresses of Satan.

Finally, as we sing the songs of Scripture we will find a truly majestic and holy God who is also our Father. One of the perpetual problems in the Christian faith, a problem expressed in our songs, is that Christians tend to see God as either very far off or very near. The first group views God as unknowable. He becomes so holy that we can barely know him. The second group makes God in our image. He becomes too knowable, like a buddy on our back porch. The songs in Scripture balance out these themes. First, God is certainly holy. Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4:8 have the angels singing “Holy, Holy, Holy.” God is not our buddy who comes along to have chats with us as we meet with Him in prayer. He is a man of war. (Exodus 15) But God is also our Shepherd (Psalm 23), who remembers our frame, (Psalm 103:14) and is near to the broken hearted. (Psalm 34:18) As we learn the Psalms and other Scripture songs we get a balanced picture of God’s character, which can help us from sinking into error.<>цена продвинуть

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On August 21, 2013 By In Worship

Was Ezra’s sermon the essence of the worship service?

Symbolism of Bread SteveMacias.comI very much appreciated Albert Mohler’s defense of preaching over against “drama” and other… stuff passing itself as worship.

But I would have liked Mohler to define the music problem more clearly: churches are moving from congregational singing to passive congregational sitting in the face of professional singing. The Reformers did a great deal to promote (virtually re-invent) congregational singing. The debate over exclusive Psalmody only makes sense as a consequence of this strong push earlier in history. Mohler is plainly (and rightly!) concerned with the loss of this Biblical heritage:

In terms of musical style, the more traditional churches feature large choirs—often with orchestras—and may even sing the established hymns of the faith. Choral contributions are often massive in scale and professional in quality. In any event, music fills the space and drives the energy of the worship service. Intense planning, financial investment, and priority of preparation are focused on the musical dimensions of worship. Professional staff and an army of volunteers spend much of the week in rehearsals and practice sessions.

At the same time, I’m not sure Mohler grasps the real problem in all this. It is not just that congregations divide over style, it is that they were never supposed to be relegated to the role of art critics to begin with. They are supposed to all be singing to God. God is the audience; they are the choir.

I also don’t think Mohler is helping himself to portray the Reformer’s work on worship as mainly the recovery of expository Biblical preaching. (He makes some concessive statements about Luther and music that, frankly, we would do well to use as a basis for seminary reform). As I said, they spent time and energy reforming worship by demanding and encouraging congregational singing. Most of them used structured liturgies as well.

This brings me to Mohler’s thesis and his Biblical proof:

Expository preaching is central, irreducible, and nonnegotiable to the Bible’s mission of authentic worship that pleases God. John Stott’s simple declaration states the issue boldly: “Preaching is indispensable to Christianity.” More specifically, preaching is indispensable to Christian worship—and not only indispensable, but central.

The centrality of preaching is the theme of both testaments of Scripture. In Nehemiah 8 we find the people demanding that Ezra the scribe bring the book of the law to the assembly. Ezra and his colleagues stand on a raised platform and read from the book. When he opens the book to read, the assembly rises to its feet in honor of the word of God and respond, “Amen, Amen!”

This is a fascinating argument from a passage about the recovery of the Feast of Booths. The preaching is preparation for a holy feast day:

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. (Nehemiah 8:9-12, ESV)

Pretty amazing. The people were rebuked for weeping over their guilt and told to go enjoy food and share it with others. I definitely agree this is an excellent passage to use to reform and correct our worship. But I don’t see anything  like what Mohler argues from it. Rather than the exposition of the Word as essence of worship, we see word and sacramental meal go together.

Remember, when Adam and Eve sinned they were banished from God’s special food. Later, however, when God re-built the garden, as it were, as the Tabernacle, eating near God’s sanctuary became possible once again.

Thus, we find directions on tithing:

“You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you. (Deuteronomy 14:22-27, ESV)

Again, read these descriptions of worship and ask yourself how much expository preaching is made the essence of worship:

“You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

“You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. For seven days you shall keep the feast to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you. (Deuteronomy 16:9-17, ESV)

For these and many other reasons, both from the Bible and also from the Reformers, I predict that, until Mohler calls for the re-discovery of the Reformation campaign for weekly communion, so that Biblical sermon and Lord’s Supper are the regular and expected practices at the center of Evangelical worship, people aren’t going to find his Biblical or historical arguments all that compelling.<>разработка и поддержка ов киевстоимость рекламной акции

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On August 20, 2013 By In Worship

Preparing for the Lord’s Day

CathedralWorship is the grand event in the life of a Christian. Or at least it should be. Too often worship does not feel very grand. There are many reasons for this. However, one reason is our failure to prepare for worship. The Israelites were expected to be prepared for worship. We should prepare as well.  God does not want us to enter his presence with distracted minds, weary bodies, and cold hearts. He wants us to enter his house focused, rested, and with zeal. Our aim should be to bring him our best every Lord’s Day. (See Exodus 19:10-11, Malachi 1:7-8 I Peter 1:13-16) Here are some suggestions to help you prepare for the Lord’s Service.

 Preparation During the Week

  1. Make sure you are doing family worship and/or personal devotions. In worship we sit underneath God’s Word, sing, and pray.  If your week does not have these things in them then worship will seem foreign. God’s Word will seem like a strange tongue to you. The prayers in worship will bore you instead of excite you. It will be hard.  To come into God’s house prepared you must spend time in the Word, prayer, and song throughout the week.
  2. Spend time during the week with members of your local church.  It is good to spend time with Christians from other churches. However, the priority should be on those from your local body. These are the ones you will worship with on Sunday. These are the ones who will sit under the word with you and pray with you.  These are the ones you will visit with following the service.  When you meet with them during the week, discuss the things of God. What are they learning from the Scriptures?  What do they remember about last week’s sermon?  What are they struggling with? Pray with them before you part ways. Then the bonds of Christian love will be strong when you meet before the Lord on Sunday.
  3. Confess your sins during the week.  One of the greatest hindrances to Spirit filled worship is the failure to confess our sins.   We must regularly bring our sins before the Lord pleading the shed blood of Christ.  We must also confess our sins to each other. Do not enter God’s house with broken relationships. If you have sinned against someone, go to your brother and get forgiveness.
  4. Work hard, so you will be ready for a day of rest. Remember we are to labor six days, not five. That doesn’t mean you have to work at your job six days. But it does mean Saturdays are not a day off.

Preparation on Saturday

Preparing for Sunday is a key ingredient to coming into God’s house in the right frame of mind. Here are some practical things you can do on Saturday to get ready for Sunday.

  1. Get anything you need for church ready. This would include getting out church clothes, filling diaper bags, preparing food for a potluck, getting gas for the car, having your Bible out, etc.  Nothing dampens the drive to church like someone being mad because they couldn’t find the right pair of shoes. Try to make Sunday smooth by thinking ahead.
  2. If possible, plan and prepare for the Sunday meals on Saturday. For Sunday breakfast we do either cold cereal or a hot breakfast (baked oatmeal) that can be prepared on Saturday night. For lunch on Sunday, plan a meal that you can prepare ahead of time. The point is to be free on Sunday to worship, fellowship, and rest. Husbands you should help your wife do some extra cooking on Saturday so she can rest on Sunday.
  3. Read over the sermon passage for the next day and pray for the worship service.  You will get more out of worship if you have thought about it prior to entering the sanctuary.
  4. Get to bed at a decent hour.  Four hours of sleep will not prepare you to feast on God’s Word.

Preparation on Sunday

  1. Get up at a decent hour. If you have an hour to get ready for worship you will probably not be prepared.
  2. Read some Scripture, sing, and pray before coming to church. Our family sings as we drive to worship. Here are some specific things you can pray for.  I am sure you can think of more.
  • Pray for your pastor.
  • Pray for the hearts of the congregation to be stirred to hear God’s Word and sing His praises.
  • Pray for the Spirit to be working.
  • Pray that God would bring new people into the church.
  • Give thanks to God for cleansing your through Jesus so you can enter into his presence.
  1. Eat a good breakfast. Hunger is not a virtue during the sermon.
  2. Arrive early so you can greet the saints and settle your body and soul before the service begins. Coming in right when the service starts or late will most make your heart anxious.
  3. Use the restroom prior to worship.

What to do if I have had a bad week?

All of us, no matter how well we have prepared, can have a bad week or a bad Sunday morning. What do you do when the train jumps the tracks?

  1. First, ask yourself if this is a sin problem. Did you prepare as you ought to have? Were you lazy throughout the week and it caught up with you? Did you fail to discipline the children Monday through Saturday, but then tried to get them in line on Sunday morning? Did you stay up until 1 am Saturday night watching movies? It is a sin to be lazy in our preparation to enter God’s house. If you have been lazy, repent, turn to Christ and trust in him to forgive your sins. Then enter God’s house knowing that you are forgiven.  After worship, implement practical ways to be more diligent in your preparation.
  2. However, perhaps the week went awry, not from sin, but because of God’s Providence. God is not obligated to honor our preparations. You may have prepared like a Boy Scout, but God decided he had something else. Maybe a child was sick all night Saturday and you got no sleep. Or a pipe busted or a car broke down. Or a friend needed help late Saturday night. These things happen. When God thwarts your preparations it is because he wants to teach you to depend upon him. When this happens maintain your joy, compensate where you can (have frozen pizzas on hand for Sunday lunch), and enter God’s house knowing that he is in control. Trust that he is good and brought this into your life because he loves you.  Then ask what he wants you to learn from this.

Church 1

Looking Back

One final note. When Sunday is over, evaluate how it went.  What could you change to come in more prepared? Husbands are you helping out as much as you can to get your family ready in body and soul?  Wives, did you decide your work week ended on Friday when your husband got off? Children, did you help mom and Dad enter God’s house with joy? Singles, did you spend Saturday night selfishly or looking with gladness to ascending to the throne of God? Did you respond to unexpected challenges and obstacles with grace and trust in God?  Did you prepare for the Lord’s Day with joy? Or were you a grim taskmaster as you got ready?

It is our great privilege to come before God each Sunday with his people. We cannot expect him to bless sloppiness. Nor can we expect him to be glorified if we are lazy in our preparation. We are coming before the King of Kings.  Let us prepare with discipline and zeal so we can enter God’s house saying, “I was glad to hear them saying, ‘to the Lord’s house let us go.'” (Psalm 122:1)<>продвижение юридических услуг

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