“God teaches us that public worship is greatly to be preferred over private spiritual exercises. ‘The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacon. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God’ (Ps. 87:2-3)” (A Primer on Worship and Reformation, p. 34).
Taking Another Swing
“Jesus promised us that the gates of Hades would not prevail against the Church. It is not often noted that the gates of Hades are not an offensive weapon. Hades is being besieged by the Church; it is not the other way around. We need to learn to see that biblical worship of God is …
The Battering Ram of Worship
“As we gather in the presence of the living God on the Lord’s Day, He is pleased to use our right worship of Him as a battering ram to bring down all the citadels of unbelief in our communities. Just as the walls of Jericho fell before the worship and service of God, so unbelievers …
Narrow the Point
“In a fight a man needs a large heart and a narrow sword. We have jumbled everything, and now have narrow hearts, and our swords are clumsily made from two by fours. We need to recover — soon — the ideal of the Puritan cavalier” (A Primer on Worship and Reformation, p. 23).
I Insist
“Once the Hasmonean family became established rulers in Israel, a similar thing happened to them that happens to many rulers. About a century later, two brothers from this family got into a dispute over who should be on the throne, and it was not an example of, ‘No, really, you should have it'” (5 Cities, …
Losing What You Idolize
“We always lose the very thing we idolize. This is why the besetting sin of doctrinalists is that of irrationalism. Read through the transcripts of church trials from staunchly doctrinal churches, and you find yourself at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. But spend any time at all with ‘all you need is love’ Christians, and …
Just Like They Said
“To this kind of super-spirituality, we should respond the same way that Luther did to his enthusiast opponents. He did not care if they had swallowed the Holy Ghost, feathers and all” (A Primer on Worship and Reformation, p. 19).
When Submission is Visible
“If a husband were to ask his wife to put on her best red dress so that they could go out to a fancy restaurant, she would not say, ‘Honey . . . I submit.’ The place where submission is tested is always at the point of significant disagreement. When we think we have only …
Sometimes God Does Give Do Overs
“When the book of Esther opens, Haman and Mordecai were already looking coldly at each other across the saloon, right hands twitching just above their holsters. Haman was an Agagite, a descendant of the Canaanite Agag, the king of the Amalekites, the king whom Samuel executed when Saul failed to. And Mordecai was a descendant …
Both Bad Moves
“As the leaven worked its way through the Christendom, religious forms of this man-centered mentality began to pervade the Church. In the ‘liberal’ sections of the Church, it took the form of exalting the intellect of man over the Scriptures. In the ‘conservative’ sections of the Church, it took the form of exalting personal conversion …