“I grew up in evangelical circles and knew the public prayer ropes. I could pray readily in public settings, particularly in church, and did so in accordance with the accepted canons for many years. When I finally began to write my prayers out before the service, I noticed something funny. I had stopped repeating myself. …
Keep It Short
“For example, the Bible requires that public prayer be kept as brief as possible, given the duties and needs we have in prayer. At first glance, this seems counterintuitive, but it only seems this way because our carnal flesh is very religious. The Bible says that God is in heaven, and that we are on …
Roses and Dew
“Since the death of the apostles all preaching has been uninspired preaching. But God, in His inspired Word, commands uninspired men to teach His Word. Lack of inspiration means that error can creep in, and looking around at the modern Church, we see that a great deal has. Because of the possibility of erroneous preaching, …
Psalms as Musical Ballast
“Without a restoration of the psalms to an honored place in worship, our musical worship of the Lord will continue to have the gravitas of a glad bag full of styrofoam packing peanuts” (Mother Kirk, p. 138).
Decorations or Strategy?
“Too often we act as though our differences over liturgy were simply differences over decoration, instead of differences over effective strategy in the midst of a fearful war. There should be no disagreement over whether the warfare of an army should be coordinated or not” (Mother Kirk, p. 137).
Galloping Legalism
“We should therefore see that there are two types of order. When a formal church is unhealthy, it is because their arrangement is the order of china figurines on a shelf. When a formal church is obedient and healthy it is because their arrangement is that of well-disciplined troops preparing themselves for battle. An opposing …
Regimented, In Other Words
“In 1 Corinthians 14:40, Paul requires, among other things, that everything be done according to taxis, according to order. He is not just discouraging chandalier-swinging, he is requiring something else, of a different kind, in its place. The word means ‘arrangement; order; a fixed succession observing also a fixed time; orderly array [in a military …
Orthodusty
“The one thing needful, as C.S. Lewis once argued, is represented by a Middle English word solempne, which expresses something which is desperately needed in our worship. On either side of this solempne, we have this error or that one. Either we are right out there on the cutting edge with worship teams, a thumpin’ …
The Extent of the Damage
“But to many Americans this sounds like a drag. We are a breezy lot; we like to go casual. Whether we are flipping burgers in the back yard or approaching the throne of the Almighty, we want to wear shorts and flipflops. The problem is nearly universal; the only thing that varies from church to …
Telos and Propriety
“Superior music is inferior in some settings. Inferior music is inferior in some settings. Music that is poorly done within the constraints of each genre is bad music and shouldn’t be tolerated anywhere. Thus, we have good and bad superior music and good and bad inferior music. And surrounding all such distinctions we have the …