“‘Wherefore we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire’ (Heb. 12:28-29). Let those words, reverence and godly fear, roll around in the mind and heart while you sing through some inane song, …
Music Heard Down the Driveway
“When Saul was in a blue funk, David’s music would soothe him (1 Sam. 16:14-17). When the musicians of the Temple came to prophesy, they did it with musical instruments (1 Chr. 25:1). When certain children wanted a jig, they played a pipe (Matt. 11:17). When the prodigal son returned home, the residents of that …
Propriety
“Rejection of a particular kind of music for worship is not the same thing as a rejection of that kind of music. I like jazz, I like rock and roll, some of it, I like classical, I like the blues, and I love the psalms. Now give this hash of musical interests and appreciations, you …
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The Born-Again Lobotomized
“The evangelical Church at large has opted for the superficial in worship. Devotees whoop and holler their way through trite upbeat songs; sometimes the songs are even blasphemous. At a conference, I once saw grown Christians jumping up and down, lustily singing away, with hand motions, splish-splashing in the blood of Christ. And when the …
There Had to be an Explanation
“Whenever a culture’s goal becomes entertainment, a law of degeneration immediately sets in. In the field of economics, Gresham’s Law states that bad money drives out good. In the same way, bad entertainment displaces that which is not quite as bad. In a sinful world, poor comedians will go for the easy laugh with dirty …
Worship as Political Relevance
“Christians often debate whether or not they should throw themselves into the political realm. Some say we should, because Christians should be involved in saving our culture. Some say we shouldn’t, because our culture is soon to be perpendicular to the surface and headed for Davy Jones. We should consequently continue to focus on our …
Worship is the Workshop of the New World
“A revival of formal worship filled with doctrine, laughter, glory, and light would be the first step to a remarkable transformation of the nation” (Mother Kirk, p. 127).
The Real Problem
“When we are confronted with worship services conducted by Kuba the Clown, and we marvel at the flag drill team over by the baptistry, we are tempted to attack the weirdness, instead of the doctrinal confusion which preceded it and produced it. That preceding foolishness is always an abandonment, diminution, or alteration of the gospel …
Some Grim Moses
“Far too many contemporary Christians are gathered around the foot of our postmodern golden calf, not because they want to worship the thing, but just because they like to dance — they like the driving backbeat. Questioned by some grim Moses on their presence there, they say, ‘Why? What’s wrong with dancing/'” (Mother Kirk, p. …
Overspecification
“But the principle of intelligible worship does not require separate services for valley girls or bureaucrats or any other subgroup with its own jargon. Paul was maintaining that services for Americans should not be held in Chinese, not that surfers should get their own church” (Mother Kirk, p. 124).