“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).
Paedobaptism and Porcupines
“The hermeneutic of requiring express warrant from Scripture for all elements of a worship service is essentially a baptistic approach. For example, because we have no express mention of infant baptism in the New Testament, infant baptism is prohibited. Presbyterian strict regulativists try to get away from this by allowing for express warrant through ‘good …
Not Tepid Water
“The point is to fill the day with godly celebration, rest, feasting. Sabbath keeping is the best wine, not tepid water. Observed the right way, the children in the home should grow up longing for the Lord’s Day to come. Remember that in obeying this commandment, we must not turn aside either to the right …
Circus Water
“As detailed word studies by teetotalers have shown, the abuses had gone so far that Corinthians believers were starting to act silly from drinking too much grape juice” (Mother Kirk, p. 109).
Cooking and Eating
“Of course we know that Word and sacrament go together. But how do they go together? In the minds of many believers, the two go together like ham and eggs, two disparate but complementary elements combining in a pleasing way. But perhaps they go together in another way entirely — one suggestion is that they …
Warring With Peace
“When we eat and drink at His table, with a servant’s heart, we are not attending a gloomy memorial, sitting in the dark, feeding on a dry cracker. We are engaged, by the mercy and grace of God, in the extension of Christ’s kingdom. We are conquering the world through sitting down in the peace …
Self-Suspension from the Supper
“If a man is coming to the Table with a bad attitude, then he should not hold back from partaking. Rather, he should come confessing the attitude. But what if he remembers his brother has something against him (Matt. 5:23)? The passage is talking about presenting a gift, and not about receiving this gift from …