Worship is both the heart and heartache of contemporary religious life. In many churches, worship is an exciting, meaningful and inspirational moment. In many churches of today, however, worship is a battleground for its membership, an opportunity for fracturing and...
Years ago, I was in England at a large Christian conference. During one seminar, we were led in corporate worship by a guitarist whom I thought was average in every respect. As he finished what I would describe as a sorry time of worship in song, the elderly gentleman...
In the modern evangelical church, singing, praying, giving, and other congregational acts of worship are regarded at times as preamble to the sermon. Music, in particular, appears separate from elements of worship that seem to be more spiritual, such as praying and...
The dedicated will must bit by bit take up, transform, and unify the dedicated body and mind, welding them into a single instrument devoted to the purposes of God.
God calls for worship that involves our whole being. The body, mind, spirit, and emotions should all be laid on the altar of worship. Often we have forgotten that worship should include the body as well as the mind and spirit.
Only one thing really matters at a wedding: two people getting married. How sad it would be for someone to sit in wedding after wedding, critiquing the form, the style, and the appearance of the couples, yet never rejoicing in, never celebrating the mystery of a man...
An emphasis on what we “get out” of a worship service—above all, that we feel good about ourselves—displaces the theocentric praise of God with anthropocentric utilitarianism. Since the worship of God is an end in itself, “making worship useful” destroys it, because...
The age of the coming Kingdom of God is the age of love, which requires us to accept each other unconditionally. Such love, which does not answer back and never says no, ensnares evil in the world (Matthew 5:39-40; Luke 6:29). It smashes the vicious circle of violence...
According to the Bible, our God is both male an female, and neither male nor female. The language of prayer, liturgy, sermon, and hymnody had best reflect that fact.
Worship should be one avenue for God’s Spirit to generate a new unity and communion. Blending or weaving varied music and rites is preferred to occasional services designed for one pattern. Don’t just have spirituals on race relations Sunday or when you have an...