If we are to recognize the ultimate person on our own Emmaus Road we need a heightened awareness. We need to have a sense of expectancy day by day that Jesus will reveal Himself to us. Expect the unexpected. Psychologists are telling us now that we don't believe what...
Seeing our ordinary lives from God’s point of view changes how life looks and feels. Following Jesus radically shifts the priorities that govern us. We are called upon to measure our lives, not by what we have gained but by what we have given. A radical change. The...
Healing prayer is part of the normal Christian life. It should not be elevated above any other ministry in the community of faith, nor should it be undervalued; rather it should be kept in proper balance. It is simply a normal aspect of what it means to live under the...
It amazes me how casually I can sing songs of deep, almost heroic commitment. It’s as if I think, “As long as I’m singing, the words I say don’t really matter. God knows it’s just a song.” While my mind wanders I promise to bow before the Lord, to proclaim His name to...
I am convinced that congregations learn more theology (good and bad) from the songs they sing than from the sermons they hear. Many sermons are doctrinally sound and contain a fair amount of biblical information, but they lack that necessary emotional content that...
The anthropological point that is of significance for theology is that singing clearly demonstrates worship—and therefore the divine kingdom and human salvation—to be an affair of the whole person, mind, heart, voice, body.
Many American churchgoers seem to expect to use the MIND in worship, but only during the sermon. It’s at that point that typical pew-occupiers open their textbook (the Bible), get their pencils ready (to take notes), and put their brains in gear. You can almost sense...
Worship often includes words and actions, but it goes beyond them to the FOCUS of the mind and heart. Worship is the God-centered focus and response of the inner man; it is being preoccupied with God. So no matter what you are saying or singing or doing at any moment,...
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.