To call for two styles and to find impetus for the wintry sort of search demands boldness. It receives so little attention that anyone who defends it may well express the old reformers' anxiety: Am I alone right, and is the whole church wrong? Why in our era does the...
Is your preferred style of corporate worship quiet and contemplative? Loud and raucous? Centered on preaching? Centered on communion? Prayer focused? Service focused? Other? Wonderful. Don't let anyone shame you for how God made you to worship Jesus through the...
I have no doubt that many of the people who press for particular styles of music in worship are motivated by a desire to help us be more culturally relevant in the liturgical life of the church. They believe our musical expressions in worship needs to sound more like...
Which style of music pleases God the most? This basic question has generated innumerable different answers from sincere Christians. In the first 800 years after Christ, most worship music was simply unison melody. One day someone added a second part, and harmony...
God is not Western; God is not Eastern; God is not exclusively the God of classical culture or primitive culture; God is the Lord of the plethora, the God of the diverse, the redeemer of the plural. Likewise, God calls for response in different languages, dialects,...
Be careful that your people do not become so accustomed to getting a “praise high” when they come to church that a service seems empty if they do not experience it. Many today hop from group to group, from church to church, looking for higher highs. The tragedy is...
A wise friend had told me that when his heart is unable to worship in a given moment or situation, for whatever reason, he looks around the congregation to find a person most engaged in worship and begins to pray, “Lord, let that person’s worship be mine.” At times...
Worship that is shaped by a consumerist mentality becomes dependent on exit polls to see if its people will continue to want its product. In a “feel-good” culture, people want less emphasis on sin and sacrifice and more on blessing and abundance. Failure to deliver...
There are three ingredients that must be present in making healthy changes. First, you have to love the people, genuinely be on their side. Second, what you propose has to make sense. Something totally “off the wall” and foreign to a given tradition is not likely to...