Judging by the polls of modern Americans' beliefs and practices, there is a much greater diversity of opinion about salvation even among the adherents of evangelicalism and fundamentalism than is evident rom the confident, insistent voices of their leaders and...
The feeling of communion was already so intense that I did not go forward for the bread and wine. I let the body go forward for me, while I sat there in God's pleasure. Before Christ Church, I thought that worship was something people cooked up by themselves. At...
By simply gathering on the Lord's day, as Christians have done from the first days, by forming a genuine community not just in word but in deed, the assembly bucks the trend of society. In doing so we are allowing ourselves to be shaped by God, and thereby place...
Every act of worship should be understood as part of the Church's offering to God. "Any action that does not meet with that qualification does not deserve to be a part of a worship experience." [C. Weldon Gaddy, The Gift of Worship] All the music, from prelude to...
If we go to worship for entertainment, we ought to admit it's not much of a show. If we go for self-improvement, therapy could be more useful. If we go to feel better, breakfast in bed with the newspaper might be smarter. The only good reason to go to worship is to...
Naturally, when Christians come together they meet not God but each other. They were raised in twelve years or so of the school-type atmosphere, so they're used to assembling in a school-type manner... Maybe because of this, many Christians never worship. They spend...
The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of the pain, thanking God during the trials, trusting Him when we're tempted to lose hope, and loving Him when He seems so distant and far away. At my lowest, God is my hope. At my darkest, God is my light. At my...
Our entire being is fashioned as an instrument of praise. Just as a master violin maker designs an instrument to produce maximum aesthetic results, so God tailor-made our bodies, souls and spirits to work together in consonance to produce pleasing expressions of...
One other picture that will always be a part of my memory of that week is the way people all across the land crowded into their places of worship. ...My fear is that we are beginning to think and act like we are on our own again and we can do it alone. ...We need God...
The primary functions of music in worship are to facilitate the dialogue and to contribute to that dialogue. Though aesthetic delight, personal enjoyment, and opportunity for a performer to share a talent may be by-products of the use of music in worship, none of...