Disintegration: Worshipping the True God in the Wrong Way
In the preamble to the Commandments God asserts, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2). The relationship that God has established with us, freeing us from bondage, is the basis from which we can now serve him and serve others. Our law-keeping flows out of this new gracious, familial relationship that God has initiated. Obedience to the covenant occurs after we are made members of the covenant; obedience, in other words, is the result of being joined in union with Christ; This means that our obedience neither initiates nor maintains that relationship, since Christ's work is sufficient for us both now and forever. We obey because we are saved, not saved because we obey.
I have to emphasize these points because we need constant reminding of them lest we invert the order of the gospel. Today we are going to focus in on the third commandment which teaches us that we are not to misuse the name of our God. We select this commandment because in our individualistic age it is easy to forget that God is sovereign and, therefore, we cannot worship God anyway we choose. Moses read the third commandment as follows:
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
Continue reading "Disintegration: Worshipping the True God in the Wrong Way" »
The Minister's Idols
"I submit, however, that buildings, bodies, and budgets often eclipse Word, sacrament, and discipline because this is often how congregations and ministers define themselves. It is hard to say who started it, whether ministers value those things because congregations do, because those are the sorts of things for which they are rewarded by the congregation or vice-versa. Ultimately it does not matter why we do it. What matters is that we do it. These are the status symbols that we covet: a growing budget, increasing attendance, and a bigger building. These are the idols that shape the program-driven church. These are the gods that drive the liturgy of the church-growth movement. These gods offer a covenant of works: do “this and prosper.” They promise tangible rewards to those who serve them faithfully. ." - R. Scott Clark
A Sampling of Substantive Lyrics
If most of you out there have a background anything like my own, you probably associate the rap/hip-hop scene with base, perverted lyrics and ungodliness in excess. That’s certainly the impression I had of rappers, at any rate – but recently I was blown away by the deep, Reformed theology in the lyrics of certain Christian rappers, whose projects can be found here. Just in case anyone is disbelieving or curious, I took the liberty to type out the lyrics to one of these songs I recently discovered. The artist is a brother named Shai Linne, and the song is called “Justified,” from Shai’s debut album, The Solus Christus Project. It’s basically a brief exposition of Romans, chapters one through three. The rest of the album has much more of the same.
“Old Testament Gospel” (by William Cowper)
I was reading through some of Cowper’s Olney Hymns today, and I was so struck by this one in particular, that I decided to post it for everyone else to enjoy as well. Cowper’s hymns really are phenomenal. They’re also public domain. Anyone interested may find them all online here
Continue reading "“Old Testament Gospel” (by William Cowper)" »
The Love of Christ Is Rich and Free
1. The love of Christ is rich and free;
Fixed on His own eternally;
Nor earth, nor hell, can it remove;
Long as He lives, His own He’ll love.
2. His loving heart engaged to be
Their everlasting Surety;
’Twas love that took their cause in hand,
And love maintains it to the end.
Chorus: Love cannot from its post withdraw;
Nor death, nor hell, nor sin, nor law,
Can turn the Surety’s heart away;
He’ll love His own to endless day.
3. Love has redeemed His sheep with blood;
And love will bring them safe to God;
Love calls them all from death to life;
And love will finish all their strife.
4. He loves through every changing scene,
Nor aught from Him can Zion wean;
Not all the wanderings of her heart
Can make His love for her depart.
(Repeat chorus)
5. At death, beyond the grave, He’ll love;
In endless bliss, His own shall prove
The blazing glory of that love
Which never could from them remove.
Tag: Which never could from them remove.
William Gadsby
Music: Sandra McCracken
Where to Find out More
Sandra McCracken - The Builder And The Architect
For All The Saints: Indelible Grace III
Music Recommendation
I have noticed a number of blogs talk about "Jesus or my Girlfriend" praise and worship songs/hymns. They are refering to the sad fact that many of the lyrics in the songs we sing could equally be sung to Jesus or to our girlfriend.
Quite rightly, these blog articles lament the fact that much if not all theological content is missing in these new songs. The good news is that there are exceptions in our day. I'd like to recommend a new CD from England by Keith and Kristyn Getty that features songs based on the Apostles Creed.
Here are the lyrics for two of the songs:
OH TO SEE THE DAWN
Oh to see the dawn
Of the darkest day
Christ on the road to Calvary
Tried by sinful men
Torn and beaten then
Nailed to a cross of wood
This the power of the cross
Christ became sin for us
Took the blame, bore the wrath
We stand forgiven at the cross
PCA General Assembly Overture on FV, NPP Theology Adopted
The following may be of great interest to any persons in the PCA or anyone following the Federal Vision, Auburn Avenue controversy.
At the recent PCA General Assembly an overture concerning Federal Vision, New Perspective on Paul, Shepherdism and Auburn Avenue Theology was raised. Some of these viewpoints have brought confusion on theological definitions and concepts that appear to strike at the heart of the gospel and the vitals of religion...
Therefore, be it resolved that the Rocky Mountain Presbytery overtures the 34th PCA General Assembly to erect an ad interim committee (RAO 8-1) to study the above named viewpoints and their formulations, and other similar viewpoints which are deemed by the committee to pertain to the above named viewpoints. Further, to determine whether these viewpoints and formulations are in conformity with the system of doctrine taught in the Westminster Standards, whether they are hostile to or strike at the vitals of religion, and to present a declaration or statement regarding the issues raised by these viewpoints in light of our Confessional Standards.
This Overture was brought to the committee. Bills and Overtures committee issued a majority report recommending we not form the study committee. There was a minority report in place of the B&O committee recommending we do form the study committee. The minority report prevailed in the assembly, so there will be a report at the next General Assembly on this matter. The GA voted on it and decided that a commission be established. It may take quite a white before there are any results. in other words ... this overture THAT A COMMISSION BE ESTABLISHED was adopted.
Read the entire document which includes much more...
PCA General Assembly to appoint formation of a study committee to study the matter and report back at a future General Assembly." OVERTURE 2 from Rocky Mountain Presbytery
This is another related overture: Declare Auburn Avenue Session Heterodox; Appoint Commission to Discipline Auburn Avenue Session; Appoint Commission to Discipline TE Steve Wilkins" (pdf)
Here is an official PCA GA page with a listing of overtures for this assembly listed: It is #2
We Are Not Peddlers of God's Word
"Pelagianism is the natural heresy of zealous Christians who are not interested in theology." - J.I. Packer, "'Keswick' and the Reformed Doctrine of Sanctification."
Churches which preserve their cognitive identity and distinction from the culture will flourish: those who lose them in the interests of seeking success will disappear.
In our churches we may have made a deal with postmodern consumers but the hard reality is that Christianity cannot be bought. Purchase, in the world of consumption, leads to ownership but in the Church this cannot happen. It is never God who is owned. It is we who are owned in Christ. Christianity is not up for sale. Its price has already been fixed and that price is the complete and ongoing surrender to Christ of those who embrace him by faith. It can only be had on his own terms. It can only be had as a whole. It refuses to offer only selections of its teachings. Furthermore, the Church is not its retailing outlet. Its preachers are not its peddlers and those who are Christian are not its consumers. It cannot legitimately be had as a bargain though the marketplace is full of bargainhunters.
For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's Word..." II Cor 2:17
No, let us think instead of the Church as its voice of proclamation, not its sales agent, its practitioner, not its marketing firm. And in that proclamation there is inevitable cultural confrontation. More precisely, there is the confrontation between Christ, in and through the biblical Word, and the rebellion of the human heart. This is confrontation of those whose face is that of a particular culture but whose heart is that of the fallen world. We cannot forget that.
David F. Wells, Above All Earthly Pow'rs: Christ in a Postmodern World, pg. 308-309
Brethren, We Have Met to Worship
Do we ask for 'holy manna' from above when we preach? Michael Ross says that asking for holy manna from above seems foreign to a generation of preachers reared in an age of church growth methodology and pragmatic church programming. {related to this] William moore put George Atkins words to music in 1825:
Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God; Will you pray with all your power, while we try to preach the Word? All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down; Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.Brethren, see poor sinners round you slumbering on the brink of woe;
Death is coming, hell is moving, can you bear to let them go?
See our fathers and our mothers, and our children sinking down;
Brethren, pray and holy manna will be showered all around.Sisters, will you join and help us? Moses’ sister aided him;
Will you help the trembling mourners who are struggling hard with sin?
Tell them all about the Savior, tell them that He will be found;
Sisters, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.Is there a trembling jailer, seeking grace, and filled with tears?
Is there here a weeping Mary, pouring forth a flood of tears?
Brethren, join your cries to help them; sisters, let your prayers abound;
Pray, Oh pray that holy manna may be scattered all around.Let us love our God supremely, let us love each other, too;
Let us love and pray for sinners, till our God makes all things new.
Then He’ll call us home to Heaven, at His table we’ll sit down;
Christ will gird Himself and serve us with sweet manna all around.
This is one of America's revival hymns. For "it was authored during the middle years of America's Second Great Awakening ... God will work through a human agency to bring man to salvation in Christ and to renew a slumbering sin-sick Church...God works through His ordinary means of grace with extraordinary power when these normal means of grace are baptized with the unction of the Holy Spirit. Worship, preaching, prayer and fellowship can be empowered by God the Spirit so that sinners are converted, the lethargic are enlivened in soul and the Church is revived.
Iain Murray said,
On the Use of the Arts in Worship
The ultimate end of the church, both in the sense of destiny and of purpose, may be summed up as worship. We have been constituted as the peculiar people of God simply so that we might “show forth the praises of him who has called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (I Peter 2:9). This is, in the subjective sense of what salvation intends to accomplish within those who are saved, the one overarching purpose for the church. And this purpose will find its ultimate tangible expression at the conclusion of history, when a multitude from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation lift up their voices in unity to proclaim, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” Hence, the unadulterated expression of perfect Christian unity is necessary for the final realization of the Church’s great goal: without perfect unity, we could not come to a full apprehension of our doxological purpose in the eschaton; and to the extent that we fail to display unity as the Church in the present age, we also fail to “show forth the praises” of God in the manner that the church was designed to do. That this is not an overstatement of the absolute necessity of Christian unity both for the Church’s purpose of showing God’s praises, and for the enjoyment of her destiny in glory, may be seen by two of the statements Christ made during his last supper with the disciples, as recorded in John’s gospel. The first of these implies that, when Christian unity is not observed, the “showing forth” of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus (and so a Christian and a member of God’s Church), becomes impossible: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another” (John 13:35). The second demonstrates that absolute Christian unity is a vital element for the Church in glory – without it, the goal and mission of the Church must fail, short of her attaining to her ultimate end of seeing and enjoying the glory of Christ where he is with the Father:
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that you have sent me. And the glory which you gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them, as you have loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you loved me before the foundation of the world (John 17:20-24).
From the outset, then, we may assure ourselves that our striving for authentic worship must be marked by a striving for equally authentic Church unity. Neither goal will be met with perfectly until we arrive in glory; but until that time, a great part of our task as the Church of God must be the pursuit of just such a state of united, God-reflecting worship.
Some Reflections on Together for the Gospel by Bob Kauflin
Bob Kauflin, who led the Together for the Gospel conference in worship has written some brief but poigniant reflections concerning the event. From his blog at www.worshipmatters.com he writes:
...I thought the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, Kentucky was a whirlwind. Much to remember, much to celebrate, much to respond to. Who knows what kind of fruit will emerge from these three days?
One thing is certain. C.J. Mahaney, Lig Duncan, Al Mohler, and Mark Dever have not only instructed us on the unity the Gospel brings. They have demonstrated it. This conference brought men from very diverse backgrounds together to talk, worship God, learn, and grow. And it’s all because of the Gospel.
Music was one area in which the effect of the Gospel was obvious. There’s no question that music in the church is an explosive and divisive issue. In fact, early on in the conference planning, there was talk of having no music, to minimize distractions. Wisdom prevailed, however, and we obeyed God’s command to sing his praises (Ps. 47:6). Mark Dever sent me the original list of songs to choose from. I added a few, and then decided when we would sing them during the conference, with Mark's approval. We combined well known and not-so-well-known hymns with a few Sovereign Grace songs.
At the conference, God enabled us to transcend our stylistic preferences, lay down our understanding of what kind of music God really likes, and simply lift our hearts and voices to Him with jubilant, loud, passionate, Christ-exalting praise. It probably wasn’t exactly like anyone’s experience in their local setting. The music was a little toned down from what I “normally” do, as I usually play with a full band. For some, I’m sure extended clapping after a song was a new occurence, perhaps something they’ve been warned against. But the clapping wasn’t something I encouraged – it happened spontaneously. No one seemed to notice because our hearts and minds were focused on the One to Whom we were giving glory. The only Savior whose sacrificial death has atoned for all our transgressions and saved us from God’s just wrath. The perfect Son of God Who bore our sins so that we might be clothed in His righteousness.
The take away is this: when we concentrate on what really matters in our relationship with God – the unity He has given us with Himself and each other through the Gospel - peripheral issues fade into the background. Maybe that’s how it’s always supposed to be…
Continue reading "Some Reflections on Together for the Gospel by Bob Kauflin" »
What's A Worship Leader To Do? by Bob Kauflin
I feel this series of blog articles by Bob Kauflin at worshipmatters.com is just too good to miss. I would very much encourage everyone to read these short articles, perhaps especially pastors, so that they can then share them as points of discussion with those involved in the music ministry of their churches (something I have done at our church). These Cross Centered, Gospel Centered, God exalting articles will point all of our people in the right direction, I believe, and will eliminate a number of false concepts many people have in their minds regarding the nature of true worship. May God richly bless you as you seek to worship Him in spirit and in truth. - Pastor John Samson
What Does a Worship Leader Do? Pt. 1 (by Bob Kauflin)
Before I start this series, I wanted to give you some background. Eight years ago, after I had served as a pastor for twelve years, C.J. Mahaney invited me to assume the new role of “Director of Worship Development” for Sovereign Grace Ministries. One of my assignments was to study and train others in the practicals of biblical worship, particularly as it relates to music.
As I studied Scripture and read books like Engaging with God by David Peterson and Adoration and Action, ed. by D. A. Carson, I quickly realized that the Bible, especially the New Testament, didn’t give much space to my role as a worship leader. None, to be exact. The more I read, the more I felt I was reading myself out of a job.
There’s no question that the role of the worship leader has been exaggerated in recent decades. Some pastors give 1/3 to 1/2 of their meeting to singing, led by a musician who has little to no theological training. Gordon MacDonald comments, “For many young people choosing a church, worship leaders have become a more important factor than preachers. Mediocre preaching may be tolerated, but an inept worship leader can sink things fast.” (Gordon MacDonald, To Find a Worship Leader, Leadership Journal, Spring 2002) In addition, the rise of “worship artists” has intensified the often unhelpful connection between pop music culture and congregational worship.
Continue reading "What's A Worship Leader To Do? by Bob Kauflin" »