Final post

To sum up an entire semester's worth of reading and discussing about the philosophy of worship, the most important concept would have to be logocentricity or Word-centrality. (I just like using fancy, made-up Greek words that need to be italicized.) Christian worship must be characterized by preaching the Word, praying the Word, seeing the Word and singing the Word. The only thing that has the power to change hearts is the Word of God. Therefore our reliance on other means is but in vain. The God of the Bible is revealed in the preaching of the Word. Therefore our hearts must be examined and prepared before attending to the Word. Our hearts are deceitful and wicked, escaping much examination. Therefore the Word must be brought to bear on it in testing. Affections wild, by sin defiled, are prone to go astray. But the Word provides such a range of expression, such a helpful focus!
Burrows' work is a treasure, Give Praise to God a mine, and Lewis' article a gem. Each to bathe in, delve in, and examine thoroughly, time and again.

Conclusion Post

This class has been so beneficial. The seriousness of Biblically-based and Doctrinally sound worship was most definitely portrayed and as Aaron and I pursue an occupation in worship leading, this is something we are serious about teaching those we work with and those we lead. Here are a few truths I learned by taking this class:

1) Doctrine and the Gospel must be central to our worship
2) Affections in worship are not wrong. However, in order to produce Biblical affections in worship, they must be based on sound doctrine.
3) One must prepare the heart and mind before coming to worship to put all worldiness aside and sanctify the name of God in worship.

Thanks for teaching us, Doc. I learn so much from you in and out of class, through your worship leading in chapel, and even through your relationship with Aaron. What a great class!

Last Blog

I don't really have any questions. However, I enjoyed reading about prayer in GW.

We are to prepare our hearts for prayer by
1)Keep all things clear between God and your soul (pg 271)
2) Understand our dependence on Him
3) Separate your heart from the world (pg 273)

what should we pray for?
1) the glory of God (273)
2)Our own good (275)
3) the good of others (276)

If true religious affections are produced only through the Spirit, and of course "the Spirit cannot be manipulated," then what is the role of the music? Can we "set the mood?" Can we implement variety within a series of songs to attempt to produce an emotional response? What then is the end of our service planning? Why do we practice crescendos and sudden pianos in our worship songs? Or is it right that there should be no guarantee of proper emotional response, without the work of the Spirit, who is beyond our control?

Emotions/Lord's Table

GPTG:
pg 355 - What do you think is a good length of time for a pastor to stay in a single ministry?

page 365 - "Jesus must always be central in our worship because He is always the object of our faith and the true inspiration of faith's genuine affections"

GW:
pg 251 - What does "renewing this covenant" mean? Is he saying it is a re-dedication, a remembrance or the act of once again receiving salvation?

pg 256 - I have never heard of the "seeing" aspect of breaking bread and pouring wine..is this really important?

Family in church

How are family devotions helpful to a family-oriented mindset in a church? Is this mindset needed, is it lacking in the church?

How can you encourage and help parents with organizing and leading family devotions?

blog 10

GPTG pg 312
How would you explain to someone the concept of God being a consuming fire?

Do you have any creative ideas that you do to worship privately?

GW:
How seriously are we to take "whosoever eats and drinks unworthily he is guilty of the body and blood of Christ...he eats and drinks his own damnation" (218)?

"The Weight of Glory" on line address

http://www.verber.com/mark/xian/weight-of-glory.pdf

sanctifying God in our worship

Bottom of page 136 - I wonder how much more God would be sanctified in our worship if we could honestly separate ourselves "from all things". Oh how powerful that would be!

Page 138  - "..when you find you cannot do it [worship God] according to what is required in any comfortable measure, let the shame and sorrow of heart for it abide upon you until the next time you come to worship God, and that will mightily help you."   Does this really help? What about the people who constantly fight living in guilt? This sounds kind of depressing.

Bottom of page 139-140 - Application of Nadab and Abihu...Is this a fair and biblical application?

Glory, Spirit, Justice

Now then, put all these attributes of God together, and there you have His glory, the infiniteness of His glory. The shine and luster of all the attributes together is God's glory. (p. 123)

The chapter discussed a list of God's attributes, as our worship must be "suitable to such a God as we are worshipping." The attributes are: Spirit, eternal, incomprehensible, unchangeable, living, omnipotent, omniscient, wise, holy, merciful, just, and faithful.

From the fact that God is a spirit, he concludes several things. First of all that "bodily worship," the outward physical act of worship, is of no intrinsic value. He also concludes that God is simple, "without composition," that "whatever is in God is God Himself." Our hearts therefore must be undivided, and our worship similarly simple.

From the fact that God is infinitely just (as he is wont to characterize all His attributes as infinite), JB refers back to his point that we must come to God through a Mediator. It "sanctifies His justice" that we see the infinite distance between God and ourselves.

Reflecting on who God is allows us to sanctify God as God, as the God He reveals Himself to be.

GPTG Oct. 3

Pg. 162: Is there a point at which it would be inappropriate to turn scripture into prayer?

163: It was interesting to read about the planning of prayer. "Not in order to read them, but in order to organize one's thoughts." Such valuable truth.

The following question would probably be answered when we simply make the distinction between private prayer and public prayer, but...
164: When speaking of planned prayer, the author is very adamant that it is as important to plan a prayer as it is to plan a sermon. So, is there a point at which one should pray about what to pray about? Also, where is the distinction between a completely unplanned prayer, a planned prayer, and a "scriptural free prayer" spoken of it the text?

167: "to deal with God." What is meant by the use of that phrase?

october3

GW:
Pg 111-113. There is so much emphasis on pouring forth our spirit and praying with our souls. This passionate soul-pouring sounds like there is so much feeling behind it. But yet there is so much emphasis placed on NOT using our feelings that this soul-pouring seems impossible. How are we to pour forth our spirit if we don't have the "feeling" to do so?

Pg 120 and 122. ..come with a merciful heart...you must bring a faithful heart...what happens when we don't bring those things? This makes it sound like you have to "have it all together" before you approach the Lord.

GPTG:
Pg 169. The preacher is supposed to do the Scripture reading. Where have you seen this modeled? I understand the author's point, but is it really Biblical?

GPTG:
As I consider the need to preach both expositionally and evangelistically, I see both the importance of this and the difficulty that could be encountered in finding the balance. While our text does a very good job explaining this (almost making it sound like an easy, natural thing), I feel that it is an area lacking in churches today. We see churches who have gone to the extreme of catering their service for the non-believing seeker, and those that may appear to be an exclusive club.

GW:
In the wise words of Seth Lewis, "The Puritans have a lot of things right, and we just...don't." I was discussing the portion of the text which came after point five, "Fifth, the duties of God's worship must be full of strength, for they are not suitable to God otherwise, because God is a God infinite in power and glory Himself." He speaks of three aspects of strength which we must attend to. The portion about a strength of intention was so very convicting. How often do I allow other things and thoughts to invade my worship, prayer, and time in the Word? 

blog4

Burroughs pg 91 - in those things where men are interested themselves, they will be very careful to have the best things.

Page 97 - the importance of staying focused during "duties"

Filial Fear, Strength of Affections, etc.

I was struck by JB's exhortation to put the fear of God in our worship. I was confused as he kept talking about it saying "not servile...but filial and reverential fear," but not defining it more than that. At the very end of this point, though, he defined it by it's opposite:

This fear and reverence is contrary to the slightness, vanity, the boldness and presumptuousness there is in the hearts of men and women when they are worshipping God. (p. 96)

 As he discussed the need for "strength of intentions," that is focusing on worship, I said to my soul, "My soul, this seems very hard." And then his point on "strength of affections" seemed to make the other parts more light and gladsome to bear. Yet he did not prescribe how this strength of affection should be roused. The temptation is to inflame our hearts with a hip guitar riff or a plaintive organ drone and not with the truth of the God revealed in Scripture.

Leading questions like "Are you scared of death?" or "Do you want happiness?" or "Would you like to know the meaning of your life?" are all well intentioned, and any of them may be used by God's Spirit to convict someone and lead to their conversion. But such questions can also be answered by a simple no....I do not care if my hearers are scared of death, wanting happiness, or searching for meaning in life; I know that they will die and stand before God to give an account of their lives. Furthermore, I know that they will fail in their attempt to justify themselves, and I know that God will therefore rightly condemn them to an eternal hell. (p. 134)

How many of the songs we use "lack the Biblical teaching stressed in Paul's words" versus songs that represent "the teaching office of the church?" (GPTG, 97)

As regards Burroughs' second case of conscience, I believe there is at least one occasion when one must refrain from a "holy duty" if he is not prepared. This is when receiving communion, as Paul specifically instructs in 1 Corinthians 11: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord" etc.. I can think of specific times when I've had to refrain from partaking in the Lord's Table, usually while I'm still on the platform providing music.

For all other occasions, however, I do think he makes a good point for making sure that you aren't leaving off a duty for the wrong reason. He warns, "consider that this is but a temptation" (71), and encourages with the words "though you cannot find your heart prepared as you desire, the very falling upon it will fit you for it" (74).

More about worship

Reading Give Praise to God is getting a little discouraging...statements like those on page 104 make today's churches seem hopeless in getting it right. How do we trust our leaders to get it right? Is there really any hope for church if everything Bible is being forgotten?

Worship rehearsals with carefully marked transitions and modulations are so very important in worship leading. Why does the author seem so against things like that? (108)

Gospel Worship:
Page 70. We are more concerned about not fulfilling our duty due to our lack of preparedness, then the actual sorrow that should be occurring for not actually being prepared. Wow.

Page 75. The greater you believe God to be, the more you will offer Him. What an incredible basis for our worship.

Burroughs and Preparation

This week I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Burroughs’s thoughts about preparing for worship. Please note that the page numbers are from the older edition of the text.  

Pg. 53: Burroughs explains the importance of drawing near to God. He quotes David in Ps. 73:28, “It is good for me to draw near to God.” Burroughs cites verse 27 as the reason why it is good to draw near, “For lo, they that are far from Thee shall perish.” When I first read this paragraph, I began to wonder if those he was speaking of were believers or unbelievers. However, I think I answered my own question when I read Burroughs’s statement:

There are some who seemed to be near to Thee heretofore, who were as the wife to the husband, but they are gone a-whoring from Thee. Base hypocrites, base apostates, they are gone a-whoring from Thee. Their hearts are carnal; they did not find that contentment and satisfaction in Thy worship as Thy saints do. Therefore, they are gone a-whoring from Thee; but it is good for me to draw near to Thee.

So often, my own heart is prone to wander, but may I always remember the beauty of the truth that it is good for me to draw near to God.

Pg. 57: When Burroughs mentions that God is coming, therefore we must prepare for worship, is he referring to God’s presence with us in worship, or is he making a reference to the second coming? Or Both?

Pg. 59: A beautiful, convicting truth I thought I’d share. Burroughs on preparing for worship:

“There must be preparation because our hearts are naturally, exceedingly unprepared for every good work. We are all naturally reprobate to every good work. The duties of God’s worship are high and spiritual and holy things, but by nature our hearts grovel in the dirt and we are carnal, sensual, drossy, dead, slight, sottish, and vain, altogether unfit to come into the presence of God. Oh, that we were but apprehensive and sensible of the unfitness of our hearts to come into God’s presence!

Honor and Preparation

JB does a great job revealing the "privilege" we have in drawing nigh to God. Do we realize the honor it is to be close to God?

Do we take time before worship to actually be ready to worship so that we don't "lose a great part of the time?"

Do we recognize and combat our hearts' natural unfitness to worship God as we prepare to worship?

What are five categories of things JB lists as "great hindrances of the worship of God?" (p. 55)

For September 12

GPTG:
How do we know that "public reading of Scripture" is to be a separate action from the reading of Scripture that occurs during the message?

What are your thoughts about churches who do communion every week?

What does "liturgical" mean? (69)

I think we mentioned that thinking this way was kind of stupid, but could following the regulative principle ever instill legalism in someone's heart?

GW:
Top of page 54, "They are the greatest things that concern you here in this world, for they are the homage that you tender up to the high God, and those things wherein God communicates Himself in His choice mercies."  What does this mean?

Duncan and God's Instructions for Worship

Duncan makes many memorable points in his explanation of God’s instructions for worship. One that made me think deeply was his explanation of the golden calf incident in Exodus 32-34. He explained that the overarching lesson found in this account is “that we cannot take the worship of God into our own hands” (p. 35). After recounting the story, he summarizes in this way:

The whole passage points [out] that how we worship is very important to God. Several application flow from this principle and its violation in the golden-calf event: (1) impatience with God’s timing is an enemy of faith; (2) we cannot choose our own mediator; (3) we cannot picture the true God as we wish or will; (4) we cannot worship the true God and something else; (5) we cannot worship the true God except in the way he commands….(p. 37)

He goes on to explain that we are often like the Israelites, taking the worship of God into our hands and thinking that we can improve on God’s plan for worship. However, this sort of attitude is so dangerous and, at best, can only end in a worship that is hollow. Oh, that we may carefully study the word of God and allow it to inform our worship rather than trying to do what we feel is best.

JE

What was significant about the account of the golden calf? Were they blatantly worshiping another god, or a man-made representation of the true God?

What were some points of emphasis from the story of the woman at the well?

(Regarding more the English language than the theology itself) What does Burroughs mean by "the acting of our graces upon God?" (p.34)

Burroughs pp. 1-11

Gospel Worship

Jeremiah Burroughs (1599-1646)

1. How would you describe the mood or atmosphere of the story found in Leviticus 10:1-3?

2. What is the reason for this mood or atmosphere?

3. Who are the four characters of the story?

4. How does Burroughs describe the youngest two of these four characters?

5. What did Moses speak to Aaron to comfort him?

6. What does it mean when God said, "I will be sanctified?"

7. How does God do this?

8. What was Aaron's response?

9. How does organize this book for us?

10. What is superstition?

Yes we can!

Hi guys! I'm blogging!

The Slow Death of Congregational Singing

http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/briefing/library/5175/

Course Syllabus

Foundation and Issues in Worship 2012 [MU404]
Baptist Bible College, Dr. David Harris, D.M.A.
Monday/Wednesday 1:10-2:00 p.m. B3

I. Course Description

A study of Biblical and historical foundations of Christian worship and their implications for understanding the nature of corporate worship. Through the close reading of seminal texts, the student will examine the Christian’s responsibility to worship in spirit and truth.

II. Six Observations

A. Jeremiah Burroughs [1599-1646]

Jeremiah Burroughs, one of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, wrote Gospel Worship so that the people of God might corporately sanctify God as God in hearing the Word of God preached, in taking the Lord’s Supper, and through prayer. His text for these 14 sermons are the words of Moses spoken after God slew Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, for offering unauthorized fire before the Lord: “Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ And Aaron held his peace.” Leviticus 10:3, ESV. Burroughs writes: Now upon this, when Moses said that God would be sanctified in those that draw near to Him, it was as if He had said, ‘Aaron, though I confess that the hand of God is heavy upon you this day, yet it is fitting for you to submit to God. It is fitting that God should be glorified, whatever becomes of you. You are dear to God, but God’s name is dearer to Him than you are. Whatever the lives of your sons were, yet it is fitting that God should be honored and His name sanctified whatever becomes of your sons or your comforts, and, therefore, let your heart be quieted. You have had a great loss and affliction upon you, but God has had glory. God has glorified Himself.’” from the CD Gospel Worship recorded by the BBC Praise Band [2005]

B. John Piper [b. 1946]

“Jonathan Edwards was criticized in response to that book [The Essay on the Trinity] for trying too hard to understand the Trinity, and removing mystery. His response to that was two things. The Bible reveals vastly more than we imagine about God as Three in One. And we have scarcely begun to probe the depths of what really there is for us to understand by revelation. And secondly, he said that there is plenty of mystery left when I’m done with my little efforts. He said we will intensify our worship more if we press in and up as far as we can, rather than stopping early and saying, ‘Isn’t it a mystery? Let’s all bow down and worship. Now the way that landed on me 30 years ago was very significant because there were people in my class in seminary [Fuller] who had a very anti-intellectualistic, anti-rational, ‘stop questioning, probing, digging, trying to understand, because worship comes from the great unknown [mysterious] and if you can understand God, why would you want to worship Him? He’d be equal to you!’ And that never quite sat right with me. You can’t sing [very] many worship songs about what you don’t know about God. I mean one or two. You can write one or two songs about how little you know of God and feel really little and worshipful. But you can’t write more than two or three. Worship does not primarily flow from what you do not know. Worship primarily flows from what we have been able to see of the wonder. And it just seems so strange to me that people would be pushing on ignorance for the sake of worship. ‘Just don’t go there, don’t rise there, don’t climb there, because when you get to the top you won’t worship. You’ll stand on top of God.’ And I just thought, ‘there is no danger of that happening.’ In fact, I have a conception of eternity, of spending about 10,000 years climbing the Alps of God’s all-satisfying glory, discovering new things all the way, and at the last year of the 10,000th, pulling myself over the crest and looking – and there stretches another mountain range disappearing into the sky and you spend another 10,000 years climbing and discovering new things about the glory and wonder of God. And you pull yourself up over 20,000 years into eternity and there’s another mountain range – and that will happen forever and ever. You will never be bored in heaven. An infinite God revealing Himself to a finite mind requires eternity. It’s the knowledge of God, not the ignorance of God that inspires God-exalting awe and worship.” September 2003, Capitol Hill Baptist Church [transcribed].

C. Bob Kauflinhttp://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/kauflin-on-singing-and-preaching-and-2-other-conference-interview-clips

D. The Cambridge Declaration [1996]

“Whenever in the church biblical authority has been lost, Christ has been displaced, the gospel has been distorted, or faith has been perverted, it has always been for one reason: our interests have displaced God's and we are doing his work in our way. The loss of God's centrality in the life of today's church is common and lamentable. It is this loss that allows us to transform worship into entertainment, gospel preaching into marketing, believing into technique, being good into feeling good about ourselves, and faithfulness into being successful. As a result, God, Christ, and the Bible have come to mean too little to us and rest too inconsequentially upon us.”

E. Paragraph XVIII [Worship] Statement of Faith, Grace Baptist Church [2006]

We believe that the Word of Christ should dwell richly in the corporate worship services of Grace Baptist Church. The Word should be prayed, sung, read, and preached. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. So we desire that the Word should also dwell in fullness among His people. When God’s Word fills His people, true religious affections filled with grace and truth will rise to the praise of His glorious grace. Colossians 3:16; I Timothy 2:1; I Timothy 4:13; Romans 10:17; Ephesians 5:19;                   John 1:14; Ephesians 3:19; Ephesians 1:6.

We believe that the people of God will learn to love the glory of God as the ministers of God teach them to see and savor the Word of God. God’s self-revelation is found in His Word. The self-love and relativism of our “ungodly” and “unrighteous” culture have negatively affected the church’s corporate worship. A change of audience has occurred. Worship is often shaped more by what people desire than by the nature of God’s self-disclosure found in the Bible. We will be changed only as we discover in the Word what God must be like for our joy in the face of Jesus Christ. Exodus 32:7-10;                                     II Timothy 3:1-5; II Corinthians 3:17-18; I Corinthians 14:26-33.

We believe that the singing of theologically based and historically informed hymns and songs will free us to rejoice in our God. Unison singing unites us with one voice as we sing with “one accord.” Part singing expresses musically the unity of substance and tri-unity of persons within the Godhead. Part singing reflects the unity of purpose and difference of roles within the congregation. All the music used in our worship services will be measured against the standard of sound doctrine. James 5:13; Psalm 149:1;                       Titus 2:1.

F. Michael Horton

“Creeds, confessions, a good systematic theology can all help us to see the limitations of our own narrow range of ideas, presuppositions, experiences, and longings. We must rid ourselves of the notion that it matters little what others have said in their reading of Scripture through the ages . . . The choice is not between following ‘mere men’ and Scripture directly; it’s a choice between interpreting Scripture with the larger church rather than thinking of ourselves as omnicompetent. It is a sign of humility when we are able to conclude that we, like the Ethiopian eunuch, are hampered by our own blind spots. ‘So Philip ran to him [the Ethiopian], and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him . . . Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture [Isaiah 53.7-8], preached Jesus to him [Acts 8.30-31, 35 NKJV].’ Instead of pretending to start from scratch, join the conversation already in progress since Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of Christ-Centered Worship [2003]

III. General Objectives

A. The student will see the Bible as the final authority for the practice of Christian worship.
B. The student will interpret the Scripture with the larger historical consciousness of the Christian church for the practice of Christian worship.
C. The student will recognize anthropocentric worship, performance based worship, and methodically based worship as compared with the practice of Christian worship.
D. The student will appreciate the value of reading seminal texts on the practice of Christian worship.

IV. Specific Objectives

A. The student will read seminal texts on the practice of Christian worship
B. The student will evaluate relationships between Old and New covenant practices of Christian worship.
C. The student will evaluate relationships between historical writing and contemporary writing on the practice of Christian worship.
D. The student will participate in class discussions on the practice of Christian worship.
E. The student will blog on the practice of Christian worship.

V. Requirements

A. Knowing
B. Enjoying
C. Reading
D. Remembering [quizzing] 40%
E. Blogging [on subjects covered in the reading] 40%
F. Final essay assessment on subjects of interest to class members 20%

VI. Texts
Burroughs, Jeremiah. Gospel Worship. Morgan, Pennsylvania: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1990.

Chapell, Bryan. Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice.

Grand Rapids, Michigan. Baker Academic, 2009.

Ryken, Philip Graham, Thomas Derek W.H., and Duncan J. Ligon III, editors. Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2004.

VII. Calendar

August

27 Course Introduction
29 GPTG 1-16, GW 1-11, 

September

3 GPTG 17-32, GW 12-23, Quiz 1
5 GPTG 33-48, GW 24-33, Blog 1

10 GPTG 49-64, GW 34-44, Quiz 2
12 GPTG 65-80, GW 45-56, Blog 2

17 GPTG 81-96, GW 57-66, Quiz 3
19 GPTG 97-112, GW 67-78, Blog 3

24 GPTG 113-128, GW 79-89, Quiz 4
26 GPTG 129-144, GW 90-100, Blog 4

October
1 GPTG 145-160, GW 101-110, Quiz 5
3 GPTG 161-169, GW GW 111-124, Blog 5

15 C.S. Lewis on Church Music, GW 125-135, Quiz 6
17 GW 136-146, Blog 6

22 C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory 25-35, GW 147-157, Quiz 7
24 GPTG 222-240, C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory 35-46, Blog 7

 31  GPTG 241-256, GW 158-174, Quiz 8

November
5 GPTG 257-272, GW 174-191, Blog 87 
7 GPTG 273-288, GW 191-2o2, Blog 9

12 GPTG 289-304, GW 203-215, Quiz 9
14 GPTG 305-320, GW 215-225, Blog 10

18 Field Trip to The Brooklyn Tabernacle and Redeemer Presbyterian Church

28 GPTG 321-336, GW 225-236, Quiz 10

December
3 GPTG 337-352, GW 236-247, Blog 11
5 GPTG 353-368, GW 247-258, Blog 12

10 GPTG 369-374; GW 258-268, Quiz 11
12 GPTG 436-446; GW 268-278, Blog 13

17 GW, 278-299, Quiz 12