In 1971, the great 20th century preacher, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, brought these remarks to an annual Minister’s conference: “We must not be content until we have had some manifestation of the activity of God. We must concentrate on this. This is my plea, that we concentrate on this, because it is the great message of the Bible, so substantiated by the lessons of history. That is obviously today the only thing that gives us any hope as we face the future. And God seems to be saying that to us. ‘Prove Me now. Try Me. Risk your everything on Me. Be fools for My sake. Cast yourselves utterly upon this belief.’ Let us put it like this: Do we really …
Archive | —Worship and Scripture
To Clap or Not to Clap?
In response to my mention of clapping at the Together for the Gospel conference, Steve commented: “I grew up in the type of church where clapping was extremely frowned upon. Later, as an adult, I got involved in more contemporary settings…where clapping, along with and after songs, was the norm…I recently watched a live DVD recording of a particular band doing an incredibly delicate and moving rendition of “I Love You, Lord.” As the last soft chord decayed, the audience began to cheer and clap. It suddenly seemed inappropriate to me.” In a more general sense, Jon asked: “How we are to treat the commands of the psalms….clap, …
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What About the Regulative Principle?
Richard wrote in to ask, “How do you understand the regulative principle of Worship, and do you agree with and practice it at your church?” Some of you right now are thinking, “What in the world IS the regulative principle?” The regulative principle is one of a number of ways used to describe how God’s Word governs our corporate worship. It is sometimes simplified to “Only what God has commanded in Scripture is acceptable in public worship.” It distinguishes between “elements” of public worship, which don’t change, and “circumstances,” which do. In contrast, the normative principle states that, “Whatever Scripture …
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Taking God’s Word Seriously, Pt. 3
After spending two days sharing about the benefits of reading through the Bible, I don’t want to give the impression that any particular Bible reading plan is better than another. There are many ways to mine the riches of God’s Word. You can study a passage, a book, a group of books, a word, a topic, or a doctrine. I’ve used many of these methods at one time or another in my life. All of them can help us to see the glory of Jesus Christ more clearly. Pursued rightly, they should cause us to be more humble, not more arrogant. But in the past few years, as I’ve sought to take in and meditate on larger quantities of Scripture, it’s …
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Taking God’s Word Seriously, Pt. 2
I shared yesterday how my relationship to God’s Word over the past few years has been changing. After reading through the Bible a third time, I immediately wanted to do it again. So last Fall, using the Reformation Study Bible, I began in Genesis, Job, and Matthew. I’m currently in 1 Samuel, Isaiah, and 1 Corinthians and having a great time getting to know my Creator and Redeemer better. My schedule this time is a little more flexible, but I try to read 6-12 pages at a time. I continue to marvel at how little I actually know of God’s Word, how His character is consistent throughout, and how God is eager to meet me in His Word if I just …
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Taking God’s Word Seriously
Up until a few years ago, I had never read through the entire Bible, after almost 30 years of being a Christian. Of course, I was positive that at some point I had read every word in Scripture. I just didn’t do it in order. After all, I reasoned, the order of the books didn’t seem to be as critical as the fact that they were included. So I’ve spent most of my life following the “whatever happens to be the most appealing book or passage at the moment” method of Bible study. At times, it’s been very fruitful. At other times, it’s been non-existent. A few years ago the pastors on the teaching team at our church decided to switch …