Worship

Arguably one of the greatest errors we can fall into when it comes to understanding grace is that ‘It’s all about me and all about now’. This attitude has reached epidemic proportions in Western churches and may well explain our relative lack of resilience and usefulness compared to other parts of...
When I was a student the University of Houston, my English Composition 1 instructor told our class that the greatest novel ever written was The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. Whether that is true, I’m not sure. But I went out and got a copy and began to read it. Lots of words. But one thing...
In John 4:24, the Lord Jesus declares, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” New Covenant worship is not about holy places such as the temple in Jerusalem, but about holy hearts worshiping the Triune God. The multitude of Old Covenant ceremonies are...
When we build on the foundation of the Gospel in our worhsip, what rule should govern our building? By “rule” I mean what controls, regulates, and fills what we say and do in worship. Again, to appreciate the Puritan stance on the rule of worship, we must begin not with the Puritans but with the...
The First Five Jonathan and James welcome their friend Stephen Unthank. He’s pastor of Greenbelt Baptist Church in Maryland, and a contributing writer for PlaceForTruth.org . Stephen shares his experiences as a relatively new pastor…the joys and challenges of the calling…and, how it all lined up...
The Foundation of Puritan Worship The foundation of Puritan worship is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jeremiah Burroughs (c. 1600–1646), a Puritan minister known for his peaceable spirit, wrote a book aptly titled Gospel Worship . He said that in worship we draw near to God (Ps. 95:2, 6; 100:2).[1]...
Editors Note: This is the first post in a short-run series on Puritan Worship. I'd like to take you on a journey back through time to a Christian worship service in the Middle Ages. The year is 1413; we enter a large cathedral where the bishop is about to celebrate the Roman mass. Before us is a...
In my previous post , I discussed how patience (along with the closely-related virtues of endurance and perseverance) is one of the most valuable Christian virtues in connection to Christian maturity. However, there is another virtue of the Christian life which, when duly exercised, will contribute...
Many Christians today hold to the misconception that the Lord's Supper is nothing other than a memorial meal, a time where we "look back" and reflect upon the death of Christ. This is generally the view of mainstream evangelicalism, though if we are not cautious it can easily become the default...
Humans are complex creatures, consisting of body and soul. God formed us out of the dust of the ground (Gen. 2:7a). He gave us bodies, making us physical creatures. And He nourishes our bodies with physical things. The Lord provides food to satisfy our hunger and drink to quench our thirst. But...