Weekends are for Worship: Mystery in Worship

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doxology, incomprehensibility, J. I. Packer, mystery, Theology, weekends are for worship, worship

God is Greater Than Our Conception of Him

Over the past few days I’ve been contemplating the element of mystery in our worship. God is far greater than we are able to comprehend. This incomprehensibility is a part of His essence, and true worship should acknowledge it.

Someone might say this is a hindrance to our worship. How can I worship what I don’t understand? But rather than a hindrance, mystery enhances our perception of God and evokes greater worship. We worship God because of the mystery, not in spite of it!

J. I. Packer writes,

“We should never forget that in any case theology is for doxology: the truest expression of trust in a great God will always be worship, and it will always be proper worship to praise God for being far greater than we can know.”

Weekends are for Worship: Sincerity in Worship

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Existence and Attributes off God, heart, sincerity, Stephen Charnock, weekends are for worship, worship

True worship engages every part of our being – our mind, our bodies, and our will, but especially our heart. Stephen Charnock concerning the importance of engaging our heart in worship: No sincerity = No worship.

Without the heart it is no worship; it is a stage play; an acting a part without being that person really which is acted by us: a hypocrite, in the notion of the word, is a stage-player. We may as well say a man may believe with his body, as worship God only with his body . . . We may be truly said to worship God, though we want (lack) perfection; but we cannot be said to worship him, if we want (lack) sincerity.

Weekends are for Worship: The Glory of Christ’s Subjection

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Andrew Murray, Jesus Christ, weekends are for worship, worship

“That God may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 15.24-28)

“These last words are my text. What a mystery there is in the context! We are accustomed to speak of the two great acts of humiliation on the part of the Lord Jesus — His descending from the throne and becoming Man upon earth, a Servant among men; and of His descent, through the Cross, into the grave, the depth of humiliation under the curse. But oh! what a mystery there is here — that there is a time coming in the everlasting glory when the Son of Man shall be subjected unto the Father, and shall give the kingdom into the Father’s hands, and ‘God shall be all in all.’ I cannot understand this; it passes knowledge. But I worship Christ in the glory of His subjection to the Father.

“And here I learn one precious lesson, and that is what I want to point you to — that the whole aim of Christ’s coming, and the whole aim of redemption, and the whole aim of Christ’s work in our hearts is summed up in that one thought — ‘That God may be all in all.’“

- Andrew Murray, Absolute Surrender

What Was Once Far From Me: How Patrick the Missionary Might Celebrate Today

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Missions, quote, St. Patrick's Day

Reblogged from Nephos:

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Ever wonder how Patrick himself might celebrate the day? Like many (or most) holidays, this day has become something very different from its original intent. Holiday celebrations tend to say more about the culture celebrating than the person or event celebrated.

At any rate, Patrick is a man whose reality has become shrouded in myth and legend.

Read more… 183 more words

Recent events have conspired to prevent any blogging this week. So I thought in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I'd share a "post from the past."

Weekends are for Worship: Worshiping God and God Alone

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God, God alone, Irenaeus, Theology, weekends are for worship, worship

“It is proper, then, that I should begin with the first and most important head, that is, God the Creator, who made the heaven and the earth, and all things that are therein, . . . and to demonstrate that there is nothing either above Him or after Him; nor that, influenced by any one, but of His own free will, He created all things, since He is the only God, the only Lord, the only Creator, the only Father, alone containing all things, and Himself commanding all things into existence.

Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies Book 2, Chapter 1

Weekends are for Worship: Right Concepts of God and Worship

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Theology, Warren Wiersbe, worship

“What we think about God and our relationship to Him determines what we think about everything else that makes up our busy world — other people, the universe, God’s Word, God’s will, sin, faith, and obedience. Wrong ideas about God will ultimately lead to wrong ideas about who we are and what we should do, and this leads to a wrong life on the wrong path toward the wrong destiny. In other words, theology — the right knowledge of God — is essential to a fulfilled life in this world.”

Warren Wiersbe

Nephos 9

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Arminianism, Calvinism, Johnny and Chachi, perception vs. reality, Spectrum of Evangelicalism, Winston Churchill

1. It’s all about your perception . . .

via Doghouse

2. 5 Mistakes From Both Arminians and Calvinists.

3. Good stuff from Jon Acuff on eating out on Sundays: Dear Atheists, Chick-fil-A & Waiters.

4. Pianist Greg Howlett offers his music at a tremendous holiday blowout sale. If you enjoy instrumental music, Greg’s is some of the best you’ll find.

5. And still further proof of my theory that the funniest things happen in church:

 

6. At Kingdom People Travin Wax provides a summary of the new book Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism:

What is an Evangelical? 1: The Fundamentalist View

What is an Evangelical? 2: The Confessional Evangelical View

What is an Evangelical? 3: The Generic Evangelical View

What is an Evangelical? 4: The Postconservative View

Since I plan to read this book, I look forward to reading his Wax’s summaries.

7. Thought provoking article by Bobby Gilles on abstract worship songs.

8. I like good quotes, and Kansas Bob has a delightful collection of Churchill Wit.

9.  If you prefer your Christmas carols in “small doses” then you’ll love Johnny and Chachi's Christmas Medley