To some, this is a big question. I, personally, love good music…or, at least, I love music that sounds good to me. But, you know, the Lord has an idea of what He likes, also. It is He Who decides what pleases Him, and what He want as part of our worship service. For example, [...]
Posted on October 20th, 2009 by doc
Filed under: "In" not "of", Faith, Music, Obedience | Comments Off
Editor’s note: This post by guest blogger Matthew Lee is a supplement to my June 15 post, Is our worship too casual? It’s our prayer that both of these posts will cause you to think more deeply about and search the Scriptures about, how we worship, why we worship, and most importantly, Who we worship. [...]
Posted on August 15th, 2009 by Matthew Lee
Filed under: Worship | Comments Off
Tim Challies wrote last Saturday in a Crosswalk.com blog that he’s witnessing a disturbing trend: Christians coming to worship not with a traditional paper & ink Bible, but an electronic Bible on an iPod, smart phone, or other such device. He encourages his readers not only to not bring an electronic Bible to worship, but [...]
Posted on June 17th, 2009 by Bob Mathews
Filed under: Bible study, Technology, Worship | 2 Comments »
It’s 10 AM on Sunday morning. (Maybe your services don’t start at 10 AM, but humor me here.) Worship is about to start. How will you know when it does? The song/worship leader begins to sing a song. Someone in the audience spontaneously begins to sing a song, and the congregation follows. An elder gets [...]
Posted on June 15th, 2009 by Bob Mathews
Filed under: Worship | 8 Comments »
Jesus, name above all names; Beautiful Savior, glorious Lord. Emmanuel, God is with us; Blessed Redeemer, Living Word. song “Jesus, Name Above All Names”, by Nadia Hearn © Copyright 1974 by Scripture in Song Such a simple song, yet such a great feeling of humble devotion. How do you feel when you say the name [...]
Posted on May 24th, 2009 by Bob Mathews
Filed under: Devotion, Jesus, New Testament, Praise | 2 Comments »
It is not specifically commanded in the Scriptures that fasting is a part of the Christian life. However, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave the apostles instructions on how to give, how to pray, and how to fast. It is written as if were of equal obligation (Matthew 6:16-18). We know that giving [...]
Posted on February 11th, 2009 by doc
Filed under: Christian life, Obedience, Worship | Comments Off
As far as we can tell, David introduced mechanical music into the temple some 400 years after the law was given on Sinai (Exodus 20:1-17). The law forbade additions to it just as surely as Revelation forbids adding to the New Testament (Revelation 22:18-19). Deuteronomy 4:1-2 explicitly forbids adding to the words of the Old [...]
Posted on February 5th, 2009 by doc
Filed under: Music, Worship | Comments Off
Have you ever thought about that? Indeed, what about animal sacrifice? Why don’t we observe it today? Isn’t the God we serve, the God of the Israelites — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Don’t the same things please Him now that pleased Him in the days of the prophets? Yes, we do serve [...]
Posted on January 5th, 2009 by Bob Mathews
Filed under: Bible study, Humility, Jesus, Obedience, Old Testament, Worship | Comments Off
See if any of this sounds familiar… Many church leaders say the church “no longer reaches deep into the human situation.” Radical young theologians want to abandon the word “God” because church-going millions use it as a nickname for superstition. Ministers fight over abortion laws, the right-to-die crisis that bewilders doctors, police tactics against homosexuals [...]
Posted on December 9th, 2008 by Bob Mathews
Filed under: "In" not "of", Worship | Comments Off
Now wouldn’t that be a hoot? Actually, it’s sort of not as far-fetched as it sounds. I’m a former high school math teacher, and am still involved in a round-about way with secondary education, so one of the blogs I monitor is that of Teacher Magazine. One of their headlines Tuesday caught my eye: “12-year-old [...]
Posted on June 25th, 2008 by Bob Mathews
Filed under: Christian life, Faith, Fellowship, Growth, Worship | Comments Off
