"So put all these eleven particulars together . . ."

Burroughs pp. 157-186

"What should be the behavior of the soul in sanctifying God's name in the Word when it is come?"

1. There must be a careful attention unto the Word.

2. There must be an opening of the heart to receive what God speaks to you.

3. The careful applying of the Word.

4. We must mix faith with the Word or else it will do us but little good.

5. We must receive the Word with meekness of Spirit.

6. We must hear the Word with a trembling heart.

7. A humble subjection to the Word that we hear.

8. The Word must be received with love and joy.

9. We must receive the Word into honest hearts.

10. We must hide the Word in our hearts.

11. You must turn the hearing of His Word into practice or otherwise the name of God is blasphemed, or at least taken in vain by you.

Identifiable message

"The primary goal of a hymn should be -...in the delivery of an identifiable message." (GPTG- p.253) This question was on the quiz and I had put the wrong answer. :/ Why do we think that we need to "identify" with everything? Someone may be talking about a subject that you have no clue about. How are you supposed to identify with them? Is this something that is necessary?

Knowledge vs. Ignorance

We've mentioned much in class about the many modern worship songs that are simply filled with fluff. They are not songs that are theologically strong. Many seem to care much more about the music of the song and not the text. I read something in GPTG for Monday that spurred me to make a connection of maybe why our modern worship songs are not nearly as solid and "evergreen" as the songs from years past.

On pages 252-253 Jones talks about the author of hymns. He mentions that often the best hymn writers are ministers who are informed and educated in the Word. This made me think on those who wrote hymns in the past. They were theologians, philosophers, etc. They were very educated people. Also we have the more common people who, maybe were not pastors or great scholars, but they knew the Word very deeply.

Maybe this is why we have so many meaningless songs in this present age. We have many people who are not scholars, pastors, theologians, educated peoples, those who know the Word extremely well, etc. writing worship songs. Is it a surprise that many songs around today are insubstantial and uninformed, songs that are not Jesus-centered, when we have those who do not know the Word well writing worship songs?

This isn't the reason for worship songs that are lacking today. It is just one of the reasons. Are my thoughts correct? What do you think of this theory?

Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Burroughs writes, "The Word must be received with love and joy. It is not enough for you to be convinced of the authority of it and to think: 'I must yield to it. This is the Word of God and if I do not yield to it, I must expect the plagues and judgments of God to follow it.' That is not enough, but you must yield to it with love and with joy. Unless you receive the Word with love and with joy, it is not sanctified. You do not sanctify God's name, nor is it sanctified unto you."

Yet Peterson writes on page 243, "...Moses warns Israel not to indulge in idolatry, but to remain faithful to the Lord and to serve him exclusively, lest they provoke him to anger. Warning believers to remain faithful to Jesus and his covenant, Hebrews speaks of the fearful prospect of judgment that will consume those who turn out to be the enemies of God... The certainty of God's grace must not obscure for us the truth that a terrible judgment awaits the apostate..."

How do these two passages from this week's reading fit together? How are we commanded to be filled with joy and love, especially when we should tremble before God for our idolatrous, apostate hearts?

God's Word Superior to God's Works

God's Word can be found in pretty much every bookstore today and in many different languages. It is read in church, at home, at school, and in both secular universities and little bible colleges. It seems that the Bible has become, for lack of a better word, common. But the ultimate fact remains that God's word is far from common. This commonality of scripture has infiltrated many of our Christian circles today, especially our charismatic brothers and sisters. The general line of thought seems to be... "God's word is amazing, but the works/miracles He has done or is doing in my life and the lives of others is really really amazing. Maybe its because Scripture has become so available and read almost everywhere that it doesn't appear as amazing as God's works. Maybe its because we live in a culture where things that are visually, or emotionally, or immediately stimulating are much more amazing to us. This can't be so. Jeremiah Burroughs says this, "I may... affirm that there is no godly soul upon the face of the earth, who has the weakest degree of grace, but has seen more of the glory of God revealed in His Word than he has seen in all the works of God besides, and his heart is more taken with it (Gospel Worship, pg. 171)." Would it not make sense that all Christians saved by grace should see the greatest glory of God? Some of us may see many wondrous works and some none at all, but all Christians have heard the Gospel of Christ. God's word is His most superior revelation to man.

the 800 pound gorilla

in Give praise to God it talks a lot about how it’s pretty obvious that we’re to sing the psalms. the whole idea of an “800 pound gorilla” sitting in the middle of our bibles and everything.  Does this mean that we’re not supposed to go through and just read the psalms out loud? and since it’s so obviously pointed out in the scriptures, why aren’t more churches participating in singing the psalms? Even in my home church I notice that a lot of our songs aren’t saturated in scripture, is this necessarily a bad thing that should be changed? or is it sometimes something that the church decides as preference? Would deciding on preference be bad as well?

Who Should be in Charge of Music?

In GPTG Terry L. Johnson discusses the issue of picking the right songs for worship. There is the issue of whether the song is good musically and also of if it is theologically sound. On page 271 he informs that one who knows music and one who knows theology need to be involved in the picking of the songs sung in worship.

This doesn't have to be the same person it could be the pastor of the church along with the song leader. This allows for the balance of music and theology in the musical aspect of worship.

Have you noticed a pattern in the worship in churches today that seem to only be picked by a song leader resulting in poor theology?

Bad Preaching

"It is true, the ministers may be in as low a condition as you, and perhaps lower, but the Word they speak is above all the princes and monarchs upon the face of the earth, and it is fit, therefore, we having to deal with God, that we should behave ourselves in a meek disposition"

"We do not, brethren, desire that you should lie down under us. We are not only willing, but we are very desirous that you would examine what we speak to you to see whether it is according to the Word of God or not"

What do you do when preacher is dishonoring the Word of God with poor or lighthearted exposition?

all day now

This week I wonder, "Yes, but how?"

If we are to fall in line with Jerome's thinking, that psalms should be a part of every moment of our days, than how do we encourage our congregants to live drenched in the Psalms? How can a leader of the church push others to value and use the Psalms as Jerome suggests on page 269?

Psalm Singing

Terry Johnson in GPTG gives an argument for restoring psalm singing to our worship. He discusses the Psalter and different types of psalms that are sung. Why has the church moved away from this practice? Are the tunes and melodies available for the songs hard to sing and unattractive?

Who is Being Heard?

Who are we going to hear when we go to church? Are we going to hear God or a speaker? It seems so often in today's churches that we focus more on the person speaking then on God. We all look up to people like John Piper, but do we look up to them too much. It becomes a huge deal to go and hear someone like him because he is a big name in the church. But isn't more important to think about the fact that men like that are really speaking the word of God and we are going to hear God not the human.

On page 151 Burroughs goes into great detail about the fact that we are going to hear God speak and not man. "It is not a man speaking that you are going to attend, but you are now going to attend upon God, and to hear the Word of the eternal God."

The Lord's 'Supper'

On Page 217 of Peterson he has a paragraph talking about the Lord's Supper that spurred me to think about the way in which we hold communion.

Would it be better for the church to actually eat a meal in keeping with the Lord's supper? This would encourage both a vertical and horizontal aspect of the Lord's Supper as Peterson encourages (p. 216), both an act of worship to God and an act of edification of the members of the body of Christ. All the different churches I have been in which I've had communion simply pass out the bread and the cup and then have a minute or two of solemness, reflection, prayer, thoughtful music, and then that's it. According to Peterson this misses half of the purpose of keeping the Lord's Supper.

Are our churches missing the edification of the body in the Lord's Supper. The whole body participates and identifies with Christ in this act. Why do we call it "communion"? Is it communion with God? Communion with each other? Both? And (this is the main question I am asking) should the church be having more of a meal together to celebrate the Lord's Supper instead of just a simple, short little time of remembrance?

EWG 212-213: "although (Paul) is concerned that the Corinthians should abound in spiritual gifts 'for the building up of the church' (v.12), it is clear that such edification cannot take place unless individuals are instructed (v.19) and encouraged (v. 31)."

This struck me as something that should be so very obvious, and yet, so ignored. If you were to ask a pastor how his church was doing, I would think it would be a surprise to hear anything about the encouragement, or lack thereof, in the church.

Would it be out of line to spend a few minutes at the beginning of each service teaching the people something of this nature, even if it has little to do with the sermon for that day? Could we then make such teaching tidbits a habit, and incorporate all kinds of little practical helps to making the church function more biblically?

is there a lack of effort?

“Christians are mutually dependent on one another and they are collectively dependent on Jesus Christ for life and power. We meet together to benefit from the relationships and ministries we can share with one another. Yet, in drawing on the resources which Christ himself provides through other believers for the growth and development of His body, we are being strengthened in our relationship with Him. The important concept of interacting with one another is not to be divorced from the notion that we come together to engage with God.” EWG pg. 209

If what this is saying is true, then why is it that from my experience that in church the connection between fellowship and engaging with God in our interactions haven’t coincided? Is that from a lack of effort on our sides?

The Scent of a Flower Not Found

"The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things - the beauty, the memory of our own past - are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited" (pg. 30 - 31).

If Lewis is correct in his line of thought, how ought this to effect our treatment of the world around us? Does it raise our view of the material? Does it lower our view of the material? Does it do both?

Faith by hearing (but ONLY?)

Burroughs makes many great points about hearing the Word and the preaching of it, but then we come to this statement: "Faith comes by hearing, the Scriptures say, and never by reading" (152). Romans 10:17 definitely supports the first part of this claim, but is the second part true as well? Can't a person come to faith or grow in faith because of reading the Word of God or some exposition/commentary/thought on it? I think that would be the case, so why does Burroughs say this?

Prophecy in the Congregation

On pages 196-197 of EWG, Peterson's ideas about prophecy in the congregation captured my intrigue.

"Whatever conclusion we reach [about the gift of prophecy], I Corinthians 14 surely speaks to us of the value and importance of spontaneous, verbal ministries of exhortation, comfort or admonition by congregational members (cf. I Thess. 4:18, 5:11, 14; Eph. 4:15). Such mutual ministry is often confined to the home group, or to times of personal interaction after church services. Why is it not also encouraged in the public gathering of the whole church? Many Christian traditions rightly emphasize the need for regular and systematic exposition of Scripture and the teaching of 'sound doctrine' by those gifted and appointed for this task... If the balance on New Testament teaching is to be preserved, however, there should be some space for the informal contributions of members."

What would this look like in a church service today? I don't disagree with Peterson, but how could you involve spontaneous contributions from the congregation without allowing utter chaos and anarchy to prevail over the teaching of the Word of God?

"Weight of Glory" copies

Friends,

The copies of the Lewis are in my out box next to my office. I know you will enjoy reading or rereading "The Weight of Glory." This is one of my favorite passages in the essay. Hope it will wet your appetite:

"Nature is mortal; we shall outlive her. When all the suns and nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive. Nature is only the image, the symbol; but it is the image Scripture invites me to use. We are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendour which she fitfully reflects. And in there, in beyond Nature, we shall eat of the tree of life . . . what would it be to taste at the fountainhead that stream of which even these lower reaches proves so intoxicating? Yet, that, I believe, is what lies before us. The whole man is to drink joy from the fountain of joy." p. 44

His Glory Sanctifying our hearts

A particular paragraph out the reading from Gospel Worship this week required me to read it over a few times and really think about it. Here it is, "Exodus 29:43- 'There I will meet with the children of Israel and the shall be sanctified by My Glory.' You who have a gracious heart and are worshipping God in sincerity, you are as a tabernacle of God, 'and there I will meet with you,' says God, 'and I will sanctify My tabernacle by My glory.' God will sanctify your heart by His glory if you sanctify His name. (pg.142)" Burroughs seems to continually emphasize that our sanctification is a result of sanctifying God's name. I thought this short video by John Piper related well and just though I would share it.

In GW (138) Burroughs talks about the two ways that God will be sanctified. "There are two things in the point: if we do not sanctify God's name, God will sanctify His name in a way of justice. If we do sanctify His name, than He will sanctify His name in a way of mercy towards us." I don't really understand "in a way of justice" mean, is it always have to be "in justice" and what does "in a way of mercy towards us" mean.

Too much to blog about!

"Quicken your heart and rouse up your spirit when you are to worhsip God." (pp. 137-138) Burroughs states this when he is talking about how we should not come to worship in our own strengths but to rely on God to grant us strength to worship Him. He also mentions that when worship we must stir up within ourselves the strength that God has given to us to do so. My question is, what exactly does Burroughs mean by this? Does that mean praying before you come to worship or setting your mind on things of God to prepare yourself for worship? I believe Burroughs mentioned this earlier in the book as well, possibly in his ideas on preparation. What are practical examples of "quickening your heart and rousing up your spirit"?

I hate pineapples, but let's talk about Jesus!

Pineapples grow by themselves, but bananas (which I happen to love) grow in communities! In Engaging with God on pages 153 - 155 it talks about how as christians we should have a closer relationship with one another to be able to grow closer to Christ and not just to be restricted to formal gatherings. So it really convicted me with our class, because I still don’t know everyones name. And I wanted to know if there were any ways we could become closer as a class to make the most out of it and to become closer to God together. Let's all be bananas together! 

A Balm for Superstition

This is a simple observation, and one that has been made before.

Early in our reading of Burroughs he warned against superstition in worship. He defined superstition as the assigning of properties or powers to something which the thing does not, by nature, possess. The modern equivalent is saying that Hymnals or Drums are what are absolutely necessary for proper worship of God. Obviously that assigning a role to Hymnals and drums which God has not assigned.

Peterson provides us with a model balm for superstition throughout his discussion of worship in Pauline theology. "Now it possible for all to engage with God in a new way, on the basis of Christ's sacrifice, offering the worship that is pleasing to him" (pg. 171), "Christ's obedience makes possible a new obedience for the people of God" (pg. 177), "We are sanctified or consecrated to God because Jesus Christ died and rose for us, and because the Spirit enables us to believe the gospel and yield ourselves to God (pg. 177). By constantly drawing placing God at the center of making true worship possible, Peterson is dulling the ability of lesser things to take that place. This is perhaps an ideal model for us to follow as we preach and teach.

Full worship

In Engaging With God Peterson comes to the conclusion that when Paul speaks of making yourself a living sacrifice, he is speaking, in particular, of everyday life. he further remarks that "Christians become preoccupied with the notion of offering God acceptable worship in a congregational context and thus with the minutiae of church services..."

I couldn't agree with Peterson more. It is a sad misunderstanding of so many to find one part of life as worship, and one part as "real life". My question is, how can we use our churches to drive the people to everyday worship, without overvaluing the church service?

Sanftifying God in Holy Duties

"One Christian who keeps close to God in holy duties, and sanctifies the name of God in them, finds more comfort with God and grows on in godliness more in one quarter of a year than another person does in seven years who goes on in an ordinary, dull, and formal way in the performance of the duties of worship (136 GW)."

Why is it that people seem to downplay the necessity of holy duties and bringing glory to the name of God through our actions.

Three Strikes, You're Out!

As Doc pointed out on Monday, this week's reading in Gospel Worship was very sobering. I can count on one hand the times I have heard someone preach on the consequences of not sanctify God in His worship on His terms. I appreciate Burroughs' willingness to preach "the whole counsel of God," but at the same time I have some concerns about what he says in this chapter.

On pages 149-154, Burroughs says that God shows His displeasure with those who worship simply on the exterior. First of all, he says they will be cursed (first in secret, than with greater severity.) The next stage he says is often the sickbed or even the deathbed. The final stage seems to be on the Day of Judgment, when God will cast all hypocrites away from Himself.

Are these three stages found anywhere in Scripture or is Burroughs relying on personal experience? And most importantly, is he saying these stages are for the believer or the unbeliever?

Focus on Worship in Church or Life?

We have been reading for several weeks now from Burroughs' sermons about how we need to focus on the seriousness of our duties before the Lord. Peterson offers another perspective when he says, "When Christians become preoccupied with the notion of offering God acceptable worship in a congregational context and thus with the minutiae of church services, they need to be reminded that Paul's focus was on the service of everyday life" (187). He warns against introversion within the church and asserts that the preaching of the gospel is meant to bring about a "consecrated lifestyle" (a view which emphasizes the importance of the family, the workplace, and leisure activities as the sphere to have a 'genuine relationship with God'). Do these two points of emphasis contradict or can we reconcile them? If we can, how so?

Weekend Update

Hello Fellow Classmates,

I contacted Doc concerning a plan for Monday's class. Fear not; no reading is due, and we will use the time to catch up on blog posts. Come ready to discuss!

Also, if we have time maybe we'll get to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLGLBVSpBzY