Tag: Worship

On Blended Worship: Intentionally Mixing Music Styles to the Glory of God

~ Bob Hayton ~ 9 Comments

A recent comment concerned music styles and the worship wars. The three way split, envisioned by the commenter included the following.

1) Those want to do nothing but maintain the status quo, whether that is the contemporary style that is now familiar (with no new forms like Christian rap), or a traditional hymn-focused style — this group wasn’t going to budge from their stance.
2) Those who want to move back to the psalmic/hymnic tradition handed down to us from the early church — this group was further described as “Conservative Christianity”.
3) Those who allow for anything within the worship service.

What is missing from this list is “Blended Worship”. Why is it that we have to worry about being “comfortable” in our style? What about loving others and using styles that are accessible to others? Certain styles or songs may move me more than others, but they may hit other people where they are at more readily than they do for me. That has been my view of the issue for the last five years or more, now.

On this front, here are some quotes from documents on worship from my old church, Bethlehem Baptist Church, pastored by John Piper.

Because we value the importance of old and new , historic and current, we will pray that “the Holy Spirit may lead us into ways of worship that are continuous with the historic witness of worship given to the church throughout its history in the world, and at the same time He may lead us into the discovery of new forms and patterns that meet the needs of the people of our day” (R. Webber, “Worship Old and New” ). We will continue to be a “both/and” people that cherishes all the richness and freshness that comes from God.

Because we value the importance of both head and heart in our worship experience , we will continue to fill our minds with Biblical thinking about God, others, ourselves, and life, while at the same time putting renewed and greater emphasis on giving expression to our heart’s affections for God during worship.

Because we value being a singing people with growing appreciation for diverse expressions of love for God, we will use as many musical styles and forms as are helpful to worship and respond to God appropriately, as we seek the “significant range” of “at-homeness” referred to in Fresh Initiative #2. We will encourage whole-hearted participation by the entire congregation in all parts of the worship service, as the defining sound of Bethlehem worship becomes the singing voices of all God’s people praising Him.

Because we value increasing in a humble willingness to support others whose tastes are different than ours, we will put understanding above accusation, forbearance above faultfinding,and Biblical unity above the demand for uniformity. We will create opportunities for God’s reality to be conveyed more powerfully by learning to affirm the forms and styles that edify our brothers and sisters. Our relationships of love for each other will lead us to patiently support and rejoice with those who appreciate other styles, believing that God is able to meet us in the context of any Christ-exalting worship style.

Because we value growing in appreciation of both fine and folk elements in worship, we will strive to affirm the strengths and avoid the weaknesses inherent in both forms. We will worship within the range of gifts that God bestows on us, never compromising spiritual qualifications for aesthetic considerations, as we pursue undistracting excellence in spiritual leadership.

Because we value a determination to welcome people different from ourselves for the sake of Christ, we will continue to embrace God’s call for visible manifestations of love toward each other and our neighbors, providing opportunities before, during and after the service to reach out to those God would have us touch.

Because we value being more indigenous to the diversity of our metropolitan cultural setting, both urban and suburban, we will seek ways to communicate and worship that allow for a significant range of diversity in those whose worship is driven by a passion for the supremacy of God in all things.

Sunday morning worship is a corporate expression of our passion for the supremacy of God. We sense God’s leading to develop fresh expressions of this passion that 1) allow for a more focused and free lingering of love in the presence of the Lord; 2) reflect musically the diversity of our congregation and our metropolitan culture; 3) interweave the values of intense Godcenteredness and more personal ministry to each other in the power of the Holy Spirit. The following clarify our worship distinctives at Bethlehem:

We will continue with one common worship service format, “that with one accord [we] may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Our worship life will have a “defining center,” with significant range on either side of that center, resulting in a broader worship life than in the past that people can comfortably call “home.”

The mingling of historic and contemporary music No church or service can be all things to all people. But we do not value stylistic narrowness. We believe there are affections owing to God that different tunes and different texts and different genres may awaken better thanothers. We will strive to be who we are without exalting our own tastes as the standard of excellence or power. We will see God’s guidance in each worship setting to be both indigenous and stretching.

The last paragraph was excerpted from What Unites Us in Worship, and the other paragraphs were excerpted from Bethlehem’s Philosophy of Worship. There is a lot more in the philosophy document than what I’ve shared, but these sections focus on “blended worship”.

What do you think? Does your church emphasize a “blended worship” style?

Spirituality, Homosexuality and the Primordial Cosmic Unity

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

Recently, I’ve explored the issues of homosexuality. I reviewed The Complete Christian Guide to Understanding Homosexuality edited by Joe Dallas and Nancy Heche (Harvest House) and Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality by Wesley Hill (Zondervan). Both books demonstrate concern and awareness of the plight of people struggling with same-sex attractions yet still aiming to be committed to the Christian call for sexual chastity.

Yes, I do believe Christianity calls us to live a life devoted to holiness and that does mean no sex outside of heterosexual marriage. We are to live in light of God’s created intent for this world: one man, one woman together in mutual love and submission for life, as husband and wife. But this is a fallen world and we all battle sinful urges which compel us to violate God’s standards for a holy life. Innately, and biologically even, we are driven toward pride, dishonesty, sinful strife, jealousy, and yes we are drawn to fantasize sinfully over objectified people of either gender. Some struggle one way, others another, but just because we were born as sinners and have a bent toward sinning, doesn’t mean we are not called to “abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”

I wanted to point out a significant book review which brought up something I hadn’t truly considered before when it comes to this controversial topic. Dr. Peter Jones of Westminster Seminary, California, reviews a new book by Jenell Williams Paris, The End of Sexual Identity: Why Sex Is Too Important to Define Who We Are (IVP, 2011). His review is worth the long read as it covers where we are in evangelical Christianity today on this issue. One of the points in his review is “the worldview implications of sexuality”. Without further ado, I want to excerpt a good portion from his review here for your benefit. Please do read the whole review, however.

Such thinking not only ignores biblical morals but also denies biblical cosmology. Homosexuality and other forms of sexual blending have deep religious significance within pagan cults. Paris mentions the berdache, the he/she that appears in over one hundred tribes as a “two-spirit” man or woman who functions in the opposite gender, but she claims we know little about them, except that they perform spiritual rituals (67). She also mentions ethnic groups in Siberia, Borneo and the Philippines that “grant religious roles for those of ambiguous sexual biology or those of same sex attraction” (67-8). Never once does she inquire as to what those religious roles might be, nor the spirituality there practiced.

The End of Sexuality fails to recognize that homosexuals have functioned consistently, from the mists of time and all over the globe, as occultic shamans in all kinds of pagan religions. Mircea Eliade, a world-renowned authority on world religions, and one of the architects of the new spirituality, demonstrates that through time and space a commonplace figure in the pagan cultus is an emasculated priest. This common religious universal, or archetype, is identified with a particular kind of spirituality. We see the myth of a bisexual or androgynous god in ancient Mesopotamian and Indo-European nature religions, as well as in the myths of Australian Aborigines, African tribes, South American Indians and Pacific islanders, all still surviving today. In all these religions, observes Eliade, “ritual androgynisation” is a “symbolic restoration of Chaos, of the undifferentiated unity that preceded the Creation.” Homosexual androgyny, the joining of male and female in the same person, functions in these countless traditional religions as “an archaic and universal formula for the expression of wholeness, the co-existence of the contraries, or coincidentia oppositorum…symboliz[ing]…perfection…[and] ultimate being.”

Homosexuality is not limited here to morals or the lack thereof. It is employed as the attempt to define the very nature of the cosmos as inherently divine. It is for this reason that the Old Testament denounces homosexuality in such strong terms, since it is a sign of pagan religion. Paris’s dismissal of Scripture’s teaching on homosexuality as “the five or six passages” fails to see the injunctions as part of a major polemic against anti-creational paganism. The context of the much-cited prohibition against homosexuality states, “You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan” (Lev 18:3; see Lev 20:23). Leviticus presents sexual activity between two men as an example of the pagan religion of the Canaanites, which the people of Yahweh should avoid. In other words, it is the religion (implicit in the act, in its rejection of God the Creator), more than the morals, which is in view.

Certainly, not all homosexuals see these religious connotations, nor have they come to homosexuality for religious reasons. Nevertheless many contemporary homosexuals see this deep connection. It is what J. Michael Clark, professor at Emory University and Georgian State University, and a gay spokesman, understood about the berdache. Clark, once a Christian, could not find an adequate place for his sexuality in biblical faith, and turned to Native American animism for an acceptable spiritual model. He found in the berdache, this androgynous American Indian shaman, born as a male but choosing to live as a female, “a desirable gay spiritual model,” because the berdache achieves “the reunion of the cosmic, sexual and moral polarities,” that is, the classic pagan “joining of the opposites.” …

Other notable contemporary homosexuals understand their sexuality in occultic religious terms. Professor Emily Culpepper, an Ex-Southern Baptist and now a lesbian pagan witch, sees gays and lesbians, in her words, as “shamans for a future age.” She reserves a spiritual role for homosexuals, for a shaman is “…a charged, potent, awe-inspiring, and even fear-inspiring person who takes true risks by crossing over into other worlds.”

A contemporary gay theorist, Toby Johnson, inspired by the modern-day popularizer of pagan mythology, Joseph Campbell, believes that present-day gay consciousness represents a new religious paradigm, for:

  • it undermines the authority and legitimacy of the institutions of traditional religion;
  • it helps to see the world with a harmonious, non-dualistic vision;
  • in its ecstatic pangs of longing inspired by same-sex beauty, it experiences reverberations and recollections of humanity’s common mystical oneness with Gaia; and
  • it helps humanity to get over dualistic, polarized (male-dominant) thinking, and thus save the world in awareness of common planetary identity.

With the place of homosexuality firmly established as an essential component of cultic and religious nature worship, it was inevitable that a Jungian, June Singer, would give the ultimate expression of the deeply religious importance of homosexuality. She said already in 1977, “the archetype of androgyny appears in us as an innate sense of…and witness to …the primordial cosmic unity, that is, it is the sacrament of monism, functioning to erase distinction…[this understanding of sexuality was] nearly totally expunged from the Judeo-Christian tradition…and a patriarchal God-image.”

Clearly, Singer’s non-binary definition of sex does not fit “a Christian understanding” of creation (34). How powerfully, in its pagan self-understanding, it opposes what Paris also opposes, a “rigid sexual dimorphism” (32). Paris says that “viewing sex on a spectrum…male and female…positioned on the same line, not in two separate categories…makes a credible space for intersex people,” but, alas, such a view also makes an enormous space for occultic spirituality–once the connection of sex with spirituality is made (33).

The theological implications of this opposition to sexual binary categories are enormous. Such naiveté plays into the hands of the non-binary, or non-dual spirituality, which, in its Hindu form, is taking over much of the Western mind and soul. Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda: How Indian Spirituality Changed the West, calls this a spiritual “revival,” based on the Hindu term Advaita, meaning “not two.” The spiritual synthesis, to which progressives believe we are advancing, will be “non-dual,” non-binary. Goldberg declares that Advaita and “non-dual…oneness, unity around non-separation” are “the generic term[s] increasingly used to describe the present and coming spirituality in America””meaning that God and the world are not two.”

I apologize for the lengthy quote, but I wanted Dr. Jones’ case to be established here. This spiritual aspect of homosexuality needs to be understood as evangelicals grapple with the increasing prominence of this issue today. The “otherness” of the Bible’s teaching on this issue should make sense given this wholistic viewpoint. It really is a different spirit and a different religious perspective that fights against the Created order presented in Scripture.

For more on this check out my review of Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality by Wesley Hill particularly. There I explain how I see Christianity impacting those who have homosexual tendencies.

[HT: Sharper Iron Filings]

Book Excerpt — The Whole Bible Story: Explaining Everything That Happens in the Bible in Plain English by William H. Marty

~ Bob Hayton

The significance of Jesus’ crucifixion is something that is only real for the believer. On Good Friday, meditating on Jesus’ crucifixion and what His death means for you is the joy of every redeemed heart.

Today, I thought I’d offer an excerpt from a new book described as “A Bible Story Book for Grown-Ups”. Dr. William H. Marty, professor of Bible at Moody Bible Institute, has published surveys of the Old and New Testament. In his new book, The Whole Bible Story: Explaining Everything That Happens in the Bible in Plain English (published by Bethany House Publishers), he summarizes the Bible story in simple language, seeking to encourage more people to learn the Bible and go from his book to a personal reading of the Bible.

Today’s excerpt is the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. It is drawn from the account in all four Gospels. As you read and meditate on the events of that day, let the Holy Spirit inspire true heart-felt worship and wonder at the significance of Jesus’ death for you.

The Crucifixion: The First Three Hours

Before crucifying Jesus, the soldiers tortured him. They put a staff in his right hand and, mockingly bowing down to him, they said, “Hail, king of the Jews!” They spit on him and beat him again and again with the staff.

Then they took away the robe and put Jesus’ clothes on him. Jesus initially was forced to carry his own cross, but eventually the soldiers saw a man named Simon from Cyrene and forced him to carry it. On the way to the place of execution, a large group of people followed Jesus, including women who grieved.

Jesus called out to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and your children. Blessed are those women who have never given birth to children or nursed infants. People soon will beg for death because of the terrible suffering they will be forced to endure.”

Jesus and two other criminals were taken to the Place of the Skull (“Golgotha,” in Aramaic). At around nine in the morning, the soldiers crucified him between two thieves. After nailing him to the cross, the soldiers divided his clothes into four parts. Instead of tearing his outer robe, they gambled for it by throwing dice.

Pilate ordered a sign placed on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” The inscription was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.

When the chief priests read it, they objected, saying “Do not write ‘King of the Jews.’ Write that he claimed he was king of the Jews.”

Their protest fell on deaf ears. Pilate said, “What I have written, I have written!”

Some of the people walking by mocked Jesus, saying, “You, who claimed you were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. Come down from the cross if you are the Son of God.”

The leaders joined the people in mocking Jesus. They said, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. We will believe that he is the Christ and the Son of God if he can come down from the cross.”

One of the crucified thieves shouted, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and save us!”

Th other thief, though, scolded him: “Don’t you fear God? We deserve to die; we are guilty, but not this man. He isn’t a criminal.” He said to Jesus, “Don’t forget me when you enter into your kingdom.”

Jesus answered, “You can be certain that today you will be with me in paradise.”

Several women were standing near the cross. When Jesus saw his mother and John, the disciple he loved, standing next to her, he said, “My dear woman, this man is now your son”; to the beloved disciple, Jesus said, “This dear woman is now your mother.”

From that time on, John took care of Mary as if she were his own mother.

The Crucifixion: The Last Three Hours

From noon to three, the entire area was shrouded in darkness. Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Some didn’t understand and thought he was calling for Elijah.

Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

One of the onlookers tried to give him a drink with a sponge on a pole.

Then Jesus prayed, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit,” and he cried out, “It is finished!”

With those words, Jesus bowed his head and died.

That instant, the curtain in the temple ripped from top to bottom. The earth shook, breaking open tombs, and people were raised to life. After Jesus’ resurrection, many of them appeared in Jerusalem.

When the commander of the soldiers who had crucified Jesus saw him die, he said, “He surely was the Son of God, and an innocent man.”

Three of the women who had watched the crucifixion were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John. [excerpted from pages 249-251]

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Bethany House Publishers. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

You can pick up a copy from Amazon.com or direct from Bethany House.

“My First Book of Questions and Answers” by Carine MacKenzie

~ Bob Hayton ~ 7 Comments

For hundreds of years, the training of Christian young people involved the learning of a catechism. A catechism was a set of instructions on Christian doctrine. Essentially, it was a list of questions and answers used to instill the fundamentals of the faith in the hearts of children. Many of the Reformed confessions, such as the Westminster Confession, included catechisms. Martin Luther considered his short catechism to be one of his two most important books. Even the great Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, wrote a catechism for young children.

Being an American and a Baptist, the very notion of a catechism seems incredibly foreign to me. But as I’ve studied church history and learned of the important role catechisms have played since the Reformation, I’ve actually been on the lookout for a simple catechism to employ with my own children. Since I’ve never used a catechism before, I was looking for something easy to use and also quite simple — as my daughters who I’d be teaching, are between the ages of 4 and 7.

Carine MacKenzie’s My First Book of Questions and Answers is what I found and so far, my children are eating it up. MacKenzie’s book is based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism. It consists of 114 questions broken up into 26 topics. The questions are direct and the answers are short and to the point. A Scripture reference is supplied for each answer.

The following topics are covered by the questions and answers. Who God is. Creation and sin. What the consequences of sin is. Salvation. Jesus as Prophet, Priest and King. The Ten Commandments — what they are and what they mean for us. Keeping God’s Laws. The Way to be Saved. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Prayer and Bible Reading. Death, Hell and Heaven.

The book is pocket sized with large font and catchy graphics. It’s a bright, cheery book that young readers will like to read. My 7 year old has been reading some of the questions and answers we haven’t yet covered.

I’ve found the catechism format works well as a tool for parents wanting to teach their children. You can easily use the questions to probe how well they understand the answers given in the book. You will be able to have a pulse on what questions your children have when it comes to the gospel. And on another level, my kids think the questions and answers are a lot of fun. It’s a game to them, and they are excited about some small incentives my wife and I have planned for them as they learn these questions.

I should add a word about the theology behind this book. The baptism and Lord’s Supper section is generic enough to be accepted by Presbyterians and Baptists alike. There is a Reformed bent to the questions throughout, which I appreciate. However, any of the questions and answers could easily be edited by a conscientious parent.

My First Book of Questions and Answers is an ideal “first book” for parents seeking to use a catechism (like myself). You will find it to be a great little tool for instilling biblical teaching into the hearts and minds of your young children. Even though this book is quite small, if used by prayerful parents, it promises to have an eternal impact. May God bless the use of this book in the lives of many Christian parents and their children!

This book is part of a line up that Carine MacKenzie has of 7 “My First” books. The other titles are My First Book of Bible Prayers, My First Book of Christian Values, My First Book of Memory Verses, My First Book of Bible Promises, My First Book about Jesus, and My First Book about the Church. I encourage you to check them all out.

Pick up a copy of this book at Westminster Bookstore, Amazon.com or direct from Christian Focus Publications.

Westminster Bookstore also has a deal on the entire set of 7 “My First” books.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Christian Focus Publications for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

“Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism” by Joel Beeke

~ Bob Hayton ~ 4 Comments

Calvinism is all the buzz these days. Last year, Time Magazine listed the rise of “The New Calvinism” as number 3 on a list of “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now” (see excerpt here). The five points of Calvinism are gaining adherents at a rapid rate. At the same time, a deep-seated rejection of Calvinism remains popular in large swaths of evangelicalism.

When it comes to the internet, fierce debates over Calvinism are the norm. Calvinists routinely suspect the worst of their “Arminian” opponents who are often pictured as near-Pelagians. Arminians think that Calvinists tout a dour, sour-faced God who gleefully condemns people to Hell with no chance for salvation. No wonder then, that Calvinists don’t evangelize.

From my vantage point, as a convert to Calvinism from a Baptist non-Calvinist viewpoint, both the Calvinist superiority complex and the Calvinism-is-of-the-devil overreaction share a common shortfall. Neither extreme really appreciates the full ramifications of Calvinism for all of life. Both have a certain amount of ignorance with respect to the history and teaching of Calvinism from the Reformation onward. A historical perspective and an appreciation for Calvinism’s impact on worldview and theology beyond the rather specific and limited focus of the five points would do much good all around.

It is these reasons and more which make Joel Beeke’s book Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism such an important resource. This book is packed with material illustrating how Calvinism impacts all of life.

The book starts off with an historical treatment of the origins of what we call Calvinism and a look at several of the Reformed confessions. Then it moves on to a Scriptural defense of the teachings of Calvinism. Here we find a treatment of the 5 points of Calvinism as well as the 5 solas. We also find that the sovereignty of God, or theocentrism is the doctrinal heart and soul of Calvinism.

The book goes further and surveys the piety of Calvinism and its impact in the church. In these sections we learn a lot from the Puritans on sanctification and church life. Particular emphasis is placed on the emphasis of the role of preaching in worship, which is truly Calvinism’s gift to the wider church.

The book then goes on to how Calvinism provides a “theology for all of life”. I was particularly struck by this section. The discussion of a Puritan home and marriage was eye-opening. Indeed the medieval era had downplayed the physical aspects of the marital union. The clergy were above sex, or were supposed to be, and that was left for mistresses and secret elopements. The marriage wasn’t about that, it was a societal convention. The Puritans took the Bible’s teaching on the importance of the marital union and brought back a Biblical morality and a healthy enjoyment of physical pleasures within the confines of marriage.

I also enjoyed the chapter on vocation, and how Calvinism invests the idea of a life’s calling with great significance. Political and ethical questions are also addressed from the perspective of Calvinism.

The book concludes with a chapter by Sinclair Ferguson on doxology as the end goal of Calvinism. As it was John Piper’s ministry in particular that drew me toward Calvinism, I can testify that Calvinistic theology if it is actively embraced and understood should tend toward a doxological thrust in life. Everything should be seen as flowing from God’s good hand, and our very salvation is a free gift of God’s grace. Calvinism should make us worshipful and humble, not proud.

Joel Beeke and the other contributors to this book are to be commended for showing us how doctrine should impact all of life. They open up the horizons of contemporary Christians to see the beauty of faithful orthodox piety of previous generations. The book does get long and can be quite varied at times. But the work can be seen as an anthology from which to glean what you find interesting and helpful. I recommend this book heartily.

This book is available for purchase at the following sites: Amazon.com, Westminster Bookstore, and direct from Reformation Trust

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Reformation Trust Publishing for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to provide a favorable review.