Tag Archives: Articles on Worship

What is the Nature of Religion? Theology

What is the Nature of Religion? Theology

This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Worldview-Forming Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Broadly speaking, theology is how we intentionally answer the questions James Sire provided (see last week’s post) that form the assumptions at the core of our worldview. What we believe about the nature of reality, the purpose and meaning of life, the basis of right and wrong, and most importantly God form our theology. Theology… Continue Reading

The Conservative Philosophy of Culture and Worship

The Conservative Philosophy of Culture and Worship

Last week I offered a brief synopsis of the standard evangelical progressive philosophy of culture and worship. Today, I’d like to offer a simple counterpoint to that view. This conservative philosophy, of course, is a central focus of much of what we write here at Religious Affections, and this post is not meant to be… Continue Reading

Practice Makes Perfect: Culture and the Liturgies of Life

Practice Makes Perfect: Culture and the Liturgies of Life

This entry is part 10 of 10 in the series Practice Makes Perfect You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

So here are the primary points of my argument: Culture is the behavior of a people. The formation of certain kinds of behaviors falls squarely in the nature, purpose, and mission of churches. The cultivation of holy living necessarily involves shaping the inclinations of hearts. The heart’s inclinations are shaped through habitual practices. Liturgies are… Continue Reading

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi

This entry is part 9 of 10 in the series Practice Makes Perfect You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Over the past several weeks I have been making the argument that in order to shape the behavior–the culture–of a people, we must give attention to the inclinations of their hearts, and such inclincations are shaped through habits. Let us bring this full circle. I have argued that liturgies form us because they embody beliefs… Continue Reading

Reenactment

Reenactment

This entry is part 8 of 10 in the series Practice Makes Perfect You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

We saw last week that in order to counteract the negative effects of worldly liturgies, the liturgies of our churches must be shaped by Scripture. So let us specifically consider the liturgies in Scripture for a moment. The Mosaic Law is filled with them, and these liturgies help us to see both the purpose of… Continue Reading

Corporate Worship is Formative

Corporate Worship is Formative

This entry is part 7 of 10 in the series Practice Makes Perfect You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Last week I mentioned that we are inevitably shaped by worldly liturgies, and so we need something to counteract this. This is where it will be useful to narrow the definition of leitourgia to how it has been used at least since the LXX as the work of the people in corporate worship. Most evangelicals… Continue Reading

Adoration

Adoration

The adoration of God is one of the most neglected practices in American evangelicalism. Many evangelicals could not even describe what adoration is. This neglect is unfortunate. Adoration is the most fundamental aspect of biblical religion. It is the goal of both creation and redemption. The practice of adoration should be the center of both… Continue Reading

T. David Gordon’s Foreword to By the Waters of Babylon

T. David Gordon’s Foreword to By the Waters of Babylon

The following is the foreword to By the Waters of Babylon: Worship in a Post Christian Culture by Scott Aniol. The surprising acrimony that sometimes attended the “worship wars” of the last several decades suggested that we were talking past each other; that what we were talking about was somehow the tip of a larger, undiscussed iceberg beneath… Continue Reading

How corporate worship is and is not like a baseball game

How corporate worship is and is not like a baseball game

Yesterday I attended a baseball game with my family, and I found myself pondering again a comparison I’ve often heard made by preachers between corporate worship and sporting events. “Look at how excited and enthusiastic everyone is,” they observe. “If we can get that excited about sports, we should be even more enthusiastic about God… Continue Reading

The most significant misconception about music in worship

The most significant misconception about music in worship

Here’s one of the most important concepts about music in worship I think needs to be communicated to pastors and parishioners alike: Music in the context of corporate worship is not primarily about giving people an authentic expression through their preferred musical style. Music in worship is (as is liturgy and preaching) formative. It shapes right spiritual… Continue Reading

Free eBook of Back to Basics Series

Free eBook of Back to Basics Series

This entry is part 10 of 10 in the series Back to Basics You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Over the past several months I have written a series of short articles in which I dealt with the major categories of a biblical philosophy of worship and music in a brief way. My desire was to introduce the basics of these issues to those who hadn’t carefully considered them. I have the posts linked below,… Continue Reading

Biblical worship is trans-generational

Biblical worship is trans-generational

Recently, an article was written by Thomas Rainer here  regarding a worship style that is attractive to Millennials. Just to be clear on the name “Millennials,” it is a generational term ascribed to a particular group of people born during a certain time period. Here is a list of the six living generations today: “The Greatest Generation”… Continue Reading

Article 7: On Scripture Regulated Worship

Article 7: On Scripture Regulated Worship

This entry is part 9 of 17 in the series A Conservative Christian Declaration You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

This is a series to further explain the articles of “A Conservative Christian Declaration.” . We affirm that the worship of God is regulated through his Word. Innovation, however well-intentioned, is “will-worship” (Col. 2:23), violates the free consciences of individual Christians (Rom. 14:5, 23), and is therefore displeasing to God (Matt. 15:9). We affirm that the… Continue Reading

Review of A Neglected Grace by Jason Helopoulos

Review of A Neglected Grace by Jason Helopoulos

A Neglected Grace: Family Worship in the Christian Home, by Jason Helopoulos. Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013. 119 pp. $10.00. “Family worship in the Christian home” is a neglected grace according to author Jason Helopoulos. Helopoulos, Assistant Pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan, laments that many Christian families have given into the… Continue Reading

The Mission of Worship: An Assessment of the Missional Church Movement’s Impact Upon Evangelical Worship Philosophy and Practice

The Mission of Worship: An Assessment of the Missional Church Movement’s Impact Upon Evangelical Worship Philosophy and Practice

The following is the paper I presented yesterday at the national meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society: PDF Audio Version Most church leaders readily recognize that God has tasked churches with several different purposes, yet how those purposes work together has equally mystified them. One of the most potentially difficult ministry relationships to reconcile has… Continue Reading