tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103571652024-03-23T10:58:53.183-07:00Every Square InchJust a Drummer, Coram Deo.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.comBlogger275125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-43739656338755073372016-09-08T12:56:00.003-07:002016-09-08T12:58:07.723-07:00CraftThis started as some ideas to tweetsplode, but it would be long even for me.<br />
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I've always looked at my job as involving both <i>art</i> and <i>craft</i>. I got this analogy from Terry Bozzio: a painter can paint a portrait, or he can paint your house. Kinda like that.<br />
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My job these days is almost <i>entirely</i> craft. Playing in worship bands, playing in cover bands, backing up singer/songwriter guys...hell, even most "original" situations boil down to executing someone else's idea of what the drum set ought to do. There's really very little "art" involved in what the bulk of musicians and music consumers want to hear from a drummer.<br />
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Even what passes for the drummer being "creative" usually means changing the <i>sound </i>of the kit and playing 60 year old cliches on it. "He's so creative! The toms are muffled!" That kind of thing. Pretty much every pop/rock/worship/whatever musician I know thinks this way.<br />
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(Thank God for djent)<br />
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I've grown to be pretty okay with the idea that of all the musicians I know, <i>maybe </i>a few are interested in <i>my </i>ideas of what I should play and sound like. I'm really good at playing what I'm asked to play. I can, and do, make it work (meaning, I can make an audience sing, dance, head bang, etc.). I'm simply a blue collar musician who does the job right.<br />
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What has me musing about this is that since I enjoy the work, the only thing that I could foresee making me interested in the "original" scene again would have to involve either lots of money or total creative freedom. Otherwise, what would be the point?<br />
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I think my transition has been, if you'll excuse me, from blue balls to blue collar. But I still have fits of the former.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-64875327022477440082016-01-02T14:31:00.002-08:002016-01-02T14:33:44.600-08:00Circus WorshipThere's a joke my friend Aric and I have had for years. We like to turn songs into circus polkas, usually during rehearsal. Another joke I shared with several friends is playing worship music in a minor key.<br />
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Once I combined the two under the fake band name Minor Prophets, using my friend Ross King's "You Alone Can Satisfy." Enjoy.<br />
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So, why is this funny? It's because we all understand how absurd these elements would be in the context of a worship service. The irreverence of the thing is self-evident. That musical style isn't <i>for </i>that.<br />
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Okay…<br />
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So this weekend, Big Worship Conference™ is happening, and the current trend in worship music is electronic dance music (EDM). Lotsa young people will be jumping around to worshippy "untz" grooves, and as a result, I'll be playing them in Churches over the next year.<br />
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I'll be watching <i>either</i> the jumping <i>or</i> sheep-in-the-headlights not singing, if this year's experience mirrors the last.<br />
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Why?<br />
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Isn't it obvious? We're trying to get people to stand and sing to music not <i>made</i> for that. We're using it for a purpose--the reverent worship of Almighty God--for which it's not suited. It's <i>dance</i> music. It's not made to convey reverence, and reverence is what God says makes worship acceptable to him.<br />
<br />Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-72043548264298792182015-08-08T14:02:00.000-07:002015-08-08T14:02:51.647-07:00Why I Won't Shut Up About Worship AlreadyI know I'm a blowhard. I know that, if you read through this blog or follow me on t3h social medias that it just reads like I'm complaining about something popular in Evangelical circles all the time. Most of y'all probably just read it as "Johnny disapproves because he doesn't like it."<br />
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That's not why.<br />
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Every July 4th, or on the nearest Sunday, most Evangelicals in America will trot out this verse from 2 Chronicles: "...if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."<br />
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Now we have to ask, "Is this a promise made to Christians today?" There are several possible answers. It could be a promise only to ancient Israel. I don't believe so, because we are still His people, called by His name. It could be that the promise was temporary TO the ancient Kingdom. I don't find that in the text. It could be either there is no God or He doesn't keep his word, but if you believe either of those the promise is moot. Or it could be, as I believe, God has made, and keeps, this promise to all His people for all time, not just during the Temple administration.<br />
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The next question, then, is, "How's the land?" As far as <i>I</i> can tell, it doesn't seem very healed. So the conclusion I reach is that, whatever we think we're doing, it isn't what the Lord is speaking about in this promise.<br />
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This is a concern for me in terms of the worship of the Bible-believing Church (don't care what the Bible-doubting Church does; they are irrelevant) because I believe worship drives the societal car, and whatever judgement the Lord is visiting on a nation starts in His house and moves outward. I don't blame the unbelievers; <i>they</i> don't have the promise.<br />
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So it's <i>that-</i>-coming before the Lord lacking humility, not turning from iniquity, not seeking His face that concerns me when I see it, and I'm afraid I see it often. Maybe I'm overly sensitive and am seeing something else, but I refer you to the questions above.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-32810020730481099572014-12-16T11:19:00.004-08:002014-12-16T11:19:51.720-08:00God's DwellingReading in the Revelation for Advent…<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.</blockquote>
<br /> How about that? And who are those who dwell in Heaven?<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
But God, being rich in mercy, ...made us alive together with Christ...and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…<br />But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…<br />Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.<br />And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.</blockquote>
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<br />Heavy. <br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> </div>
Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-21793959155933662402014-11-14T09:47:00.004-08:002014-11-14T10:36:43.228-08:00Spirit and Truth from St. Basil"Another sense may however be given to the phrase, that just as the Father is seen in the Son, so is the Son in the Spirit. The worship in the Spirit suggests the idea of the operation of our intelligence being carried on in the light, as may be learned from the words spoken to the woman of Samaria. Deceived as she was by the customs of her country into the belief that worship was local, our Lord, with the object of giving her better instruction, said that worship ought to be offered in Spirit and in Truth, plainly meaning by the Truth, Himself. As then we speak of the worship offered in the Image of God the Father as worship in the Son, so too do we speak of worship in the Spirit as showing in Himself the Godhead of the Lord. Wherefore even in our worship the Holy Spirit is inseparable from the Father and the Son. If you remain outside the Spirit you will not be able even to worship at all; and on your becoming in Him you will in no way be able to dissever Him from God—any more than you will divorce light from visible objects. For it is impossible to behold the Image of the invisible God except by the enlightenment of the Spirit, and impracticable for him to fix his gaze on the Image to dissever the light from the Image, because the cause of vision is of necessity seen at the same time as the visible objects. Thus fitly and consistently do we behold the Brightness of the glory of God by means of the illumination of the Spirit, and by means of the Express Image we are led up to Him of whom He is the Express Image and Seal, graven to the like."Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-52188787583038834492014-10-28T15:26:00.000-07:002014-10-28T17:07:59.735-07:00The Drinking Hymn<div id="fb-root">
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<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=756385194397249" data-width="466">
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=756385194397249">Post</a> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/holytrinityhouston">Church of the Holy Trinity</a>.</div>
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I wrote a drinking hymn.<br />
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At my <a href="http://www.holytrinityrec.org/" target="_blank">Church</a> it's very common for the men to sit around a table and enjoy libations and a good cigar or pipe together. At those times it's very common for someone to raise a glass and say, "To the King!" I thought it would be nice if we had a drinking song along those lines we could sing together at our Men's Retreat or monthly "Pipe Club," or even on Sundays around the Church patio after worship. I wrote it mostly during the drive out to Concan and we learned it and sang it for the video posted above. I was really pleased with it and shared it with a few friends who I thought might get a kick out of it.<br />
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I was <i>not</i> prepared for it to have almost 10,000 views and to have been shared 70 times! It seems to have really resonated with a lot of people, and for that I'm really glad. I'd like to share some thoughts about why I think that is.<br />
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<b>Fellowship</b><br />
I think many of us in the Evangelical world are starved for Christian community. We sit in crowds of hundreds, sing a couple of songs, hear a sermon by a preacher on a video screen and then high tail it <i>out</i> of there before the traffic gets too bad. Maybe we'll meet the usual friends at a restaurant, maybe we'll see our Bible study group, but there's a lack of "common life" in which a group has committed themselves to one another for years.<br />
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The brothers you see in that video have years of worship, time invested, and sharing one another's ups and downs together. Being a small Parish, we get involved with one another quickly upon joining, and that's pretty much the expectation of membership. We want you with us for far more than an hour and a half on Sunday. Further, when corporate worship is hitting on all cylinders fellowship will naturally grow from it. Common Prayer builds common life. This is a HUGE part of why I go to a "liturgical" Church.<br />
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<b>Masculinity</b><br />
Another big problem today is that the Church has become so feminized. Revivalist emotionalism led to feminist prohibitionism led to men leaving the Church or abdicating their religious responsibilities. At Holy Trinity there is a very masculine Church culture. Men are free to be men and our worship reflects that. Interestingly, our women feel freed up by this to be more feminine.<br />
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The smoking and drinking and all that are what usually strike visitors but really, they are just manifestations of something deeper, and it is <i>that</i> that I think attracts people. We have men who neither drink nor smoke but are as strongly involved in forming our Church culture as those who do, after all, so it is something else behind that face of it.<br />
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I believe it's mostly liturgical. The form and content of our liturgy, the hymns and songs we sing, the preaching we hear are full of avenues for men to praise God like men. The emasculating sentimentality of revivalism is not found in a Church like ours, neither is self-centered therapeutic moralism in the preaching of the Word.<br />
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Godly leaders protecting us from those things, as well as keeping us clear from the opposite error of a fakey machismo, has created a bond of brotherhood which further sustains itself by continued example in our common life and growth together. The Lord has kindly blessed us with a very small, imperfect glimpse of what it's supposed to be like for Christian men to share life together. I think men and women alike pick up on this and realize they are longing for it.<br />
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<b>What You Can Do</b><br />
If you're one of those people longing for the fellowship and masculine freedom you see in the video, you can have it! Start hanging around after Church. Spend time with each other. Be men; don't feel you have to relate to each other in some contrived way. One of the problems with "men's groups" is that they often want the guys to get together and "share" the way women do. Just be yourselves.<br />
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Take a look at your worship--the things you say, the things you do, the prayers you pray.<br />
God has provided clear instruction on how to approach Him as a man. Study. Commit. Throw yourself into the cause of Christ.<br />
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Join us!<br />
<br />Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-42479987506568832002014-09-18T16:07:00.001-07:002014-09-18T16:08:36.885-07:00Catechism, pt. 1<i>By "Catechism" I'm not referring to the method of religious instruction consisting of questions and answers. Catechesis is a big part of what I'll be describing, but I'm using the term as the overall description of a method of disciple-making, which for our purposes is going to center on the form and content of the worship service. I got the term from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williamson_Nevin">John Williamson Nevin</a>, who coined it to describe the antithesis of revivalism, or as he named it the system of the "<a href="https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=CNcpAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PP1">Anxious Bench</a>."</i><br />
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1. We trust the Holy Ghost to bring to Christ all those appointed to eternal life.</div>
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2. The call to the unbeliever is to become a worshipper of the Triune God.</div>
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3. This is a thing foreign to him as an unbeliever.</div>
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4. It is therefore to be expected that Christian worship isn't readily "accessible" to him.</div>
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5. It will become so as he is converted and instructed.</div>
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6. Both actually begin as he observes and participates as he is able.</div>
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7. It is therefore necessary that he observes worship done decently and in good order, according to God's revealed standards.</div>
Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-66597415875214419032014-05-27T15:14:00.001-07:002014-05-27T15:21:16.124-07:00Catechism-ProlegomenaBy "Catechism" I'm not referring to the method of religious instruction consisting of questions and answers. Catechesis is a big <i>part </i>of what I'll be describing, but I'm using the term as the overall description of a method of disciple-making, which for our purposes is going to center on the form and content of the worship service. I got the term from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williamson_Nevin" target="_blank">John Williamson Nevin</a>, who coined it to describe the antithesis of revivalism, or as he named it the system of the "<a href="https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=CNcpAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PP1" target="_blank">Anxious Bench</a>."<br />
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The "system" of the Catechism consists of steady, patient instruction, not given to gimmickry and spectacle. It orients worship around the means God has given: Word and Sacrament. It does not appeal to or care about the base felt needs and desires of the people to whom it ministers. It seeks neither to thrill nor entertain.<br />
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I'll be doing what I did in the "<a href="http://johnnydrums.blogspot.com/search/label/Revivalism" target="_blank">Revivalism</a>" series. I'll post seven theses, more thinking aloud than anything else. If it provokes discussion, great!Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-6024139739767366202014-04-24T10:30:00.000-07:002014-04-24T10:32:54.403-07:00The Thing with the HymnsThis Holy Week brought with it so many opportunities to sing glorious hymns to the Lord. It's my favorite time of the Church year. Reflecting on the music of the past week had me thinking about a practice that has increasingly been driving me nuts. I could write a pretty lengthy series of posts, but today here's just a brief outline of why I'm opposed to the popular practice of adding choruses to old hymns.<br />
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<b>It Doesn't Improve Them</b><br />
I could leave it at that, really. Have <i>any</i> additions <i>really</i> made the work better? If not, why do it? I can only think of bad reasons, some of which are below.<br />
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<b>Hymns Don't <i>Do</i> That</b><br />
In a hymn, the verses go together to form a complete thought. Like sentences in a paragraph, each verse relates to the one before or after it. In a song, the verses relate to the chorus. Interrupting the train of thought to a hymn, and <i>omitting </i>some key verses, puts the expression of the thought out of joint and interjects a non sequitur.<br />
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<b>Pride</b><br />
In most of these instances we're dealing with works that have been in regular widespread use for at least a century or two. They haven't <i>exactly</i> demonstrated a lack of some sort which needs to be fixed. Yet an <i>industry</i> that for the most part produces works considered passé and out of rotation within ten to fifteen years (when was the last time you sang "Shine, Jesus, Shine?") presumes to <i>evaluate</i>, <i>edit</i>, and <i>improve upon</i> them? What cascade of absurdities has to be accepted to buy into the delusion that one is qualified to do this?<br />
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<b>More Pride</b><br />
What makes us believe that our entertainment mentality ought to be the norm to which any inclusion of older music must conform? Can we not seek to include this art and respect its form and content to the best we can in our individual settings?<br />
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<b>I'm Cynical</b><br />
This is my own personal issue but if <i>I've</i> thought of this, surely at least <i>someone</i> involved has, too. Hymns are pretty much all in the public domain. If I record one and (by some miracle) my arrangement gets airplay and use in Churches, I might sell some records and make some money. But if I add a chorus in between the verses, I've written <i>half the song</i>, and I get publishing royalties every time it's played on the radio and <i>in your Church</i>.<br />
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<b>It's Self-Centered</b><br />
This is the big one for me. Today our worship is very self-oriented. We tend to gather as congregations of individuals and not <i>one people unified across all time and space, </i> which is what the Bible teaches. The felt needs and likes of each individual in the pews are driving what we sing and do. Novelty is king. People may not like these hymns done this way; we must jazz them up. It's not true, but even if it were, it is <i>exactly</i> this mentality out of which people need to be trained. We worship <i>with</i> those who have gone before us, and so it is only right to sing their music. We should do the same if the music of the future ever becomes available! Love and mutual submission ought to make us respect these great works and seek to add our voices to them in deference to the greater Body.<br />
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That's the main gist of it. Your thoughts are welcome.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-50977740723252593702014-03-01T16:06:00.001-08:002014-03-01T16:16:48.796-08:00Taking the Law SeriouslyAntinomianism is a disturbing trend in contemporary Christian circles. I don't think it's only those of us in the Reconstruction/theonomy/whatever camp who feel this way. In Evangelical circles, especially in the arts, I find there's a sort of disdain toward God's Law that, in my opinion, is wreaking havoc in our part of the Church.<br />
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We too easily look at God's commandments as simply that which no longer condemns us since we are in Christ. Being "freed from the Law," we pay no more attention to it. When someone brings it up as regards a particular issue (say sodomy since it's popular) we easily fall into the trap of the "shellfish fallacy." We for the most part dismiss the idea that the Law still has something to say about how we are to live. We're very concerned to not come across as Pharisaical legalists. We <i>certainly</i> don't want to be accused of guilt-by-association with whatever group of so-and-sos those on the other side of an issue want to lump us in with.<br />
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The attitude finds its way into our daily life. If we even read the Law we read the "offensive" commandments through lenses made of caveats, through the loophole if you will of our freedom from condemnation.<br />
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In certain circles lacking spiritual disciplines (such as Lent), I see at least a <i>temptation</i> to not deal with the idea that God has very definite ideas about what being like Him looks like and does not look like. In our concern to reach out to the lost we are afraid of confronting the idea that God <i>really does</i> despise certain things and requires certain others.<br />
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Are we too easily persuaded that it's kooky to look at, say, adultery in <i>exactly the same way</i> we look at murder? How about reviling parents?<br />
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Can we deal with <a href="http://johnnydrums.blogspot.com/2010/04/theonomy-primer-pt-6.html" target="_blank">the thought</a> that those (to us) minor things which God considered on par with murder in His Law ought to be abhorred by us to the same extent, because <i>that's what God is like</i>?<br />
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It's worth trying on for size, just to see what you really think about it.<br />
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My Humble Suggestion:</b><br />
Lent begins Wednesday. Over the days leading up to Easter, try reading Deuteronomy. Better yet, write it out into a notebook, maybe a chapter at a time. Read it with the attitude that these commandments are God's revelation of who He is, what He is like, and what He wants us to be like. When you hit something that sticks in your craw, don't simply quote Galatians at it. Think of it as the attitude you ought to have in your heart. Really try to believe it.<br />
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I promise you, when Good Friday comes around, you'll feel it. When Easter follows, your joy will be full.<br />
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You may or may not be persuaded toward the Theonomic position, but you will at least really know why.<br />
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P.S. I've already tried antimonianism and found it, shall we say, lacking.<br />
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<br />Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-45340938115406905272014-02-06T09:42:00.000-08:002014-05-26T10:24:46.301-07:00A Don Miller ExcursisDon Miller has raised a ruckus and many thoughtful responses have been written. I am not linking to his posts, because I consider his position poisonous. But I've had some good discussions on account of them (and it's enough to bring me out of blog retirement), so I'm thankful for his thoughts. Maybe I'll even finish some things I said I'd write as a result.<br />
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I read a few chapters of <i>Blue Like Jazz</i> before deciding I had better things to read. That's the extent of my interest in Mr. Miller's writing. I have many friends who read his books and blog, and from time to time hear him mentioned. That's how I came to read his "Why I Don't Go to Church" posts. I <a href="https://twitter.com/johnnydrummr" target="_blank">tweeted</a> a bit about it, but saw an opportunity to address something tangential that came to mind here.<br />
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Y'all know, or should know, that reforming the worship of the Evangelical Church is a major concern of mine. I believe many if not most of our <i>culture's</i> problems flow from the practice of our <i>cultus</i>. In Mr. Miller's thinking I see precisely that which guys like John Nevin were predicting 170 years ago when revivalism was in full swing.<br />
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Several false assumptions lie behind Miller's self-excommunication. The biggest is that the worship service exists to meet his needs. Failing to do so, it may be abandoned for that which does--a solitary walk in the country, personal devotion, or (tellingly, in my opinion) being in charge of his company and by teaching.<br />
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A couple of other assumptions follow from this: that worship exists to provide personal intimacy with God, and that the worshipers are there to learn.<br />
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I've already sent out some thoughts on those so suffice to say worship exists for <i>God's</i> sake, and any personal feelings and learning we get from it are <i>secondary</i>. But my interest here has more to do with practice.<br />
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When Miller writes of "traditional" Church, he means something quite different from what someone like me, who <i>attends</i> a traditional Church, means by that word, for the service he describes (music and a sermon, probably with an invitation afterward) is a new invention. It is, to use Nevin's language, the "system of the Anxious Bench," or the practice of the revivalists, as opposed to the traditional practice of the historic Church.<br />
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It's precisely the revivalistic form and content that is leaving Miller, a "kinesthetic learner," dry. There's nothing for him to <i>do. </i>It's telling he opines that most men probably struggle as he does, as there's likely quite a bit of feminizing emotionalism involved. He's not connected to the lyrics of the music. The sermon's not getting through. There's something to be examined here: Are the songs romantic jingles? Are the sermons simply build-ups to the invitation's fervor? These over time can and do leave people burnt out. Perhaps not, and he is simply being disobedient. But either way, he's bought the paradigm: corporate worship is to serve an individual's felt needs and desires, and so when it doesn't, find another angle or gimmick, or abandon it altogether.<br />
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This is the mindset that revivalism's practices have brought about. It's this that I seek to oppose, and I pray in some small way to hold up an alternative.<br />
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I have been praying for Don Miller, because abandoning Church ALWAYS--hear me here--<b>ALWAYS</b> leads to kooky town. He, like most of us, needs to have his thinking reformed about worshipping the Triune God His way, and he needs to be doing so, regularly. He needs the only true intimacy with God which is available: Holy Communion with Him in the Body of Christ, and a life lived in its context.<br />
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<br />Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-45613986331418280842011-11-15T20:47:00.000-08:002011-11-15T21:13:27.043-08:00Revivalism, pt. 71. Revivalism has failed. It fails because it steers us away from what God wants and towards ourselves--our emotions and felt needs.<br /><br />2. Revivalist techniques, emphases and content need to be self-consciously avoided, and that which revivalism displaced should be embraced and emphasized in our worship.<br /><br />3. This is not to manipulate people but to reorient our worship toward what God says He wants.<br /><br />4. This will bring reform to the Church.<br /><br />5. This in turn will reform the culture.<br /><br />6. It will be opposed even from unlikely sources.<br /><br />7. Because it is what God says He wants, it will happen, after us if not with us. This should encourage us in the face of resistance.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-20069057779730539062011-03-29T18:17:00.000-07:002011-03-29T19:21:31.518-07:00Lent 2011: The Death of Lily and Adam's Sin<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtuGJGYT1GlRAIsIc0nHkrz29YG0lWZAf_KM9PVR69AsZQYGe_OO7VKnMfmBbl0TrW9_v1O2_BLRj-FTHbky8c1TZdHEZ6QDINZFnskZ-fTqSYgB2lkLcQCrX4WItA-QyKK9fC/s1600/39026_10150231022675176_702475175_13986111_2792964_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtuGJGYT1GlRAIsIc0nHkrz29YG0lWZAf_KM9PVR69AsZQYGe_OO7VKnMfmBbl0TrW9_v1O2_BLRj-FTHbky8c1TZdHEZ6QDINZFnskZ-fTqSYgB2lkLcQCrX4WItA-QyKK9fC/s400/39026_10150231022675176_702475175_13986111_2792964_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589688492379624626" /></a><br />I've always had a lot of empathy for our first father, Adam. I've listened to many foolish brothers run him down for what he did, and for the consequences which his sin brought into the world. My knee-jerk response has always been, "You'd have done it too, probably sooner. Honor thy father."<br /><br />Whenever I read of the Fall, my thoughts inevitably lead to considering what must have been Adam's profound regret, a sorrow which would last the better part of a millennium. I grieve over what it must have felt like to watch mankind multiply and fill the Earth, only to sicken, fight, and die, knowing that each person is your offspring and every death is your responsibility, even down to the lowliest inhabitant of a creation subjected to futility.<br /><br />This year, during the "bright sadness" of Lent, just the barest inkling of that experience has intruded into my life, as I watched our dear cat Lily Belle die on the vet's table.<br /><br />Lily came to us at an Evening Prayer service at our home with some of our Church family. I was playing drums at another Church that evening, and so came home late after everyone had arrived. Immediately, my wife and friends started telling me of a stray "kitten" who had walked out of the bushes and onto our doorstep, trying to come in each time another guest arrived. Later, I met her too: tiny, dirty, flea-ridden, and emaciated, with the saddest little face. My heart melted, and after feeding her we made her a little pallet in the garage.<br /><br />We explored shelter options, but I soon discovered that she was deaf. That settled it: we would cross the two-cat limit and become "those people." Our vet informed us that our "kitten" was actually a sweet little old lady, somewhere around seventeen years old!<br /><br />Lily Belle came home and fit right into our life. She was content to eat tons of Fancy Feast and rest in a couple of comfy spots. Occasionally she'd explore but she was happy with the claim she had staked to the living room. She arrived at detente with the two boys with a minimum of complaining from either side.<br /><br />A sweeter cat you'll never find. Lily maintained a constant, gentle purr whenever her people were present. She was at home and pleased in our presence and loved to have her little head stroked. She wasn't particularly playful (either old age or life on the street had killed those impulses) but sometimes we'd walk into the room to find her sitting in a paper bag or cardboard box reserved for the younger cats' use.<br /><br />But the way of all flesh crept upon Lily Belle, and her little kidneys began to give out. She stopped eating, became dehydrated, and grew more and more lethargic. After attempts on our part to give her subcutaneous water and syringe feedings, it became apparent that there would be no prolonging the end results of the disease. We would either watch her suffer or euthanize her before her tiny body began to shut down.<br /><br />Most of us know the pain of that trip--that agonizing last car ride, the tearful goodbye, the lonely drive home and the sting of every reminder around the house. It's heartbreaking.<br /><br />But what lies behind that heartbreak? Is it merely a severed emotional attachment, the loss of a companion, the interruption of a comfortable home life? Is there more, something that gives the deaths of our beloved pets meaning?<br /><br />I believe so. I believe so because I believe that my father Adam sinned, and in him <I> I </i>sinned.<br /><br />Before the transgression our father was given charge of the entire creation, and interestingly that mandate has never been repealed. Rather, it was restated several times to his descendants, and recorded for the rest of us. We have inherited a position of kingly stewardship over all the other creatures but now the glory of our authority is tainted by the curse, and our relationship to them is strained and marred by death.<br /><br />We haven't lost it all. I also believe our delight in our animals derives from our exercising loving dominion over them. Taking responsibility for their lives, for their care and well being, brings deep satisfaction to our souls, because in that we imitate the God Who cares for all. A wise man regardeth the life of his beast, and acting in wisdom always brings blessing.<br /><br />The tragedy of the Fall is that the blessing of owning responsibility for our pets' lives involves owning responsibility for their deaths as well. We brought Lily Belle into our lives knowing she'd be leaving us. We took on that grief the day we opened our door to her.<br /><br />But we <i>did </i>open our door. We knew what it would cost, yet we esteemed loving her, nurturing her, doing what we could to restore her as a thing worth the pain of having to watch her die. As two among the many commissioned to restore the world, we did what we could. <br /><br />I think in the end that's my Lenten lesson. As I live through another cycle of the Church year — at this time owning my own sin even while I'm forgiven — I live through the pain of the curse while working my small part in its undoing. I grieve the pain in the world with my eyes set firmly upon the wiping away of every tear. I know my Redeemer is making all things new, and I thank Him for our Lily Belle and for giving us an achingly brief charge over her life. I take comfort and joy in that the creation's groaning is ever so slowly giving way to singing. <br /><br />I heard a bit of both this year, and was greatly blessed in it.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-10139405010784944462011-02-18T09:09:00.000-08:002011-02-18T09:11:36.891-08:00Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, pt.2Read <a href="http://thenewamerican.com/index.php/culture/family/6360-why-your-church-is-the-way-it-is">this</a>. This is a perfect set-up for this series of blog posts, and a reminder to me to get on it. Stay tuned.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-77690016719174812732010-10-07T09:06:00.000-07:002010-10-07T09:19:37.979-07:00More on (!) That Last PostWhat would be some legitimate reasons for someone to buy and watch a video of a worship service from five years ago? I can think of a few.<br /><br />1. Mere anthropology.<br />2. Liturgical interest.<br />3. Instruction in playing the music. A video hymnal, if you will.<br /><br />...<br /><br />Can't think of any others. Are any of these represented by a significant percentage of the consumers of these products?<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Excursus: Some might answer "So I can worship along at home." This is not a "legitimate reason," in my opinion, because as a son of the Reformation I reject the idea of the private Mass. Also, the use of the video as a devotional tool would seem to be equally questionable in that the videography itself would be a distraction, at least as edited in common usage.</span>Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-13579735382288945562010-10-06T10:15:00.000-07:002011-11-15T20:47:26.592-08:00Worshiping EntertainmentI might be speaking to a group of worship-leading drummers soon, and on a long drive last night I was considering what I might say.<br /><br />One of the things that I thought to bring up seemed blog-worthy, and it is this:<br /><br />I can purchase DVDs of so-called "worship events" (let's just call them worship services, okay?) from a number of large Churches or para-church organizations recorded over the past several years. I can sit on my sofa and watch a worship service from 2006.<br /><br />Stop here and take a moment to ponder how ridiculous that is.<br /><br />Think about that a little more.<br /><br />A little more.<br /><br />That little twinge you should be feeling right now is the creeping feeling that something ain't right.<br /><br />Please do keep coming back to my blog...Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-72336250508540585252010-09-14T19:02:00.000-07:002010-09-14T19:12:24.087-07:00Revivalism, pt. 61. Men become like that which they worship.<br /><br />2. Worshiping a vague, truncated "God" who is generally awesome produces vague and truncated men with no definable sense of awe.<br /><br />3. Worshiping a cosmic boyfriend produces girly, needy men.<br /><br />4. Worshiping a "God" who needs ever-increasing gimmickry and hype produces jaded, unsatisfied men.<br /><br />5. Worshiping a "God" whose presence alone isn't sufficient to attract worshipers produces irreverent men.<br /><br />6. These all demonstrate the vital need to diligently monitor and evaluate the content of our songs, the structure of our services, and the focus of our outreach.<br /><br />7. The weight and complexity of crafting these things is virtually impossible to overstate.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-25394625795589478242010-09-07T09:01:00.000-07:002010-09-07T09:25:36.079-07:00Koran BurningI have some friends who were involved in the occult. Not the buying tarot cards from a hippie in a head shop kind, but the real and scary stuff, the kind that God says you should execute people for. Those brothers repented and got right with the Lord, and as an act of contrition burned their books of magic. They had to pray over them to get them to burn, but that's not important here. Burning as a valid method of idol disposal is. <br /><br />A lot of folks are upset over a fundamentalist Church hosting a "burn a koran" day this September 11th. I think they could find better use of their time, but there is some overreaction to the extent of "Christians shouldn't burn korans." I can't agree with that; I can think of several situations in which it would be a wonderful thing to do.<br /><br />Imagine a family or large group of former Moslems who have just been liberated by the Gospel. They gather around the fire and throw that wicked, twisted book into the flames, rejoicing with wine, kissing their newly unveiled wives, praising God.<br /><br />Picture a modern day Boniface in a village somewhere picking up a koran and throwing it into the fire saying, "Let's see allah do something about <span style="font-style:italic;">that</span>." <br /><br />Who could argue with that?<br /><br />Closer to the point, even burning a koran as an act of contempt is not sin, and is <span style="font-style:italic;">always</span> a better thing than building a mosque <span style="font-style:italic;">anywhere</span>. <br /><br />Now. Burning a koran as either an act of provocation or rah-rah patriotism is <span style="font-style:italic;">more often than not</span> not a desirable act, because it is giving the finger to people to whom one ought to be more concerned with preaching the Gospel. We are to be bold, challenging and confrontational, but our goal is never to seek to insult. And that's where this Church is getting it wrong.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-35891492492175993842010-08-26T09:09:00.000-07:002010-08-26T09:30:02.403-07:00The Mosque Thing<span style="font-style:italic;">I'm back! I'll be posting more this week.</span><br /><br />Let's talk about Cordoba House, shall we?<br /><br />Of course, as a Christian man I am opposed to <span style="font-style:italic;">any</span> house of idolatry being built <span style="font-style:italic;">anywhere</span> in the nation. Why? Because the Lord hates it. It isn't that Cordoba is some kind of "bad" mosque; <span style="font-style:italic;">any</span> mosque, temple, synagogue, or ashram is abominable to Christ. One must consistently believe what one believes.<br /><br />Of <span style="font-style:italic;">course</span> it is a finger in the eye to the nation and the victims of 9/11's families. This is not accidental. In fact, it is a dark funhouse-mirror version of what <span style="font-style:italic;">Christians</span> have always done: build our Churches on top of former pagan temples, announcing that Jesus is Lord of that place now. The difference is that we evangelize and persuade the former worshipers <span style="font-style:italic;">themselves</span> to tear down the pagan temples and their idols and build a Church.<br /><br />Now, we have a problem here and it goes way back. Under our present polity, especially since the War Between the States, State and local governments do not enjoy the freedom they once did under the Constitution, strictly interpreted. <span style="font-style:italic;">"Congress</span> shall make no law..." but New York City surely <span style="font-style:italic;">can</span>. <br /><br />They will not assert their rights because of the real problem, which is this: <span style="font-weight:bold;">We are a polytheistic society.</span> "Tolerance" and "pluralism" are simply wussy ways of saying what it really is. And we Christians have embraced that. Not content with the Biblical ideal of tolerance, we have embraced the twisted egalitarian interpretation. Contented to have Jesus as our "personal Lord and Savior," we have not proclaimed Him as Lord of Manhattan and Everywhere Else.<br /><br />And if that's who we're going to be, then let the Moslems build their mosque. It's not their fault they are taking the advantage we have handed them. To many it will stand as an insult to the victims of the 9/11 attacks, but what it really stands as is a testimony to the spinelessness of the American Christian man.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-26847725154826664362010-07-03T21:47:00.001-07:002010-07-03T21:47:52.044-07:00IndependenceWhen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.<br /><br />We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.<br /><br />He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.<br /><br />He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.<br /><br />He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.<br /><br />He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.<br /><br />He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.<br /><br />He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.<br /><br />He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.<br /><br />He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.<br /><br />He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.<br /><br />He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.<br /><br />He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.<br /><br />He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.<br /><br />He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:<br /><br />For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:<br /><br />For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:<br /><br />For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:<br /><br />For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:<br /><br />For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:<br /><br />For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:<br /><br />For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies<br /><br />For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:<br /><br />For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.<br /><br />He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.<br /><br />He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.<br /><br />He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.<br /><br />He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.<br /><br />He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.<br /><br />In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.<br /><br />Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.<br /><br />We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.<br /><br />— John Hancock<br /><br />New Hampshire:<br />Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton<br /><br />Massachusetts:<br />John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry<br /><br />Rhode Island:<br />Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery<br /><br />Connecticut:<br />Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott<br /><br />New York:<br />William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris<br /><br />New Jersey:<br />Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark<br /><br />Pennsylvania:<br />Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross<br /><br />Delaware:<br />Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean<br /><br />Maryland:<br />Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton<br /><br />Virginia:<br />George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton<br /><br />North Carolina:<br />William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn<br /><br />South Carolina:<br />Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton<br /><br />Georgia:<br />Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George WaltonJohnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-28157196809348346472010-06-24T17:25:00.000-07:002010-06-24T17:42:57.775-07:00Thoughts on This Morning's StudyReading through Isaiah chapter 11 today. We hear this every Advent and I think we sometimes don't pay a lot of attention because it's so familiar.<br /><blockquote>There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,<br /> and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.<br />And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,<br /> the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,<br /> the Spirit of counsel and might,<br /> the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.<br />And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see,<br /> or decide disputes by what his ears hear,<br />but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,<br /> and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;</blockquote><br />So far so good, huh? We all understand this to be talking about Jesus, and what He is going to do when He comes into the world.<br />Next:<br /><blockquote>and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,<br /> and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.<br />Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,<br /> and faithfulness the belt of his loins.</blockquote><br />Not so gentle Jesus meek and mild, is it? All kinds of cross references come to mind here; think of Revelation 19 or Psalm 2. Jesus' word strikes the wicked of the Earth, and this comes from His righteousness and faithfulness (He is called Faithful and True).<br /><br />His striking the earth and killing the wicked results in:<br /><blockquote>The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,<br /> and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,<br />and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;<br /> and a little child shall lead them.<br />The cow and the bear shall graze;<br /> their young shall lie down together;<br /> and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.<br />The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,<br /> and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.</blockquote><br />We know this cannot be heaven or the Resurrection. Why? There are children. Whether this animals-gettin'-along business is literal or symbolic, there is no doubt that Christ's rule is to result in amazing peace. So much so that:<br /><blockquote>They shall not hurt or destroy<br /> in all my holy mountain;<br />for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD<br /> as the waters cover the sea.</blockquote><br />Here are the promises of God concerning what will happen when He sends His Son into the world. We have already been told that when He comes the increase of His government and of peace will have no end. Here is the glorious "millennium" of His reign and the result of the fruition of its increase. <br /><br />Wonderful.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-22442058227958116452010-05-27T13:12:00.001-07:002010-05-27T13:19:20.190-07:00Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, pt. 1<span style="font-style:italic;">Another</span> series of posts. I want to explore what for us Anglicans is kind of a guiding principle. Lex orandi, lex credendi means "the law of prayer is the law of faith." It works in two ways: What you pray, the way you worship, shapes the content of your belief; <span style="font-style:italic;">and</span> the way you worship shows forth what you <span style="font-style:italic;">really</span> believe.<br /><br />You can learn a lot about what is important to a Church by observing its liturgy, and you can kind of predict where it's going. I'm not going to name names, but I'm wanting to ask some questions.<br /><br />If you know me, you will probably be able to guess where some of my examples come from. <span style="font-style:italic;">Please</span>, no one take offense, because I am not going on a "heresy hunt." I'm just wanting to ask provocative questions.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-27593270180228547082010-05-17T17:12:00.000-07:002010-05-17T17:22:51.378-07:00Revivalism, Pt. 51. Worship is transformational.<br /><br />2. This is inescapably true of both acceptable and unacceptable worship.<br /><br />3. It is therefore very important to make sure we are leading the congregation in acceptable worship.<br /><br />4. This calls for very careful Bible study and a very different set of goals than may be found in typical American Evangelical Churches.<br /><br />5. Meeting the preferences and felt needs of a target "audience" is not a worthwhile goal.<br /><br />6. This is because it is <span style="font-style:italic;">precisely</span> their needs and desires which are to be <span style="font-style:italic;">transformed</span> by worshiping God acceptably.<br /><br />7. By carefully structuring our worship on Biblical precepts, principles, and examples, we will over time create a body of worshipers joyfully engaged in the liturgy, <span style="font-style:italic;">but</span> only as a side effect of a more worthy goal--offering God what He says He wants.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-66675224221075892992010-05-15T12:21:00.000-07:002010-05-15T15:06:26.486-07:00Ascension Day(s after)So, last Thursday was Ascension Day. Did you celebrate it?<br /><br />I feel very blessed to belong to a Church and a tradition in which the Ascension of Christ is still thought of as a holiday, and worth having a special worship service for. But even for us, turnout was minimal.<br /><br />Now, I'm not going to chastise the parishoners who stayed home, nor any of y'all whose Churches don't celebrate at all. I <span style="font-style:italic;">am</span> going to bust on leaders, past and present, for their failure to teach and to lead concerning this most important day.<br /><br />First, though, it's worth noting what the lack of importance of the holy day to most Evangelicals says about our view of Christ's Ascension. I think it highlights a couple of things: one, we don't really think Jesus is King of anything in any meaningful way; and two, we don't understand just what is accomplished in His "riding up the heavenly way."<br /><br />Jesus ascended into Heaven to <span style="font-style:italic;">reign</span> until all His enemies are made into His footstool, until the last enemy is put down. He didn't ascend into Heaven to wait around until He <span style="font-style:italic;">gets</span> to be the King of Everything; he is and has been for nearly two millennia now. Obviously, He has always been the Ruler of all <span style="font-style:italic;">as God</span>, but we are talking about His going up as Messiah to receive all authority in Heaven and Earth, as Daniel foresaw.<br /><br />But a lot of us don't believe that. Want to know why I hate Dispensationalism? That's why. It teaches that the <span style="font-style:italic;">devil</span> is ruling the world and Jesus hopes He gets to come take over soon. No. Let us read our Bibles a little more carefully, and see what Jesus said He <span style="font-style:italic;">was</span> doing and <span style="font-style:italic;">came</span> to do the <span style="font-style:italic;">first</span> time. Let us note that He is the <span style="font-style:italic;">Ruler</span> of the kings on Earth, and holds all authority. <span style="font-style:italic;">This is the very basis for the Great Commission!</span> He says "<span style="font-weight:bold;">therefore</span> go and make disciples of all nations." Jesus' current Kingdom is <span style="font-style:italic;">muy importante.</span><br /><br />And we fare no better if we take a radical "two kingdom" approach which limits the extent of Christ's rule to the hearts of His people. This the Bible simply does not teach. Jesus is not Lord of vapor. Every *ahem* Square Inch of the Universe is His. He came to save it, He paid for it in His Blood, He asked of His Father, He beat up the "strong man" and took his stuff. Everything is His, and we ought to joyfully acknowledge it and worship Him.<br /><br />Further, it is Jesus' ascended humanity that is the veil through which we have access to the Holy of Holies in Heaven. It is only in His Ascension that He goes into the Temple as High Priest to offer His blood as an intercession and propitiation for us. For Evangelicals, whose worship centers on their own personal salvation, to miss how big of a deal this is is baffling. Humanity, in its unfallen state, is taken up into the realm previously reserved to God and the angels. Wonder of wonders! And in going up in His body, our Lord takes <span style="font-style:italic;">us</span> there with Him, and seats us there in Himself. Ponder that. Understand what it says about Sunday morning.<br /><br />Are these glories not worthy of <span style="font-style:italic;">at least</span> the treatment we give to Christmas? Or even Thanksgiving? Fourth of July? <span style="font-style:italic;">Presidents'</span> Day?<br /><br />Those who have a duty to preach the Word, all of it, and teach us to live in these truths have for generations dropped the ball. Most of us truly know no better. We can't blame each other for that. But see, I have told <span style="font-style:italic;">you</span>. Let us joyfully come to our great King and glory in His Coronation next time its day comes around. Let us live in its implications <span style="font-style:italic;">every</span> day.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10357165.post-88618125142099041492010-05-10T15:44:00.000-07:002010-05-10T15:55:11.713-07:00"Engaging" CutlureIt's cool among Christians to talk of engaging culture, engaging <span style="font-style:italic;">with</span> culture, etc. I want to start looking at that.<br /><br />I want to ask, "Are we at a place where we can?" while acknowledging that it really doesn't matter if we are, because it's something we have to do anyway.<br /><br />But first, what do we mean? "Engaging" can mean "taking part in," or it can mean "taking on." Both are inescapable but in our day, the latter is to be primary. We live in a time in which the prevailing <span style="font-style:italic;">culture</span> is flowing from from a <span style="font-style:italic;">cultus</span> of paganism. Though we still ride the momentum of Christendom's wave, that is not what is driving society these days.<br /><br />That means we are "engaging" in a struggle over <span style="font-style:italic;">who determines the direction of culture</span>, because <span style="font-style:italic;">someone</span> is going to.<br /><br />Part of the reason I believe Christians in our land are not prepared for this fight is because we don't even all agree that there <span style="font-style:italic;">is</span> a fight. Many do not believe that it is up to Christians to set the cultural course.<br /><br />Part of what I see my life's work as is to do my small part to convince those in my small circle that we are called to exercise cultural dominion. Or, at the very least, begin to lay a foundation for a generation that can.Johnny!http://www.blogger.com/profile/10314962226900234185noreply@blogger.com2