I 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."
That's not why.
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."
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.
The next question, then, is, "How's the land?" As far as 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.
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; they don't have the promise.
So it's that--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.
Showing posts with label Revivalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revivalism. Show all posts
Revivalism, pt. 7
1. Revivalism has failed. It fails because it steers us away from what God wants and towards ourselves--our emotions and felt needs.
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.
3. This is not to manipulate people but to reorient our worship toward what God says He wants.
4. This will bring reform to the Church.
5. This in turn will reform the culture.
6. It will be opposed even from unlikely sources.
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.
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.
3. This is not to manipulate people but to reorient our worship toward what God says He wants.
4. This will bring reform to the Church.
5. This in turn will reform the culture.
6. It will be opposed even from unlikely sources.
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.
Revivalism, pt. 6
1. Men become like that which they worship.
2. Worshiping a vague, truncated "God" who is generally awesome produces vague and truncated men with no definable sense of awe.
3. Worshiping a cosmic boyfriend produces girly, needy men.
4. Worshiping a "God" who needs ever-increasing gimmickry and hype produces jaded, unsatisfied men.
5. Worshiping a "God" whose presence alone isn't sufficient to attract worshipers produces irreverent men.
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.
7. The weight and complexity of crafting these things is virtually impossible to overstate.
2. Worshiping a vague, truncated "God" who is generally awesome produces vague and truncated men with no definable sense of awe.
3. Worshiping a cosmic boyfriend produces girly, needy men.
4. Worshiping a "God" who needs ever-increasing gimmickry and hype produces jaded, unsatisfied men.
5. Worshiping a "God" whose presence alone isn't sufficient to attract worshipers produces irreverent men.
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.
7. The weight and complexity of crafting these things is virtually impossible to overstate.
Revivalism, Pt. 5
1. Worship is transformational.
2. This is inescapably true of both acceptable and unacceptable worship.
3. It is therefore very important to make sure we are leading the congregation in acceptable worship.
4. This calls for very careful Bible study and a very different set of goals than may be found in typical American Evangelical Churches.
5. Meeting the preferences and felt needs of a target "audience" is not a worthwhile goal.
6. This is because it is precisely their needs and desires which are to be transformed by worshiping God acceptably.
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, but only as a side effect of a more worthy goal--offering God what He says He wants.
2. This is inescapably true of both acceptable and unacceptable worship.
3. It is therefore very important to make sure we are leading the congregation in acceptable worship.
4. This calls for very careful Bible study and a very different set of goals than may be found in typical American Evangelical Churches.
5. Meeting the preferences and felt needs of a target "audience" is not a worthwhile goal.
6. This is because it is precisely their needs and desires which are to be transformed by worshiping God acceptably.
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, but only as a side effect of a more worthy goal--offering God what He says He wants.
Revivalism, pt.4
1. Music is a tool for the worshiper, not a tool to be used on the worshiper.
2. Worship music should serve as a vehicle for ideas and feelings to be lifted up to the Lord.
3. The music should be directed God-ward; if He decides to use it to stir up feelings or responses in people, that is His prerogative.
4. Worship leaders don't have sufficient knowledge or insight into a congregant's soul to know what he needs to do or feel.
5. They therefore ought not plan what they do around manipulating anyone into a response.
6. They do have sufficient knowledge (revealed in Scripture) to know what God requires in worship: reverence, Godly fear, thanksgiving, praise, a broken and contrite heart, etc.
7. They therefore ought to plan what they do around providing the means for the congregation to offer those things.
2. Worship music should serve as a vehicle for ideas and feelings to be lifted up to the Lord.
3. The music should be directed God-ward; if He decides to use it to stir up feelings or responses in people, that is His prerogative.
4. Worship leaders don't have sufficient knowledge or insight into a congregant's soul to know what he needs to do or feel.
5. They therefore ought not plan what they do around manipulating anyone into a response.
6. They do have sufficient knowledge (revealed in Scripture) to know what God requires in worship: reverence, Godly fear, thanksgiving, praise, a broken and contrite heart, etc.
7. They therefore ought to plan what they do around providing the means for the congregation to offer those things.
Revivalism, pt. 3
1. God saves sinners.
2. Men cannot save themselves by anything that they do or say.
3. Repeating a prayer, making a commitment, or walking an aisle accomplishes nothing unless God the Holy Ghost regenerates a man's heart.
4. There is therefore no reason to seek to manipulate people into doing those things.
5. When a worship service is oriented around provoking the congregation into these responses, it may be said that they are the ones being worshiped, because their perceived needs and desires are driving the service.
6. The goal of a worship service is worship, not evangelism.
7. True worship is far more attractive to the regenerate sinner than a revivalistic meeting.
2. Men cannot save themselves by anything that they do or say.
3. Repeating a prayer, making a commitment, or walking an aisle accomplishes nothing unless God the Holy Ghost regenerates a man's heart.
4. There is therefore no reason to seek to manipulate people into doing those things.
5. When a worship service is oriented around provoking the congregation into these responses, it may be said that they are the ones being worshiped, because their perceived needs and desires are driving the service.
6. The goal of a worship service is worship, not evangelism.
7. True worship is far more attractive to the regenerate sinner than a revivalistic meeting.
Revivalism, pt. 2
1. The Second Great Awakening was neither great, nor an awakening.
2. It resulted in the opposite of what it was claimed to be--burned-over districts and the rise of various heretical cults.
3. Charles Grandison Finney was a heretic who, along with others, replaced sacraments and catechizing with emotional manipulation and coercive techniques.
4. The adoption of those techniques by orthodox Christian denominations has borne bad fruit everywhere it has been tried. They continue to have the same results they had in Finney's day.
5. They therefore ought not be used in the Churches.
6. The liturgy (whether formal or informal) is to be oriented towards God's desires and feelings, not ours. God's response should be the one we care about. And He cannot be manipulated.
7. God-honoring worship through Word and Sacrament is the only means of true national awakening.
2. It resulted in the opposite of what it was claimed to be--burned-over districts and the rise of various heretical cults.
3. Charles Grandison Finney was a heretic who, along with others, replaced sacraments and catechizing with emotional manipulation and coercive techniques.
4. The adoption of those techniques by orthodox Christian denominations has borne bad fruit everywhere it has been tried. They continue to have the same results they had in Finney's day.
5. They therefore ought not be used in the Churches.
6. The liturgy (whether formal or informal) is to be oriented towards God's desires and feelings, not ours. God's response should be the one we care about. And He cannot be manipulated.
7. God-honoring worship through Word and Sacrament is the only means of true national awakening.
Revivalism, pt. 1
1. God is to be worshiped on His own terms, and the "success" of a worship service is to be measured by how He is glorified according to those terms.
2. The Bible reveals that Christians can offer both "acceptable" and "unacceptable" worship. It defines both.
3. Worship is not an individual encounter with God.
4. The emotional response of an individual worshiper is not always a determining factor of the acceptability of his worship.
5. It is therefore not a worthwhile goal in planning a worship service.
6. This does not mean that emotional investment by the congregation is not a consideration.
7. We must seek to lead the congregation in involving/investing their emotions in a healthy, Biblically proper way.
2. The Bible reveals that Christians can offer both "acceptable" and "unacceptable" worship. It defines both.
3. Worship is not an individual encounter with God.
4. The emotional response of an individual worshiper is not always a determining factor of the acceptability of his worship.
5. It is therefore not a worthwhile goal in planning a worship service.
6. This does not mean that emotional investment by the congregation is not a consideration.
7. We must seek to lead the congregation in involving/investing their emotions in a healthy, Biblically proper way.
I've Got My Fist, I've Got My Plan, I've Got Revivalism
I'm going to start posting a series about revivalism. This will be looser than my apologetics and theonomy posts, because I don't have a real destination to arrive at--I just want to toss around some ideas. Maybe I'll post them as theses for discussion in the comments.
Revivalism is, IMO, a cancer on the worship and mission of the Church in our day and time. It has infected almost everything I see Evangelicals do, and it's high time we tried to cure it.
Revivalism is, IMO, a cancer on the worship and mission of the Church in our day and time. It has infected almost everything I see Evangelicals do, and it's high time we tried to cure it.
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