• Some Reminders When Thinking About the “Worship Wars”

    Quite often, when an article, pastor, or conference speaker makes critical statements about church music many people express (what may be sincere) disappointment that Christians would argue over such things.  We’ll call this the “why can’t we all get along” objection, which sounds pious and is often made by the most well-intentioned believers, but misses the point.

    Most Christians that I know who are concerned with current worship trends in the Christian church are not the looking-for-a-fight type.  They understand their own fallen-ness and the heartache of division within the church and do not enter lightly into a critique of the worship methods of others.  It can be difficult for sure, but when participating in the worship wars debates we need to make sure that our criticisms do not cross the line into malicious personal attack.

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  • God, Mammon, and the Worship Wars

    If you’ve been to a church at any time in the past 30 years, you have no doubt been subjected to the “worship wars.” Contemporary vs. Traditional. Modern vs. Postmodern. Those on the traditional side say the conflict is ultimately a matter of theology. Those on the contemporary side say it is ultimately a matter of relevance.I’ve got my own opinions about this question, and - just for the record - I’m a traditionalist when it comes to matters of worship. When I hear people talk about relevance, I want to ask: “Relevant to whom?” Any attempt at relevance is by definition an exclusionary activity. In other words, attempts to be culturally relevant to a teenager are exclusionary for an elderly widow. The Body of Christ should be about bringing the teenager and the grandmother together, not driving them apart. Corporate worship should be about what is universal to us all, not about what is unique to the few.
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  • The Coming Glory

    Paul knew suffering - he knew what it meant to be stoned, flogged, left for dead, shipwrecked, snake bit and eventually martyred. Speaking of suffering the Apostle said, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down; but not destroyed . . . .” Whether we suffer directly for the sake of the gospel or simply suffer the consequences of a fallen world we will “suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” This is the testimony of all of Scripture.
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