O God of sovereign grace,
We bow before thy throne,
And plead, for all the human race,
The merits of thy Son.
Spread through the earth, O Lord,
The knowledge of thy ways,
And let all lands with joy record
The great Redeemer’s praise.
—Village Hymns, Asahel Nettleton
True repentance takes God’s part against ourselves, has sympathy with God, feels how unworthily the Ruler, Father, Friend of men has been treated. It does not ask, ‘What will my sin bring to me?’ but, ‘What does my sin mean to God?’
–A. H. Strong, Systematic Theology, p. 832
This is the first hymn in Asahel Nettleton‘s Village Hymns for Social Worship (1824)–
There is a God that reigns above,
Lord of the heaven and earth and seas:
I fear his wrath, I ask his love,
And with my lips I sing his praise.There is a law which he has writ,
To teach us all what we must do:
My soul to his commands submit,
For they are holy, just, and true.There is a gospel rich in grace,
Whence sinners all their comforts draw,
Lord I repent and seek thy face,
For I have often broke thy law.There is an hour when I must die,
Nor do I know how soon ’twill come:
How many younger much than I
Have passed by death to hear their doom.Let me improve the hours I have,
Before the day of grace is fled:
There’s no repentance in the grave,
No pardon offered to the dead.
–Isaac Watts, 1715
This is an excellent post by a friend, Pastor Jack Hilton of the Evangelical Methodist Church, Lancaster, PA–
John 4:23-24 “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Ps. 96:8 “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.”
Ps. 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
From the very beginning of time man has worshipped God or gods whom he deemed supreme and worthy of honor and worship. All of the more than 3,000 noted religions exist because of faith in some deity or prophet of a deity. Every religion has some standard or formula of worship which it’s constituents are expected to follow.
Worship (worth ship: showing value) should signify some knowledge and appreciation of the god that is being honored. Man has developed all sorts of programs and awards ceremonies through which he depicts value and honor to those who have made great achievements.
The Scriptural definition and intention of worship is to bring men before the God of the Bible, in order for them to give honor, praise, glory and thanksgiving to God. Through worship man honors God and awaits God’s working within his soul to bring necessary change to his character, attitude and actions. As the Holy Spirit changes the heart and soul through applying the Word of God, the person’s Faith, Hope, thoughts, attitude, words and actions are molded by the Word of God.
A study of Worship in the Scriptures reveals the necessity of “Spiritual Life” for those who would worship God. God is Spirit and demands that man worship from his spirit through the working of the Holy Spirit. Man’s Worship is to be based on God’s Absolute “Truth”.
Men should worship God:
1. Privately and Personally: God has commanded every individual to bow and worship God. It is the duty of man to honor, glorify and give praise unto God. Since the relationship with God is on a personal level, so the worship of God must be on a personal level. The person who regularly practices private personal worship will have no problem joining in family or corporate worship.
2. Family: God has placed the Father and Mother at the head of the home in order for them to nurture and train the children to properly worship and serve God. Every family should have times of worship together. In fact this should be one of the highlights of each day.
3. Corporate or Public: Public places set aside for the worship of God, have been a part of life since the beginning. The Scriptures provide numerous examples of families joining together for worship. During this present Age of the Church, God has clearly established the concept of public worship by a unified body of believers called the church.
The worship service has been changed drastically within the past 100 years. The focus has been moved from Jesus Christ to the people. The intent has been changed from honoring God to satisfying the people. The modern service is designed to stir the emotions and move the thinking to some sort of positive decision. The intent of the service is to satisfy the physical and emotional needs of the crowd. The spiritual has been replaced with the physical and emotional.
NOTE: MUCH OF THE ACTIVITY IN A MODERN WORSHIP SERVICE HAS LITTLE OR NOTHING TO DO WITH ACTUALLY WORSHIPPING AND HONORING GOD!!!
NOTE: THE MESSAGE IS TO SHOW ALL THE POSITIVE THINGS GOD MUST DO FOR THE CHRISTIAN!!! IF THE CROWD LIKES WHAT THEY HEAR THEY WILL GIVE GOD A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!!!
An article in “Vision” Magazine (Volume 4 Issue 1) concerning one of the fastest growing Mega churches in America, gives a fair assessment of the modern Evangelical church philosophy today. The pastor says he and the key people who helped found and establish this church intentionally set it and run it as a business. They do not use the words Pastor, Associate Pastor, Deacon, etc.
Instead they use business names such as director, supervisor, etc. The entire church is established on successful business principles such as Chick-Fil-A’s marketing and advertising principles. The leaders proudly proclaim their growth from 1,000 to 11,000 in less than 10 years as proof enough that they are doing right. While they talk much of prayer and trusting God, their entire business is based on man made principles and theories.
NOTE: WORSHIP (HONOR AND PRAISE) MUST STEM FROM A PROPER KNOWLEDGE OF WHO GOD IS; WHAT GOD HAS DONE, IS DOING AND WILL DO IN THE FUTURE!!! WORSHIP (THANKFULNESS) MUST BE A NATURAL OUTFLOW OF GRATITUDE GENERATED FROM A PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF BLESSINGS AND BENEFITS RECEIVED FROM GOD!!!
I’ve been working through George Whitefield’s A Collection of Hymns for Social Worship (1758) that he prepared for the Tabernacle Congregation at London. Today’s hymn had the odd title of this post, and I didn’t have high expectations for it. Well, to turn a phrase, “Never judge a hymn by it’s title.” I couldn’t locate the hymn’s author.
See, my soul, with wonder see
The incarnate Deity;
Human nature he assumes,
He to ransom sinners comes.
He was infinitely clean;
Him no sinful spot disguised,
Yet, lo! He was circumcised.He fulfilled all righteousness,
Standing in our legal place,
From the cradle to the cross,
All he did he did for us.
He did all our woes retrieve,
He expired that we might live:
By his stripes our wounds are healed,
By his blood our peace is sealed.Jesus’ pain procures our ease,
Jesus’ death is our release;
Jesus’ cross obtains our crown,
Jesus’ sepulcher our throne.
Lord, conform us to thy death,
Bid our sins yield up their breath;
By thy resurrection’s power,
Make our souls to glory soar.Circumcise our filthy hearts,
Purify our inward parts;
Lord, destroy the carnal mind
That in thee we peace may find:
In thy righteousness arrayed,
Let us triumph and be glad;
Let us walk with thee in white,
’Till we see thy face in light.
Now the wall is broken down,
Now the gospel is made known;
Now the door is open wide,
Christ for Jew and Gentile died;
All who feel the weight of sin,
All who languish to be clean;
All who for Redemption groan,
May be saved by faith alone.
–Nahum Tate, 1652-1715
Dear Father, to Thy mercy-seat
My soul for shelter flies;
’Tis here I find a safe retreat
When storms and tempests rise.
My cheerful hope can never die
If Thou, my God, art near;
Thy grace can raise my comforts high
And banish every fear.
My great Protector and my Lord,
Thy constant aid impart;
Oh, let Thy kind, Thy gracious word
Sustain my trembling heart!
Oh, never let my soul remove
From this divine retreat;
Still let me trust Thy power and love,
And dwell beneath Thy feet.
—Anne Steele (1716–1778)
One of my professors when I was in seminary, Dr. Bill Combs, has been writing a series of posts on the KJV-only issue here. They’ve been very good, and I’d encourage you to read them.
I’ve had those of this persuasion tell me that the rise of newer translations divides and splits churches, but my experience has been quite the opposite I’m afraid. In fact, there’s a new church starting in our metropolis of Orwell (population 1,519) because we (Orwell Bible Church) are not KJV-only (and because we believe what the Bible says about election).
Another series of posts just beginning is by a pastor friend, Mike Harding of First Baptist Church of Troy, MI (one of our supporting churches when we came to Orwell). He is addressing the issue of Christians imbibing alcohol, particularly those of fundamentalist background and conviction.
Parents have kids. Kids grow up. Kids leave. This is the usual, normal cycle of things, and it’s a cycle that began for us waaaaay back in 1990 when Trish and I left the homes we grew up in and established our own home. Then the kids came–in 1992, 1994 (2 for 1!), 1996, 2002, and 2005.
Every time I held a new little blessing in my arms after he/she was born, I thought and prayed, “Lord, you’ve entrusted me with this little one. Someday he will grow up and leave our home to start his own. Help me over these next years to love, care, protect, guide, discipline, instruct, and nurture him the best I can by Your help so he loves You and lives for You.” Honestly, I did. This baby will someday be an adult. I’ve got a small window of time to prepare him for it. Don’t blow it.
Our own cycle of the kids starting to fly the coop began a year and a half ago when Ashley went to college. Man, that was tough. Just looking at the pictures is tough. But it was exciting and thrilling because she was ready for it and has been growing more like Christ while there.
We’re getting ready to do the college-drop-off thing again in less than six months, but with a bit of a twist compared to the first time. This time there will be three of them, Ashley, Andy, & Meagan. I’m gonna cry a lot, for sure!
And, Andy will be there only for a short time, because on January 14, 2013 he’ll head off to Parris Island for 13 weeks of Marine boot camp. This is something we’ve been talking and praying through for almost a year. Not everyone can be a Marine, but he’ll do great. In fact, he took his ASVAB yesterday and scored very high in both the overall and technical aspects. I’ve told him he’d better be the best in his class! 
Trish recently shared with me a profound thought: This coming Christmas could be the last one our family will have as presently constituted. Wow, that makes the eyes moist!
I can honestly say I am both thankful and proud of my kids. Thank you, Lord, for this great privilege!
Awake, my soul, to joyful lays,
And sing thy great Redeemer’s praise;
He justly claims a song from me,
His loving-kindness O how free!
He saw me ruin’d in the fall,
Yet lov’d me, notwithstanding all;
He sav’d me from my lost estate;
His loving-kindness O how great!
Tho’ numerous hosts of mighty foes,
Tho’ earth and hell my way oppose,
He safely leads my soul along,
His loving-kindness O how strong!
When trouble, like a gloomy cloud,
Has gather’d thick, and thunder’d loud,
He near my soul has always stood,
His loving-kindness O how good!
Often I feel my sinful heart
Prone from my Jesus to depart;
But tho’ I have him oft forgot,
His loving-kindness changes not.
Soon shall I pass the gloomy vale,
Soon all my mortal powers must fail;
O! may my last expiring breath
His loving-kindness sing in death.
Then let me mount and soar away,
To the bright worlds of endless day,
And sing with rapture and surprise,
His loving-kindness in the skies.
–Samuel Medley (1738 – 1799)
