Month: November 2012

Advancing Progressively Backwards

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

T.S. Eliot penned a penetrating poetic analysis of our cultural plight:

It seems that something has happened that  has never happened before:  though we know not when,  or why,  or how,  or where.

Men have left God not for other gods, they say,  but for no gods; and this has never happened before

that men both deny gods and worship gods,  professing first,  Reason, and then Money,  and Power, and what they call Life, or  Race, or  Dialectic.

The Church disowned,  the tower overthrown,  the bells upturned, and what have we to do

But stand with empty hands and palms turned upwards

In an age which advances progressively backwards?

~ Taken from T. S. Eliot‘s  Choruses From the Rock.  You might enjoy reading the whole poem. It has the feel of a 20th Centrury Book of Ecclesiastes.

10 Principles for Worship

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

The highest calling and greatest privilege of all Christians is to love and worship God.  In worship we encounter God with increasing awareness of who he is.  In worship we together magnify God’s glory.

The following are 10 principles, developed over a number of years, and influenced by a variety of sources, that not only express my philosophy of worship, but shape my practice of worship.  By no means is this exhaustive, nor is it unchangeable. But I do hope it might be helpful.

1. God-centeredness:

A high priority must be placed on the vertical focus in our Sunday morning service.  The ultimate aim is to so experience God that he is glorified in our affections.  (Deuteronomy 6.4-5, 13-15; Isaiah 42.8; Matthew 4.10)

2. Bible Based:

The content of God’s Word will be our ground of authority for all elements & appeal, and will be woven through all we do in worship. The content of our singing, our praying, our teaching, and our activity will always conform to the truth of Scripture.  (Isaiah 29.13; Deuteronomy 12.32; Matthew 15.9)

3. Trinitarian:

God has existed from all eternity in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one God, the same in substance, and equal in power and glory.  Our worship ought to reflect this truth, and recognize all three persons   (1 John 5.7; Matthew 28.9)

4. Expecting the Powerful Presence of God:

Worship is not a memorial service, nor merely our offering of ourselves toward God.  True worship earnestly seeks to experience the present reality of Christ, by the work of the Holy Spirit, particularly through the Word & Sacraments.  We believe that in worship God draws near to us in power, and makes himself known & felt for his glory, our good, and the salvation of unbelievers in our midst.  (Psalm 139.7-10; Genesis 28.16; Matthew 28.20; Acts 2; Psalm 89.15; Ezekiel 46.3; Acts 10.33)

5. Aiming for Head & Heart:

Worship should aim at kindling & carrying deep, strong, real emotions toward God, but should not manipulate people’s emotions by failing to appeal to clear thinking about spiritual things.     (Isaiah 29.13; Matthew 15.8)

6. Participatory:

Worship is an active expression of the corporate body.  It is not performance by a few to be viewed by spectators. Therefore our worship shall be ordered to give the greatest opportunity for all to participate in song, prayer, testimony & confession.  All choirs, singers, musicians, speakers & liturgists are to be used in such a way that they stimulate & facilitate participatory worship throughout the congregation.   (1 Peter 2.9)

7. Freedom & Form:

Knowing that God has given us differing personalities, heritage & experiences we desire to allow people to express themselves in worship as they are led by the Spirit.  Therefore we will not discourage the raising of hands in praise, bowing for prayer & repentance, or other such activities done decently & in order.  Yet, neither will we seek to artificially stimulate such demonstrative expression within the congregation.

8. Undistracting Excellence:

Worship is to be focused on God. Therefore we will strive to sing, pray, teach & act in such a way that people’s attention will not be diverted from the substance of worship by shoddy performance, nor excessive finesse, elegance or refinement. (1 Corinthians 10.31; 2 Samuel 24.24)

9. Convergent:

Many wonderful & beautiful traditions of the church have been passed down through the ages. They are varied from culture to culture, and from generation to generation.   Nevertheless, the best of these traditions convey the same love, reverence & adoration for God as we seek to experience & express. Therefore, in order to draw from the wealth of our forefathers, we will implement many of these songs, confessions & liturgies in ways & forms which are sensitive, meaningful & appropriate for the contemporary church.  To be convergent means to bring the best resources of the present together with the past.   (Proverbs 22.28; Hebrews 11.4c)

10. Contempory Blend:

It is a common mistake to assume that contemporary means “that which has been composed in this generation”, and traditional is a label for things composed in times past.  For timeless hymns such as Amazing Grace, Be Thou My Vision, and the Gloria Patri speak to us today as clearly as they did to the Church at the time of their composition.  Yet, our worship should always be contemporary in that it should speak to us clearly & faithfully of eternal truth, while being reflective of our current age & culture. Therefore, our worship should not reflect just our own age, for that would be to exclude those of the corporate body of Christ in the past. Nor should it reflect a limited scope from the past, for that would be to exclude the godly creative expressions of our own age. But in all things we seek the honor & glory of God, and we will transform traditions to to involve the truth of his Church from all ages.  (Proverbs 22.28; Psalm 149.1)

Kingdom of God is BIGGER Than Your Political Party

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

A week has passed since the 2012 Presidential Election, and many (who voted like me) are still licking their wounds and awaiting armageddon.  OK. That may be a bit too strong, but that is what it has at times seemed like to speak with those who (like me) did not support the re-election of Barrack Obama.

I understand the disappointment, and even the concerns. But what troubles me, more than anything else, is when I hear Christians demonizing other people, especially other Christians,  just because they voted for Obama.  I do not want to minimize the passions. I just want us to regain our perspective.

Here is a penetrating question posed by one writer:

If I feel more of a kindred solidarity with those who share my politics but not my faith than I feel with those who share my faith but not my politics, what does it say about me?

I find that question, which I read in piece by Scott Sauls in Redeemer City to City, to be an excellent perspective-shaping querry.

Sauls goes on, and profoundly answers his own question:

“… It suggests that I have sold out to Rome. I have rendered to God what belongs to Caesar, and to Caesar what belongs to God.”

Maybe you can’t bring yourself to agree with Sauls’ specific conclusion. But I hope you will find his prevailing premise resonates with you, as it does with me.  In short, if you find yourself more akin with folks who share your political persuasions than you do those who share your faith foundations, something is amiss.

So, if either of the following describes you:

  • You are struggling with resentment about the results of our recent election, or when you find yourself in the midst of people who voted for Obama
  • You are so elated that you find it difficult to refrain from gloating and you feel twinges of subtle delight for any opportunity you get to rub Obama’s re-election in the face of your more conservative colleagues

… let me encourage you to consider Sauls’ whole article: To My Elated & Despairing Post-Election Friends.

Here is what I have been reminding myself for the past week: God says, “I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” (Psalm 2.6)  That’s all I really need to know.

The Kingdom of Heaven is bigger than a political party.

Sailboat Spirituality

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

Do you sometimes have difficulty understanding or remembering who does what in our Spiritual maturation? We get that it is God who must make us alive to believe (regeneration), and that he gives us the gift of faith to believe, which leads to salvation (justification).  But then what?  Surely there is something we must do.  What about spiritual disciplines? But then, how does grace work? What does the Holy Spirit do?

I love the imagery Jared Wilson offers in his excellent book Gospel-Wakefulness:

As long as we are thinking of achieving the fruit of the Spirit by our own efforts to be more fruitful and joyful, we may be working in their direction, but we’re getting there by the sweat of our brow.  We’ve embraced rowboat spirituality.   But think of the obedient work of the Christian life like a sailboat.  There are lots of things to do on a sailboat. Sailors don’t just sit there – at least, not for too long.  There are lots of working parts on a sailboat and lots of things to pay attention to. But none of those things make the boat go.  The boat doesn’t go unless the wind catches the sail.

What we are picturing here is the work of the Spiritual Disciplines in conformity with the law of God found in Scriptures, not as the means of propulsion, but as the means of setting the conditions for Spiritual fertility. In obedience, we till the soil of our hearts so that they are more receptive for the planting and growth of the Word in our lives.  We obey both in response to the Spirit’s awakening us and in order to raise the sail for the Spirit’s movement.

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” ~ Galatians 5.25

The Awakened Sinner

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

O my forgetful soul, Awake from thy wandering dream; turn from chasing vanities, look inward, forward, upward, view thyself, reflect upon thyself,  who and what thou art, why here, what thou must soon be.  Thou art a creature of God, formed and furnished by him, lodged in a body like a shepherd in his tent; Dost thou not desire to know God’s ways?

O God, Thou injured, neglected, provoked Benefactor, when I think upon your greatness and your goodness  I am ashamed at my insensibility, I blush to lift up my face, for I have foolishly erred.  Shall I go on neglecting you, when every one of thy rational creatures should love thee, and take every care to please thee?

I confess that thou hast not been in all my thoughts, that the knowledge of you as the goal of my being has been strangely overlooked, that I have rarely seriously considered my heart-need.  But although my mind is perplexed and divided, and my nature perverse, yet my secret dispositions still desire you.

Let me not delay to come to thee; Break the fatal enchantment that binds my evil affections, and bring me to a happy mind that rests in thee, for thou hast made me and canst not forget me.

Let thy Spirit teach me the vital lessons of Christ, for I am slow to learn…

…And hear thou my broken cries.

~ adapted from Valley of Vision

Killing Me Softly: Putting Sin to Death

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

In Colossians 3.5, the Apostle Paul commands:

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Based on the language Paul uses it is clear that sin is in our hearts, and it will not just go away on its own.  We need to take an active role and kill it within ourselves, like any other form of heart disease – or like weeds from a garden.  And this list is suggestive, not exhaustive – a starting point, not a few last details.

In other words, we have a need to die to sin while we grow in grace.

But just how do we actually do this?

Puritan John Owen offered these profoundly helpful insights in his book, The Holy Spirit,

Determine that you will, everyday and in every duty abolish and destroy this ruling principle of sin.  it will not die unless it is gradually and constantly weakened.  Spare it, and it heals its wounds and recovers its strength.  Negligence allows sin to regain such power that we may never recover our former state as long as we live.

We are continually to watch out for the rising up of this ruling principle of sin and immediately subdue it.  This is to be done in all that we are and do.  We are to be watchful in our behaviour to others, watchful when we are alone, watchful when in trouble or joy.  We are to be particularly watchful in the use of our pleasure times and in temptations.

Determine that you will no longer serve sin  (Rom. 6:6).  See it as the worst service of which a rational creature is capable.  If you serve sin it will bring you to a dreadful end.  Determine that though sin remains in you, yet you will not serve it.  Remember, if the ‘old ma’ is not crucified with Christ, you are still a servant of sin, whatever you might think of yourself.

Realise that it is no easy task to mortify sin.  Sin is a powerful and dreadful enemy.  There is no living thing that will not do everything in its power to save its life.  So sin also will fight to save its life.  If sin is not diligently hunted down and dealt with by holy violence, it will escape all our attempts at killing it.  It is a great mistake to think that we can at any time rest from this duty.  The ruling principle of sin to be slain is in us, and so has hold of all our faculties.  Sin cannot be killed without a sense of pain and trouble.  So Christ compared it to ‘cutting of the right hand’ and ‘plucking out the right eye’.  The battle is not against any particular lust but against all sinful lusts which war against the soul.

Mortification arising from convictions of the law leads only to dealing with particular sins, and always proves fruitless.  True mortifying of sin deals with the entire body of sin.  It goes tot the heart of the matter and lays the axe to the root of the tree.  This is the mortification which the Holy Spirit drives the believer to do.

Mortification of particular sins arises from a guilty conscience.  But mortification arising from gospel principles deals with the whole body of sin in its opposition to the renewing of the image of God in us.