The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.
—Martin Luther
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Tag Archives: Bible
REFORMATION 500: Sola Scriptura
I am a creature of a day, passing through life as an arrow through the air. I am a spirit come from God, and returning to God: Just hovering over the great gulf; till, a few moments hence, I am no more seen; I drop into an unchangeable eternity! I want to know one thing—the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way: For this very end he came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: Here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri. [A man of one book.]
—John Wesley
The Two-Edged Sword
The Bible is forever a critical prodding presence among us.
—William Willimon, The Bible: A Sustaining Presence in Worship
Theology of Worship
Everything we do in God’s name expresses a particular understanding of His character and will, whether we acknowledge this or not. We all have an implicit theology of worship, which may or may not be faithful to Scripture.
—David G. Peterson, Encountering God Together, 15
The Word in Prayer and Song
All too many free-church prayers and hymns have forsaken biblical imagery in favor of a host of frivolous, superficial, pop psychological jargon and cliches that chatter about “celebration,” “becoming human,” “finding ourselves,” “being free to be you and me,” and other amorphous trivialities. This is particularly tragic among those whose forebears once felt that the presence and guidance of Scripture in worship was something worth dying for.
—William H. Willimon, The Bible: A Sustaining Presence in Worship, 14
The Word in Worship
A look at the average Sunday service today in the average Protestant church reveals, in the words of James D. Smart, a “strange silence of the Bible in the church.” The Bible is not read in the worship of most Protestant churches in any systematic way. The Old Testament is often omitted altogether. Thus, the preacher recanonizes Scripture to suit his or her own taste. When bits and pieces of the New Testament are read, they function mainly as a textual springboard for an often unbiblical sermon. This relative silence of Scripture is surprising, particularly when it is within those churches who pride themselves in being “biblical” churches. We Protestants are supposed to be people of the Book, followers of the Word. But the average Methodist, Baptist, or Presbyterian church would be put to shame in its treatment of Scripture by the worship of the average Roman Catholic church—which reads three lessons every Sunday.
William H. Willimon, The Bible: A Sustaining Presence in Worship, 14
The Primacy of the Word in Worship
God’s Word to us matters more than our words to God. (Is. 66:2; Ps. 19:7-11)
- Music ministry is Word ministry.
- Don’t underestimate the value of proclaiming Word passionately.
- Seek to know your Bible better than your instrument.
- Lead people to sing the Word, hear the Word, see the Word, and pray the Word.
—Bob Kauflin, WorshipMatters.com 9/28/15
