I say this without a shred of hyperbole: nearly all the problems of contemporary Christendom can be traced back to a defective view of worship.

Even most of the best churches, that otherwise seriously believe the Bible, don't pay attention to what it says about worship.

What the contemporary church believes worship is for:

Evangelism
Outreach
Marketing
Entertainment
TEDtalks w/Bible verses
Theology lectures
Impressive rock concerts
What the Bible says worship is for:

God's people gathering before His presence
God renewing His covenant relationship with His people
God's people receiving grace from Him
God's people responding with praise
God's people returning a portion of the grace He has given
If you want a simple, one-sentence definition of what the Bible says worship is it is this:

GOD'S PEOPLE DRAWING NEAR TO HIM.

Read that again, and again, and again. THAT is what worship according to the Bible is.
God gave His people a pattern of how He is to be approached.

He CALLS us into his presence (Lev. 9:3-5).

He speaks, and we respond by gathering before His face.

Historically, this is where the "call to worship" is derived.
Next, as we draw near to a holy God, we do so as sinners in need of grace so he CLEANSES us (Lev. 9:8-11).

Historically, this is why a confession of sin was ubiquitous in worship.
Having confessed sins, God CONSECRATES his people (Leviticus 9:12-16).

They ascend into His presence by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Hebrew ascension offering was a shadowy picture of this.

We are cut up by the two-edged sword of the Word and ascend up to God.
That is the proper place for the sermon. We are being consecrated with God's Holy Word.

It is not the time for neither a lecture nor an infotainment self-help talk.

It is the time for God's people to be shaped by His Word.
Having ascended into God's presence in the heavenly places, we sit down and COMMUNE with Him, enjoying a meal (Lev. 9:18-21).

When we read the whole Bible, worship without food is UNTHINKABLE.

We shouldn't get the peace offering less often than those in an inferior covenant.
Finally, God sends us out of His presence and COMMISSIONS us to go out and conquer His world (Lev. 9:22-24).
That is the pattern that God has given us to draw near.

Historically, the church followed it closely.

But since the disaster that is the Second Great Awakening, worship became what it is now: a spectacle that may or may not be well-meaning.
The single greatest need in the church is a reformation of worship.

Everything else (restoring sound doctrine, refusing to adopt cultural mores over and against God's Word, etc.) will flow from worshiping God as He has commanded, and not by our own design.
I preached about this a few months ago, and cover these things here:

https://t.co/r04t6IloVy

More from Religion

First thread of the year because I have time during MCO. As requested, a thread on the gods and spirits of Malay folk religion. Some are indigenous, some are of Indian origin, some have Islamic


Before I begin, it might be worth explaining the Malay conception of the spirit world. At its deepest level, Malay religious belief is animist. All living beings and even certain objects are said to have a soul. Natural phenomena are either controlled by or personified as spirits

Although these beings had to be respected, not all of them were powerful enough to be considered gods. Offerings would be made to the spirits that had greater influence on human life. Spells and incantations would invoke their


Two known examples of such elemental spirits that had god-like status are Raja Angin (king of the wind) and Mambang Tali Arus (spirit of river currents). There were undoubtedly many more which have been lost to time

Contact with ancient India brought the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism to SEA. What we now call Hinduism similarly developed in India out of native animism and the more formal Vedic tradition. This can be seen in the multitude of sacred animals and location-specific Hindu gods
I had written this thread in refutation to your false claims which you had made from your previous account and you had even quoted it from your old account and now you are lying that you didn't know about this thread?
Are you trying to say the Verse of Quran i had mentioned


in the thread is false? If that's your claim then say it clearly that all the verses of Quran and hadiths are false which talks about equality and your propaganda is the ultimate truth and hidden secret of Islam.
a) If you are trying to say that just being born in a Quraysh tribe

makes one superior than others then let me remind you that the first oppressors of the Prophet pbuh were Quraysh, the first battle of Muslims happened with Quraysh, the guy who was cursed by Allah in Quran was a Quraysh (ever read Quran?). And if you want to show that being from

the lineage of Prophets makes you superior than others then let me remind you that the son of Prophet Adam will be in hell (as informed to us by the narrations), the son of Prophet Noah will be in hell, the wife of Prophet Noah will be in hell, the wife of Prophet Lut will be in

hell. And if you are trying to say that only Quraysh had the right to rule and not others then let me remind you from history that the Messenger of Allah pbuh appointed leaders Abdullah bin Ruwaha, Zaid bin Haritha, and Usama bin Zaid, and all of them were not from Quraish.

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