Worship: Treasuring God Above All Else

Here is a great definition of worship I recently came across whilst reading John Piper’s Let the Nations Be Glad. Piper says (at 231): Worship is not a gathering. It is not essentially a song service or sitting under preaching. Worship is not essentially any form of outward act. Worship is essentially an inner stirring of […]

Reflections on Worship Ministry from the Life of Bezalel

During Sunday’s message, Ps Benny Ho made an interesting observation. He asked “who was the first person in the Bible to be filled with the Spirit?”. The answer: Bezalel. Here’s the reference in Exodus 31: Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the […]

Should We Keep Harping on Hymns?

Today, I am continuing my series on Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs. In particular, I want to explore the use of “hymns” in our worship services and ask the question: are they still a valid musical expression for the church today? The emergence of hymns was very much a product of the Reformation. Luther understood […]

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs

Have you ever had that scary moment when your pastor comes up to you and says “Can we have a quick chat?” You hesitate but then say, “uh, okay” and then you both translate five steps towards the side of the room where he clears his throat a little, narrows his eyes ever so slightly […]

Blessing the Lord

One of my favourite Psalms, both for personal encouragement and as a great service starter is Psalm 103: Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your […]

Lessons I Have Learned From Converge

Last night, the various Converge facilitators and leaders met for a debrief. It was a great time reflecting on the highlights, things we could change and do better, but above all reflecting on God’s faithfulness in taking the church in the city one step towards fulfilling Jesus’ prayer for unity. In that same reflective mode, […]

Defining Worship Part 2

Today, I want to finish up what I started a month ago when I introduced Harold Best’s definition of worship in my post Defining Worship. In that post, I extracted Best’s definition, being that worship is “the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do, and all that I can ever become […]

God’s Security in His Own Sovereignty

Here’s a brief thought: God is sovereign. And God is secure in His own sovereignty. He is so secure in His own sovereignty that He is not afraid of appearing unsovereign. Which is why He gives us free will to choose, knowing that He’s the best choice you and I could ever make. You could […]

Why the Distinction Between “Praise” and “Worship” Matters

In an earlier post entitled Defining Worship, I introduced Harold’s Best definition of worship as continuous outpouring. If worship encompasses all of our life, then “worship” is a much bigger concept than “praise”. In fact, we can think of “praise” as a subset of “worship”. Robert Webber once said that “worship is a verb”, but […]

Worship is the Fuel and Goal of Missions

I’m reading John Piper’s Let the Nations Be Glad at the moment and have really been challenged by the depth of his thinking, particularly around the topic of God’s glory. If you ever need a clearer statement about the intersection of worship and missions, go no further than the first paragraph of Piper’s treatise, where […]