Tag Archives: Worship

A Plea to Knock it off Already

There is a scene in the Brian Henson classic film, Muppet Treasure Island, where Fozzie Bear as Squire Trelawney keeps tossing “The finest brandy laid down but the brothers of Buckfast Abby” out of a window during an argument with Captain Smollett (Kermit) over the presence of alcohol on the ship. eventually a tourist shipContinue reading “A Plea to Knock it off Already”

Your World as I See it: Surplus to Requirement

Editors Note: This is the second in a new series in the impromptus section. I am calling it Your World as I See it by Astor Clement. Similar to Doug Wilsons No Quarter November, I will, under the pseudonym, be offering my unvarnished opinions at will. As to that nome de plume, if you areContinue reading “Your World as I See it: Surplus to Requirement”

A Call for Pastoral Prayers

“Above all – and again this I regard as most important of all – always respond to every impulse to pray… It is the work of the Holy Spirit… So never resist, never postpone it, never push it aside because you are busy. Give yourself to it, yield to it; and you will  find notContinue reading “A Call for Pastoral Prayers”

Dat was Da Wabbit

Introduction Allow me to illustrate our current Evangelical moment though the metaphor of Elmer Fudd. Either side of the conservative or progressive debate is much like the titular character in his Viking garb from What’s Opera Dock. Furiously hunting the rabbit yet completely failing to recognize him every time he is directly in front ofContinue reading “Dat was Da Wabbit”

Haunted House of Worship

Back in the day a haunted house was verboten for the righteous, instead we participated in Judgement House… For the un initiated this was a similar tour where a group of people would be herded through a series of Sunday School rooms where a story would unfold, following a minimum of two characters who wouldContinue reading “Haunted House of Worship”

Is Mark Driscoll Leading Your Praise Team?*

One of the charges leveled in The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill was that in preaching the now famous/infamous “Who the Hell do You Think You Are!?” sermon out of 2 Peter everything was planned before hand and replicated at each service. A more honest commentator would have readily conceded that this kind ofContinue reading “Is Mark Driscoll Leading Your Praise Team?*”

Lloyd-Jones and Four Chords

Introduction I think, by now, it is pretty apparent that I find modern evangelical worship highly suspect at best. I may be closer to the mark to say I utterly despise it. There are exceptions that sneak into the repertoire of of the four cord playing mono syllabic “worship leader”. But those are usually ofContinue reading “Lloyd-Jones and Four Chords”

The Marx Brothers Leading Worship

“Pause now for a strange interlude…” – Groucho Marx This is what runs through my head every time a song leader in a contemporary church lets off with a wail, an “OOOOOoooooo”, a “YEAAAAAAhhhhh”, or whatever else melodic filler shows up in a song. Likewise whenever there is a section of rapid improvised declarations overContinue reading “The Marx Brothers Leading Worship”