Note: I will be contacting Scott Distler concerning the following attempt to show this to be Biblical Worship. I will keep you informed of the progress. Rev. Charles J. Paul
CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO....... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pdFeoA_QUo&eurl=http://bloodtippedears.blogspot.com/2008/01/mcworship-at-lititz-grace-church.html
Some of you reading this may think, "This is exactly what we need in the church today. Pastor Scott Distler from Lititz Grace Church is going to expose the unbiblical practices of modern day "worship" and attempt to get the church back on track to authentic Biblical worship."If you think that, I pray you are correct. But from what I know about Lititz and Scott Distler, this is not the case. We will know for certain in a few weeks as I will keep you updated.First, if Scott wanted to get back to "authentic" worship, Lititz Grace Church would not have golden arches and cut-outs of the McDonalds characters on stage during the services! This is silly. And what happens when we depend on silly, man-made methods that appeal to the multitudes? The "church" loses the power of the Gospel and takes away from the glory of God. It weakens the pulpit. The pulpit is nothing anymore.
How do we know the church will be set-up like a McDonalds?
Pastor Distler said, - "So as we enter this series right after the first of the year we are hoping to see our stage transformed into a “McDonald’s Land” complete with golden arches and cardboard cutouts of the McDonald’s Land characters. We are hoping to show old McDonald’s commercials each week that will lead into the theme of the morning. We are hoping to show a video of what it would look like if a husband took a wife out for a formal dinner at McDonalds. We are hoping to show our culture’s lackadaisical approach to worship through a clip from “Mr. Bean Goes to Church.” We are hoping to introduce a song that shows the American culture today of “cutting every corner.” We are hoping to use some secular love songs to show us how Malachi teaches that marriage is a husband placing a garment of protection over his wife. One Sunday we will be so completely different in every way that I can’t even give you any hints as to what will take place. Through it all we are asking God to use teach us what it means today to be authentic worshippers." - Pastor Scott Distler's Blog 11/17/2007
Where is the reverence for our Lord? Where is the fear of Almighty God?Pastor Scott believes that taking risks, going out of your comfort zone, seeker sensitive, relevant sermons/worship, etc...is what "authentic" worship is. I believe this "McWorship" series will be an attempt to establish the "fact" that the "traditional" church is irrelevant to authentic worship and our culture today.However, here at Truth Matters, we believe the Regulative principle of worship is most Biblical.The Westminster confession chapter 21 paragraph 1 gives this definition of the principle:"The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.""In other words, we believe that only those things which are found in the Scriptures, which expressly state certain conditions of worship, are acceptable worship to God. What man may make up, what he may devise, what he may add, what he may take away, or what he may be tempted to do...is not acceptable."We believe Lititz Grace violates this principle which we hold.We at Truth Matters believe that the Bible gives us the ordinary means of grace; public reading and preaching of the Word, the sacraments, and prayer. These are the way God's people grow, and these are the means God uses to call people to Himself. In his book, "Ashamed of the Gospel", John MacArthur argues persuasively that changing the method does in fact change the message. Using gimmicks rather than preaching, entertainment rather than doctrine, and pragmatism rather than Biblical authority, the result we get has been a modern "Downgrade" of the Church and her message.The aforementioned are just a few of the reasons why we believe the Regulative principle in contrast to drama's, skits, clowns, movies, secular songs, Level 1 events, McDonalds, McWorship, "stair-stepping", cars, etc.The modern day, American church needs to get back to a radical God-centeredness in it's worship and mission.Let's keep in mind, the church is to make disciples and send them INTO the world. We are not commanded to bring the world into the church. The church must remain holy and separate from this filthy world. Why would we use fallible man-made methods instead of God's blueprint?Incase you were wondering, yes, Lititz Grace is the same church that put on this "God-honoring, God-centered" skit with "reverence and fear of God" during worship a few weeks ago:...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnzKVLlNQHY&eurl=http://bloodtippedears.blogspot.com/2008/01/mcworship-at-lititz-grace-church.html
How do we know the church will be set-up like a McDonalds?
Pastor Distler said, - "So as we enter this series right after the first of the year we are hoping to see our stage transformed into a “McDonald’s Land” complete with golden arches and cardboard cutouts of the McDonald’s Land characters. We are hoping to show old McDonald’s commercials each week that will lead into the theme of the morning. We are hoping to show a video of what it would look like if a husband took a wife out for a formal dinner at McDonalds. We are hoping to show our culture’s lackadaisical approach to worship through a clip from “Mr. Bean Goes to Church.” We are hoping to introduce a song that shows the American culture today of “cutting every corner.” We are hoping to use some secular love songs to show us how Malachi teaches that marriage is a husband placing a garment of protection over his wife. One Sunday we will be so completely different in every way that I can’t even give you any hints as to what will take place. Through it all we are asking God to use teach us what it means today to be authentic worshippers." - Pastor Scott Distler's Blog 11/17/2007
Where is the reverence for our Lord? Where is the fear of Almighty God?Pastor Scott believes that taking risks, going out of your comfort zone, seeker sensitive, relevant sermons/worship, etc...is what "authentic" worship is. I believe this "McWorship" series will be an attempt to establish the "fact" that the "traditional" church is irrelevant to authentic worship and our culture today.However, here at Truth Matters, we believe the Regulative principle of worship is most Biblical.The Westminster confession chapter 21 paragraph 1 gives this definition of the principle:"The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.""In other words, we believe that only those things which are found in the Scriptures, which expressly state certain conditions of worship, are acceptable worship to God. What man may make up, what he may devise, what he may add, what he may take away, or what he may be tempted to do...is not acceptable."We believe Lititz Grace violates this principle which we hold.We at Truth Matters believe that the Bible gives us the ordinary means of grace; public reading and preaching of the Word, the sacraments, and prayer. These are the way God's people grow, and these are the means God uses to call people to Himself. In his book, "Ashamed of the Gospel", John MacArthur argues persuasively that changing the method does in fact change the message. Using gimmicks rather than preaching, entertainment rather than doctrine, and pragmatism rather than Biblical authority, the result we get has been a modern "Downgrade" of the Church and her message.The aforementioned are just a few of the reasons why we believe the Regulative principle in contrast to drama's, skits, clowns, movies, secular songs, Level 1 events, McDonalds, McWorship, "stair-stepping", cars, etc.The modern day, American church needs to get back to a radical God-centeredness in it's worship and mission.Let's keep in mind, the church is to make disciples and send them INTO the world. We are not commanded to bring the world into the church. The church must remain holy and separate from this filthy world. Why would we use fallible man-made methods instead of God's blueprint?Incase you were wondering, yes, Lititz Grace is the same church that put on this "God-honoring, God-centered" skit with "reverence and fear of God" during worship a few weeks ago:...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnzKVLlNQHY&eurl=http://bloodtippedears.blogspot.com/2008/01/mcworship-at-lititz-grace-church.html
No comments:
Post a Comment