In the 2nd session, Dr. Smith continued with things that impair our communication, preaching, and teaching in the body of Christ. In all of these sessions, he gave numerous scripture references.
3. Demise of doctrine:
In the mind of God, there is no separation between doctrine and praise. True worship should flows out of the knowledge of who we worship, but today that's not the case. As he said, "We sing more heresies today than in the first 500 years of church history."
4. Grace has been diluted:
We are justified by grace, sanctified by grace, and will be glorified by grace. Don't fall into "sola boot strapsa" where we begin to think that once we are saved, the rest is up to us. We firmly believe in sola fide but faith is not alone. Paul is not in conflict with James. We work from salvation not to be saved but because we are saved. We are able to work out our salvation because God has worked it into us. Not grace plus or Jesus plus anything else.
5. Detachment between traditional theological language and relevant contemporary images:
We need to keep all the "ation" and "ition" words like justification, sanctification, glorification, propitiation, etc. We need ways of explaining these terms so the meaning is not lost or diluted or modified, but able to be understood by those with no theological background.
6. Disconnection between the mystery of God and the revelation of God:
God is infinite; we are finite. There are some things that He has revealed of Himself, and some things remain hidden. Therefore our response should be adoration and trembling.
In the 3rd session, Dr. Smith moved to the topic of being a doxological dancer. He drew his metaphor from Exodus 15 where Moses sings describing God's might and power in their deliverance from Egypt. Miriam and the women respond to truth in praise and dance to the declaration of who God is and what He has done is . Thus a doxological dancer should "exist to communicate the doctrinal verities of Scripture with such accuracy and ardor so that the exuberant hearer exults in the exaltation of God."
Accuracy - cutting a straight line and rightly dividing the text. Not denominationalize, ethnicize, fossilize, minimize, trivialize, or sanitize it.
Ardor - Actors can take a script about fantasy and read it as though it is true, but do we read the Bible which is true in a way as if we don't believe it's real? The truth of who God is should cause joy to rise in our hearts to Him.
Dr. Smith shared 4 practical aspects of worship:
1. We need more hymn-like songs. The old hymns have a depth that is missing from much of today's Christian music. He also pointed out how so many hymns end on an eschatological note - either our home going or Christ's return.
2. Don't be enamored with technology to where it becomes a necessity. Technology may be helpful but if it fails, we can always sing a cappella. One could have a great video with sound and pictures to accompany a sermon, but shouldn't the preacher to be able to preach the text in such a way that the hearer doesn't need the audiovisuals?
3. Persuade, don't manipulate worship.
4. Sing over the sermon. Not gimmicks, but genuine passion over the text.
People often come to church beheaded. They don't want to think, don't want to learn, just feel. But others come with only their head - not beheaded but big headed. We need both head and heart together in praise to God - the ink of doctrine becoming the life blood of the people of God.
Lord willing, more tomorrow.
3. Demise of doctrine:
In the mind of God, there is no separation between doctrine and praise. True worship should flows out of the knowledge of who we worship, but today that's not the case. As he said, "We sing more heresies today than in the first 500 years of church history."
4. Grace has been diluted:
We are justified by grace, sanctified by grace, and will be glorified by grace. Don't fall into "sola boot strapsa" where we begin to think that once we are saved, the rest is up to us. We firmly believe in sola fide but faith is not alone. Paul is not in conflict with James. We work from salvation not to be saved but because we are saved. We are able to work out our salvation because God has worked it into us. Not grace plus or Jesus plus anything else.
5. Detachment between traditional theological language and relevant contemporary images:
We need to keep all the "ation" and "ition" words like justification, sanctification, glorification, propitiation, etc. We need ways of explaining these terms so the meaning is not lost or diluted or modified, but able to be understood by those with no theological background.
6. Disconnection between the mystery of God and the revelation of God:
God is infinite; we are finite. There are some things that He has revealed of Himself, and some things remain hidden. Therefore our response should be adoration and trembling.
In the 3rd session, Dr. Smith moved to the topic of being a doxological dancer. He drew his metaphor from Exodus 15 where Moses sings describing God's might and power in their deliverance from Egypt. Miriam and the women respond to truth in praise and dance to the declaration of who God is and what He has done is . Thus a doxological dancer should "exist to communicate the doctrinal verities of Scripture with such accuracy and ardor so that the exuberant hearer exults in the exaltation of God."
Accuracy - cutting a straight line and rightly dividing the text. Not denominationalize, ethnicize, fossilize, minimize, trivialize, or sanitize it.
Ardor - Actors can take a script about fantasy and read it as though it is true, but do we read the Bible which is true in a way as if we don't believe it's real? The truth of who God is should cause joy to rise in our hearts to Him.
Dr. Smith shared 4 practical aspects of worship:
1. We need more hymn-like songs. The old hymns have a depth that is missing from much of today's Christian music. He also pointed out how so many hymns end on an eschatological note - either our home going or Christ's return.
2. Don't be enamored with technology to where it becomes a necessity. Technology may be helpful but if it fails, we can always sing a cappella. One could have a great video with sound and pictures to accompany a sermon, but shouldn't the preacher to be able to preach the text in such a way that the hearer doesn't need the audiovisuals?
3. Persuade, don't manipulate worship.
4. Sing over the sermon. Not gimmicks, but genuine passion over the text.
People often come to church beheaded. They don't want to think, don't want to learn, just feel. But others come with only their head - not beheaded but big headed. We need both head and heart together in praise to God - the ink of doctrine becoming the life blood of the people of God.
Lord willing, more tomorrow.
Thank you so much for sharing your notes with us, so good! God bless!
ReplyDelete