church

Elements of Corporate Worship (Edmund Clowney)

Kirk E. Miller

Corporate Worship

The following is taken from “Presbyterian Worship” by Edmund Clowney in Worship: Adoration and Action (page 117), edited by D.A. Carson. Although some may skibble over certain aspects of this composition, Clowney provides a succinct summary of the elements of corporate worship according to the New Testament’s testimony. (I have reformatted his collection into a bulleted list.) He states, “The New Testament indicates, by precept and example [emphasis mine], what the elements of [corporate] worship are.” According to Clowney, they are the following.

  • Corporate prayer is offered (Acts 2:42; 1 Tim 2:1; 1 Cor 14:16).
  • Scripture is read (1 Tim 4:13; 1 Thes 5:27; 2 Thes 3:14; Col 4:15-16; 2 Pet 3:15-16.
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An Ecclesiological Concern with Messianic Judaism

Kirk E. Miller 2 Comments

Let me be very straight-forward (as if that’s unusual).

Messianic Judaism is something that makes me feel… uncomfortable, not for ethnic or cultural reasons, but theological ones. I say “uncomfortable” because, although I’m not sure I could clearly articulate my thoughts very well at this point, I have a sense of theological uneasiness in regards to this movement. I may be able to identify some of my concerns, e.g., Messianic Judaism seems to be a practical outcome of viewing Israel and the Church as two separate peoples of God (clearly an unbiblical concept). But I need to do some more thinking about what’s causing this theological nervousness.

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The Relationship Between Worship and Culture (the Nairobi Statement)

Kirk E. Miller

The Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture (available for free here), prepared by the Department for Theology and Studies of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) via Lift Up Your Hearts web site, states,

The reality that Christian worship is always celebrated in a given local cultural setting draws our attention to the dynamics between worship and the world’s many local cultures.
The Nairobi Statement helpfully organizes the dynamic relationship between worship and culture in terms of four dimensions:

  1. Transcultural – Having the same substance for everyone everywhere, beyond culture.
  2. Contextual – Varying according to the local situation.
  3. Counter-cultural – Challenging what is contrary to the Gospel in a given culture.
  4. Cross-cultural – Sharing elements across cultures.

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Why I Aspire to Be a Pastor

Kirk E. Miller 6 Comments

1 Timothy 3:1 says something like, if anyone wants to be a pastor, they desire a noble task.

I aspire to be a pastor. Let me give you a few reasons why.

An introductory comment

As far as many of you are aware, I was currently preparing and planning on entering academia. For some time now, I have wanted to be a professor. However, that has recently changed. I want to be a pastor. Now, in one sense, not a whole lot has changed. Originally I wanted to be a professor and a lay elder (pastor). That is, I wanted to make my living teaching in the university but serve (unpaid) as an assistant pastor of sorts in the church. However, now I desire to be a pastor full-time so to say. This is a change in direction. Maybe not a terribly drastic change. It’s certainly not a abrupt change; this has been developing over a long period of time, even prior to my noticing it. But it’s a change nonetheless.

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Discontinuity through Continuity (or Discontinuity without Parenthesis)

Kirk E. Miller 1 Comment

Just a few days ago I tweeted the following:

I’ve decided to expand upon and explain these tweets in further detail in this post. Allow me to do this by providing an illustration.

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