On the Purpose of Benedictions
What’s the point of the pronouncement at the end of worship of God’s blessing? And why does the pastor raise his hands when making it? One of the most important principles of worship is that God has decided how he is to be worshipped. So a third question must be, Where do we find a biblical warrant for this element of worship?
This final part of the worship service is called the ‘benediction’, which comes from the Latin word for blessing, ‘benedictus’. For example, Zechariah in Luke 1:68-79 pronounces a prophecy that begins with, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.” This prophecy is known as the Benedictus…
On the Civil Religion and Kneeling
If you think that when Neo-Nazis and the KKK protested in Charlottesville, with a white supremacist murdering and injuring counter-protestors, that there were “some very fine people on both sides,” that this represents an insignificant fringe of American culture, and that media blew it out of proportion,
But also believe that black men kneeling during the national anthem to protest racism directed at their community is hugely disrespectful, and that they should be fired, you are probably racist.
If you think efforts to remove flags and monuments to the Confederate rebellion to preserve slavery, most of which were erected during the Civil Rights era, is a liberal assault upon American heritage, and that they should be left up…
On Worshiping America
Plenty of comments have already been made on the patriotic worship service at First Baptist Dallas last week. It really should not come as a surprise that “Court Evangelical” Robert Jeffress’ church held something like this. It should also not…