Acts20.com

Our worship services have turned into Christianized mosh pits.Your opinions on this statement

Reformed churches have long advocated a theological concept called the regulative principle. To quote Wikipedia, The regulative principle of worship is a Christian doctrine, held by some Calvinists and Anabaptists, that God commands churches to conduct public services of worship using certain distinct elements affirmatively found in scripture, and conversely, that God prohibits any and all other practices in public worship.I like the positive side of the regulative principle -- that each service should absolutely contain all the elements of worship that the Bible directs.

I would say it depends on whether there is a move of God taking place or if folks are in the flesh Charles A. HutchinsSenior Pastor SPWCCongregational Church of Godwww.spwc.church

Sounds like a lot of flesh.

I left the liturgical and found the Presence of God. I suppose He can be found in a high mass but that's not where I want to be. I knew you guys were heading the wrong way but you just made it clear. Wow.I dont consider contemporary worship services with the manifestations of the Spirit any form of Christian mosh any more than a holy roller ole time Pentecostal service was. Is there some flesh observed occasionally. of course. But as some one famously said many years ago I'd rather have a little wild fire sometimes than no fire.

Re: Wow

This is a really sad post. Responsive reading can exist in conjunction with contemporary worship and Pentecostal manifestations of the Spirit.

This is a really sad post. Responsive reading can exist in conjunction with contemporary worship and Pentecostal manifestations of the Spirit.It is glorious when God's people proclaim His word in unison. I don't know what you've experienced that has made you so judgmental and closed, but it's really, really sad. A foundation element of Christian public worship is the reading of Scripture (individually or as a body). It is the bedrock which Spiritual Manifestations are built on. An old saying goes:If you have the Word only you dry up. If you have the Spirit only you blow up. If you have both Word and Spirit you grow up! To paraphrase Jesus concerning worship, God wants worship that is based in Spirit and Truth (the Word). Its not about going up to the Temple mount for ceremony or about going out to the nearest hill and doing what you feel. The only acceptable worship of God is to offer God the worship he commands in the His Book.

I really don't get why we feel we have to judge everything and everybody. This has been the thing I have seen the most consistently in the COG since childhood. Then it was hair & makeup and mini skirts. Now, we want to judge anyone who does anything differently than we do them. As long as they are worshiping, let them worship!Christian mosh pits? So the young people are at the front jumping around & worshiping God? Why exactly would this be a problem? Because they don't do it like we do or Grandma did? They're not running around the church and shouting? Responsive reading isn't my thing but if it draws someone closer to God? I'm all for it! It's certainly a good practice to read the scripture in church!I have a very dear friend who pastors an independent work and wears the robes and backwards collars sometimes. I don't get it, but it doesn't bother me. He hears the voice of God with extreme clarity and discernment. He leads his people into the presence of God. That is what's important. Why do we have to be so judgmental? Why can't we just rejoice that people are finding God and worshiping Him More of Him...less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name

Hi Carolyn,To a large extent I agree with you. There should be wide space given to those who approach God with a heart of worship, especially to the new in faith.At the same time, God is not some interpersonal force. He is a distinct and unique Person who has commanded particular and distinct methods and practices for our worship. Even in this, there is wide berth!But the space is not total. If it were, we might ask why we would judge Nadab and Abihu and their desire to sacrifice to the Lord, or why we would judge Cain and his desire to bring an offering to God. Both of these stories challenge a view that any form of worship or offering is acceptable, so long as it is brought with the right heart. In neither of these stories is there any indication that the