Can Singing About the Gospel Become Rote?

This article was revised on January 19, 2011

I read an article today by Bob Kauflin on the Gospel and worship. While I do not agree with all of his content or theology on worship, the emphases on making the Gospel a major part of our diet is a valid and critical point. Here's a bit of personal elaboration on the point.

Not only can the Gospel become a familiar and repetitive (even monotonous if we're not careful and intentional) subject of our daily worship (not just Sunday song), but the temptation to become in effect "annoyed" or merely act on obligation to include words of Gospel in our daily diet exists.

And aren't we all familiar with words becoming "just words?"

The Gospel is not a set of words from Sunday school. It's The Gospel of God!

"The cross stands for all that was accomplished through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God. It focuses on his substitutionary death at Calvary but includes everything that gave meaning to that act. His preexistent state in glory. His incarnation. His life of perfect obedience. His suffering. His resurrection. His ascension. His present intercession and reign in glory. His triumphant return.

It’s our responsibility as leaders to make sure, as the Puritans said, that we always 'labor to be affected by the cross.' The gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest news the world has ever heard and our singing should show it.

What have you done to make sure that singing about Christ’s redemptive work on the cross never becomes rote?"

-Bob Kauflin

From Can Singing About the Gospel Become Rote? from WorshipMatters.com - January 29, 2010

And the natural effect of the Gospel, when it sinks into our hearts, is to affect our lives for God's glory and overflow to our worship. Honestly, if we are not passionate about the Gospel, and if we have no interest in singing to the Lord with a might shout of thanks, something is wrong--but we're not hopeless. Find hope in this: As you expose yourself to the Gospel truth--that while we are weak, our sins are paid for and we are FREE to LIVE, and that God has an amazing desire to teach us about and display to us His glory--you can be affected and transformed!

I hope that served you, friends! Thanks for reading and contributing. God bless.

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Daily Thought: Never a Dull Moment, Never a Day Off

"The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin."

~Proverbs 5:22 (ESV)

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Never a Dull Moment

Come to ponder it, there is no moment in the human life not surrounded by lies and temptation to believe something other than what God declares true and right.

• In the morning we are tempted to complain about getting up.
• At work we are tempted by slow computers, poor management, level of income.
• In leisure we complain that we do not have more of it.
• In sickness there is a bounty of temptation to complain about the way we are not (i.e. in good health).
• In marriage we are tempted to believe there is more available to us sexually than we're getting (when all else beside our spouse is forbidden).
• When loss of money or possessions occurs, we are led to believe God is punishing us.
• When loss of a loved one occurs we are tempted to believe God is not sovereign and is harsh and uncaring.
• When we are struggling to make financial ends meet or are jobless, we are tempted to believe God has disregarded our situation.
• When our friends fall away we are tempted to believe God does not want us to flourish.
• When worship is dry we are led to believe God is disappointed with us.
• When tempted to lust we are tempted also to believe that another person has something more satisfactory than God and is more satisfactory than God.
• ...and many other things.

But should all of these things even cease to exist, we remember the words of the Psalmist:

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you." ~Psalm 73:25 (ESV).

Truly, there is none so wonderful, none so kind, none so just, none so merciful and forgiving, and none so satisfactory as Him! But can we believe this with ease? Because of our sinful, doubting, blind hearts, no. But that is why we are invited to expose ourselves to His Word every day and to:

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!." ~Psalm 73:25 (ESV).

Never a Day Off

Our first step of action, then, is this: Ask the Giver of all good things: "Convince me of this, Lord. Convince me that you are God and you are infinitely good!"

It is an every-day, never-ending, constant battle we fight to keep God's goodness before us and flee the trap of sin--to resist the aimless wind of the world and end up sitting stagnant and unsatisfied in tangled net of ungodliness. But when we truly taste and know Him, we will be convinced that He is better than anything in the universe!

Amen.

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Challenge and Application Questions

• What lies are constantly coming at you?
• As constant as the lies are, how can you (or do you) more constantly remind yourself of the pleasure found in God?
• How are you striving to know God better?
• What passages from God's Word do you delight in to resist sin and love God more?
• How can and why should you cultivate delight in His Word more?
• Want to share with others for their benefit too? Start the conversation!

Recommended Resources

Weekly Poll: Powerful Repetition in Ezekiel

What is the often-repeated statement of God throughout the book of Ezekiel?





Choose one answer:

Thank you for answering. Look for a followup post on the correct answer and some thoughts on the statement in Ezekiel after the poll closes!

Daily Thought: Has God Indeed Abandoned Me?

"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God."

~Psalm 42:11 (ESV)

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A Chapter of Turmoil and Hope

Before us lies a glorious statement of the hope we have in Christ amidst any storm, situation, or rut of spiritual starvation. The Psalmist has spent seemingly endless time weeping in turmoil. This chapter is filled with statements of panting (verse 1), a thristy soul (verse 2a), longing to see God (verse 2b), abundant tears (verse 3a), taunting from the unbelieving to question the goodness of God (verses3b and 10), a soul poured out before God (verse 4a), a downcast soul in turmoil (verses 5 and 11), a feeling of having been forgotten (verse 9a), mourning (verse 9b), the presence of those not for him but against him (verse 10).

This is a real, true, and intense desert. Have you not been there? Are you there now? We do not have a God Who cannot relate to our deserts, whatever they might be. Instead, we have a High Priest (Christ) Who "in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). And because of Him, we can follow the Psalmist who, in every passage of trying he wrote, always circles back to the hope we find in Who God is. He will never leave you, and that's His promise (Joshua 1:5). Listen; absorb; find hope in the character and Being of God:

"Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God."

~Psalm 7-8, 11 (ESV)

Recommended Resources

"Totally Like Whatever, You Know?"

So Yeah!

Through a Twitter Post by John Piper, I located the following video that states in summary:

Our generation has become LAZY with language and generally speak with a sense of confusion and not authority.

Instead of speaking with authority and confidence, we speak in a culturally-accepted tone: An uncertain one....you know?

Let this humorous but convicting presentation of Taylor Mali's poem, Totally Like Whatever, You Know? speak (with authority) for itself! And please comment -- I would like to hear what you have to say on the topic of watching the quality of our language.

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

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What if Scripture Was Written in "Americanese?"

After seeing this video, this question crossed my mind: What if Scripture was written with this same sense of uncertainty? I took some powerful verses and ran it through this test. The result is that the power and authority is devastatingly stripped from verses when this lazy style is applied. Take a look and compare for yourself. Aren't you glad GOD is our ultimate model of speech?

• Romans 5:6-8
  • "For while we were still, like, weak, ya know? At the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a, like, righteous person—though perhaps for a good dude one would dare even to die— but sorta God shows his love for us in that while we were still, like, sinners, Christ kinda died for us."
  • No! We were not "like" (similar to) weak, we were weak sinners when He paid our debt. God does not "sorta" do anything, HE DOES. He showed His love fully to us by fully paying for our sin. Christ did not "kinda" pay our debt. Rather, He spoke with all authority of the God of the universe, "IT IS FINISHED!" Here is the verse in its true authority:
  • "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."


• Romans 5:8:1
  • "There is like now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
  • No! There IS NO condemnation! Following is the verse in its true authority. Notice that God speaks with a resounding, all-authoritative, "THEREFORE."
  • "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."


• 1 Corinthians 15:1
  • "Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I kinda preached, ya know? The one you received, in which you like stand?"
  • No! Paul is not questioning anything here. Question marks are not in this verse. Paul isn't trying to recall whether he preached or half-heartedly preached. He did preach, and did it with full confidence and no fear that his words lacked truth. And he is urging the people to remember--to remember that in which and only by which they do stand. Here is the verse in its true authority:
  • "Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand[.]"

Resource: Rescuing Ambition

I agree with Stephen Altrogge:

"This is going to be a must-read book."

Quote: Sin and Suffering

"Your sufferings are not so great as your sins. Put these two in the balance and see which weighs the heaviest. Where sin lies heavy, sufferings lie light.

A carnal spirit makes more of his sufferings and less of his sins.

The carnal heart cries out, 'take away the suffering,' but a gracious heart cries out, 'take away the iniquity.'

The one saith, 'never anyone suffered as I have done,' but the other saith, 'never one sinned as I have done.'"


~Thomas Watson

Daily Thought: Restoration of the Ruined

"I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you."

~Joel 2:25 (ESV)

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Damage Inexplicable

Ruined. The Christian felt ruined--ruined in the sense that so much damage had been done to his faith, his zeal, and his passion for God that speaking of how he got there seemed far from an explainable story. It seemed one day he was an extremely passionate servant, rejoicing at the mercy of God and the next--a sinner wondering if he even was a Christian and if there would ever be the slightest chance of being welcomed back home to the Father.

Further adding to the pain and guilt was that this damage was inflicted not only by draining bitterness at the acts of others, but primarily at his own hand of sin. He is no victim, he is a Christian met face-to-face by his own weakness and desperate need for a Savior to trust.

I've been there; perhaps you have too.

And where is the only place hope can be found for such wretches?

HERE:

There is no human so wrecked by sin that He cannot lift up and bring to life.

There is heart so wicked that He cannot cleanse and transform.

There is no sin that His Son's death did not provide payment for.

He loves His glory; He hates our sin. And that is why He so rejoices to bring unbelievers to Himself and bring strayed children back to Himself.

Take hold of the Gospel and never forget it!

The Prodigal
You held out Your arms, I walked away
Insolent, I spurned Your face
Squandering the gifts You gave to me
Holding close forbidden things
Destitute, a rebel still, a fool in all my pride
The world I once enjoyed is death to me
No joy, no hope, no life

Where now are the friends that I had bought
Gone with every penny lost
What hope could there be for such as I
Sold out to a world of lies
Oh to see Your face again, it seems so distant now
Could it be that You would take me back
A servant in Your house

You held out Your arms, I see them still
You never left, You never will
Running to embrace me, now I know
Your cords of love will always hold
Mercy’s robe, a ring of grace
Such favor undeserved
You sing over me and celebrate
The rebel now Your child

© 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)

Recommended Resources
Sons & Daughters
Song: The Prodigal by Sovereign Grace Music

Daily Thought: God of Restoration

What's the Damage?

Our God takes the most-broken of broken people and turns them into gleaming trophies of grace. That is the nature of our God: A God of restoration.

Does not the word, "restore," mean to return something to where it once was? Surely we never dwelt in perfection worthy of Heaven. So how does He restore if we never were sinless?

Can Full Recovery Be Accomplished?

God restores the relationship held between Himself and Adam - a relationship without the skewing of sin. He looks upon us as He did Adam in that Adam originally had no sin. But is it Adam He looks upon when He looks at us? By no means! He sees His Son--perfect, flawless, righteous. His Son's becoming our sin and killing its dominion forever on the cross through death purchased for us that robe of righteousness through which the Father looks upon us.

Damage is Irrelevant to God's Ability to Forgive

So, the point and sum is this: God can take anyone, no matter how wrecked and damaged by wickedness, and turn them into a guiltless child of His.

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!"

Recommended Resources
Pending.

Daily Thought: Persevering Through Pain

Varying Trails of Life
There are many trails to endure, enjoy, weather, and persevere through on the Christian journey. Each trail is part of a main road leading to Glory. Never will any of your pain, or your happiness for that matter, be in vain if the direction of your perseverance be toward Him. Never will the end of a heavy trial alas find you in defeat if your strength be drawn from Him. Never will He raise up a child only to let him go.

In this life, there are trails of pain--the pain of broken relationships, of shattered dreams, of cumulative daily troubles, of death and loss, of discipline.

There are trails of rejoicing--the joy of reconciliation, of Godly dreams come true, of resolved troubles, of new life, of undeserved gain, of the fruit of discipline.

Never will he leave you amidst either--or ever. Never will He forsake thee in thy pain. Never will He abandon His servants while they are yet rejoicing. By the promise of His own tongue, He will never, ever forsake thee.

Be comforted.

Amen.

"Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you" (Joshua 1:5)

Recommended Resources

Daily Thought: Corrosive Acid

Meant for One Thing

Corrosive acid, such as the powerful muriadic acid, will only do one thing when applied to an object or surface: Corrode. Some acids, like the fore-mentioned, are used to clean nearly impossible stains (such as skid marks from pavement). You cannot use it to water your plants, for you (nor they) would gather even a moment's pleasure from that. You cannot use it to quench your thirst, for it is poison and would quickly destroy you. You cannot use it to wash your car, unless you don't want any paint and would eventually enjoy holes in your car. You cannot use it to cleanse tender surfaces such as your hands - for it would leave non-curable scars. This acid does one thing: Corrodes.

So it is with sin. We cannot take sin and use it for something good. We cannot live in sin and experience continued life! It is impossible. Sin destroys the Christian's life. It weakens the Christian's faith. It attacks and destroys families and marriages. Why? Because sin does one thing: pulls us away from the Father. And that's the worst place any person can be. Sin does one thing: Corrodes.

The Father's Words on the Matter

Listen to what Scripture says as to the attempt to use sin in this way and the only way we can and will experience life: Obedience.

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:1-4 - Emphasis added).

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Challenge and Application Questions

• Are you tempted to or do you rationalize sin?
• What does "taking advantage of grace" look like in the life of a believer?
• What are God's words on this?
• What should be our response to God's words on this?

Recommended Resources

The Real Culprit of Blame

Tempting Situations

How are you tempted to blame, or stated another way, to "finger point?" Let's be realistic: It's difficult to take responsibility for a negative, for shortcomings, for sin. We can be tempted to blame-shift by...

• A well-meaning person bringing us correction
• An unkind boss rebuking us for a mistake
• A problem brought to our attention for which we view someone else as fully or even partially responsible
• The desire to impress others
• The fear of man--the goal to avoid specific people from knowing we struggle with a certain sin
• Unwillingness to admit to a large or grievous offense we committed
• A far-too-high and great opinion of our own selves!

And, of course, the list is virtually endless.

The "Why" Question

So why is it so hard to take responsibility for such things? Because we are proud beings in need of humility. We want to appear more Godly than we are. We want others to think highly of us. We are power-grasping, glory-loving, esteem-craving beings in need of a Savior.

Let's visit Scripture for a short moment and let God speak to this issue:

"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned" (Romans 12:3)

We see our prime struggle stated clearly in the preceding verse. We have a hard time taking responsibility because we "think of [ourselves] more highly than [we] ought to think."

The REAL Culprit

So in reality, who's to blame for our sin, our shortcomings, our failures?

Pride is the culprit.

...

Which, translated, means we are the culprit!

Why us? Because it's our pride. It's our desire to compete for God's glory which He will share with no one (See Isaiah 42:8)! It's our sinful desire to look good for the wrong reasons. It's our idol of impressing others. It's our inflated opinion of our desperately-wicked selves. Bleh.

So What's the Hope?

The hope is, God has saved us from this MESS of pride. We humans hit each other up one side of the head and down the other with our competitive pride--all striving for something we can't obtain--for something it is only right and possible for God to have: GLORY.

And get this!

God and God alone is the only Being in the entire existence of the universe who can rightfully point and blame! He is without flaw--perfect, loving, and just. Yet we have refused His love and have spent ourselves mocking Him. Hating Him. Betraying Him. So He is the only insulted one and the only one without blame.

Result

So let's not strive to be the blameless, because there is only One: God. We are to blame for all our mess of sin. Humility is what God desires. And life is better off of our pedestals and down on the ground where we can look up, see Him, and observe Him.

Amidst this mess, God has saved us. The only One Who can legitimately blame has forgiven all things that have earned us that blame. God's wrath for our attempt to steal His glory was satisfied on the cross with the blood of His own Son. Now that, my friends, is what will motivate us to stay low--to be unimpressed with our puniness. To take responsibility for our own sins for the sake of change--for the sake of glorifying Him in our lives because of it.

"The glory of the Gospel is this: The One from Whom we needed to be saved is the One WHo has saved us." ~Anselm

"[B]ut God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

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Challenge and Application Questions

• What situations or events most tempt you to blame-shift? It will help you observe your soul to name them specifically and write them down.
• In each situation, does your typical response indicate a responsible, inward observance of your own heart or a proud dwelling on the shortcomings of others?
• What is God's diagnoses of your sinful reactions? (Hint: See Luke 6:41-42.)

Recommended Resources

Message: Humilty: True Greatness
by C.J. Mahaney (FREE!)

Daily Thought: So Distant Now

Does the Father's face seem distant to you now? Does the embrace of His love and warmth that you once experienced and held dear seem as a distant memory? Is your race as a Christian seen through your eyes as nothing but a heap of lost hope?

Fear not, for we have a Savior Who knows our weaknesses and in fact sympathizes with them. Further, He experienced them as we have:

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

So passionate is He for His glory that He is not willing to hide His face from you. He will let His mercy shine forth with the light of countless mid-day sun upon you. He will grasp your soul and fill it with truth to shake sin at its root and see it tremble to the ground as you do in awe of Him. Take heart, Christian! Your road it excruciating. But your hope is not in ease of pain, but peace of soul found in free, saving grace.

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Recommended Resources

Song: The Prodigal

Polls

On the side of this site, you will find a weekly poll where a worthwhile question is asked. For example, the first one posted (for this week) is the following question:

"What is the term for wrongly living and attempting to earn forgiveness and acceptance by God? (Note: This is an inward error of the human heart that distracts us from the fact that grace is a free gift paid for by Christ's blood on the cross.)"

Following the question, you will find multiple answers to choose from. Be not afraid, you won't be zapped for the wrong answer! But you can see what everyone else thinks after you answer. When you answer, you will see a graph showing what others have answered, and at the end of the week I'll post a followup entry on this very blog.

If you just want to skip to the results, you can also click "Show Results."

Enjoy!

Daily Thought: Nothing to Say

Are not His Words sufficient? Yes, expound on the Scriptures. By all means, write down your own reflections upon it! But remember, it is His Word that:

• has ultimate and unrivaled authority
• contains no flaws
• is complete without any holes
• is the very words of God

What can I say in return for such a gift as that of God's Word. Right now? I have nothing to say--I want to see what He says! Then I am certain that many Words of praise shall naturally flow from our mouths as is the effect His Word, through which He speaks to our souls, has.

Recommended Resources

Daily Thought: "I Get Off Here"

The enemy of our soul will always tempt us, threaten us, and try to strike up fear in us by way of end-time lies. Her will tell us...

• "You may as well give it up now--God will not take you back after your blatant sin."
• "The prodigal son was just an exception--he came back to God quicker than you, so God accepted that wanderer back."
• "You've sinned greater than all others" (which is true), "so you're the one 'black sheep' He'll condemn on the last day. You're out of reach of His forgiveness" (which is not true)!
• "God's forgiveness can only go so far and then He is unforgivingly angry with you. Don't you think you've reached His 70 times seventh forgiveness by now? You have already repeated this sin so many times!"
• This Christian life was once an enjoyable ride, but the restrictions and suffering you've experienced to follow this 'God'--is it really worth it? You may as well get off the train here and come enjoy pleasure. Give it up!

Christian runner, do not shrink God to a limited reverser of His Word as Satan would have you do. Satan's words are filled with lies and techniques that would use truths as arguement for fallacy (see the third bullet above).

For you, even you, to be out of reach of His forgiveness would be to say...

• The Gospel isn't sufficient for forgiveness of all sin.
• Christ died for no reason.
• God is a liar.
• The last words of Christ on the cross before He died, "It is finished!," were false and nothing but a dramatic ending to a pointless life.

None of which are true.

Have full faith in His faithfulness to forgive! Let His mercy drive you to repentance. Our God is the Awesome God and forgiver of the worst! Amen!

Daily Thought: Indifference

What does the Bible say about indifference to sin?

Of us, the corrupt, in Romans 1: "those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them" (Verse 31).

Only, this sounds like it's more than indifference: It's another reminder that our hearts are an active attack factory on the glory of God. We have "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man" (Verse 23), known God but "did not honor him as God or give thanks to him" (Verse 21), have been "filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice" (Verse 29), and are more than guilty of being "gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless" (Verses 29-31).

So what is this to say? (1) God is passionate about His glory and will not see it stolen. (2) It takes a big God and infinitely-great mercy for a God so offended to forgive such wicked sinners. And He has. Can you say, "how great is our God?" Can you shout, "Amazing Grace?" Amen!

Daily Thought: Expectations

Here's a self-check: Often, and let's venture to say usually, our recognition and judgement of the apparent sins and shortcomings of others is sadly merely the product of our own self-righteous expectations of that person or group, high standard that lacks room for grace, an outlook and opinion of ourself that is all too high, and/or deep-rooted bitterness. We forget how much grace God, the most harshly offended Party in the universe and the most-gracious forgiver in the universe) has shown us. We fail to remember that indeed we are the greatest of sinners and the most-wretched--and far more than those we erroneously judge.

Has a person or a group of persons offended you? No surprise. People are human, and groups of people increase the weaknesses and possibility of offense. But at the same time, grace is provided to do mighty things through any circumstance, shortcoming, sin, or offense.

How truly amazing the grace of God is!

Recommended Resources

Even while reading this excellent book there is the possibility to not pursue peace by accusing others of not keeping it. We've all failed to keep it, and that's why we need this book. Let's get the plank out of our own eye and not worry about the spec in another's eye at the moment. Because when we are humbled and accept human weakness and extend the grace we have received to others, we will be able to speak the truth in love.

Daily Thought: Hope for the Hopeless

Let's face it: At times, life seems hopeless. As a Christian, you, like me, may experience this train of thought often. But hear this: When life is hopeless, there is hope.

Contradiction? Thanks be to God, no. See, our sin can seem so dark and nasty (which it is), our condition so abominable (which it is), that we fail to believe God would or even can still extend kindness to us (which He can and will). But again, should the Lord have shunned us based on our pathetic performance, we would all be in Hell.

The grace of God is infinite and is ever-extended to us all--until the end of the earth. Amen.

Daily Thought: New Year's Resolutions

A new year's resolution is not wrong, unless it fails to be grounded in asking for grace to do it. New year's resolutions may well be a self-sufficient statement before God that says (as Josh Harris put it), "I'm going to do better this year."

Again, they are not wrong, and the can be made with the proper motive of course. However, let us be encouraged to daily seek the face of the One Who provides all grace to do anything that matters on earth and in eternity.

In fact, be encouraged to have goals for the year; life is chaos without a plan! But at the same time, remember that God is not limited by times range (i.e. years) and will do as He pleases in your life in Hi perfect timing and for your good.