Help Us, Thy Name to Sing!
There is a shrewd, virile strain running in the blood stream of most North American Christians. It’s a very self-reliant bug, one that thinks worship is something that boils up from my own rugged individualism. “I worship how ever I want, and God has just gotta be mighty pleased I have even given Him the time of day. I’ve got the good old American know how, and I’ve got the power!” But the Bible is clear: It’s God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil. 2.13); It’s the gift of the Spirit by which we can even cry out, “Abba, Father” and pray (Rom. 8.15, 26-27); It’s Christ Jesus who takes away the veil over our hearts so that we can finally hear and receive the Word of the Lord (2 Cor. 3.14-16); and even real Christian preaching is only accomplished by God working in the preacher, as the Apostle Paul says, “Christ we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labo...