Caleb will moderate Wednesday's blog posts

 Hey , we will have class on Wrdnesday. Caleb will lead the reading and discussion of the blogs. Thanks everyone! Doc

Bloggers up for October 2

Weston Erbentraut
Josh Mowers
Muan Pi
Jacob Loper

Trueman for Monday, September 30

Essay for Monday: "Look, It's Rubbish."

Gospel Worship Pagination for September 30 and October 2

September 30

Blue GW
p. 100 "The  sixth is, if you will sanctify God's name in worship there must be a humble frame of spirit." through p. 110 "Now then, put all nine things together and see by them what we ought to do so that we may sanctify the name of God in holy duties."

Yellow GW
p. 109 "Sixth, if you will sanctify God's name in worship, there must be a humble frame of spirit." through p. 119 "Now then, put all these nine things together and see by them what we ought to do that we may sanctify the name of God in holy duties."

October 2

Blue GW
p. 111 "There is something further to be spoken that may help you sanctify God's name in holy duties, and that is the various workings of the heart suitable to the various attributes of God." through p. 124 "Do not rest in any of your performances. Labor to perform duties as well as you can, but when you have done all, know that you are unprofitable servants after all, and renounce all as in the point of justification. Rest upon something else, otherwise you are undone forever."

Yellow GW
p. 120 "There is something further to be spoken to help you sanctify God's name in holy duties and that is the various workings of the heart suitable to the various attributes of God" through p. 132  "Do not rest in any of your performances. Labor to perform duties as well as you can, but when you have done everything, know that you are unprofitable servants after all, and renounce all as in the point of justification, and rest upon something else. Otherwise you are done forever."

Where is the Joy?

Much of our discussion time has been devoted to current (and previous) issues of corporate worship. We have targeted, assaulted, and defended various worship philosophies (some more vigorously than others), and have, hopefully, gained more theologically-tenable ground than has been lost.  Amidst such unstable fields of contemplation, it is challenging to level our sights on the scriptural foundations of worship.

The blessings of corporate worship have oft been forgotten. We become thoroughly embroiled in the conflict that is modern worship, easily overlooking the devastating absence of irreplaceable worship-joys.

Of course, these joys, or blessings, are contingent upon certain elements:

• The reading of the word
• The preaching of the word
• The hearing of the word
• The singing of the word
• The seeing of the word - (GPTG 103).

However, we would do well to continuously ask ourselves, "Which unique blessings are inherent in these elements?" For, if we can discover an answer to such a query, not only will we further recognize the individual importance of each element, but we might possibly be able to experience that importance first-hand.

Edmund P. Clowney wonderfully emphasizes these necessary Christian joys in Give Praise to God. In exhortation, he writes, "Above all, we must prize the blessing of corporate worship, The church of the Lord, gathered for worship, marks the pinnacle of our fellowship with the Lord and with one another" (GPTG 95).

Do we truly prize the assembling of believers? How can we, if the unique blessings of corporate worship remain "out-of-sight, out-of-mind?"

Perhaps, it is time to form a search party.

The Church Family

The church has often been described as a family. Jesus in Luke 8.21 describes the church in this manner. Through this illustration we can gain much insight into the church. In my own home for example, my father worked hard to provide for us both physically and spiritually. One of the wonderful examples my parents gave was that they loved my siblings and me greatly but they also loved others. It was not uncommon while I was growing up to have people come and live in my home anywhere from a few weeks to a few years. My parents would include these visitors, feed them, and sometimes even clothe them but never at the expense of our family’s care, morals, principles, and convictions. My upbringing was never neglected because of these visitors in fact they often were instrumental in bringing growth to my life.

I believe the church can and should function in a similar fashion. Mark Dever wrote, “The main weekly Lord’s Day gathering of a church is primarily for Christians, not non-Christians. Therefore we should deliberately set about to plan the service – including our preaching – with our primary end as the glorification of God through the edification of the church. Certainly evangelism can be a part of […] but it is never the main point. Our expositional sermons are preached to feed the flock entrusted to our care.” (GPTG pg. 131) In the same way my father’s goal was always his family’s edification. But in that he could bless others through the process he did. Imagine if instead my parents focused more on the visitors than the inhabitants. It would be disastrous. Similarly, if a church focuses only on its visitors and not on its members, the result will be frightening.

What then, should we ignore all people who were not born into our family? Will the family of God never expand because our focus is solely on ourselves? By no means! My parents provided me also with a second example. When I was five years old we adopted a nine-year-old Brazilian girl. The process of adoption was completely different then when non-family lived with us. There were aspects of our family that a visitor could simply not comprehend but only observe. We could explain different activities but because on the fundamental level they were not family they could not understand. With Julie however it was different. She was now part of the family. Down to the fundamental level she was one of us. What she didn’t understand we explained. What she didn’t know, we taught. What she did wrong, was corrected and if needed disciplined.

In the church we will always have visitors. If we lose focus and neglect the children of God we do a great disservice. We do not ignore the visitors but understand that on a fundamental level they cannot participate or understand all that we do. When a visitor becomes a brother though, at that point they are the same as us and for them we go to great lengths. This process begins and is completed by God

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8.14-16

The balance is the hard part. At what point is accommodating visitors too much in that it ends up neglecting the family?

Pollution

"Who does this? Who is the man, or where is he that will do this, subject the worship of God to his base lusts?" (Burroughs 94, or Ch5 ¶9).

I have discovered that it is often I. I use duties like prayer and attentiveness to the preaching of the Word to cover up my sin and ease my guilty conscience. I have never spoken thus, "Who will think me to be guilty of such a vile thing when I pray as I do and am so careful to hear the Word? I hope I shall cover some wickedness this way." Rather, this has been in the deep recesses of my heart.
But after some consideration, I believe that often times I have worshiped God from a pure heart. The problem lies in my tendency to look back at the performance of particular duties in order to bring attention to them as being the reason I don't have to feel guilty over a recent outworking of sin. Since my conscious tells me that I do indeed subject the worship of God to such base ends, I have asked the Lord to rebuke me today and speak to my heart. At least in this moment, I am confident that I do not want to pollute the name of God.

So the question is this: how do I know if I am subjecting the worship of God to my own base lusts and ends?

Proverbs 20:5 ESV The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.

I saw this on Redeemer Presbyterian's website and thought it was really great.

http://rpc.opc.org/worship.php

4 bloggers (not joggers) for September 25

If you are blogging for the 25th, You should find you initials in the syllabus.

A couple of things that might strengthen our conversations:

1. Draw your observations from the text. Let the text inform your thoughts. Don't use the text to make an observation apart from where the text has lead you.

2. Let your blog naturally work its way to a question that the class can discuss. Observations, yes of course, but a question that arises from the text at the end of the post will better help us promote discussion. 

Gospel Worship Pagination for September 23 and 25

September 23

Blue GW
p. 78 "Herein lies, I believe the main difference between the most glorious hypocrite in the world and one who has true grace . . ." through p. 90 "Therefore they cannot be quiet unless they attend upon God in the duties of his worship; but still this is not enough merely to satisfy conscience."

Yellow GW
p. 84 "Herein lies, I believe, the main difference between the most glorious hypocrite in the world and the one who has true grace . . ." through p. 97 "Therefore they cannot be quiet unless they attend upon God in the duties of His worship--but still this is not enough merely to satisfy conscience."

September 25

Blue GW
p. 90 "Therefore they cannot be quiet unless they attend upon God in the duties of his worship; but still this is not enough merely to satisfy conscience." through p. 100 "There are all these expressions to show the strength of their spirits in following after their idols. And that is the fifth thing in our sanctifying God's name."

Yellow GW
p. 97 "Therefore they cannot be quiet unless they attend upon God in the duties of His worship--but still this is not enough merely to satisfy conscience." through p. 109 "There are all these expressions to show the strength of there spirits in following after their idols."

Work/Worship Conundrum

As I blog live from the Meoni brothers auto shop I can't help but meditate on Burroughs' words in chapter three of Gospel Worship:

"...I must labour  to separate my heart from a common use...when I come to worship Him, I must separate my heart from all common uses so that my heart may be wholly for God (p.65)"

There is a tremendous irony in the application of this for those of us who are often very busy...I find that I labour diligently for common (and albeit, purposeful) things during the course of a day. However when it is time to prepare for worship I find it not a relief but an intense struggle to separate my heart for what is indeed the only use that my heart was created for. I have been praying diligently (sometimes during the singing of a song in service) that God would have MERCY on me for being so prideful in my own work ethic, so boastful in my own head-knowledge of God (which in comparison to His knowledge is...) to think that I either don't need to work to separate my heart before worship or to think that it should be "easier" to do so. 

But thank God that He is indeed merciful and will help us as we draw near to Him.

Excuses

Burroughs poses the question, "Suppose we do not find our hearts prepared [for the duty of God's worship] as we desire. Would it be better to leave off duty than perform it?" After all, God cares about our hearts more than mere ceremony. In Amos 5, God reprimands His people for their ceremony and rejects their worthless, empty worship. While on one hand there is a danger of meaningless acts of "worship," on the other hand, if we stop our going to church, praying, reading the Word, or whatever else we deem our hearts unfit for, we become spiritually lazy. It is a temptation to be lazy disguised as spiritual piety. In reading about this struggle I was reminded of C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters. We tend to excuse our laziness and inability to resist temptation from a Wormwood, who's whispering, "You don't have to do this now, your heart's not right anyways. It's ok to just wait until a better time." But if we allow ourselves just once to excuse ourselves from God, it only becomes easier and easier to do so. Burroughs affirms that the cure is not to stop coming to God, but to run to Him and get our hearts right. He compares the benefit of continuing in our duties to the way sin affects us: "As one sin prepares the heart for another sin, so one duty prepares for another." 

If our hearts are not right with God, our duty is not to keep our distance, but to run to Him in humility, realizing our own weakness and continually seeking Him out. It is important to note that at the end of God's admonition of false worship in Amos, He tells His people to "Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Draw near to God, cleanse your hands, purify your heart, and allow Him to change you. 

Something Greater than Ourselves

There is a trend in 20^th and 21^st century American Christianity, and it is one of individualism. Unfortunately, individualism is not exclusively reserved for the secular realm, but has a firm hold on current Christianity as well. Now, what I am not saying is that the personal life of the Christian is unimportant. After all, “Our daily devotions bring joy in our personal fellowship with the Lord” and they should (Clowney 95). However, we cannot just (and, again, I emphasize that word “just”) focus on the life of the individual member. Do we so easily forget the fact that Christians are called to be unified in Christ, His body, and His Bride? An author I have recently been studying correctly states,

“Many people today find it difficult to grasp this sense of corporate Christian identity. We have been so soaked in the individualism of modern Western culture that we feel threatened by the idea of our primary identity being that of the family we belong to—especially when the family in question is so large, stretching across space and time. The church isn’t simply a collection of isolated individuals, all following their own pathways of spiritual growth without much reference to one another. It may sometimes look like that, and even feel like that. And it’s gloriously true that each of us is called to respond to God’s call at a personal level. You can hide in the shadows at the back of the church for a while, but sooner or later you have to decide whether this is for you or not. But we need to learn again the lesson (to take St. Paul’s image of the Body of Christ) that a hand is no less a hand for being part of a larger whole, an entire body. The foot is not diminished in its freedom to be a foot by being part of a body which also contains eyes and ears. In fact, hands and feet are most free to be themselves when they coordinate properly with eyes, ears, and everything else. Cutting them off in an effort to make them truly free, truly themselves, would be truly disastrous.” (Simply Christian by N.T. Wright)

Also along the lines of corporate focus, Clowney writes, “Above all, we must prize the blessing of corporate worship. The church of the Lord, gathered for worship, marks the pinnacle of our fellowship with the Lord and with one another. The church is the people of God, the new humanity, the beginning of the new creation, 

a colony of heaven” (Clowney 95).

So, what are the implications of a corporate focus? Before I answer this question, I think it is necessary to state, again, what this does not imply. A corporate focus does not imply that we are to neglect our hearts and personal lives and only focus on corporate worship. After all, a malfunctioning leg will negatively affect the entire body. However, it does imply that there is something greater than our individual selves, and there is something greater than what we as individuals think and feel. A rogue hand or one that is cut off from the body is useless. Now, to very inadequately answer part of the question, I will give one implication of a corporate focus. When I choose worship songs, are they songs with just chilling and hand-raising sounds? Do I choose songs that, yes, they are vague, but I know my Bible so I can interpret them based on my knowledge of Scripture?  Neither of these reasons is adequate! In Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 “we are taught that the richly dwelling word of Christ gives us wisdom of the Spirit to teach and admonish one another. We do this in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…” (Clowney 96). Instead of focusing our worship songs only on our private lives, they should be songs that teach and admonish the entire Bride of Christ.

Of course, there are many other implications concerning corporate focus, but there is neither time nor space for that now.  

Worship Pharmaceuticals

Mohler writes on page 108 that a prominent reason given by Christians for switching churches is that the church style didn’t “meet their needs” or “allow them to worship.” This notion really saddens me because that statement carries so much more weight than a simple overvaluing of stylistic means. Those statements stem from a wholesale upheaval of what should be the center of a believer’s life.

Peter tells us that we have been given all we need for life and godliness. Where do we find all this? Scripture. If a church isn’t meeting our needs, it isn’t an issue of music or service order or whether or not people are wearing ties. Our needs are going to be met by scripture. If our needs aren’t being met by a church, and we just simply run to the next church peddling the newest “thing” in the church-style-trend-roller-coaster, we’re only going to ultimately wind up more in need. The need is scripture, and our churches need to place that in the forefront.

Often people leave churches because they don’t feel like they “fit in.” People with messy pasts and imperfect, rough around the edges, faiths often feel like they aren’t a part of the churches they attend. They’re still “outsiders” so to speak. They feel like they aren’t accepted. The reality is this, we don’t need to be accepted. We ARE accepted. That’s the beauty of the gospel. “It is the power of God unto salvation to anyone (that means you) who believes.” Where better do we find truths about our acceptance in Christ than scripture?

Mohler writes that “preaching is indispensable to Christian worship.” Scripture centrality is the cure for our worship ailments. New stylistic environments can provide temporary relief for the needs that we have, but ultimately stylistic changes are a painkiller. They make you feel better, but it doesn’t really solve the problem. The root of the problem still exists, and as we use and abuse these style-narcotics, we find ourselves needing more and more to actually alleviate our discomfort. Style is a drug, and if you aren’t careful, you’ll get addicted. Let’s actually solve the problem rather than numbing ourselves to it.

Bloggers for Wednesday, September 18

Hey,

I posted the four bloggers for this coming Thursday, September 18th, In the syllabus.

Gospel Worship Pagination for September 16 and 18

Monday, September 16

Gospel Worship (Blue)
pp. 56 "Take these two examples. The first is Rehoboam, and the second is Jehoshaphat . . ."
through
pp. 66 "Acquaint yourselves with this work of preparation, and so you may have hearts fitted to come into God's presence at any time."
 
Gospel Worship (Yellow)
pp. 61 "Take these two examples. The first is Rehoboam, and the second is Jehoshaphat . . ."
through
pp. 71 "Acquaint yourselves with this work of preparation, and so you may have hearts fitted to come into God's presence at any time."

Wednesday, September 18  

Gospel Worship (Blue)
pp. 67 "Two Cases of Conscience"
though
pp. 78 "If it were possible for a creature to be enlarged to God infinitely, it would be."

Gospel Worship (Yellow)
pp. 72 "Two Cases of Conscience"
through
pp. 84 "If it were possible for a creature to be enlarged to God infinitely, it would be." 

Nourishing Affections?

"First, those who are most familiar with God are the most potent with God (GW, 48)."

In order to draw nigh to God in worship we must already be familiar or reverent of Him constantly outside of the corporate worship setting. I think the text implies that the familiarity be renewed each day. Often times I notice that I am not preoccupied with thoughts of God or a desire to be familiar with Him before corporate worship and yet somehow magically expect to be enraptured with "good feelings" or to exhibit truly authentic affections during worship with other believers. I don't think that it is wise to believe that our affections can be truly genuine or authentic in corporate worship if they are not being nourished regularly outside of that setting.  I do not believe that there is a formula or system to preparing for worship, rather I think in our thoughts and behavior and speech we should always be repaired to worship corporately with one another. Our potency is greatly limited when we are not constantly recharging ourselves from our Primary Source. 

SL

Do Means Matter?

When discussing the Forms and Circumstances of worship, several truths must be accounted for:

First, although there are no Biblical imperatives for the Forms and Circumstances of Worship, there are still scriptural indications for proper Form and Content. Biblical principles must still inform the lesser means. Duncan writes, "When something is not specifically commanded, prescribed, or directed or when there is no scriptural example to guide us in how we are to perform some particular aspect of worship we should try nevertheless to be guided by scriptural principles" (GPTG 22). The mere absence of direct prescriptions and proscriptions does not imply that all Forms and Circumstances are equal in the eyes of either God or man. Through scriptural principles, it is possible (and, thus, the church's responsibility) to distinguish which means would be more reverent, beneficial, and practical. Burroughs exhorts, "God would have us all to pick out His mind from dark expressions in His Word. Though He does not express His will fully and in expressed terms, yet if there is anything in His Word whereby we may come to gather the mind of God, God expects that we should gather His mind out of His Word. If we do not, it's at our own peril" (GW 21).

Second, there is weighty responsibility to be observed in the choice of Forms and Circumstances. Duncan reminds the church, "There will be, of necessity, some human discretion exercised in these matters. So, here, Christian common sense under the direction of general scriptural principles, patterns, and proportions must make a determination" (GPTG 23). Poor discretion in this area, either willful or ignorant, will have consequences. Burroughs uses the example of Nadab and Abihu to clarify the weighty responsibility of human discretion in these matters. Although God provided no clear scriptural directive forbidding strange fire, His condemnation of ignorance was severe: "God expects that they should have reasoned thus, but because they did not pick out God's mind by reasoning after this manner, therefore the hand of God came out upon them. They offended, and it may be that it was through ignorance, but it was at their peril. If they were ignorant of the mind of God when it might be known, though it was only darkly revealed and had to be picked out from several places compared together, it was at their peril" (GW 22). Thus, the wrath of God was terrifyingly revealed against men who failed in their responsibility to discern which Forms of worship would be most pleasing to God.

Third, the ultimate message cannot be separated from the Forms and Circumstances whereby it is communicated. Therefore, means have shaping influence upon the message they are conveying. Marshall McLuhan contends that "the medium is the message" (GPTG 32). He also acknowledges that particular "forms of media favor particular kinds of content" (GPTG 32). Certainly, it would be foolish for the church to dismiss the principle that "Form impacts content. The means of worship influences the worshipers' apprehension of God" (GPTG 52). The historical church has long recognized this observable truth. It is this very principle that helped to shape the Forms and Circumstance of traditional corporate worship: "the liturgy, media, instruments, and vehicles of worship are never neutral, and so exceeding care must be given to the 'law of unintended consequences.' Often the medium overwhelms and changes the message" (GPTG 64). If this is true, then great care must be taken to wisely select which Forms and Circumstances should shape corporate worship.

If Forms and Circumstances can exert such great influence and consequence, what should corporate worship look like? The Reformers recognized the ultimate end of using increasingly perilous means: "the forms in which those elements are performed must not be inimical to the nature or content of the element or draw attention away from the substance and goal of worship, and the circumstances of worship must never overshadow or detract from the elements, but rather discreetly foster the work of the means of grace" (GPTG 56).


But...the means matter.

How ‘bout Them Packers?

Jeremiah Burroughs writes, “The God whom we come to worship is a great and glorious God and, having to deal with such an infinite, glorious, dreadful Majesty, it is fitting that we should make preparation when we come nigh unto Him.”(GW pg. 56 – yellow) This statement coupled with the Reformed Approach to worship “Read the Bible, preach the Bible, pray the Bible, sing the Bible, and see the Bible” (GPTG pg. 65) concludes that the reformers and puritans if nothing else were exceedingly intentional in their worship. Can the same be ascribed to today’s worship?

            Suppose Joe, a good Christian who wants to please God, spends time to prepare himself for worship. Every Sunday Joe comes to church in awe of God rather then expecting to be lead to awe of God. However during Joe’s church service the youth pastor gets up for the call to worship and talks about the local football team, the worship leader forgets to capo his guitar for the congregational favorite “Jesus is the Bomb,” and the pastor insists on telling three stories during his sermon not because they have a point, but because he thought they were funny and made him personable. How can Joe possibly remain with his spirit focused on God when the church is doing their best to distract him?

            How much better it would be if Joe came to church and from beginning to end the theme was God’s glory. Imagine if the songs revealed God’s character and the congregation then responded.  Imagine if the scripture that was read shared God’s heart and then in prayer the church asked God to reveal their own. Imagine if the sermon exposited the Word and the people conformed to it. At that point Joe’s preparation would not have been in vain.

When in doubt of what means and methods to use, perhaps we should follow the acronym K.I.S.S – Keep It Simple Stupid. God has ordained the method in which he will be glorified, how dare man think that his own ways are better. Where were we when God laid the foundations of the earth? Let us keep it simple and follow the Bible.

Because Worshiping God Isn't "Have It Your Way"

Sometimes it's hard for me to grasp and know how to handle the fact that, as J. Ligon Duncan III says on p. 57 of Give Praise to God, "God is dangerous to those who are careless in worship, however sincere." The first part of that sentence makes sense; God created us to worship Him, therefore we do. But the second part and the practical application and outworking of this concept is what is difficult. Nadab and Abihu were never told not to offer "strange fire," yet God struck them down for doing so. Uzzah put his hand on the ark to steady it when the oxen stumbled, and God struck him down for touching the ark. Sometimes these reactions seem extreme, because the hearts of the offenders were right; they were sincere. 

God takes worship very seriously. While He may not be striking people down left and right today for not worshiping Him correctly, I wonder how many of us would be guilty of wrong worship, and God, in His great mercy, spared us. He owns us, and can do with us as He pleases. It's easy for us to forget our smallness, but when we look at God in all His greatness, power, and goodness, we remember.

Mind? or Heart Worship?

"You might say, "We must pray to God and serve Him, hear His Word and go to the common." Yes, but what do your souls do in this work of worshipping God? This should be the answer, and so you should think to yourselves and charge this upon your own hearts: 'I am now going to worship God, either in prayer, Word, or sacraments. I am now going to tender up that homage that is due from the creature to the infinite Creator, so that I must so pray as I must manifest that high respect that I owe to God as my Creator" (pg. 38). And what a beautiful distinction between that which we can do souly by means of our minds, and that of our hearts. Surely one can use his mind and body to do many acts of service, but as 2 Cor 13:3 states, "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing!". And thus, what I believe Burroughs attempts to aim at in this above statement is a re-evalution of where mans heart is in within the daily functions of his or her life. Again Burroughs goes on to state that "I am at all times to 'labor' to enjoy communion with God" (pg. 39). The process of submitting the heart to humility before God is not an easy task in the least but a necessary one for those whom wish to reflect Christ both before God and in communion with His Bride.

"Chronological Snobbery"

"It is a disturbing fact that our culture can affect our manner and style of worship more drastically than we give credit... culture affects us in deep and serious ways and we had better wake up to it or find ourselves at culture's mercy. The call for the church to be truly countercultural (to borrow John Stott's phrase), an "alternative society" as Dawn labels it, has never been more urgent than it is now..." (GPTG 75)

Are we slaves to our culture? And, if so, how are we serving it? Since we are a musical class, let’s just deal with liturgy and music. “Liturgy, media, instruments, and vehicles of worship are never neutral, and so exceeding care must be given to the ‘law of unintended consequences’. Often the medium overwhelms and changes the message” (GPTG 64). Too often in the modern church, the goal of the liturgy is to feel less “churchy”, and the music is chosen just because it is called “Christian” and appears on K-LOVE. No thought is given to whether or not the music and words are helpful, unhelpful, or just plain distracting.

 However, let’s dig just a little deeper. Why do we do what we do? We are so quick to throw away the traditions of the past before we investigate the reasons behind them. Our author writes, “’Chronological snobbery,’ to use C. S. Lewis’s phrase, applies to those who suggest that we have nothing to learn from the two millennia since the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that worship is purely a matter of taste” (GPTG 77). We are often too tempted by our pluralistic culture to love the new, “better” liturgy and throw the old away. Instead, we should be “calling the church to the Bible- its simple principles and patterns” (GPTG 69). We cannot rely on our feelings; we must be grounded in the Word which is applicable to all cultures. What Derek Thomas has written feels like cold water thrown in our faces. We can wake up to see that we were sleeping, or we can get angry, roll over, and fall back to sleep.