Regulative or Normative? Or, What is he talking about?

Yesterday the pastor preached on Ezra 6:1-6 (as part of his series on the book of Ezra). As we read through these verses together, I noticed something that was stated at least four times in these six verses. And I began to think, This must be important.

First, a quick summary of the passage. The people who had returned to Judah gathered together in Jerusalem, re-built the altar and began offering sacrifices to the Lord.

Now for what I noticed:

2 Then stood up Jeshua…and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. 
4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, 
and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required; 
5 And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated

What I noticed was that everything they did was based on as it is written. They were restoring the worship of God. So they went to the Bible to see what they were supposed to do, when, and how. They weren’t making things up. They weren’t being innovative. They weren’t cutting edge. They weren’t trying to be culturally relevant. They were interested in only one thing, What does God say about how He wants us to worship Him?

And it got me to thinking again about something that is dear to my heart. Regulative or normative?

What?? What in the world am I talking about?

It saddens me deeply that many evangelicals today don’t seem to have an interest in making sure their worship is biblically based. I still remember attending churches who dedicated a portion of their bulletin to explaining the biblical precedence for what they were doing: “This is why we sing, shout, have music, lift our hands, clap our hands” etc. In many contemporary churches, who knows why they do what they do?

Which brings me back to regulative and normative:

“The regulative principle of worship is a teaching … on…public worship. The substance of the doctrine… is that only those elements that are instituted or appointed by command or example or which can be deduced by good and necessary consequence from Scripture are permissible in worship, and that whatever is not commanded or cannot be deduced by good and necessary consequence from Scripture is prohibited.
The regulative principle is often contrasted with the normative principle of worship which teaches that whatever is not prohibited in Scripture is permitted in worship, as long as it is agreeable to the peace and unity of the Church.” *

I believe we should start with the regulative principle. That is, we should search the Scriptures to find what God says He wants us to do in our worship of Him. And whatever it is He calls for, we should by no means not have that in our worship service! The pastoral epistles are a good place to start. Paul left Timothy in Ephesus and sent these letters so that he would know how to conduct himself in the house of God. Among the many instructions Paul gives, he says

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty…I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

The most important thing he mentions is a vigorous prayer life. This is in church, as a church. When we come together before God, it is to pray. Then he mentions the public reading of the Word. Third, the preaching of this Word (exhortation, doctrinal teaching, reproving and rebuking). Any worship service that lacks these things is less than God wants.

Elsewhere we learn about other acceptable, approved, and expected elements such as the Lord’s Supper, giving, singing. Have you ever noticed that the New Testament does not contain a single word about praise teams? Choirs? Special music? light shows? Or buildings for that matter? Does this mean they are wrong? No. But, at the very least it means they are not top priority with God.

This brings me to the normative principle. I believe the regulative principle is the place to start – What does God command? But that it is too restrictive. The Bible gives us commands and principles and freedom. For example, When do we meet? We know we meet on Sunday, but what time on Sunday? Since there is no command to meet on Tuesday or Wednesday, would it be wrong to have a prayer meeting or Bible study on those days? What about the public reading of the Word? There is no command concerning which book to begin with, or how many verses at one time should be read. Can we have special services to celebrate the birth and resurrection of the Lord? There is no order of service offered in the New Testament, can our order of service be different than yours?

Yes! We have freedom in the Spirit. But this freedom does not negate the need to be concerned with the as it is written. There are elements of worship that God has commanded in His Word, and we need to have them in our worship service. In the record of God, it needs to be written of our worship, “They did…as it is written.” And we do not want it written of us, “They offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.”


* I got this definition from Wikipedia

I love this stuff!

Yesterday I saw an article about a hymnbook printed by the Puritans in 1640. Here are two pictures that accompanied the article. Click on them for a larger view.

 




The picture on the left is the title page. The picture on the right shows portions of Psalms 22 and 24 and all of Psalm 23. I love the old spelling. And in the rhyming pattern (ABCB) you can get a feel for the pronunciation. I have updated the spelling below and highlighted the rhymes. Most of the words are still pronounced the same, but there are some that are a lot different. Like most poetry, it’s better to read it out loud, and that way you can hear how it sounded.

(Psalm 22)
25 Concerning thee shall be my praise
in the great assembly:
before them that him reverence
perform my vows will I.
26 The meek shall eat and be sufficed:
Jehovah praise shall they
that do him seek: your heart shall live
unto perpetual aye.
27 All ends of the earth remember shall
and turn unto the Lord:
and thee all heathen families
to worship shall accord.
28 Because unto Jehovah doth
the kingdom appertain:
and he among the nations
is ruler Sovereign.
29 Earth’s fat ones, eat and worship shall:
all who to dust descend,
(though none can make alive his soul)
before his face shall bend.
30 With service a posterity
him shall attend upon,
to God it shall accounted be
a generation.
31 Come, shall they, and his righteousness
by them declared shall be,
unto a people yet unborn,
that done this thing hath he.

23 A Psalm of David
The Lord to me a Shepherd is,
want therefore shall not I.
2 He in the folds of tender grass,
doth cause me down to lie:
to waters calm me gently leads
3 Restore my soul doth he:
he doth in paths of righteousness:
for his name's sake lead me.
4 Yea, though in valley of death's shade
I walk, none (w)ill I fear:
because thou art with me, thy rod.
and staff my comfort are.
5 For me a table thou shalt spread,
in presence of my foes:
thou dost anoint my head with oil,
my cup it overflows.
6 Goodness and mercy surely shall
all my days follow me:
and in the Lord's house I shall dwell
so long as days shall be.

Psalm 24
A Psalm of David
The earth Jehovah’s is,
and the fullness of it:
the habitable world, and they
that thereupon do fit.
2 Because upon the seas,
he hath it firmly laid:
and it upon the water floods
most solidly hath stayed.
3 The mountain of the Lord,
Who shall thereto ascend?
And in his place of holiness

This is the introduction. I would have included it above but blogger would not permit it.

Sleep

Sleep.

Sweet and rare.

You may say the ‘rare’ is because I’m old as them thar hills. If I wasn’t born of a woman and made of the dirt from those hills, I’d say I’m older than the hills!

I work all night and try to sleep all day. But my body cannot be fooled. I have made my room as black as I am allowed, but the light comes pouring through every crack, it slips in under the door, and heads straight for my eye. I’m tired, I lay down, I sleep for a while, but the light tells my body, “No. No. No sleep for you!”

My eyes are open. I’m awake. I lay there in the semi-dark room. I cannot sleep, so I get up, but immediately I know, I need more sleep.

This morning, I got off a little after 7 and laid down at 8. I was meeting a brother for lunch at 1 so I planned to sleep until 12:15. Slept fitfully until a little before 11. I got up even though I was still so tired. But I am happy to report that lunch itself helped a lot. But I know what will happen tonight.

As things settle down, around 7 tonight, I will start feeling it. By 8, I will start falling asleep, if I sit down. I could be in bed and asleep by 9. Ah, sleep has come, right? This is good, right? Ha! I will be awake by 2 or 3 am! This is my first day off.

What about my second day off? You can see the pattern developing, but things will no doubt go well and I will be up ‘til maybe 11 or 12. But no matter when I go to sleep, I will wake up at 4. Through determination I may make it until 5. AM.

What’s really funny is that my best sleep on my days off comes on the night I return to work. I will lay down and get the best three hours of sleep.

Ah, but I complain. I know other people who are just as sleep deprived as me, even more so. Sleep is rare. And usually for those who work nights. But sleep is also sweet.

I know people who sleep as little as possible – “Life is short and I might miss something.” I have a different problem. Many times I wake up with too little sleep and don’t feel like a person. Solution? Sweet sleep. Another hour or two and I feel human. Sometimes, I get up and am as irritable as a riled up bear. Remedy? Sweet sleep. And then the darkest times - I wake up way too early and am depressed. Cure? You got it!

Sleep is sweet. I know that one day I will fall asleep in Jesus and then rise again, “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”

It may seem like I’m complaining and whining. I’m not really. I started this while lying in bed this morning, upset because I couldn’t sleep any longer. But you know what? it’s 7 pm and I feel ok right now. I can’t quite see straight, but I feel pretty good. It’s a beautiful day and I think I shall go out on the lanai, make a fire and enjoy the rest of the day and early evening.

Comforting thought from Hawaii Five O

No one will be surprised to hear that I watch Hawaii Five 0. Nor will anyone who knows me be shocked to learn that after episodes I will frequently look up actors, just to learn a little more about them.

Today I watched “A Study in Rage.” A little over halfway through a character made a brief appearance. Of course, she supplied the last clue that led McGarrett to find the bad guy. I’d seen her before both in Hawaii Five 0 episodes as well as Magnum episodes. When the credits came on I saw her name, Josie Over. And I looked her up. Not much is known about Josie Over. Here is pretty much all I found:

Josie Over (1942–1992)
“Josie Over was a frequent guest on TV shows set in Hawaii. She was married to a Donald Over, himself a guest in a few “Hawaii Five-O” episodes. Neither did a lot of acting roles, though, so I don't know what their day jobs were.”

“She died Tuesday, March 24, 1992 at her home on the North Shore of Oahu. She was 49 years old and died of multiple myeloma. Her name was Josephine Nunez Over. Nunez was her maiden name. She had 3 sons and 8 daughters. Ethnically she was Filipino, Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish. She was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.”

Another site reported that was also a pretty good Hawaiian hula dancer.

What struck me was, here was this person who had a life, friends, a husband, (lots of) children, and a brief moment of fame – she appeared in a few Hawaii Five 0 episodes. Because of her appearances on Hawaii Five 0 and Magnum etc we can find a little information about her on the internet. But just a little. Yet we nothing about her: Did she have a sense of humor? Did she laugh a lot? Was she sad? We don't know and now that she is gone, we will never know.

And that’s the point. The vast majority of us live our whole life in near anonymity and relative obscurity. Most of us only make the news when we are born and when we die. We have a life, we have friends, we have a job, we pay taxes, some of us marry, some of us have children, we buy a house, we buy a car, we take vacations - all kinds of life stuff. But no one knows who we are. A hundred years from now someone may come across our name in the county rolls, but it won’t mean anything because they won’t know who we were.

Does this mean I was depressed? Or that I am now as a result of thinking about this? No. It is true that in regard to the mass of humanity, I am easily lost and overlooked. We live in a fame crazy culture and I am an total unknown. But there is One who knows my name, who sees me all the time. Who says of me, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls

And He hears me when I call *

Way back in 1981, a brother named Dallas Holm wrote a song, I Saw The Lord:

The place was white as snow

and pure as finest gold.

It had the look of new,

yet had the look of old.

I felt like I was home,

but felt so far away,

In fear I thought to leave,

but felt the urge to stay.

And then a silence fell

like none I'd ever known.

I stood among the millions,

I stood there all alone.

His face was like the sun,

His eyes were like the sea,

His voice was like the thunder

rolling through eternity.

And I saw the Lord

He was high and lifted up

and rightfully adored

And I saw the Lord

and He saw me

Yes, I live among millions of people and I am insignificant. Not only that, I try to fly under the radar. But there is One I cannot hide from – the Creator. He sees me. He knows me. He knows my heart. In the midst of all the people who have ever lived, and who are alive today, He see me and hears the cry of my heart! And in that Day, when I stand with a multitude too large to count, and see the Lord, I will not be lost in the crowd, for He will see me.

Isn’t it funny how a comforting thought can cross your mind even when you are looking up someone from a Hawaii Five 0 episode?

Psalm 139

* He Knows My Name by Tommy Walker

What right do I have?

I admit it, I have preached many a sermon late at night. At work. Alone! As I read the Scriptures and meditate on the Word, I wonder how I would teach and preach that passage. I wonder if I will ever have the opportunity to teach again. Many nights, I doubt it altogether. A few nights I have a small hope. Those nights, I think about a passage I heard someone preach and wonder, How would I preach that? I have even thought about having highly supervised opportunities. I mean, my pastor would ask me to preach on a certain passage, or verse, or phrase in a verse, or a topic. How would I preach it? Of course, this is made easier and more interesting because in my imagination I am picking the passage!

One of the first times I thought about this was this past December. The pastor had preached a sermon that included Luke 2:11

For unto you is born this day in the city 
of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

That night I thought, How would I preach this verse? And I preached a wonderful message! (This is no way suggests any fault with the pastor’s message!)

But I do confess, I was immediately stopped short by the word, Savior. What right would I have to preach about the Savior? I failed. I stumbled and fell. Savior speaks of being rescued and restored, of victory. How could I ever talk about Savior??

I instantly realized, I am a perfect person to speak of a Savior. If my story was about me; what a wonderful person I was, how strong I was, how good I was, then I would have no right. But, if that were the case, what need would I have of a Savior? But clearly, that is not the case. I needed someone to rescue me, to deliver me, to save me. 

As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.

My story is: I stumbled, I fell down, and I could not get back up, and Jesus saved me. He rescued me, He delivered me, He restored my soul. I think that is the very definition of Savior! My wound was raw and red and He is healing me. As the Psalmist says:

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay,

and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God:

Yes, I have a right to speak of the Savior. I don’t know if I will ever preach again, but I clearly have a testimony of Christ as my Savior and Lord.

(Just in case someone comes to the conclusion that I am recommending my path - No. What, you didn’t hear me? NO! You don’t understand me? NO! NO! NO! Having a Savior doesn’t mean He condones my sin, simply that He rescues me from it.)

Songs in my heart

Last Friday I woke up with a portion of a song in my heart:

Though He fall, though He fall
he shall not be cast down
for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand

I was singing it over and over and then I put it together with the rest of the song:

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord
and He delighteth in His way
Though He fall, though He fall
he shall not be cast down
for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand
with His hand, with His hand
for the Lord upholdeth Him with His hand
though He fall, though He fall
He shall not be cast down
for the Lord upholdeth Him with His hand. ~Psalm 37:23-24

Then, last night at work, toward the end of the night, maybe even 5:30 am, I had a tune pop into my head. I began to hum it. I thought, I know this…what is it? I intentionally hummed it and voilà! I remembered:

With healing in his wings
With healing in his wings
The Sun of righteousness shall rise
With healing in his wings ~Malachi 4:2


You suppose these are words of encouragement from the Lord?

Easter Surprise

Easter Sunday and I was surprised. I have not been at this church long enough to know their patterns and so I didn’t know we would be observing the Lord’s Supper on Easter. And, after years of Communion at night, I’m still surprised by Communion in the morning service.

Tiernan was with us and it soon became evident that he had never been in a Communion service before. How? He asked, “What are they doing?” Boy, was I caught off guard! But, this was a good question and now I had to explain Communion and prepare him to receive it – in whispered tones, while they were passing out the elements!

Tiernan is ten years old. He’s a sharp fellow, but still, he’s only ten. And these are deep truths.  Here, to the best of my recollection, is what I told him.

“This is Communion. By this we remember that Jesus died for us.”

They distributed the bread. When we each took a piece I said, “With this bread we remember how Jesus died on the cross for our sins. When we eat this we are saying, ‘Lord Jesus, I believe in you. I believe you died for me. And I receive you as my Savior.’ If you don’t want to do this today, that’s fine too.” But he did.

When they distributed the cup I leaned over and said, “This is grape juice. It reminds us of the blood of Jesus. When you drink it you are saying, ‘Lord Jesus, I believe in you. And I ask you to wash my sins away.’ ”

We drank the cup and I showed him where to put it but he said, “Can I keep it?” Of course.

So that was my Easter surprise. If I had known we would be celebrating Communion and that Tiernan was going to be in the service, I would have talked in depth with him the night before. Or at least on the way to church. But that’s why it was a surprise! Do I think he fully understood? Ha! I think there are plenty of church regulars who don’t understand communion! How much did he get from it? I don’t know. One of the reasons we celebrate so often is to keep these truths before our eyes, and each time builds on the last - there is no doubt that I understand and appreciate this more now than when I was a new believer. Besides, we distribute the elements but the Holy Spirit has the ministry of making Jesus present in them.

I love the Lord’s Supper! Communion with my Lord, receiving Him! And I pray that this will be a means of grace for Tiernan as well.