While reading through Joe Horness' view of worship, I stopped more than one time to cringe and figure out exactly where his thoughts would lead to in a church. Without trying to rant as much as possible here are some conclusions I have drawn from reading his chapter:
First, his view of the church is wrong. (I won't spend too much time on the reason why considering our discussion on the purpose of the church in class yesterday) He crafts his church service to "teach God's truth in a way that our unchurched friends would be able to understand and apply in their lives." (107) To me, this is a serious problem, not only speaking to the nature of the church, but to human nature as a whole prior to regeneration. It seems to me that Bible is abundantly clear that man is in no way interested in God prior to God saving Him. (Rom. 5:8, Eph. 2:1-3, 2 Cor 4:4 to name a few)
Second, Joe's view on the particular order of worship seems very off and even unbiblical to me. What I mean is this: Joe says, basically, that the order of worship is that "we exalt God. He reveals His presence and changes our hearts. We pour out our hearts and remember His greatness. Refusing to be outdone, He meets our needs for intimacy and grace." (105) He also quotes Ms. Sally, who says that worship is "an exchange." (105) This has never been the Biblical model. For an applicable example (considering our reading today), the Psalms are full of the "revelation/response" rhythm that we find in the Bible. David would often lament his life, but after considering the truth of God, his emotions and response would then change: revelation-response. For more examples and a deeper explination, here's the address to a blog I wrote on this very subject this summer: http://gospelstuff.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/gospel-train-all-aboard/
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