Old-Fashioned Worship

Tibetan Prayer WheelIn Col. 2:20-23, Paul rejects a modern trend that emerged in the 60's.  Not the 1960's.  The 60's.  :- )  This trend was towards a "voluntary will-worship" that, said Paul, gained no favor from its Target.

The Greek word thelothreskia -- will-worship -- comes from two Greek words.

The second, threskia, was the word they used for ceremony.  If your sister is getting married Saturday, then very likely she'll be at a rehearsal on Friday night.  Rehearsing what?  Rehearsing the threskia.  The formal sequence of acts that is performed as a ritual towards the function of marriage.  In religion, threskias are the worship sequences.

The first word, thelo, was the most common Greek word for "wish" or "want."  When Aladdin rubbed the lamp, the genie granted him three thelo's.

So, thelothreskia is that kind of religious ceremony that consists of components that we like.

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A very popular Christian author, with a set of bestselling books out, revealed how he very quickly built his first church from 50 to 5,000.  He travelled the neighborhoods and asked what people wanted in a new church.

Their answers:  1) Day care, 2) Lively instrumental music, 3) Short sermons, and 4) No harping on money and contribution.

The preacher delivered this, and had teeming throngs in no time...

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Yesterday, my wife, my daughter, and I went into Cold Stone to get a 6-pack of ice cream cupcakes for my son's birthday.  They had several varieties.  I asked Jenny to grab a box for her brother...

My hulking, 6-1, 230-lb son has a favorite kind of ice cream cupcake.  The kind with pretty pink frosting.  Jenny, on the other hand, likes the cookie dough variety... which kind should Jenny pick up, do you think?  :- )

I've got to admit, Jenny snagged the pretty pink cupcakes, with enthusiasm.  It's not her birthday; it's her brother's.  She managed to focus on his preference.  Mommy and Daddy got a little bit of vertigo from watching this, but we recovered quickly enough to get Jenny a Gotta Have It with mixins.

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The buzzphrase coined by Billy Graham is now, "Join the church of your choice." 

But what if we tried a new paradigm?  What if we made a good-faith effort to join the church of Jesus' choice?   Wait a minute.  Are you suggesting that He had statements as to the kind of worship that He wanted?

In Moses' day, in Paul's day, worship was not for the parishoners, but for the Creator.  The other six days of the week, people received all of their blessings, and then they arrived on worship day to passionately offer the Creator a day in which He received thanks for the blessings.

Who gets to pick the color of the ribbons at the wedding ceremony -- the mother of the groom?  :- )  Whose wedding is it?  When we take the Lord's Supper, is it fundamentally a service for us, or for Whom?

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In Tibet, the "prayer wheel" contains one or more scrolls with petitions addressed to spiritual beings.  The wheel is counter-weighted so that it can spin long after it's pushed by the operator.  The word that they themselves use is "automatic" -- spin the wheel and spiritual beings are petitioned automatically.

I'm sure the Creator sees the wheels spinning, but not as sure that He reacts to them.  Matt. 15:7-9 indicates that the effective worship is the worship which is done less "automatically."

Warm regards,

Jeff