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One church leader says worship services today are too time consuming, speaking out during an era when discussions about long church services seem to be a touchy subject for many Christians. The Rev. Jonathan Gledhill, the Bishop of Lichfield, told a group of clergy in a speech in his London diocese this week that church services have become too long, recommending “clergy should aim to keep the time of worship to no more than 50 minutes.” The bishop continued to say that worship has become “too complicated, leaving people who are not regular churchgoers feeling confused and excluded.” "One of...

I see you as a Psalmist unto Me(Jesus) , So do not lose your joy to the enemy , For the song in your heart is fragrant and true , So come to Me when things are askew , Just raise your voice in worship as a cup unto Me , And as I drink it in I shall release your glee , For truly you are a song in My heart broken open and true , A vessel filled with the Oil of Gladness of Me in you , So let Me rise up and sing as you go...

Long before the sun rose over the Shiloh Baptist Church, people were passing through metaldetectors at the historic African American congregation where President Barack Obama and his family will celebrate Easter. [Snip] Rev. Wallace Charles Smith, in the church's program, said, "We are honored to welcome to our 10 a.m. Easter service President Barack Obama, First LadyMichelle Obama, and daughters Malia and Sasha. Shiloh prays for the first family every Sunday and we thank God for the wonderful inspiration they provide to our nation." [Snip] The 3,000-member D.C. congregation [was] started by freed slaves.

Chris Tomlin - How Great is Our God (video)

....Mr Fu said 47 Shouwang members who tried to worship in an open-air public space on Sunday were detained and all the church's pastors and leaders were put under house arrest or in detention. In an earlier statement, Mr Fu said some church members had lost their homes or jobs amid an official campaign to shut down the church. While China's Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, Christians are required to worship in churches run by state-controlled organisations, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement for Protestants and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association for Catholics. However, more than 60 million Christians are believed to...

My sufferings are growing through you , All that I AM growing anew , The blood , the stripes , the words you know , Persecution that just seems to grow and grow , My very essence speaking and flowing through you , Oh ! but as you suffer I become new , For it is heaven in you I desire to prolong , For as you suffer your flesh falls behind , And all your words now become mine , A beautiful tapestry sung just for me , Each stitch woven in perfect harmony , My kingdom then comes...

…And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be...

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:8-9)In...

And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.(Revelation 4:9-11)The Apostle John has been ushered into the very center of reality, the throne room of Almighty God. God is there,...

Have you ever wondered why one of the Ten Commandments seems null and void – notably the one calling on believers to observe the Sabbath? Ask your pastor or priest and you will probably hear it's because Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday... (or because the disciples broke bread on Sunday morning--after a daylong sermon that extended into the night hours the preceding Sabbath Day) And then there's the little problem of this switch of worship days not being mentioned in the Bible – and the historical fact that most Christians continued observing the Sabbath for hundreds of years...

Rev. Peterson: Why Are Christians Allowing Muslims To Worship In Their Churches? As reported on FoxNews.com, two Protestant U.S. churches are creating a stir by opening their church buildings to Muslims for worship. According to the report, Heartsong Church in Cordova, Tenn., let members of the Memphis Islamic Center hold Ramadan prayers there. And the Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Alexandria, Va., allows the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) to hold regular Friday prayers in their building. Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, Founder and President of BOND, the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny, called this a dangerous and foolish...

My name is Edward L. Daley, and I'm what's known as a deist. That is to say that I embrace no particular religious faith, yet I do believe in an eternal creator of all life and existence... as best we understand those terms. I simply do not claim to know the motives or methods of our creator.

While entering into a oneness of worship with a small body of worshippers I heard The Spirit of The Lord release these words for your discernment . . . Do you see My children now you HAVE found your " FIRST LOVE " " WORSHIPPING ME " John 4:23 (Amplified Bible) 23A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers. Revelation 2:3-5 (New American Standard Bible) 3and you have perseverance and...

....I come from a conservative background of the Protestant church tradition. My friends and family tend to be non-demonstrative lot at church, with little more than the occasional “A-men!” when we are REALLY moved. So, it has bothered me to see a particular phenomenon from the charismatic/pentecostal tradition starting to appear in church – the raising of hands. This action, usually done during singing, always seemed showy to me and distracting. But, it is important to separate “it bothers me” from “it is wrong.” So, I decided to do some research into the phenomenon, and see what the Bible had...

The "liberal media's" unprecedented 24/7 gushing over a controversial and divisive president caps a quarter-century of fawning The media's weeklong coverage of the passing of President Reagan has produced some of the most rapturous remembrances in modern times. Given Reagan's long illness, few expected the gloss to be pierced by examinations of his past as an FBI informant, his support for the apartheid regime of South Africa, America's covert alliance with Saddam Hussein, or the killing fields of Central America. Nonetheless, the sheer volume of media-stoked adoration has been a bit startling to those who are keepers of the flame...

Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.(Psalm 2:!0-12)The Word of God to the Kings of the earth and the rulers, that is those who lead our civilisation, politically, culturally, academically, through media, entertainment, law, in short to all mover, shakers, and opinion molders, is simple and direct. Worship the LORD with fear, Rejoice...

January 17, 2011Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbott Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Heb 5:1-10Brothers and sisters:Every high priest is taken from among menand made their representative before God,to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,for he himself is beset by weaknessand so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himselfas well as for the people.No one takes this honor upon himselfbut only when called by God,just as Aaron was.In the same way,it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,but rather the one who said to him:You are my Son:this...

Powerful worship song, He is jealous for me Loves like a hurricane I am a tree Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by Glory And I realize just how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me

When the Swiss Reformers rebelled against the liturgical traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, they did so in terms of a coherent, controlling idea, a new vision. They had what we now recognize as a distinctively “Reformed” view of what we should do in liturgy and how we should understand it. Under the leadership of John Calvin and others, these Reformers put their vision into practice and in doing so brought about the most radical liturgical reform that the Christian church has ever known. Note the word reform. The Reformers saw themselves not as beginning over but as returning to...

Happy New Year, FReeper FRiends! This thread is my way of thanking God publicly for His great love and mercy to me, who spent years denying Him and pushing Him away. Through all my years of denials and hostility, He never gave up on me ... and in fact, has showered me with blessings and graces beyond counting. Today He gifted me with a small miracle after a few weak and pitiful prayers from me. I am humbled and I am so very thankful for ALL that He has given me (especially the gift of His only begotten Son), and...