The Worship Quote of the Week for (04/03/2001):

Traditional or Contemporary? Today's WORSHIP QUOTE is for those of us who have been tempted to dig in our heels over style issues in worship. The author is Michael Horton. WORSHIP: TRADITIONAL OR CONTEMPORARY? It is important here that we point out how we must be careful to allow Scripture and neither traditionalism nor contemporaneity to have the last word. While we would be foolishly proud to ignore the wisdom of those who have gone before us, and stubbornly rigid to ignore the immediate concerns of our own day, the greatest danger is to ignore the infallible pattern we find in God's Word for all generations. - Michael Horton, in WE BELIEVE: RECOVERING THE ESSENTIALS OF THE APOSTLES' CREED, Nashville: Word, 1998, p. 239. [How easy it is to claim that my church's approach to worship planning is biblical and balanced! How quick we are to notice the imbalance in someone else's style choices. Dear heavenly Father, forgive us for our arrogance and self-centeredness. Show us your ways. May your kingdom come, and your will be done even in our worship. Amen!] Have a great week. Chip Stam Director, Institute for Christian Worship School of Church Music and Worship Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky www.carlstam.org www.sbts.edu