Preface To The Second Printing
1. Must God Plead With God?
   
2. How The Spirit Leads
   
3. Physical Reinforcements of Faith
   
4. Jesus' Physical and Spiritual Death
   
5. Is There Merit in Pain?
   
6. The Six Days of Creation
   
7. Adding Guilt to Anxiety
   
8. Wine and The Disciple
   
9. Revolution or Evolution
   
10. I Am That Disciple
    
11. When People Disagree
    
12. Is Unity Based Upon Seven Doctrines?
    
13. Our Seven Sacraments
    
14. Instrumental Music
    
15. The Mood of Worship
    
16. Justified Then Sanctified
    
17. Is Christian Our Name?
    
18. The Lord's Table
    
19. Righteousness That Exceeds
    
20. Neither Destroyed Nor Nailed To The Cross
    
21. The Right of Self-Protection
    
22. A Tree of Error
    
23. God is Limited
    
24. You Are Here
    
25. God is In Charge
    
26. Hook's Points
    
27. Lamentations of A Mediocre Preacher
    

THE MOOD OF WORSHIP

Various suggestions have been offered as to how we can prepare our minds for proper worship. If a proper mood is not created, we are warned, our efforts become only meaningless rituals done by rote. So, a special reverence should be felt on Sunday, a certain hallowedness should be sensed as we enter the meeting hall, and a gentle hush should prevail over the assembly because we are about to worship God "in Spirit and in truth."

Before we become too entranced in this mood of worship, however, let us observe the worship of a Biblical character. Let us watch this man-let's call him Shimron-as he offers worship to God as is specified in Leviticus 1: 1-9.

Shimron goes out to the pasture to get the bullock that he has been raising for a burnt offering. He, his two sons, and the dog herd it toward the corral, where it seems determined not to go. After much chasing and effort, a rope is secured around the neck of the animal and they start the trying journey to the Tent of Meeting. Because the reluctant bullock does not cooperate, there is much towing, pushing, and yelling accompanied by barking of the dog. As one of the boys gets too close, he receives a painful kick from the offering. He limps along, just thankful that he was not gored. They are all hot, sweaty, and tired, but are somewhat refreshed by a sudden thunder shower with its close lightning and thunder.

Finally having reached the door of the Tent of Meeting, Shimron kills the bullock by cutting its jugular vein so the priest can catch the gushing blood in a vessel. Having caught the blood, the priest sprinkles it round about and against the altar amidst the flies and stench caused by many previous offerings.

Now Shimron and the boys skin the sacrifice, cut it up, and wash the intestines. As the priest then burns the entire offering on the altar, the smell of burning hair and charring flesh, though obnoxious to Shimron's nostrils, is "a pleasing odor to the Lord."

From the feeding of that animal to the burning of it, was it not all worship pleasing to God? Now, describe the mood of worship!

Shimron had a consciousness of his sin which caused him to be submissive to God to receive mercy and grace. He offered the specified and acceptable expression of this attitude by sacrificing an animal to atone for his sins. This he did in sincerity but not in quietness or in some sort of meditative, mystical, emotional communion with God which we might presume to be the proper mood of worship.

Perhaps, you are countering in your mind that we do not worship as Shimron did-that we worship "in Spirit and in truth." Yes, there is a difference. While he worshipped in types and shadows fulfilling legal specifications, we worship in fulfillment of them-the truth. He worshipped at specific localities and times, through prescribed rituals, through a special priesthood offering specified offerings sanctified (holy) for that purpose. Our worship, being spiritual, has no such limitations.

Instead of offering objects, we give ourselves in constant whole­life offering. We do not offer through a priest (other than Christ, our high priest) for we are priests. A trip to a temple of the Presence of God is not necessary, for we are temples with his Spirit dwelling in us. There is no specified time for our worship/service for all we do is in his service. There are no holy actions or rituals, for the living sacrifice is sanctified/holy to the Lord. Whatever we do in our Spirit­directed life-and that really means whatever-is done in the name of the Lord, being directed by and to him. We are not part secular and part holy, but are totally sanctified as an acceptable sacrifice. That is worship in Spirit and in truth.

Now, what is this mood of worship that we should strive for? I question that spirit is ever used in the scriptures to mean a mood.