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To: firebrand; NYer
"He probably did a liturgical dance"

"Check out Psalms 150. Would you ricicule any of the other forms of praise in this passage?"


You do realize that the writers of the Psalms (such as David, and others), including Psalm 150, also sacrificed (slaughtered) large and malodorous animals at many of their liturgical celebrations, and scattered the beasts' blood here and there. Would you advocate doing that during Christian liturgical celebrations as well?

Also, while Psalm 150 does say that a dance of praise is a good thing, it does not say that it should be done as part of any liturgical celebration. It is a good thing to eat a meal, and it is also a good thing to take a shower, but you wouldn't want to take a shower at a restaurant table, and you wouldn't want to eat dinner while taking a shower.

As Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says, there is a time and a place for the various activities of life, including a time to dance (verse 4).

Have you ever heard of Jesus Christ doing any liturgical dancing, or any of the Apostles of Jesus doing any liturgical dancing, or any other Christians mentioned in the Bible doing any liturgical dancing? (I'll check back tomorrow for a response - I have to get up pretty early tomorrow.)
140 posted on 04/19/2012 9:17:37 PM PDT by Heart-Rest ( "The Church is the pillar and bulwark of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15))
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To: Heart-Rest

.
Liturgy is man’s replacement for God’s commandments.
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147 posted on 04/19/2012 9:55:00 PM PDT by editor-surveyor
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To: Heart-Rest; firebrand
You do realize that the writers of the Psalms (such as David, and others), including Psalm 150, also sacrificed (slaughtered) large and malodorous animals at many of their liturgical celebrations, and scattered the beasts' blood here and there. Would you advocate doing that during Christian liturgical celebrations as well?

You do realize that the SAME Holy Spirit inspired the writers of those Psalms, right? Additionally, the sacrifice of lambs and bulls and goats and other various "large and malodorous animals" were done in obedience to Almighty God. The purpose of such was to be a spiritual object lesson that only by the shedding of blood is there remission of sins. The animals that were killed were done so to drive home the point that only by death can sins be paid for. In the time before Christ came, the observance of these offerings done for the people by the High Priest was the ONLY way for anyone to be made righteous. By faith in this expiatory sacrifice and obeying the commandments as well as the hundreds of other laws and ordinances was the way God saw fit for man to relate to Him. After Christ Jesus came and offered His blood and life upon the cross as the propitiation for the sins of the world, God now has man relate to Him by grace through faith. He STILL wants us to live holy and obedient lives because He loves us and knows what is best for us. But, we are saved by faith and not by our works just as the Old Testament saints were also saved because of their faith. Read Hebrews 11 for a wonderful description of the kind of faith they had.

There is now no more need for sacrifices - bloody or unbloody - because Christ made the final and full payment for sin. He died ONCE for all. All those who would come to Him through faith are granted reconciliation with God and are the redeemed, made righteous by Christ. It is NOT by works of righteousness that we do that saves us but by His mercy and grace alone. The righteousness of Christ is credited to our account and when God looks at us, He sees Christ's righteousness covering us.

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. (Philippians 3:9)

We must be as righteous as God is - be ye holy as HE is holy - in order to dwell with him for eternity. With man this is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible. We have the righteousness of God through faith in Christ.

151 posted on 04/19/2012 10:20:40 PM PDT by boatbums (God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.)
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To: Heart-Rest

I don’t think we should be critical of sincere expressions of worship. There is a tendency among Catholics to move toward more and more rigid formularies in their religion—adopting a whole new language for instance—and it is my considered opinion that in trying to be perfect to some kind of letter, they are building barriers to the spirit of the law and distancing themselves from the blessed simplicity of a living relationship with Jesus.

People at my church worship in a way that is very much like dancing if it is not dancing itself. It is so beautiful to see. No one who sees it can doubt its purity and sincerity. I wish I could do the same with the same kind of grace. Years of rigidly following rules has made that difficult.

Do me a favor if you answer this reply: don’t nitpick but deal with the basic issue.


157 posted on 04/19/2012 11:05:00 PM PDT by firebrand
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