Desiring God Chapter 4 on Worship

Here are some really good quotes from John Piper's book on worship. These quotes mean a lot to me in light of where I have been and what I was taught about worship the last year or so. Good stuff.

"Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full (or half- full) of artificial admirers (like people who write generic anniversary cards for a living). On the other hand, emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates shallow people who refuse the discipline of rigorous thought. But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship."

"These are some of the affections of the heart that keep worship from being in vain. Worship is a way of gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth. It is not a mere act of willpower by which we perform outward acts. Without the engagement of the heart, we do not really worship. The engagement of the heart in worship is the coming alive of feelings and emotions and affections of the heart. Where feelings for God are dead, worship is dead."

"It also becomes clear why it is not idolatrous and man-centered to say that our emotions are ends in themselves. It is not man-centered because of the emotions of our worship are centered on God. We look away from ourselves to Him and only then do the manifold emotions of our heart erupt in worship."

"Misguided virtue smothers the spirit of worship. The person who has the vague notion that is is virtue to overcome self-interest, and that it is vice to seek pleasure, will scarcely be able to worship. For worship is the most hedonistic affair of life and must not be ruined with the least thought of disinterestedness. The great hindrance of worship is not that we are a pleasure-seeking people, but that we are willing to settle for such pitiful pleasures."