#WG09 – Quotes

I’ve been at the Worship God ’09 Conference this week and have heard some amazing things. Here are some of the quotes I’ve pulled from Twitter about the conference.

Some quotes may not be word for word. I just pulled them from Twitter

John Piper

“When God’s exaltation of God in Christ at the cross is your joy, your joy can never fail.”

“The cross is not a way of increasing my self-esteem.”

“There is no better foundation for a worship conference than ‘Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised!'”

“The secular mindset cannot love the profound God-centeredness of God in the cross.”

“The only eternal happiness for man is a happiness focused on the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

“God chose to defend his righteousness not by slaying his people, but by slaying his Son.”

“Duty is a good thing, but duty in giving roses on an anniversary is not a good thing.”

“The New Testament is stunningly silent about forms of worship. Frighteningly silent.”

“I don’t write about satisfaction in God as one who has arrived but as one desperately thirsty.”

“Pursuing your joy in God doesn’t make worship you-centered but profoundly God-centered.”

“Pursuing joy in God is an obligation, not a threat to our ethics”

“The essence of worship is the experience of being SATISFIED with all that God is for us in Jesus.”

“God acting to uphold his glory is (God) acting in love.”

“Most people like to have a religion they can manage.”

“I don’t write about satisfaction in God as one who has arrived but as one desperately thirsty.”

“I don’t write about satisfaction in God as one who has arrived but as one desperately thirsty.”

“Preaching is music. My understanding of preaching is that it’s just music without the music.”

“If God directed us to anything other than himself for satisfaction, he would hate us.”

“One of the main things I have to teach young pastors is look for conjunctions and learn to understand them.”

“How many times has God made the sun rise on millions of rebels who belong in hell?”

“Worship is a means in itself and not a means to an end”

“Because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him, worship is not vain and love is real.”

“My heart is a desire factory and every day it’s producing bad ones that have to be killed.”

“God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him!”

“Galaxies are God’s pinky-finger work; he was not tired when he finished.”

“The cross marks the end of human self-exaltation & is the birth of radical human exultation in God’s self-exaltation.”

“The only eternal happiness for man is a happiness focused on the riches of the glory of God in the face of Jesus.”

“The secular ‘mindset’ of the flesh collides with the Godward, new-born ‘mindset’ on every page of the Bible.”

“Before the cross can be for our sake, it must be for God’s sake—to demonstrate his righteousness and clear his name.”

CJ Mahaney

“It is easier to prepare a one hour sermon than a two minute exhortation.”

“the more we prepare what we are going to say the easier spontaneity will come”

“a well-meaning leader of worship that inserts frequently into the worship so that he is a distraction or creates dependence”

“Priority must be congregation singing gospel centered songs. Creativity mustn’t distract from that purpose. We’re about content.”

“in a worship band, you are not just serving with your skills but with your soul”

“We don’t want to build a church known for its creativity. I want them freshly affected by the content and the singing.”

“The goal is content in congregational singing. The goal is not to be more creative than last week.”

“We must never leave the impression in our worship that we do not need a mediator.”

“Pastors – You are being studied during worship by your congregations.”

“any progress we made is because of grace and others. I would not want you to leave here impressed with us”

“Singing is a cessation as a congregation of listening to yourselves and a choice to talk to yourselves with Gospel truth!”

“most of your unhappiness comes from the fact that we are listening to ourselves rather than speaking to ourselves. – MLJones”

“every Sunday should be a preview of heaven”

“The Cross is the central theme of the Bible. So it should also be the central theme of our singing.”

“we must plan but it would be arrogant to assume our plans were perfect and sufficient. we must still listen!”

“the Holy Spirit is no less present in planning.” “plan & plan diligently but don’t be dependent on the plan”

“Creativity must be handled with care.”

Bob Kauflin

“you never know when someone is going to look on stage and see you either engaged or paying attention to your music.”

“One way the spirit leads is as you plan and another way He leads is after you plan your corporate gatherings.”

“Your job as Worship Leader is to not stop listening to the Holy Spirit when you are done planning the service.”

“Sometimes I kneel because I am overwhelmed. Sometimes I kneel because I need to be overwhelmed.”

Thabiti Anyabwile

“Ain’t nobody being paternal when God hangs the picture of the church on the fridge of the cosmos.”

“Christianity is not a self help religion”

“The church is God’s glorious handiwork demonstrating his manifold wisdom to the universe.”

wife describes housework as “hanging pearls on a string without a knot on the other end”

“To reject the church is to take your own spiritual life”

“Spiritual maturity is a community project. We can’t mature in Christ independent of the local church.”

Jeff Purswell

“There’s nothing more central to Christian worship than the preaching of the Word.”

referred to John Piper as “The Pipe Bomb”

“Worship doesn’t take us into God’s presence; the substitutionary death of Christ takes into his presence”

“In our singing we are addressing God. In preaching God is addressing us. Which is more important?”

Unknown:

“Creativity is not something you DO, it’s the WAY you do something.”