Jonathan Landry Cruse

“The intrusion of entertainment in worship today can trace its roots back to the work of revivalist minister Charles G. Finney (1792–1875). An American Presbyterian minister, Finney became famous for the methods employed at his meetings, later known as the “new measures,” which were carefully designed to manipulate an emotional response from the crowd. For Finney, there was a formula that, employed correctly, would guarantee interest in the things of God. He said so himself: “A revival is not a miracle, or dependent on a miracle in any sense. It is a purely philosophic [i.e., scientific] result of the right use of the constituted means.”2 It was this sort of ministry that caused Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) to remark in the 1800s that “the devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them.”3 These words are just as true today.”
― Jonathan Landry Cruse, What Happens When We Worship

“Închinarea este semnificativă, nu pentru ceea ce facem noi, ci pentru ceea ce face Dumnezeu în noi și prin noi prin Duhul Sfânt.”
― Jonathan Landry Cruse, What Happens When We Worship