Again, his initial attempt in forming this belief was to limit the role that man would play in determining the salvation of believers. It was important for him that the Sacrament only be received in faith of God and not through the grace of man, as it were. This is a chief distinction between Lutherans and Methodists; the latter regard the Holy Communion as symbolic of God's grace. Therefore, they perform this sacrament with a significant amount of regularity and frequency that far exceeds that of Lutherans. Lutherans perform the eucharist much more sparingly in order to circumscribe the direct effect that humans have on the chances of salvation and god's divine grace they can bestow upon them.
The specific type of worship that both churches adhere to serves as a key point of commonality and of difference. The Lutheran church is liturgical, and generally follows an established tradition, conservative….

" Owen maintains that it is not important that people engage in the particular actions Jesus engaged in, like washing another's feet, but instead that people strive to express their moral duty of brotherly love, in condescension and mutual helpfulness.
The fourteenth question posed by Owen is, "May not the church find out, and appoint to be observed, such religious rites as being adjoined unto the celebration of God's instituted worship, may further the devotion of the worshippers, and render the worship itself in its performance more decent, beautiful, and orderly, as the appointing of images, and the like?" Owen's answer is, "All acceptable devotion in them that worship God is the effect of faith, which respects the precepts and promises of God alone. And the comeliness and beauty of gospel worship consisteth in its relation unto God by Jesus Christ, as the merciful high priest over his house, with the….

Rick Cole of Capital Christian believes that the door cannot stay closed forever, and feels that by offering different services based on music preference is an opportunity for the entire congregation to unite (Garza).
Contemporary worship music began with the Jesus movement of the early 1970's and the rise of charismatic churches, and although it paralleled the growth in contemporary Christian rock and pop music, it remained separate until a few years ago (Levy). It now has become a mix of Christian pop, rock and praise choruses, and a blending of styles that has opened up contemporary worship music to a wider variety of instruments and sounds, such as the Christian bands Sonicflood and Delirious (Levy).

According to John Styll, president of the Gospel Music Association, roughly half of the top twenty Christian and gospel albums sold in 2003 were modern praise and worship music (Levy). Says Styll, "People want to….

Worship is universal. It allows people of various races and ethnicities, backgrounds to come together and pray. However every church and every religion have their key differences. Even in the Christian religion, there are variations existent all throughout Christianity. Some differences are small, while others are fundamental. While attending an African-American Pentecostal Assemblies of the World Church, I was able to see fundamental differences in practice. For instance, the Church is also recognized as Apostolic or as "Oneness" in that they reject the Trinitarian conception of the Godhead in lieu of a concept of God as one person who is expressed in three modes (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). As I believe in the Holy Trinity, here in lies the main and fundamental difference in the belief shared by the people of the church and my religious beliefs. As their baptism rights exclude all other modes of….

Corporate Worship vs. Private Worship
Today, some Christians may be confused about their personal style of worshiping or will question the need for formal worship in an age where everyone's time is valuable and busy schedules are packed. To gain some fresh insights into these issues, this paper sought to answer the question, "Is worshipping together with other believers in formal worship services necessary to a healthy spiritual life?" In this context, formal worshipping means regular and planned church attendance rather than the style of the services that are provided. To this end, this paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed, scholarly and biblical literature to support the need for corporate worship. This type of worship is not to the exclusion of private worship, but the scriptures show that God wants his followers to have a corporate church to facilitate fellowship among Christians. A summary of the research and important….

Commission to Worship by Wheeler and Whaley
As a North American Mission oard national missionary and associate director of the Center for Church Planting at Liberty aptist Theological Seminary, David Wheeler is eminently qualified to speak on matters of spiritual study, and his jointly authored book The Great Commission to Worship: iblical Principles for Worship-ased Evangelism demonstrates an extreme aptitude for biblical interpretation and modern empirical inquiry. His co-author Vernon M. Whaley serves as Director of the Center for Worship and Chairman of the Department of Music and Worship Studies at Liberty University, both positions which require a true commitment to evangelical teaching on a societal level. Together, this pair of highly educated religious instructors combine to create a lasting contribution to one of Christianity's most ofte-repeated debates; between the Great Commission given to the Church as an institution and the Great Commandment given to every human being on an….

Though the idea encompasses any personal relationship with and worship of the divine, it is not nearly that inclusive when examined from a holistic viewpoint. Instead, there are divisions in bhakti worship. "The major forms of bhakti are described by Hindus themselves, not only by their special relation to particular forms of deity, but also according to the various moods of the devotee" (Carman 1987, p. 587). In fact, being a bhakta is an experience that can differ tremendously depending on the individual. Some bhaktas are very similar to monks or priests in other religious traditions, in that their entire existence and living is devoted to the expression of religious devotion. Interestingly enough, those bhaktas may be the most outside of the traditional Hindu experience, which focuses on major life events that have very secular elements, such as marriage and childbirth.
"Each combination of bhava and rasa uses a particular….

Christian Worship
The History and Development of Contemporary Worship

Biblical Foundations of Christian Worship

The New Testament is, in many ways, the ultimate expression of Christian worship because the Gospels detail the life and teachings of Jesus Christ within the context and community of individuals who believed in Christ even in the midst of persecution. However, to understand the biblical foundations of Christian worship, it is important to first examine the Old Testament. The Hebrew Bible contains the most fundamental "norms of worship," for Christians, even if different churches develop unique patterns of worship consistent with their interpretations of scripture (Segler and Bradley 2006,11).[footnoteef:1] [1: Segler, Franklin M. And C. andall Bradley. 2006. Christian Worship: Its Theology and Practice. B&H Publishing Group, p. 11]

Old Testament worship was primarily concerned with differentiating Jewish worship from pagan and polytheistic worship (Segler and Bradley).[footnoteef:2] Worship is the primary way believers assert and avow their faith in….

It evolved into a major part of the very fabric of society. Ambassadors from these provinces would report their sacral worship and elaborate religious practices when visiting Rome. Often, these rites and practices were woven into the religious system. The religious system in Rome and in the provinces in the time of Augustus, or Rex Gestae, was steeped in his achievements. He ordered the inscription of these achievements on bronze tablets and in front of his mausoleum. Rome was a functional state, which idealized men as gods who possessed or pursued faith, reason, wealth, salvation, liberty or victory. Cicero wrote that the common custom was for those who brought such great benefits to be deified out of gratitude. Divine honors promoted these virtues and made their possessors more willing to face hardships and dangers in the service of the state. Cicero further wrote that the state could be set….

In fact, the non-Christ centered religiosity of the Middle Ages helped contribute to the division between the Catholic Church and Protestant churches. "This religiosity was expressed in the cult of the saints, particularly in images and sacred objects, and in the veneration of the eucharist" (James, Protestant, p.26). These practices actually led to the feeling among some Christians of that time period that they had somehow been fooled or tricked into a non-Christ focused type of worship. Moreover, this disagreement continues to mark a major division between Catholicism and Protestant belief; the modern Protestant belief is that worship is based upon the individual's personal relationship with God and is not dependent upon the intervention of a third party.
The final component of Christian worship is that it not dependent on time, place, or manner restrictions. The traditional place for worship is in a church on Sunday morning surrounded by one's….

Hindu Worship Service on Mahashivratri
India, one of the world's oldest civilizations, is known for its long and rich tradition of religion dating back to the 1028 hymns of the Rig Veda (the world's oldest religious text), probably composed between .C. 1500 and 900. In fact, modern Hinduism can trace its roots back to the Rig Vedas though Hinduism itself changed and evolved, from the earliest icons of worship of Mother Goddesses and 'elements' of nature, to the modern day Hindu belief that life is controlled by a triad of Gods: "rahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer."

Orthodox Hindus offer prayers and perform 'puja' (worship service) religiously and regularly, both in the temple and at home. Sometime ago, I had the opportunity to observe a typical Hindu worship service at a friend's home. My friend belongs to a Tamil rahmin family, which observes all the traditional religious….

It was on a Friday night, and the room was mainly made up of older individuals, although there were a few single men and some families with children. Many of them seemed to know one another well, and laughed and talked. hen they approached me as a stranger, I explained what my purpose was -- to observe the use of music during services on a typical Shabbat. They told me that the synagogue was more crowded during the holidays. They said the cantor was well-liked, although they felt that the previous cantor had a better voice. Men and women sat together. The entire sung prayer aspect of the service was in Hebrew. The people seemed comfortable and familiar with the prayers, as they seemed to know when to stand and sit, occasionally rocking with devotion. Their responses to the words of the prayers seemed unforced and confident, again underlining….

" (13) It is thus that Costen poetically paints a picture of an inherently spiritual and devout people channeling their faith in the diaspora. Costen more than adequately achieves the goal of defining a unique, beautiful and empowering culture encapsulated in the intercession of Christianity and African-American heritage.
One of the reasons that the text seemed to be so effective in achieving its aims was in its close emotional connection to the source material. The author writes both with a scholarship and a passion that denote a very clear sense of faith and racial identity, with pride and understanding permeating both. The appeal to biblical scripture for instance is uniquely interwoven with a lucid discussion on the history of the African-American people, from slavery through to the post-Civil Rights Era.

It is in this approach, in fact, that Costen offers the greatest comfort to the devout among this text's readers, endorsing the….

This was not the case in Pakistan.
Then I heard the call of prayer. The imam was calling everyone for prayers by reciting the Iqama (which is basically a shorter form of the azaan). An azaan is a call for prayers. People started gathering around in the prayer hall. As a mark of respect I walked towards the courtyard so I could get a better view and not interfere in the prayers. The imam asked all the worshippers to switch off their cellular phones. I guess it's considered rude for the prayers to be interrupted by the ringing of the phone. I could see all the men lining up in formation. They all stood in a straight line and made sure that there was no gap in between. I could see that there was a lot of unity amongst everyone as they made sure that all the gaps were filled….

It was in Sanskrit and Tamil and most people had a piece of paper to read from. There was a tune to it though it was more of chanting than singing.
Showing fire lamps to the Gods

Once the chanting was done, the priest lit a huge lamp with oil and camphor. This is then waved in front of the God in a circular motion and during this time, there is more chanting and prayer. Flowers are also thrown on the deity by another priest who is standing next to the one showing the lamp. Every worshiper stands on either side of the shrine and prays with folded hands. During this process, the bells are going off constantly and loudly.

Bringing the lamp to the worshipers

After the lamp is showed to the God in a circular fashion, it is kept on a plate and is brought to the worshipers. Each of them….