“The fuel of worship is a true vision of the greatness of God; the fire that makes the fuel burn white hot is the quickening of the Holy Spirit; the furnace made alive and warm by the flame of truth is our renewed spirit; and the resulting heat of our affections is powerful worship, pushing its way out in confessions, longings, acclamations, tears, songs, shouts, bowed heads, lifted hands, and obedient lives.” by John Piper

Perhaps we can tie things together with this picture: The fuel of worship is the, truth of God; the furnace of worship is the spirit of man; and the heat of worship is the vital affections of reverence, contrition, trust, gratitude, and joy. But there is something missing from this picture. There is furnace, fuel, …

Jonathan Edwards, On His Pastoral Duty

I should think myself in the way of my duty, to raise the affections of my hearers as high as I possibly can, provided they are affected with nothing but truth, and with affections that are not disagreeable to the nature of what they are affected with. Jonathan Edwards, Some Thoughts Concerning the Revival in the …

“The enemy of worship is not that our desire for pleasure is too strong, but too weak” by John Piper

One of the most important things I ever read on my pilgrimage toward Christian Hedonism was from a sermon preached by C. S. Lewis in 1941. He said: If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad …