He was my close friend, and everyone's mentor. I miss him. So it seems right for us to receive his wisdom on the subject of worship. At a time in which churches seek to accommodate without compromise, to contextualize worship without betraying church tradition and Gospel order, Jack's reflections offer wisdom.
Worship is discipline.
It is spiritual work. . . . It is to be learned, like tennis or piano playing or any other discipline. Not a stressful, exhausting thing, but it is work in the sense of concentration for listening. Younger Christians and sometimes pastors assume that if we could dismantle all tradition, order, structures, and conventions we would just be free, direct, and spontaneous. If this is what some have in mind for 'open worship' as announced in the church bulletin, tdhe point and purpose are missed.