Dangerous Worship

One never knows what one might find at a church worship service. Some may be structured in traditional liturgical format with written bulletins and a choir singing to a piano or organ, and the preaching pulpit is front and center. Others put the band front and center and focus on reaching a good feeling when the Holy Spirit supposedly “shows up” after a long period of playing repetitive choruses that may or may not contain the name of Jesus. When this second example moves further along on the continuum of spiritual highs into ecstasy as the goal rather than actual worship, it starts to mirror shamanistic religions rather than biblical Christianity and becomes dangerous. The Philpotts present lamentable personal history and expose specific groups and their methods as examples of this danger. They then give the biblical basis for worship that is honoring to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.