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August 2025 Editorial
What comes to mind when you hear the word worship?
For many today, worship has been reduced to a musical experience or an emotional high. In our age of fog machines, LED walls, and influencer-style worship leaders, the gravity and wonder of biblical worship often get lost. But worship is not about mood—it’s about truth. It’s not about what moves us emotionally, but about what exalts God faithfully.
At Theology for Life, we believe worship must be grounded in Scripture, not culture. That’s why this issue focuses on helping Christians rediscover what it means to worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). As pressures mount and compromise becomes common, it’s never been more important for believers to stand firm in how we worship—and why we worship the way we do.
We begin this issue by answering the foundational question: What is biblical worship? Before we can discern what’s wrong with modern approaches, we need to recover a clear understanding of worship as defined by God—not shaped by our preferences. From there, we move into a practical discussion on how and why Christians must exercise discernment in the songs they sing. Music is powerful, and the theology in our songs shapes how we view God, the gospel, and the Church.
Next, we turn to one of the most urgent issues of our time: the dangerous theology of Bethel Worship and similar movements.
Finally, we turn to Numbers 9, where God leads His people with a cloud by day and fire by night. In this overlooked passage, we find a powerful lesson about worship discernment: the people didn’t move until God said to move. They didn’t camp based on convenience. They didn’t worship based on emotion. They followed God’s lead. That same posture of obedience and attentiveness is desperately needed today.
This issue of Theology for Life is about more than correcting error—it’s about calling the Church back to joyful reverence. Worship isn’t something we get to customize. It’s something we receive from God’s Word and respond to in faith, with awe and gratitude.
Our prayer is that this issue stirs your heart toward worship that is not only true, but also thoughtful—and that it equips you to lead others to do the same. May we be a people marked by discernment, depth, and devotion as we worship the God who is worthy of it all.
In Christ Alone,
Dave Jenkins
Executive Editor, Theology for Life
Truth in Worship: Discernment, Theology, and the Songs We Sing
Dave Jenkins is happily married to his wife, Sarah, and lives in beautiful Southern Oregon. He is a writer, editor, and speaker who loves Christ, His people, the Church, and sound theology.
Dave serves as the Executive Director of Servants of Grace Ministries and the Executive Editor of Theology for Life Magazine. He is the Host and Producer of the Equipping You in Grace Podcast and a contributor to and producer of Contending for the Word.
He is the author of The Word Explored: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy and What To Do About It (House to House, 2021), The Word Matters: Defending Biblical Authority Against the Spirit of the Age (G3 Press, 2022), and Contentment: The Journey of a Lifetime (Theology for Life, 2024).
You can connect with Dave on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, or subscribe to his newsletter.
When he is not engaged in ministry work, Dave enjoys spending time with his wife, going to movies, sharing a meal at a favorite restaurant, or playing a round of golf with friends. He is also a voracious reader, particularly of Reformed theology and the Puritans, and is often found working through a stack of new books from a wide range of Christian publishers.
Dave earned his M.A.R. and M.Div. from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
