without snags or glitches (“It went beautifully this morning, without a bobble!”). As we well know but sometimes forget, our greater care ought to be about how God regards our worship. It matters not how many attend or how glitch-free our performance is if, when we are done, the Almighty says, as he did in the days of Amos, “Come to Bethel (or church), and transgress; to Gilgal (or church), and multiply transgression … for so you love to do, O people of Israel!” (Amos 4:4–5). Many church attenders
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