Customer Reviews for Thomas Nelson Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
This product is no longer available. Continue shopping at Christianbook.com.
Thomas Nelson Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Just as the narrative of redemption is woven through the pages of the Bible, God's plan for us to worship him is explained, illustrated, documented, and applied throughout his Word. In this thoughtful study, Whaley reveals principles of worship based on biblical characters, events, doctrine, practices, poetry, and prophecy . . . from Genesis through Revelation.
Average Customer Rating:
(17 Reviews) 17
Rating Snapshot (17 reviews)
5 stars
7
4 stars
5
3 stars
4
2 stars
0
1 star
1
1 out of 1100%customers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Review 1 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Needs something
Date:January 20, 2011
Kenny
Location:Hickory NC
Age:45-54
Gender:male
Quality:
5
out of
5
Value:
2
out of
5
Meets Expectations:
3
out of
5
I would like to see the capability to be able to highlight passages in the books. Highlight, change font color, etc. This would take the e-book way up in my evaluation!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 2 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:April 6, 2010
Melody Collins
I recently read the book Called to Worship by Vernon M.Whaley. It was a hard read for me as it took me a long time to read. I believe that this book would be a great text-book for a Christian College however it is not a light-hearted book to read. It took me several times to read some of the passages before I truly understood what it was saying. I did however enjoy the chapters they had on the book of Psalms. I would say that they were my favorite part of the book. Even though this was a hard book for me to read it did challenge me to worship in a different way, especially in the book of Psalms when they would give you daily readings, prayers, devotionals, and thoughts for the day. My favorite thought of the day was on page 175: Seasons change; flowers die; colors fade; life ends. But the love of my God-for me-is Forever! This to me sums up what the book is trying to say about worship.I wouldnt recommend this book to someone who is a light-hearted reader. This book is only for those who wish to push through the hard reading to gain the nuggets of what the author is trying to say. If you are that kind of person I would recommend you to read this book or if you are a person looking to get deeper into worship of God.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 3 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:February 9, 2010
This book was an interesting read for many reasons. First and foremost, in my "day job", I serve as a Music Minister and am constantly studying the origins of worship and how they can be applied to our modern times. In this book, Whaley covered the introduction of even the thought of worship, which was not a Sunday morning exclusive thing. Worship is a 24/7 thing that we should begin to take hold of.In the very origin of life, we were created to worship God. In all we do, every action, every word, every thought should be God-honoring. This book just gave me a few more reminders of how worship was presented to us in the Bible. He also used quotes from varied teachers and speakers, who many times share completely opposite beliefs. I didn't have a major issue there, but thought he incorporated them well to get his idea across.All in all, the book was a good read although somewhat lengthy. It has the feel of a textbook. Never being a great fan of reading textbooks word-for-word, I would give this book a rating of 3 1/2 our of 5 possible stars. If you want to know more about worship, "Called to Worship" would be a great resource book.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 : Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 4 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:December 23, 2009
Cindy Chan
Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call, written by Dr. Vernon M. Whaley, is a must-read for all those who are new to worship, as well as a refresher for those who have been worshiping God since they come to know Him as their personal Saviour. In this whole book, the author brings us to a tour of how people from Old Testaments all the way down to New Testament worshipped God. The very essense of thus book is probably this: "God yearns to establish relationship with us, His created ones".I was in a season where worship became difficult and complacent when I finally received this book. Reading this book challenged and transformed my worship and prayer life, encouraging me to seek God deeper than ever.I really liked how Dr. Whaley explained about the worship styles of different era, individuals and situations, according to the chronological order of the bible. One can follow easily, even if we're unfamiliar with the bible. It also encourages us to read our bible as we read on. Besides that, there is always a summary known as "Principles of Worship from this Chapter" at the end of the chapter which helps us to refresh our memory after reading the chapter.One important point that he had conveyed was it is okay to be imperfect, and still worshipping the God who is perfect in every way. He pointed out the imperfections of the biblical characters mentioned in the book and how God still longed for their worship and blessed them abundantly when they returned to God. Even in modern days, we can still return to the God who yearns to establish relationship with us ever more by first being obedient to Him and start worshipping Him once again.This is a book suitable to be used for personal devotion, small group material as well as teaching material for the topics of biblical worship.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 5 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:December 14, 2009
Called to Worship examines what the Bible says about worship. Dr. Vernon Whaley takes the reader on a tour of the scriptures with respect to our worship of God. What can we learn about worship in Genesis, the Psalms, and the Prophetic Books? How about the Gospels and the Epistles? Whaley offers answers to these questions and more in this easy to understand volume.When I requested this book to review from Thomas Nelson, I expected the book to be about worship in the church. But I quickly realized this book was about much more. Though corporate worship is discussed, it is just one of the ways that we as Christians worship, and is not the focus of the book. The book discusses all facets of worship. What is worship? Why should we worship? How and where should we worship? I appreciated the book's focus on God as the object of our worship.Dr. Whaley, though a professor, does not write in a highly technical, difficult to understand style. He summarized many of the "stories" of the Bible and included scripture passages from various translations of the Bible. I can appreciate the author's desire to ensure that all readers know the scripture well enough to understand the principles of worship that he expounded upon; however, the re-hashing of these familiar Bible stories made the book longer than necessary in my opinion. I think I could have solely read the chapter summaries and saved myself a lot of time. I also personally did not care for his frequent use of quotations from The Message and The New Century Versions of the Bible. I think these "translations" stray too far from the original Greek and Hebrew texts and I hesitate to draw any binding conclusions from these versions.I received this book from Thomas Nelson as a member of the Book Review Bloggers. For more information go to http://brb.thomasnelson.com.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 6 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:December 7, 2009
Jarrod Spencer
Worship, usually defined as the singing part of church get-together on Sundays. It is the "place" you invite someone to when you are inviting them to "church". Most of the Christian churches will think of worship as coming from New Testament teachings. Rarely will we take a peek into the Old Testament when it comes to worship, or its concept.Vernon Whaley takes his reader through the Bible and investigates different areas of the Bible and how it is involved in worship. As a Bible student I was greatly intrigued by his weaving of worship and its strategies from many of the books of the Old Testament which I hadn't really thought of taking this concept from. He also took me into the lives and people, and showed ways they were worshiping or not worshiping. I enjoyed how he brought out the Old Testament stories and concepts of worship, the most. I also enjoyed discussing the time between the Testaments, as a time which God didn't speak to the people, through prophets or otherwise.I also enjoyed how he started the New Testament and looking at Jesus and his model for our worship, mostly from a personal basis. However, one thing really, and I can't emphasize it enough, let me down when he brought out the concept of worship from Romans 12:1-2. He mentioned that the New Testament word for worship is proskuneo, in the Greek. Which that is the word for some of the words translated worship. But he alluded that the Romans passage was that word used. He never told us what the word actually is, which is latreuo. This is a totally different meaning than proskuneo.The rest of the book was good, but it was kind of hard to keep my attention, some not being the books fault. It did wrap up well, speaking from the book of Revelation.His ability to provide modern day glimpses made it very interesting. I would recommend the book, but be wary of the ill use or lack of clarifying part of the word for worship in Romans 12.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 7 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:October 31, 2009
Marlana R
Called to Worship is a wonderful easy to read book. There is a lot of Biblical History that explains why they worshipped the way they did then and how it affects how we worship now. We need to worship as individuals and corporately as the Body of Christ. It's so important to worship the One true God!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 8 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:October 21, 2009
Carrie
I have been reading a book titled Called To Worship by Vernon M. Whaley. This book takes you on journey studying worship throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Dr. Whaley has taken some familiar stories and some unfamiliar stories and related them back to our purpose: worshipping God.Though this is a lengthy book ( 300+ pages), I found myself captivated by the points Dr. Whaley makes. This book is very good for people that do not know all of the stories because he discusses them at length. This was the only downfall for me. Sometimes the "background information" was too lengthy since I am familiar with most of the stories he discussed. However, I enjoyed reading them because he pulled out themes of worship I had not thought of prior to this book. Overall, I was very challenged and called to a higher need for true worship in my life. I am glad I chose this book as part of Thomas Nelson's Book Review blogger program. For more information go to http://brb.thomasnelson.com/
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 9 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:October 14, 2009
Bryan
I would have to say after reading the book, Called to Worship, that I have my new favorite book. This book, written by Vernon Whaley, was masterfully done. It is hard to find a book that is both compelling to read and is personally directed at you. Called to Worship, according to the book, is exactly what we are. It is the reason God created us. Mr. Whaleys book goes from creation in Genesis, to the Last days in Revelation, all while revealing different ways that we can worship Him. As I read this book, I realized how little I really give to God. Ive been, too often, going through the motions, until a need arrives. I hate to say it, but one of those Sunday worshipers. What I failed to realize, which this book brought to light, is that God is not looking for the next Moses, or Abraham, or Paul. He is looking for me, and in turn you. His plans are to work through all of us, towards each other. By stopping with our daily lives, our busy schedules, our routines, and spending more time with Him, our relationship deepens and grows. Believe me, it is contagious. As your relationship with God grows, so does your relationship with your spouse, your children, your friends, and loved ones. Worshiping God does not mean keeping kneeling before Him with your face on the floor, even though He deserves it. Just looking at Adam in the Bible gives us a glimpse of the perfect worship. Worship before sin. When both God and Adam would walk through the Garden together, Adam was not prostrated before Him. They shared an intimate relationship, one without fear, regret, shame. Eve experienced the same friendship and companionship with God and Adam. This is the reason that we all were created. To experience that same companionship with the One who wonderfully made you Psalms 139:14.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 10 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:October 8, 2009
Larry
Called To WorshipBy Vernon M. WhaleyThis book is well written and informative on the subject of worship. Whaley presents the facts of worship through the books of the Bible in a systematic manner. I believe it is a great resource for the minister or layperson. The author moves through history and the books of the Bible and the rituals and methods of true worship for each dispensational age. For a book of its size the content is most helpful and easy to understand. This book would be a great asset to any Christians library. It most certainly could be used as a textbook for a Bible class. Whaley addresses many issues of misguided worship and explains the errors with great finesse and sufficient Scripture. As I read through this book I kept reflecting on what my inner man had been thinking about worship and how much the church has strayed from true worship. It also clarified my right thinking about worship being continuous through daily living and loving and not just a planned service. I enjoyed the conclusion that grasped the concepts of future worship in heaven. This book should be a must read for all Bible scholars.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 11 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:September 27, 2009
Frankly, your time would be better spent in searching the Bible for what it says on worship rather than in reading this book. I've done such a study, and it profoundly changed my life. My first problem is that Whaley rarely pointed out Scriptures where God tells us how He wants to be worshiped--and there are plenty of them. Don't we want to know what GOD wants? Instead, much of "Called to Worship" was the author's paraphrase of a Bible story (adding in motives that are not in the Bible and I often didn't think correct) with a small section at the end drawing lessons that he felt that Adam & Eve, Cain and Abel, Abram, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, Elijah, Jehoshaphat, and Job demonstrated about worship. He asks the reader to trust his often very speculative take on how he thinks God wants to be worshiped. (For example, the Garden of Eden supposedly demonstrates that perfect worship is that which is done all alone and totally secluded from all distractions.) Another thing that distressed me were a number of statements Whaley made in chapters 2 and 3 which directly contradict Scripture. The author also made some statements throughout the book that he later contradicted with a verse he quoted or a statement he made, and I sometimes was unsure just what he believed.The later sections looked at books of the Bible (like Psalms, Proverbs, the epistles, etc.) and were better because the author stuck with actual Scripture. The only two chapters of this book that I felt were good were those studying how Jesus worshiped since Jesus is both God and the perfect worshiper. The book was written in a very conversational style and was like a bunch of mini-sermons loosely focused on worship. While I did agree with some of the points he made, it was because I knew of verses that specifically state the point rather than because of the example he gave.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 12 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:September 25, 2009
Kent
Since I have become a Christian for so many years, I do not know that sometimes my worshipping is follow my own way rather than Gods way.In this book, Vernon M. Whaley tells you in the detail what worshipping actually is. Verson studied the bible thoroughly on how people in the bible worshipped God from Old Testamant to New Testament.From before the world exist (Worshipping of Satan), Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Jesus Christ, Paul until the last book Revelation, author shows us how and what is the true way to worship.The book does change my way to worship. Previouly, I would like to follow my own to worship but now I realised that I should follow the Gods way to worship.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 13 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:September 18, 2009
Carmen Lester
CALLED TO WORSHIP by Vernon M. WhaleyCalled to Worship is a serious and very complete study of the subject of Worship. Plan to spend some time and absorb this thoughtful treatise on every aspect of Worship.Mr. Whaley takes you on a journey through the entire bible beginning at the "beginning". ..The worship of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, the Judges, the Kings - The Psalms, the Books of Wisdom, Psalms and Prophetic Books. He then follows with the Principles of Worship throughout the New Testament.In each division he summarizes the lessons learned.There is so much more than facts in this book. The spirit that is on every page that causes you to reach out to God - to express your love, obedience, and honor to the King of Kings. He makes you comfortable in the mode of worship that comes natural to the reader - and still challenges us to move out of our comfort zone as we express our feelings to our Lord.He covers the subject of the "Worship Wars" - which started when Satan tried to take over the place of God - and continues more subtly today as "self" reigns on the throne wanting its own way - convinced that we know THE right way to worship!It is a book I highly recommend - but don't hurry through it. It deserves time to dwell on the pages and allow THE Worship Leader, Jesus Christ to teach you what real Worship is all about.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 14 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:September 17, 2009
Diana S.
I had the pleasure of reading "Called to Worship" from Thomas Nelson. Initially I was not enthused as it seemed very dry but that was soon replaced by joyful surprise. The book goes in deep to explore the Lord's character, will, and desires for you. Why we worship and how the Lord may be viewing it. I had a fantastic voyage as page after page illuminated my own personal relationship with Jesus. It seemed with every new subject I was reveled a new viewpoint, and countless epiphanies for growth and perspective in my own personal journey!If you are feeling your own worship growing stale, want to learn more, or be in awe of the Lord you are serving, this book is a fantastic voyage! I am keeping my copy to read again and again~!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 15 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:September 15, 2009
While Ive heard of studying the Bible this way, this is probably the first time Ive seen the results from someone whos done it. In Called to Worship, Vernon Whaley follows the biblical theme of worship from Genesis to Revelation to give us a comprehensive picture of the concept.The book is divided into three sections: Old Testament Principals of Worship, New Testament Principals of Worship, and Worship in Heaven (Principals from the Book of Revelation). Within each chapter, he tells the stories or gives examples of worship presented in the book or group of books he is discussing. Then he summarizes what we can learn about worship from that section of the Bible with Principals of Worship from This Chapter. The book is more than a word study; its a theme study. Its meant to help us believe, understand, and know that God calls His children to worship Him, and it offers biblical guidance as to how.As Director of the Center for Worship at Liberty University, Whaley definitely understands and has a heart for worship and for helping others to worship. Looking at familiar Bible passages from this point of view definitely gave me new insights and understanding. There were a few, but not too many places, where Whaleys ideas seemed a little contrived, where perhaps he stretched things a little to make the passage fit the theme. But if the reader studies the Bible passages along with the book, there is much to learn. There is also much to look forward to as Whaley guides us to practice now what we can look forward to enjoying through eternity.Our wonderful Lord is worthy of all worship and praise!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 16 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:September 14, 2009
David LaDuke
There are many books on worship available, but few take the approach Vernon Whaley takes in his new book Called To Worship. The biblical foundations of our response to God's call is the subtitle that hints to the contents inside. It is not a verse by verse exposition of scriptures that address worship. Rather, Vernon takes the view of worship from the overarching narrative of God's redemptive work. Thus, the discussion is on worship in the broad sense instead of the particulars.Part 1 considers the Old Testament principles of worship. In linear fashion the author takes us from Genesis to the prophets, noting the principles worship found in the creation, the story of Abraham, the books of history, etc. In each chapter he summarizes that section of scripture, discusses it's implications for worship and closes each chapter with a review. Part 2 is on the New Testament and follows the same pattern as the Old. And finally, part three considers worship in eternity as found in the book of Revelation.I have found the book to be very useful and enjoyable. The author has written for a wide audience, but I am not fully convinced of it being written to meet the needs of academics, with its lack of scholarly language and index. But he has written a book on worship that is accessable to anyone who wants to know more about Biblical worship.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Review 17 for Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call
Overall Rating:
Date:September 5, 2009
Bill Colburn
Worship wars are an all to frequent reality among Christians - despite the fact that this should be an oxymoron. Whaley's book is an attempt to address the various issues related to worship by surveying the biblical testimony on the topic from Genesis to Revelation. The reader will discover many useful insights into the history of worship practices. I appreciated the author's emphasis and evidence for looking at the principles of worship, rather than preferences in worship styles. Worship is portrayed as heart-felt adoration, our gift to God rather than a specific cultural style of worship. For those who are wading through worship wars, you will find this book well written, informative, and organized in a manner that is easy to grasp and to share with others.There were a few things about this book that I found questionable. Having come from a very different worship context I encountered several novel, though not unexpected, perspectives of scripture. Interestingly, I also found interpretations that seemed clearly anachronistic in nature. I also encounters several inconsistencies in logic. Additionally, I found the author's appeal to old testament scriptures to inform new testament practice lacking the usual re-interpretation through the knowledge of a risen savior. In other words, the worship practices prior to the cross cannot be directly applied to today without some careful re-examination. New covenant, kingdom existence, by necessity changes worship practices. It is one thing to relate the historical, pre-cross practices of worship, and quite another to suggest those same practices as normative post-cross.Overall, I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand how believers have worshipped God throughout time. I would recommend that a second edition address the issues raised above and include an addendum listing critiques and the authors responses.
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.