The Most Intense, Authentic Worship

How we suffer says much about us. As John Piper relates below, it "is the most intense, authentic worship."

How shall entertaining worship services - with the aim of feeling lighthearted and friendly - help a person prepare to suffer, let alone to die? If we know how to suffer well, and we feel that "to die is gain" because of Jesus, then we will know how to live well. ...Suffering in the path of Christian obedience, with joy - because the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life (Psalm 63:3) - is the clearest display of the worth of God in our lives. Therefore, faith-filled suffering is essential in this world for the most intense, authentic worship. - Taken from The Hidden Smile of God: the Fruit of Affliction in the lives of John Buyan, William Cowper and David Brainerd by John Piper.