The Reformation, The Regulative Principle, And The Modern Church: Examining Calvin’s Dedication To Purity In Worship (Part 1)

reformed worship church pulpit

Walk into any corporate worship service today and you will almost certainly observe that the congregational singing is accompanied by instruments. There is no doubt that the common worship style of today, filled with various instruments and too often supplemented by stage lights and smoke machines, differs significantly from the worship one would have observed in a seventeenth-century Reformed church. Continue reading →

The Sweetness of Psalm Singing

Our first point initially then helps us see the rich blessing of corporate worship. This spirit-fullness requires the church and is not an individualistic experience. This singing is addressing one another, namely other people. The style of worship where you blend into a . . . Continue reading →

What Is It?

A recent visit to what I suppose to be an ordinary, middle-of-the-road, mid-sized Southern Baptist church stunned me, though it shouldn’t have—I should have known better. What I encountered (they used the word “encounter” a lot) was arguably not a Christian worship service. . . . Continue reading →

NAPARC’s Lonely Stand

It’s 2024 and NAPARC denominations stand almost alone for male-only pastors/preachers and lay leaders (elders). The Southern Baptists are far from solid on this issue (https://sbcamendment.org/) and most evangelicals are giving way by degrees. Decisive action from the SBC would help, but . . . Continue reading →

Stealthy Psalters In The PCA?

Many PCA churches (more than half?) have a psalter and they don’t even know it. Of course, some churches have switched to the excellent, newer Trinity Psalter Hymnal or another good psalter, but if a church has the very common Trinity Hymnal they already have . . . Continue reading →

The Custom Of God’s Churches: Head Coverings And Cultural Appropriateness (Part 4)

This series has explored 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 to think through a perennial question about head coverings. Does the apostle’s teaching in this passage mandate that women everywhere and always must cover their heads in public worship—specifically that they must wear an additional . . . Continue reading →

Of Choirs And Praise Bands

Choirs (and their casual, modern descendants worship teams and praise bands) have been near-ubiquitous in Reformed churches for less than two centuries, but just like government programs, once instituted these groups are difficult to disband even though their historical pedigree is weak. Arrangements may be . . . Continue reading →

The Custom Of God’s Churches: Head Coverings And Cultural Appropriateness (Part 3)

This series explores Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 in the hope of providing some clarity on the perennial question of whether women are required to wear head coverings in public worship. The issue basically circles around whether Paul’s instructions about head . . . Continue reading →

The Custom Of God’s Churches: Head Coverings And Cultural Appropriateness (Part 2)

Sometimes passages take on a life of their own in church life or in church history, confronting us with perennial discussions about specific and difficult questions. Such is the case with 1 Corinthians 11:2–16, where Paul discussed the need for modesty and . . . Continue reading →