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I know how difficult it is to persuade the world that God disapproves of all modes of worship not expressly sanctioned by His Word. The opposite persuasion which cleaves to them, being seated, as it were, in their very bones and marrow, . . . Continue reading →
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“You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the . . . Continue reading →
HT: Chortles Weakly
Let’s say that a pastor decided that he wanted to reform the worship services of his congregation toward the earlier Reformed pattern of singing God’s Word without musical instruments. How would he go about it? Though we’re working with a concrete example, . . . Continue reading →
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The reformers did not hold back in their assault on the physical and sensory elements of traditional worship: all sacred objects such as crucifixes, statues of saints, and holy relics were removed from the temples.1 Most were systematically destroyed; a few were . . . Continue reading →
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The Regulative Principle of worship is a principle based on the sufficiency of Scripture which teaches that everything we do in the worship of God must have positive warrant in His Word. Every part of worship must be expressly commanded by God . . . Continue reading →
When we think about sanctification, that gracious, gradual renewal of believers by through faith, which results in our gradual conformity to the image of Christ, we may first think of private prayer and worship. Those are important and even indispensable to Christian . . . Continue reading →
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Ancient Jewish cultic music was valid only in connection with the cult, and the cult was valid only at the Temple in Jerusalem. When Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 CE, and the Temple destroyed, the cult ceased, and with it . . . Continue reading →
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It is evident that the Psalmist here expresses the vehement and ardent affection which the faithful ought to have in praising God, when he enjoins musical instruments to be employed for this purpose. He would have nothing omitted by believers which tends . . . Continue reading →
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1) Many people do not know you can sing the psalms (at least, other than Psalm 23, 62, and 100). “The psalter” is a foreign term, and even after people are introduced to singing psalms, they find it incredibly awkward to actually . . . Continue reading →
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In some Reformed quarters to it is considered clever to argue that to reject images is to deny the humanity of Christ. That Reformed writers should make such an argument would shock our Reformed forefathers, who were convinced that images of Christ . . . Continue reading →
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Only it appeared to me to be requisite to show in passing, that this book makes known to us this privilege, which is desirable above all others — that not only is there opened up to us familiar access to God, but . . . Continue reading →
Until very recently, if I mentioned screen and church in the same sentence one would have thought of a rood (Saxon for “cross”) screen, which separates the nave from the chancel. There, in the chancel, is the altar and the choir in . . . Continue reading →
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Mark well how many parsonages or vicarages are there in the realm, which at the least have a plow-land a-piece. Then note the lands of bishops, abbots, priors, nuns, knights of St John’s, cathedral churches, colleges, chauntries, and free-chapels. For though the . . . Continue reading →
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David Hall and the good folks at Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Powder Springs, GA are hosting the fifth annual Reformation Worship Conference next month (Oct 17-20, 2013). David joined me by phone this afternoon to talk about the conference and about . . . Continue reading →
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In other words, when we are considering the content and conduct of our worship, the biggest question is not “Does the Bible forbid it?” but “Does the Bible command it?” That makes things much simpler because any list of what God forbids . . . Continue reading →
Earlier this summer (Summer ends 21 September 2013) the good folks of the Associated Presbyterian Church invited me to contribute an essay on worship to the denominational magazine, APC News. It appeared as “Worship Matters” in APC News, 160 (July/August 2013), 5–9. It’s . . . Continue reading →
Do you realize that, for people of a certain age, let’s say those born since 1980, “Shine, Jesus Shine” (published in 1987) is now a “traditional hymn”? It’s about as “traditional” for those generations as revival songs from the early 20th century . . . Continue reading →
One of the reasons why people resist the call to return to historic Reformed (and catholic) worship practices, e.g., singing God’s Word without musical instruments is because it is completely unfamiliar and thus seems implausible or entirely theoretical. It isn’t. Thanks to . . . Continue reading →
