The Modern church has earned a dubious distinction: we live in the most psalm-less period in the history of the church. A Quick History Of Psalmlessness We know that the Jews sang psalms. We know that our Lord sang psalms with his . . . Continue reading →
In each of his four main arguments, Gillespie stayed true to the Rule of Worship. He steadfastly contended against the Anglican bishops by asserting the authority of God’s Word in binding the conscience of the Christian in the worship of God. This was the same defense employed by the Reformers before him and it is the same doctrine which Reformed Christians find in their confessions and catechisms in the present day. Continue reading →
During the Protestant Reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries, one of the doctrines in which the Reformers saw a particular need for reforming was the doctrine of worship. In his 1543 treatise The Necessity of Reforming the Church, John Calvin (1509–64) wrote, . . . Continue reading →
Bible studies (under the right circumstances and with the right leadership) are great and useful. Home groups can be useful and edifying (with some qualifications) but they are no substitute for the preaching of the gospel. Continue reading →
But Yahweh is in his holy temple;let all the earth keep silence before him (Hab 2:20) Continue reading →
Dear Wormwood, Attending a local church today is one of our greatest tools to keep people out of heaven. I’m so glad that the glory of the invisible church, spread out throughout the world from the beginning to end, is not seen . . . Continue reading →
These are some of our favorite Heidelquotes. Something to think about from the Heidelcast. If you are subscribed to the Heidelcast or the Heidelblog (see below) you will receive these episodes automatically. All the Episodes of the Heidelcast How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia . . . Continue reading →
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the . . . Continue reading →
These are some of our favorite Heidelquotes. Something to think about from the Heidelcast. If you are subscribed to the Heidelcast or the Heidelblog (see below) you will receive these episodes automatically. All the Episodes of the Heidelcast How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia . . . Continue reading →
In the English Standard Version, Acts 16:25 says “[a]bout midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them…”. Several other translations (e.g., NASB, NIV, TEV, ASV, RSV, NLT, NKJV, HCSB) follow this or a . . . Continue reading →
We heard many stories about Queen Elizabeth II after her passing, but I do not know how many of you will know the story I am about to tell. Did you know that we have Queen Elizabeth II to thank for the . . . Continue reading →
The point is that God has told us to worship him, giving us his Word to direct all our faith and practice. Everything we need is in the Word, including our songs. One fundamental reason—which should delight our hearts and practically grow . . . Continue reading →
To be honest, writing a critical review of Phillip Muñoz’s American Liberty and the American Founding was a painful task. It was painful in part because I sincerely admire Muñoz and his scholarship, and in part because within the prescribed word limits (which I . . . Continue reading →
The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is man’s chief end?” The answer, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” I know, you know the answer already. You have heard it innumerable times. But . . . Continue reading →
Why is it so difficult for Evangelicals to make the transition from evangelical “praise and worship” services to the more restrained and, dare I say it, dignified Reformed worship services? Any pastor of a Reformed church can tell stories about evangelicals, particularly . . . Continue reading →
While the higher statistic is heartening, it is at the same time disconcerting: barely over half of self-identified evangelicals take issue with an individualistic Christian mindset. Barely over half of self-identified evangelicals, presumably, object to this statement which downplays a corporate sensibility . . . Continue reading →
Why will unscriptural, man-centered, culturally conditioned, over-contextualized worship undermine confessional orthodoxy? Because worship by its very form (which ought to be according to spirit—uppercase and lowercase— and truth) communicates certain things about the nature of God and man, thus theology proper and . . . Continue reading →
The ethos of liturgical seasons and their attendant dramatic worship peculiarities — imposition of ashes, the stripping of the altar after Communion on Maunday Thursday, etc. — is centered more on a theater of the nostalgic than the sublimely ordinary drama of . . . Continue reading →
We all agree there should be truth in worship. But shouldn’t worship also be in truth? There’s a big difference between having truth in worship and worshipping in truth. Having truth in worship means you got some Bible in there. But worshiping . . . Continue reading →
The metrical psalm was the perfect vehicle for turning the Protestant message into a mass movement capable of embracing the illiterate alongside the literate. What better than the very words of the Bible as sung by the hero-King David? The psalms were . . . Continue reading →