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 →
It was only a matter of time. There is a story on CNN about the the 2019 publication of a LGBTQ hymnal, Songs For The Holy Other: Hymns Affirming the LGBTQIA2S+ Community. This collection is published by the Hymn Society, which is . . . Continue reading →
When you compare the poetic and religious quality of the hymnal with our Psalter, the former looks like a child’s play. Gilded tin and real gold have nothing in common. And yet the inferior hymnal was quickly given such prominence by persons . . . Continue reading →
In case you have ever wondered what QIRE means. Continue reading →
When I was a boy, my parents gave my siblings and me a big, round trampoline. That gift brought us and countless hours of fun, laughter, and exercise. So, when our children were old enough, Jordan and I decided to surprise them . . . Continue reading →
When I first began to become Reformed (c. 1980) I was familiar with the second service because my Southern Baptist congregation had an evening service. Indeed, we had a Wednesday evening service in addition to the Sunday morning service. Oddly, much to . . . Continue reading →
D. G. Hart, Distinguished Associate Professor of History at Hillsdale College is the featured speaker at the second annual Northwest Atlanta Reformed Conference Saturday, May 21, 2022 (9:00–Noon) to be held at Christ Orthodox Presbyterian Church (495 Terrell Mill Rd., Marietta, GA). The . . . Continue reading →
With good reason, then, are we accustomed to have sacred meetings in churches on the eighth day. And, to adopt the language of allegory, as the idea necessarily demands, we indeed close the doors, but yet Christ visits us and appears unto . . . Continue reading →
Last summer, my daughter walked into the Apple Store in our local mall, and came out the proud owner of a new iPhone 12 Pro. In those first hours of set-up, one of her first priorities – as any teen will tell . . . Continue reading →
In a recent essay I mentioned in passing that we do not need Bishop Ken’s seventeenth-century substitute (i.e., “Praise God from whom all blessings flow…”) for the Psalms since there are five doxologies inspired by the Holy Spirit and included in the Psalter . . . Continue reading →