…We have been trained by the broader culture that how we feel when we come to worship is determined by the success of the instrumentation to create a good feeling. The assumption is that praise is created by the success of the . . . Continue reading →
Worship
The Dillenburger Synod Abolished Organs In Worship
Latin songs, as well as organs (first introduced into the churches by Pope Vitellianus about 665) are for the most part abolished in the churches of this land. Not that use of the Latin language or of music is rejected of itself . . . Continue reading →
The Contested Legacy Of Singing God’s Inspired Songs In The Reformed Churches In South Africa
The scope of this article is focused on an investigation of song in worship in the period leading up to and including the 150-year history of the RCSA. It focuses on the period from the dissenting ‘Doppers’ to the adoption of the . . . Continue reading →
Singing The Psalms Was A Powerful Weapon In The English Reformation
[T]he metrical psalms were the ‘secret weapon of the English Reformation,’ ‘perhaps the most powerful of the persuasive weapons in the armoury of English Protestantism,’ ‘a potent weapon’ against Catholicism….Psalm-singing was never universally welcomed (Queen Elizabeth seems snobbishly to have disapproved of . . . Continue reading →
Be Adventurous: Sing Psalms
Do you sing psalms in your church? I guess that in most Bible-teaching churches today the answer is “no,” or “not very often,” or perhaps “sometimes in a metrical version,” or “some of our songs are based on or inspired by psalms.” . . . Continue reading →
A Guide For Your Devotions On The Christian Sabbath
If your congregation is streaming a service/sermon, then by all means, you should watch that and participate as you are able. If your congregation is unable to stream services/a sermon on the Lord’s Day, because of the Corona Virus, here is what . . . Continue reading →
Therapeutic Moralistic Deism Is Real
Not long ago I had occasion to be a typical, midwestern megachurch. Everything was out of the megachurch playbook down to the praise band and the message, which one could hardly describe as a sermon, at least if sermon means something like . . . Continue reading →
Cancelling The Lord’s Day After Christmas?
There are reports (documented in the comments below) that various ostensibly evangelical congregations are cancelling worship services this Lord’s Day. This has become something of a pattern in recent years. It seems that people, including the congregants, pastors, and church staff are . . . Continue reading →
New Film—Spirit And Truth: A Film About Worship
Les’ latest film is out and available for rent ($6.99) or purchase ($19.99). I have seen it and Les did another terrific job. If you saw his first film (It’s Here: CALVINIST—The Movie) then you know what an outstanding film maker Les . . . Continue reading →
Spirit And Truth Preview
Making Melody With Instruments Versus Making Melody In The Heart
The Ancient Christian church did not use musical instruments in public worship. They did not enter public worship in the West until the middle of the 8th century, i.e., well into the early medieval period. Further, that was one isolated instance, in . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Musical Instruments Were Intended Only For God’s Ancient People
The musical instruments he mentions were peculiar to this infancy of the Church, nor should we foolishly imitate a practice which was intended only for God’s ancient people. But the Psalmist confirms what has been already mentioned, that their religious assemblies which . . . Continue reading →
Hart: “Contemporary Worship” Is The Triumph Of Summer Youth Camp
In fact, what stands out about [Praise and Worship approaches to public worship] is the aura of teenage piety. Anyone who has endured a week at one of the evangelical summer youth camps that dot the landscape will be struck by the . . . Continue reading →
The Church That Prays Together, Stays Together
There are many centripetal forces that tear at the bonds that hold a congregation together, so it is useful to be aware of them. After all, we live in a remarkably busy world where quiet has almost disappeared entirely. We are connected . . . Continue reading →
Killing Worship (1)
Years ago I was challenged by a churchgoer that I have no right to critique another church’s worship unless I have personally attended and witnessed for myself what is happening. I took this challenge and visited the local evangelical church in which . . . Continue reading →
Should Christians Practice Lent?
Lent as we know it today did not arise out of this biblical understanding of fasting. Rather, Lent came about as a superstitious misunderstanding both of the purpose of fasting in general and the purpose of Christ’s forty-day fast in the wilderness . . . Continue reading →
Worship: Beyond Euphoria And The Charismata
In a recent essay Andrew Wilson writes: I consider the absurd antics of some of the paper-waving, foundation-faced prosperity preachers who appear on Christian television. I acknowledge that much new church liturgy fails to acknowledge the realities of sin and suffering, and . . . Continue reading →
Reformed Worship Is For Pilgrims
One of the several challenges faced by those who are moving from outside the Reformed churches to inside the Reformed churches is the transition from, e.g., worship in the broader evangelical world to worship as the Reformed churches understand it. Underneath the . . . Continue reading →
Olevianus On The Second Commandment And Worshiping The True God
Second it is useful and necessary that in our invocation of God we know what God we are invoking—that true God with whom we have entered into a covenant of faith, who has testified to us in an eternal covenant that He . . . Continue reading →
Review: Reformation Worship: Liturgies From the Past For The Present
Unless you are a member of a congregation of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America (RPCNA, “the Covenanters”) or another similar denomination, in all probability the way your congregation worships today is not much like the way Reformed and Presbyterian congregations worshiped in the 16th and 17th centuries. If, however, you are like most other P&R Christians, you probably are not aware of that discrepancy. You might assume that the way your congregation conducts its public worship is the way the P&R churches have always done but, in fact, that assumption would not be justified. Continue reading →