We sometimes talk about “the worship wars” as if they are a new thing. They are not. There are examples of ecclesiastical arguments over what should be sung in church dating to the ancient church. In one case a regional synod in Spain issued a ruling against the singing of hymns (non-canonical songs) that some churches had begun singing. Continue reading →
With this episode we return to our series on the doctrine of God, I Am That I Am. We are thinking today a little bit more about some of the implications of the attributes of God. Remember we distinguish between God’s incommunicable . . . Continue reading →
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 →
[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 →
XXV. Next follow the actions of the disciples, and consequently of the other guests. And these, according to Christ’s appointment, are three: first, to receive both the bread and the cup; but each separately, for so Christ distributed them: in this manner . . . Continue reading →
…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 →
We want to be seeker-sensitive, but we must identify the true seeker in worship. Scripture teaches that “no man seeks God,” certainly not the unregenerate, rather it is God who seeks us (Romans 3:11). Our Lord taught us that the Father seeks those who will worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23). Therefore the primary focus in Reformed worship is our living, holy, righteous, awesome Triune God. Thus when we gather before his face (Hebrews 12:18-20) we are in a sacred assembly where he has promised to give us an audience. Continue reading →
Theology, piety, and practice— regular Heidelblog readers and Heidelcast listeners will be familiar with that formula. In classic and confessional Reformed Christianity these three things have always been understood to be intimately, organically related to each other. Our piety flows from our . . . Continue reading →
Church is not a concert with a TED talk. It’s an audience with the thrice-holy Lord of heaven and earth. Continue reading →
I received a piece of spam mail late last week offering to “elevate” the worship service at my church.
If God’s Word is sufficient for anything, it is sufficient for public worship. If we sang only God’s Word then we would never sing a hymn about climate change. Continue reading →
The Presbycast is one of my favorite podcasts and Harrison Perkins, a regular contributor to the Heidelblog, is one of my favorite writers and, in this episode, like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, the two come together: They are discussing Jeanne Halgren Kilde’s . . . Continue reading →
“And younger evangelicals are the ones most likely to want more in-depth teaching from their churches. Evangelicals under 40 are twice as likely as their seniors (39% to 20%) to want more substance from the pulpit.” 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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
It was only a matter of time. There is a story on CNN about 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 a . . . 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 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 →
