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"Articles on Worship"
And the most notable era of Scottish preaching was in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they had great power. In fact, the strongest reformational preaching going on in Europe at that time was in Scotland, the great preaching of the Reformation in Scotland. For two centuries it lasted. And Blakey writing in 1888 points out [...]
Continue Reading →Imagine a church auditorium packed with people. Their eyes are fixed on the stage where skilled musicians play and a handsome man leads the congregation in singing. He is dressed in clothing considered relevant to the congregation, and he skillfully manipulates the passions of the people with a style of music he believes adds vitality, [...]
Continue Reading →I defend a conservative philosophy of worship not because I want to protect old in the rejection of new, but because I believe “traditional” forms (both old and new) are more flexible and elastic in what they can express in worship, are better suited to carry rich truth about God, and are more appropriate than [...]
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For previous installments from this series:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
Print this essay as a bulletin insert.
A further word ought to be said about building community within local [...]
Continue Reading →Dear saint,
You have been reading about orthopathy and ordinate affection, and perhaps it all sounds rather perplexing and intimidating. The controversy around these matters is unnerving and unsettling, and you wish it would go away. It has caused you some real anxiety. You are close to real distress, or worse, to dismissing the whole [...]
Continue Reading →Unless you believe in orthopathy as essential to Christianity, the worship wars are much ado over nothing. They represent the dying thrashes of hide-bound traditionalists, raging against the waning popularity of those songs most familiar to them. They represent the immature clamor of people who do not understand the Romans 14 principle, [...]
Continue Reading →This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series”Worship and the Missio Dei”
In this series I have been exploring the relationship between worship and the mission of God. I have already established that the mission of God and the mission of the church are related, but not the same. I have also indicated [...]
Continue Reading →Last week I suggested that differences of worship and music philosophy will sometimes necessitate withholding cooperation, but that depends upon (1) the particular difference and (2) the particular situation. I also Continue Reading →
Straw Men in the Music/Worship Debate
One of the most dangerous, yet easy pitfalls one can fall into when discussing music/worship issues is to misrepresent the opposing view (most likely unintentionally). This is easy to fall into because it’s always easier to blow down an opponent’s position if you get to invent a pretty weak [...]
Continue Reading →Several days ago, I watched a posted video of a previously streamed chapel service at an independent Baptist school located in the deep woods of Wisconsin. (The video from this chapel seems to have since been removed.) The chapel opened with a word from the president of that school. After a few pleasantries, he proceeded [...]
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