Conservative Christians will be committed to worship forms that have been nurtured within the community of faith. Such discernment is difficult, however, because all of us are products of our culture. If a distinction between religious affections and physical appetites has been lost in our culture, then it is not surprising that we have a… Continue Reading
Conservative Christians will be committed to worship forms that foster ordinate affection toward God. Commitment to the Regulative Principles of Worship solves the question of what we will include in our corporate worship, but it doesn’t necessarily address how we will do it. Conservatives have always recognized that while the Bible clearly prescribes what elements… Continue Reading
Conservative Christians will commit to worship regulated by the Word of God. Ever since Cain and Abel, God’s people have been asking, “What is the best way to worship God?” Answers to this question have generally fallen into one of two categories. On the one hand are those who believe that as long as we… Continue Reading
There is a Conservative Worship Symposium scheduled for the Metro-Detroit area on Thursday, March 11, 2010! It will be hosted by First Baptist Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Registration for the symposium will begin at 8:00am, the first session will begin at 9:00am, and the day will conclude at 5:00pm. This allows you to benefit from this informative meeting without incurring overnight expenses! Continue Reading
Introducing the Conservative Worship Symposium, a one-day, regional gathering of conservative pastors, music directors, and other church leaders. The symposium, held in several regions of the country throughout the year, gathers together knowledgeable teachers of conservative worship to instruct church leaders about: principles of conservative worship, implementing these principles consistently in the local church, and communicating these principles to their… Continue Reading
There has been a lot of talk in recent years on the internet and at conferences about why young people are rejecting fundamentalism and/or a conservative philosophy of worship. Everyone likes to play the blame game, but the issue that seems to get most often cited is music. Young people are being attracted to the… Continue Reading
Are “Christian” and “rap” mutually exclusive? Mark Dever’s answer after a 9Marks interview with Shai Linne and Curtis Allen (Voice): “Hardly.” This from one of the most conservative evangelicals alive today. It is primarily for that reason that I’d like to make a few comments about the interview. If this is what one of the most… Continue Reading
Music philosophy is not a separation issue of the same kind of level as heterodoxy or flagrant, known sin. Probably one of the most common questions I’m asked is if I think differences over worship/music philosophy warrants separation. Here’s my attempt at an answer. What do you mean by separation? I do not view separation… 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
Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, by Bryan Chapell. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009. 307 pp. $24.99. “Structures tell stories.” So opens Bryan Chapell’s recent volume, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, published by Baker Academic. Chapell, noted homiletician, theologian, and author of the popular volume, Christ-Centered Preaching, is president of… Continue Reading
I am thrilled to announce a new web site that we have been developing that seeks to help pastors, church music directors, and other church music directors as they choose music. If you have spent any time at all choosing music for your church, you know how much time, effort, sweat, and (sometimes) tears (!)… Continue Reading
My goal in this series is to help believers apply the Bible to their musical choices in life and worship. My contention is, however, that believers today approach the issue of musical choices with certain errant foundational presuppositions that need to be corrected before they can rightly apply the Bible in this area. So my… Continue Reading
In Acts 17 we have the account of three cities, each of which has very different kinds of people, and we read a record of Paul’s preaching of the gospel in each of these cities. So what I’d like to do is to compare these three cities and Paul’s methods in each city, and try… Continue Reading
There is a popular thought today in evangelicalism that says that if we as Christians are going to reach unbelievers around us, we need to be more tuned into contemporary culture. If we want people to accept our gospel message, they say, then we need to present the gospel by packaging it in the language… Continue Reading
Kurtz, Dean. God’s Word, the Final Word on Worship and Music, A Biblical Study. Self-published, 2008. 364 pp. $15.59. Purchase: Amazon ISBNs: 1606473239 / 978-1606473238 Author Bio (from the book): Dean Kurtz (BS Music Education; BS Bible; MA Sacred Music; Doctor of Ministry) has been passionate to communicate the Word about worship and music for… Continue Reading