The carol “This is the Truth Sent from Above” is a traditional carol whose text originates from words that first appeared in the 19th century. It is regrettable that many choirs leave many of the verses out (although it is impractical to sing all 16 verses that have been discovered). Still, the carol needs several stanzas… Continue Reading
I’m pleased to announce that the first 25 hymns of our free hymn resource are now available! Simply click “Hymnal” in the menu bar above. You may also direct others to this resource using the following URL: www.ClassicHymns.org Please Donate We provide these hymns free of charge, but they were not free to produce! It… Continue Reading
I read a post yesterday from a blog of a popular ministry that attempted to answer a question from a reader: “How important is the style of music a church sings?” The answer? “The style of music a church sings is relatively unimportant.” After making several simplistic points, the post concluded, “In short, what we… Continue Reading
Last week I announced our plans to produce a free, quality online hymnal resource and asked for your help in raising money to support this project. Already we’ve raised a good amount, and I’ve received many emails encouraged by the plans. I have also received several emails asking about a print edition of the hymnal,… Continue Reading
One question I often hear from fellow conservative pastors and other Christians is, “When are you going to publish a hymnal?” It’s true that, although there are several good hymnals available, there isn’t any one hymnal that satisfies the needs of some churches like those in the Conservative Christian Network, especially since purchasing multiple hymnals… Continue Reading
Last month I had the privilege of spending a week in Brazil, where I spoke at a conference of pastors and church leaders. It was my third time in Brazil, and I’ve grown to enjoy every chance I get to minister in that country. It was also the second time I was invited by my… Continue Reading
Last year we published a new daily devotional for the Christmas season by Pastor Taigen Joos that was very well-received. This devotional is perfect for both families and individuals to use as they prepare to worship Christ during the Christmas season. Each daily reading is a rich, yet brief meditation on an event or characteristic of… Continue Reading
9Marks published that “some elder should exercise oversight over picking the music and all the other details of the worship service.” I agree with Lawrence for all the reasons he listed; there is simply too much at stake in choosing music for corporate worship. The songs we sing are more than simply good truth set to… Continue Reading
Perhaps the most influential figure to express a reaction against the condition of music in 19th century America—especially church music—was Thomas Hastings (1784-1872). Hastings was a composer, hymn-tune book compiler, hymn writer, and music critic. While he composed almost one thousand sacred compositions and many hymns tunes—some of which are still sung today—his influence extends… Continue Reading
I participated on Friday in the Southwest regional meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. The theme of the meeting this year was the decline of denominationalism, and here is the paper I read: This paper examines the role of worship philosophy and practice in both dividing and unifying Protestant denominations. I am using the term… Continue Reading
Studying the inspired psalms can certainly teach us much about hymn texts, but can they also teach us about what makes a good hymn tune? Terry Johnson believes so: Many are quick to point out that God has not given us a book of tunes. No, but He has given us a book of lyrics… Continue Reading
Changing the lyrics of hymns we sing has a long, established precedent, and for good reason. If hymns are meant to be genuine expressions of corporate worship, then we should sing what we mean and mean what we sing. If a hymn is good, and yet there are one or two words or phrases we… Continue Reading
Evangelicals bemoan the fact that a “generation gap” exists between older and younger professing believers. But could it be that the older believers have actually created the problem? Two problems exist: Children and teenagers do not care for solid hymns or long sermons, and modern young people’s sacred music has been severely dumbed down. Which… Continue Reading
There has been quite a lot of noise in the blogosphere lately over a decision by the Presbyterian Church (USA) to reject Getty and Townend’s hymn, “In Christ Alone,” since they object to the language of penal substitutionary atonement and have failed to secure permission to change the line, “the wrath of God was satisfied.”… Continue Reading
I received an email a few days ago asking what I thought about a few particular contemporary Christian songs. The individual mentioned that he thought that hymns have always been simply reflections of whatever music existed in the current culture, and that these songs were no different. I’ve copied my reply to him below in… Continue Reading
| We have been offering reasons why public worship is better than private. Public worship is the gathered, corporate worship of a local church. Private worship includes times of informal worship apart from the church: small groups, private Bible study and prayer, and family worship. Sometimes Christians today offer a lopsided, over-individualized view of the… Continue Reading
This is a brief series recommending good, conservative sacred music recordings. I began the series with several introductory remarks and a list of good albums of choral hymns and anthems. Last week I suggested several albums of Psalms sung in English. This final installment will list some different instrumental recordings of hymns. My list, again, is not… Continue Reading
I am frequently asked, “What do you listen to?” when folks find out how conservative I am.1 I do believe that we ought to be very discriminate in what we listen to, for this drives our appetites for what is sung and played in corporate worship. Indeed, I consider it nothing less than scandalous that… Continue Reading
It is irresponsible to claim that Luther used tunes from secular loves songs for his hymns and compare it to today’s situation. If there is one argument in defense of bringing secular musical forms into the church that I’ve heard more than any other, it is certainly one that insists that Luther used tunes from… Continue Reading
Nathan Hatch, in his Democratization of American Christianity, writes concerning the changes in American religion due to the implicit notion of the “Sovereign Audience”: Popular gospel music became a pervasive reality in Jacksonian culture because people wrested singing from churchly control. The music created a spontaneous, moving medium, capable of capturing the identity of plain… Continue Reading