Advice on Reading the Bible in Public
Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, A person who can read well is seldom met with now-a-days. The public reading of the Bible is oftentimes not worthy… Read More »Advice on Reading the Bible in Public
Ryan Martin
Ryan Martin is pastor of the First Baptist Church of Granite Falls, Minnesota. Prior to that, he served as the associate pastor of Bethany Bible Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina. He is on the board of directors of Religious Affections Ministries. Ryan received his undergraduate degree at Northland Baptist Bible College, and has received further training from Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Minneapolis, Minn. (M.Div., 2004; Ph.D., 2013). He was ordained in 2009 at Bible Baptist Church of Elk River, Minn. (now Otsego, Minn.). He has a wife and children too. Ryan is the associate editor of Hymns to the Living God (Religious Affections Ministries, 2017). He contributed to the Jonathan Edwards Encyclopedia (Eerdmans, 2017) and is the author of Understanding Affections in the Theology of Jonathan Edwards: "The High Exercises of Divine Love" (T&T Clark, 2018).
Luther on the centrality of the Word in worship
Martin Luther did not want to revolutionize completely the traditional worship of the Western church. He did, however, believe that preaching of the Word had… Read More »Luther on the centrality of the Word in worship
William Ames on the connection between prayer, singing, and outward expressions
In the second book of The Marrow of Theology, William Ames’s (1576-1633) classic Post-Reformation work, Ames deals with a number of matters related to practical theology. The ninth… Read More »William Ames on the connection between prayer, singing, and outward expressions
Calvin and Platonic aesthetics
Yesterday, Scott Aniol showed that Martin Luther was influenced by Greek aesthetics, including that of Plato. In light of Dr. Aniol’s post, it is worth… Read More »Calvin and Platonic aesthetics
Intensely audience-conscious and market-driven
Many conservative evangelical and even fundamentalist churches today have transformed the Christian faith into a kind of pop-culture version of The Way. This change began… Read More »Intensely audience-conscious and market-driven
Relevance is Irrelevant (Conclusion)
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 This series has been intended to address biblically the necessity… Read More »Relevance is Irrelevant (Conclusion)
Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 13)
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 I have been arguing that Paul’s method of ministry deliberately avoided… Read More »Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 13)
Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 12)
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 The first three chapters of 1 Corinthians debunks the importance of the… Read More »Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 12)
Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 11)
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 Modern American evangelicalism has a tendency to augment the preaching of the gospel… Read More »Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 11)
Relevance is irrelevant (Part 10)
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 I return this week to the series I abruptly left unfinished about a year… Read More »Relevance is irrelevant (Part 10)
More thoughts the use of movie clips in services (and the RPW)
A few days ago, Pastor Aaron Menikoff had a piece posted from the most recent 9Marks eJournal on the 9Marks blog.1 In this piece, entitled… Read More »More thoughts the use of movie clips in services (and the RPW)
Music Camp: A Report
Since coming as the Associate Pastor of Bethany Bible Church of Hendersonville, North Carolina, in 2010, I have seen first hand a unique ministry created… Read More »Music Camp: A Report
Edwards on the proportion of reverence to boldness
For those who have not (yet) read it, Edwards’s Religious Affections argues what are the proper marks of a genuine work of the Holy Spirit in the life… Read More »Edwards on the proportion of reverence to boldness
A call to pray before studying or hearing the Word (with a resource)
One of the best ways we can prepare to hear from God is through prayer. The Bible teaches that we need God’s grace for us… Read More »A call to pray before studying or hearing the Word (with a resource)
Prayer in Gospel Ministry
Prayer is a necessary practice of a sound church. The role of secret and corporate prayer in the life of a Christian congregation is sometimes… Read More »Prayer in Gospel Ministry
John Wesley on how the Bible regulates affections
The authority of Scripture is of utmost importance to those of us who write here on the Religious Affections blog. The Bible regulates our doctrine,… Read More »John Wesley on how the Bible regulates affections
The Lord is God (still)
As conservatives, it can be easy to grow discouraged. There are very few of us. It seems that all of American Christianity (sorry, David de… Read More »The Lord is God (still)
Thoughts on Music not Being a Controversy When It Really is
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… Read More »Thoughts on Music not Being a Controversy When It Really is
Relevance is irrelevant (Part 9)
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 According to 1 Corinthians 1, Christian ministry centers on the declaration of the gospel of… Read More »Relevance is irrelevant (Part 9)
Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 8)
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul repeatedly points to the preaching of the deliberately unadorned gospel as the… Read More »Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 8)