Author Archives: Ryan Martin

Relevance is irrelevant (Part 7)

Relevance is irrelevant (Part 7)

This entry is part 7 of 14 in the series Relevance is Irrelevant You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 Paul relentlessly insisted in 1 Corinthians 1 on the simple proclamation of the gospel of Christ in Christian ministry. And, as we discussed last week, as if that repeated barrage was not enough, Paul shows that this was his own approach to Christian ministry in the opening… Continue Reading

Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 6)

Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 6)

This entry is part 6 of 14 in the series Relevance is Irrelevant You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 This series has been looking at the connection of Paul’s message in 1 Corinthians 1-3 and the contemporary church’s dependence on relevance for evangelism. In the last post, I argued from 1 Cor 1:30-31 that God deliberately made the gospel message impossible for natural men to accept in… Continue Reading

Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 5)

Relevance is Irrelevant (Part 5)

This entry is part 5 of 14 in the series Relevance is Irrelevant You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 This series is applying the words of Paul in the early chapters of 1 Corinthians to ministry in the 21st century. In part 1, we looked especially at Paul’s argument in 1 Cor 1:17, that when men rest on a particular manner of ministry other than the proclamation of… Continue Reading

Relevance is irrelevant (Part 4)

Relevance is irrelevant (Part 4)

This entry is part 4 of 14 in the series Relevance is Irrelevant You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 I believe that the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians ought to guide our thinking concerning the relationship of our efforts to minister the grace of Jesus Christ and so-called cultural relevance. This series has been slowly working through those chapters, seeking to understand the words of Paul, and then… Continue Reading

Relevance is irrelevant (Part 3)

Relevance is irrelevant (Part 3)

This entry is part 3 of 14 in the series Relevance is Irrelevant You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Part 1 | Part 2 In part 1, we looked at Paul’s ministry model in 1 Corinthains 1:10-17. Paul took deliberate steps to preach the gospel in such a way that minimized himself and emphasized Christ and his redeeming work. Part 2‘s post showed why Paul went about ministry in this way. The message of redemption… Continue Reading

Relevance is irrelevant (Part 2)

Relevance is irrelevant (Part 2)

This entry is part 2 of 14 in the series Relevance is Irrelevant You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Part 1 In emphasizing the unity of the church in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, Paul asks the church pointedly: “is Christ divided?” (v 13). With their divisions, the Corinthian church was pulling away from Christ, the one who unites his church. This led Paul to explain that in his own ministry he took pains to emphasize… Continue Reading

Relevance is irrelevant (Part 1)

Relevance is irrelevant (Part 1)

This entry is part 1 of 14 in the series Relevance is Irrelevant You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Paul opens up his letter to the Corinthians thanking God for the good work of grace begun in them, but quickly moves to admonish them on their internal conflicts. There were cliques in the Corinthian church, and this was dividing up the one Christ. Paul is even willing to rebuke the group of Paul-cheerleaders. “Was… Continue Reading

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 5)

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 5)

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Public Worship and Private Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

 |  |  | We have looking at different reasons why the regular meeting for worship with one’s church is better than private meetings of worship, including times of personal devotion and family worship. Both, we have consistently stressed, are essential for vital piety in the life of a believer. But one is more important than another. And… Continue Reading

More on the Hymnal vs. Screen thing

More on the Hymnal vs. Screen thing

I think we all agree that the hill marked “The Battle of the Hymnal vs. the Projector” ought to have no man’s grave on it. This question is not a fundamental of the faith, and answers to the problem do not even fall out along the same lines of the broader worship debate, which is… Continue Reading

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 4)

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 4)

This entry is part 4 of 5 in the series Public Worship and Private Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

| | Private and public worship are not the same. There is a difference between the regular, ordinary times of worship for a gathered group of Christians organized as a church and the irregular times of worship personally, in our homes as families, and with other groups of Christians. The former is what we call… Continue Reading

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 3)

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 3)

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Public Worship and Private Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

| 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

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 2)

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 2)

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Public Worship and Private Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

we began a short series looking at why public worship is better than private worship. Public worship is the gathered, corporate worship of the church. Private worship includes smaller, informal times of worship apart from the ordinary worship of the church, including (in my view at least) personal Bible study, personal prayer, and family worship.… Continue Reading

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 1)

Is corporate worship better than private worship? (Part 1)

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Public Worship and Private Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Christians in past epochs defined public worship as the corporate gathering of Christians for the worship of God. Private worship then is our informal times of worship, including both personal “devotions” and family worship. Undoubtedly both are commanded in Scripture and exemplified in the lives of the saints in those pages. When we think about our… Continue Reading

A postscript on Biblical discernment

A postscript on Biblical discernment

Last October I wrapped up my eight-part series on Biblical discernment (parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and 8), and I thought I would now, in retrospect, add a brief postscript to that series simply demonstrating that my position is not novel. A couple years ago Scott Aniol introduced to me Matthew Henry’s book on prayer,  A Method for Prayer. I strongly… Continue Reading

“Glory Be to God on High” by Charles Wesley

“Glory Be to God on High” by Charles Wesley

A while back I stumbled across Charles Wesley’s Christmas hymn, “Glory Be to God on High.” This is a superb text on the incarnation of Christ, and I thought this would be a good time to recommend it here. We’ve sung it to the 18th century tune Amsterdam. The hymns is a meditation on the… Continue Reading

Recordings: Instrumental Hymns

Recordings: Instrumental Hymns

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

Recordings: Choral Psalms

Recordings: Choral Psalms

I’m writing a brief series recommending different recordings of excellent sacred music in English. Last time I introduced several thoughts and recommended more than a dozen recordings of hymns and anthems. Today I want to recommend a handful of choral recordings of the Psalms in English. Again, my list will not be exhaustive, and I… Continue Reading

Recordings: Choral Hymns and Anthems

Recordings: Choral Hymns and Anthems

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

Some concluding thoughts on discernment (Part 8)

Some concluding thoughts on discernment (Part 8)

This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series Discernment for the Glory of God You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

I was pushed to write a series on discernment when I heard a famous evangelical pastor define discernment as the ability to see, allegedly by the Spirit of God, obscene things on a kind of imaginary “movie screen.”1 I also wanted to respond with sound exegesis to the opinions of some that any extra-biblical moral… Continue Reading

Discernment and God’s Judgment (Part 7)

Discernment and God’s Judgment (Part 7)

This entry is part 7 of 8 in the series Discernment for the Glory of God You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

I have been arguing for the importance of discernment in the life of a Christian. I define discernment as a biblically informed judgment whether certain extra-biblical moral actions are good or evil. As we have seen there are an impressive testimony of Scripture to the importance of this biblical discipline: Phil 1:9-11 (Part 1), Rom… Continue Reading