Scott Aniol

Scott Aniol is the founder and Executive Director of Religious Affections Ministries. He is Chair of the Worship Ministry Department at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in ministry, worship, hymnology, aesthetics, culture, and philosophy. He is the author of Worship in Song: A Biblical Approach to Music and Worship, Sound Worship: A Guide to Making Musical Choices in a Noisy World, and By the Waters of Babylon: Worship in a Post-Christian Culture, and speaks around the country in churches and conferences. He is an elder in his church in Fort Worth, TX where he resides with his wife and four children.

Author Archives: Scott Aniol

The founders of the first church desired to seek the Lord’s direction in every decision

The founders of the first church desired to seek the Lord’s direction in every decision

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This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Characteristics of the Founders of the First Church You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

We have already seen that the founders of the first Church used study of biblical principles and logical deduction to choose two possibilities as Judas’ replacement. But they did not stop there. They did not leave the Lord out of the equation as they made their choice. They very clearly desired to seek the Lord’s… Continue Reading

The Lamb

The Lamb

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Little Lamb who made thee          Dost thou know who made thee Gave thee life & bid thee feed. By the stream & o’er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice!          Little Lamb who made thee          Dost thou know who made… Continue Reading

Music has not always been considered neutral

Music has not always been considered neutral

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Since I’m in the mood to highlight other important articles, I want to direct your attention to an important article that I linked to Wednesday by Mark Snoeberger about music. Snoeberger’s basic point is the the idea that aesthetics is unimportant for Christians and purely preferential is a novel idea that runs contrary to the… Continue Reading

How Scripture is Insufficient

How Scripture is Insufficient

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Tuesday I linked to an important article by Carl Trueman about the sufficiency of Scripture. I believe this article is so important that I’d like to highlight a few of his points here. Trueman makes an intriguing statement in his article: There is a sense in which we might say that Protestants believe in the insufficiency of… Continue Reading

The founders of the first church had a proper respect for Scripture

The founders of the first church had a proper respect for Scripture

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This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series Characteristics of the Founders of the First Church You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

Last week we discovered that the founders of the first church were characterized by united, fervent prayer. But prayer is not the only thing with which these founders of the first Church occupied their time, and Luke uses the event of choosing Judas’ replacement to highlight the second characteristic of these men. What was it that… Continue Reading

“Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul” by Anne Steel

“Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul” by Anne Steel

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Dear refuge of my weary soul, On thee when sorrow rise; On thee, when waves of trouble roll, My fainting hope relies. While hope revives, though pressed with fears, And I can say, “My God,” Beneath thy feet I spread my cares, And pour my woes abroad. To thee I tell each rising grief, For… Continue Reading

The founders of the first church were united in fervent prayer

The founders of the first church were united in fervent prayer

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This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Characteristics of the Founders of the First Church You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

We have begun a series looking at characteristics of the founders of the first church that we should emulate in our churches today. The first characteristics that we should seek to emulate is described in verse 14: They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and… Continue Reading

Characteristics of the founders of the first church

Characteristics of the founders of the first church

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This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Characteristics of the Founders of the First Church You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

After their Lord ascended into heaven, the disciples stared into the sky, having just have receiving instruction to remain in Jerusalem until they were immersed by the promised Holy Spirit. They had to wait for this, because in order for Christ to continue acting on the earth even though He was in heaven, He had to… Continue Reading

Four Commitments of the Infant Church

Four Commitments of the Infant Church

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Regular readers of this blog know that I am a fervent defender of the Regulative Principle of Worship. However, today I’d like to set that debate aside and address something that both sides of the issue should be able to agree on. (For non-regular readers, allow me to summarize the principle briefly: the regulative principle states… Continue Reading

Beyond contemporary vs. traditional

Beyond contemporary vs. traditional

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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

On the flexibility of form in worship

On the flexibility of form in worship

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 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 most contemporary… Continue Reading

Why join a church?

Why join a church?

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Many professing believers today are asking, “Is it really necessary at all to be a member of a visible, local church? If I am a member of the invisible, Universal Church by nature of my spirit baptism, then why should I join a local church?” I think the Bible teaches that it is necessary to… Continue Reading

What does race have to do with worship?

What does race have to do with worship?

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A few weeks ago I wrote about common straw man arguments that make their way into most debates about worship and music, and I cautioned against using them. As David rightly pointed out last week, worship wars will always be with us and are often necessary, so it is ever the more important that we not… Continue Reading

How does the church’s mission relate to worship?

How does the church’s mission relate to worship?

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

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 that redemption serves the purpose of creating worshipers. This leads to the third significant… Continue Reading

What kinds of differences affect cooperation?

What kinds of differences affect cooperation?

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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 pointed out that when we do express those differences, we should be sure to accurately portray our opponent. Today I would like to address… Continue Reading

The mission of God and the mission of the church

The mission of God and the mission of the church

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

Last week I argued that a biblical understanding of both worship and evangelism will understand evangelism to be subservient to worship; the gospel creates worshipers. This is essentially God’s mission, and it should significantly influence our understanding and practice of worship and evangelism in the church. Today, we explore another significant point regarding the relationship… Continue Reading

God’s Mission: Worship

God’s Mission: Worship

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

I have attempted in this series to provide a framework for evaluating the relationship between worship and mission. Using Jonathan Edwards’ categories of “Ends” helps to give clarity to what God is doing in history, why he is doing it, and how his mission relates to the mission of the church. The next several posts… Continue Reading