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?… Read More »What can the psalms teach us about good hymn tunes?
One of the qualities of a good hymn that is often cited is that a congregational song must be accessible. I wholeheartedly agree with this… Read More »What makes a hymn tune accessible?
Many factors contribute to how a hymn shapes its theological content. Here is one example of how the poetic meter of a text can shape… Read More »The power of poetic meter
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… Read More »Should we change hymn lyrics to reflect our theology?
A hymn to complete another hymn, or a hymn to complete a section of worship, is how we might think of singing the Doxology, or… Read More »Doxologies and Gloria Patris
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
When we select the songs and hymns for corporate worship, there are plenty of weak, cowardly, and even evil reasons to motivate our choices: sheer… Read More »Selecting Hymns That Are Good
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… Read More »Satisfaction of God’s Wrath in Christian Hymnody
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
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,… Read More »“Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul” by Anne Steel
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… Read More »On the flexibility of form in worship
Unless you believe in orthopathy as essential to Christianity, the worship wars are much ado over nothing. They represent the dying thrashes of hide-bound traditionalists,… Read More »Why We Need The Worship Wars
My Lord, my Master, at Thy feet adoring, I see Thee bowed beneath Thy load of woe: For me, a sinner, is Thy life-blood pouring;… Read More »Before the Cross
You can recognize popular art not only through its form (or formlessness), but through the feelings it evokes, according to Kaplan. He disagrees with the… Read More »Affective Anaesthesia
The popular arts are often criticized by aesthetes for their form, or perhaps formlessness. Kaplan responds to this by directing us once again to how… Read More »Crystallized Prejudices
How are we to worship God? We should worship in all of life, but we have been told most explicitly to worship God corporately through… Read More »A Catechism on Judgment in Worship
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… Read More »Culture doesn’t just change
Raise thee, my soul, fly up, and run Through every heav’nly street, And say, there’s naught below the sun That’s worthy of thy feet. Thus… Read More »Raise Thee, My Soul
We’ve gathered much of what Tozer wrote on music and hymnody. Having done so, some reflections on his writings might be helpful. I notice three… Read More »Evaluating Tozer’s Views
(From the Introduction.) This is a book for the worshiper rather than for the student. It has been carefully and lovingly prepared for those God-enamored persons… Read More »The Christian Book of Mystical Verse