Teach children hymns
We believe that the great Christian tradition of hymnody should be perpetuated. We treasure the invaluable contributions of the saints to our corporate and private… Read More »Teach children hymns
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The Christian and Nakedness in Art
Recently, I came across an article entitled “Art, Nakedness, and Redemption” by William VanDoodewaard, a church history professor at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. In this… Read More »The Christian and Nakedness in Art
Three Cultural Streams in 19th-Century American Church Music
The development of American church music during the nineteenth century has important implications for the philosophy and practice of church music in the twentieth century… Read More »Three Cultural Streams in 19th-Century American Church Music
Some Things to Consider Including in your Worship – A Call to Worship
In this series, I hope to highlight the benefits of certain worship practices that are sometimes missing from the free-worship traditions. I do not mean… Read More »Some Things to Consider Including in your Worship – A Call to Worship
Preserving the Truth in our Worship
My argument in this series will be that conservative worship is essential to the preservation of truth for this reason: we will have preserved truth successfully… Read More »Preserving the Truth in our Worship
Come Down, O Love Divine
The hymn “Come Down, O Love Divine” is a worthy one if you do not yet know it. I was first introduced to it several… Read More »Come Down, O Love Divine
Wesley on prayer in "Soldiers of Christ, Arise"
This month, our pastor preached through the Ephesians 6 passage on spiritual warfare. We used Wesley’s “Soldiers of Christ, Arise” (to the usual tune DIADEMATA),… Read More »Wesley on prayer in "Soldiers of Christ, Arise"
The importance of distinguishing between folk and pop culture
Recognition of a difference between folk and pop music may perhaps seem inconsequential, but for a composer like Ralph Vaughan Williams the distinction was at… Read More »The importance of distinguishing between folk and pop culture
Multiculturalism and Cultural Prejudice
The act of judging a foreign culture for meaning and moral value is attacked by post-modern critics as an example of bigotry. After all, what… Read More »Multiculturalism and Cultural Prejudice
A Distinctly Christian Culture
So is there a distinctly Christian culture? Is there a distinctly Christian music? Yes, there is—it is culture and music that expresses Christian values. In… Read More »A Distinctly Christian Culture
Does contextualization heighten the likelihood of a positive response to the gospel?
Conversations about missions and music often revolve around an insistence that in order to reach unbelievers in a target culture, we need to contextualize the message… Read More »Does contextualization heighten the likelihood of a positive response to the gospel?
All Things to All Men
Few passages of Scripture are more popular among contemporary Christians than 1 Corinthians 9:19‐23. Especially fashionable is Paul’s line in verse 22 about becoming “all… Read More »All Things to All Men
The superiority of folk culture to pop culture
The motivations behind Vaughan Williams’s use of folk idioms in his music also clearly demonstrates the distinction between folk and pop music in his thinking.… Read More »The superiority of folk culture to pop culture
Multiculturalism and Judging Culture
One of thorniest issues facing Christian missions is the propriety and possibility of judging other cultures. Since all cultures are affected by both human depravity… Read More »Multiculturalism and Judging Culture
The Purpose of Music in Missions
The purpose of culture is not to reach the lost or give authentic expression for Christians; it is to express and cultivate right worship. In… Read More »The Purpose of Music in Missions
Defining pop culture
Unfortunately, according to Cecil Sharp and Vaughan Williams, folk music as an art is largely dead, and this provides the first evidence of a distinction… Read More »Defining pop culture
Multiculturalism and Contextualization
In a recent interview, mission leader C. Douglas McConnell was asked to name the greatest challenge facing the global evangelical missions movement today. He responded,… Read More »Multiculturalism and Contextualization
Missions and the antithesis
Last week, I spoke at the Preserving the Truth Conference in Troy, MI. Of the three points that I made in my presentation (notes, audio),… Read More »Missions and the antithesis
Distinguishing high culture from folk culture
A primary goal of Vaughan Williams was, of course, to compose art music. His many hours finding and indexing folk tunes resulted in the use… Read More »Distinguishing high culture from folk culture
Multiculturalism: You Might Be Surprised
South Africa has more official languages than any other country: English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Tswana, Sotho, Pedi, Venda, Tsonga and Swazi. These languages represent… Read More »Multiculturalism: You Might Be Surprised