In “In the Bleak Midwinter,” Christina Rosetti poetically pictures the cold, dark, hard condition of the earth when Jesus came to save us. This recognition… Read More »Eighth Hymn of Christmas: In the Bleak Midwinter
“From Heaven Above to Earth I Come” was one of Martin Luther’s first hymns, penned in 1535 and translated into English by Catherine Winkworth in… Read More »Seventh Hymn of Christmas: From Heaven Above to Earth I Come
Staying with the theme of German carols, “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” comes from the fifteenth century and was translated by a couple different… Read More »Sixth Hymn of Christmas: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
Known as the “Queen of the Chorales,” this Lutheran hymn by Philpp Nicolai was written in 1599. Unusual for this time period, Nicolai also composed… Read More »Fifth Hymn of Christmas: How Bright Appears the Morning Star
The German Lutheran tradition has a rich heritage of Christmas hymns. “Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light” comes from Lutheran pastor, Johann Rist in 1641.… Read More »Fourth Hymn of Christmas: Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light
Christina Rosetti has written some of the most beautiful Christmas carols, and “Love Came Down at Christmas” is no exception. Penned in 1855, this hymn… Read More »Third Hymn of Christmas: Love Came Down at Christmas
Almost as ancient as “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” this hymn is probably more well-known. “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” was written in the… Read More »Second Hymn of Christmas: Of the Father’s Love Begotten
Tomorrow begins the Twelve Days of Christmas, and so in honor of this festive season, I will be highlighting one Christmas hymn each of the… Read More »Twelve Hymns of Christmas
Advent is upon us! This is a wonderful time of year to both remember the prophecies regarding Christ’s first coming and anticipate his coming again.… Read More »Advent Hymns
This weekend I am speaking the the National Center for Family Integrated Churches Conference in Asheville, NC. The theme of the conference is “Repentance: The… Read More »Repentance Hymns
Reformation Sunday is coming up on October 29, and this year is particularly special since we are celebrating the 500 year anniversary of the beginning… Read More »Reformation Hymns
It appears today that “authenticity” has become the most important virtue. In one sense this is good. Hypocrisy is a vice condemned by Scripture (Mathew… Read More »But we never talk like that in real life!
Have you ever thought about how many songs your church can sing in a year? If you consult the average transdenominational hymnal published today, you… Read More »How many songs can one church sing?
Christmas: the one time of the year that most churches actually sing good hymns! Some of our traditional Christmas hymns really are quite profound, the… Read More »The profound simplicity of “Away in a Manger”
Understood as poet Christina Rosetti meant it, the answer to the question posed in the title of this post is, Yes. English poet Christina Rosetti… Read More »Was Jesus born in the bleak midwinter?
Yesterday at the national meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, I presented a paper evaluating Isaac Watts’s Trinitarian views. I hope to get the paper… Read More »Implications from Isaac Watts’s Trinitarian Controversy
A few years ago we published a new daily devotional for the Christmas season by Pastor Taigen Joos that has been very well-received. This devotional is perfect for… Read More »Order your Christmas Family Devotional Now!
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been showing how particular issues related to worship theology and practice–namely, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the… Read More »Psalmody and Hymnody as appropriate unifiers
Article 13 of our recent Conservative Christian Declaration says this: We affirm that twenty-first-century churches, like the churches of every age, must worship God in their own… Read More »There should always be new worship music
I’ve heard it said many times, often by people I love and respect: “Christians have always used contemporary music in their worship.” Or, it might… Read More »There hasn’t always been contemporary worship music