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
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
I am pleased to announce the publication of a new book by famous Baptist pastor and scholar John A. Broadus – Conduct of Public Worship! Originally published as part of his Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, this short discourse by Baptist leader John A. Broadus provides helpful exploration of issues related to… Continue Reading
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” “It is my opinion that the Christian conception of God current in these middle years of the twentieth century is so decadent as to be utterly beneath the dignity of the Most High God and actually to constitute… Continue Reading
This is a series on Christian discernment. My first post argued that Christian discernment is necessary for living for the glory of God (Phil 1:9-11). Last week I argued that the ability to choose between right and wrong is a crucial part of spiritual worship to God in living holy lives (Rom 12:1-2). In Romans… Continue Reading
Matthew Henry said, “It is taken for granted that all the disciples of Christ pray. As soon as ever Paul was converted, behold he prayeth. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray.” Luther said, “Prayer . . . is as strictly and… Continue Reading
In the free worship tradition, almost nothing is as frowned upon as the idea of prayers that are read or planned. These are seen as the embodiment of vain repetitions, and a clear sign of dead formalism and mindless liturgicalism. For years, I thought that unrehearsed, spontaneous, off-the-cuff prayers demonstrated how very real our connection… Continue Reading
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), but over the course of the series, I introduced a number of the lesser-known stanzas (out of the 12 original ones). I was pleased beyond measure to find a number… Continue Reading
The section on prayer in John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion is surely one of the most beloved passages of that influential work. Therein, Calvin addresses, among other matters, the importance of reverence in corporate prayer. For Calvin, an essential mark of reverence in corporate prayer is attentiveness. He says, Whoever engaged in prayer… Continue Reading
Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, by Bryan Chapell. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009. 307 pp. $24.99. “Structures tell stories.” So opens Bryan Chapell’s recent volume, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, published by Baker Academic. Chapell, noted homiletician, theologian, and author of the popular volume, Christ-Centered Preaching, is president of… Continue Reading