Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 This series has been looking at the connection of Paul’s message in 1 Corinthians 1-3 and the contemporary church’s dependence on relevance for evangelism. In the last post, I argued from 1 Cor 1:30-31 that God deliberately made the gospel message impossible for natural men to accept in… Continue Reading
Part 1 | Part 2 In part 1, we looked at Paul’s ministry model in 1 Corinthains 1:10-17. Paul took deliberate steps to preach the gospel in such a way that minimized himself and emphasized Christ and his redeeming work. Part 2‘s post showed why Paul went about ministry in this way. The message of redemption… Continue Reading
| We have been offering reasons why public worship is better than private. Public worship is the gathered, corporate worship of a local church. Private worship includes times of informal worship apart from the church: small groups, private Bible study and prayer, and family worship. Sometimes Christians today offer a lopsided, over-individualized view of the… Continue Reading
I have strong convictions about worship philosophy. I also have strong opinions about certain applications of that philosophy. But these are not the same thing. Neither are they equally important. Philosophical convictions are judgments based on clear, biblical principles. Notice that I did not say that the convictions themselves are necessarily clear, but they are… Continue Reading
Kevin DeYoung (DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed) has a good post today asking pastors and church leaders not to assume that the decline they see in their church is because of (or can be solved by) worship styles. He says, I do wish church leaders would stop assuming that their problems boil down to a certain… Continue Reading
A couple weeks ago, I commented on how important it is for Christians in an age of Internet and media distractions to learn to wean ourselves off the habits of a short-attention span culture and cultivate the practice of attention to and appreciation of sustained discourses in texts and sermons. And this holds true, not… Continue Reading
The other day I was listening to a conversation among some ministers and seminary educators. Among them, there was an assumption of sorts that expository preaching is a necessary activity in Christian churches. And I have noticed that many, indeed, appear to agree with these men on the importance of expository preaching. And I agree… Continue Reading
Our attention spans are shrinking. This is not news, and perhaps I’ve already lost you. Thoughtful people have said that the impressive array of media and entertainment consumption portals play an important role in the attention spans of individuals, especially children and young adults. For example, Jason Fertig writes, Many modern media trends have done… Continue Reading
There has been a lot of talk in recent years on the internet and at conferences about why young people are rejecting fundamentalism and/or a conservative philosophy of worship. Everyone likes to play the blame game, but the issue that seems to get most often cited is music. Young people are being attracted to the… Continue Reading
Today we finally arrive at a discussion of the nature of rap itself. This post will be beneficial for you, however, only if you accept the following assertions on made on Monday: Man is completely depraved and thus cannot trust his own preferences implicitly. Music is a medium of human communication and thus must be… Continue Reading
The Glory Due His Name: What God Says About Worship by Gary Reimers. Greenville, SC: BJU Press, 2009. 100 pp. $9.95. The Glory Due His Name by Gary Reimers is a welcome addition to the Bob Jones University Seminary “Biblical Discernment for Difficult Issues” series. Gary Reimers is the senior pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church… 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
One great weakness in church worship today is that pastors have entirely given up the planning of services to musicians. This wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing if the musicians worked with the pastors, and there is certainly benefit to the input of musicians regarding the hymns and other music within a service. But without… Continue Reading