Sometimes reverence and joy are viewed as mutually exclusive in the worship of the church. I have friends who suspect “reverence” is a code word for austere, cold, somber and dour. So, when they hear someone talking about the need for reverence in worship, they want to have none of it. On the other hand, I have friends who are suspicious of calls for “joyfulness” in worship, as if this necessarily entailed emotional manipulation and superficial sanguinity. In some churches, there is such an emotional display in worship…What gathered worship should look like: Reverent and…
Sometimes reverence and joy are viewed as mutually exclusive in the worship of the church. I have friends who suspect “reverence” is a code word for austere, cold, somber and dour. So, when they hear someone talking about the need for reverence in worship, they want to have none of it. On the other hand, I have friends who are suspicious of calls for “joyfulness” in worship, as if this necessarily entailed emotional manipulation and superficial sanguinity. In some churches, there is such an emotional display in worship…
I will be heading to Natal, Brazil soon for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil (in Portuguese Igreja Presbiteriana do Brasil, or IPB). The IPB is the largest and oldest of the Presbyterian and Reformed denominations in Brazil. To give you an idea, it is twice to three times the size of the PCA (with a reported 1,011,300 members, 8,315 ordained ministers and 5,015 churches and 5,392 parishes). The efforts of American Presbyterian missionary Ashbel Green Simonton were used of God in its beginnings and the denomination…
It has just been announced today that Dr. Paul Kooistra, former Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson faculty member, former President of Covenant Theological Seminary and retiring PCA Mission to the World Coordinator has been named the new President of Erskine College. We at RTS offer Paul and Erskine, our heartiest congratulations and best wishes. Erskine is also getting an extraordinary first lady. Paul’s wife Sandi is a dear friend of mine from First Pres., Yazoo City and First Pres., Jackson, where it was my privilege to be her…
Many years ago, my friend Dr. Mark Dever, Senior Pastor of the Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, shared this moving quotation with me from the hand of the great English Baptist minister William Kiffin, writing in 1682, of the death of…
Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the “Father of English Hymnody”, credited with some 650 hymns. Many of his hymns…
Here is the Intercollegiate Review’s list of the fifty best books of the 20th century (edited by Mark C. Henrie, Winfield J.C. Myers, and Jeffrey O. Nelson). They are going to post their fifty worst books of the 20th century soon. Good…
The Matthew Henry Tercentenary has come to a close, but resources will be added soon to the site. Summaries of all the papers and presentations, and more. I’ll keep you posted as all of this develops.
Christian worship is all about God. And a biblical congregational worship service should reflect that. It is all about God. It is not all about us. Or all about the preacher. Or all about the choir or praise team. Or all about the building. Or all…
“As the first Protestant missionary to China, Robert Morrison laid a foundation for what would become the imposing edifice of today’s Chinese church. Morrison was quite conscious of his role, and worked deliberately to prepare for others,…