Entries Categorized as 'Poetry/Scripture/Liturgy/Etc.'

Should We Sing Only Psalms?

Date November 19, 2009Posted by David N

The earliest Protestant churches (the Reformed ones, not the Lutheran ones) sang only Psalms in their worship services, and they did so a capella (with no instrumental accompaniment). Here is a wonderful quotation from John Calvin on this subject (HT: The Heidelblog): As for public prayers, there are two kinds: the one consists simply of [...]

What Can the Righteous Do?

Date October 13, 2009Posted by Roger Overton

Twice a month my church gathers for Monday night prayer. This week one of the elders (Tim) led us through a wonderful script rooted in Psalm 11. It’s so good I decided to steal it and adapt it to a blog post 11:1 In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, [...]

J. I. Packer on Reading the Bible

Date October 3, 2009Posted by David N

Let us read the Bible then — if we can. But can we? The truth is that many of us have lost the ability to read the Bible. When we open our Bibles, we do so in a frame of mind which forms an insuperable barrier to our ever reading it at all. This may [...]

Oh, the Bliss of This Glorious Thought!

Date September 21, 2009Posted by Roger Overton

I’m sure most of us have heard and sang the song “It is Well with My Soul.”  The third verse always stands out to me, and for some reason was in my head all day after we sang it during Church on Sunday. In case you don’t recall it specifically, here’s the third verse: My [...]

Great Quote

Date May 24, 2009Posted by David N

On the self-attesting power of Scripture: Read Demosthenes or Cicero, read Plato, Aristotle, and others of that tribe. They will, I admit, allure you, delight you, move you, enrapture you in wonderful measure; but turn from them to the reading of the Sacred Scriptures. Then, in spite of yourself, it will so affect you, so [...]

Tweeting For Jesus

Date April 14, 2009Posted by David N

I don't Twitter (or is it tweet?).  But I can't claim total purity, since I have facebook, myspace, and I blog.  Still, I've been purposefully avoiding the Tweet scene because it seemed to me to represent the worst of the other three.  No genuine conversation or community whatsoever, just an endless flow of (mostly trivial) [...]

T4G 08 Video Online At Ligonier.org

Date January 25, 2009Posted by David N

The videos of all speaker addresses and panel discussions from this year's T4G conference are available online for free at Ligonier.org (for a limited time).  These conferences are amazing, encouraging (and often humorous) and it would be well worth your time to watch the videos (if you don't have a lot of time, just watch [...]

"Calvin's Legacy" Conference at WSC (Jan 16-17): Live Blog

Date January 16, 2009Posted by David N

In honor of John Calvin's 500th birthday, Westminster Seminary California's 2008 Conference is on the lasting legacy of John Calvin's life and work for the contemporary church.  The conference is tonight from 6 – 9pm and tomorrow from 8am – 2:45pm.  Unfortunately it is sold out, but for those of you interested in following the [...]

Do You Know the Mighty King?

Date December 7, 2008Posted by Roger Overton

The preacher at the church I attended today read this, and it struck me as an excellent meditation piece. It's from a sermon by S.M. Lockridge… He's enduringly strong. He's entirely sincere. He's eternally steadfast. He's immortally graceful. He's imperially powerful. He's impartially merciful. That's my King. He's God's Son. He's the sinner's saviour. He's [...]

The "Green" Bible

Date November 26, 2008Posted by David N

Themed Bibles are generally a bad idea.  For one thing, every part of God's Word is meant to speak to every Christian.  Themed Bibles tend to emphasize only the parts of the Bible that speak about the particular theme, leaving other potentially important aspects of Scripture under-emphasized or ignored (and here I'm thinking primarily within [...]