A key implication of both the fact that God made man in his own image and that God blessed him is man’s ability creatively organize God’s creation into new creations. In the act of creating, we perhaps most perfectly image the Creator God. And at least one implication of God’s blessing upon Adam of subduing […]

Despite my many protestations (including a whole book addressing the topic), it is still quite common within Evangelical circles to equate culture and ethnicity. I was once reminded of this when a popular evangelical leader argued in a well-publicized conference that in order to repair what he believes to be systemic racial divides within evangelicalism, we need to be willing to […]

Sanctification is a lifelong process for a believer. Although a Christian is freed from the power and penalty of sin, he still must deal with the presence of sin around and within him. If, as stated in 1 Corinthians 10:31, man’s chief end is to glorify God, then the essence of sin is failing to accomplish […]

In John 3:12, Jesus poses an important question: “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” This question sets the stage for consideration of Old Earth Creationism (OEC) and its impact on Christian doctrine. OEC, which posits that the universe is […]

How ought we Christians live in light of the God-ordained institution of human government? The New Testament clearly defines our responsibilities. First, as citizens of the common kingdom, we ought to submit to the human institutions that God has appointed. Remember, these human institutions are God’s institutions. The common kingdom is God’s kingdom. God established […]

God is Sovereign King, and he takes care of his world. In his common grace, he even takes care of those who reject him, and as we have seen, he does so through particular common grace institutions that he created. These include the institution of family, common human vocations, and as we will address in […]

The account of Jacob’s Ladder in Genesis 28:10–22 is one of the most fascinating and profound moments in the Old Testament. This vision, in which Jacob dreams of a ladder or stairway connecting heaven and earth, is not only a personal encounter between Jacob and God, but it also carries deep theological meaning for God’s […]

The question of whether New Testament prophecy has ceased or continues is a significant debate within evangelical circles. At the heart of this issue lies the tension between the concept of a closed canon—wherein the New Testament serves as the final authoritative guide for faith and practice—and the possibility of ongoing prophetic revelation. Moderate charismatics […]

In the early church, believers experienced miraculous gifts from the Holy Spirit, including healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues. Today, many Christians—particularly those in charismatic and Pentecostal movements—believe that these gifts continue. However, there is significant debate surrounding the nature and continuation of these spiritual gifts, especially the gift of tongues. Understanding the biblical context […]

When Paul wrote his second epistle to his spiritual son, Timothy, the days were dark for Christians. The first major Roman persecution against Christians had begun on July 18, AD 64, when Emperor Nero started a fire that ravaged Rome so he could rebuild the city to his liking. Nero, seeking a scapegoat for the […]

In our church, we elders have just finished preaching through the book of Hebrews over the course of many months. One thing that has struck me is the inevitability of suffering, which is why enduring faith is so necessary. But I am fearful that most Christians today are not prepared for the inevitable suffering to […]

Recently, Ryan Denton wrote an article on Reformation21 that is making a bit of a stir online titled, “What is a Hyper-Cessationist?” Denton is convinced that modern cessationism has gone beyond the cessationism of the past and “has become a thick, wet blanket used to smother anything that smacks of the supernatural.” This is what […]

One of the central battled cries of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation was Sola Scripture—Scripture Alone! The Reformers rightly criticized the Roman Catholic Church’s elevation of church tradition to the level of Scripture, instead insisting that “neither the Church nor the pope can establish articles of faith. These must come from Scripture” (Martin Luther). Yet at […]

Meaning in music is a tricky thing. Most people think it’s tricky because music is so abstract and lacks specificity such that describing its meaning with words is nearly impossible. On the contrary, meaning in music is tricky for exactly the opposite reason. As Felix Mendelssohn once noted, “What music expresses its not too indefinite to […]

Há uma crise de masculinidade atualmente, não somente na cultura secular, uma crise de masculinidade em nossas igrejas. Por um lado, a verdadeira masculinidade tem sido severamente efeminizada, impactando até os homens Cristãos. A cultura moderna celebra a androginia, promovendo ideais onde os traços masculinos são minimizados ou desencorajados. Homens são encorajados a abraçar as […]

There is a masculinity crisis today, and it is not only in the secular culture—this masculinity crisis is in our churches. On the one hand, true masculinity has been severely feminized in today’s culture, which has impacted even Christian men. Modern culture celebrates androgyny, promoting ideals where traditional masculine traits are downplayed or even discouraged. […]

All five Solas of the Reformation find their fullest expression in the public worship of God’s people. We can see this in just two verses in Hebrews 12: 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, […]

If we wish to be faithful to the biblical doctrines recovered in the Protestant Reformation, then our worship must be according to Scripture alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone. Indeed, when we draw near according to Scripture, by grace, through Christ, we are entering the very presence of God in heaven for communion with […]

According to Hebrews 12:25–29, acceptable worship is that which is regulated by Scripture alone. The doctrine of Sola Scriptura finds its fullest expression in biblically-regulated worship. But not only that, so also the public worship of God is the fullest expression of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. These doctrines are […]

Today when most Christians think about the Reformation, they think of it in terms of a recovery of important biblical doctrine, and that is certainly true. The sixteenth and seventeenth century Reformers stood firm against the erroneous teaching of the Church of Rome and championed critical biblical doctrines we often summarize in the Five Solas. […]

God commands us to teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, not as something optional, extra, or somehow disconnected from our mission to make disciples. No, as is clear from the broader context of Colossians 3, God commands us to sing, because singing is essential to discipleship. On that basis, […]

Colossians 3:16 is one of the most well-known verses in Scripture about singing, yet we often fail to recognize how the command to sing fits in the broader context of Colossians 3 regarding the nature of discipleship. The first fifteen verses of Colossians 3 could be summarized with these four commands. Disciples of Christ must: […]

One of the most well-known verses in all of Scripture about singing is found in Colossians 3:16. And yet, we often quote that verse in isolation and do not recognize the broader context in which Paul gives the command to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. But as I would like us to see from […]

Lots of confusion reigns today regarding how we ought to expect the Holy Spirit to work, but it does not have to be this way. Careful reading of Scripture gives us a robust picture of what should be our expectation for how the Holy Spirit works today. The Spirit Brings Order First, the Holy Spirit’s […]

The central work of the Holy Spirit is to bring order to the people and plan of God, and he does this work primarily through the Word that he inspired. This is no different for corporate worship. Paul stresses this in 1 Corinthians 14:36–38: Or was it from you that the word of God came? […]

First Corinthians 14 is clear that the central purpose of corporate worship is the disciplined formation of God’s people. All things should be done decently and in order in corporate worship, for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit’s work in worship, therefore, is to bring order and discipline to […]

Often when Christians today think of the Holy Spirit’s work in worship, they anticipate that if he is working, then there will be high euphoria, and surprising, spontaneous outbursts of praise. But is that really how we ought to expect the Spirit to work in corporate worship? The metaphor of the Spirit building believers into […]

The primary work of the Holy Spirit today in a Christian’s life is his sanctifying believers to be “spiritual”—to be characterized by inner life and external behavior that conforms to the will of God. However, another result attributed often to the Spirit in the New Testament is gifting. Some gifting was special empowerment for leadership […]

Many Christians today would tell you that if the Holy Spirit is working in your life, then you will experience extraordinary manifestations. But is that really the main way the Holy Spirit works? By far, the dominant action attributed to the Holy Spirit with relation to every Christian is his work of sanctification. In the […]

Likely the most important truth about the Holy Spirit’s active work that we must remember is that the Holy Spirit always works through his Word. Through his illuminating power, the Spirit opens our minds and hearts to accept and submit to the authority of the Word that he inspired. And thus it is through such […]

It is no secret that the Holy Spirit’s work today is one of the most misunderstood doctrines, and this is certainly the case with regard to what the Spirit is doing every day in a Christian’s life. When Christians think of the Holy Spirit’s work, they usually think of miraculous works. But the most prominent […]

There is some debate as to whether with Spirit baptism (mentioned 11 times in the NT), the Holy Spirit is the agent of baptism or the medium of baptism. While viewing the Holy Spirit as the agent of Spirit baptism is a grammatical possibility in some texts, such as the key text of 1 Corinthians […]

Many of the Holy Spirit’s works in history unique in unfolding God’s eternal plan in past history. The purpose of ordering the plans of God accomplished by the Spirit through creation, revelation, and special empowerment have been finished. Creation is complete, the Spirit-inspired Word is complete, and Spirit empowerment functioned at key transitional periods in […]

One of the Holy Spirit’s primary works has been to give revelation to key leaders of God’s people in the progress of God’s redemptive history, culminating in Holy Scripture, which was written by men who were carried along by the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit also gave some of these same leaders special empowerment […]

While creation is the Holy Spirit’s first act in Scripture, the overwhelmingly dominant work attributed to the Spirit in both Testaments is the giving of revelation. Scripture frequently attributes direct revelation from God given to prophets to the person of the Holy Spirit. Joseph was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams because the Spirit of God […]

The first instance of the Spirit’s work appears in the opening verses of Scripture. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Gn […]

Ultimately, current expectations concerning the Holy Spirit’s work in worship must derive, not from experience, but from Scripture. Too often in modern evangelicalism, expectations regarding how the Holy Spirit works are based upon anecdotes, stories, or other testimonies of people’s experiences rather on what the Bible actually teaches. Unfortunately, this is just as true of […]

Contemporary evangelicalism, I believe, has been thoroughly Pentecostalized with the expectation that if the Holy Spirit is active and working, then we will witness extraordinary effects ranging from direct revelation, special gifting, and emotional euphoria. In addition to receiving new revelation from the Holy Spirit, many professing Christians today also believe that the Holy Spirit […]

I am convinced that contemporary Evangelicalism has been Pentecostalized in significant ways that even many non-charismatics don’t recognize. One significant way this reveals itself even among those who would claim to be cessationists is in common evangelical expectations regarding how God speaks to us and how he reveals his will to us. It is very […]

“Our church’s worship is pretty formal, but I prefer Holy Spirit-led worship.” Such was a comment I overheard once by a young evangelical describing his church’s worship service, illustrating a very common perception by many evangelicals today—if the Holy Spirit actively works in worship, the results will be something extraordinary, an experience “quenched” by too […]

Meu objetivo é convencê-lo de que é importante que a música faça parte de sua grade de ensino domiciliar. Eu quero persuadi-lo de que a música é essencial para o desenvolvimento educacional de seus filhos. Muitos, talvez, já reconheçam os benefícios da música na vida das crianças. Entretanto outros pensam que a música é simplesmente […]

My goal in this essay is to convince you that it is important that music be a part of your homeschool. My goal is to persuade you that music is essential to your children’s educational development. For you this may not be necessary—you recognize the benefits of music in the lives of your children. But […]

Stories shape us. When we read a story, we enter a world that the author has created and thus become shaped by that world. Experiencing the world of the story forms our imaginations of reality, our perceptions and affections, and even our worldview and beliefs. The same is true—perhaps even more so—with the stories of […]

Was Jesus born in the bleak midwinter? Understood as poet Christina Rosetti meant it, the answer to the question is, Yes. English poet Christina Rossetti penned the poem, originally titled “A Christmas Carol,” sometime before 1871 at the request of William James Stillman, editor of Scribner’s Monthly, where the poem was first published in January 1872. The […]

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. If all of the prophecies concerning his first coming were fulfilled with complete literalness, we can have confidence that those prophecies yet to be fulfilled will also come to pass […]

Ask most Americans, and December marks the beginning of Christmas. When are the 12 Days of Christmas? Why, they’re December 14–25, the days leading up to Christmas Day. But on the contrary, in the Christian tradition, the Twelve Days actually refer to the celebration of Christ’s nativity—also called “Christmastide”—between Christmas (December 25) and Epiphany (January […]

One of the fundamental assumptions in modern evangelical worship is an emphasis upon authenticity in worship. This comes in several different forms, but it often manifests itself in an insistence that whatever expressions of worship are most natural and “real” to a given worshiper are by their very nature, therefore, acceptable. The implication is also […]

In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln established an annual national holiday of Thanksgiving to be observed on the last Thursday in November. Most of us look forward to this holiday, a day on which we eat good food, enjoy time with family and friends, and perhaps watch some football. And we will probably set aside at […]

Though during this present age kingdom and cultus (God’s worshiping community) are separated, God intends one day to join them together under the rule of his Anointed One. The question for us is, of course, where we currently fit in this plan of God for a holy theocracy, a perfect union of kingdom and cultus […]

God created man to be a king and priest in his garden sanctuary, an extension of the palace/temple of heaven. Adam failed, however, and he was cast out of God’s sanctuary. In the interim, between the First Adam’s failure and the Second Adam’s success, the curse resulted in a separation between kingdom and cultus (the […]

When we witness terrible atrocities on earth, we must interpret them in light of the heavenly reality. Heaven is a palace from which God rules sovereign over all, and heaven is a temple where he is worshiped as he ought. This is the reality. How, then, do these visions of God in his heavenly palace/temple […]

You don’t have to turn on the news or visit a news web site very long to get very depressed. We live in a day of despair, threat of war, violence, murder, poverty, sickness, abortion, waning morality, injustice, and racial tensions. Even from the perspective of the unbelieving world, things look pretty bleak. But, contrary […]

Should Christians care about their bodies? How much emphasis should we place upon bodily exercise? Some professing Christians in past history have argued that the body is bad—we don’t need to give attention to the body, we just need to focus on spiritual things. But notice what Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:8: “Bodily training […]

On Saturday, October 7, Israel suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history. People around the world watched in horror as Hamas launched around 5,000 rockets into Israel, and Palestinian militants broke through checkpoints and border fences into Israel, proceeding to massacre hundreds of men, women, and children and taking others as hostages. As of […]

Christians ought to sing all the psalms—including the imprecatory psalms—because the psalms are deeply rooted in confidence that God is the Sovereign King of Kings, and therefore to sing them helps form within us a hope-filled longing for the Return of the King. We who have already submitted to the sovereign King of Kings are […]

Many Christians struggle over whether we should be singing imprecatory psalms in our current age of grace. Should we be singing, “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock” (Ps 137:9)? One major theme in the book of psalms that helps us to understand why we should sing […]

There are several fundamental reasons many churches don’t sing the Psalms today, and I wrote my book, Musing on God’s Music, in order to help correct some of those reasons. But one key reason Christians shy away from some of the psalms is the sometimes violent imprecatory language found in them. If Christians today do […]

Why is it so important to have our motivation right about how we live in society? Why is it important that we don’t try to motivate ourselves and others with grand ambitions of societal transformation? First, God never promised grand societal transformation, and so if we make that our goal, it can lead to deep […]

When the prophet Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,” what he saw was the reality of God’s heavenly temple: “and the train of his robe filled the temple.” Heaven is a royal palace from which God sovereignly rules, but it is also a holy temple, filled with God’s glory. […]

Churches as formal, local institutions have been given a very specific, singular mission in this age, best articulated in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19–20. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe […]

Christ promised in his prayer to the Father in John 17 that he would give his disciples—and, by extension, the church they would establish—a mission; he prayed, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (Jn 17:18). After his resurrection, he said something similar to his disciples in […]

“Our church’s worship is pretty formal, but I prefer Holy Spirit-led worship.” Such was the comment I overheard recently by a young evangelical describing his church’s worship service, illustrating a very common perception by many evangelicals today—if the Holy Spirit actively works in worship, the results will be something extraordinary, an experience “quenched” by too […]

What would it mean for our worship to be truly shaped by Scripture? Christians are people of the book. Conservative Evangelical Christians, in particular, demand that their beliefs and lives be governed by Scripture. God’s inspired Word is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God […]

The regulative principle has long been associated with Reformed traditions that trace their heritage to John Calvin and the Swiss Reformation. This principle, which states that for church practice, whatever is not prescribed in Scripture is forbidden, contrasts with the Lutheran and Anglican normative principle, which holds that whatever is not forbidden in Scripture is […]

The immediate causes for Reformation in various regions, as well as what caused divisions among various Reformation figures, are diverse. However, much of what lay at the core of what both unified Reformers in their reaction against the Roman Catholic Church and what ended up dividing them in the end, involved theology and practice of […]

Believers from the earliest years of Christianity—especially those coming out of Judaism—struggled with how to understand the relationship between Israel’s worship, Christian worship, and the real worship of heaven. In fact, the confusion escalated to such a point that some apostatized from Christianity in favor of returning to the worship of their Jewish heritage. The […]

“Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.” This ancient hymn captures three eras of worship: as it was in the beginning—the worship of Old Testament Israel, as it is now—the worship of New […]

As Christians, we are are first and foremost citizens of God’s Redemptive Kingdom; we have submitted ourselves to Christ’s rule, and our mission is to bring others into that citizenship through evangelism and discipleship. But as human beings, we are also still citizens of the universal Common Kingdom along with every other person in the […]

Likely one of the more challenging issues in the Psalms for modern Christians is the language of lament and even imprecation present throughout these God-inspired songs. Surely, this side of the cross, that kind of language has no place for Christians, right? Consider Psalm 137, with its dark themes and horrid imprecation: 1 By the […]

Do you ever feel like everything around us is crumbling? You look around and wickedness seems to be everywhere, and you wonder: where is God in all this? And not only that, they’re prospering! One of the core purposes of the psalms is to help us navigate this kind of reality, which has indeed been […]

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the importance of focusing on the church’s mission. That’s good as far as it goes—we’ve been given a mission by Jesus to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19), and so we ought to continually commit to that mission and find ways to join with others […]

Scripture contains many passages that are difficult to interpret—even Peter said so (2 Pet 3:16). What is “baptism for the dead” in 1 Corinthians 15? Who were the Nephilim of Genesis 6? What did Peter mean when he said that Jesus “went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison” (1 Pet 3:19)? What does the […]

The Covid era was certainly a challenge for many reasons. Particularly during the first couple of weeks after the virus broke out across the world, most people understandably were very cautious. Because of how the virus appeared to be worse for certain demographics, “fifteen days to slow the spread” and allow hospitals to prepare seemed […]

Psalm 1 began by saying that a truly blessed person will not allow his image of the good life to be shaped by the wicked image of blessedness; Psalm 2 shows us what that wicked image is. It shows us the counsel of the ungodly—their image of the good life. Why do the nations rage,and […]

Do you have a mission statement for your family? Every successful business has a mission statement that carefully articulates the company’s central vision and primary objectives. Yet the mission statement does not exist simply to be placed in an employee manual or on a plaque in the conference room. It exists to set the parameters […]

There’s a line in Wodehouse’s Joy in the Morning in which Bertie says to Jeeves, “It was one of those cases where you approve the broad, general principle of an idea but can’t help being in a bit of a twitter at the prospect of putting it into practical effect.” I think there are a […]

What does it really mean to serve the Lord? Unfortunately, there is actually a lot of confusion about the proper answer to that question among evangelicals today. Some Christians believe that the only way to really serve the purposes and plans of God is what is sometimes referred to as “full time Christian service.” All […]

When Stephen Wolfe’s book The Case for Christian Nationalism first came out, I picked up a copy, read the first third of the book, and then decided that it wasn’t really relevant to me at the time. I had written and taught about the biblical relationship between Christianity and culture for over a decade, had […]

Here’s one of the biggest reasons I object to what has come to be called “Christian Nationalism”: we simply do not find anything like it in the New Testament. In this essay, I would like to sketch what I believe is the biblical alternative to Christian Nationalism: Christian Faithfulness. But before I do, allow me […]

Discussions of “Christian nationalism” are on the rise among evangelicals in recent months. We’ve seen an uptick of books, podcasts, conferences, and evangelical ministries promoting the idea of a “Christian nation.” There are a variety of reasons for this rise in focus on Christian nationalism, most of which I do not plan to address here. […]

Last week we looked at the two biblical pictures of the worship of heaven that revealed fundamental principles about the nature of worship. What, then, is the relationship between this eternal worship of the world without end and the worship taking place here on earth, both as it was in the beginning (OT worship) and […]

One of the oldest hymns still sung today is what has come to be called the Gloria Patri: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.” This ancient hymn captures three eras of […]

“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” —2 Corinthians 7:10 Thomas Watson was a seventeenth-century Puritan pastor whose works are still read today. His books include The Great Gain of Godliness, The Godly Man’s Picture, and A Body of Practical Divinity to name a few. In […]

New and improved! Fresh! The latest! Exciting! You don’t have to go far in our society today to witness claims of having the newest, latest product. One would not think of buying something old, stale, and “so yesterday.” This applies to commercial products that are marketed by clever advertisers, but, unfortunately, it also often applies […]

The purpose of this essay is not to argue that visual media is inherently evil. Nor is its purpose to contend that visual media lacks any value. The purpose of this essay is to argue that printed media is simply better than visual media, and when faced with the choice to choose one or the […]

Conservative evangelicals admirably repudiate emergent leaders who argue that both content and form must be contextualized; evangelicals insist that since God’s Word is inspired and inerrant, God’s truth transcends culture and must be preserved intact. But since even most conservative evangelicals consider culture as entirely neutral in itself and beauty as in the eye of […]

Note: Order Scott’s book on the Psalms here! Psalm singing has declined in Evangelical churches, and the case I have made in my new book is that a core reason is that modern Christians do not understand the purpose of the canonical structure of the Psalter and its poetry to shape our inner conception of […]

When Christ was asked about the great commandment in the Law, he answered without hesitation: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Mt 22:37). True worship of God is centered in our affections for him. As Jonathan Edwards rightly observed, “True […]

Psalms like Psalm 96 form us by recounting past, present, and future realities, but they also form us through the use of artistic elements within the psalm. Psalms are not just prose narratives of who God is and what he has done. Psalms are poetic; they use various artistic devices to form and shape our […]

The events occurring at Asbury University have created quite a discussion online concerning the nature of revival. Apparently after chapel on Wednesday, February 8, a group of 20 students decided to stay to sing, pray, and share testimonies. They were still there a few hours later, and so the president of the seminary emailed the […]

One of the Enthronement Psalms, Psalm 96, is a perfect example of the power of song to respond in thanks to the Lord’s blessings. 1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song;         sing to the Lord, all the earth!2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;         tell of his salvation from day to […]

Early in Book I of the Psalms, Psalm 11 presents a microcosm of the way we ought to use the psalms to form hearts of trust. Psalm 11 is positioned in the middle of a series of laments about the wicked that extends from Psalm 10 through Psalm 14. They paint a very bleak picture […]

¿Por qué la santificación es esencial para el cristiano? Dicho de manera simple, es la voluntad de Dios para su pueblo que sean santificados y es a través de esta santificación que cada hijo de Dios recibe la seguridad de su salvación. Sin santificación, o hay rebelión como un hijo de Dios, o prueba de […]

One of the most important purposes of the psalms in our lives is that they help us deal with the reality of the ungodliness that surrounds us in a sin-cursed world. This kind of adversity characterized most of David’s life. Consider how he describes it in Psalm 86:14: O God, insolent men have risen up […]

Biblical pictures of Israel in exile present a striking contrast that resembles our situation today: By the waters of Babylon,there we sat down and wept,when we remembered Zion.On the willows therewe hung up our lyres.For there our captorsrequired of us songs,and our tormentors, mirth, saying,“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” Psalm 137:1–3 Thus […]

Next to Psalm 51, Psalm 130 is likely the most well-known penitential psalm. It is certainly a psalm worthy of deep meditation, particularly for its poetic embodiment of a heart of confession. A Song of Ascents.1 Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord;2 Lord, hear my voice!Let your ears be attentiveto […]

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year to sing good hymns. Some of our traditional Christmas hymns really are quite profound, the queen of them all being “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” Yet some Christmas hymns are far from perfect. Others have addressed the problems with some of these hymns. One hymn that often gets marginalized […]

Os Salmos tem o propósito divino de nos levar a uma vida profunda de bênçãos e louvor. Então como eles fazem isso? O Salmo de numero 15 faz esse pergunta logo na introdução: SENHOR, quem habitará no teu tabernáculo? Quem morará no teu santo monte? Aquele que anda sinceramente, e pratica a justiça, e fala […]

A passage often cited by evangelicals to prove that every cultural expression is legitimate since people from every nation will be admitted into heaven is Revelation 5:9: And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed […]

Welcome to G3 Weekly—a summary of this week’s top news stories on Christianity and the public square. This week, the Supreme Court heard the case of a Christian graphic designer challenging a law that would force her to advance messages supportive of so-called homosexual marriage. A restaurant in Virginia refused to serve a private event […]

O que é a Igreja? Se alguém te fizesse essa pergunta, o que você responderia? Você mostraria a diferença entre a Igreja Universal e Local? Você mostraria onde é a igreja que frequenta? Talvez você falasse sobre os fundadores da sua Igreja. Quem sabe você descrevesse sobre as programações e atividades que a sua Igreja […]

As the New Testament’s treatment of the Psalms makes clear, ultimately the Psalms point to the true Blessed Man, the King of Glory who opened the gates of heaven to all who put their trust in him and stands as their mediator and intercessor. In other words, the Psalms encompass the gospel. But the Psalms […]

The God-designed purpose for the psalms is to lead us to a life of true blessedness and praise. So how do they do that? Psalm 15 essentially asks this question when it opens, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle?       Who may dwell in your holy hill? Who may ascend the hill of the […]

When adversity comes, when it seems as if God is far away, a truly blessed man who has repented of his sin, submitted to God’s Anointed, and received mercy and forgiveness will form a heart of trust in God by reaffirming who God is, and this is what leads to a heart that responds with […]

Central to a proper image of blessedness as expressed in the Psalms is a conception of God’s rule as that which brings flourishing, rather than conceiving it as burdensome. God pronounced a blessing upon Adam in Genesis 1:28 that gave him the right to rule as God’s chosen representative under God’s ultimate authority. God made […]

One of a missionary’s most challenging issues is the relationship between worship and culture as they plant indigenous churches. Two extremes exist: on the one hand are missionaries who simply impose American culture on the foreign church; on the other hand are those who indiscriminately adopt the native culture in their worship. Several years ago […]

One of the most significant errors that developed in the late Middle Ages was the belief that the bread and wine in the eucharist were literally the body and blood of Christ. Very early on in the development of Christian dogma, participation in the Lord’s Table in particular became significant. It is easy to understand […]

Most conservative evangelicals recognize the need to separate from unbelief, false teachers, and apostasy. Paul articulates this necessity clearly in 2 Corinthians 6:14–18: Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? . . . Therefore go out from their midst, and be […]

Scripture teaches that government was instituted by God himself, and so governors have a responsibility to submit to God’s moral law. But what happens when the government commands us to do something that contradicts God’s commands? This, of course, is not a new question for Christians, and the Bible has answers to help us navigate […]

Issues related to how Christians ought to respond to human government appear to becoming more complicated by the day, especially as the world’s governments become increasingly hostile toward Christian values. Consequently, it is more important than ever to be clear on what the Bible teaches about the purpose and role of human government. God rules […]

Answering the question, “What is an apostle” is an important one for two reasons: first, some claim that apostles exist today. Teachers like Lou Engle, Todd White, Bill Johnson, and C. Peter Wagner all claim to be apostles. Even Sovereign Grace Ministries claimed their leaders were apostles until they changed their position in 2010. Second, […]

Ultimately, current expectations concerning the Holy Spirit’s work today must derive, not from experience, but from Scripture. How does the Bible characterizes the Holy Spirit’s activity? Scripture contains roughly 245 explicit descriptions of the Holy Spirit’s actions, 80 in the Old Testament, and 165 in the New Testament.1Thanks to PhD students in a seminar I […]

God has given us the psalms to form our hearts, which in turn lead us on the path to true blessedness. As James Sire argues, it is heart orientation that “provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.”1James W. Sire, Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept, 2nd edition (Downers […]

Psalm 1 introduces a contrast between two different conceptions of blessedness, one that fulfills God’s promise in Genesis 1:28 for those who submit to his rule, and one that conceives of blessedness as a life of prosperity apart from God. The truly blessed person, the psalms teach, will not allow his conception of blessedness to […]

I am convinced that a charismatic theology of the Holy Spirit has infected most of evangelicalism in ways we don’t often recognize. Carl F. H. Henry was right when he observed, “The modern openness to charismatic emphases is directly traceable to the neglect by mainstream Christian denominations of an adequate doctrine of the Holy Spirit.”1Carl […]

The first word of Psalm 1 tells us what the goal of the whole collection of psalms is: blessedness. Interestingly, the instruction for how to be blessed in the first psalm begins with three negatives: do not walk in the counsel of wicked people, do not stand in the path of sinners, and do not […]

Controversy erupted online Friday when a guest on the CrossPolitic podcast asserted that it is the fault of Baptist individualism that transgenderism has risen in our culture. The discussion begins at around 10:45 in the following video, and it continues further in the “Backstage” portion. In the discussion, guest Jason Farley asserts that the Church […]

The first word of the Psalm 1 captures well the intended purpose of the Book of Psalms: blessedness. To be blessed literally means “a state of well-being”; to flourish; to prosper. It’s what we might call “the good life.” This is what all people desire—we want to flourish. Martin Luther noted this: “The search for […]

It has always been a characteristic of God’s people that they are a singing people. This was Paul’s admonition when he commanded Christians in Colossians 3 and Ephesians 5 to sing. Early church father John Chrysostom emphasized the power of singing when he said, “Nothing so arouses the soul, gives it wings, sets it free […]

Psalm 78 expresses both hope and a warning. The hope is that the faith of God’s people will continue through their children. The warning is that God’s people must be sure to tell them the glorious deeds of the Lord if they want that hope to be realized. But there’s a curious phrase in verse […]

Last month we published the first volume of our new journal of theology, Gloria Deo Journal of Theology. I’d encourage you to take a look at some of the excellent articles and book reviews in the journal. I have an article in the issue titled, “Biblical Ordinances and Visible Signs: How Baptists Weakened Biblical Authority […]

From the time our eldest child, Caleb, was just an infant (and possibly even before), I knew that I wanted to do something significant to mark the point when our children would come of age. I reject the whole notion of the “teenager” (a modern construct invented in the 1940s by pop culture), and instead […]

One of the clearest ways you can determine someone’s fundamental theology of worship is to ask them the following question: “How do you know that you have worshiped?” If our goal in worship is to commune with God, how do we know we have accomplished our goal? How do we know we have worshiped? Embodied […]

I’ve long been an advocate for weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is the God-ordained picture of the climax of our worship of God the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit, by faith—Communion with God.1Read Josh Buice’s article on the matter for some […]

The king raged with fury. How dare they say I have no right to be here? he steamed. I have done right in the sight of God. He has blessed me. He thought of all the rich spoils of battle adorning his chambers. I have grown strong. My fame has spread far. I deserve to […]

When King Saul sinned against the Lord and forfeited his rule over God’s people, the prophet Samuel said to him, But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept […]

In the Old Testament Law, God gave his people very specific instructions about how they were to relate to the people around them, including in their culture and worship practices. Deuteronomy 12:2–8 reveals important principles in this regard. God commanded that the people destroy the places where pagans worshiped, including their altars, their pillars, their images, and even the names of the places. This […]

The man was a scoundrel, certainly not worthy of the invitation he had just received. He had stolen before—he had even stolen from the king’s treasury. And now he was eyeing the fat purse on the richly-dressed nobleman headed his way on the main road, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Oh no, […]

The central purpose of the Book of Psalms is to shape our image of what it truly means to be blessed such that we will be able to praise the Lord, even in the midst of a wicked world and our own sinful flesh. Psalms 1 and 2 present the foundation to this image of […]

One topic that often comes up when discussing biblical regulation of worship is whether the Bible prescribes dance in worship. A careful examination of Scripture leads us to some conclusions. Several terms in the Old Testament have been translated “dance” by various English translations. Of them, only the term machowl clearly signified artistic movement to […]

An understanding of who we are as human beings is one of the areas of thought most negatively impacted by Enlightenment rationalism and Darwinian evolution, and this is especially true with our modern conception of “emotion.” The term “emotion” is a relatively recent term, only entering common discourse about 200 years ago. Prior to that, […]

I’ve often heard people make a comparison between corporate worship and sporting events. “Look at how excited and enthusiastic everyone is,” they observe. “If we can get that excited about sports, we should be even more enthusiastic about God in worship!” So goes the common admonition. There is some truth to admonitions based on such […]

Evangelicals today often highlight primarily two passages of Scripture in support of their view of contextualization. First, they often look to Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill in Acts 17:16–34 as the supreme example of missional contextualization, so much so that Mark Driscoll even named his church “Mars Hill”: When the apostle Paul stood atop Mars […]

In both Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, Paul commands gathered believers to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, thereby “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Eph. 5:19) and “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom” (Col. 3:16). Scholars disagree as to the exact meaning of the three terms psalms, hymns, […]

It seems most Christians today assume that Christians have always “contextualized” the gospel, but this is simply not the case. Like the idea of culture itself, the term “contextualization” is a relatively recent development. David Hesselgrave and Edward Rommen provide a helpful survey of contextualization’s history in Contextualization: Meanings, Methods, and Models.1David J. Hesselgrave and […]

“Our church’s worship is pretty formal, but I prefer Holy Spirit-led worship.” Such was a comment said by a young evangelical describing his church’s worship service, illustrating a very common perception by many evangelicals today—if the Holy Spirit actively works in worship, the results will be something extraordinary, an experience “quenched” by too much form […]

In a previous article, I argued that music (all art) embodies interpretation of reality—it embodies ideas beyond mere words. Scripture itself does this, not only telling us what we should believe, qualities that should describe us, and how we should live, but also showing us through artistic embodiment those things. Therefore, we Christians ought to […]

I understand how difficult it can be for modern Christians to accept the fact that music embodies theology. Several hundred years of post-Enlightenment rationalism has influenced us to see music as amoral, without inherent meaning, and merely neutral “packaging” for lyrics. However, this is not how Christians in the past have viewed music and its […]

Update: followup post on how music embodies theology here and one on two kinds of worship music here. There’s no question about it—Hillsong, Bethel, Jesus Culture, and Elevation have become a global phenomenon. And you should stop singing their music. I could give many reasons you should stop singing or listening to music from these […]

The old Irish hymn “Be Thou My Vision” is a favorite of many, but the way most Americans sing it weakens the poetic parallelism of the original. The beloved poem was originally written in Old Irish in the 8th century. Notice the repetition of “Rop” in the original verses below: Rop tú mo baile, a Choimdiu […]

In the context of giving the Law to the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai and the promise that if they follow God’s commands as a nation, God will bless them, we find a statement that stands at the core of biblical religion: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You […]

What makes the events of Paul’s mission work in Philippi (Acts 16) so interesting for us is that this one of the first times that we are introduced to specific individuals who are converted and joined to the body of Christ. Luke takes note of a few individuals earlier in the book such as Paul […]

It was to be his first journey through the forest. Gram watched excitedly as his grandfather hitched the wagon to the old family work horse. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, the morning sun peaking its rays over the horizon in the distance. He turned and looked at the forest. Daylight would soon paint the […]

I remember sitting at the 2008 Together for the Gospel Conference listening as Thabiti Anyabwile persuasively argued that there is only one race. I heard a few people after question his point, but it immediately struck me as biblically correct and an important corrective to ethnic tensions. Here’s how the T4G website describes Thabiti’s sermon: […]

At the heart of our philosophy of the church’s responsibility toward culture is a proper understanding of how God rules sovereignly over all things, how he specifically rules his redeemed people—particularly now the NT church, and how his rule will culminate in the future. Another way of saying this is that central to a biblical […]

While the focus of my teaching and writing for the past twenty years has included a variety of topics related to Christian ministry and living—including discipleship, philosophy of ministry, culture, ethics, and family, the topic of biblical worship is always at the center. Thus, it gives me great pleasure to have two books coming out […]

A central doctrine of biblical Christianity is that God has revealed himself, and he has done so in two ways, both of which we can find in the first chapter of Genesis. The opening phrase of Scripture expresses the first form of God’s revelation: “In the beginning God created.” Creation itself is God’s revelation—it is […]

We are pleased to announce that you can now listen to articles from G3 Ministries in our new “Articles from G3 Podcast.” Josh, Virgil, and I will regularly record audio versions of our blog articles, along with some select guest authors. You can access the podcast on our site here: g3min.org/articlespodcast Please subscribe on one […]

In most ways, Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finney—their philosophies, theologies, and practices—are polar opposites. But as I read both of them, I can’t help but notice what appear to be similarities in what they said. And the deeper you read, the more apparent it becomes that unless someone really understands the underlying differences between what they were […]

Christmas—a very mention of the word produces delight and expectation in the hearts of people everywhere. Or does it? For some Christians, Christmas is a much-anticipated season to celebrate the birth of Christ. For others, it is also a time to encourage family closeness and tradition. But still others refuse to celebrate at all, insisting […]

You don’t have to turn on the news or visit a news web site very long to get very depressed. We live in a day of despair, threat of war, violence, murder, poverty, sickness, abortion, waning morality, injustice, and racial tensions. Even from the perspective of the unbelieving world, things look pretty bleak. But from […]

We are in the midst of a wonderful time in the year when we can reflect upon the advent of our Lord and the redemption that comes through faith in him. One of the most enjoyable ways to do this is through the singing of classic Advent and Christmas hymns. Songs like “Come, Thou Long Expected […]

You can’t escape them. There are 12 Days of Christmas contests on the radio, 12 Days of Christmas sales at the mall, 12 Days of Christmas charity drives, and, of course, that very long song. Most people (in America, at least) seem to assume that these infamous twelve days describe those leading up to Christmas Day, as […]

The Advent and Christmas seasons are just around the corner, a wonderful time of year to sing rich Christological hymns with your church and family. Here are two resources you might want to consider using this season: Hymns and Carols of Advent and Christmas A few years ago I published a new collection of hymns […]

Over the past couple months, Christian philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig has stirred up quite a bit of controversy surrounding the release of his book, In Quest of the Historical Adam: A Biblical and Scientific Exploration. This past week at the national meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, I had the opportunity to hear […]

An important question every Christian must ask is, What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? Very simply, a disciple will observe all that Christ commanded. As Jesus said in his Great Commission, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son […]

White supremacy is horrendous. It is contrary to biblical Christianity, both by reason of creation and by reason of redemption. All people, regardless of birthplace, ancestry, genetics, or skin color are created in God’s image, and therefore all people are of equal value in God’s sight. All people have been equally affected by sin and […]

God clearly wants Christians to be unified, and Christians should pursue unity wherever possible. Jesus expressed this in his high priestly prayer of John 17. He said in verse 21, “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so […]

Reformation Sunday is coming up on October 31. If you are in charge of choosing hymns for your Reformation Sunday service, here are some you might consider using (along with free downloads!): A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (EIN FESTE BURG) You cannot celebrate the Reformation without singing Martin Luther’s most well-known hymn. Luther wrote […]

After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples and said to them, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (Jn 20:21). He said something similar in what some call his “high priestly prayer” to the Father in John 17: “As you sent me into the world, so […]

The title of “worship leader” to describe the chief musician in a church’s worship service has become fairly mainstream in contemporary evangelicalism. One problem with this title is that it is not a biblical church office. The New Testament prescribes only two offices for the church, that of elder and deacon. “Worship leader” (along with […]

God has revealed throughout his Word a great desire to be worshiped and a high regard for how he is to be worshiped. However, if you walk into a random selection of churches on a Sunday morning, there’s no telling what their worship will be like. Many are driven by pragmatism as they design their […]

Worship—it is why God created us. Yet worship is perhaps one of the most misunderstood biblical concepts, and that misunderstanding has led to all sorts of problems in the corporate worship of our churches. This is why it is so important that we carefully study the Word of God to determine how he defines worship and how he wants […]

Many of the “worship wars” today are fueled by, I believe, differing views of the nature of worship itself. Clearly differences over what worship is and the function of various worship elements would lead to significant differences over how churches would approach corporate worship, and so I believe that a fundamental step toward resolving these debates […]

After Jesus died and rose again, he appeared to his disciples and many others, beginning a short period of teaching before he ascended back to heaven. During this time, Jesus prepared his disciples for the mission he was giving to them, telling them, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” […]

Christians are people of the book. Conservative Evangelical Christians, in particular, demand that their beliefs and lives be governed by Scripture. Yet what, exactly, that means is not always clear, particularly when dealing with matters of Christian living. On the one hand, some Christians believe that the Bible is an exhaustive list of prescriptions and […]

The phrase “By the Waters of Babylon” has come to describe the core of my writing and teaching ministry. I have a book by that title, my podcast has the same name, and I named my blog the same as well. The phrase comes from one of the most tragic of the psalms, Psalm 137: […]

I am honored to be joining G3 Ministries as Executive Vice President and Editor-in-chief. I am so thankful for the strong stand for biblical truth that Josh Buice, Virgil Walker, and others in G3 leadership have taken over the years, as well as the enriching ministry the G3 conferences have been to pastors and church […]

Many Christians are talking about culture these days, but unfortunately, few have given any serious thought to what culture is, especially in biblical terms. The term “culture” is a concept that has developed in the last few hundred years as a way to explain different behaviors between groups of people. “Culture” originally meant something more […]

What are we really doing when we gather for corporate worship each week? For some today, the main purpose for which we gather is evangelism; every service is designed to bring in seekers and move them toward conversion. For others, the purpose of our gatherings is revival or fellowship. Others see the goal of our […]