Scott blogs at G3 Ministries. Here are a selection of his most recent posts:

What Is Family Worship? A Reformed Definition for Today’s Christian Home

The most radical thing a Christian father can do in the twenty-first century is gather his family around a Bible, read it aloud, pray, and...

“Interracial Marriage” Isn’t a Thing

… unless you’re talking about elves and men, I suppose. Throughout history, some professing Christians have opposed marriages between people of different ethnic backgrounds, labeling...

The Weight of Eternity: Why the Traditional View of Hell Still Matters

The doctrine of hell has long been the darkest and most difficult tenet of the Christian faith. But for centuries, the orthodox consensus of the...

The Shepherd’s Sign: The Humble Glory of the Incarnate Lord

As we approach the familiar text of Luke 2—perhaps too familiar to some of us—we must strive to strip away the layers of sentimental varnish...

Mary’s Magnificat: The Joy of Certain Faith

It is a common observation in the Christian life that there is much talk about joy, yet often very little experience of it. We desire...

The Ministering Presence of the Holy Spirit

Every human understands the universal language of groaning. It requires no translation, communicating across every barrier. It’s the deep, involuntary sigh of a soul in...

The People’s Work: A Reformation Recovery

This past week we celebrated the Protestant Reformation for recovering doctrines like justification by faith alone and Sola Scriptura. But among these theological restorations, the...

The Hour of Darkness

Have you ever felt discouraged and tempted to give up? Have you ever felt overwhelmed with intense, soul-crushing pressure when the truth that you know...

Conviction & Charity: God’s Covenants

To understand the Bible is to understand God’s covenants. From Genesis to Revelation, God interacts with his people and unfolds his single plan for history...

The Participants of Corporate Worship

In 365 AD, a church council in Laodicea addressed growing problems in regional churches. Services had become disorderly, and heretics were spreading false doctrines through...

What to Do When Satan Attacks

It is Wednesday of Passion Week, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, is drawing near. This seven-day festival commemorates the...

He is Not the God of the Dead: How a Trick Question Proved the Christian’s Hope

The final week of Jesus’s earthly ministry was an ultimate test of his authority. After his authoritative cleansing of the temple, the religious establishment—threatened and...

Jesus Comes to Bring Peace in Heaven

The Triumphal Entry. It’s a story we know well. We can almost hear the roar of the crowd and see the palm branches waving as...

When it seems like Satan is winning: Thoughts on the assassination of Charlie Kirk

Like many of you, I was grieved and sobered to hear the news yesterday concerning the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It is yet another stark...

What Is Necessary for Blind Men to See

In Luke 9:51, the gospel narrative pivots: “When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to...

Can We Use Images of Christ as Devotional or Teaching Aids?

As Ecclesiastes says, “There is nothing new under the sun,” and this is certainly true for theological controversies. Many of the same topics Christians debated...

The Blessing of Election

Unconditional Election means that before the foundation of the world, God chose certain individuals to be saved—not based on anything they would do, believe, or...

The Nature of Election

If there’s one doctrine that seems to stir up controversy, it is the doctrine of election. Over the centuries, it has sparked much theological debate...

The Whole Gospel

Sharing the life-changing message of Jesus Christ is a vital calling, yet it comes with a subtle but profound danger: the temptation to present a...

It’s Good for Christians to Mourn

If you read through the end of Genesis, you might be struck by something odd. After the grand, sweeping narratives of creation, the fall, the...

That They May All Be One: The Cause and Result of Gospel Mission

Christians in this age have been given a very clear mission by Christ: Go into all the world and preach the good news of Jesus...

Covenant Renewal Worship in Scripture

Scripture presents us with two extended descriptions of the worship of heaven that provide the model for all biblical worship, notably one set in the...

What Is Covenant Renewal Worship?

For most of biblical history and church history, God’s people practiced what is sometimes called “covenant-renewal worship.” This biblical theology of worship considers the Lord’s...

You Continue to Need Grace and Peace

The apostle Paul begins each of his letters with a similar greeting: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus...

Grace to You and Peace

Each Lord’s Day when our church gathers, we begin our service with the traditional Christian greeting: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father...

The King’s Return

The heavens rumble with a growing intensity, a deep, resonating sound that echoes throughout the cosmos. The sky darkens, thick with anticipation, as if creation...

Living for the King

Peter was a fisherman, rough around the edges, with a quick temper and a tendency to speak before thinking. One day, as he worked by...

The King’s Body

The sun was setting over Jerusalem, casting a warm glow across the city. In the midst of the busy streets, a new movement was quietly...

The Redeemed People

It was a day like any other in the small town of Bethany, the city nestled on the Mount of Olives, just a short distance...

The King’s Victory

Darkness descended on Jerusalem like an impenetrable veil, not a darkness of night but of divine judgment. It was a tangible shroud, the kind that...

The King’s Life

The sun was high over the Jordan River, its golden rays piercing the air and casting long shadows across the crowd that had gathered at...

The King’s Arrival

The night over Bethlehem was quiet, yet a stillness fell upon the world, as though creation itself was holding its breath in anticipation. The stars...

A Kingdom in Darkness

The sun no longer seemed as bright as it once had. The air, though still filled with the songs of birds, carried a dissonance, as...

The Lord’s Supper: Nourished by Christ

Roman Catholicism has a theology of the Lord’s Supper that, not only imagines that they are re-sacrificing Christ each time, but also mystifies the true...

Baptism: Passing Through Judgment Waters

Christians today often have one of two tendencies when it comes to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. On the one hand, some Christians overestimate the...

The Fall of the Image-Bearer

The garden was perfect. Every leaf on every tree gleamed with the fresh dew of dawn; the birds sang their songs of praise to the...

The King’s Realm

In the beginning, there was only God—eternal, unchanging, and self-sufficient. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in perfect communion, shared an unbroken fellowship...

The Word of the King

The King speaks, and the world listens. In the beginning, when the heavens and the earth were formless and empty, the King uttered a command,...

The Eternal King

In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the true King. The earthly throne was empty, its occupant taken by death. For fifty-two years,...

The King Is Coming!

Psalm 110 is one of the most quoted psalms in the New Testament, because it is a very important prophetic psalm about the promised fulfillment...

Living in Light of Christ’s Coming

God’s covenant with Abraham accomplished three important things. First, in this covenant, God formally established his redemptive kingdom in which he distinguished his chosen people...

Hope in Christ’s Coming

You don’t have to turn on the news or visit a news website very long to get very depressed. We live in a day of...

Art that Accords with Sound Doctrine

Culture is not neutral; artistic expression is not neutral. Rather, culture is the product of human creativity such that we take what God has made,...

Thanksgiving: The Heart of Communion with God

Jesus taught in John 15 that abiding in Christ—communing with him—is as simple as allowing his words to abide in us and our words to...

Culture Makers

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...

Why Equating Culture with Ethnicity Is Inherently Racist

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...

The Power of Beauty to Sanctify Your Emotions

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...

Why Old Earth Creationism Is Problematic

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...

How should Christians View Government?

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...

God’s Servants for Our Good

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...

What was Jacob’s Ladder?

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...

Are There Two Levels of Prophecy?

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...

Understanding the True Nature of Tongues

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...

Suffering Before Glory

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...

Endurance for a Better Life

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...

Is it “Hyper-Cessationism” to believe that God doesn’t lead through visions, dreams, and impressions?

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...

No Creed but the Bible?

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...

Does Music Have Meaning?

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...

Masculinidade em Crise

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...

The Masculinity Crisis

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,...

Worship to the Glory of God Alone

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...

Worship by Faith Alone

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...

Worship by Grace Alone Through Christ Alone

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 According to Scripture Alone

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...

Singing that Makes Disciples

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...

Singing that Sets our Affections Above

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...

Seek the Things that Are Above

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...

Worship the Spirit

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....

Worship and the Word

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...

Be Filled with … Emotion?

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...

Decently and in Order: The Spirit’s Work in Corporate Worship

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,...

Gifting for Service: How the Spirit Gifts Today

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...

How Do You Know the Spirit Is Working in Your Life?

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...

What Does Spirit-filling Mean?

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....

The Indwelling and Illumination of the Holy Spirit

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...

What Is Spirit Baptism?

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 Holy Spirit’s Most Supernatural Work

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...

Testifying of Christ: The Holy Spirit’s Ordering of God’s People

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,...

God-Breathed: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Revelation

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...

Beauty and Harmony: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Creation

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...

Holy Spirit: God of Order

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...

The Tongues of Angels? The Pentecostalization of Spiritual Gifts in Evangelicalism

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...

God Told Me: The Pentecostalization of Evangelical Theology of Revelation

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...

Holy Spirit, You Are Welcome Here: The Pentecostalization of Evangelical Worship

“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...

Ensine musica no Homeschooling

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...

Why music should be central in your homeschool

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...

Start your Family Worship in the New Year with a Bible Narratives Reading Plan

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...

Was Jesus Born in the Bleak Midwinter?

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...

Advent Hymns

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....

Should Christians Celebrate Advent?

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...

Should Worship Be Authentic? It Depends on What You Mean

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...

Thanksgiving: The Primary Worship Response

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...

A Pure Church

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...

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...

On Earth as It Is in Heaven

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...

Interpreting Earth in Light of Heaven

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...

How Valuable Is Bodily Training?

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...

Why Christians Should Support the Nation of Israel

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...

War Songs of the King of Kings

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,...

The Son of God Goes Forth to War

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...

The Lord Reigns

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...

Why Christian Faithfulness?

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...

Creation Is God’s Temple

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:...

Christ’s Commission to His Church

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....

Christ’s Authority over His Church

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;...

Decent and Orderly Corporate Worship

“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...

Worship Regulated by Scripture

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...

Baptists and Biblical Authority in Worship

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...

The Reformation of Worship

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...

A Theology of Christian Worship

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...

Foundations of Biblical Worship

“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,...

Christian Citizenship

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...

Should Christians Pray Imprecatory Prayers?

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...

If the Foundations Are Destroyed

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...

Ordaining Female Pastors Harms the Mission: A Response to Rick Warren

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...

No, Women Can’t Preach

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?...

No, We’re Never Forced to Choose Whether to Obey Either Romans 13 or Hebrews 10

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,...

Why Do the Nations Rage?

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...

The Biblical Responsibility of Christian Parents

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...

What if We Win? A Brief Response to Doug Wilson

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...

All of Christ for All of Life

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...

A Review of Mere Christendom by Doug Wilson

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...

Christian Faithfulness: The Biblical Alternative to Christian Nationalism

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...

The Mixed Blessings of a Christian Nation

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...

Chasing Shadows

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,...

Worship on Earth as It Is in Heaven

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...

Watson’s Recipe for Repentance

“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...

Why do we think new is better?

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...

Why You Should Read the Book Rather Than Watch the Movie

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...

The Aesthetic Nature of Truth

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...

Sing a New Song

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...

Christ or Chords? The Manipulated Emotionalism of Hillsong, Asbury, and Pentecostalized Evangelical Worship

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...

Poetic Embodiment of Praise

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...

Unbiblical Expectations of the Asbury Revival

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...

Responding to the Lord’s Blessings

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...

If the Foundations are Destroyed

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...

Santificación Gozosa

¿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...

Using Lament to Form Hearts of Trust

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...

Hanging Lyres and Planting Gardens: Evaluation of Approaches to Culture

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...

Psalm 130: A Gospel Song

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...

The Profound Simplicity of “Away in a Manger”

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...

Quem pode subir no Monte Santo do Senhor?

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...

Does Revelation 5:9 prove that all kinds of cultural expressions will be in heaven?

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...

G3 Weekly—December 10, 2022

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...

A Glória da Igreja de Cristo

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?...

Gospel Formation Through Psalm Singing

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...

Who May Dwell in God’s Holy Hill?

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...

Forming Hearts of Thanks with the Psalms

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...

Song of the Anointed

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...

The Culture-Changing Gospel

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...

Reformation Lord’s Table Reforms

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...

Is It Wrong to Separate from other Christians?

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...

What should we do when the government tells us to do something that contradicts Scripture?

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...

What does government have the right to do?

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...

What Is an Apostle?

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,...

God of Order: The Holy Spirit’s Work Today

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...

God’s Music

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,...

Delight in the Torah

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...

Illumination—I do not think it means what you think it means

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....

Blessedness in a Wicked World

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...

Did Baptist Theology Cause Transgenderism?—A Friendly Response to CrossPolitic

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...

Forming an Image of Blessedness with the Psalms

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...

Unsung Songs: Why Don’t We Sing Psalms Anymore?

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...

Don’t Hide God from Your Children

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...

Why There Are More Than Two Church Ordinances

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...

Coming of Age Ceremonies Can Help Your Adolescent Children Become Adults

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...

Corporate Worship’s Essence: Spiritual Response

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...

Observing the Lord’s Supper Weekly Makes It Routine—And That’s a Good Thing

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...

The Basis for Communion with God

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...

David Delighted His Heart in God’s Word

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...

The Dangers of Syncretism and Idolatry

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...

Come to the Feast

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...

Who May Ascend the Hill of the Lord?

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...

Shall We Dance?

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...

“Emotion” Is a Virtually Worthless Word

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,...

How Corporate Worship Is and Is Not Like a Baseball Game

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...

Why Acts 17 and 1 Corinthians 9 are not examples of “contextualization”

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...

What are “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”?

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...

“Contextualization” Is a Bad Idea

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...

Don’t Expect the Holy Spirit’s Work in Worship to Be Extraordinary

“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...

Two Kinds of Worship Music

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...

How Music Embodies Theology

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...

Stop Singing Hillsong, Bethel, Jesus Culture, and Elevation

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...

Be Thou My Vision

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...

Forming a Great Commandment Culture

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...

The Universal and Unifying Gospel

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...

The Path

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....

Is Affirming Women Pastors a “Made Up Controversy”? A Response to Thabiti Anyabwile

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...

God’s Two Kingdoms

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...

Two New Books on Worship

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...

The Law of the Lord

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...

You can now LISTEN to blog articles from G3 Ministries

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...

Why trying to emulate Edwards may actually be emulating Finney

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...

Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?

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...

Coming Hope

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...

Which advent is in view in “Joy to the World”?

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...

When are the Twelve Days of Christmas?

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...

Two resources for your church or family during the Advent/Christmas season

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....

Reasonable Faith or Faithful Reason? Reflections on William Lane Craig and the Historical Adam

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...

Discipleship: More Than Data Transmission

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...

The Common Problem with White Supremacy and Multiculturalism

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,...

Unity and Separation

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....

Reformation Hymns

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...

Is Our Mission the Same as Jesus’s Mission?

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...

Who Leads Worship?

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...

Introducing G3 Biblical Worship Workshops

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...

New Bible Study Curriculum: Worship

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...

Draw Near

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...

Mission: Make Worshipers

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...

People of the Book

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...

By the Waters of Babylon

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...

Thrilled to be Joining the G3 Team

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...

Is Culture the Same as Ethnicity

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...

Gospel Renewal in Corporate Worship

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;...