Worship Matters

I’m in Europe right now with my bride of 30 years, seeking to communicate how much I love her for the glory of God. In the mean time, here’s a quote I pray will encourage your soul today. It’s from an article entitled “Advice on Reading,” by the Puritan pastor, Richard Baxter. After commending Scripture [...]

For the next 16 days, I’m taking a break from Worship Matters. I have a number of quotes on worship scheduled to post automatically, but I won’t be doing anything real time. The reason is the woman who’s pictured here. This is a picture of Julie, taken at the recent WorshipGod06 conference. Thirty years ago, [...]

Someone wrote in to ask: Do you know of a *good* recorded version of Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress” that someone could buy?  By this I mean it is sung by a large group of people who know why they are singing it, in as neutral a style as possible. I suppose a “neutral style” means [...]

“Stupid” is a word that we discouraged our children from using as they were growing up. That was because they typically used it when they were fighting with a sibling or responding to a decision they weren’t too happy about. But God doesn’t hesitate to use stupid to describe some of the ways we act. [...]

Kevin Harnett is a gifted poet in my home church, who works for NASA during the day. He is a multi-gifted godly man, and a good friend. He has written thoughtful poetry for years, and we’ve set a few of his poems to music for use at Covenant Life. We sang his version of the [...]

Dan left this question in the comments section of a previous post: I have been to quite a few conferences over the years and I always feel encouraged, rejuvenated, alive, etc. while AT those conferences… but then we go back to our churches – and over time, that zeal tends to be overshadowed, once again, [...]

When we first started planning for the WorshipGod06 conference, “The Glory of His Presence,” we hoped to bring biblical clarity to our understanding of God’s presence. This theme of the conference sought to address two issues. The first was those in the “charismatic” camp who place too much emphasis on the gifts of prophecy, tongues, [...]

Julie and I went out to dinner last night to celebrate some of the many evidences of grace we experienced at the conference. She has been amazingly gracious, supportive, and helpful to me during this season. One of the things I told her was that it was a joy to meet many of you who [...]

At the WorshipGod06 Conference on Friday night, we read through a public confession of sin, based on a number of the ten commandments. The purpose was not to “grovel in our sin,” but to heighten our awareness of and gratefulness for what Jesus accomplished at the cross. We followed up this confession with Scriptures and [...]

We have been enjoying an abundance of God’s grace at the WorshipGod06 conference these past two days. I’ve met many kind and encouraging folks who have sacrificed finances, time, vacation days, and family relationships to spend these days with us. I trust their investment will be rewarded many times over by our gracious heavenly Father. [...]

If you happen to live in the metro D.C. area, I want to personally (somewhat) invite you to come to any of the sessions of the WorshipGod06 conference, which begins tomorrow. Morning sessions start at 9 AM (Saturday starts at 11 AM) and evening sessions begin at 7 PM. Main session passes will be available [...]

I attempted to post a Monday Devotions thought yesterday, but never quite got to it. However, I had a great time on my day off doing errands with my two youngest daughters and going out on a date with my wife. I’m currently immersing myself in preparation for the WorshipGod06 conference, which starts tomorrow. In [...]

Typically, I answer a question on the blog on Fridays. It ain’t happening today. Along with preparing for the conference next week, I’m attending my nephew’s wedding this weekend. But I have a great resource to recommend. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, has posted three helpful articles on worship. [...]

Waiting for a CD project to be released is a little bit like having a baby. I say “a little bit” because I’ve experienced absolutely nothing like labor pains that every mother goes through. However, we have been working on this for about nine months… If you’re a regular reader of Worship Matters, you know [...]

I’m in the midst of preparing for preaching this coming Sunday at Covenant Life Church. I’ll be speaking on Pursuing God’s Presence, which is also the message I’ll be giving at the WorshipGod06 conference next week. It will be great to have a "dry run" at home before the conference. This is a message that [...]