Worship Matters

Patrick referred me to this article from the Biola University website. It’s entitled, “The Feminization of the Church: Why Its Music, Messages and Ministries Are Driving Men Away.” The article includes references to Why Men Hate Going to Church, by David Murrow, and The Church Impotent, by Leon Podles. Both are sitting on my shelf, [...]

Some people live for controversy. I’m not one of them. However, I’ve come to realize that controversy has many positive aspects. Foundational doctrines of orthodox Christianity have been fashioned through the fires of opposition and disagreement. We can see the truth more clearly when someone says something that flies in the face of the biblical [...]

Recently I was browsing through a copy of the Time book, “Eyewitness: 150 Years of Photojournalism.” Within moments I was reliving many of significant events captured through the lens of the camera. I better understood the brutal tragedy of the Civil War, the jubilant celebration of victory at the end of WWII, the aching misery [...]

I’ve been getting some great questions by e-mail recently, and am looking forward to sharing my thoughts on them in the coming weeks. This one came from Phil: I recently looked at the lyrics to songs on a 2006 worship song compilation CD. There were 33 songs on the CD.  Of these, only nine mentioned [...]

I know it’s a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but this afternoon I spent some time in Matt Wahl’s office. He’s heads up graphic design for Sovereign Grace Ministries. We were looking at some of his ideas for the cover of our next music project, called “Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become [...]

Yesterday morning at our Sunday gathering our senior pastor Josh Harris spoke on 1 Cor. 2:1-5. And I, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And [...]

Julie and I returned from our anniversary trip this past Monday. This is a picture of Uzes, a little town about 45 minutes away from where we stayed in France. We visited it numerous times. God was wonderfully kind to us. We experienced moderate temperatures, sunny skies, and pleasant breezes almost every day. Our love [...]

Recently, a godly wife, mother, and servant in our church, Kathy Bowers, finished the race and went home to be with her Savior. More than 500 people gathered to remember how God had been glorified in her life, and now through her death, after a long bout with cancer. Although death seems to have won [...]

I’m still away with Julie on our 30th anniversary trip, seeking to bless her for God’s glory. This is another quote from Harold Best, this time from his book, Unceasing Worship. He is helping us to distinguish between music as an act of worship and music as an aid to worship. We make and offer [...]

This quote comes from Music Through the Eyes of Faith, by Harold Best. It’s the most biblical treatment of using music for the glory of God that I’ve read. The Scriptures include or allude to just about every approach to worship there is: organized, spontaneous, public, private, simple, complex, ornate, or plain. Yet there is [...]

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. But here’s a great quote from a great book, Engaging with God, by David Peterson. He is describing how the worship of heaven seen in the book of Revelation should influence [...]