Worship Matters

Every February we slash prices at the Sovereign Grace store. Why? Primarily, we want to give our churches an opportunity to stock up on resources for their bookstores at low prices. But we know there are a lot of other folks who want to use our materials and appreciate the cheaper prices. We want to [...]

I just finished reading The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us, by Christopher Chablis and Daniel Simons. No, it’s not a Christian book, nor is it a book for people responsible for leading congregational worship (the target audience of my blog). But I think it’s relevant to both. The book was named [...]

I’ve known Josh Harris for 12 years, but actually been a fan of his for much longer. Back in the mid-90′s he was publishing a magazine called New Attitude, which I thought was the hippest thing going for home schooling families. Today, he’s my senior pastor. His first book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, ended up [...]

Just finished Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, by Bryan Chappell. Bottom line — if you’re responsible for leading, overseeing, or planning corporate worship in your church, you should read this book. Chappell divides the book into two sections, Gospel Worship and Gospel Worship Resources. A casual look at the Table of Contents [...]

We’re doing it again. Having a ridiculous sale, that is. Last year, during the month of February, we reduced the prices of our CDs and books. The response was overwhelming. So we decided to repeat the lunacy. Here’s the deal: From February 1–28, at the Sovereign Grace store, you’ll find these prices: Sovereign Grace books [...]

As 2008 turned over to 2009 I was in the midst of reading When God Comes to Church by Ray Ortlund, Jr. I didn’t want the year to get too far before I shared some great quotes from this book that came out in 2000. The first half of the book describes what God does [...]

I just finished reading Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, by Geoff Colvin. Fascinating book. Giftedness is a topic that I’ve thought about a lot. Are we selling ourselves short by assuming that we’ll never be as good a keyboardist, vocalist, guitarist, drummer, or whatever, as the people we esteem? [...]

I received my ESV Study Bible a few weeks ago in the mail. I have to confess that the press releases raised my expectations pretty high. I mean how good can a study Bible be?

Yesterday I posted some quotes I found in John Flavel’s book The Fountain of Life, written in 1671.  I regularly try to read old books because it introduces me to the perspective of godly saints who aren’t distracted or influenced by the technology, glitter, and philosophies of our current age.  Of course, they had their [...]

Got back yesterday from the Straight Up conference at Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago, IL. I was there with CJ Mahaney, who spoke on “A Divine Perspective” from 1 Cor. 1:1-9. I’ve probably heard that message 5-6 times and never tire of being challenged to notice more of what God is doing in those around [...]

I’ve been using the English Standard Version as my primary Bible for about six years and have benefited from its clarity, faithfulness to the original languages, and its beauty. Here’s Crossway’s explanation of why they published the ESV in the first place: The goal and vision of the ESV Study Bible is, first and foremost, [...]

At the WorshipGod08 conference we recommended and then gave away a number of books. I told the attendees that our purpose was not simply to buy books but to build a library (a phrase I stole from CJ Mahaney, who has used it for years). I wanted to post those books here, in the hopes [...]

I had hoped to post something on spontaneous songs and choirs this week but never got to it. That will be next week now. I’ve been working on a new songbook we hope to have ready by the WorshipGod conference. It will contain 71 songs from our last six projects. Unlike our downloadable piano scores, [...]

So yesterday I’m sitting in my office and I receive an email from Pat Ennis, the executive director of Sovereign Grace Ministries. It’s brief and to the point. He says he wants to reduce the price of our Pursuit of Godliness books and all our CDs to $6 and offer free domestic shipping. For a [...]

The theme of this year’s New Attitude conference was discernment. One of the primary ways we develop a right perspective on things is by seeing them in light of eternity. What really matters will be so easy to discern the moment we stand face to face with our Creator. At the last session of the [...]