Worship

Surveying Sanctification: What About God's Holiness?

Jeffrey Stivason
Apr 21, 2018
Quite a while ago, I met a woman with whom I had attended a particular church several years earlier. At the time of our meeting we were both worshiping in different congregations. In the midst of the conversation, having discovered that I was reformed in my theology, she informed me that she too...

Ephrem the Syrian and His Scriptural Songs

Simonetta Carr
Apr 17, 2018
Ephrem was still a young man when his quick understanding, knowledge of Scriptures, literary skills, and love for the church captured the attention of the local bishop. Jacob had been bishop of the Christian community of Nisibis (a commercial center on the Persian border) since 309, when Ephrem was...

Glory! Hallelujah!

Liam Goligher
Apr 14, 2018
God created various means by which He, a pure Spirit, could communicate with earthly, speaking creatures. The first was the Angel of the L ORD . When He appeared to God’s people, they were confused. An angel? Or the L ORD ? Hagar asked herself, “Is it possible that I have seen Him who sees me?” She...

39 Articles—The Visible and Invisible Church (6)

Henry Jansma
Mar 24, 2018
T he narrative of the Thirty-nine articles has set the primacy of the Scriptures as the principal means by which God is revealed and has set the details of the application of this same principle. Scripture alone determines the limits of the church’s authority in the formulation of doctrine and set...

City of Joy

Mark Johnston
Feb 27, 2018
The theme of joy in Scripture finds its focus in the joy of knowing God as our God and Saviour. As we seek his glory (as opposed to our own) we experience a joy that is utterly different from all the joys of earth combined. Nevertheless, amazingly, this joy can be found and experienced on earth...

Martin Bucer and the Reform of Worship

Terry L. Johnson
Feb 8, 2018
If Martin Bucer (1477-1548) is not an un sung hero of the Reformation, he is certainly an under sung hero. This particularly is the case when it comes to public worship. Bucer's fingerprints are all over Calvin's Form of Church Prayers (1542) as well as the Book of Common Prayer (1552, 1559, 1662...

John Bunyan on Prayer (3)

Amy Mantravadi
Feb 1, 2018
A my Mantravadi joins us this week to discuss John Bunyan's A Discourse Touching Prayer. Read her third post below: W hile John Bunyan spent much time dissecting the Apostle Paul’s statement that “I will pray with the spirit”, he by no means ignored the second part of that phrase: “I will pray with...

John Bunyan on Prayer (2)

Amy Mantravadi
Jan 30, 2018
A my Mantravadi joins us this week to discuss John Bunyan's A Discourse Touching Prayer. Read her second post below: “There is no man nor church in the world that can come to God in prayer, but by the assistance of the Holy Spirit." “Prayer, without the heart be in it, is like a sound without life...

How to Discourage Your Minister in the New Year

Paul Levy
Jan 7, 2018
I recently had someone come to see me who was struggling in their church. In all honesty it would have been hard to be more depressed by what they had to say. I had very little sympathy with their complaints and told them if they wanted affirmation I was the wrong man to whom they should come...

The Quest for Biblical Worship (Part 2)

Terry L. Johnson
Sep 18, 2017
Reformed churches not only have the regulative principle worship (RPW) to guide them regarding elements and forms, but they also, throughout their history, have had liturgies and directories. The liturgies were the more restrictive ( e.g. Strasburg , Geneva , Amsterdam), the directories (...