Introduction: King Ahaz was enough of a good guy to at least have the prophet Isaiah trying to encourage him. Ahaz had refused to join in with an anti-Assyrian alliance, and Syria (also called Aram) and Ephraim (also called Israel) had attacked Judah for not joining with them. They failed in that attack, but succeeded …
Logos 8: A Review
So then, I began using Logos Bible Software quite a few years ago—I think the version was Logos 4, so I have been at it for at least a decade. And my memory is murky on the point, meaning that it could be even earlier than that. Anyway you cut it, I am a long …
Surplices Are for Sissies
Introduction: So imagine for yourself the sweetest little boy in the church, one whose mind turns naturally to edifying themes—the kind of meditative theme inspired by reflections on a porcelain figurine of the infant Samuel at prayer. Suppose further that this boy has plump cheeks, with kind of a rosy tint or glow, and those …
Psalm 100/Serve the Lord With Gladness
Introduction: True worship comes from true hearts, and true hearts are filled to overflowing with gladness. This gladness can be solemn, as it is at a wedding (solempne), or this gladness can be jubilant, as it is after a victorious battle. But the thing it must never be is sullen or surly or sulky. Who …
Thanksgiving 2018, Idolatry, and Deuteronomic Pie
Introduction: One of the more pleasant customs around here is to write something every Thanksgiving about how good God has been to us. But this is really not a “break” from all the culture war stuff—gratitude actually ought to be our central weapon in the culture war. Thanksgiving is not simply the name of our …
Psalm 99/Between the Cherubim
Introduction: As we worship Jehovah for His infinite wisdom, right at the peak of our praises must be the recognition that His mercy to us is altogether holy. How He managed to do that is beyond all finite calculation. But fortunately, it is not beyond our ability to adore and praise. How can mercy be …
Open Communion
Here at Christ Church, our practice with regard to the Lord’s Supper, which we observe weekly, is called open communion. What does this mean, and what does it not mean? How do we fence the Table? Why do we fence the Table? As you have probably noticed, we have a statement in our bulletin that …
Psalm 98/Undertake or Overtake
Introduction: When we sing the psalms back to God, one of the things we are learning how to do is how to address Him as He would like to be addressed. Instead of cooking up our own idea of pious noises and a liturgical shuffling around, our own ex tempore musical, we can read the …
Enjoying His Pleasure
As we come to this Table, it is natural for us to think about what we are doing. We want to understand the meaning of the sacrament, we want to reflect on it as we come, we want to have departed from all known sin, and we want to look around so that we might …
Psalm 97/The Potency of Right Worship
Introduction: Many of the problems confronting modern Christians is that they diligently try to do the right thing . . . but in the wrong categories. They try guitar fingering on a mandolin; they try chess rules on a backgammon board; they apply the rules of French grammar to English. And for us to draw …