The Word that accompanies the sacrament here is a Word that should be spoken to the occasion, to the circumstance. The bread and wine are constant; we have no authority to substitute other elements. We have no authority to adjust the sacrament itself. But do we speak words of warning or words of comfort? Do …
Choreographed Liturgy and Nano-Theology
You have often heard me use the word evangelical. What am I going on about? The Scriptures insist, from beginning to end, on the absolute necessity of the new birth. If we are all objects of wrath by nature, and we are, then something must happen to each one of us at some point if …
Five More Volleys on Effeminate Worship
A short while ago I posted something about effeminate worship that has since that time excited some comment. The original piece was here, and you can see a couple of responses here and here. This is not so much a point-by-point refutation as it is getting out a wetvac to clear up some misunderstandings. Once …
Constant Conversion
The true Christian life is a life of true conversion. The Latin is the word for turning around, turning from one direction to go in another. This is something that has to be initially done at the very beginning of the Christian walk, and it is something that all of us must do daily, throughout …
Sweetness and Severity
The Puritan William Bridge once said, “It is our duty to behold things as God presents them.” He was talking about how God loves to present severity and sweetness together. If we extract the severity alone, and try to live by that, we labor under a cloud of condemnation. If we extract the sweetness alone, …
Your Worship Service Might Be Effeminate If . . .
For a number of interesting reasons, Christian worship in the West has become increasingly effeminate. Leon Podles outlines some of these historical reasons in his fine book, The Church Impotent. Ann Douglas makes a fine addition to the discussion in her book, The Feminization of American Culture. To emphasize masculinity in worship is not a …
The Death Specialist
This Table is emblematic of the death of Jesus, and yet it is by this means that God enables us to partake of the living Christ. Christ is risen; He is not dead. And yet here is His body, and here is His blood. These emblems are dead, and yet through them we are being …
The Reason for Soul-Work
The resurrection is all about life, life from the dead. And the most obvious thing about life is how mysterious it is, not to mention how holy it is. The Puritan George Swinnock observed that Adam’s body was made out of the dust of the ground, while his soul was the direct result of the …
Good Friday Invocation
Our Father and God, we worship you now in the name of Jesus, and in the goodness of the Holy Spirit we entrust ourselves to You now, asking Him to make our worship complete before You. Two thousand years ago, when our Lord suffered and died, You were the God who made the land of …
The Political Teeter Totter
We learn good things from our fathers, and we learn how to sin from our fathers. We are a sinful world because we follow in the footsteps of our father Adam, and we will not emerge from that darkness apart from following the final father, the ultimate human father, the Lord Jesus. Jesus is the …