Each preacher has to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of preaching without notes, with notes, or with a manuscript. In a letter to a young minister, Thomas Charles of Wales counsels: “You must be the best judge whether you had better preach extempore or not, as you find liberty and ease in the work. If you cannot deliver your thoughts distinctly, clearly, accurately and fluently, I think you had better read, or at least use notes.” Nevertheless, about the value of writing the sermon Charles is dogmatic: “As to writing your sermons, however you may deliver them, I think there can be no demur about that: and always write every sermon, or whatever else you may write, with all the care and…
Read MoreETERNAL GOD, the only author of all good things, since it hath pleased thee to receive us into the communion of thy well-beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, suffer us not in any wise to be overcome of our enemies. But grant that, his kingdom being established in the midst of us, we may triumphantly sing and magnify his praises, both now and evermore. AMEN. – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 54.
Read MoreA secular Jew, the late Neil Postman nevertheless understood that historic Christianity requires careful attention to the reading and hearing of scripture. “I believe I am not mistaken in saying,” he contends, “that Christianity is a demanding and serious religion. When it is delivered as easy and amusing, it is another kind of religion altogether.” A demanding and serious religion – if that’s the expectation, let’s do our best not to disappoint. _________ Source: Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (New York: Penguin, 1985), 121)
Read MoreA single sin is not an isolated act. If unchecked by genuine repentance, a pattern of behavior is formed that propels toward ruin. Breaking a promise, for example, becomes a habit, a soul-destroying way of life. A pastor from a previous generation wisely warned: “The preservation of integrity should be superior to all other considerations, and it is a miserable confession of weakness that the love of life or limb has been stronger than the love of virtue . . . It cannot be too earnestly inculcated upon the young that to break a pledge is apt to be followed by the total ruin of one’s virtue. Transgression is not a transitory thing. The single act is soon done and over, but it leaves an influence behind, which,…
Read MoreI love serving with the RTS Jackson Student Cabinet. Tasked with strengthening campus life, the group possesses all the qualities of an exceptional team – innovative ideas, cooperation, hard work, and lots of laughter. Today’s meeting was our first of the new year. We meet twice monthly. (Around the table from the front right: Kelly Jackson (President), Tracey Thompson, Xavi Patino, Bentley Crawford, Anna Davis, Holly Ford, Latasha Allston, William Bondurant, Jessie Osborn, Reuben Antvelink, Will Nettleton, and Adam Parker.)
Read MoreBiographer T.H.L. Parker provides a good definition of expository preaching when he summarizes Calvin’s method: “Expository preaching consists in the explanation and application of a passage of Scripture. Without explanation it is not expository; without application it is not preaching.” – R. Albert Mohler Jr., “Expository Preaching: Center of Christian Worship” in Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship (ed. Philip Graham Ryken et al: Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2003), 112.
Read MorePsalm singers will want to visit Sing: A Resource for Singing the Psalms, the website of Dr. Timothy Tennant, president of Asbury Theological Seminary, and his wife, Julie. All 150 metrical psalms are paired with suggested tunes, which are found at the top of each psalm. For example, Psalm 94 is set to the tune Kingsfold. The authors share that “this resource grew not only out of their theological and musical training, as well as their deep love for the Scriptures, but also out of a very personal experience of encountering God through singing the Psalms together daily.” The website is easy to navigate, and provides excellent resources and helpful tips for believers wishing to include psalm singing in their personal and family worship. (HT: John Rakshith…
Read MoreO GOD, Creator of all things, grant that we may acknowledge and magnify thy great strength and power that declare thee in the conserving and guiding of this world. Suffer not that we wander any whit from thy holy law, which is pure and perfect, but that, taking delight therein, we may wholly be so governed by it that in the end we may be participant of the heavenly salvation through Jesus Christ. AMEN. – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 53
Read MoreFor more than a year I preached at the evening services of a congregation that sings only the Psalms in worship. Among my many happy memories are meeting young children who sang the psalter outside of public worship to the musical recordings of New Song, a student group from Geneva College that sings the Psalms a cappella. The children’s enthusiasm for New Song led me to purchase Psalms of Praise Volume 1 and Volume 2. What a joy to find children whose musical tastes were shaped by the Psalter and traditional tunes! We shouldn’t underestimate the capacity of children to learn at an early age great music and to commit large portions of scripture to memory. I am grateful to live in a day when beautiful Psalter recordings are available, including…
Read MoreIn Modern Times Paul Johnson chronicles the rise of the Soviet terror state. “The arbitrary nature of the arrests was essential to create the climate of fear which, next to the need for labour, was the chief motive for the non-party terror. An OGPU [the Soviet secret police from 1922-34] man admitted to the Manchester Guardian Moscow correspondent that innocent people were arrested: naturally – otherwise no one would be frightened. If people, he said, were arrested only for specific misdemeanours, all the others would feel safe and so become ripe for treason.” (Harperrenial, 2001), 274-275 State-sponsored terrorism and mass murder will be Communism’s enduring legacy. With one of my book clubs, I shared my fear that many Americans are forgetting how…
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