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  • Ask Me Anything, social media, leaving church

    Does God Want Me to Obey Him Out Of Duty or Joy?

    It is a question Christians often ask: What is the relationship between obedience and joy? I was asked about this during a recent Ask Me Anything event in Philippines (which followed a sermon I gave that focused on Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”). Here is…

  • Hymn Stories: Onward, Christian Soldiers

    Onward, Christian Soldiers” was written in 1865 with no intention of ever being published, especially in adult hymn books. Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, its author, was at that time the curate of a parish in Yorkshire county in the north of England, and he recounts how and why he wrote it: It was written in a…

  • Hymn Stories: I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say

    Horatius Bonar was born in 1808 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of a ruling elder in the Church of Scotland. After a relatively uneventful upbringing, Bonar entered into the ministry himself, becoming pastor of the North Parish in the rural town of Kelso. Not long after he entered the ministry there was a disruption in…

  • Hymn Stories: Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah

    If Isaac Watts is known as the father of English hymnody, William Williams (1717-1791) is considered by many to be the father of Welsh hymnody. In 1738 Williams heard a sermon by the revivalist preacher Howell Harris, a fiery Welsh layman who had been influenced by the Methodist movement in England. It was through this…

  • Hymn Stories: The Church’s One Foundation (+ Free Download)

    Songs are a powerful means of teaching. The melodies, rhythms, and rhymes that characterize songs make the words easier to remember. The best and most effective songs combine lyrics and music to cultivate feelings that complement the meaning. All throughout history God’s people have used songs to teach. We can see this as early as…

  • Hymn Stories: God Moves in a Mysterious Way

    William Cowper was keenly aware of the truth that God moves in mysterious ways. His life, as John Piper describes it in his biography of Cowper, seems to have been “one long accumulation of pain,” especially mental pain. But this hymn writer trusted by faith–not perfectly, but perseveringly–that in this mysterious and maddening providence, God…

  • Hymn Stories: Rock of Ages

    Augustus Toplady was born in England in 1740. His father was a Royal Marine and died on duty soon after his son’s birth, leaving the boy to be raised by his mother. Toplady had an interest in religion during his younger years, and showed this in spiritual journals and moralistic behavior. However, it wasn’t until…

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    New & Notable Book Reviews

    I love writing book reviews and I love reading them. Since I cannot possibly read and review all of the interesting books out there, I publish occasional round-ups of reviews written by other writers. Or even if I am able to review the book, it’s always good to get a second opinion. So here are…

  • New & Notable Music

    While most of what finds its way into my mailbox is books, I also receive a surprising amount of music. This works out well since I happen to love listening to music while going about my daily work. Here are a few new and noteworthy albums you may want to take a look at. Hymns…

  • New & Notable Music

    While most of what finds its way into my mailbox is books, I also receive a surprising amount of music. This works out well since I happen to love listening to music while going about my daily work. Here are four recent releases I’ve been enjoying–two albums of acoustic traditional and modern hymns and two…

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    A La Carte (6/13)

    The Hymn Sing – To celebrate a successful Kickstarter campaign that has funded a new album, Indelible Grace has released their live album The Hymn Sing on NoiseTrade. It’s there for free or for a donation of any amount. Polygamy in the Bible – The Briefing has an article about polygamy in the Old Testament.…

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    Charles Wesley

    Today is the 224th anniversary of the death of Charles Wesley, one of history’s most well-known and best-loved hymn writers. His contributions to the English-speaking church are remarkable, which becomes apparent when you read the introduction to his brief biography at ChristianHistory.net: He was said to have averaged 10 poetic lines a day for 50…

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    A La Carte (3/18)

    Yesterday we went to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum and stood before an Avro Lancaster bomber–one of only 2 in the world that remains operational. It was huge, it was imposing and it was strangely moving. Around 7500 of them were built during the war. 2 remain. It’s a near-priceless bit of history. Songs &…

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    Contemporary Hymns

    One of the happier musical developments in the Christian world over the past few years has been the resurgence of hymns. Though there are many contemporary worship songs that have excellent content and are ideal for congregational worship, we just can’t afford to lose the hymn. There are two different kinds of contemporary hymn. In…

  • Confessions of a Failed Worshiper

    Today’s guest blog comes courtesy of Matthew Smith. Matthew is a singer-songwriter from Nashville who takes old hymn lyrics and sets them to new music. He is a founding member of the Indelible Grace community, and tours full time, playing concerts of hymns at churches. I blogged here last week about his new song “Goodnight,”…

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    Free Stuff Fridays

    What a week. Going to conferences is great, but I always return home half dead (at best). Late nights at restaurants and early-morning meetings always sound great three weeks out. But they demand a cost. Nevertheless, Together for the Gospel was great, even if I haven’t yet recovered. Let’s talk about this week’s Free Stuff…

  • Hymns & Worship

    I wanted to draw your attention to a few albums that I’ve been enjoying recently. Each of these albums features music that is appropriate for corporate worship and each features selections of modern or ancient hymns. Each of them is worth buying and listening to. All of the albums are available through iTunes (where I…

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    Song of the Year

    The band All Star United has released some good and fun songs over the years. Unfortunately I’ve sometimes found them to toe the line a little bit with their humor. On the whole, though, they write some memorable songs and songs that tend to speak to some of the trends in the Christian world. They…

  • Hymn Revival

    There is an old phrase which states “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Yet this is no mere cliche when it comes to hymns. Over the past few years worship music has taken the Christian music world by storm. Artist after artist, band after band fed the craze by releasing albums of praise music, some…