City of Joy
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…
Tag Worship
John Bunyan on Prayer (3)
Amy Mantravadi joins us this week to discuss John Bunyan’s A Discourse Touching Prayer. Read her third post below: While 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…
John Bunyan on Prayer (2)
Amy 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,…
The Family Altar (4)
In Oliver Heywood’s The Family Altar, he spends most of his time addressing the heads of household whom he presumed would institute family worship. However, not every 21st century household takes the same form as Puritan households in the 17th…
The Family Altar (2)
In The Family Altar, the Puritan writer Oliver Heywood makes the case for family or household worship. We have already discussed Heywood’s belief that family worship is essential for the proper functioning not only of the family, but also the…
Liturgy, Priesthood and Genuine Worship
The debate over worship and liturgy has been both long running and many faceted. Its spectrum ranges from the ultra-free self-expression of certain types of contemporary worship through to the high liturgies of traditional Roman Catholicism and its Episcopalian counterparts.…
The Family Altar (1)
If there is one Christian book that everyone seems to be talking about this year, it is The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher. Subtitled “A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation,” it discusses how can respond to changes in…
Audio: Danny Hyde on John Owen
Danny Hyde, was recently interviewed on “Common Places: A Podcast of Protestant Resourcement” about John Owen, his views of the Holy Spirit and prayer, and his lasting impact on Christian theology. Have a listen here.
John Knox and the Lord’s Supper: Worship In General
Having briefly surveyed the debates over the Lord’s Supper at the Reformation (part 1), before proceeding to John Knox (1513-1572), it is important to consider the broader place the reform of worship had at the Reformation. The sacraments, of course,…
A Narrative for a Service of Lessons & Carols
This Christmas Eve will be my congregation’s fifteenth annual Festival of Lessons & Carols service. I know, that sounds so positively Puritan! We use a slight adaptation of the renowned “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” first used in 1918…