Aug
10
‘The ashes go on singing…’
Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment
We love Martin Luther. His name speaks of the recovery of the precious doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, of Christian freedom, and of standing for Christ in defiance of wicked authority. His name also sings as author of the great warhorse hymn ‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.’ But Luther was not a ‘one-hit wonder.’ He was a prolific hymn-writer and talented player of the flute and lute. Under Luther’s leadership, congregational hymn-singing was restored to the worship of the Church in Germany and beyond.
Concordia Publishing House recently released a 4-CD set, Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth. This is the first complete collection of all the hymns, ballads, and chants composed or authored by Luther. This four-CD set provides numerous vocal and instrumental settings combining Renaissance, Baroque, and modern instruments. Historic narrative is provided, quoting Luther concerning music, worship, and liturgy. The booklet with the lyrics and notes is priceless.
Luther wrote hymns, settings of psalms, musical versions of the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer and the creeds, and especially moving is the ballad on the first CD ‘A New Song Now Shall Be Begun,’ in which Luther memorializes two young Augustinian monks who were martyred in Belgium on July 1, 1523. The title of this entry is borrowed from the ballad.
You can sample the songs here and order from the same site as well.
Aug
8
FPC and Lagniappe PC, Bay St. Louis
Filed Under Lagniappe | 2 Comments
It has been said that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Well, perhaps that statement deserves some critique, but there is a bit of publicity about our most recent Lagniappe trip to work alongside our brethren with the Lagniappe PC mission work in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. A clarification is in order: Despite what the blog entry indicates, there is no name change in the works for our church! I am merely the victim of Andy Chapman’s twisted sense of humor.
Aug
8
Resources: Reformation21.org
Filed Under Resources | Leave a Comment
From time to time we’ll try to draw your attention to an online resource that you may find helpful in your growth as a Christian. In the world wide web there is much admirable and edifying as well as much that is detestable and heretical. It is our hope that this ongoing segment will help you become a discerning internt browser.
Today I wanted to highlight Reformation21. In its own words, Reformation21 is:
“an online magazine (ezine) created to serve, edify, and educate Christians by presenting an authoritative reformed perspective, while embracing various denominational positions, on a variety of relevant historic matters, current issues, and thoughtful positions that inform, inspire, and challenge Christians to think and grow biblically. It is a ministry of The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals (www.alliancenet.org), an organization established in order to call the church to a reformation that recovers clarity and conviction about the great evangelical truths of the gospel and to encourage their proclamation in our contemporary context.”
It is an excellent resource, published every 6 weeks or so. Usually an issue will have numerous articles on a central theme. You’ll also find book reviews and critiques of current trends in the church. As you browse the contributors to Reformation21, notice that a number of them are dear friends of our church. Also, don’t miss the Reformation21 blog for informative and sometimes humorous posts from some the top reformed theologians of our day.
Enjoy and happy browsing!
Aug
7
From organ recital to prayer meeting
Filed Under Prayer | Leave a Comment
When Jean Larroux was with us at FPC in May, he reminded us that it is better to be redeemed than it is to be “better.” But often our prayers indicate that being “better” is good enough, thank you. Our prayer meetings and prayers in public worship must never become mere “organ recitals”–a prefunctory review of everyone’s aches and pains with prayer attached to the end. I am convinced that God wants us to call on him for some much better things. David Powlison has written an excellent article on this aspect of prayer. You should read it. Here’s a sample:
Is God interested in healing illnesses? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Yet he is always interested in making his children wise, holy, trusting, and loving, even in the context of pain, disability, and death…We all tend to pray for circumstances to improve so that we might feel better. Such requests are honest and good—unless these requests go no further. Detached from God’s purposes for sanctification and hearts that groan for his kingdom to come, such prayers become self-centered.
Even when we approach prayer, we need to ask ourselves, What really needs to be changed in my life? How can my life most glorify God?
Aug
7
Who is “The Sweet Dropper”?
Filed Under Puritans, Site Updates | 1 Comment
We’ve affectionately named our blog after the Puritan preacher, Richard Sibbes. He served as lecturer at Trinity Church, Cambridge, from 1610-1615, preacher at Gray’s Inn, London, from 1616-1635, and Master of Catherine Hall, Cambridge, 1625-35. Sibbes’ contemporaries referred to him to as the “Heavenly” Dr. Sibbes and “the sweet dropper” because he had such a sweet way of presenting the confidence, richness, depth and encouragement of the gospel.
Izzak Walton said of this prince of Puritan preachers: “of this blest man, let this just praise be given: Heaven was in him before he was in heaven.” Another wrote “No man that ever I was acquainted withal got so far into my heart or lay so close therein.” Sibbes was a practical preacher, a true Doctor of Souls, and multitudes gathered to hear him open the Word of Life. His most familiar works, The Soul’s Conflict and The Bruised Reed, were instrumental in the salvation and sanctification of many, including Puritan leaders such as John Cotton and Richard Baxter.
It is our humble hope that some sense of that sweet gospel savor that emanated from Richard Sibbes would be found on these pages.
