Category: Worship
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O day of peace that dimly shines
Sometimes familiar tunes with new words can be surprising. I had such a moment in 2017 at a remembrance service in St. James Cathedral, Toronto. As the first notes of the tune commonly associated with Jerusalem (Blake’s “And did those feet in ancient time”) rang out—a melody deeply tied to English patriotism—I was jolted from my reverie.…
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Belle (2021) as a metaphor for Worship
[Spoilers for Belle ahead] How do we worship when we don’t want to worship? What is the point of church? Why do we even need others as Christians? Early this year I watched the movie Belle in theater and have been playing with this draft in my mind ever since because I think that the climactic scene…
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Cast Away the Works of Darkness
Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his…
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Why Advent?
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, and I think more than any other year I remember, I welcome this season of the church. It is first week of a new year in the Christian calendar. I know not all my friends keep advent, so I suppose I should explain why it’s so important and…
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Unless Worship Is for Us, We Cannot Worship with Our Whole Heart—part 2
Our worship is almost always not biblical. By that I mean if you look at the psalms, a model of worship songs, the songs we pick often don’t line up. The reason for this is that the psalms are not an abstract regurgitation of God’s character and blessings. They are not only outwards towards God…
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Worship is about us-Part 1
For those who grew up singing Hillsong and Tomlin, we can be often reminded that worship is not about us. For example, in his song, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” Paul Oakley writes that “all this [worship] is for you, for your glory and your name. It’s not about me.” Similarly Tomlin writes “It’s not…
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The Gospel is not the Center of the Christian Life
One common answer given when you ask a Christian what is the center of the Christian life is the gospel. However, the gospel is not the center of the Christian faith and life. The gospel is important, the gospel changes lives, indeed it is the very power of God unto salvation for all who believe,…
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Hillsong and Evangelical Inconsistency
Hillsong is amazingly popular in Evangelical circles which have a focus on contemporary music and sometimes a sort of concert like air about worship services. However, Hillsong itself reveals a sort of inconsistency in how Christians view church and ethics within Evangelical thought. This is perhaps best highlighted by a recent news article from the…
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Let’s stop calling the ESV a literal translation
The Bible is the most important text in Christianity and people grow attached to whatever version they do use. I most often use the ESV Bible (though not really on this blog which tends towards NRSV) because it is the Bible I find at once most accessible, somewhat familiar, and used by those around me.…
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Worship, music, and doubt
There are few things that touch the heart as much as music and in churches we use music to worship God as the church has done since its inception. However, I must admit, there are times that I can’t bring myself to sing the words to the songs that so often fill evangelical churches. These…
Defined Faith 