Back in November, I arrived at the Cove to lead music alongside my fearless leader, the gospel-addict, Tullian Tchvidijian. The guest leader cabins at the Cove are evidently filled with books from Ruth Graham’s own library. She was quite the collector of old hardbacks. I stumbled upon a small, original edition of Frances Ridley Havergal’s collection of hymns, Under the Surface (get it for free at Google Books), and one of the first hymns I read was this one. It’s perfect … Read More
How One Worship Pastor Prepares for a Performance of Handel’s Messiah
This Friday, at Coral Ridge, choirs from our church and and school (Westminster Academy) will join some of South Florida’s finest soloists, some of the best players from Miami’s musical scene, and organist Chelsea Chen to perform what will no doubt be a stellar interpretation of G. F. Handel’s Messiah. They will be conducted by Renee Costanzo, director of the choral program at Westminster Academy. The longer I dabble in this field of “Worship & Arts,” the clearer sense I get … Read More
Saving Preaching from its Bad Rap
Liberate is one of my favorite sites on the planet. It is regularly pumping out the best reflection on life’s most important subject: the law-gospel paradigm. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, or if you don’t think that something as odd-sounding as “the law-gospel paradigm” should be afforded such high accolades, well, you haven’t been reading Liberate, or you haven’t been reading it enough. A huge shot in the arm would be to come to the Liberate 2014 … Read More
A Reason to Be Suspicious of Worship Bands
Jean-Jacques von Allmen was a Swiss Reformed theologian whose works on worship and liturgy were introduced to the world now almost a half a century ago. His Worship: Its Theology and Practice is still one of the most important worship books in my library (though it is now sadly hard to find), mostly because it feels like his keen observations and articulations have more bearing now even than when it was written back in the mid-1960s. This quote about choirs is … Read More