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I love it when other bloggers put together a list of links to various interesting articles. Here are a few I've found noteworthy lately. - A great article from Boundless.org. Though geared to the single woman, lots of good stuff here. Are people your favorite idol?
- John Piper's thoughts on video and drama during church services.
- A window into Jenny Sanford's character.
One of the biggest changes we've experienced leaving our Southern Baptist church back in the fall and now attending an RP church has been the corporate worship. Before, mainstream evangelical worship: praise songs, a few hymns, drums, piano, bass, 'worship team'. Now, on Sundays, we sing Psalms exclusively without the aid of instruments, and the Psalm-leader up front has not so much as a microphone. It was very strange (and still is, at times) to not have a clue how to sing the songs in the hymnal (really, Psalter) after being in church worship services all my life. I'm not attempting here to tackle the theology of exclusive Psalmity; I am most definitely not equipped to do that. I haven't come to any firm convictions about the rightness or wrongness of singing hymns or praise choruses to the Lord in a corporate setting. But I am reflecting on how singing the Psalms, simply and without any hoop-la, has affected me.
A question I wrestled with in the past year is that of false 'emotionalism' versus true worship. Now, let me say that I'm just about as emotional as they come. I believe God has given us emotions and they, in themselves, are neutral. But I started to wonder just how much of my worship was really focused on exalting the One True God, and how much was (literally) driven by the pounding bass, drums, and building climax of the chorus I was singing. I'm really not trying to cause division here, or be judgmental. These are just honest struggles I've had concerning worship.I feel really immersed in God's Word through worship, now. One of the points of singing the Psalms is that you are singing the inspired words of praise, blessing, lament, and request to God. Are other songs inspired by God? Maybe, but not in the same way as God's Holy Word written down by 'holy men taught by the Holy Spirit', as the kids' catechism says. Another interesting effect of singing the Psalms has been a feeling of connectedness to believers through the ages. Singing the words that countless other Christians have sung to God over thousands of years is a sobering and yet joyful thing. A common song, if you will.
I haven't thrown out my Chris Tomlin CDs, nor do I have a problem singing praise choruses when we visit my parent's or mom-in-law's churches, but I am so thankful to be able to worship God with Psalm-singing.
