Expressive Individualism and Church Music — with Philip Percival and Alanna Glover

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“What does Expressive Individualism mean for churches? And what specifically does it mean for church music?

Here is the expressive individualism worldview: ‘Truth comes from inside me. It’s important that I look inside to discover who I truly am’ and ‘I need to express my individuality and personal truth to the world around me to receive validation.’

That truth comes from within is the unspoken assumptions of guests who come to our churches.

And it’s a worldview that has impacts inside the church, including inside our music teams and inside the heads of the songwriters who write the songs that we sing.

Philip Percival and Alanna Glover lead the work of Emu Music, focussing on writing congregational songs and the training of church musicians and leaders.

Alanna is doing a masters research project in Expressive Individualism and Music, and Philip’s PhD is in the biblical theology of worship.”

And from the discussion, Philip Percival is asked about the playlists of songs in a number of evangelical churches –

“I can see that there’s a trend towards wanting to sing songs that are more songs of adoration.

Now, there’s nothing at all wrong with singing songs of adoration – that fits within our biblical model for singing – but that should be balanced with other songs that are teaching us, other songs that are allowing us to sit and be challenged and admonished by God’s Word. We want to be singing songs of confession and creedal songs where our singing is doing more than just giving me a voice to express my faith. …

So, are the songs that we’re singing rich in God’s Word?

Do they help us to teach and admonish one another?

Are the songs that we’re singing affectionate? Do they allow the Holy Spirit to shape our emotions and feelings and responses by the gospel?

Are our songs giving us a voice for praise and thanksgiving which is driven by the Word of Christ?”

– Watch or listen here.

Related:

Emu Music.

Faithful listening – Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant.

No, I don’t trust you — The importance of accountability, structure, and submission

“There are two people I would never trust: myself, and anyone who trusts himself/herself.

What do I mean by this, and why do I say it? …

When the parish of which I was vicar, the West Hamilton Anglican Parish, left the ACANZP ten years ago, many resisted the idea of joining up to another denomination. Why not be an independent church – pure, and freed from the shackles of a parent body? My response: ‘You’d be crazy to place that sort of trust in me or the vestry!…’”

– Vicar General Michael Hewat, reminds us of the need for accountability – in the latest e-mail update from the Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa New Zealand.

Faithful listening

“What to do if we find the preaching we’re fed Sunday by Sunday is biblical, yet quite standard, and maybe a bit dull? … When we hear nothing really new to us, except the old, old story of Jesus and his cross?

Are we so well fed, that these become meals we feel we can skip as we feel like it?

Here’s an old hymn (#49, Olney Hymns) by John Newton, of ‘Amazing Grace’ fame. He often wrote a new hymn each week, while ministering in the parish of Olney!

But these days I doubt anyone is singing this one! …”

– In the St. Andrew’s Cathedral Newsletter, Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant draws attention to a little-known hymn by John Newton. (Sadly, we don’t hear many new Christian songs like this one!)

The hymn may be found on page 386 of the PDF version of Olney Hymns published by Christian Classics Ethereal Library. (Click on Download, then select PDF.)

This painting of John Newton by John Russell hangs in the CMS building in Oxford. Photo © Marylynn Rouse / The John Newton Project, used with permission.

Songs for the Summer – Psalm 1

At The Anglican Connection (and writing for a North American readership), John Mason shares two reflections on Psalm 1 for his Word on Wednesday –

Part 1: Happiness, Part 2: The Path to Life.

Review of Packer’s ‘Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Age’

“I was eating pizza the other night with two young men, one a Christian, the other a seeker. We talked about what it means to be a Christian and some of the challenges of the Christian life.

The first surprise was that they/we couldn’t get through two family-sized pizzas. The youth of today!

The second was that they thought that becoming a Christian in 2024 was a way of rebelling.

One told how his boss, a Gen X Roman Catholic, explained that young men shouldn’t be going to church but should instead be finding a girlfriend to sleep with and getting drunk. The young man found this boringly orthodox, ignoble, and distasteful. He felt certain that there must be a better way to live.

I’m having conversations like these more and more these days. Are we seeing early signs of a spiritual awakening among young people? I wonder whether the Lord is beginning a new work among these younger generations.

What I know for certain is that the Church must be ready to receive young seekers. That means that our churches must be refuges of radical, self-sacrificial love. Parched and thirsting for meaning and community in today’s desert of online isolation and spiritual desolation, nothing will attract young people more than an actual flesh-and-blood loving Christian community. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

This kind of strange Christ-like love can arise only from an intimate relational knowledge of Jesus himself.

This is where a book like Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Age comes in.

J. I. Packer (1926–2020) was a British theologian, author of the now-classic Knowing God (1973), who for most of his working life was a professor of theology at Regent College in Vancouver. He stands alongside John Stott, F.F. Bruce, Michael Green, Dick Lucas, Martyn-Lloyd Jones and other superb conservative-evangelical British preachers and theologians of the twentieth century.

The book is in fact a lightly edited transcription of five lectures that Packer first delivered at Kuyper College in Grand Rapids in 1978, and then at Moore College in Sydney. …”

–At AP, Campbell Markham reviews J I Packer’s Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Age. (Bold added.)

And you can also see or hear Packer’s five lectures at the Moore College Annual Lectures in 1978 – in glorious grey and white, thanks to the Donald Robinson Library at Moore College.

His series title was “We Preach Christ Crucified”. Very much worth watching.

At about an hour each, why not consider watching these with your Bible Study?

Lecture 1 –  We’ve a Story to Tell.
Lecture 2 – The man Christ Jesus.
Lecture 3 – He emptied himself: the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Lecture 4 – The wonderful exchange.
Lecture 5 – No other name: the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.

Related:

The Moore College Annual Lectures 2024 with Tom Schreiner.

A way back from disillusionment and disappointment in ministry — The Pastor’s Heart

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“Disillusionment is one of the great threats to the Christian life and to Christian ministry

A wise man said the worst thing in ministry was not a pastor who quits, but a pastor who doesn’t quit, but who keeps going when they’ve given up.

Sydney Missionary and Bible College Karl Deenick shares his own experience of hitting a major wall after seven years of pastoral work.

We unpack how ministry challenges can lead to a sense of disillusionment, especially among millennials, plus a way back.”

– Many will resonate with this one. Watch or listen here.

Related:

Gathered Together by Karl Deenick. (Matthias Media.)

Peter Adam’s talks at the 2001 Proclamation Trust Senior Ministers Conference:

The Making of a Man of God – 1.
The Making of a Man of God – 2.
The Making of a Man of God – 3.

Reading the News the Biblical Way

“The news can be overwhelming on a good day and depressing on a normal day. Wars, scandals, financial crises, social decline, and political buffoonery are enough to make anyone exhausted.

We need to learn to read the news the biblical way. Revelation can help us. …”

– Darryl Dash at The Gospel Coalition Canada reminds us of two important truths from the Book of Revelation.

FREEDOM24 conference August 5

From Assoc Professor Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia:

“Freedom for Faith is hosting the FREEDOM24 Conference 9am-4pm on Monday August 5th at Village Church Annandale in Sydney. I highly recommend this conference!

Livestream tickets are free, to maximise access for those who cannot attend in person.

FREEDOM24 conference will develop your understanding of threats to religious freedom in Australia from historical, theological and policy perspectives.

Historian Sarah Irving-Stonebraker will examine the history of religious freedom, while John McClean of Christ College will share a theological perspective on how the church is to respond to legal threats to ministry. We will also have a number of experts unpack the major religious freedom concerns in Australia, as well as implications and paths forward for advocacy.

Issues examined will include: …”

– Details and link for tickets.

Savour Christ in Every Psalm

“For the greater part of church history, Christians have viewed the Psalms through the lens of fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

In particular, they have read the Psalms as the songs of Jesus — songs sung by Jesus in his life on earth, and songs in which the risen and ascended Jesus still leads his church in singing on earth. …”

– At Desiring God, Christopher Ash encourages us to do what millennia of Christians (including centuries of Anglicans) have done.

Things I wish I heard in a Funeral Sermon

“Several months ago, I attended a vaguely Christian funeral. It was Christian in the sense it had familiar elements of our faith: a Bible reading, a short sermon and a cross adorning the hall. Yet it was vague because I left uncomforted and unconfronted by the substantive truths of our faith.

The guests came and went without hearing the gospel. Our hope of seeing the dearly deceased was not articulated beyond the ethereal mention of faith, hope and love. …”

– This article by Renee Zou, published by The Gospel Coalition Australia in May, is an encouragement to all who have an opportunity to speak or preach at such difficult times.

Hate Speech – Vilification Laws and Threats to Religious Speech

Associate Professor Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia –

“I have presented a paper today surveying Australia laws on ‘hate speech’ and ‘vilification’, as they have an impact on religious free speech. The paper can be downloaded here…”

– Here’s the link.

What I wish I knew before becoming a senior minister

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“What would Dave Keun and Jon Kwan like to tell their younger selves if they could travel back in time before they took on the position of senior minister?

How has their sense of ownership changed?

What has been most difficult about the transition to the role? What mistakes have they made?

Dave Keun has been senior minister of Kellyville Anglican Church in Sydney’s North West since March  2022.

Jon Kwan has been lead pastor of St David’s Forestville (on Sydney’s Northern Beaches) since May 2022.”

– Watch or listen here.

Jonathan Edwards and the Spiritual benefits of Church Music

“Christianity has always been a singing faith and music plays a big role in the life of the church. But church music is also controversial. Some people leave a church because of music, while others join a church because of music. Some churches split because of music, and others make a lot of money from their music.

Jonathan Edwards, a pastor-theologian from 300 years ago, can help us step away from the politics of church music for a bit to consider the theology of church music. …”

– Ricky F. Njoto writes at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

Related:

Music for the Church: Mark Dever Interviews Keith Getty – at 9Marks.

On Repetitive Worship Songs – John Piper at Desiring God.

A Word for the Church of England — and all of us

The latest Carson Center Podcast from The Gospel Coalition is an address by Don Carson on 1 John 2:3-27, “Christian Obedience, Love, and Perseverance”.

It shows God’s word is every bit as relevant today as it was when it was written –

“John lived at a time when there were many competing religions and Christianity was just old enough to be losing its edge. You had now second- and third-generation Christians. Many people who had been around for a while had lost something of their first love, and others … new young Turks … were convinced that new rising theologies were far more attractive, far more convincing than the old stuff passed down by the has-beens.

At the same time, there was a great deal of pressure in the empire towards what we would call today philosophical pluralism. That is, you could believe anything you like, so long as you don’t say that your view is right and other views are wrong. That you must not say. Then, inevitably, there were some people who were very strong on picking up particular points and making them everything. …

In that context, John writes his epistle. What he tends to do is to gravitate towards the essentials of the faith and set up absolute boundaries. They are as striking, they are as definitive today as they were 2,000 years ago. In this passage I read, John articulates three contrasts: those who talk and those who perform, those who love the world and those who love the Father, and those who are antichrists and those who are Christians. He does not leave much room for anything in between. …”

– Listen – or read the transcript – here.

How do we diagnose complex problems within our church?

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“All the time in church there are unexpected things happening. We or someone else makes a decision to change something which then relationally or missionally impacts another area of church life that we didn’t expect. …

Whatever size your church is – the church system is complex, interdependent and interconnected.”

– Dominic Steele speaks with Greg Lee from Newcastle’s Hunter Bible Church.

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