Thanks to Jeff Waddington at FOC for pointing readers to two articles recently published online at Ref21. One is a wonderful biblical theological analysis of Jesus's baptism and wilderness temptation by Rev. Nicholas T. Batzig entitled "God's Obedient Son." Nick's work is excellent! It reminds me of the rich biblical theological works of the best Puritan divines, Christ-focused, deeply covenantal, with an obvious concern to help readers worship the triune God who has been at work to redeem his creation ever since the Fall. Nick explores profound Christological themes in plain language and elegant style. Here is an excerpt:
Another artricle is by Rev. Dr. Carl Trueman entitled "Look, It's Rubbish." Dr. Trueman recalls a "worship" service gone bad, making some insightful points regarding the principle of biblical worship along the way. Here's an excerpt:
And finally, a recent post by Rev. Dr. Iain Campbell at Creideamh entitled "Is There Worship Without PowerPoint" is excellent. Rev. Campbell speaks to circumstantial issues in worship, namely the use of technology, with pastoral wisdom and theological rigor. Though recognizing the usefulness of technology when applied appropriately, he writes:
In every way that Israel proved to be the unrighteous son, Jesus proved that He was the righteous Son. The obedience of Christ is the emphasis of the temptation accounts; and, failure to see this fact, will inevitably lead to a failure to see His glory in redemption. We need a covenant keeper who has fulfilled the demands of the law for us. His obedience is credited to us, because, just as He represented us in His baptism, so also He represented us in His temptation. Here we find the "good news" of the Gospel. It is not simply His death on the cross--as detached from His obedient life--that justifies us. No, that death is attached to every subsequent act of obedience the Son of God placed on the divine scale for our salvation. God the Father was pleased with the Son at His baptism, He was pleased in His overcoming the attacks of the devil, and He was pleased with Him through the entirety of His obedient life, "even (and especially) to the point of death on the cross."
Another artricle is by Rev. Dr. Carl Trueman entitled "Look, It's Rubbish." Dr. Trueman recalls a "worship" service gone bad, making some insightful points regarding the principle of biblical worship along the way. Here's an excerpt:
Ironically, not all conservative services are much better than their liberal equivalents. Now, the difference is that liberal theology should inevitably lead to liturgical nonsense in a way that orthodoxy should not. After all, orthodox theology grew out of the worship and liturgy of the ancient church, so it should be no surprise that the collapse of that theology connects to the collapse of worship and liturgy. After all, it is hard to see the musical genius of Kenny G giving birth to the Nicene Creed, or, for that matter, providing an atmosphere in which the same might be sustained. When theology is, after all, merely the projection of human aspirations, church services become merely a collage of human artifacts (though the thought that Kenny G is a projection of humanity's deepest psychological aspirations is too worrying to contemplate for any length of time). When God is mere man (or woman, or both) writ large, transcendence vanishes and triviality can only be resisted by an immense act of the will.
And finally, a recent post by Rev. Dr. Iain Campbell at Creideamh entitled "Is There Worship Without PowerPoint" is excellent. Rev. Campbell speaks to circumstantial issues in worship, namely the use of technology, with pastoral wisdom and theological rigor. Though recognizing the usefulness of technology when applied appropriately, he writes:
But I still won’t be in a hurry to set up digital projection equipment for my worship services. For one thing, getting the stuff onto the computer in the first place takes an inordinate length of time – at least for novices like me. There are better things to do with preparation time for worship. Images need to be located, downloaded (after checking copyright, of course), sized, placed, edited and contextualized. Words need to be typed, formatted, coloured, emboldened and put in the right place on screen. I tell you – it’s hard work, that could more profitably be spent on our knees. Less PowerPoint and more Prayer would probably serve us much better.
For another thing, there is a huge risk in using visual images to illustrate biblical points. It was not without reason that God gave us a Word, not a Picture, to proclaim. Images often make for distraction, and lead our minds to wander away from the point that is being made. Word pictures, on the other hand, force our minds to concentrate. When I read ‘a sower went out to sow…’ it is far more profitable for me to imagine that scene in my mind than to be forced to conform my thinking to the internet picture before me.
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