Author: markkoller
The Selah Psalm Blog
The Selah Psalm Blog is a definitely worth your time!
From their website:
“Today, we are surrounded by many choices in worship, and it seems every church is different. Church worship may range from hymn-singing, to rock music, to gospel choir. The songs sung in worship, and how they are sung has caused great controversy and division. Churches have adapted and even split apart in order to sing and worship according to their personal preference, devotion to tradition, or other values. But what if a goldmine of praise music has been right under our noses this whole time? In the middle of the Bible, we find 150 ancient, God-breathed songs: the outpourings of the heart written by people with real trials and stories of God’s deliverance. From the Old-Testament times, during the life of Jesus, in the early Church, and even up until the early 1600’s, Psalms were sung in Christian churches, almost without question. Most Christians today agree that the Psalms can be comforting and personal, but wouldn’t think of actually using them for their original purpose. However, there’s no point in singing the Psalms if we do not stop to meditate on them, or if they are simply not understood. The Psalms have infinite depth when we recognize their power as the inspired Word of God, and understand what they mean in their context and in our lives.”
How the Blog was Started
“An interesting story resides behind the creation of the blog, and it goes like this. Once there was a rather weak Christian who attended the Theological Foundation for Youth conference. Who this person is doesn’t really matter, but for the sake of story let’s name this person Blind. Blind had been singing the Psalms for several years, yet never truly appreciated or thought about the Psalms. Now at the conference, Blind discovered something very strange; other similar-aged young people seemed to love the Psalms. In fact, many of the people at the conference understood the Psalms and memorized them. This love for the Psalms puzzled Blind, so Blind went home and started to study the Psalms both through personal devotions and with a friend. Through the Psalms this rather weak Christian found new strength from the promises and words of guidance in the Psalms. I was Blind, but now I see. The Psalms filled me with joy, so I was pained to find that many other young people in the Reformed church, though exposed to the Psalms, still sang the Psalms with eyes that could not see. I remember all those godly saints I met at the Theological Foundation for Youth conference, and I proposed this idea of a Psalm blog to them and other lovers of the Psalms that I met. As a result, “Selah” was created.”
The Mission of the Blog Authors
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Col 3:16
“Colossians 3:16 encompasses our mission and purpose for this blog. In the previous verses of Colossians 3, God calls His people to love one another and love Him, since we have received such abundant love from Christ. This is our chief goal and purpose, to gain and promote a greater love for God and for each other.”
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom”
Verse 16 gives how we can achieve this goal. We are to be directed by Christ word such that it resides in us and directs us in all we do, and specifically we can gain this relationship with Christ’s words through singing the Psalms.
“teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
“By singing the Psalms together, we use the words of Christ to teach and admonish one another, and the articles of this blog are intended to help the readers’ understanding and encourage their excitement for the Psalms.
- Through personal explanations, we wish to help readers understand the Psalms especially when singing them. Since all of us are relatively young, ranging from early high school to college aged, our respective elders check each explanation.
- Through the testimonies, we wish to encourage readers to meditate and apply the Psalms to their own lives by sharing how God has already taught and guided us with the Psalms.
The Psalms are meant to be sung; however, God is praised by the thankful and dependent heart of the Christian, not the mere singing of words. Just like Blind, each author of the Psalm blog possesses a love for God and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We hope that in reading the explanations and testimonies, readers will discover the beauty of the songs of God, sing “with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”, and as a result gain a greater love for God and fellow Christians.”
October 2013 meeting of the Midwest Presbytery of the RPCNA: Pictures
November Webinar by Dr. Wayne Spear
Only a few days left for the prepub price on A Dispute Against the English Popish Ceremonies by George Gillespie
George Gillespie, A Dispute Against the English Popish Ceremonies. 2013 forthcoming. 544pp. Sewn hardbound, dust jacket, color frontispiece. Foreword, Historical Introduction, Overview & Analysis, Bibliography, Indices: Section, Edition Errata, Author, Subject, Scripture, OED first usage. (retail still to be set). $19.95 prepub, postage paid. Should be delivering these to purchasers in late November or early December.
Buy Prepub now: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/websc…=26FJJKFX8QUGU
Extracts:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/…-extracts1.pdf
“Naphtali Press is pleased to announce we are going to press with a new critical edition of George Gillespie’s seminal work, A Dispute Against the English Popish Ceremonies, and it should be available in mid to late November. We first published this title twenty years ago and the book has been out of print for some time; but we are persuaded the need for it is still great. Written when “worship wars” involved real wars, the general principals presented by Gillespie have abiding pertinence and if properly applied could go a long way toward resolving the worship controversies of this day.”
“This extensively revised edition will mark the four hundredth anniversary of the birth of the author. The Dispute contains over a thousand citations from nearly two hundred authors and over three hundred works, which have all been carefully traced and confirmed for this new edition, greatly expanding the footnotes over those in the 1993 edition. With all these sources more clearly exposed for the modern reader, one may better appreciate why this 24 year old astounded his contemporaries on the eve of the Second Reformation, and why the Dispute merited a place for Gillespie at the Westminster Assembly of Divines, where he helped shape Presbyterian doctrine for centuries to come.”
Cornerstone Presbyterian Church of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) has a new meeting location
Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, a mission church of the Free Church of Scotland (continuing), is now meeting at:
941 S. Fifth Street,
Mebane, NC 27302.
Champions Martial Arts
107 E. Ruffin Street
Mebane, NC 27302
Dr. John Carrick is currently preaching each Lord’s Day
http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=cpc-mebane
Worship begins at 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM. There is a fellowship meal between services.
Visitors are wholeheartedly welcome.
Please feel free to contact us at 336-578-0052.
Enjoyed this post about Psalters from the Heidelblog
Psalters! from the Heidelblog.
Here are some selections:
“The Reformed and Presbyterian churches were Psalm singing churches from the beginning. We translated the Psalms into the language of the people and set them to tunes for use in public worship. For at least 150 years Psalms were virtually the only thing sung in public worship by the Reformed and Presbyterian churches.” here
“The bottom two Psalters are two of my favorites. Both are published by the RPCNA (Crown and Covenant). The red Psalter (The Book of Psalms for Singing) is the older and the blue (The Book of Psalms for Worship) is newer. We have the red Psalter in the chapel at WSC and I’ve used the blue Psalter worshipping with my RPCNA brothers and sisters with much joy and profit. Both are skillfully and carefully done. I commend them for your use.” here
“That we have this abundance of Psalters is a wonderful thing. My students were thrilled to see that they exist—that they aren’t just history or theory—and that they can be put to use in the corporate worship of God. I am encouraged and I hope you are also.” here
Church planting: The families of the Dallas RPCNA church plant
The families of the Dallas, TX RPCNA plant
Dallas Reformed Presbyterian Fellowship (RPCNA) has a new meeting location in Lewisville, TX
The Dallas Reformed Presbyterian Fellowship (RPCNA) has a new meeting location. They are meeting in the Lewisville Seventh Day Adventist School at 1471 West Corporate Drive.
The morning class time begins at 9:30 am and worship begins at 10:45 am. The group is currently in the planning stages of a 2:00 pm afternoon service or a 5:30 pm service. Please visit their website www.dallasrpf.org for the most up do date schedule.
A new website: Exclusive Psalms Radio
A new website: Exclusive Psalms Radio
The Pacific Coast Presbytery of the RPCNA has a new website
Here is the new website of the Pacific Coast Presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA)
Two new students at the Scottish RP Theological Seminary and the ordination of Rev. Donnie Mackinnon of Stirling
From the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland’s website:
“At a Presbytery meeting held on the 31st August Mr. Gary Gunn and Mr. Craig Scott, both members of Glasgow RPCS, were taken under care of Presbytery and given a provisional license to preach.”
Also, Rev. Donnie Mackinnon was ordained and installed as the church planting pastor of Stirling. From the RPCS website:
“On Friday the 30th August, Mr. Donnie Mackinnon, a licentiate of the Scottish Presbytery, was ordained and inducted as organising minister of the new Stirling church plant.”
“The service of ordination and induction was held at Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church. Beside the members of Presbytery there were many there from the Airdrie, Glasgow, North Edinburgh, and Stornoway congregations as well as visitors from the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, the Free Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland, Continuing, and other churches.”
Standing left to right: Rev. Peter Loughridge (North Edinburgh); Rev. Andrew Quigley (Airdrie); Mr. D. R. Macdonald (Stornoway); Rev. Tim Donachie; Mr. George Rodger (Airdrie); Mr. Iain Gillies (Glasgow); Mr. Ian Shaw (Airdrie)
Seated left to right: Rev. Donald Macdonald (Stornoway); Mr. Sam Bell (Airdrie); Mr. Bill Lucas (Stornoway); Rev. Donnie Mackinnon (Stirling); Rev. Kenneth Stewart (Glasgow); Mr. M.D. Maclean (Stornoway)
“Rev. Kenneth Stewart, the moderator of Presbytery, gave the charge to Mr. Mackinnon and the congregation. Preaching from 2 Timothy 4, he powerfully set out the work of the minister in preaching the Word, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting with patience and teaching. Rev. Andrew Quigley, the Presbytery Clerk, then put the ordination vows to Mr. Mackinnon. Mr. Mackinnon was then ordained and inducted through prayer made by Rev. Donald Macdonald and by the laying on of hands.”
Please pray for this new church plant and these new students.
“Singing calls up the soul into such a posture, and doth, as it were, awaken it: it is a lively rousing up of the heart. Singing God’s praise is a work of the most meditation of any we perform in public.”
John Lightfoot on Psalm 30:4:
“sing unto the Lord, ye saints of his.” As God requires outward and inward worship, so a spiritual frame for inward worship may be forwarded by the outward composure. Gazing drowsiness hinders the activity of the soul, but the contrary temper furthers and helps it. Singing calls up the soul into such a posture, and doth, as it were, awaken it: it is a lively rousing up of the heart. Singing God’s praise is a work of the most meditation of any we perform in public. It keeps the heart longest upon the thing spoken. Prayer and hearing pass quick from one sentence to another; this sticks long upon it. Meditation must follow after hearing the word, and praying with the minister for new sentences, still succeeding, give not liberty, in the instant, well to muse and consider upon what is spoken: but in this you pray and meditate. God hath so ordered this duty, that, while we are employed in it, we feed and chew the cud together. “Higgaion,” or ” Meditation,” is set upon some passages of the Psalms, as Psalm ix. 16. The same may be writ up the whole duty, and all parts of it; namely, “Meditation.” Set before you one in the posture to sing to the best advantage: eyes lifted to heaven, denote his desire that his heart may be there too; he hath before him a line or verse of prayer, mourning, praise, mention of God s works; how fairly now may his heart spread itself in meditation on the thing, while he is singing it over! Our singing is measured in deliberate time not more for music than meditation. He that seeks not, finds not, this advantage in singing Psalms hath not yet learned what it means.
John Lightfoot, 1602-1675
An interesting article on contemporary worship in Reformed churches…
From the Heidelblog: You Mean That There’s More Than “Shine, Jesus Shine”?
This selection from R. Scott Clark points us to the Psalms of David: “Dear Reformed friends, we’re not revivalists and we’re not Anglican and we’re not Pentecostal or Charismatic and we shouldn’t try to be. We have resources from which to draw. Yes, Virginia, there is more to worship than “Shine, Jesus Shine.” I suggest that we start with Ps 23 and Ps 100.” “
A new Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland (RPCS) plant in Stirling
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland (RPCS) has announced a new church plant in Stirling! From their website:
“Having been considering since April 2012 the possibility of Stirling as the next location for a church plant, the RPCS Presbytery recently took the decision to proceed and begin holding worship services in the city.
The Presbytery has called Mr. Donnie Mackinnon, a licentiate of the RPCS, to be the organizing minister. Mr. Mackinnon has accepted the call and will be ordained and installed as the organizing minister at a meeting to be held, God willing, on Friday the 30th August 2013 at 7.30pm in the Glasgow RP Church.
This new church plant will be overseen by the Glasgow RP Session until such time as the RPCS Presbytery adopts a policy for the oversight of church plants.
We give thanks to God for this development and are very conscious that “nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” “
Grace and Truth Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPCNA) is a new work in Harrisonburg, VA
A new church plant has started in Harrisonburg, VA! Grace and Truth Reformed Presbyterian Church is a work of the RPCNA. From their website:
“Grace & Truth Reformed Presbyterian Church is a Mission Church established in the name and by the authority of Jesus Christ through thePresbytery of the Alleghenies, which is an organized group of congregations of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA). On June 25th, 2013, the Presbytery of the Alleghenies met during the 2013 RPCNA Synod Meeting and received the core group of families in Harrisonburg, VA as a mission work. This is an excerpt from the minutes:
“The Church Extension Committee recommended the group in Harrisonburg, VA be organized as a Mission Church with the Trinity RPC Session serving as the TGB (temporary governing body). The recommended was approved. Pastor Jerry O’Neill offered prayer establishing the Harrisonburg group as a Mission Church in the name and by the authority of Jesus Christ the King and Head of the Church.”
The temporary governing body, consisting of Pastor Steve Bradley, Elder David Merkel, Elder Tony Gazo, and Elder Brad Stewart, met as a Session on July 9th, 2013. They decided that Grace & Truth RPC will begin evening worship services at 6:00 pm on the first and third Lord’s Days beginning on August 4th, 2013, at Good Shepherd School, 342 Neff Avenue, Harrisonburg, VA. On the second, fourth, and fifth Lord’s Days, Grace & Truth will meet at 6:00 pm at Good Shepherd School for a time of fellowship and Bible Study.
The next step for the Mission Church is to become an independent, fully-organized congregation by God raising up a Session of elders in Harrisonburg, Virginia, for the oversight of the congregation. Also, there will need to be a Board of Deacons responsible chiefly for the ministry of mercy and stewardship.”
“Grace & Truth Reformed Presbyterian Church will be meeting at the Good Shepherd School, 342 Neff Ave, Harrisonburg, VA 22801″
Exploring Psalms by Tom Mann
I received a copy of Exploring Psalms a few months ago by Tom Mann available here. I had intended to get it read before now, but it has been a busy summer this year! Here is a review by Amazon and some brief comments from me. Sorry for the long delay Tom!
From the Amazon site: “Exploring Psalms attempts to encourage an appreciation of the Book of Psalms in everyday Christians. The book covers the history of the writing of the Psalms, their usage through the times of the early church. Different genres of the psalms are discussed, including the imprecatory psalms. An emphasis is placed on the usage of the Psalms by Jesus, the Apostles and the early church. The book is suitable for both individual and group studies.” Amazon
This little book is a very helpful introduction to the Psalms. It has many facts and interesting observations along the way, including some useful charts that show the use of the Psalms in the New Testament. The book is divided into short lessons with discussion questions that would be well suited for a Sabbath School class or a small group of Christians who are becoming more familiar with the Psalms. Every chapter begins with an illustration that is always thought provoking, contemporary and applicable to the chapter at hand. Several of these illustrations are very powerful and stick with you! One in particular involved a very expensive painting that was hung in a prison and lost, always visible but rarely noticed. In addition to groups who want to learn more about the Psalms in general, I think this would be a good introduction for a group preparing to study the subject of exclusive Psalmody. It lays some of the foundation for the more difficult work of proving not only that we should sing the Psalms in worship, but that we should only sing the Psalms in worship.
“Tom Mann is a teacher, lawyer and mediator who has a love for the Book of Psalms. As a former English teacher who instilled an appreciation in literature to hundreds of students, he wants to share his passion for the jewel of the Scriptures, Yahweh’s songbook, in this little book. As a lawyer and mediator, he wants others to see how God’s law, love, mercy and grace are so beautifully unfolded in the Psalms as nowhere else in the Scriptures.”
Buy a copy! Lets support publications that promote the singing of Psalms. If you get a chance to read it, please post your thoughts below.
“Now though spiritual songs of mere human composure may have their use, yet our devotion is best secured, where the matter and words are of immediately divine inspiration…”
“Now though spiritual songs of mere human composure may have their use, yet our devotion is best secured, where the matter and words are of immediately divine inspiration; and to us David’s Psalms seem plainly intended by those terms of “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” which the apostle useth (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).” from the Preface to the Scottish Metrical Psalter
Saw this on Facebook…Virginia is for Hugenots posted A Puritan Preface to the Scottish Metrical Psalter back in 2009. Very helpful!
The 182nd Synod of the RPCNA is meeting this week…
I am enjoying fellowship with my RP brothers this week as we are conducting the Lord’s business here in Marion, Indiana. Please continue to pray for our meeting.
“…when they [poems/uninspired hymns] come in competition with the Bible, or are used as substitutes for any part of the Bible, then, indeed, the profane intrusion must be met and restricted by scriptural authority and solemn protest.”
From THE ORIGINAL COVENANTER. VOL. III. JUNE, 1881. NO. 2.
“Perhaps no error has gained more extensive currency among Protestants, in this age of the church, than this:—That every one has an equal and divine right to compose hymns, to be offered in praise to God. Now let no one suppose that we have ought to say against poetry, in general, or against evangelical hymns, in particular—provided they are kept in their own place; but when they come in competition with the Bible, or are used as substitutes for any part of the Bible, then, indeed, the profane intrusion must be met and restricted by scriptural authority and solemn protest. For, if we may accept an “imitation” as a substitute for the book of Psalms without impious presumption; on the same principle imitations of all the other books of the Bible may be accepted as substitutes; and then we arrive at the infidel goal to which the teachings of Drs. Watts, Cuyler, and Musgrave have unconsciously conducted us. Of course we use these three names of distinguished divines merely as typical of a great multitude of equally cultured men—hence the church’s peril.
Innovators of this age are not more popular and self-confident, perhaps, than those whom Isaiah was commissioned to warn, thus: “Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” [Isaiah 50.11.] Should the advocates of the purity of God’s worship in the matter of his praise sometimes utter “nonsense,” or even seem to be obnoxious to the imputation of “stupidity;” their criminality and punishment must be allowed to be comparatively light, when contrasted with the crime and doom of those contemplated in the above awful commination [threatening] by the Lord’s prophet.”
found here
Exclusive Psalmody 