We tend to think the issues in our churches are contemporary issues that we alone have had to contend with. Yet when we read voices from ages past, we are often reminded that many issues come and go, rise and wane. This is the case with the music we sing at church. At some points the church is (rightly) focused on enabling the amateur voices in the pews and at other points (wrongly) focused on prioritizing the professional voices in the choir or band. This was of some concern at the end of the 19th century as evidenced in this little snippet from De Witt Talmage. Like him, when I hear many of today’s worship bands, “I would prefer the hearty, outbreaking song of a backwoods Methodist camp-meeting.”

In many of the churches of Christ in our day, the music is simply a mockery.
I have not a cultivated ear nor a cultivated voice, yet no man can do my singing for me. I have nothing to say against artistic music. The two or five dollars I pay to hear Miss Thursby or Miss Abbott or any of the other great queens of song is a good investment. But when the people assemble in religious convocation, and the hymn is read, and the angels of God step from their throne to catch the music on their wings, do not let us drive them away by our indifference.
I have preached in churches where vast sums of money were employed to keep up the music, and it was as exquisite as any heard on earth, but I thought at the same time, for all matters practical, I would prefer the hearty, outbreaking song of a backwoods Methodist camp-meeting.
Let one of these starveling fancy songs sung in church get up before the throne of God, how would it look standing amid the great doxologies of the redeemed? Let the finest operatic air that ever went up from the church of Christ get many hours the start, it will be caught and passed by the hosanna of the Sabbath-school children.
I know a church where the choir did all the singing, save one Christian man who, through perseverance of the saints, went right on, and afterward a committee was appointed to wait on him and ask him if he would not please to stop singing, as he bothered the choir.
As the French say, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” The more things change, the more they stay the same.

It’s a double birthday here today, so happy sweet 16 to Michaela and happy something a bit beyond 16 to Aileen!

Today’s Kindle deals include a John Piper classic.
(Yesterday on the blog: Like a Ruined Castle)
How to Fall in Ministry (and What to Do When You Do)
Jared Wilson writes about ministry leaders being exposed in their sin. “Each time it happens, we get less adept at incredulity, less inclined to outrage and distress. We’re not happy about it, of course, but we are, sadly, getting used to it. Then the backward troubleshooting begins, the diagnosing of sicknesses long after the deaths. Ministry post-mortems tell us so much, but it would be great if we could see the falls coming. But can’t we?”
Twitter Anger and the Righteousness of God
“If we are not angry about something today, then it seems we must lack virtue. How could the cultural dialogue surrounding gender, sexuality, abortion, racism, and countless other issues not lead to anger? You would almost have to be dead inside or extremely apathetic not to be triggered by these things.”
3 reasons Christians slander one another
And in a similar vein, here’s Aaron Armstrong. “I have a confession: I am, on occasion, a doom-scroller. I can easily get sucked into reading nonsense Christians say about one another on Twitter. And I can get riled up really quickly, especially when I see people committing a sin specifically condemned in Scripture: ‘Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters’ (James 4:11a).”
Thinning the Peaches
“It hurts to rip healthy, growing peaches off a tree, but if I don’t then I won’t have much edible fruit later in the summer. If the nutrients gathered by the roots are spread too thin across too much fruit, then each peach will end up small and will lack the necessary amount of sugar for that delicious, sweet taste. Not only that, but the sheer weight of so many peaches would break many of the branches.” As is so often the case, there’s something we can learn from nature.
What to Ask a Passage Before You Preach It
“Good questions force us to identify treasures we often miss. Those treasures come in all forms. We see God’s holiness, our sinfulness, as well as God’s sovereignty and grace. We also discover his promises, our identity in him, and more. Therefore, when observing a text, here are five questions that have helped me. Over time, you’ll develop your own.”
Apologetics: Final Examination for Christian Apologetics
I quite enjoyed reading the questions Timothy Paul Jones asks of students in the final exam of his Christian Apologetics class. They are based on memes, Metallica, Star Wars, and so on.
Flashback: If Only I Had Been Saved By Merit!
One of the hardest tasks for every Christian is to deeply believe and forever remember that we’ve been saved by grace. This is a lifelong challenge because our natural tendency is always to veer back to merit, to assume that we’ve been saved by something we are, something we’ve got, or something we’ve accomplished.

Death is half disarmed when the pleasures and interests of the flesh are first denied. —Richard Baxter

God calls us to live lives marked by holiness. God could have arranged the world in such a way that when we put our faith in Christ, he immediately “zaps” us with the full measure of holy character. He could have arranged it this way, but in his wisdom he didn’t.
Instead, God has called us to a lifetime of laboring toward holiness. He has called us to diligently put off every sinful thought, desire, and behavior and to deliberately put on the full measure of righteousness. He calls us to “strive…for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). To strive is to make a great effort toward a goal or achievement. It is to labor, to strain, to toil, to work incessantly to attain victory.
Jen Wilkin says “We will not wake up ten years from now and find we have passively taken on the character of God.” That is impossible and unrealistic. It is sinful and lazy. If we wish to have the character of God, we must apply ourselves to the Word of God and allow it to shape and mold us until we are conformed to his image. What a wonderful and noble goal! And what a fitting reward for our labor.