Seen & Heard Archives
Christ's Call to Discipleship
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A Newly Released Audio Series from James Boice
Has it ever occurred to you that something is lacking in the lives of many of us who call ourselves Christians? We live in an age where the lack of true discipleship is a fatal defect. But to be a Christian is no light matter. It is a call to a transformed life and to perseverance through whatever troubles may arise. It may be the hardest thing anyone can do, yet with Christ supplying the strength anyone can do it.
The Psalms in Worship
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Too many churches never sing the psalms in public worship. Despite the fact the two direct injunctions that relate to singing in the New Testament place psalms at the head of the list of what Christians ought to sing as they ‘make music in [their] heart to the Lord’ (Eph 5.19; Col 3.16), these expressions of praise are strangely absent from many orders of service.
Continue...The Canon of Scripture
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Be sure to listen to tomorrow’s Mortification of Spin when Todd, Carl, and Aimee examine questions like, how can we trust the books in the Bible to be the only Word of God, or “canon”, to which no man should add or subtract? What exactly is the canon and why is it important? What are its fundamental flaws, (and if there are any), then how can we be confident in it?
Continue...“An Oration in Commemoration of the Independence of The United States of America” by Enos Hitchcock
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Enos Hitchcock (1744-1803) was a Harvard graduate (1767) and a chaplain for several brigades in the Colonial militia (seeing battle at Ticonderoga, Saratoga, Valley Forge, and West Point). He also served as chaplain of the Continental Army from 1779-1780. He preached in other New England churches after the Revolutionary War, prior to settling as the pastor of the First Congregational Church in Providence, Rhode Island, from 1783 until his death. During his pastorate, the church grew and built an impressive church in 1794-75 at the corner of Benefit and Benevolent streets. Later his church which was Arminian under his leadership became Unitarian, shortly after his time.
Extraordinary Means of Grace
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The idea of ‘the means of grace’ has undergone an encouraging rehabilitation in the life and ministry of many Reformed churches in recent years. This has come as a healthy corrective to pressure from the wider church to embrace ideas and practices that seem more effective vehicles for church growth. However ‘effective’ these alternative means may have seemed, it has been at the expense of a meaningfully biblical definition of the church. So, the widespread return to emphasising the Word, sacraments, fellowship and prayer (Ac 2.42) as the core components of a faithful and effective church has been welcome.
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