Category Archives: Shock and Awe

Worst Christian Video of the Year

By D. G. Hart | Published: January 4, 2011

I had thought about posting this before the end of last year, but this is so egregious that it transcends single calendar years. Bad theology is only a fraction of the problem. Bad music — a tune that you cannot get out of your head quickly (so beware) — goes a long way in explaining… Read More→

Posted in Shock and Awe | Tagged , , , | 93 Comments

Happy Hodgemas

By D. G. Hart | Published: December 28, 2010

I understand that for those observers of all holidays, but holy and secular, persevering a whole week between Christmas and New Year’s Day without a party can be an ordeal. I also know that for those vinegary Presbyterians who don’t observe the nativity of Christ in late December, non-observance can look downright acidic. The remedy… Read More→

Also posted in Novus Ordo Seclorum | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Take, Eat, This Is My Baby Given for You

By D. G. Hart | Published: December 25, 2010

For low church Protestants who partake of the Lord’s Supper monthly, usually the first Sunday of the month, the juxtaposition of remembering both the baby Jesus’ fleshy form and the adult Jesus’ broken body and flowing blood rarely occurs. We can have our Lord’s Supper at the beginning of December and hear sermons on the… Read More→

Posted in Shock and Awe | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Catechetical Preaching Solves the Church Calendar Problem

By D. G. Hart | Published: December 8, 2010

I continue to scratch my head that low-church Protestants are as attached as they are to the calendar of the Roman Catholic church. They don’t think of Christmas or Easter as part of Roman Catholic liturgical practices. But assigning Christ’s birth to December 25th and Christ’s resurrection to the fortunes of the lunar calender and… Read More→

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Why Should Episcopalians Have All the Good Chants?

By D. G. Hart | Published: November 3, 2010

What I am about to write will put me in awkward company since both James Jordan, the godfather of visions federal and David Koyzis, one of many keepers of the Kuyperian flame, have also advocated chanting psalms. But I am not afraid of the genetic fallacy that attributes guilt by association. I have very little… Read More→

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Why Should Chaplains Have All the Good Uniforms?

By D. G. Hart | Published: October 22, 2010

Our southern correspondent sent a story from the Washington Post about the Supreme Court’s justices’ annual photo shoot. Robin Givhan, the staff writer, took particular notice of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s decision to adorn her black robe with “a white lace frill that flopped down the front of her chest like a hankie she’d tucked into… Read More→

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All Sermons Are Not Created Equal

By D. G. Hart | Published: September 27, 2010

The one’s preached in the nation’s capitaol are more important than the ones in the provinces. Not really, though some transformationalists and faith-based urbanists might be tempted to think so. Instead, the point of a new fall lecture series at Christ Reformed Church in Washington, D.C., (yes, that nation’s capitaol) is to understand better what… Read More→

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Now He’s Channeling Glen

By D. G. Hart | Published: August 31, 2010

Not Glen Beck but Uncle Glen, that is. Carl Trueman is on a roll and a recent post gives his objections to celebrity pastors. A friend told Trueman about an inquirer who came to him with a doctrinal question because the inquirer’s own pastor was too busy on the speaking circuit to meet with his… Read More→

Also posted in spirituality of the church | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Things You Learn From Christian Radio

By D. G. Hart | Published: August 13, 2010

I had never heard of the David Crowder Band before last Sunday while listening to the New Beginnings show with — pastor — Greg Laurie. But apparently they are a big enough name to tout for the recent Harvest Crusade in Anaheim. The band’s website indicates that this appearance may be notable because their performance… Read More→

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The Original Blended Worship?

By D. G. Hart | Published: August 10, 2010

With less division [than over church government], the Westminster Assembly also drew up an order or worship and a confession of faith. The Directory for Public Worship, accepted by the Parliaments of England and Scotland alike in 1645, carved a middle ground between the Presbyterian desire for a fixed liturgy and Independent attachment to extemporary… Read More→

Posted in Shock and Awe | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments