Author: <span>Matthew Johnson</span>

It is far too easy for evangelical Christians to exchange the most noble ministry of reconciling lost souls to Jesus Christ for a secondary endeavor of seeking to bring the nation in which they reside around to morality and peace. That is not to say that there is no place for political activism or national concern within the scope of…

Doctrine

I thought this cartoon over at sacred sandwich is pretty good. Enjoy, and don’t forget to check out www.sacredsandwich.com For those who don’t know what this is all about, This was Rob Bell’s big presentation about Ghandi building up to releasing his book “Love Wins.” A sad book saying nothing about everything and creating more confusion amongst saints and the…

Doctrine

What a wonderful Resurrection Sunday we had at Grace. We began at 9:00 am with a communion service. My heart was moved as different men within the church read various texts of Scripture drawing our attention to the Christ of the cross. Then we remembered the body and blood of Jesus through the elements of the Lord’s supper. Pausing to…

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Reading, studying, thinking, praying, and contemplating my sinfulness, my weakness, my failures, my struggles in light of this Passion Week; has impacted me once again as to how much I need Jesus. I need his grace, his favor–I cry with Isaiah, “Woe is me, for I am undone.” If there is one thing that the Holy Week impresses upon me…

church Doctrine Life Spiritual Meandering

For every Timothy there is a Demas (2 Timothy 4:10).  For every Prisca and Aquila there is a Hymenaeus and Alexander (I Timothy 1:20).  For every Epahproditus (Philippians 2:25-30) there is a “Corinthian.”  For those who do not know what I am talking about, I recently noticed that there is a great balance in the inspired writings of the Apostle…

church Doctrine Life Spiritual Meandering

Laying awake at night, thinking back through the day-you sometimes wonder what the purpose of it all is. You lay there unable to weep, unable to be angry, unable to really understand why you are feeling what you feel, but as the internal darkness seems more hopeless, only one voice echoes in your mind, and it repeats itself over and…

church Doctrine Life Spiritual Meandering

I had a dream that I was a work horse plowing up my master’s field. I labored night and day working relentlessly to secure my master’s pleasure. As the sweat would tumble from my back, I wanted to let my master know how good I was for him, how much he needed me and how much I could be counted…

Doctrine Life Spiritual Meandering

I saw this over at Tim Challies’ blog and was greatly moved by the images from this video clip. Those who know me well, know that I believe strongly in contextual interpretation of Scripture and that Word of God if not interpreted in its context is not interpreted rightly. Therefore, I do not think that the process of making a…

Doctrine Life Spiritual Meandering

One thing I like about the blogosphere is being able to find multiple articles that are interesting quickly.  Today, I decided to link to some interesting stories or articles. RC Sproul on Creation R.C. Sproul is a leading Reformed author and preacher and I often wondered what his views on a literal 6-day Creation were (Some reformed guys are not…

Doctrine Education Family Fundamentalism homeschool

My Top “100” Congregational Hymns

Compiled is my top 100 Hymns (actually, I couldn’t stop, so ended up with 113). In an effort to be relevant, most of them are from the Hymn Book we currently use at our church, Living Hymns.  I put a star beside my all time most favorite hymns.  These are not my favorites because of sentimentality or familiarity (although most are very familiar), but they are my favorite because the doctrine is correct, the theology is rich, and the music is glorifying to God.  Granted, some have more depth than others and some are my favorites because they have touched my heart deeply at some point in my life.  But it is my persuasion, that to know these 113 hymns (all the verses) would greatly enrich private and corporate worship of God’s church.

There are more hymns that are wonderful, many of them found in a variety of hymn books.  I compiled this list for our church, so obviously, I chose hymns found within the book that we use in our gathered worship.  What are you favorite hymns and why?

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