The book of Psalms occupies a unique place in Scripture, being both the Word from God and words to God from His people. Unfortunately, psalm singing no longer plays an integral part of worship in most evangelical churches. In this book, thirteen well-respected scholars urge the church to rediscover the treasure of the Psalms as they examine the history of psalm singing in the church, present biblical reasons for the liturgical practice, and articulate the practical value it provides us today. Table of Contents: Foreword —W. Robert Godfrey Part 1: Psalm Singing in History 1. From Cassian to Cranmer: Singing the Psalms from Ancient Times until the Dawning of the Reformation — Hughes Oliphant Old and Robert Cathcart 2. Psalm Singing in Calvin and the Puritans — Joel R. Beeke 3. The History of Psalm Singing in the Christian Church — Terry Johnson 4. Psalters, Hymnals, Worship Wars, and American Presbyterian Piety — D. G. Hart Part 2: Psalm Singing in Scripture 5. Psalm Singing and Scripture — Rowland S. Ward 6. The Hymns of Christ: The Old Testament Formation of the New Testament Hymnal — Michael LeFebvre 7. Christian Cursing? — David P. Murray 8. The Case for Psalmody, with Some Reference to the Psalter’s Sufficiency for Christian Worship — Malcolm H. Watts Part 3: Psalm Singing and the Twenty-First-Century Church 9. Psalm Singing and Redemptive-Historical Hermeneutics: Geerhardus Vos’s “Eschatology of the Psalter” Revisited — Anthony T. Selvaggio 10. Psalm Singing and Pastoral Theology — Derek W. H. Thomas 11. Psalmody and Prayer — J. V. Fesko

Peter Slade examines Mission Mississippi's model of racial reconciliation (which stresses one-on-one, individual friendships among religious people of different races) and considers whether it can effectively address the issue of social justice. Slade argues that Mission Mississippi's goal of "changing Mississippi one relationship at a time" is both a pragmatic strategy and a theological statement of hope for social and economic change in Mississippi.

An important missing element in today's raging worship debates is a proper acknowledgment of the continuing ministry of the living Christ in mediating and leading our worship. This is a crucial truth that transcends issues of style and form and thus provides a foundation for a unified and unifying understanding of worship, in spite of the wide diversity of worship expressions that has always characterized the body of Christ. The wonderful fact is that we are not left to worship God on our own strength! Rather, the grace of God, which is so abundantly provided to us for our salvation and sanctification, can be seen to be just as operational and effectual when it comes to our worship. Our worship is acceptable and pleasing to God not because of any inherent excellence of its own, but because we come in Christ and his righteousness into the Father's presence. In Hebrews 2:12 we find an amazingly succinct yet powerful description of the two-way mediating ministry of Christ: he continues to be the agent of God's revelation to us and also serves as the leader and facilitator of our response back to God in worship. Christ does not just open or show us the way into the Father's presence in worship; he actively leads us, takes us with him so that we might enjoy the same relationship of love and fellowship that he himself enjoys with the Father. This transforming understanding opens up a wide range of complementary truths concerning the Trinitarian and Christological implications of worship--with profound implications for our churches.

Evangelicals and Roman Catholics have been responsible for the establishment of many colleges and universities in America. Until recently, however, they have taken very different approaches to the subject of education and have viewed one another's traditions with suspicion. In this volume, Mark Noll and James Turner offer critical but appreciative reassessments of the two traditions. Noll, writing from an evangelical perspective, and Turner, from a Roman Catholic perspective, consider the respective strengths and weaknesses of each approach and what they might learn from the other. The authors then provide brief responses to each other's essays. Thoughtful readers from both traditions will find insightful and challenging ideas regarding the importance of Christian learning and the role of faith in the modern college or university. EXCERPT In many respects, the current volume . . . touch[es] upon three issues: intellectual engagement, tradition, and ecumenism. The basic idea behind the project was to bring [together] a leading American evangelical scholar and a leading American Catholic scholar, both familiar with their own tradition, with one another's tradition, and with the general landscape of "Christian learning," understood to mean what goes on at actual institutions of higher education, as well as the broader world of academic scholarship. Once this goal was formulated, two names quickly leaped to mind: Mark Noll and James Turner--scholars whom I have long suspected might be American reincarnations of the (irenic, erudite) Protestant reformer Philipp Melanchthon and the (irenic, erudite) Catholic humanist Desiderius Erasmus. . . . As planning processes got under way, however, Mark Noll accepted an endowed chair at Notre Dame, bringing his long and distinguished tenure at Wheaton [College] to an end and thereby making among his first tasks in his new post a toe-to-toe encounter with his new colleague and (then-serving) departmental chair, James Turner! Thus our dialogue lost the symbolism of confessionally contrasting institutions, even as we retained the intellectual firepower of the invitees. As readers will discover, those [at the conference] were rewarded with a heady mix of hard-earned erudition, theological commitment, and gracious eloquence--all focused on what I am persuaded are among the more interesting and consequential developments in recent decades: points of (promising) contact and (lingering) conflict between evangelical and Catholic approaches to higher education and scholarship.

It’s tempting to believe that the Christian faith is alive and well in our country today. Our politicians talk about God. Our mega-churches are filled. Christian schools dot our landscape. Brace yourself. It’s an illusion. Believe it or not, only 8 percent of Americans profess and practice true evangelical Christian faith. There are more left-handed people than evangelical Christians in America. In this book, Mark Driscoll delivers a wake-up call for every believer: We are living in a post-Christian culture—a culture fundamentally at odds with faith in Jesus. This is good and bad news. The good news is that God is still working, redeeming people from this spiritual wasteland and inspiring a resurgence of faithful believers. The bad news is that many believers just don’t get it. They continue to gather exclusively into insular tribes, lobbing e-bombs at each other in cyberspace. Mark’s book is a clarion call for Christians. It’s time to get to work. We can only do this if we unite around Jesus and the essentials found in his Word, while at the same time, appreciating the distinctives within each Christian tribe. Mark shows us how to do just that. This isn’t the time to wait or debate. Join the resurgence.

Stemming from the Desiring God 2009 National Conference, Julius Kim, Douglas Wilson, Marvin Olasky, Mark Talbot, Sam Storms, and John Piper invite us to sit with Calvin in the theater of God, marveling at his glory.

If the Bible teaches that the Lord is sovereign over all and that mankind is naturally hostile towards God, then it stands to reason that we would never choose the Lord apart from the Holy Spirit working within us to change our hearts. Proceeding from this logical starting point of God's sovereignty and man's depravity, it necessarily follows that God must save His people from their sins, those that are otherwise helpless and in a desperate state. No theological system like Reformed theology allows one to remain consistent when carrying out one's beliefs to the ultimate conclusions as the doctrines of God's sovereignty and grace do. Murrell examines common arguments against Calvinism and demonstrates how they are oftentimes the result of misunderstandings, faulty reasoning, or poor scriptural exegesis. God's sovereignty is not so much a barrier to Calvinism as it is a powerful support for it.