Posts by Terry L. Johnson

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A Directory of Worship for the PCA?

Terry L. Johnson
Aug 5, 2024
A Directory of Worship for the PCA? The PCA’s “Directory for Public Worship” ( DPW ) has been in constitutional limbo since its adoption at the Third General Assembly in 1976. Book of Church Order 56-58 have full constitutional authority (sacraments and membership), while Book of Church Order 47-55...

Music at the GA and the PCA

Terry L. Johnson
Jul 3, 2023
Does the PCA in general understand the role of music in the worship of the Reformed Church? The answer must be no if our annual experience at the General Assembly gives any indication. What the Reformation revived was the congregational singing of the patristic church. The medieval church had...

What Is “the Name?”

Terry L. Johnson
Oct 13, 2021
Were the Jehovah’s Witnesses right? Among their central boasts is that they have revived the covenantal name of God, the Hebrew YHWH, sometimes pronounced Yahweh and sometimes Jehovah, that Jesus came to restore. Ancient Hebrew has no vowels so the precise pronunciation may never be known. Given...

J.I. Packer: A Personal Remembrance

Terry L. Johnson
Aug 13, 2020
J.I. Packer July 22, 1926-July 17, 2020 Shortly after the death of Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), Dr. Packer delivered a lecture-sermon at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary entitled, “Martyn Lloyd-Jones: the Greatest Man I Ever Knew.” It says something important about Packer that despite the sad...

The Good Shepherd

Terry L. Johnson
Apr 21, 2020
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" — John 10:11 Among the most cherished titles of Christ is that of “The Good Shepherd.” Never resting, ever vigilant, exposed to the elements, vulnerable to predators, the beloved Shepherd persists in leading, caring,...

Coronavirus and the Church: Compliant, or Uncreative?

Terry L. Johnson
Apr 6, 2020
It has been surprising to see the speed with which the churches have shut down public operations and shifted their ministries online. Having this online capacity is a wonderful provision during an epidemic, one unavailable to previous generations. Livestreaming allows the church to do something...

Where Jesus Is

Terry L. Johnson
Mar 16, 2020
Where is Jesus today? One might assume that because Jesus is God the Son, He is present anywhere and everywhere. Indeed, He is! According to His divine nature, He is omni present. Our interest, however, is not in His omni presence , but His blessed presence. Granted, that too can be manifested...

Parachurch, or Quasi-church?

Terry L. Johnson
Mar 3, 2020
Parachurch organizations have played an important role in my spiritual pilgrimage. At one time or another my spiritual growth has been accelerated by the work of the Row Bible Study at the University of Southern California, Campus Crusade for Christ, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and the...

James Baird: A Personal Remembrance

Terry L. Johnson
Feb 17, 2020
James MacKenzie Baird, Jr. August 11, 1928 – January 31, 2020 James M. Baird, Jr. was among the most consequential Presbyterian pastors of the mid to late 20 th and early 21 st centuries. He was one of a dozen or so men who rightly could claim to be a founding father of the Presbyterian Church in...

Christians in the Cultural Closet

Terry L. Johnson
Mar 27, 2019
Our society celebrates the openness with which it accepts homosexuality and transgenderism. It contrasts our present enlightened times with past eras when what are now called "sexual minorities," LGBTQers, were once consigned to the closets, forced to keep their "sexual identity" hidden. Now those...

The Zwinglian Option

Terry L. Johnson
Jun 21, 2018
You will have heard of the " Benedict Option " for coping with the culture wars. I would like to propose to Reformed Protestants the "Zwinglian Option" for ending the worship wars: eliminate all music from our public services. Zwingli, the outstanding musician among the Reformers, removed all music...

Martin Bucer and the Reform of Worship

Terry L. Johnson
Feb 8, 2018
If Martin Bucer (1477-1548) is not an un sung hero of the Reformation, he is certainly an under sung hero. This particularly is the case when it comes to public worship. Bucer's fingerprints are all over Calvin's Form of Church Prayers (1542) as well as the Book of Common Prayer (1552, 1559, 1662...

The Quest for Biblical Worship (Part 2)

Terry L. Johnson
Sep 18, 2017
Reformed churches not only have the regulative principle worship (RPW) to guide them regarding elements and forms, but they also, throughout their history, have had liturgies and directories. The liturgies were the more restrictive ( e.g. Strasburg , Geneva , Amsterdam), the directories (...

The Quest for Biblical Worship (Part 1)

Terry L. Johnson
Jul 27, 2017
Which is more likely today, liturgical sameness or liturgical strangeness ? Which is more damaging to the integrity of Protestant denominations? Are we suffocating from liturgical uniformity--encountering the same old predictable things in the Reformed churches we attend? Or, are we unsettled by...

J. Alec Motyer: A Personal Remembrance

Terry L. Johnson
Aug 30, 2016
I left for England from Los Angeles in September 1977 because of one man and one book: J. I. Packer and Knowing God . Looking back, it was quite naïve of me to undertake such a journey knowing so little about my destination. As we were about to land in London, an English fellow noticed I was...

A Troubling Turn: PCA General Assembly 2016

Terry L. Johnson
Jun 29, 2016
By and large I have stayed out of the politics of the General Assembly (GA) for the past 34 years. Because I pastor at an independent Presbyterian church, I have not been motivated to educate myself--in a significant way--about the nuances of the BCO (Book of Church Order). If I'm honest, I have to...

Hughes Oliphant Old: A Personal Remembrance

Terry L. Johnson
May 30, 2016
Tomorrow the remains of Hughes Oliphant Old (April 13, 1933 - May 24, 2016) will be interred at the Christian Street Cemetery in White River Junction, Vermont. A prince in Israel has died, leaving behind mourners who will miss both his genteel Christian piety and the vast body of knowledge that he...

Scripture and Worship: Biblical Interpretation and the Directory of Public Worship

Terry L. Johnson
Oct 28, 2007
The dust that can be seen swirling in the distance is the aftereffects of Richard A. Muller's scholarly avalanche. He has marshaled mountains of historical evidence to bury the various twentieth century agenda-driven "Calvin against the Calvinist" schemes devised to drive a wedge between the great...