stevehartland.com

Isaac Watts (the "Father of English Hymnody") was born on this day in 1674.  Poor Isaac took quite a beating for his "contemporary" hymns (some things haven't changed).  But he persevered and did the church a great service. Mars Hill has an interesting (and brief - 4 min, 13 sec) video overview of his life and of the controversy surrounding his music.  You can find it Read More

What did Calvin think of traditions and forms of worship, and what did he teach about contextualization (he calls it "accommodation")?  He writes: "But because he did not will in outward discipline and ceremonies to prescribe in detail what we ought to do (because he foresaw that this depended upon the state… Read More

This Sunday Christians at Trinity will commune together at the Lord's table.  Here's a little communion art to prepare the way (it's better if you click on it and see it full size; it's a little squished for my blog).  Joos van Wassenhove (a.k.a. Justus of Ghent) was a Renaissance Netherlandish painter who spent the greater part of his career in Italy. He became a member of the Antwerp Guild in 1460, but by 1464 had moved to Ghent. Sometime after 1468 he went to Rome and by 1472 had settled in Urbino. Joos’s only documented work is The Communion of the Apostles (also known as The Institution of the Eucharist, 1472-74),… Read More

1 Corinthians 11:14 - "Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him?"  What's that mean?  And why did these guys (below) wear such long hair?  (Karel Dujardin, Netherlands, "Portrait of a Young Man," 1665, oil on canvas) Read More

Gonna talk about head coverings and gender roles this weekend (1 Cor 11).  There are lots of views on lots of things in this passage!  Can't wait to get into it. Could this (pic below) be a preview of things to come at Trinity? ("A Woman" by Robert Campin - c. 1430, oil on wood):  Read More

"Calvin didn't just plant small fledgling churches; he planted mega-churches that in turn planted more churches. It is difficult to fathom the extraordinary success of these Genevan sponsored missionaries. Even in our modern era, such statistics are unheard of."   One French church in Bergerac boasted to Calvin:

"There… Read More