From Patrol Mag:

PatrolTV: Christopher Hitchens & Douglas Wilson from Patrol Magazine on Vimeo.

Why do people leave our email list?

Whenever someone unsubscribes, we ask them to tell us why. Not because we’re upset, but because we’d genuinely like to know—perhaps they can offer us tips on how to improve.

But sometimes—sometimes you just, well, see for yourself:

It’s not important enough to me. I like my camera and take photos with it regularly but am not a serious photographer.

Taken from Pastor Wilson’s blog:

Here are the unfolding details about the Hitchens/Wilson book tour/debate, as I understand those details. I will be with Christopher Hitchens next Wednesday (October 29) at King’s College in the Empire State Building at twelve noon. This will be a book signing event in a town hall style meeting, hosted by Marvin Olasky, who is the provost of the college there. That evening Christopher will be debating a rabbi somewhere (I think), and I will be answering questions at 8:30 pm for the atheist/agnostic clubs for Columbia and NYU. I don’t know the venue for that. I assume someone is going to just take me there. Hope so anyway.

The next evening, October 30, we will be in Philadelphia hosted by Westminster Theological Seminary at 6:30 pm. The moderator for that event will be Scott Oliphant, the professor of apologetics there at Westminster. That will be more of a traditional debate. I believe this will be the event with the most room.

The final event of the tour will be on Friday, the 31st, in Georgetown in the DC area, at a place called Martin’s Tavern. This debate will be from 2:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon. Because the seating there is limited (only room for 100), here is some very important information on that. Admittance will be on the basis of your name being on a guest list, and applications to get on that list need to be made to this address: hitchens.vs.wilson@gmail.com – and if you make it onto that list, you will receive confirmation of that fact.

If you can’t make it to any of these events, please pray for us. There will be a camera crew accompanying us everywhere, and a documentary of the whole thing is being made. If you have to wait for the video, you should have a great seat, and you will make it to all the events on the tour. But if you can make it in person, it will be great to see you there.

For about three weeks out of every year, Moscow is transformed in an autumnal wonderland. I know this isn’t unique, but since we spend so much time looking at clouds, or dirty snowbanks, or sunburnt fields, the changing colours of autumn are a real treat. We’re right in the thick of it these days: out my windows (and back a block or two) are various collections of yellow and orange leaves. It’s beautiful, and while I do love the snow, I’m really enjoying the piles upon piles that surround us.

(Why do I always include a weather update? Beats me. It just seems appropriate somehow—a recognition that time is still moving.)

The real reason for this blog post is to point you to some cool places around the internet. Well, actually, they’re just places where people are talking about Canon books. But we think that’s cool, and if you’re reading this, then you probably agree.

Rachel Bagley has a fantastic review of Is Christianity Good for the World? that just she posted this morning. Along with summaries of main arguments and comparisons to “The Great Debate” (Bahnsen vs. Stein), she also notes “Wilson’s grace: congeniality towards his opponent, thankfulness to God and Christianity Today for the forum provided, and the grace given in the gospel message at the end of the book.”

Sarah Groves (of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) has reviewed the upcoming Heaven Misplaced on her church’s blog. Are you an avid anti-postmillennialist? Well, Sarah writes that

even if you are not convinced by Historic Optimism, you will still find this book encouraging. Wilson evocatively reminds us of what Jesus’ death and resurrection actually accomplished. He really is the Lord of all nations. He really has been given authority over all powers. All we have to do is declare the authority and power that Jesus already has. If you are serving in what looks like a fruitless situation, these reminders are timely and life-giving.

Which is exactly what we wanted this book to do. (And starting December, you can stop just trusting us and see for yourself.)

Lastly, Logos Bible Software is starting to create some custom libraries with Canon titles—so far, they have five available. Hop on over, and take a look: they’re ideal for pastoral or personal study (since Logos incorporates them so that you can search your LBS library through Scripture passages).

We have just released a brand-new Cantus Christi audio companion, titled Worship in Harmony. In a nutshell, this new product is designed to help families and congregations learn to sing the Psalms and hymns from the Cantus in four-part harmony. You can read more about it here.

But we also felt that it was important to explain why we’ve taken on this project, and why we believe that learning to sing in harmony is worthwhile. So, we asked some of our local pastors and friends to write short pieces on this subject. This article, our first, is written by Pastor Toby Sumpter (Trinity Reformed Church, Moscow, ID).

Congregational singing can be one of the most glorious or most appalling sorts of experiences. Especially in smaller congregations, there may be a few trained voices and ears, but many in our generation have not grown up learning to sing psalms and hymns, much less sing in four part harmony. But this is a pursuit that many of us have undertaken, and it really should be seen as central to a recovery of a robust reformational catholicity. Not only was the ancient practice of congregational singing recovered in the Reformation, there was a certain way of being catholic that was recovered in the reformation. As the Reformers themselves insisted over and over again, they were not interested in founding a new church, rather they were seeking that one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church that had been lost or obscured somewhere along the way. Singing harmonies in four parts is a wonderful picture of the kind of catholicity the Reformers and many of us today are trying to live out. The Scriptures are the music that God has called us to sing, and you are called to sing a particular part, in your context, in your community, in your church, and in your family. And as you sing that part to the glory of God and to the best of your ability, it becomes a blessing to others; it harmonizes with the other parts and makes a glorious sound. At the same time, there will be noises that periodically erupt from a rambunctious bass section that no one wants to claim as being part of the music. There will always need to be periodic shakedowns of the choir since Christendom is a messy place to live. But we are the saints that God is gathering into his heavenly Jerusalem with all our spots and wrinkles, tone deaf and all. But Christ doesn’t leave us that way. He is washing us with water by the word, teaching us to sing and turning our messes into music. The point is that God would have us learn to be content in our places, working to make our parts glorious, working to bless the altos and tenors down the street or next door or in the pew behind you. Learning to hear the music is called faith. And by faith, we sing our part trusting the One who will continue to build His Church until we sing in four parts, until our dissonance becomes harmony.