Why sing Psalms in public? Last night we had our beer and psalms event at the Brewery, and as usual, it was amazing. But one of the questions I get pretty often is, "Why?" So, here are a few of my go-to responses: Christianity is not a private religion. For a long time there has been a divide in religious life, where some have grown to accept and believe that your faith should be relegated to your internal thoughts and your home (but even then perhaps restricted from other people within your home). But the faith that we see in the scriptures is far and away different. What the people of the Bible believed affected they way they lived, in private certainly, but also in public. Jesus was publicly tried. Paul was publicly executed. Jesus taught and preached in public. Jonah went to a city of non-believers to call them to repent (and they did!). The apostles taught and healed publicly, and they even instructed how the Christian should interact with it’s government. The Christianity of the Bible is a public Christianity. One of the things that we do, in order to foster and reinvigorate this public-facing faith, is sing psalms in public. We sing them at breweries, we sing them at businesses, we sing them at court houses, we sing them in parks… we sing them everywhere and anywhere. Another reason for singing psalms is that we want to be a singing people again. The church, by and large, has lost the tradition of a singing congregation and traded it for “trained professionals” in the choir loft or on the worship team. But, again, if you read the Bible closely there is always singing wherever God’s people go. Jesus and the twelve sang a hymn together at the last supper (and likely many other times). David wrote the vast majority of the psalms in the Bible. King Jehoshaphat sent the singers before his army into battle. The Bible clearly communicates that Christians are a singing people, therefore, we want to be a singing people once again. Everyone. All God’s people. Especially the men. Lastly, we want to sing psalms in public because these are God’s words, and his word does not return void. Many people, upon hearing a psalm (sometimes even sung from their own lips) have had their hearts quickened, repented, and run to Jesus as their savior. Singing is a great way to put the scriptures into our minds, and singing publicly is a great way to bring it into the world around us.

A @TheCRCD senior fellow, @hunterbaker regularly contributes to the @WNGdotorg podcast on a feature called Washington Wednesday. This was a very difficult week in many ways and I commend Hunter’s wisdom in this episode. wng.org/podcasts/the-world-a…

Epic morning of facial hair in Senate State Affairs #txlege

Congratulations to Galveston Criminal DA @jackroady on his recognition as this year’s Oscar Sherrell Award winner for exceptional service to our association

Sergeant Harold Lloyd Preston Houston Police Department Sworn Date: August 25th, 1979 End of Watch: October 20th, 2020 HPD Academy Class: 86 Years of Service: 41 Rest in Peace, brother. You will always be remembered and your sacrifice will never be forgotten.