Rajesh

Beware Dangerously Flawed Teaching and Practice That Robs People of Hope!

December 22, 2014

Having a proper hope in God is essential in life. An examination of Romans 15:1-4 points to a dangerously flawed teaching and practice that is robbing many believers of the hope that God wants them to have.

The apostle Paul begins Romans 15 by challenging those who are strong believers about the necessity of their bearing the infirmities of weak believers and not pleasing themselves (Rom. 15:1). He then directs every strong Christian to “please his neighbor for his good to edification” (Rom. 15:2).

He explains these directives to strong believers by pointing them to how even the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, did not please Himself (Rom. 15:3a). Rather, in keeping with what was written long ago, He accepted the reproaches of those who reproached God, His Father (Rom. 15:3b).

Paul explains further that everything that was written beforehand was “written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). Although this teaching applies to all believers, in context and in the flow of thought of Romans 15:1-4, these verses are direct apostolic instruction to strong believers that makes clear that they as strong believers need to learn from all that was written beforehand so that they would have the hope that God wants them to have!

It is a deadly trap for any strong, mature believer to think that he pretty much knows what the Bible teaches and no longer needs to immerse himself in all of it. By using the pronoun “our” in Romans 15:4, the apostle Paul, who was as strong a believer as there has ever been, instructs us that he believed that he needed to have hope through his receiving the patience and comfort that all the Scripture that was written beforehand provides!

Saying this, Paul made clear that he viewed his partaking of the entire OT as an essential aspect of his Christian living. Any Christian teaching or practice that in any way minimizes the importance of a believer’s reading and profiting from the entire OT is dangerously flawed Christian teaching and practice that will rob him of the hope that God wants him to have!

Especially if you are a strong believer, God wants you to heed what He has inspired for your profit in Romans 15:1-4. You need to feed on the entire Old Testament on a regular basis all of your life so that you will have the hope that God wants you to have!

In Bible reading, Exhortation, Theology

A Prophet, A Minstrel, and Resolving Today’s Worship Wars

December 20, 2014

To resolve today’s worship wars properly, all parties involved must profit fully from all divine revelation about music. To that end, this post examines a noteworthy passage about a prophet, a minstrel, and divine attentiveness to instrumental music.

Elisha’s Commitment to Separation from Those Who Had Compromised True Worship of the Lord

Second Kings begins by relating the miraculous end of Elijah’s prophetic ministry and the miraculous beginning of Elisha’s prophetic ministry (2 Kings 1-2). During the subsequent evil reign of king Jehoram over Israel (cf. 2 Kings 3:1-3), king Jehoram went with Jehoshaphat king of Judah and the king of Edom to inquire of the Lord through Elisha because Jehoshaphat knew that “the word of the Lord [was] with him [Elisha]” (2 Kings 3:7-12).

In this encounter with these three kings, Elisha initially rebuked Jehoram by protesting his seeking him out: “What have I to do with thee?” (2 Kings 3:13a). Elisha thereby made clear that he did not want to have contact with this evil king. He then instructed him to go instead and consult with the prophets of his parents (2 Kings 3:13b).

When Jehoram persisted (2 Kings 3:13c), Elisha testified to the all-important reality that he served in the presence of the living God (“As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand” [2 Kings 3:14a]). He then went so far as to say to Jehoram that he would not even have had anything to do with him had Jehoshaphat not been with him (2 Kings 3:14b).

These statements by Elisha attest to his commitment to separation from evil leaders who perpetuated horrifically compromised worship of the Lord (2 Kings 3:3). By divine design, we must therefore keep this reality in mind when we examine what Elisha did next in this encounter.

Elisha’s Request for a Minstrel to Play for Him and His Subsequent Prophesying

After he had rebuked Jehoram for seeking prophetic ministry from him, Elisha asked that a minstrel be brought to him (2 Kings 3:15a). When the minstrel played for him, “the hand of the Lord came upon him” (2 Kings 3:15b).

Elisha then prophesied what the Lord gave him to reveal on this occasion (2 Kings 3:16-19). The inspired writer of the book then records that what Elisha had prophesied took place the next morning (2 Kings 3:20).

Discussion

Why did Elisha request this musical ministry prior to his prophesying? Why did the Holy Spirit record this part of the encounter and what profit are we supposed to derive from it?

To understand the value of this revelation properly, we must first note that this passage does not say anything about the minstrel’s singing words to Elisha on this occasion. By divine design, this passage focuses our attention, therefore, on what resulted at this time from the playing of instrumental music.

Second, we must recognize that Elisha had no ability to bring about any divine response to the instrumental musical ministry that he requested and received. Because the Spirit has recorded that God did respond to that instrumental music, we learn that this passage is inspired revelation about divine attentiveness to and approbation of the instrumental music that Elisha received on this occasion!

Third, given Elisha’s intense commitment to separation from compromised worshipers of the Lord, the flow of thought in the passage points us to the truth of divine attention to and approbation of instrumental music ministered by a musician who is not a compromising worshiper of the Lord. By implication, we learn that both Elisha and God would have rejected instrumental music proffered by an ungodly instrumental musician (cf. Amos 5:23).

Conclusion

In a previous post, I treated a passage in Amos 5 that plainly teaches that God pays attention to the instrumental music that people use to worship Him. The account of Elisha, the minstrel’s playing, and God’s response to that playing similarly reveals divine attentiveness to instrumental music.

In discussions about issues concerning worship music, we must account properly for this vital biblical truth—God is not merely concerned with the words that are sung to Him; He also pays attention to the instrumental music that is used. In fact, through how the Spirit has chosen to inspire the revelation given to us in 2 Kings 3:15, we must accept the truth that He pays attention to and responds to instrumental music that is not accompanied by words!

Furthermore, the emphasis in the passage on Elisha’s separation from ungodly worshipers of the Lord directs us to scrutinize carefully the instrumental music that we use in divine worship and to reject instrumental music sourced in the evil activities of evil people, including people who profess to worship the Lord but compromise His worship. Attempts to resolve today’s worship wars that do not account for the truths revealed in 2 Kings 3, Amos 5, and other related passages will necessarily fail to resolve the issues involved properly.

In CCM, Exposition, Music, Theology

Un testimonio anónimo de la salvación

December 18, 2014

No estoy seguro de donde encontré este testimonio. Se ofrece un interesante relato de cómo alguien ha testificado de su salvación.

Mi Testimonio

Veinte y nueve años atrás el Señor me salvó en un motel en Las Vegas, Nevada. Se trata de 8:00 de la mañana. Yo estaba a punto de beber un poco de vino y de trabajo de algunos.

He trabajado en el motel una novedad para la empresa. Se paga bien. Mi esposa trabajó en un restaurante de una milla de distancia. Que estábamos haciendo bien financieramente.

Yo no estaba feliz de que por la mañana y muy desanimado. Sé ahora que Dios trabajó a cabo de esa manera.

Yo estaba sentado en la mesa en el cuarto de motel a punto de ir a trabajar. Encendí la radio en busca de algo de música, pero he encontrado a alguien hablar de Dios. Dijo que, si se quiere pedir al Señor que por favor perdone tus pecados, Él le salvar y darle una nueva vida y, a continuación, gracias a Él.

Bueno, yo pensé que sólo un minuto. Yo no la confianza, pero fui a la cama y se arrodillaron abajo, y dijo: Señor, si con reales como dice este hombre, por favor, perdona mis pecados y salvar mí y darme una nueva vida. Luego me dio las gracias a Él.

Yo no sabía lo que estaba guardado, pero inmediatamente perdió mi desánimo y me sentí pacífico y lleno de alegría. Le pregunté al Señor, si estoy realmente guardado, que me ayude a no pecar.

Por lo tanto, amigo, si usted se siente el Señor habla a usted, y le gustaría que se han salvado y una nueva vida, bajar por usted mismo y rezar. Pregunte al Señor para perdonar vuestros pecados y ahorrar. Si usted quiere decir negocios con Dios, Él le salvar.

~Inspirado por Dios.

¿Qué opinas de este testimonio?

In Evangelism, Spanish, Testimony

“Bendito sea el Señor” — un nuevo himno!

December 15, 2014

Recientemente, escribí un nuevo himno! Que Dios usarlo en gran medida para su Gloria.

Bendito sea el Señor

Bendito sea el Señor
porque Él es amor.
Inagotable es su amor
que en Cristo derramó.

Loado sea el Señor
que mora en la luz.
Incomparable es su amor
que mostró en la Cruz.

Honrado sea el Señor
porque Él es la verdad.
Siempre fiel es su gran amor
que nunca cambiará.

Bendito sera el Señor
quien nos envió la Luz.
Inalterable es su amor
que brota de la Cruz.

You may use this song in a ministry context provided you do not change any of the words and you provide copyright information to anyone whom you distribute it to. Please contact me for any other use of the song.

Escuchar la melodía de este himno:

In Music, Spanish

A Helpful Critique of Contemporary Worship Music

December 13, 2014

I have found several of the articles that Jonathan Aigner has written to be helpful as I continue to study issues related to the debates about the use of contemporary worship music. His post Modernized hymns: Are you singing hymns, or just contemporary songs with old words? is particularly thought-provoking because of his valuable analysis of seven indicators of “singing contemporary songs with old words.”

In CCM

How to Be a Blessed Person

December 13, 2014

Psalm 32 reveals essential truth about how to be a blessed person. Anybody who heeds the teaching of this passage will experience true blessedness in his life.

On Being a Blessed Person

In the opening verses of Psalm 32, David makes four statements about being a blessed person, and none of them speaks about the things that the vast majority of people in the world think are important for a person to have in order for him to be a blessed person:

Psa 32:1 <A Psalm of David, Maschil.> Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

² Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

The first three statements show that a blessed person is someone whose sins God has properly dealt with so that God no longer holds him accountable for his sins. Addressing your sin problem, then, is essential for you to be a blessed person!

The fourth statement reveals that a blessed person is a person who has a truly special character—he has no guile in his spirit! Although initially we might think that this fourth statement is not closely connected to the other three, a closer look at the following verses shows us that it is.

No Guile in Assessing Our Own Sinfulness

Immediately after saying that a blessed person has no guile in his spirit, David adds,

Psa 32:3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

⁴ For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

⁵ I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

These verse show that when David spoke earlier about not having guile in one’s spirit, he had in view that a person must honestly acknowledge his sins to God. He must not hide his sins; instead, he must confess them to the Lord in order to have them forgiven.

Discussion

To be a blessed person, you must not deceive yourself about any of your sins. You must not make any excuses for any sins that you have committed.

You must openly acknowledge them to God, who already knows all about all your sins. When you confess them to God, He will forgive you.

Only when all your sins have been dealt properly with by God will you be the blessed person that He wants you to be. God wants you to be a blessed person, and He has shown you how to be a blessed person through dealing properly with all your sins.

Conclusion

If you will without any deceit in your spirit repent of your sins, confess them, and forsake them, God will forgive you. Through repentance toward God and faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, you will be a blessed person!

If you are already a believer in Jesus, you still need to be a person in whose spirit there is no deceit toward God about your sins as a believer. He will forgive you when you confess them properly (1 John 1:9), and you will enjoy again being a blessed person, just as David did when he as a believer confessed his sins to God (Ps. 32:3-11).

In Evangelism, Exhortation

God Does Pay Attention to the Instrumental Music Used to Worship Him!

December 9, 2014

Every time that I read Amos 5, I am struck by what God says at the end of the passage concerning the instrumental music that His people offer to Him in their worship. Although I am still working on understanding the full significance of this passage for the debates about worship music in our day, I am convinced that it has great relevance to those issues.

Amos 5 and Divine Attentiveness to Instrumental Music

Because of the extreme offensiveness of His people’s religious hypocrisy, God made known that He intensely detested their ungodly worship. Tellingly, He said that He would not accept the things that they would offer Him:

Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

²² Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

²³ Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

²⁴ But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Remarkably, God rebuked His people by saying that He hated the special occasions of divine worship that He Himself had ordained for them!

It is noteworthy that God specifies here that He commanded them to take away the noise of their songs from Him and made known that He would not listen to the instrumental music that they would offer up to Him in their hypocritical worship. By direct and necessary implication, verse 23 reveals that God listens intently to the instrumental music that His people use in their worshiping Him and any music that is part of divine worship must be music that is a delight to Him.

Conclusion

Contrary to the notions that some believers seem to have, this passage makes clear that believers cannot legitimately hold that God only cares about the words that are sung to Him and doesn’t pay attention to the instrumental music that is used to worship Him. God has made known plainly in Amos 5:23 (and in other passages) that He does pay attention to the instrumental music used to worship Him!

In CCM, Exposition, Interpretation, Theology

Zechariah 8 and the Glorious Future of National Israel!

December 5, 2014

When I recently read through the Minor Prophets, I was struck again by how much revelation they contain that plainly points to a glorious national future for Israel. Zechariah 8 is one of many chapters that have multiple statements that teach this truth.

Zechariah 8:3-6

At its beginning, Zechariah 8 speaks of a time when the Lord will dwell in Jerusalem and Jerusalem will be spoken of in a distinctive manner that has never been true of it:

Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

From the time when Zechariah wrote this book until now, Jerusalem has never been called “a city of truth.” The next verses make clear that this is not some symbolic description of the eternal state and the New Jerusalem:

Zec 8:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

⁵ And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

The eternal state will not have people that age coexisting with a multitude of boys and girls. It is incomprehensible to me how any serious Bible interpreter could accept a symbolic interpretation of these verses.

The passage plainly sets forth the glorious national future that Israel will have in the Millennium!

Zechariah 8:18-23

The chapter concludes with revelation about a time when people from all nations will come to Jerusalem “to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and pray” before Him (Zech. 8:22). They will be convinced to seek out those who are Jews because they will have heard that God is with them (Zech. 8:23).

These statements have never been true in the history of Jerusalem since the time of Zechariah, and they certainly are not true today. They again set forth the marvelous glory that will be Israel’s in the Millennium!

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20) and “restore again the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6)!

In Interpretation, Theology

My Testimony of Praise for Reading the Entire Bible in Spanish in 2014

November 30, 2014

About three years, God began directing me in a path that I had never expected that He would. A pastor of a local Spanish church called me and asked if I would come and teach guitar at his church.

Although I had been praying for some time for an opportunity to teach guitar classes again, I had never thought about doing so in a Spanish church. The only Spanish that I had had was one semester in Junior High, so I was quite surprised to get such an opportunity.

As I began teaching the class, I soon became convinced that I really needed to learn Spanish so that I could communicate better with my students and teach them better. I began trying to learn Spanish, especially terms related to guitar and music theory.

Although trying to learn the language proved very challenging, God gave me many encouragements along the way. In spite of my having found it hard on several occasions to understand from a larger perspective why God would lead me in this direction that had never occurred to me, I did come to realize early on that learning Spanish and ministering in Spanish makes great sense for me because of how popular the guitar is in Spanish contexts.

Starting to Read the Bible in Spanish

As I continued to teach guitar classes in Spanish and have some opportunities to minister musically in a few churches, I became more convinced that God was directing me to learn Spanish for the sake of ministering in Spanish. I praise God that He blessed me with wonderful fellowship with many dear brethren throughout this time!

I began trying to read the Bible in Spanish and found it to be very difficult. At times, it would often take me many minutes to read and understand even one verse. Still, I managed in 2012 to read the book of Psalms in Spanish.

In 2013, I continued to try to learn Spanish on my own. I finished the Gospel of Matthew early in 2013 and made it through James, Galatians, and First, Second, and Third John by the end of the year.

Reading Through the Bible in Spanish in 2014

I began 2014 with an intense desire to read the entire Bible in Spanish this year. Reading in the Old Testament, especially in the Pentateuch, was incredibly hard, and I wondered if I would make it through.

God remained faithful to me even though there were times that I would find myself wondering again what am I doing trying to learn Spanish and minister in that language. In spite of many difficulties, God has allowed me to make much progress during the year so that my reading speed has continued to increase substantially.

Praise God, last Sunday, on November 23, 2014, I was able by the grace of God to finish reading through the Reina Valera in 2014! Wherever God leads us, as He has done with me in leading me down the completely unexpected path of learning Spanish for ministry, He is faithful to give us the grace to follow!

In Bible reading, Spanish, Testimony

Guitar Music for “Ora a tu Dios”

November 29, 2014

This PDF provides the guitar music for the melody (in my number format) and first stanza of “Ora a tu Dios.” This song is played on the second string.

In Guitar Music, Spanish

Archives For rajesh

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Elisha’s Commitment to Separation from Those Who Had Compromised True Worship of the Lord

Elisha’s Request for a Minstrel to Play for Him and His Subsequent Prophesying

Discussion

Conclusion

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On Being a Blessed Person

No Guile in Assessing Our Own Sinfulness

Discussion

Conclusion

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Amos 5 and Divine Attentiveness to Instrumental Music

Conclusion

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Zechariah 8:3-6

Zechariah 8:18-23

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Starting to Read the Bible in Spanish

Reading Through the Bible in Spanish in 2014

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