Christian Books | A People for His Name

“The Heart of the Good News” in Peter’s Gospel Message at Caesarea

September 20, 2013

The resurrected Jesus is announced to be the Judge-designate. . . . Without this point, we might be tempted to think of the resurrection as something tremendous that happened to him but which has no relation to us at all. Without this statement that the resurrected Lord is the Judge-designate, we might believe the story of Easter and comment, ‘Terrific! But after all, that was Jesus. What has that got to do with us?’ Verse 42 [of Acts 10] answers this question by linking our destiny to that of Jesus, for it tells us that Jesus is every man’s Judge. This statement says that the man whom God designated to judge us is the man executed on Golgotha and raised on Easter. If, then, our destiny depends on the verdict of this Judge, we must recognize that the story of Jesus is the story of the one who will be the arbiter of our status before God. Suddenly for each individual, the story of Jesus is transformed from a piece of interesting ancient history to the disclosure of ‘where my destiny hangs.’ This change makes the story of Jesus real news. But it still does not show why this is good news; it could just as well be bad news. . . . These words [v. 43] transform the information about Jesus into the good news for all mankind. According to this early sketch of the gospel, the good news consists of the headline that the Judge forgives those who believe on his name. That is, he forgives those who believe he is really the Judge. Here is the heart of the good news in this sermon: The Judge forgives.

—Leander E. Keck, Mandate to Witness: Studies in the Book of Acts, 68-69; bold added.

In Gospel, Preaching, Quotes

J. Blue on The Contemporary Relevance of Habakkuk

June 8, 2013

Writing in 1985, J. Blue expounded on the contemporary relevance of the book of Habakkuk for the state of the US. Nearly thirty years later, although a few aspects of what he wrote have changed somewhat, his words insightfully speak all the more of our current plight:

The crisis internationally was serious. But of even greater concern was the national corruption. Great unrest stirred within Judah. Josiah had been a good king. When he died, Josiah’s son Jehoahaz rose to the throne. In only three months, the king of Egypt invaded Judah, deposed Jehoahaz, and placed his brother Jehoiakim on the throne. Jehoiakim was evil, ungodly, and rebellious (2 Kings 23:36-24:7; 2 Chron. 36:5-8). Shortly after Jehoiakim ascended to power, Habakkuk wrote this lament over the decay, violence, greed, fighting, and perverted justice that surrounded him.

No wonder Habakkuk looked at all the corruption and asked, “Why doesn’t God do something?” Godly men and women continue to ask similar “whys” in a world of increasing international crises and internal corruption. Nation rises up against nation around the world and sin abounds at home. World powers aim an ever-increasing array of complex nuclear weapons at each other while they talk of peace. World War III seems incredibly imminent.

While the stage is set for a global holocaust, an unsuspecting home audience fiddles a happy tune. The nation’s moral fiber is being eaten away by a playboy philosophy that makes personal pleasure the supreme rule of life. Hedonism catches fire while homes crumble. Crime soars while the church sours. Drugs, divorce, and debauchery prevail and decency dies. Frivolity dances in the streets. Faith is buried. “In God We Trust” has become a meaningless slogan stamped on corroding coins.

In such a world of crisis and chaos, Habakkuk speaks with clarity. This little book is as contemporary as the morning newspaper.

—J. Ronald Blue, BKC: OT, 1507

In Quotes

Beware What You Expose Your Children To . . . !

May 29, 2013

Highly trained people know how to use music to enhance the effectiveness of violent scenes so that they influence others to the ends that they desire:

Aggressive behavior is more likely to occur when the violence is seen as part of highly exciting content (Tannenbaum and Zillmann 1975; Zillmann 1971).

Close-up shots, camera angles, and sophisticated film editing techniques can make violence even more graphic and larger than life. A steady undercurrent of music and sound effects also adds to the horror of many violent scenes. These techniques amplify fear in small children. Small children simply cannot comprehend that in real life, music rarely underscores an about-to-be-committed murder. The violent acts are often portrayed using these techniques so that the violent action becomes something of a climax. It’s an end result that brings with it a release of tension, and in that the act becomes a good thing because it relaxes the tone of the movie and the muscles of the viewer! It also releases the anxiety or suspense that has been built up in the viewer’s mind. In the real world, a child is more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior and to commit an act of violence to experience that same release of pent-up emotions. —Saturday Morning Mind Control, 57

These highly skilled people use music in such settings to manipulate young children who are defenseless against such manipulation. Beware what you expose your children to because they do not have the same abilities that you have to process highly emotionally charged situations that use music in this way!

In Discipleship, Music, Quotes

"Celebremos su Gloria": An Excellent Spanish Hymnal!

May 10, 2013

I first began using Celebremos su Gloria by Librios Alianza/Celebremos about two years ago in a guitar class that I began teaching then at Iglesia Bautista Fundamental Tabernaculo in Greenville, SC. It is an excellent Spanish hymnal because it provides the following:

1. Music, words, and guitar chords (in both Spanish and English) for 652 songs that are divided into the following categories:

Nuestro Maravillos Dios

Nuestro Señor Jesucristo

Nuestro Divino Consolador

Nuestra Santa Biblia

Nuestra Grandiosa Salvaciόn

Nuestra Vida en Cristo

Nuestra Amada Iglesia

Nuestro Glorios Futuro

Nuestros Grupos y Ocasiones Especiales

Nuestro Culto

Having the guitar chords for all the songs in the hymnal makes this a uniquely valuable book among my hymnals because it is the only hymnal that I have that does so. This resource has been a great help in my teaching all my guitar students.

2. An excellent introductory section Disfrute Su Himnario that explains how to enjoy your hymnal by understanding these features in each song:

Symbolos; Pasajes Biblicos; Matiz; Transiciόn; Duraciόn; Punto Resaltado; Reconocimientos; Derechos Reservados; Versiculo Lema; Respuesta Musical; Acordes Para La Guitarra; Tonada; Tonalidad; Introduccion Instrumental

3. Many other innovative features designed to help you delight yourself:

Deléitese Con Estas Novedades: 32 páginas a color, poesías, reflexiones doctrinales, lecturas bíblicas integradas en cada secciόn, indices, gráfica de acordes para la guitarra, anécdotas biográficas y de inspiraciόn, música hispana y universal, e himnos y cánticos de ayer y hoy.

4. A very helpful explanation of symbols used in the hymnal: Explicaciόn de Los Símbolos. This section is excellent for learning many Spanish musical terms.

5. A Table of Contents that lists the ten sections of the hymnal (listed above in point one), the subsections in each section, and information about the subsections of section eleven Nuestro Himnario, an extensive collection of indices.

6. A superb ending section Nuestro Himnario that includes Informaciόn general and a collection of twenty-two indices that provides a vast wealth of information about the songs in the hymnal:

Dibjuos y fotografías
Índice de dueños
Índice de autores y compositores
Índice de notas biográficas
Índice anécdotas histόricas
Índice de lecturas antifonales
Índice de citas de lecturas antifonales
Índice de pasajes biblicos
Himnos basados en pasajes biblicos
Índice de versículos lema
Banderas
Índice de tonadas (melodías)
Índice de metros poéticos
Índice de cadenas musicales
Lecturas especiales y reflexiones
Índice de respuestas musicales
Índice de poesías
Música especial
Acordes para guitarra
Índice tópico
Índice general
Índice de cánones (rondas)

This superb hymnal is available for purchase online at amazon.com: Celebremos su Gloria. I praise God for leading one of my students to give me a new hardbound spiral copy of this hymnal last night in our guitar class!

In Christian Books, Guitar Music, Music, Spanish

Thomas Case on Affliction

May 3, 2013

God by discipline takes our hearts by degrees from this present world and makes us look homeward. He lessons the esteem of the world that we might discover the excellencies of heavenly comforts and draws out the desire of the soul to fully desire God’s presence. Affliction shows the glories of heaven: to the weary it is rest; to the banished it is home; to the scorned it is glory; to the captive it is liberty; to the struggling soul it is conquest; to the conqueror it is a crown of life; to the hungry it is hidden manna; to the thirsty it is the fountain and waters of life, and rivers of pleasure; to the grieved soul it is fullness of joy; to the mourner it is pleasures forevermore; to the afflicted soul heaven cannot fail to be precious.

—Thomas Case, When Christians Suffers, 57

In Quotes

F. B. Meyer on Suffering in the Will of God

April 28, 2013

Suffering in the will of God challenges us to persevere in our faith. God desires to use such suffering to advance His kingdom and righteousness in many ways, including further conforming us to the image of His Son. We need to keep the right perspective about such suffering:

The tears of those who suffer according to the will of God are spiritual lenses and windows of agate. As the weights of the clock or the ballast in the vessel are necessary for their right ordering, so is trouble in the soul-life. The sweetest scents are only obtained by tremendous pressure; the fairest flowers grow amid Alpine snow-solitudes; the rarest gems have suffered longest from the lapidary’s wheel; the noblest statues have borne most blows of the chisel. All, however, is under law. Nothing happens that has not been appointed with consummate care and foresight.

—F.B. Meyer, Our Daily Homily; bold text is in italics in the original

In Quotes

Andrew Murray on Hebrews 11:35-38 and Our Suffering

April 26, 2013

In his book, The Holiest of All, Andrew Murray provides some excellent comments on Hebrews 11:35-38 and suffering:

Heb 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

³⁶ And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

³⁸ (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

God has given us these examples of those who by faith triumphed over the extremities of suffering , that we might from them learn how to bear our lesser trials. Their faith in extraordinary suffering must strengthen ours in ordinary. It is in the little common trials of daily life that every believer can follow in the footsteps of these saints, in the footsteps of the great Leader of our salvation. By faith alone are we able to bear suffering, great or small, aright to God’s glory or our own welfare.

Yes, by faith alone. Faith sees it in the light of God and eternity; its short pain, its everlasting gain; its impotence to hurt the soul, its power to purify and to bless it. It sees Him who allows it, with us in the fire, as a refiner watching our purging and perfecting, as a helper of our strength and comfort. It sees that the forming of a character like that of the Son of God, maintaining at every cost the Father’s will and honour, is more than all the world can give. It sees that to be made partaker of His holiness, to have the humility and weakness and gentleness of the Lamb of God inwrought into us, and like Him to be made perfect in suffering, is the spirit of heaven, and it counts nothing too great to gain this treasure. By faith alone, but by faith most surely, we can, in the midst of the deepest suffering, be more than conquerors.

—Andrew Murray, The Holiest of All, 470-71.

In Discipleship, Quotes

The Bible!

April 15, 2013

THE BIBLE contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.

It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed.

CHRIST is its grand subject, our good the design, and the glory of God its end.

It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

—From the Gideons International New Testament

In Bible reading, Christian Books, Quotes

Beware This Widely Overlooked, Deadly Type of Hypocrisy

April 8, 2013

In the thinking of most people, being a hypocrite probably means something along the lines of saying one thing but doing another. In Luke 12, we learn that Jesus challenged people about a much more deadly type of hypocrisy that is widely overlooked.

Jesus Instructs His Disciples and the People about Hypocrisy

Speaking to a vast multitude of people (Luke 12:1), Jesus warned His disciples about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (12:1-13). On that same occasion, he challenged the people about hypocrisy by pointing out a glaring discrepancy in their lives:

Luk 12:54 And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.

⁵⁵ And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.

⁵⁶ Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?

⁵⁷Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?

Jesus sternly chided these people because they capably assessed some indicators of their time but did not do so with others that were equally obvious. John A. Martin explains their hypocritical failure:

Jesus taught the crowds that they needed to be sensitive to interpret the things they were seeing. Though they had been observing His ministry they were not able to ascertain that He was truly the Messiah. He made the point that they, with no trouble, could interpret natural signs (western clouds and south winds—the appearance of the earth and the sky). But they could not discern spiritual signs. They should discern what was going on right in their midst—He was offering the kingdom and they were not responding properly to His offer.—BKC: NT, 239; emphasis in original

Jesus thus reproached people for being hypocrites by their rightly discerning specific weather indicators but not doing so with spiritual ones.

Darrell L. Bock summarizes Jesus’ forceful challenge:

Jesus then turns to the crowd. He rebukes them for not spotting the obvious. They can read the weather, but they are blind to what God is doing. Jesus clearly reveals the nature of the time; yet they do not respond. —Luke 9:51-24:53, 1200

Based on Jesus teaching here, Norval Geldenhuys gives this sobering warning:

To-day also there are for us all many signs pointing to the seriousness of life and to the necessity of right living. Especially those who have the opportunity of reading the Bible and listening to the preaching of the Gospel have the fullest opportunities of discerning the signs of the times and of knowing that Jesus is the Redeemer. He who is blind to this and who does not take heed, while the period of grace continues, to have peace with God through the Saviour, must await a dark future.—Luke, NICOT, 369.

These commentators reveal that Jesus challenges us all to be sensitive to judge rightly the valid spiritual information that we have been exposed to in our lives. Failing to do so, we will be guilty of a deadly hypocrisy that is much more serious than what people often complain about concerning the so-called hypocrisy of religious people.

Please take a few moments and read the good news that God has for all people and believe: The Good News for All

In Exhortation, Exposition, Quotes

The Wilds Songbook: Eight Edition

March 9, 2013

THE WILDS Christian Association, Inc. has updated their songbook to make this excellent music resource even better. The Eight Edition includes the following:

MANY NEW SONGS

The book now has 221 songs (23 more than the seventh edition), including 64 public domain songs. Many good new songs have been added; one of my favorite ones is By the Gentle Waters.

FULLER INFORMATION ABOUT THE GUITAR CHORDS IN THE SONGS

Each song includes the guitar chords, including many songs with a much fuller indication of what chords to play to make the song sound even better than when it is played with just the basic chords!

A new notation that shows what chords are optional in the songs helps less advanced guitar students know what chords they can omit to make the song easier for them to play.

The fuller chord information allows greater variety when playing the song because the guitarist can vary between playing all the chords on certain stanzas and omitting the optional ones on others.

Songs that are in difficult keys for guitarists are much easier to play than they would be otherwise because they have information about where to put the capo and what chords to play the song in for the easier key.

EXPANDED CHORD CHARTS

The Standard Guitar Chords chart provides diagrams for 63 basic chords arranged alphabetically in rows by key, from A to G (9 in each key – Major, Sus, Sus9, Aug, Sixth, Seventh, Major Seventh, Minor, and Minor Seventh). Additional information with the chart explains the choice for including Sus9 chord diagrams in this edition in place of Sus2 chord diagrams in the previous edition.

The Diminished Chords chart shows the same chords as before but now also has a helpful explanation about how they have been notated consistently in the book “to simplify your chord usage.”

The Additional Guitar Chords provides diagrams for many more chords than the previous addition did (170 versus 114)!

SONG INDEX

The book ends with a comprehensive alphabetical index of the songs. Comparing this index with the one for the seventh edition readily shows that many new songs have been added and some have been removed, which makes it valuable to have and use both editions.

PROVEN VALUE

I have been using the Wilds Songbooks with nearly all of my private students for many years. My students have really liked using these books!

Recently, I began using the Eighth Edition as one of the main books for some of my students in a class in a local church. I highly recommend it for all guitarists who like to play Christian music!

In Christian Books, Music

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