Music | A People for His Name

A Sacrifice of Praise – 2015

November 26, 2015

I praise the Lord for many things that He has done for me in 2015 and for His many blessings to me so far this year! The following summarizes the Lord’s blessings upon me in some key areas.

Bible Reading

I read the Bible through in English this year and am on target for finishing reading through the NT in Spanish by the end of the year. I also read the book of Revelation through sixteen times from mid-April to July!

Preaching

The Lord blessed me with four opportunities to preach in February 2015 at Iglesia Bautista de La Fe in Greenville, SC. Although I have prayed for and would have loved to have had many more opportunities to preach, the Lord thus far has not seen fit to give me any more preaching opportunities this year.

Teaching

This summer, I taught an adult Sunday school class for 8 weeks at my church, Beginnings at the End: Creation, Fall, and Redemption in the Book of Revelation. The series featured a thorough comparative analysis of Genesis 1-4 with the book of Revelation.

Guitar for Ministry

I had a number of opportunities to use the guitar in ministering to brethren this year. Along with a cellist and a violist, I played for three openers for the regular Sunday services at my church.

I accompanied a special for our Neighborhood Bible Class ministry on one Sunday this year. I also accompanied people singing specials on five Sundays in our Spanish ministry, and I ministered an offertory with a cellist on another Sunday.

I have had the privilege this year of teaching how to use the guitar in ministry on numerous occasions to some brethren from two Spanish churches. All of my students have made encouraging progress!

Spanish Ministry

The Lord has blessed me by allowing me to participate in the Spanish ministry of my church every other week this year, including giving a testimony in January about reading through the Bible in Spanish in 2014, praying for the offering in the service on several Sundays, and playing the guitar for specials six times. I also participated in evangelizing Spanish-speaking people on many occasions this year through our church’s regular neighborhood evangelism program.

The Lord has enabled me to produce several articles in Spanish this year. I have also produced some additional music resources in Spanish.

Blog Posts

This year, I have posted 84 times on my blog so far, bringing the total number of posts to 808 since February of 2011. I am very thankful for the Lord’s opening this ministry avenue to me and allowing me to continue in it!

Other Blessings

I got to participate in our church’s Good News ministry twice this year. In July, I helped each night with registration for our Neighborhood Bible Class ministry. On one Sunday, I did the Scripture reading for the morning service.

The Lord has blessed me with full-time work this entire year, including the privilege of giving a devotional every week at the beginning of our work day on Mondays. He has blessed me with several new guitar students this year, including my first online student!

Finally, although I have not progressed as much as I would have liked, I praise God for the substantial progress that He has allowed me to make this year in reading, speaking, and understanding spoken Spanish. I am especially thankful that I was able this year to make it through all the numerous free Spanish lessons at duolingo.com.

Blessed be the Lord who has continued His infinite goodness to me in 2015!

In Ministry, Mount Calvary Baptist Music Ministry, Preaching, Spanish, Sunday School

Audio of “Por el Amor de Su nombre”

November 22, 2015

This morning, three of us (2 guitarists and a cellist) accompanied the singing of the Spanish hymn, “Por el Amor de Su nombre.” This glorious song is the Spanish translation of Chris Anderson’s hymn, “For the Sake of His Name.”

With permission from Chris, here is a recording of our ministry this morning:

You can download the sheet music for this hymn here.

In Mount Calvary Baptist Music Ministry, Spanish

Guitar Music and Audio for “Oh, aldehuela de Belén”

November 17, 2015

Using MuseScore2, an excellent free music notation software, I produced a free PDF of the guitar music for Oh, aldehuela de Belén.

This PDF provides the melody, the first stanza, and the guitar chords to play this Christmas hymn in the key of F. It also provides the chord diagrams for every chord in the song for the first time that you play the chord in the song.

You can practice playing the melody and practice playing the chords along with the melody with this audio of the song:

In Guitar Music, Spanish

Guitar Music for “Whiter than Snow”

October 3, 2015

“Whiter than Snow” is a hymn that powerfully expresses a believer’s pleading with the Lord to cleanse him completely. This PDF provides the guitar music for the hymn in the key of G, the first stanza, and chord diagrams for all the chords used in the song.

You can listen to the chords of this hymn played on the guitar (along with the melody and certain other parts) here.

In Guitar Music

Viola, Cello, and Guitar Trio of “Whiter than Snow”

September 28, 2015

Yesterday, three of us ministered a viola, cello, and guitar trio of “Whiter than Snow” at our church as the opener for the morning service. I praise God that this was one of those rare times that I have ministered that I hardly had to battle nervousness!

In Mount Calvary Baptist Music Ministry

Is This a Valid Assessment of Fundamentalism?

July 30, 2015

On a Facebook thread, a friend of mine posted in June the following assessment of fundamentalism:

Music is a clear instance where fundamentalism teaches a Manichean (an ancient heresy) view of the world by dividing everything into good or evil – good styles vs. bad styles, worldly music vs. Godly music. Augustine and other orthodox Christians rightly saw this as a faulty cosmology. It calls evil what God has created and declared as intrinsically good.

If you believe, as this friend does, that fundamentalists who reject certain musical styles are “Manichaen” heretics and hold “a faulty cosmology,” please show us “heretics” point-by-point from the Bible alone how we are calling “evil what God has created and declared as intrinsically good.” Where and how exactly does the Bible itself teach that God created all musical styles and declared them as intrinsically good?

In CCM, Theology

Learn Guitar for Ministry: Six-Week Beginner’s Class!

June 27, 2015

If you live in the Greenville, SC, area and are interested in learning to play the guitar for use in Christian ministry, I am offering beginning on July 20 two sections of a six-week beginner’s class at a phenomenal price! Each class lasts for 45-minutes and includes thorough instruction in my original method that will help you get off to a great start!

Space in both classes is limited, so please take the class only if you are serious about using the guitar for ministry. Completing this class is required in order to take the intermediate and advanced classes that I plan to offer later this year.

See how much you can learn in just six weeks! For more information, please contact me personally or by sending an e-mail to me at [email protected].

You can learn more about my guitar playing by watching this guitar-cello video.

In Guitar Music, Ministry

A Key Distinction That Many Believers May Be Missing

April 9, 2015

In their thinking about human sinfulness, many believers may often be missing a key distinction that Scripture repeatedly makes in both Testaments between two major categories of sins:

1. Samuel the prophet rebuked King Saul for his disobedience with instruction that distinguished between the sin of witchcraft/divination and the sin of idolatry:

^KJV1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

^NAS1Sa 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.”

2. The author of Second Chronicles relates the horrific sinfulness of king Manasseh by speaking of his idolatry (2 Chron. 33:3-5 and 33:7) in distinction from his involvement with occult practices (2 Chron. 33:6):

^KJV2Ch 33:3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

^NAS2Ch 33:3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he also erected altars for the Baals and made Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

^KJV2Ch 33:4 Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

^NAS2Ch 33:4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD of which the LORD had said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”

^KJV2Ch 33:5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

^NAS2Ch 33:5 For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

^KJV2Ch 33:6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

^NAS2Ch 33:6 And he made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

^KJV2Ch 33:7 And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

^NAS2Ch 33:7 Then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;

3. When Paul the Apostle lists various works of the flesh, he distinguishes between idolatry (Gal. 5:20) and witchcraft/sorcery (Gal. 5:20):

^KJVGal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

^NASGal 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,

^KJVGal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

^NASGal 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,

4. The apostle John likewise distinguishes the worship of demons and idolatry (Rev. 9:20) from sorceries (Rev. 9:21):

^KJVRev 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

^NASRev 9:20 And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;

^KJVRev 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

^NASRev 9:21 and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.

These four passages that are from both Testaments (as well as other passages) teach us plainly that we must not think of idolatry and occult practices as if they were basically the same sin. In our consideration, therefore, of cultural issues that are hotly debated among believers, such as the propriety of using rock music for Christian worship, we must be careful not to lump idolatry and the occult together.

This distinction is vital to keep in mind because the disputed teaching in passages that speak about idolatry, such as 1 Corinthians 8-11, does not apply to instances of cultural issues that involve contact with the occult. Those who argue that eating meat offered to idols is no problem for Christians when that meat is eaten outside of the context of actual idol worship cannot legitimately extend that teaching to say that Christian use of things associated with occult practices are similarly not a problem for believers outside their use in actual occult practices.

Scripture categorically forbids believers from having any contact with the occult and its practitioners. None of the passages typically cited in discussions of Christian liberty apply to Christian contact with the occult and things associated with the occult, and believers must shun all such contact.

In CCM, Interpretation, Theology

Excellent New Song from Psalm 40

March 26, 2015

Mrs. Esther Arnold from my church has written an excellent new song from Psalm 40. The music and an audio of my church singing the song are available here under the heading “Savoring Psalm 40.”

In Mount Calvary Baptist Music Ministry, Music

How to Apply Romans 14:1-15:13 Properly to the Debates about Christian Music: Part I

March 21, 2015

Many evangelicals as well as other Christians use Romans 14:1-15:13 frequently to challenge the views of Christians who hold conservative music positions. Typically, these believers who hold non-conservative music positions regard themselves as the strong believers of this passage and view those with conservative positions as the weak believers spoken of here.

To apply Romans 14:1-15:13 properly to any disputed area of Christian belief and practice requires thorough attention both to the larger context of the book of Romans and to the nature of the issues under consideration in this passage. Through giving such attention to this passage, we are able to assess correctly the validity of the common contention that those with conservative music positions are the weak believers of this passage.

In Part I of this series, I consider how putting Romans 14:1-15:13 in its larger context of the book of Romans is necessary for determining its proper application to the debates about Christian music. In Part II of this series, I intend to examine how the nature of the issues under consideration in Romans 14:1-15:13 itself bears upon its application to the debates about Christian music.

Romans 14:1-15:13 in Light of Its Larger Context of the Book of Romans

God did not give Romans 14:1-15:13 as a self-contained revelation of His mind about how to handle the issues that Christians debate; He gave this passage as part of the whole book of Romans. We can only rightly understand and apply this passage, therefore, when we properly relate it to other teaching by Paul in the book of Romans that has direct bearing on what sort of issues are in view in this passage.

The following six points bring out various aspects of Pauline teaching in the book of Romans that directly relate to the debates about Christian music:

1. Inventors of Evil Things — Paul taught that reprobate humans are “inventors of evil things” (Rom. 1:30). I have previously discussed (in this post) the relevance of this statement for the debates about Christian music. Concerning what issues Romans 14:1-15:13 pertains to, we can be certain that the teaching of this passage does not apply to issues concerning musical styles that evil humans have originated as inventors of evil.

2. The Whole Creation is in Bondage to Corruption — Paul testifies that the entire universe is under the bondage of corruption:

Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, ²¹ Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

To support their music positions, many Christian proponents of non-conservative music positions espouse views that in effect exempt instrumental music from the effects of the Fall of man. Scripture, however, provides no basis for holding that the bondage of the whole creation to corruption has not affected human creation of and use of instrumental musical styles.

3. Conformity to the World — Paul commands believers not to be “conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2). Many of those who hold non-conservative music positions in effect argue that this teaching does not apply to the instrumental musical styles created by humans who oppose God because they hold that all musical styles are inherently good and fit for human use by virtue of their being divinely created. Not only is there no Scripture to support such a view about the necessary inherent fitness of all musical styles, but also Scripture provides revelation that refutes the validity of such an assertion.

4. Casting off the Works of Darkness — Paul commands believers to “cast off the works of darkness” (Rom. 13:12). Scripture teaches that Satan is the prince who is energizing and ruling over the darkness of this evil world (Eph. 2:2; Col. 1:13).

Many rock musicians have testified to the controlling and originating role of demons in the production of their music. We can be certain that Paul never intended Romans 14:1-15:13 to be applied to things and practices that entail humans engaging in such demonically sourced works of darkness.

5. Turning from Dissolute Living — Paul enjoins believers not to live dissolute lifestyles:

Rom 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

Those who have originated rock music are infamous for their evil lifestyles, and they have testified that they created this music with the intent of promoting such wicked lifestyles. We can be certain that Romans 14:1-15:13 does not apply to music and other things that are so closely associated in these ways to people who live and promote such dissolute lifestyles.

6. Making No Provision for the Lusts of the Flesh — Paul directs believers not to make any provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts (Rom. 13:14). Because testimony directly from rock musicians abounds that they created their music for the purpose of influencing people to fulfill various lusts of the flesh, we can confidently hold that Romans 14:1-15:13 does not apply to such music that was specifically created to have these effects on people.

Conclusion

An examination of the larger context of Romans 14:1-15:13 within the book of Romans shows that Paul provides teaching in at least six passages that addresses considerations that show that issues that involve these considerations are issues to which Romans 14:1-15:13 does not apply. Because all six of these passages have direct bearing on certain aspects of key issues involved in the debates about Christian music, believers who hold conservative music positions because they heed the application of these passages to these issues are not the weak believers spoken of in Romans 14:1-15:13.

See my post Resources That Provide Answers to Key Issues Concerning CCM for much more biblical information about issues concerning what music God accepts in corporate worship.

In CCM, Exposition, Theology

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Romans 14:1-15:13 in Light of Its Larger Context of the Book of Romans

Conclusion

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