Discipleship | A People for His Name

Seeking Thoughtful Feedback about My Book on the Bible and Music

February 2, 2024

Friends, I’m looking for thoughtful feedback on the possible pros and cons of the following train of thought:

I have been studying the subject of the Bible and music intensely for the past twelve years. I have been working on a book on that subject for several years now.

Because I want to profit as many people as possible and as soon as possible with all my work in this area, I am considering disseminating the material of my book in a lengthy series of blog posts instead of an e-book or a printed book.

Doing it as a series of blog posts allows me to instantly make my work available all over the world and gives me total control of everything about how that material is formatted and does so at no additional cost to me. It also allows me to continually revise anything in my work on an instantaneous, ongoing basis.

It also removes inherent limitations that other formats have with what can be included (for example, printed books cannot provide live links to other articles on my site as well as on other sites; illustrations by necessity have many limitations that would not be true on a blog post).

Thoughts?

In CCM, Christian Books, Discipleship, Exposition, Interpretation, Ministry, Music, Theology

Bible Reading for January 2024

January 31, 2024

Bible reading so far for 2024:

—Finished Genesis, Proverbs, Matthew, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and James

—Read Exodus 1-23, Psalms 1-104, and Romans 1-5

—256 chapters read, 933 to go!

Praise God!

In Bible reading

Is It Important to Study the Bible in Its Original Languages?

January 6, 2024

Is it important to study the Bible in its original languages? An examination of James 3:2 in both English and Greek provides a clear example that answers this question decisively.

James 3:2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

A normal, natural reading of the beginning of this verse in English would lead one to believe that James teaches that in many things we offend all people, that is, we offend everybody, everyone etc. That reading regards “all” as the direct object of the verb “offend,” which is what a proper understanding of normal English grammar and syntax would indicate for that phrasing.

An examination of the original text, however, shows that this is a wrong understanding of what James teaches. Regardless of which Greek manuscript families we look at (BGT, BYZ, or SCR), the original reading is the same—the Greek word (ἅπαντες) that is rendered “all” in the verse is in a Greek case (the nominative case) that is *never* the direct object of a verb.

BGT James 3:2 πολλὰ γὰρ πταίομεν ἅπαντες. εἴ τις ἐν λόγῳ οὐ πταίει, οὗτος τέλειος ἀνὴρ δυνατὸς χαλιναγωγῆσαι καὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα.

BYZ James 3:2 Πολλὰ γὰρ πταίομεν ἅπαντες. Εἴ τις ἐν λόγῳ οὐ πταίει, οὗτος τέλειος ἀνήρ, δυνατὸς χαλιναγωγῆσαι καὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα.

SCR James 3:2 πολλὰ γὰρ πταίομεν ἅπαντες. εἴ τις ἐν λόγῳ οὐ πταίει, οὗτος τέλειος ἀνήρ, δυνατὸς χαλιναγωγῆσαι καὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα.

The correct understanding of the first part of James 3:2, therefore, is that we all offend in many things—it is not that we offend all people, everyone, etc.

This is a clear example that shows how reading the Bible in the original languages can greatly help us to interpret it correctly!

In Biblical Greek, Biblical Languages, Interpretation, Theology

Bible Reading Report for 2023

December 31, 2023

I finished reading through the Bible for 2023 this morning!

Because I taught an adult Sunday School class at my church this Fall, my reading of Scripture this year was heavily focused on the books that were covered in that class (indicated by * below).

Genesis—2 Kings – 1x each

*1 Chronicles / *2 Chronicles / *Ezra – 2x each

*Nehemiah / *Esther – 4x each

Job / Proverbs / Ecclesiastes / Song of Solomon – 1x each except for Psalms, which I read 12x

*Isaiah – 3x

*Jeremiah / *Lamentations / *Ezekiel – 2x each

*Daniel – 4x

Hosea – 1x

*Joel – 15x

Amos – 1x

*Obadiah – 5x

*Jonah – 7x

*Micah – 8x

*Nahum – 7x

*Habakkuk / *Zephaniah – 9x each

*Haggai – 3x

*Zechariah – 4x

*Malachi – 10x

Matthew—Revelation 1x each

In Bible reading

Sunday School Bible Reading Report Fall 2023

December 10, 2023

Today, I finished teaching my part of the second half of an adult Sunday School series, “Written for Our Admonition: A Survey of the Old Testament.” Reading books of the Bible repeatedly was a key part of my preparation for teaching that series.

The following table shows how many times I read each of the books that I covered in the series and the dates when I finished reading them.

1 Chronicles	6/19; 11/4	2
2 Chronicles	7/6; 11/5	2
Ezra	8/19; 11/10	2
Nehemiah	8/21; 11/24; 11/28; 12/1	4
Esther	8/24; 11/22; 11/25; 11/26	4

Isaiah	4/17; 9/19; 9/23	3
Jeremiah	5/25; 10/14	2
Lamentations	6/3; 10/14	2
Ezekiel	8/6; 10/20	2
Daniel	8/10; 10/26; 10/28; 10/29	4

Joel	7/31 (2x); 8/20; 8/24; 8/25; 8/28; 8/31; 9/1; 9/2 (2x); 9/3; 9/4; 9/7; 9/8; 9/10	15
Obadiah	8/9; 8/24; 9/4; 9/7; 9/10	5
Jonah	8/12; 8/24; 9/5; 9/7; 9/11; 9/15 (2x)	7
Micah	8/12; 9/25; 9/26; 9/29; 9/30 (3x); 10/1	8
Nahum	8/13; 8/24; 9/5; 9/7; 9/11; 9/15 (2x)	7
Habakkuk	8/13; 9/25; 10/2; 10/3; 10/4; 10/5; 10/6; 10/7; 10/8	9
Zephaniah	8/13; 9/25; 10/2; 10/3; 10/4; 10/5; 10/6; 10/7; 10/8	9
Haggai	8/13; 11/10; 11/12	3
Zechariah	8/14; 11/17; 11/18 (2x)	4
Malachi	8/15; 11/25; 11/29; 12/2; 12/3; 12/4; 12/7; 12/8; 12/9; 12/10	10

This fall has been the most concentrated time that I have ever had in reading the Minor Prophets. I found this intense time of reading these books to be very profitable and highly recommend using such an approach to studying them.

In Bible reading, Ministry, Sunday School

Salvation Testimonies to the Praise of His Glory!

November 27, 2023

Over the years, several brethren have given me permission to post their salvation testimonies on my blog. These testimonies abundantly give praise to God the Father for His glory in saving people.

Anonymous by request – A Vital Question to Consider: Are You Really Saved?

Anonymous from an unknown source – Un testimonio anónimo de la salvación

Mr. Homer Chinn – The Salvation Testimony of Homer Chinn

Mrs. Stephanie Heimann – A Grace Story: Stephanie Heimann’s Testimony for Baptism

Dr. Mary Kraus – HEDONIST CONVERTED: What Really Matters

Dr. Yoh Shirato – “From Japan with Love”: Yoh Shirato’s Testimony

I also praise God for what He has done in saving me:

How I Became a Christian

Cómo me convertí en un cristiano

In Testimony

Does Ecclesiastes 6:3 Speak of the Importance of a Burial?

November 18, 2023

Does the Bible teach that having a burial is important? Scripture has much to say about that issue, including a key statement by Solomon:

Ecclesiastes 6:3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

Although Ecclesiastes 6:3 speaks explicitly about not having a burial as a very bad thing, some believers today hold that the verse is not talking about having a burial per se. Rather, they hold that the verse is teaching about the importance of not having a funeral and not necessarily the importance of a person’s not being buried.

Lamenting and Mourning Distinguished from Being Buried

Examining the following passages that speak about burial shows us that this interpretation is wrong because all the passages distinguish lamenting and mourning for the dead loved one, which is typically a very important part of funerals, from burying that loved one:

Gen. 50:7 And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt . . . 10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days . . . 13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

1 Sam. 25:1 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

1 Sam. 28:3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

2 Sam. 3:32 And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept.

2 Sam. 3:33 And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?

2 Chr. 35:24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

2 Chr. 35:25 And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

Acts 8:2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

Moreover, other passages clearly distinguish lamenting and mourning for dead people from burying them by revealing that none of these proper actions that are distinct from one another would be done for them:

Jer. 16:4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

Jer. 16:5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies. 6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:

Jer. 25:33 And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

Conclusion

Scripture plainly teaches us that burying someone is distinct from lamenting and mourning his death. Based on what all these passages teach, Ecclesiastes 6:3 does not speak (merely) of how bad it is for a person to not have a funeral—it greatly stresses just how bad it is for a person not in actuality to be buried!

In Discipleship, Exposition, Interpretation, Theology

“Christ is Risen! Hallelujah!”

November 9, 2023

“Christ is Risen! Hallelujah!” by John S.B. Monsell is a hymn about Christ’s resurrection and exaltation that I do not remember ever singing before this year. I have been blessed in singing this hymn in my devotions on several mornings this year!

Christ is risen! Hallelujah! Risen our victorious Head!
Sing His praises! Hallelujah! Christ is risen from the dead.
Gratefully our hearts adore Him as His light once more appears,
Bowing down in joy before Him, Rising up from grief and tears.

Christ is risen! Hallelujah! Risen our victorious Head!
Sing His praises! Hallelujah! Christ is risen from the dead.

Christ is risen! all the sadness of His earthly life is o’er;
Thro’ the open gates of gladness He returns to life once more;
Death and hell before Him bending, He doth rise, the Victor now;
Angels, on His steps attending, glory ’round His wounded brow.

Christ is risen! Hallelujah! Risen our victorious Head!
Sing His praises! Hallelujah! Christ is risen from the dead.

Christ is risen! henceforth never death or hell shall us enthral;
We are Christ’s, in Him for ever we have triumphed over all;
All the doubting and dejection of our trembling hearts have ceased;
‘Tis His day of resurrection, let us rise and keep the feast.

Christ is risen! Hallelujah! Risen our victorious Head!
Sing His praises! Hallelujah! Christ is risen from the dead.

In Music

New Song: “Come, Now, O Blessed Spirit”

October 21, 2023

I recently wrote a new song that is sung to the same tune as “O God Beyond All Praising”!

Come, Now, O Blessed Spirit

Come, now, O blessed Spirit,
our hearts fill with grace
that we Your saints may give to
Jehovah our praise.

For none else is worthy
of honor, glory, laud,
For e’er Yours the kingdom,
pow’r, glory, O God.

We bless and magnify You
with blessings we bring.
May Your name be hallowed
for e’er O great King!

You can sing the song to the following MP3 audio of the song in the key of A!

In Music

What Did Paul Testify When He Evangelized Both Jews and Gentiles?

October 16, 2023

What did Paul testify when he evangelized both Jews and Gentiles? A careful examination of two passages instructs us plainly what Paul spoke when he ministered evangelistically to both groups.

Acts 13

Luke reveals to us what Paul testified as “the word of this salvation” in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia:

Acts 13:26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. 27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. 28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. 30 But God raised him from the dead: 31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.

Paul did not just testify (to the Jews and the Gentiles who were in the synagogue) of the death and resurrection of Christ—he also told them that Christ was buried and was seen many days by His witnesses.

1 Corinthians 15

Paul himself testifies to the gospel that he preached evangelistically to the Corinthians (who were Gentiles [cf. 1 Cor. 12:2]) so that they were saved:

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

As he did to the Jews and Gentiles in Antioch of Pisidia, Paul spoke evangelistically to the Gentiles in Corinth of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and appearances—he did not just testify to the death and resurrection of Christ.

Conclusion

The Spirit has inspired for our profit that Paul ministered evangelistically to both Jews and Gentiles by testifying to them of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and appearances. Whenever it is at all possible, we should follow Paul in evangelism by doing the same.

In Discipleship, Evangelism, Interpretation, Theology

Archives For Discipleship

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Lamenting and Mourning Distinguished from Being Buried

Conclusion

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Come, Now, O Blessed Spirit

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Acts 13

1 Corinthians 15

Conclusion

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