Discipleship | A People for His Name

Ten Key Notions That the Bible Does Not Teach about Music

December 12, 2015

What the Bible teaches about music is a very important subject that is an issue of much controversy among many believers today. A careful, thorough examination of Scripture shows that it does not teach ten key notions that many people believe about music:

1. God created all music.

2. God created all musical styles or genres.

3. All musical styles or genres are inherently amoral, neutral, or good.

4. All musical styles or genres are inherently good and fit for human use, including for divine worship.

5. God has called Christians to “redeem” certain musical styles or genres by using them to accompany Christian words.

6. Secular testimonies about evil spirits and music are inherently unreliable.

7. Music can only be sensual if it has sensual lyrics.

8. God does not care about the instrumental music that is used to worship Him—He only cares about the words that are sung to Him.

9. Believers with conservative musical positions have the burden of proof concerning musical styles or genres that they say are unacceptable for Christian use, especially for divine worship.

10. For a musical style or genre to be unacceptable to God, Scripture must explicitly say that He does not accept it.

For detailed, biblical explanations of how the Bible does not teach these notions, see the articles referred to here.

In CCM, Music, Theology

What Does the Bible Say to God’s People about Global Warming?

November 30, 2015

God’s people properly believe that the Bible is the word of God, that whatever the Bible says is so, and that whatever it says about any subject is vital information about that subject. What does the Bible say to such people about global warming?

Scripture has two passages that speak directly about global warming consisting of devastating worldwide increases in temperature resulting from God’s judgments coming on the earth: Revelation 16:8-9 and 2 Peter 3:7-12.

Rev 16:8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. ⁹ And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

⁸ But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

¹¹ Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

¹² Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

For us as God’s people who believe the Bible properly, these passages provide the most important information about global warming to which we need to give urgent attention. Strikingly, both passages directly speak to us about God’s desire that human beings repent of their sins (Rev. 16:9; 2 Pet. 3:9) so that they will not be consumed by the devastating global warming that God will bring about in the future!

As God gives us as believers opportunities to engage people on the subject of global warming, we should graciously set before them what the word of God has to say about the fearful global warming that will truly destroy the present heavens and the earth! We should then appeal to them to repent and believe the gospel of God and His Christ.

Furthermore, we who are believers should allow these passages to challenge us continually to be all that God wants us to be in view of the devastating global warming that surely is going to come to all the world. Let us truly be people who live our lives “in all holy conversation and godliness” (2 Pet. 3:11) as we continue “looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God” (2 Pet. 3:12).

In Exhortation, Theology

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

Using NT Greek to Learn Spanish: The Use of “Acaso” in a Question

October 27, 2015

I have been studying NT Greek for many years now. In the past several years, I have been learning Spanish so that I can preach and teach in Spanish churches.

I recently got the idea of using my understanding of NT Greek to help me learn more Spanish. This approach has proven to be helpful for understanding certain uses of Spanish words that I was not able to figure out using my Spanish dictionary or grammar books.

**The Use of acaso in a question**

By looking at the Greek for several passages that in my Spanish Bibles begin with acaso used with an indicative verb in a question, I was able to figure out that this use of acaso signifies a question that expects a negative answer.

For example, Matthew 7:16 reads as follows in the Reina Valera Revised 1960 (R60) and in Scribner’s 1894 Greek New Testament (SCR):

^R60Mat 7:16 Por sus frutos los conoceréis. ¿Acaso se recogen uvas de los espinos, o higos de los abrojos?

^SCRMat 7:16 ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς· μήτι συλλέγουσιν ἀπὸ ἀκανθῶν σταφυλὴν, ἢ ἀπὸ τριβόλων σῦκα;

In this verse, ¿Acaso se recogen . . .? is the Spanish rendering of μήτι συλλέγουσιν . . . ; In the Shorter Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, this verse is directly cited in the entry for μήτι:

μήτι interrogative particle in questions that expect a negative answer, often left untranslated, but cf. μήτι συλλέγουσιν surely they do not gather . . . do they? Mt. 7:16;

I think a literal translation of the R60 of Matthew 7:16 would be something along these lines: “By their fruits you will know them. (Surely) grapes are not gathered from hawthorns, are they? Or, figs from burs of a plant?” and the expected answer to both questions is “No.”

John 7:48 provides another example of this use of acaso in a question:

^R60Joh 7:48 ¿Acaso ha creído en él alguno de los gobernantes, o de los fariseos?

^SCRJoh 7:48 μή τις ἐκ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐπίστευσεν εἰς αὐτόν, ἢ ἐκ τῶν Φαρισαίων;

Based on the Greek of this verse, I would translate the R60 as follows: “Not any from the rulers or the Pharisees have believed in Him, have they?” Again, the expected answer is “No.”

James 3:11 also features acaso in a question to signify that a negative answer is expected:

^R60Jam 3:11 ¿Acaso alguna fuente echa por una misma abertura agua dulce y amarga?

^SCRJam 3:11 μήτι ἡ πηγὴ ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς ὀπῆς βρύει τὸ γλυκὺ καὶ τὸ πικρόν;

My translation of the Spanish of this verse: “(Surely) a fountain is not putting forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter water, is it? No.”

These three examples show how understanding NT Greek can help with learning Spanish!

In Biblical Greek, Spanish

Biblical Bases for Morning and Evening Corporate Worship

October 21, 2015

Scripture provides at least 11 passages that give devoted believers a solid biblical basis to hold that God desires that His people today would worship Him corporately in the morning and the evening on the Lord’s Day. These passages may be divided into three major groups.

Offering Sacrifices

Exo 29:39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:

Lev 6:20 This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the LORD in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.

1Ch 16:40 To offer burnt offerings unto the LORD upon the altar of the burnt offering continually morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which he commanded Israel;

2Ch 2:4 Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.

2Ch 13:11 And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.

2Ch 31:3 He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.

Ezr 3:3 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.

Singing, Giving Thanks, Praising, and Playing Musical Instruments

1Ch 9:33 And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in that work day and night.

Psa 92:1 <A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.> It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

² To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

³ Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

⁴ For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

Proclaiming and Serving

Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Rev 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

Application

These passages shows that Scripture repeatedly testifies to the importance of divine worship taking place both in the morning and in the evening. Based on this evidence, it is inconceivable that God doesn’t care whether His people today in their local churches worship Him corporately only once on the Lord’s Day versus worshiping Him both in the morning and in the evening on the Lord’s Day.

God has given us these passages (as well as other passages) to provide a pattern for His people to worship Him both in the morning and in the evening on His special day, the Lord’s Day. Churches should have both morning and evening worship services on the Lord’s Day!

One other passage also attests to the importance of morning and evening worship of God by presenting how a king of Judah perverted divine worship by having that worship offered on a copy of a pagan altar that he had made:

2Ki 16:15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.

In Discipleship, Theology

Does Frequency of Corporate Worship Matter to God?

October 15, 2015

A young guy and a young girl meet and fall head-over-heels in love with each other. They are both free to spend time with each other on Saturday mornings and evenings every week. One of them wants to be with the other both times but the other thinks that it’s enough to see the other once on each Saturday, either in the morning or in the evening.

What would we think about the difference between these two? Would we not think that the one who wants to be with the other both times has a greater desire to spend time with and be together with the other person than the one who only wants to be together once even though they could be together both in the morning and in the evening?

God loves His own with a perfect and infinite love and delights in communing with them and desires that they worship Him. Does God care when some groups of believers meet morning and evening on the Lord’s Day because they want to meet together to worship Him as much as they can but other groups of believers think that meeting together once on the Lord’s Day is enough?

Does frequency of corporate worship matter to God?

In Discipleship, Theology

On Corporate Prayer Meetings versus Small Groups

October 12, 2015

Many churches that once had regularly scheduled prayer meetings have discontinued those services altogether. Some churches now meet in small groups instead of having a corporate prayer meeting at their churches.

For several biblical reasons, regardless of whether they also meet in small groups at other times, churches should have regularly scheduled corporate prayer meetings.

Continuing in the Legacy of Pentecost

After the Resurrection of Jesus, a key group of believers were gathered together in one place and all “continued with one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14). The Holy Spirit later birthed the Church when on the day of Pentecost He came on believers who “were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1).

Because the Church was born through God’s moving upon believers who had devoted themselves to praying together in one place, churches today that have regularly scheduled corporate prayer meetings continue in the legacy of Pentecost in a way that churches who do not have such meetings do not.

Churches Should Be Houses of Prayer That Highlight Prayer Meetings

During His incarnation, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God, acted forcefully to cleanse from the temple of God those people who were defiling it (Mark 11:15-16). On that occasion, He taught that it was written that God’s house would be called of all nations “the house of prayer” (Mark 11:17).

Christ obviously greatly valued the temple’s having that designation by all nations! It is unthinkable, then, that God would want that testimony to have ended with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.

On the contrary, we would rightfully expect that God would act so that people of all nations would yet have the opportunity to call His house the house of prayer. When Jesus commissioned His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, how would that opportunity be best extended to the people of all nations?

Pauline teaching in 1 Timothy answers that question decisively. Paul taught Timothy that the Church was “the house of God” (1 Tim. 3:15). He also commanded Timothy that corporate prayer was to have vital importance in the churches of God (1 Tim. 2:1-8).

Based on Jesus’ teaching about the house of God, Paul’s declaring to Timothy that the Church of Jesus Christ is the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15), and his instruction that corporate prayer have a vital place in the Church of God (1 Tim. 2:1), local churches most assuredly should be houses of prayer! As the house of God, local churches should maintain a vital testimony to their community and the world that they are houses of prayer—they should have at least one stated regular prayer meeting that affords anyone who would desire to do so the opportunity of coming to God’s house and rightfully calling it a house of prayer because they experience the primary importance that those believers place upon such prayer meetings!

The Unique Value of Corporate Prayer Meetings

Paul teaches believers that when they assemble together corporately in one place and all minister together, they put themselves in the position of having God use them effectively to bring people to worship Him in a way that their gathering non-corporately does not put them (1 Cor. 14:23-25; see this post for an exposition of this vital truth). Because churches are the houses of God, they should maximize their usefulness to God as His houses of prayer in all nations by having regularly scheduled corporate prayer meetings that He can use in the lives of needy people!

Application

The regularly scheduled corporate prayer meetings of a local church continue the legacy of Pentecost and furnish people with the opportunity to be in God’s houses of prayer in a way that small groups do not. Such corporate prayer meetings allow the believers of a local church to be used by God to minister in the lives of people uniquely in a way that small groups do not!

Although small groups that meet for Bible study and prayer undoubtedly on many occasions benefit many of the believers who meet in that way, they are not corporate prayer meetings of a local church. For all the reasons presented above, churches should not discontinue their regularly scheduled corporate prayer meetings or replace them with small groups!

In Discipleship, Prayer, Theology

Why Churches Should Not Replace Evening Services with Small Groups

October 5, 2015

Scripture provides believers in churches with solid reasons not to replace their Lord’s Day evening services with small groups. This post presents a key line of biblical reasoning that supports this view.

The Importance of the Psalms for NT Believers

The apostle Paul instructs believers that they are to use the Psalms as a key part of Scripture with which they are to minister to one another:

Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

¹⁹ Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Given this explicit apostolic direction, believers rightly need to base their views about worship on what God reveals about worship in the Psalms. Although there are many key passages that need to be considered, Psalm 92 is a premier passage because it is explicit inspired instruction to believers about worshiping the Lord on a day of the week that He has especially consecrated for worshiping Him.

What Psalm 92 Teaches Believers about Worshiping God

For OT believers, God set aside one day of every week as a day that was to be distinct from all other days of the week. Psalm 92 explains what God’s perspective was about His people worshiping Him on that day:

Psa 92:1 <A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.> It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

² To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

³ Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

⁴ For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

The Sabbath was a day on which giving thanks to God and singing praise to Him was a good thing (Ps. 92:1). Obviously, doing these things on the other six days of the week was also a good thing; nevertheless, God’s saying that it was good to do these things on the Sabbath highlights the goodness of doing so on His day.

The Psalmist specifies that these things were to be done at two periods in the day: in the morning and at night (Ps. 92:2). This explicit divine teaching instructs believers that worshiping God in the morning and in the night on the Sabbath was a good thing.

Not only did the Psalmist reveal that God was to be worshiped in those two periods, but also he added that worship was to include instrumental music using several instruments (Ps. 92:3). Psalm 92 thus plainly teaches believers that corporate worship in the morning and evening that includes singing and playing instruments in worshiping God is a good thing.

Application of Psalm 92 to the Lord’s Day

The NT reveals that the Lord’s Day belongs to God in a unique way that goes beyond what was true about the Sabbath. It is unthinkable, therefore, that God expects less from NT believers on the Lord’s Day (worshiping Him only once a day) than He did from OT believers on the Sabbath (worshiping Him twice a day).

The NT further reveals that God has specified that an entire church assemble itself in one place to worship Him through the combined ministry of all the believers in the church (1 Cor. 14:23-25). Furthermore, Scripture does not provide any passages that document that believers ever met in small groups on the Lord’s Day, either in the morning or in the evening, instead of meeting corporately to worship Him.

Of all the days of the week, believers should be the most diligent to base what they do in worshiping the Lord on the Lord’s Day as much on the Scripture as they possibly can. Based on the combined teaching of Ephesians 5:18-19, Colossians 3:15-16, Psalm 92:1-4, 1 Corinthians 14:23-25, and the many passages that show that the Lord’s Day belongs uniquely to the Lord, believers can have full confidence that worshiping the Lord corporately on both Lord’s Day mornings and evenings is a good thing that God wants them to do.

Conclusion

The biblical line of reasoning presented above gives believers clear biblical direction to assemble themselves together both in the morning and in the evening on the Lord’s Day to worship Him corporately. The believers in a church should meet together in one place and worship Him through singing accompanied by musical instruments on both Lord’s Day mornings and evenings.

Furthermore, believers should not follow the ideas of so-called church marketing “experts” when those ideas lead them to abandon worship practices that have solid biblical basis. Churches should not replace evening services with small groups!

In Discipleship, Exposition, Theology

Archives For Discipleship

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Bible Reading

Preaching

Teaching

Guitar for Ministry

Spanish Ministry

Blog Posts

Other Blessings

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The Use of acaso in a question

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Offering Sacrifices

Singing, Giving Thanks, Praising, and Playing Musical Instruments

Proclaiming and Serving

Application

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Continuing in the Legacy of Pentecost

Churches Should Be Houses of Prayer That Highlight Prayer Meetings

The Unique Value of Corporate Prayer Meetings

Application

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The Importance of the Psalms for NT Believers

What Psalm 92 Teaches Believers about Worshiping God

Application of Psalm 92 to the Lord’s Day

Conclusion

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**The Use of acaso in a question**