Discipleship | A People for His Name

Playing Hymns in Four Parts on the Guitar!

February 9, 2012

For several years, I have been working on developing a new guitar method that trains students to be able to play hymns in multiple parts straight from a hymnbook. This week, I had an exciting breakthrough in my own playing that reinforced to me the value of this approach for Christian musicians who want to use the guitar for ministry.

While practicing playing several hymns in two parts, I decided to try playing the SAT for Grace Greater Than Ours Sins. Encouraged by how well I was able to read all three parts and play them on the guitar, I decided to try playing all four parts of the song.

To my great delight, I was able to play measure after measure of the song! Although I played it much slower than it would be sung, just being able to make it through all 32 measures and play every note exactly where it would be sung or played on a piano was a huge encouragement and confirmation of the usefulness of this method.

I praise God for answering my prayers for enabling me to develop a method that should be able to train highly skilled guitarists who want to glorify God by playing hymns in multiple parts in church services!

In Guitar Music, Music, Testimony

Ten Things to Pray For Concerning the Super Bowl

February 4, 2012

The Super Bowl is scheduled to be played tomorrow evening. Many believers will intentionally pay as little attention as possible to it, and some may decry those believers who have any level of interest in the game.

Many other believers will pay attention to the game in various ways. Given that the game will be played barring some remarkable and unexpected providential intervention by God, here are some things that interested believers might consider praying for:

1. God would glorify Himself in an unmistakable way through whatever He allows to take place before, during, and after the game.

2. The number of believers who forsake the assembling of themselves together tomorrow would be amazingly small because of a supernatural working of God at a remarkable level to convince His people not to do so.

3. Success for whatever evangelistic efforts may be made by believers through commercials aired during the game or through attending the game or planning to be present somewhere near the stadium for that purpose.

4. The players would do no evil. It would be great to have a clean game where there are no dirty plays, especially plays that injure players unnecessarily.

5. The officials would have skill to officiate fairly and not miss any calls. It would be especially great if the game were not to be decided by a questionable call by the officials.

6. The team that wins would do so because they have striven lawfully.

7. Both teams would display excellent sportsmanship in everything that takes place.

8. The fans would not do anything to disrupt the game.

9. There would not be any tragic things take place among the fans such as have marred many major sporting events over the years

10. Law enforcement personnel would be supernaturally empowered to have great success in delivering a great number of the victims of the human trafficking that is expected to take place surrounding this event.

Who knows what God might do tomorrow if many of His people were to pray fervently along these lines!

In Prayer

Questions for Conservative American Christians to Ponder about Presidential Politics

February 1, 2012

As a fairly recent newcomer to American presidential politics, I have been pondering the very difficult challenges that our current political situation poses. Here are some thoughts that have come to me recently as I have been prayerfully trying to discern how God would have us to approach answering some important questions.

1. Had there been news polls at the time of Saul, David, and Goliath, what would they have said about David’s chances of beating Goliath?

2. Suppose that at that time there had been an 8-foot tall former Philistine warrior who nominally became pro-Israel and engaged in occasional worship of Jehovah but not in the same way as the Israelites did. This Philistine is an arms producer and decides to volunteer himself to go up for Israel against Goliath. Would the polls not have ranked him much higher than David? If so, would the establishment leaders in Israel not have clamored for him to be the Israelite’s choice to go up against Goliath instead of the comparatively speaking puny David?

3. Ephesians 2 teaches that the children of disobedience are being energized by the prince of the power of the air. Should the righteous support such presidential candidates as the ones who would best advance the kingdom of God and His righteousness in the US and the world because the polls say that they would fare best against the opposing parties’ candidates?

4. Just how exactly does the Bible itself teach us to vote for the lesser of two evils?

5. Does the Bible teach us that the character of a presidential candidate does not matter that much in view of other supposedly more important considerations because we are voting for a president and not for a preacher?

6. Is there not a God in heaven who can turn the hearts of the “precious” moderates to support a righteous candidate for president so that we do not have to settle again for a candidate that we have to tolerate because the polls say that he is the only one who can win?

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

The Marvelous Ending of Psalms

January 30, 2012

The book of Psalms ends with a profound emphasis on praising the Lord. This emphasis is revealed by the following points in the final five Psalms:

A. Each Psalm begins and ends with the same command, “Praise ye the LORD” (146:1, 10; 147:1, 20; 148:1, 14; 149:1, 9; 150:1, 6).

B. Commands to praise the Lord occur at least 36 times, with a magnificent crescendo consisting entirely of commands to praise Him in Psalm 150:

—146:1 [2x]; 10;

—147: 1, 12 [2x]; 20;

—148:1 [3x]; 2 [2x]; 3 [2x]; 4; 5; 7; 13; 14;

—149:1; 3; 6; 9;

—150: 1 [3x]; 2 [2x]; 3 [2x]; 4 [2x]; 5 [2x]; 6 [2x]).

C. Through these commands, God teaches us many truths about the theology of praise:

1. Praise must be given to the LORD, who is my God, your God, and our God: His name is to be praised!

2. The commands to praise Him are directed universally—all must praise Him: everyone who reads these Psalms; the believer’s own soul; Jerusalem and Zion; all His angels and His hosts; the sun, moon, and all the stars; the heaven of heavens; the waters that are above the heavens; the dragons and all deeps; fire, hail, snow, vapors, and stormy wind; mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings and all people; princes and all judges; young men, maidens, old men, and children; everything that has breath.

3. God must be praised everywhere: from the earth and the heavens; in the heights; in the congregation of the saints; in the dance; in His sanctuary; in the firmament of His power.

4. God demands praising Him with singing and numerous musical instruments: upon the harp, the loud cymbals, and the high sounding cymbals; with the timbrel, harp, psaltery, the sound of the trumpet, stringed instruments and organs.

5. God must be praised for a vast number of reasons:

—He is the help and hope of His people;

—He keeps truth forever;

—He executes judgment for the oppressed, feeds the hungry, looses the prisoners, opens the eyes of the blind, raises up those who are bowed down, loves the righteous, preserves the strangers, relieves the fatherless and widows, and turns the way of the wicked upside down;

—He will reign forever;

—He builds up Jerusalem, gathers together the outcasts of Israel, heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds, and tells the number of stars and calls them all by their names;

—He is great, of great power, and His understanding is infinite;

—He lifts up the meek and casts the wicked down to the ground;

—He covers the heaven with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass to grow on the mountains, and gives food to the beasts and the young ravens;

—He delights not in the strength of horses and does not take pleasure in the legs of man;

—He takes pleasure in those who fear Him and hope in His mercy;

—He has strengthened the bars of the gates of Jerusalem and blessed her children within her;

—He makes peace in her borders and fills her with the finest of wheat;

—He sends forth His commandment on the earth, and His Word runs very swiftly;

—He gives snow like wool, scatters the hoarfrost like ashes, casts forth His ice like morsels, and none can stand before His cold;

—He sends forth His Word and melts His ice;

—He causes His wind to blow and the waters flow;

—He shows His Word unto Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel;

—He has not dealt in this way with any other nation, and no other nation has known His judgments as Israel has;

—His name alone is excellent;

—His glory is above the earth and heaven;

—He exalts the horn of His people, the praise of all His saints, even the children of Israel, a people near Him;

—it is good to sing praises to our God;

—praising Him is pleasant and comely;

—He commanded and all things were created;

—He has also established His creation forever and made a decree that will not pass;

—He takes pleasure in His people and beautifies the meek with salvation;

—His mighty acts.

6. God specifies that we praise Him according to His excellent greatness, and with thanksgiving and dance.

7. All His saints have the honor of having His high praises in their mouth along with a two-edged sword in their hand in order to execute vengeance on the heathen and punishments upon the people, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, and to execute upon them the judgment written.

D. In addition to these commands, statements of resolve to praise the Lord occur two times (146:2 [2x]).

In view of the immense divine emphasis directing us to praise Him that we find in this marvelous ending of the book of Psalms, let us with the Psalmist resolve to praise Him while we live, while we have any being!

Praise ye the Lord.

In Exhortation, Music, Theology

"When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" in Bass Clef Solfeggio Method

January 26, 2012

Here is When I Survey the Wondrous Cross in my bass clef solfeggio method.

In Guitar Music

Carson on the Gospel: "The Gospel is Theological"

January 24, 2012

The gospel is theological. This is a short-hand way of affirming two things. First, as 1 Corinthians 15 repeatedly affirms, God raised Christ Jesus from the dead (e.g. [1]5:15). More broadly, New Testament documents insist that God sent the Son into the world, and the Son obediently went to the cross because this was his Father’s will. It makes no sense to pit the mission of the Son against the sovereign purpose of the Father. If the gospel is centrally Christological, it is no less centrally theological.

—D. A. Carson, <em>The Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1 — 19)</em>, 3

In Gospel, Quotes, Theology

The Value of Repeatedly Reading through the NT in Chronological Order

January 21, 2012

For several years now, I have not read through the NT in the order that most Bibles today have for the books of the NT: Gospels; Acts; Epistles; Revelation. Instead, I have been reading through the NT in the following order, which is likely the chronological order in which the books were first given to the Church by God:

James

Galatians

Matthew

1 & 2 Thessalonians; 1 & 2 Corinthians; Romans

Luke

Ephesians; Colossians; Philemon; Philippians

Acts

1Timothy

1 Peter

Titus

2 Peter

2 Timothy

Mark

Hebrews

Jude

John

1 & 2 & 3 John

Revelation

Reading the NT in chronological order repeatedly, I hope to have a better sense of how the early Church would have understood the relationship between various books of the NT. In particular, reading in this way has helped me, I believe, to have a greater understanding of the contemporary value of Acts and John.

For example, a strong contemporary emphasis on the current topical order of the NT books can easily lend itself to a flawed perspective that the Pauline Epistles somehow are more important than Acts for our understanding of what the actual gospel message was that the apostles preached. On the contrary, Acts was written after perhaps as many as ten of Paul’s Epistles had already been written and careful attention to this fact and the full content of Acts corrects some wrong notions about apostolic ministry of the gospel message that some have espoused through their placing undue emphasis on selected teachings of the Synoptics and the Pauline Epistles.

In a related manner, a lumping of John with the Synoptics lends itself to a lack of appreciation that John is a Gospel that was written many years after all the Pauline Epistles were written. We should then take care that our handling of the Gospel of John informs our understanding of apostolic ministry of the gospel at least as much as the Synoptics and the Pauline Epistles do.

In Bible reading, Interpretation, Theology

Seven Times a Day!

January 18, 2012

In Psalm 119:64, the Psalmist communicates his remarkable practice of praising the Lord in a statement that deserves closer attention to what it specifically says:

^KJVSeven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.

^LXESeven times in a day have I praised thee because of the judgments of thy righteousness.

^NAUSeven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous ordinances.

^NETSeven times a day I praise you because of your just regulations.

^NKJSeven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments.

^ESVSeven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.

He thus praised God seven times a day for His Word because of His righteous judgments that it reveals.

An article in the New Open Bible: Study Edition helpfully explains the word used by the Psalmist here:

Judgment (mishpāt, v. 7) is derived from the verb shāphat, “judge” or “govern,” and occurs about four hundred times in the Old Testament, sixteen times in Psalm 119 alone. The general idea is one of justice, or specific ordinances to promote justice. There are many distinct usages of the noun in both secular and religious law. Each specific ordinance of the Pentateuch is called a mishpāt (Lev. 9:16; Deut. 33:21, e.g.).

“The LORD is a God judgment” (Is. 30:18) and “loveth judgment” (Ps. 37:28). His “judgments are a great deep” (Ps. 36:6). Because God is just in His judgments, so should we His people be.”

—The Word of the Lord, 690; bold words are in italics in the original

The Psalmist’s statement thus expresses that he would praise the Lord seven times a day for His righteous judgments, which point to His glory as the righteous Lawgiver and Judge. How often, by contrast, do we praise God in a day for His glorious revelation of His righteous judgments?

Let us praise God, the righteous Lawgiver and Judge, daily for His righteous judgments!

In Exhortation, Interpretation, Quotes

A Plea for Fervently Praying Against Voter Fraud

January 16, 2012

Recent news stories have called attention to the issue of dead people’s having voted in recent elections in S.C. Hearing of such contemptible fraud in my home state, I have become even more burdened that believers need to be praying fervently against voter fraud in upcoming elections.

Prayer is our premier resource in opposing the efforts of evil people to cheat in elections. Only God is able to expose and foil the schemes of those who seek positions of civil authority in unrighteous ways.

Scripture teaches, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). Let us pray specifically and fervently that God would mercifully intervene in every upcoming election to prevent voter fraud.

Let us also pray that He would yet expose all fraud that has taken place in recent elections and that those who have engaged in such activity would be dealt with properly (Rom. 13:4).

In Prayer

Jingles Bells Ensemble Music

January 13, 2012

Here is a fairly basic layout of Jingle Bells in 4 parts. It is suitable for individual and ensemble playing on the guitar.

In Music

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