Reflections on Studying Four Subjects For Ten or More Years Each

October 15, 2021

In God’s providence, He has directed me to spend a decade or more studying each of four different subjects. These subjects have been quite diverse.

Stewardship of the Physical Body

Prior to becoming a Christian, I earned a bachelor’s degree in Fitness Instruction and a master’s degree in Human Performance. After I was saved, God used that background to open up a graduate assistant position while I worked on a Masters in Bible.

After finishing that degree, He led me to serve on full-time staff for many years in helping believers be good stewards of their physical bodies.

During those years of coursework and ministry, I studied intensely everything that the Bible teaches about health, exercise, nutrition, and stewardship of the body. God gave me numerous opportunities over that time to speak to believers on these subjects.

Evangelism and Discipleship

Soon after I was saved, I became very active in evangelistic ministries successively in the two local churches that I have been a member of during my lifetime as a believer. All through those years, I studied intensely all that Scripture reveals about evangelism and discipleship ministries.

God gave me many opportunities to preach and teach on these subjects for a number of years, but it has been quite some time since I have had such opportunities. It’s puzzling to me that I have not had more opportunities to edify God’s people in this area.

Christ as God’s Judicial Agent

After having served for many years in ministering to believers about stewardship of their bodies and about evangelism and discipleship, God dramatically redirected me to return for seminary work in a doctoral program. During those very hard years of working on that degree, God directed me to study with a passion everything that He has revealed in Scripture about Christ as His judicial agent.

During the years of working on that degree and for about a year afterwards, God gave me many opportunities to preach and teach on passages concerning the topic of my dissertation. Remarkably, however, I have had very few opportunities to do so in the past decade.

Acceptable Music for Corporate Worship

For at least the last decade, God has dramatically shifted the focus of my studies and ministry opportunities to an exhaustive study of everything in the Bible about music and worship. He has directed me to immerse myself profoundly in the book of Psalms during these years, beginning in 2012.

God has led me to write numerous articles about what Scripture reveals about music and worship and has given me several opportunities to speak multiple times on these subjects in a few churches. I am also writing a book about what God has given me in this area of study over this past decade.

Conclusion

Reflecting on how God has directed me during my Christian lifetime, I find it striking that God has led me to so intensively study these four different subjects during that time. Seeing how God has dramatically changed the focus of my studies and ministries more than once in my life makes me wonder what God may have in store for me in whatever years He has left for me to serve Him in this life.

God has been faithful in all these things in spite of much unfaithfulness on my part throughout these years. To God be the glory for all that He has done for and through me!

In Discipleship, Evangelism, Health, Ministry, Music, Preaching, Testimony

Beware This Faulty Notion about Christian Ministry

September 6, 2021

Is it an essential mark of a good preacher, teacher, or writer that he makes everything easy to understand for everyone? Scripture provides revelation that answers this important question decisively.

An Inspired Evaluation of Some Pauline Epistolary Teaching

The apostle Peter provides us with an inspired evaluation that some of Paul’s teaching in his epistles is not easy to understand:

2 Peter 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Keeping in mind that the Spirit inspired Paul to write everything in all his epistles exactly as the Spirit wanted them to be, we learn that the perfect Writer, the Holy Spirit, has not written everything that He has given us in Scripture so that all of it is easy to understand for everyone.

It simply is not true that a good preacher, teacher, or writer makes or even can make everything easy to understand for everyone. Although Christian ministers should try to make their preaching, teaching, and writing as understandable as possible, they should not burden themselves with the faulty notion that everything that they say about every subject must be made easy to understand for everyone.

Conclusion

There are subjects and issues that cannot be made easy to understand for everyone. Let us beware holding the faulty notion that if something is not easy to understand, the one communicating that message has necessarily failed to communicate it properly.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Ministry, Theology

Progress on My First Book

January 23, 2021

For the past decade, God has directed me to study Scripture intensely to learn what He has revealed about music. Lord willing, I hope to write my first book this year: “The Battle for Kingdom Music: A Call to Worldwide Consecration.”

I worked for several hours on the book today and am very thankful to God that I made some good progress!

As the Lord leads, please pray with me for Spirit-filled wisdom, skill, and grace to finish writing this book this year. Thanks in advance to any who pray for me about this matter in the days to come.

In CCM, Christian Books, Ministry, Prayer

Five Key Prayer Topics during This Pandemic

April 18, 2020

In a church-wide time of prayer this past Wednesday evening, my pastor directed six men to lead us online in a time of focused prayer on six key prayer topics. One topic was specific only to our church, but the other five apply to all believers in all local churches:

Reviving of God’s people

Salvation of lost people

Our church’s healthcare workers

Our missionaries and their churches

Our own protection and provision

Taking extra time to pray regularly about these prayer topics would be a great way to redeem the time during this pandemic.

In Discipleship, Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit, Prayer

“Finally, Christians, What Shall Be the Eternal End?”

April 13, 2020

The final question and answer of our Mount Calvary Baptist Church catechism:

Finally, Christians, What Shall Be the Eternal End?

The eternal end shall be that God shall be all in all, that the Lamb shall be served by us who see His face, and that these Divine Persons shall receive from every created thing blessing and honor, glory and power, dominion and praise forever and ever. Amen, and Amen.

These passages are cited in support of this final catechism:

1 Corinthians 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Revelation 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

Revelation 5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. 14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

In Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit

A Parable about Music Used in Missions

August 20, 2019

Should the music used in missions be in the “heart language” of the people being evangelized? This parable presents an important test case for assessing this notion about music used in missions.

Discovery of a New Tribe

Researchers discover a new tribe of people in a remote island that they had thought was uninhabited. They find out that these people are cannibals. The cannibals are also idolaters who sacrifice people as part of their worship of their idols.

Moreover, as part of one of their yearly feasts, the entire tribe gathers to eat people that they have sacrificed to an idol. After having sacrificed those people to an idol, the worshipers sit down to eat the people that they had sacrificed to the idol and to do so as part of their worship.

Following their meal, the cannibalistic idolaters rise up to play. In their playing, they fornicate ritually, sing, and dance wildly. They do so to music played by musicians who also participated in the eating of the sacrifices.

The researchers secretly document all that takes place in this feast with top-notch drones that produce high quality audio and video recordings of all that took place in the feast. They release the recordings in an international news documentary. Some Christians see the horrific documentary and decide that they have to reach these people for Christ.

Music Used in Missions

Some missionaries decide to take a missions trip to reach these people. God works marvelously and some of the cannibalistic idolaters become believers!

The newly converted people have a burden to reach the rest of their own people. They plant a church and invite some of their own people to their services.

The missionaries teach the people that they should use music in their own “heart language” to reach people in their services. Because of what the missionaries teach them, the former idolaters decide to use in their services the same styles of instrumental music that they know the idolatrous musicians played in those idolatrous feasts. Of course, they use that music to accompany godly lyrics.

Based on what Scripture reveals, what should we think of what these converted idolaters did musically in their church? Was their use of that music to evangelize something that is legitimate? Did the missionaries correctly teach these people about using music to evangelize people?

In Ministry, Music, Parables, Theology

The Battle for Kingdom Music

July 18, 2019

The vast majority of biblical content about music is not explicitly pertaining to music in the Church. Properly understood, all that the Bible says about music, however, is about music in God’s eternal kingdom. Therefore, we need to engage in The Battle for Kingdom Music because engaging in the battle for Christian music is too narrow a focus to treat properly what Scripture reveals about music.

Of course, in the battle for kingdom music, we must use Scripture to address the problems that we have in Christian music today. In particular, we must explain why God does not accept in His kingdom the use of rock music and music related to it.

Why Rock Music Is Not Acceptable Kingdom Music

To do so, we must help believers understand that the Bible does not teach that God created all musical styles or genres. We also need to explain to them why it is not biblical to hold that music without words is inherently neutral, amoral, or good.

Beyond that, we must make known that God has given categorical prohibitions to His people that completely preclude them from borrowing any music from wicked people who have crafted their music for wicked purposes or used it for wicked purposes. Many rock musicians have testified that they have designed their music to promote evil so we must reject it entirely.

Furthermore, we have testimonies from rock musicians that their music is demonic or sourced in demonic influence on them. God commands Christians not to have anything to do with anything sourced in or connected with human contact with supernatural evil. We must therefore completely reject all rock music and music that is derived from it or based upon it.

In order to fight the battle for kingdom music properly, we must give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of what God says about music that is fit for His kingdom. As God brings it to mind, I would appreciate prayers for God’s good hand to be on me for this ministry.

In CCM, Ministry, Music, Preaching

“What is Repentance unto Life?”

April 18, 2019

Mount Calvary Baptist Catechism, Question 67: “What is repentance unto life?”

“Repentance unto life is the change of heart whereby out of a genuine grief and hatred of our sin, we turn unto God with the earnest intent to strive after new obedience (Adapted from C. H. Spurgeon’s, A Catechism, Q. 70).”

—Pastor Mark Minnick

In Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit

1000 Posts in 8 Years!

December 15, 2018

Nearly 8 years ago, God answered my prayers by allowing me finally to have a website of my own! I would like to express my great gratitude to two friends who helped make my having a website a reality: Ashish Majmundar and Mark Ward.

Pace of Posting

From February 8, 2011 until today, I have posted 1000 times on my website! This total in slightly under 8 years averages to more than 125 posts per year and more than 2 posts per week.

I posted at least once a day from February 8 to June 5 of 2011 (119 posts in 118 consecutive days). My pace of posting has slowed considerably since those first four months. I now am trying to post at least once every two weeks.

Categories of Posts

I have posted in 10 categories on my site:

Discipleship 741 (Leading subcategories: Music – 278; Christian Books – 90; Bible Reading – 76; Exhortation – 77)
Interpretation 370
Theology 286
Evangelism 130
Ministry 97
Spanish 92
Dissertation 11
Uncategorized 10
Parables 8
Computers 6

I find it rewarding and confirming that the categories with the most posts (Discipleship [741] and Interpretation [370]) are fully in keeping with my ministry burdens and my PhD being in NT Interpretation.

Views of Posts with the Most Views

By far, my post with the most views has been about whether Solomon perished eternally: Nine Reasons Why Solomon Did Not Perish Eternally, which has been viewed 19,849 times since it was posted on August 19, 2013.

This screenshot lists the views of my posts that have been viewed 1000 or more times.

Conclusion

I praise God for giving me the ministry of this blog and pray that He will continue to use it for His glory for many more years!

In Discipleship, Ministry, Testimony

The Biblical Importance of Music

July 26, 2018

I had the privilege of preaching a message this past Sunday that treats extensively a glorious subject: The Biblical Importance of Music. I am very grateful for much positive feedback from brethren that God used the message to encourage and edify them greatly.

In Discipleship, Music, Preaching

Archives For Ministry

Stewardship of the Physical Body

Evangelism and Discipleship

Christ as God’s Judicial Agent

Acceptable Music for Corporate Worship

Conclusion

Share this:

An Inspired Evaluation of Some Pauline Epistolary Teaching

Conclusion

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Discovery of a New Tribe

Music Used in Missions

Share this:

Why Rock Music Is Not Acceptable Kingdom Music

Share this:

Share this:

Pace of Posting

Categories of Posts

Views of Posts with the Most Views

Conclusion

Share this:

Share this: