False Christian teachings, trends….
The following 2 minute devotional by J. C. Ryle uses scripture to warn those who fail to check their preachers words against scriptures, as the apostle Paul encouraged believers to do. Jesus asked, in the gospel of Luke, 6:39, “Can a blind man lead a blind man, will they not both fall into the pit?” He was talking about false religious teachers and their hearers. Jesus’ intended to warn of the danger of listening to false teachers; this devotional offers insight
Psalm 50:15 [ESV 2011] and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” The believer’s present portion: trouble; his constant privilege, prayer; his future prospect, deliverance… Present: expect trouble; trouble springs up all around us in myriad forms: in mind, circumstances, body…from almost every quarter …We are poor pilgrims, this world is not our home; nor our country – we are strangers and aliens …Every day, trouble. Everything declares, “Happiness is not in me!” Only in Jesus is solid peace, holy satisfaction, and permanent comfort
Matthew David Montgomery plays a portion of Psalm 42 and also provides guitar instruction. His style is contemporary. The purpose of this post is to show that scripture can be sung in the worship service; and that it can be arranged in a contemporary style for those who don’t like the traditional or orthodox scripture singing styles. The great advantage of singing scripture is that you can be sure that God approves of the lyrics, He wrote them and His Spirit works via them. So many in the church today are being led astray by trendy sounding music like Hillsong; don’t be among them!
The Psalter explained by Pastor Matthew Everhard. He examines three types of Psalters, one for reading an two for singing; of the latter, one is scored and one not. In the process of his explanation, he provides a brief history of Psalm singing in the church.
This post shows a congregation singing from the Book of Psalms for Worship. My purpose in posting it is to show that a church can sing from scripture; to show also that in singing from scripture one does not have to worry about being led astray by music like that sung by Hillsong and other man-centered forms of music. God’s word is God-centered; has correct doctrine that is approved by Him, its writer!
J. C. Ryle stated that there is a four-fold cost for being a Christian: 1. your self-righteousness; pride; sense of personal goodness; merit… 2. your sins have to turned from, forsaken; every practice, habit, addiction that is wrong in God’s sight; you must be at war with these… 3. It will cost your love of ease: to fight a battle; to run a race; to watch and pray… and 4. It will cost one the favor of the world; to please God will result in being thought ill of by the world….
Christ experienced deep loneliness in His ministry and atoning work
This is a very thought provoking devotional about a state with which we’re all very familiar: loneliness. In a sense, we experience loneliness during all of our lives, even if we are surrounded by loving friends during much of it. How so? Our inner choices, questions, battles, sorrows, burdens…are faced alone (unless one is born again, in that case, Christ is with him) …He talks about several stages of life: the necessary struggles of youth; the loneliness of sorrow and loss; the loneliness of old age; and of death
My purpose in posting Psalms recently is to show that scripture can be arranged in a contemporary manner; furthermore, all who sing and listen can be certain that they are hearing music that is approved by God, He wrote the lyrics. Hearers and singers can also be sure that the content is doctrinally sound and edifying. No one can say that about contemporary Christian music in general; some has a trace of doctrine….
In this post, Psalm 104 is sung by Yamma Ensemble: Ensemble Yamma, Israel’s leading delicate world music ensemble presents original contemporary Hebrew music. The group members stay true to the character of the Middle East, the region where they were born and raised. The soulful, exotic music is accompanied by ancient musical instruments (kopuz, duduk, hand drums), which are typical of the Middle East.
This post shows a more traditional arrangement of Psalm 1, Composition by Dr. David Erb, of New Saint Andrews College and Christ Church, in Moscow, Idaho. Dr. Erb plays and sings the Psalm during the initial half of the following 4 minute video; the college choir sings during the second half. In case you are not familiar with Reformed Protestant churches, I have to say that their congregations sing from the Book of Psalms for Worship, like the college students in the video