False Christian teachings, trends….
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
This post is about Psalm 19: one short video is a contemporary arrangement of the Psalm by the group Sons Of Korah; one 2 minute video is by N. T. Wright providing an overview of the Psalm; and lastly, a children’s organization used Psalm 19:14 as a children’s song for the planting of a godly seed and memorization
This post contains two songs using only scripture, by vocalist, Esther Mui: Psalm 119:137-144 (NKJV) Song “Righteous are You, O Lord;”and from Psalm 34:1-9 “O Taste and See that the Lord is Good” Although these songs have a contemporary flavor, they are certainly approved by God, as He wrote the lyrics
There are two 1 minute acapella videos in this post that use only words of scripture. The vocalist’s voice is lovely. If you should happen to want to memorize either of them, singing along with her will certainly aid you.
James Smith was a predecessor of Charles Spurgeon at New Park Street Chapel in London from 1841 until 1850. Early on, Smith’s readings were even more popular than Spurgeon’s! This post is related to the preceding one, Walking in the Spirit; it provides a few insights about how the Spirit works in the born-again believer. …Although I have written about that topic a lot, especially the beatitude posts, I have only scratched the surface. And since contemporary Christianity seemingly understands nothing of the matter, this post is to help believers who seek answers to such questions.