I’ve heard many different people sing hymns to the Lord over the years. Some have sung terribly with the genetic gift comparable to that of a donkey. Others have been beyond comparison, hitting every note with simplicity and actually making it sound so wonderful. I want us all to be better at singing so I felt that I would share some insight into the year 2009 that could help all of us to focus on becoming better singers.
First, don’t be concerned about hitting the correct note or even being in the right key. Who cares?! We are always so concerned about hitting the right notes, even when we lead, that we forget what the most important thing is, the words of the song. In Eph. 5:19, we are to make melody in our hearts. We often use this scripture to defend not using musical instruments. People use musical instruments to accentuate the notes of a song and if we’re only concerned about hitting the right notes, we are no better than those who believe that utilizing musical instruments is okay without any authority. In addition, singing allows us to teach and admonish according to Col. 3:16. This makes sense as we are to speak to one another in Eph. 5:19, but what exactly are we teaching each other? To some degree, the words of a song have a teaching capacity. Whenever somebody speaks, the people listening have learned something about the individual regardless of how pointless it actually is. For example, if I was joking about something, you learned that I was joking. I can also learn from others when they are being sarcastic. However minor the statement that is sung, we learn from that. And oftentimes we forget about many things in our spiritual lives that we can relearn from singing. Singing also warns us about certain dangers. Again, if we already know what is being stated, then it does not hurt to relearn of the dangers of Satan.
Regardless of what others may hear, whenever I concentrate on the words, the song seems to sound so much better. Is this not the way it is with everything? In Is. 42:10, a new song is to be sung after God’s Servant came to this earth, Christ. Christ, who is our deliverer, righteous, just, and many more adjectives that would take a while to list, is the reason we are to sing this new song (Ps. 40:3). This new song is not to be sung carelessly, but with skill (Ps. 33:3). In essence, we need to be singing this new song to others, but to sing it with skill. If we do not have skill, then we need to learn the song to play it with the best of our ability, whether we are genetically gifted or not. If we do not go out and preach the gospel to others because we do not know it, then we need to learn to the best of our ability. As we continue learning, we can edify, teach, and admonish others in the world. In the year 2009, let us try to be as spiritually minded as possible and teach the gospel of Christ without taking any shortcuts along the way and without cheating the Lord by allowing musical instruments to do our work for us. If you are not willing, then the song you have to sing is by far making you the worse singer of the group. This is how we can truly sing better.
Although I am not a professional book reviewer, I figure that I would say some things about this magnificent book that I have spent some time reading. In my situation, I was currently studying the issue of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. Although there are still some things I’m struggling with about that topic, I decided to lay my frustrations aside and read this secular work by a fellow brother in Christ in an attempt to understand more about what marriage consists of. Sure, we can get a good understanding of how a wife and husband act in a marriage by reading the bible. However, I believe that seeing how godly married couples interact and even reading about another’s life more personally can help us to increase our understanding. I am referring to the single individuals out there, but this book is also good for the married couple. Although many Christians do not read secular books, I strongly discourage that practice. We live in the world and need to know what is going on in the world, so reading some secular books, especially those that are worthy to increase our understanding of the bible. We may read books that deal with biblical evidences, evolution, what false teachers are teaching, etc... A good novel even allows us to see what our kids may be reading. Therefore, I always encourage some daily reading of not only the bible, but also some secular reading as well.
Do you have someone on your list this holiday season that you want to buy a book for? I recommend, “It’s Just Been Glorious”, by Dale Smelser. The story is a biography of his wife and the impact she had on others. The story begins and ends with her death and each time it will bring tears to your eyes. Marlene Smelser is the perfect role model of a mother and wife and how glamorous such a position can be to a woman despite what the controversial feminists believe. Marlene Smelser shows us what true happiness can be revealed when we do God’s work. Marlene shows us what it means to stand by your husband. She also demonstrated how big of an impact women can have in the church without overstepping any boundaries on God’s authority for teaching others. The book will have you laughing with some of their stories and will challenge you to take God’s work with more seriousness. It is a wonderful story that will want the women to be more like Marlene and men to look for wives with similar characteristics. Not every woman will have the same characteristics as Marlene but should have near the same Godly and reverent attitude. I highly recommend this book to all as it has helped me to see things clearer regarding marriage. The one negative thing about the book is that the author, Dale Smelser, writes as a narrator of a play, writing it in the third person. Writing a semi-documentary in the third person makes it difficult when the author refers to himself as Dale, instead of “I”. Some paragraphs Dale transitions from third to first person, which may be difficult for some to pick up but makes it a little more confusing. If you can get over that little stump, the rest is a breeze and is a very pleasant read.
I hate to pass a little bad judgment on a book like that. But I will say that Dale is an excellent writer and will have you reading the book with great difficulty to put it down. Make sure you have ample time to read.
i'm not sure, but i don't think it's something you said to her directly. i think it's what you said about people who do not participate in a certain tradition. it was in your comment on her 2nd most recent post about traditions. you said that taking the Lord's supper on any day but sunday was sinful. i for one think it's perfectly acceptable to do this, and i think she agrees. and we both have well thought out reasonings for this conclusion.
i don't think nicole felt like you directly attacked her. just remember that controversial topics are usually "controversial" for a reason; there's usually good evidence for many perspectives. labeling something as sinful is condemnation, and can be interpreted as a form of attack.
hey dude. thank you for your follow-up. you wrote on my blog, "Why would Jesus embrace you when you continue to live in sin". I was completely taken aback.
First of all, because it had nothing to do with what I wrote, second because we never even talk so how would you know my spiritual state? Or anyone else who you haven't talked to directly but only "heard things" about? you know? it left my head spinning! but again, i am glad you did not do that intentionally to stir up strife.
ah ok looks like i was wrong. but i'd be happy to share my thoughts on the subject with you. i'm at work right now, so it will have to wait a bit. would you prefer that i send you an email?
Are you a gifted individual? Have you made a record at anytime and have you been placed in the Guinness Book of World Records? I was recently watching a news broadcast show, but with the big names, in this case it was Katie Couric’s CBS Evening News. Every once in a while one of the broadcasters on her show will cover interesting stories that really do not benefit you in life. This time, it was the the story of the largest ball of twine. There are a couple of lessons I believe I can extract from this.
First, the man that originally came up with the idea has sinced passed away, but his hometown is proud of him so they sell shirts. After hearing of this large ball of twine a group of people came up with an even larger ball of twine. At first, he had the record of the “largest ball of twine”, then after the group made an even bigger ball of twine the statement changed to “largest ball of twine by one man”. Why could they not have been this exact the first time? I believe this is such a great example of how the world thinks. Of course, there was an accomplishment, but he was proud and had the largest ball of twine. Then others beat him and they changed the wording to still keep the man’s pride. If people in the world were humble enough, they would have stated “largest ball of twine by one man”. This is the danger of exalting ourselves, the glory does not last forever. The spiritual consequences of exalting ourselves is that we will be humbled and that is fact (Matt. 23:12).
Secondly, another man is creating another thing of twine and he is doing it alone. He has already beaten both other records but it cannot be considered a ball of twine because it is more of an oval shape than spherical, or ball, shape. Amazingly his record will probably read “largest oval-shaped twine” or however they want to word it. So technically, he will not have beaten the other man’s record. Who cares? It is all the same in my eyes. In Eccl. 2:10,11, we see that King Solomon did not hold back from anything, even his labor but he saw it all as vanity. In v. 18,19 of the same chapter, Solomon built himself a great work. However, the person that came after would either ruin it all and not have a care in the world or they would be wise with it. Oftentimes, people do things their own way, so if an individual is wealthy because of an inheritance and is doing no work to keep the family business alive, obviously he is a foolish one. What will happen to the original big ball of twine that the man made? One of the balls of twine was already shedding. I also wonder if that man were still alive today if he would have hated his work and considered it vanity just as Solomon? I do. I would hate it if some people got together and broke a record that I acheived with my hard work.
Thirdly, the man who is currently working on the oval-shaped twine, which has outweighed the original ball of twine, works on his big spool of twine 4 hours every day. He looks as if he is retired. I’m just wondering if that time could be better spent. I have often heard people say to me as I try to study the bible with them that they just do not have enough time for God. They are in school, then after school the excuse will be a job and moving, then the excuse will be family, then when they retire they will come up with some other excuse for not worshipping God. I have no clue what that excuse would be, but they will figure it out for themselves. Luke 14:15-24 outlines this concept pretty clearly. After a master invites people to partake of his feast, they all give an excuse and then he instead invites the poor and makes a scary statement in the end: “I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet” (v. 24). I can just imagine if I was trying to have a bible study with one of those men that they would give the excuse of “Sorry, I have to work four hours on my ball of twine, I don’t have time”. Sounds pretty stupid, huh? Working for something that will not even benefit society in the slightest bit but to just show off. I remember talking to another girl who did not want to have a bible study because she did not have time. She claimed to be a Christian, but when I asked her “If you don’t give time to God now, what will you tell Him when you meet Him? Do you think saying ‘I did not have time’ will hold up?” She thought about that for a few seconds and said “I don’t want to talk about religion anymore.” It scared her. She did not want to think of hell or herself going there because she was “a happy person”. I’m a happy person also, but the idea of hell in eternity is what caused me to fall to God. That fear is there for a reason, so I will turn to God. What will you do?
This is not to say that hobbies are sinful, but it just illustrates some good concepts I wanted to discuss.
P.S. If the man spent 20 years of his life for 4 hours/day every day, he will have wasted 3.3 years of his life to that. I spent about 10 minutes of wasting my time to figure out how much time is wasted making balls of twine.
I don’t understand why it is so difficult to deal with addictions. I believe everyone has their addictions. Addictions can either be classified as good or bad. For example, some good addictions might be exercising, studying the bible, bungee jumping off of bridges, drinking coke, etc… I do not see anything inherently wrong with those addictions other than some may be more dangerous than others. As Christians, we all should be addicted to studying the bible. In fact, it is commanded that we need to be prepared to give a defense to the hope that is in us when the time arises (I Pet. 3:15). The only way to be prepared by constant study of God’s word. One of the famous “I am” statements given by Jesus was “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). A friend once told me that we would never skip a regular meal because we need to feed ourselves physically. Likewise, we should study the word of God to sustain our spiritual hunger and thirst. Some people will go to church once or twice a week and maybe have a bible study throughout the week, but that is NOT enough. If you believe that it is enough, then you are starving yourself spiritually. You would never eat 2-3 times per week.
However, the other thing that I really wanted to dive into is bad addictions. It is commanded of us that we need to repent, or turn away, from sins (Acts 2:38, Luke 13:3,5; 24:47). In fact, that is why we baptize, to put to death the old sinful man and rise again a new creature. Therefore, we take part in Christ’s death and baptism (Rom. 6:1-8). However, sometimes those who profess to be Christians do not change. For example, some will continually watch pornography stipulating that it is not sinful, going out once a week to the bars to drink with their friends, sex (pertains to anything of a sexual nature) outside of marriage, etc… It is amazing how many people who claim to be Christians try to rationalize through sins in their life to make them appear as if they were almost righteous. Sin involves transgressing the law (I John 3:4) and self. What sin is there that is not selfish? The point is not to strike up controversy with what is sinful and what is not, but you would agree that there are people that are still addicted to sin that have not changed. Paul stated that he would not be brought under the power of anything (I Cor. 6:12). There are things in the world that may not be against the law, but it may still be a sin in God’s eyes. One example would be homosexual marriages. Homosexuality is clearly condemned in scripture (Rom.1:26-28, I Cor. 6:9, Jude 7). Therefore, Paul is saying that things may be lawful, but they will not help with our spirituality because it is still sin in God’s eyes. Certainly trying to rationalize a sin by claiming that it is not sinful indicates that you have been brought under the power of sin and that you are obeying sin in its lusts (Rom. 6:12).
I guess the question that remains is why? Why do people sometimes continue in sin and attempt to rationalize their way through scripture? Heb. 11:25 explains this concept clearly: sin is a passing pleasure. That’s right, sin is pleasurable. Alcohol is a depressant, so if we’re stressed it soothes us. Sex feels good. Watching people doing perverted things for the camera takes us to a fantasy world and it causes them to lust. Sin is pleasurable, it makes us feel good. Do you know what’s even more warped? Some people like to rape, murder, and even have sex with children. Those utterly disgust me. But to the serial rapist, serial killer, and the pedophile, it is pleasurable. Pretty sick, huh? But if we’re sinning and trying to rationalize it, we’re no better than the pedophile. Sin is sin in God’s eyes and he hates the sinner (Ps. 5:4-6). Strong words to read. You know what’s even more interesting? Most people in the world frown upon rape, murder, and pedophilia. In fact, if something is against the law, the majority of those things are frowned upon by the world as well. However, if you only believe that something is sinful according to society’s standards, how are you any different as a Christian? Read Romans 12:1,2. The other part of Heb. 11:25, is that sin is a passing pleasure. Maybe you are trying to stop a certain sin in your life. Although a sin may be pleasurable while you are doing it, the pleasure only can last for so long. Once you are done, the only thing left to feel is guilt. Sin is a passing pleasure that leads to an eternity of hell but the joys of heaven are eternal and never passing.
Good thoughts Steve. Humans, even those trying to live right, have hard time not being short-sighted. That is why they are continually deceived by passing pleasures. We have to keep trying to remember what is truly important when the hard temptations come.
it's certainly not the academic part that makes dealing with addictions so tough. you fail to see the difficulty because either 1) you have not faced a true addiction (which would be marvelous for your sake), or 2) you are in denial of your own (which is lamentable, but you can overcome).
i would define a "bad" addiction as a need for something that is not life sustaining. we're all "addicted" to air, water, food, love.. we should also be addicted to Christ, and serving our brethren.
you mentioned exercising, bungee jumping and coke. these things are not inherently evil. i'm still formulating my thinking on this, but it seems to me that any addiction to something that is not necessary for life (physical or eternal) is idolatry. i don't know.. what do you think?
Steve, do you think all addictions have some sort of physiological component? it seems like everything is called an addiction these days, but to me that a true addiction must have some connection to a chemical influence of the body.
for example a person may said to be "addicted" to a non-caffeinated drink in the sense of habit - they drink a yoo-hoo every day. but going without has no affect on their mood, whereas a person addicted to caffeine will have headaches, etc. likewise some physical behaviors lead to a release of dopamine or some other "-mine", I believe, and thus create a chemical addiction to said behavior.
i have heard that people can be addicted to getting tattoos, so I am not sure how that fits into my theory.
Maybe it is just me, but why is it that I feel that Christians always have the toughest time getting along? I know with myself that fellow brethren are the ones who really know how to push my buttons the most, but never will people push my buttons outside in the world. Not that it may occur often, at least I hope not. I find this to be quite a fascinating concept. Why do you think Christians do this to one another? First, I do not believe that Christians do this to each other purposefully, at least I hope not… maybe in times of arrogance. However, the closer we are to each other, the more likely we will push each others’ buttons from time to time. As a side note, psychologists always stipulate that when conflict does occur in a close relationship, if handled correctly, the relationship will only grow stronger. This makes sense as conflicts test how we will handle a certain situation. If we handle a dispute in an incorrect manner, then the relationship goes down the toilet. If we handle the dispute correctly, then it makes the relationship stronger. In fact, this is probably the reason why it is spoken of by John in I Jn. 4:20,21. God wants for us to get our relationships right with our brethren and even with our enemies (Matt. 5:43-48). Jesus never had a bad relationship with the father and likewise we should be the same. This is important because we rely on each other for so many things such as advice (II Cor. 8:10), to help us through our sins (Jam. 5:16), to help edify one another (Rom. 14:19), to comfort in times of distress (I Thes. 5:11), and much more. Yet, I feel that sometimes we get upset with one another and it just makes the problem worse. We are quick to point out one another’s flaws rather than seeing our own. I believe that Jesus spoke about hypocrisy in Matt. 7:1-6 to demonstrate the absurdity of the sin. Can you imagine having a plank in your eye? If you ever literally have a plank in your eye I recommend calling 9-1-1. If you figuratively have a plank in your eye, then I recommend calling, or praying, on the Lord for humbleness in order to admit your faults. After I get upset about something I will usually try to rationalize why the other was wrong. When I do this, I always come to a conclusion: if I have tried to rationalize a situation to put the blame on another, then I was already at fault to for not being humble enough to determine a strategy that would make the problem better, such as an apology. If we can handle these hard times correctly, then we will only grow closer. WHAT AN AWESOME PRIVILEGE! There is always good to be found in all things. Pride is the only thing we must first overcome to develop this deeper relationship with one another. Sometimes it is even necessary to make an apology even if you were right about something because you may have handled the situation incorrectly. Apologies usually come with sincerity and maybe even a nice handshake or hug to demonstrate how truly sorry you are. Amen (I do not know if I can “amen” myself, but I will anyway).
i think it is the restrictive mentality that many Christians we know possess which causes people to struggle to get along with each other when they don't have identical doctrinal beliefs* .
* i am by no means advocating sinning that grace may abound. there are limits (restrictions) on what is righteous and what is sinful, but some have built hedges around that. this causes those with hedges to judge those without, and those without hedges to disdain those within. bad.
maybe its a kind of irony...trying to be unified exposes ways that we are not. if we have no problems / difficulties it probably means that our involvement is superficial. But we certainly should not push buttons...fortunately that never happens on pleonast :)
that's not me in the hat. "the beard cap costs a whopping $135 and is only sold at a place called Scandinavian Grace in Brooklyn." - adam i think i covered the "false doctrine" thing with my asterisk caveat.
but, who is a liar except he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? (not all deviations are "false doctrine")
