God Created Sound

God Created Sound   

               If you have read the first chapter of St. Paul’s epistle to the Colossians you will remember that in chapter one verse sixteen it states that God created the visible (horatos 3703) and the invisible (auratos 517) part of music.  Christian musicians are much more familiar with God creating the visible than they are with his creating the invisible.  Twenty-first century Christian musicians are often much more fascinated with God creating the musical notation (the te'amim) of the O.T. than with the importance of God’s creation of sound. 
              We get caught up in discussions of the possibility that Moses came down from the mountain with the te'amim engraved on the tablets. We may postulate that Jehovah possibly revealed them to Moses and that Moses added them to the Decalogue. We may wax eloquent in our notion that Moses developed the system of   notation used in the Old Testament since he could have learned about musical notation from the Egyptians. (We know from Acts 7:22 that "...Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.")  An even wilder hypothesis is that he learned notation from the Sumerians or the Akkadians since we know that they had written notation at least 1400 to 1500 years before the earliest surviving Greek fragments in a written notation.   
               However, although we now know much more about the history of world music, it is still an abstract thought to many Christian musicians that God created sound i.e. the invisible part of music.  It is what I call the "music part of music."  You cannot touch it, or see it, but it is very much there.  The invisible part gives music life and great power.  It gives our musicing the ability to function, develop, come "alive", and be efficacious.  Therefore, Christian musicians should give very serious consideration to the sounds (aoratos-i.e. the invisible part of music) that we connect to the Logos Christos.

Thought for the Day

If you wish to get out from under the complete Lordship of Christ over music and musicing, you should adamantly deny that sound matters when musicing unto God.

You Are What You Music

You Are What You Music

          It is reported that Dr. Jack Hyles said, “You are not going to be what you decide to be, you are going to be what you decide to be around.”   I want to thank God that I had the opportunity to be around Christian musicians while I was growing up that were more interested in God receiving glory from their musicing than they were with being on the cutting edge of musical worship style change.  I often wonder where I would be today if I had grown up around Christian musicians who were more interested in becoming famous or well-known than they were in musicing in ways that brought honor and glory to God.

          Musically speaking, a young church musician becomes what he or she musics.  A young musician makes choices of the music that he or she will listen to and perform.  It is sobering when I realize that Dr. Hyles was right when he said, “you are going to be what you decide to be around”.  Not is that statement true of young musicians but also of adult musicians as well.  So every Christian musician must develop systematic Bible based beliefs about the nature and value of music to help to guide his or her musicing and musicing throughout life.  There is no doubt about it, When it comes to what a musician listens to and performs throughout life will play a major factor in the development of that person’s moral character.  Every now and then the Christian musician must take thought of what the types of music he or she is involved in are doing to that person’s whole-life.  A young musician becomes not only what he eats but also what he musics. 

Prayer for the Day

My precious Lord and Savior I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity at an early age to music unto You and to sing Your everlasting truths to others.  I also want to thank You for allowing me to be surrounded by Christians who loved and served You with musical offerings that brought honor and glory to Your matchless name.  I am asking You to help me to share the rich musical heritage that I experienced with others.  Lord, thank You for giving me the unbelievable privilege to share my musical with those who did not love and serve You over many year of my life.  My heart is filled with praises to You for the many musical blessings that I have received.  These thanks I give to You.  Amen 

Music Endeavor Should begin and End with God part 2

Music Endeavor Should begin and End with God part 2

Some musicians are now so squeezed into the world’s mold that they do not seem to realize that the whole belief-system that music is amoral is the result of autonomous music philosophy.  It is no wonder that you can trust a humanist to conclude that all music endeavors begins and ends with man.  The philosophical bias of a humanist will always be that all meaning in life (if there is meaning in life) will be the result of self-actualization and the act of a person’s free will.

This musical mind believes wholeheartedly that in the beginning was “ameba” or worse yet in the beginning was “nothing”.  This musician believes within himself that man came from nowhere and is ultimately going nowhere.  It is not hard for him to believe that man exists in a purposeless universe and that he is “caught in the wheel of time”.  This musician also believes that music came from nowhere and is ultimately going nowhere. 

To this humanistic musician the only thing that really matters is “me”.  This type of thinker concludes that music is amoral since man is God and God is man therefore God is in man because man created God.  So, man is God of his music.  Any music that he composes or performs is God’s music i.e. all man’s music is created in God’s image since God is created in man’s image.  Any music that pleases man will also please God and conversely no music that displeases man is pleasing to God.  So, if you can wade through all the previous mumbo-jumbo, you will be able to understand why a synthesis thinking religious humanist, who is autonomous, believes that all musical roads lead to heaven – why there is no profundity in music – why all music is appropriate for public worship and ultimately why music is all a matter of taste.

Thought for the Day

A musician will either say to God, “Your will be done in all my musicing” or God will say to that musician, “You can have your own way if you are going to refuse to retain my knowledge in all your musicing.”

Music Endeavor Should begin and End with God

Music Endeavor Should begin and End with God

Christian musicians often question the necessity of developing a series of systematic beliefs concerning the nature and value of the whole of music.  Furthermore, they often seem to believe that those values set forth by major public colleges and universities are adequate for Christian musicians.  After all, aren’t the elements of music the same for Christians and non-Christians?  The philosophy of a musician who does not bring all of his musical endeavor under the Lordship of Christ should never be trusted. Not only can you trust a communist to be a communist, you can also trust an unregenerate musician to be worldly in his or her philosophical basis.

            Remember, direction determines destiny!  Any musician who believes the end of all human endeavors is the gratification of self will ultimately come to different philosophical conclusions than a musician whose life is sold out to Christ.  For the committed Christian, music begins and ends with God.  To the humanist, music begins and ends with self.  The musician who has submitted his or her music to the Lordship of Christ believes that all church music is sung and played to glorify God since God owns music.  Conversely, the secular humanists (and the religious humanist) believes that music belongs to man’s true humanness since all music is about self-actualization.  This type of thinker owns his or her music.

 Thought for the Day

 Certainly any quality music endeavor should bring a measure of satisfaction to the musicer, but that does not mean that music endeavor should be about the gratification of self.

God’s Strong Identity Part 2

God’s Strong Identity Part 2 

          God was faithful to Moses who had seemed to lose his courage and identity by expressing to Moses His strong identity, “I AM THAT I AM”.  Adam Clarke gave this lengthy and wonderful explanation, “These words have been variously understood.  The Vulgate translates EGO SUM QUI SUM, I am who am.  The Septuagint… I am he who exists.  The Syriac, the Persic, and the Chaldee preserve the original words without any gloss.  The Arabic paraphrases them, The Eternal, who passes not away; which is the same interpretation given by Abul Farajius, who also preserves the original words, and gives the above as their interpretation.  The Targum of Jonathan, and the Jerusalem Targum paraphrase the words thus: "He who spake, and the world was; who spake, and all things existed."  As the original words literally signify, I will be what I will be, some have supposed that God simply designed to inform Moses, that what he had been to his forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he would be to him and the Israelites; and that he would perform the promises he had made to his fathers, by giving their descendants the promised land.  It is difficult to put a meaning on the words; they seem intended to point out the eternity and self-existence of God.” Clarke’s Commentary, by Adam Clarke, Vol. 1, p. 306   As I read the above explanation of how scholars have rendered the Hebrew words, EHEYEH Asher EHEYEH my heart soared with praise unto the God who is.  This is the identity of the God who spoke from the midst of a burning bush to the confused, lonely, and insecure Moses.

          If you are questioning who you are and what God wants you to do at this time in your life, lean hard on the Lord God’s strong power, sure identity, and strong name.  There are two name of god recorded in YHWH (3068) which means the self-existent independent eternal god who now is and  Elohiym (430) which means the supreme exceeding God.  He not only was during Moses’ lifetime, but He also is right now.  This strong existence and identity separates Him from all other false gods who are now dead.  They are incapable of helping you because they are dead—they do not exist now so they cannot say “I AM”.  However, I AM is sending you into this sin curse wicked world to testify of His strong name and identity.

Prayer for the Day

LORD, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil; and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  The Book of Common Prayer 1892, p. 176

Song for the Day    So Send I You by Margaret Clarkson

Thought for the Day 

It is my opinion that every Christian musician is called by “I AM” to music unto Jehovah Elohiym.

God’s Strong Identity Part 1

God’s Strong Identity Part 1

In the third chapter of Exodus Moses said in the eleventh verse, “Who am I…”  Moses was raised in the palace of Pharaoh and became the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  Moses was treated like a son in that palace but he became estranged from Pharaoh when he slew an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave.

          Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh to the west side of the Midian desert to a place near to the mountain called Horeb.  There he transitioned from being a prince in Egypt to being a shepherd of Jethro’s sheep.  Somehow Moses seemed to lose his identity and self-respect.  While he was in this state of mind he asked God, “Who am I?”  In his change of situation from being the son of Pharaoh’s daughter to being just Moses the sheep herder, he became very insecure.

          In the midst of all this change and insecurity, Moses saw a bush flaming but not being consumed.  Moses saw an angel of YHWH in the midst of this bush so he went to see this unusual sight.  “And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I” (Exodus 3:4).

Prayer for the Day

“Blessed Lord, who has caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope for everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.” The Book of Common Prayer 1892, P. 54

Song for the Day  I Belong to the King  by Ida Reed Smith

Thought for the Day

  I have a strong identity because I am a child of the King whose name is Jehovah Elohiym.

No Room for Jesus at Easter-part 3

No Room for Jesus at Easter-part 3

The last two blog posts have been reminders of how those in ancient Bethlehem and all of us in this century have treated Jesus.  It is one thing for the un-regenerated to ignore Jesus, but is another thing for Christian to unintentionally push Him into the background during the Easter season. 

Luke 21:34 warns,” And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”  Hopefully, those who call themselves Christians aren’t guilty of drunkenness or surfeiting (kraipale 2897) i.e. a headache caused by getting drunk.  However, we are susceptible to letting the “cares of this life” push Christ into the background during the Easter season.  So, musicians should make sure that the musicing  during the Easter preparation is much more thorough than a few songs about resurrection on Easter Sunday morning.

No Room for Jesus at Easter-part 2

No Room for Jesus at Easter-part 2

You may be wondering just why I am presenting this discussion so early in April.  Before I continue, I want to simply say that I am presenting this for Christian’s consideration  early enough so that musicians can make sure that the worship music leading up to Easter Sunday helps to prepare worshipers hearts and minds of the real reason that we celebrate Easter. 

St Luke 23:33-34 records the real message behind the celebration of Easter, “And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…”  The message of Easter is truly the “greatest story ever told” because it is a story of mercy and forgiveness.

Ephesians 2:1-5 tells our story, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).”

Thought for the Day

Sometimes we may want others to think that we were always a nice person.  However, since God sees us in His divine “Ground Positioning Satellite”, He knows the rest of the story.

No Room for Jesus at Easter-part 1

No Room for Jesus at Easter-part 1

St. Luke2:7 states, And she brought forth her first born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

       Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus were certainly good people.  Why did God the Father let Jesus, His only begotten son, be born in a cattle shelter which was perhaps a cave?  From our very finite understanding it would seem that there could have been at least a tiny room that no one was using.  However, God the Father let His only son be born in obscurity and humility.  On this blessed day of days, we should remember that, regardless of our circumstances, most of us were not born in a place of humility like Jesus.

       We enjoy the Bethlehem story at Christmas time, but we have a tendency during the Easter season to do the same thing to Jesus.  If we are not careful, we will get so involved in new Easter outfits, Easter baskets, coloring eggs, and patching holes in those awful blow up yard toys, that we forget the real story of Easter.  We won’t admit it, but we are so busy that we may not tell the good news of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection that brought complete victory over sin.  Romans 6:23 reminds us, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”   

ARE WOMEN MUSICIANS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE? Part 6

ARE WOMEN MUSICIANS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE? Part 6

            Women in the Bible were reported as singing a low kind of music.  Even at its best it was for dancing or funeral mourning and at its worst to aid in the sensuous appeal of harlots on the street.  Isaiah's satire (23:15) states, ". . . after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot” (or KJV margin, "It shall be unto Tyre as the song of an harlot") It is no wonder that women were not used in Temple worship since it was so closely related to paid dancing at weddings and funerals and was associated closely with harlotry in ancient Israel.

            The question of importance to Church Musicians today is, should we or should we not use women in church music?  Should we consider the disuse of women in the music of Temple worship, and the Biblical silence about women in public worship as "proof" that women should not be used in church music today?  The Bible is silent concerning the use of women in Temple worship.  However, this silence does not implicate that women should not be used in church music today.  Remember that part of the reason that women were not used in Temple music was because of the type of music they sang and played and the association of women's music with harlotry.  However, the ancient customs of Israel concerning women did not allow for them to be used as Temple musicians.  It is safe to conclude from the research that there is no evidence given in the Bible to cause us to exclude women from church music today.

Thought for the Day

The most important issue of church music today is not who we use in our musicing unto God, but rather how we use music in our musicing unto God.