Thought for the day-Called to Music Ministry

 

                                       Thought for the day-Called to Music Ministry

God gives musicians gifts and graces for a reason and that reason is never so that they can consume music on their own desires and personal satisfaction. 

 

Evidences That you May be Called to Music Ministry

Evidences That You May be Called to Music Ministry

Below is a list of strengths that a musician who is called to music ministry often has.  They  are not proofs of a calling to music ministry, but God often gives them to musicians who are called to be ministers of music.  Over the many years that I was a Bible College music professor, young musicians often mistook these gifts as a proofs that they were called to preach.  Here is the list that I have written for your consideration.

                        A passionate love for Scripture

                        An understanding of God’s Word

                        A desire to study music in the Bible

                        The ability to find spiritual meanings in sacred music

                        A desire to share those meanings with others

                        A spiritual burden for people

                        A desire to worship God with music

                        A gentleness and love for those with whom you music

                        A passion to music effectively

                        You have a dissatisfaction with mere artistic rendering of sacred music

                        A desire to seek and have the Holy Spirit’s anointing on your musicing

                        A recognition of the dangers of worshiping the creature(music) rather than its

                           Creator (God)

                        A sincere desire to music unto God rather than to consume music on

                           Your own desires 

                        You consider your musicing a confession of faith

                        You consider your music ministry a sacred trust

Prayer for the day-God never-Part 2

 

                                  Prayer for the day-God never Gets Tired Part 2

Thank you Lord that you not only created worlds, but you also created me.  Thank you for caring enough about me to provide the means of grace that makes it possible for me to run this spiritual race.  Thank you for your Word that is steadfast and sure.  Lord, I feel right now that I am spiritually faint and that I need strength that only can come from You.  I am asking you to please give me the strength necessary for me to music unto You without falling on my face.  I know that I can trust you just now because you are never faint or weary.  Thank You!  Thank You!  Thank You! These things I pray in your strong Name because I trust You!  Amen.

 

God Never Gets Tired-Part-2

 

                                               God Never Gets Tired-Part 2

Isaiah 40:29 states He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”

       Yesterday we started a discussion about the fact that god never gets tired and that he bestows power and strength upon weary Christian musicians.  Today we are going to continue exploring the truths found in the fortieth chapter of Isaiah. 

       One of Satan’s tricks is to get musicians so busy that they fail to wait upon God and to be “bound unto Him”.  The closer that a Christian musician is to God, the harder it becomes for Satan to tempt and to overcome that musician.  Many times a Christian will find himself or herself in need of a “change in strength”. Sometimes musicians need what I call a “spiritual oil change”.  In other words we need to be freshly bound together with God.  One of the things that auto mechanics stress is that the moving parts of an engine need to have fresh oil that will stick to the pistons and bearings etc.  Without the freshness of clean oil, dirt and sludge will tend to gum up our spiritual engine.  The fact that you had a fresh anointing from the blessed Holy Spirit a few months ago does not preclude the need for the fresh oil of the Spirit today.  Again, auto mechanics tell us that you don’t have to do anything wrong for your engine to be in need of an oil change.  As a matter of fact, all you have to do is use that engine and it will routinely be in need of fresh oil.

       Those who “wait upon the LORD” will have the fresh oil of the Spirit which is absolutely necessary for the Christian to have the power to get above the troubles and temptations of Satan in this life.  It is only by having the fresh oil (anointing) of the Holy Spirit that a Christian musician will be able to walk and run with spiritual power.  Without this dunamis of the Spirit, the musician will become so weak that he or she will be in danger of failing.

        The formula for receiving spiritual strength is simple.  First, receive strength from God by believing that he is the creator of all things (including music).  Second, believe that He created you personally (therefore you belong to him).Third, believe that he cares for all his creation (that includes you).  Fourth, take time to be holy.  Make sure that you spend time binging yourself together with God.  Fifth, lift up your heart and mind as though they were the wings of an eagle. And let God take you above and beyond your troubles.  Sixth, receive strength from God to walk and run the spiritual race that has been set before you.

 

Quote for the day-God Never-Part 1

      Quote for the day-God Never Gets Tired-Part 1

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”  (Psalm 121:1-2.)

God Never Gets Tired-Part 1

  God never Gets Tired

Isaiah 40:28 states, “Hast thou not heard the LORD, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?  There is no searching of his understanding.” 

       The passage of Scripture in which this verse is found reminds the Christian that the LORD who is the creator of everything above, below, in, on, and around the earth gives strength and power to the weary.  God means what He said in the Book of Genesis.  He really did create everything.  (If one doubts the authenticity of God’s literal creation in the Genesis Record, he or she “dumbs down” the power of God.)  If Jehovah did not create then perhaps He does not have the power and the ability to give strength to weary Christian musicians.  I choose to believe, however, that Jehovah had the power to take nothing and make something out of that “nothingness” and, furthermore, that Jehovah God now has the power to give strength to weary Christian musicians.  I also choose to believe that Jehovah exercises that power on the behalf of weary Christian musicians.  The reason I believe that God gives strength to weary Christian musicians is that I have experienced that power and strength many, many times since I confessed my sins with Godly sorrow and received his forgiveness and, by faith, accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.

       How can a weary Christian musician receive help and strength?  The answer is very simple.  It is so simple that that many Christian musicians fail to receive this help and assistance from the self existent, independent, eternal “God who is”.  First of all, musicians must remember that He is, and that he is the rewarder of them that seek Him.  (See Hebrews 11:6.) 

       The same passage of Scripture that we quoted at the beginning of this discussion also says in verse 31, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”  The Hebrew word which has been translated renew in verse thirty-one is caliph (2498) which means literally a change in strength.  So, if we as Christian musicians need to have a change in the amount of strength that we have, either physically, spiritually or emotionally, we need to “wait” (qavah 6960) or be “bound together” with the self-existent, independent eternal God who is alive and seated at the right hand of the father making intercession for Christian musicians right now!  (See Romans 8: 26-27.)  So, the secret of your renewed strength is getting close to the Lord and telling Him how much you need Him.  I see that this discussion is getting lengthy so we will continue it tomorrow.

A Collect from the Book of Common Prayer

                                     A Collect from the Book of Common Prayer

“O MOST merciful Father, who hast blessed the labours of the husbandman in the returns of the fruits of the earth.  We give thee humble and hearty for this thy bounty; beseeching thee to continue thy loving-kindness to us, that our land may still yield her increase, to thy glory and our comfort; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen”.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 265 J.W. Suter, Ed.

 

Every Day is Thanksgiving Day

 

                                                     Every Day is Thanksgiving Day 

       I Timothy 6:6-8 states, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”

       Yesterday I dug potatoes from my little garden.  As I got on my knees to dig them out of the ground, I soon realized that these were some of the biggest and best potatoes that I have ever raised.  As I knelt there, I became very thankful to God for his material blessings.  I was reminded of how wonderful God’s world really is.  My wife and I planted the seed potatoes in early spring in faith that they would sprout, grow, and produce potatoes.  I tilled the short rows of potatoes diligently, sometimes every day until the weeds were under control and the ground was prepared for the potatoes to grow properly.

       As I dug the potatoes I was reminded that God had forgiven all of all of my sins, and had planted me beside rivulets of His living water and had dug around this new Christian every day. I was reminded of just how much care my heavenly father had taken with me so that I could be established spiritually.  I am very thankful for the vegetables that God has allowed me to grow in our little garden.  I am thankful for the faith of seed time and the sight of the harvest.  The tiny harvest that God has allowed me to receive from our vegetable garden has made me very thankful.  It has reminded me that I should be thankful every day for all God has provided for me.

Thought for the Day-Keyed Numbers

 

                                           Thought for the day-Keyed Numbers

Would you rather trust one author’s unidentified and unsubstantiated opinion about the meaning of a Scripture or the multiple collected opinions of saints and scholars who have, over the centuries, studied a Scripture in the context of its original meaning?

                                               

Why I Use Transliterations and Strong's Numbers

 

                                        Why Do I Include Transliterations and Strong’s Numbers?

Many music directors have not had the opportunity to study Greek and Hebrew while they were in an undergraduate or graduate music degree program in college.  So, I do not write any of the Bible language words and or definitions in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek.  There is a multitude of Bible study books that include the keyed numbers found in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.  Therefore, those who read my posts have an immediate connection to these scholarly sources. Without the hassle of having to compare the characters of the Hebrew or Greek languages in the many Bible study works that use word explanations in both English and the Bible languages. 

       Many times I read books and Periodical articles that contend that a passage of Scripture has a certain meaning, but when I study it, I can not substantiate that it actually has the meaning that a particular author purports that it has.  It would be a great help if all authors would specify (transliterate) the particular words that they have studied and give the Strong’s keyed numbers. 

       All words found in any language have meaning based on how they are used in sentences.  Words mean something, and I believe that the writers of Scripture, who were inspired to write sentences under the direct (plenary) inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote exactly what they meant to say.  It does not make any sense to suppose that an inspired writer of scripture would words that meant exactly what he did not intend to say.  I believe that all misunderandings of Scripture are the result of the reader not having a grasp of the original language.

       When I commit my beliefs to pen and ink, I sometimes think that I spend more time with the English dictionary and the Bible language dictionaries and lexicons than I do writing my thoughts.  My writings are far from inspired, but that does not mean that I do not labor over each word, phrase and sentence, (and computer spell, grammar, and punctuation checks).  I would be greatly offended if my readers were to suppose that I intend to write sentences that have exactly the opposite of what I mean to say.

        So, if a modern writer expects all readers to treat the meaning of the words used in the context of His or her writings, surely we must give the ancient inspired writings of the Old and New Testaments with much more respect.  Changing the Holy Writ to merely fit modern thinking is a very dangerous writing technique.  A writer has an obligation to the original meaning of the words that were used in the Bible.  Therefore, when I am exposing and defining original Bible languages that are thousands of years old, I endeavor to always identify the original words as well as give keyed numbers so that the reader may do his or own language studies to establish if my interpretations are valid or not.