An Observation - Church Music

JUST MY OWN OBSERVATION: In the last fifteen to twenty years, popular“Christian” music has accomplished a transformation in the church of the same nature and consequences that rock-n-roll brought to the national culture in the 60’s and 70’s. How and why this has happened I am not certain, but whatever the cause, the nature of the degeneration of standards in worship, dedication, and life-style of the church is the same.

The Dying Thief's Prayer - Luke 23:42

Luke 23:42
And he [the penitent thief] said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

This penitent thief’s prayer is the last recorded prayer under the Old Covenant and the first recorded prayer of the New Covenant.  It is altogether fitting that it should be the model of faith and grace.  This prayer contains the elements of true repentance and salvation (adapted from Dr. John MacArthur’s Study Bible note). 

·         He believed the soul lives on after death

·         He believed Christ had the right to rule over a Kingdom of the souls of men

·         He believed Christ would soon enter that Kingdom despite His impending death

·         His request to be remembered was a plea for mercy

·         He understood that he (the thief) had no hope apart from divine grace

·         He understood that dispensing grace lay in Jesus’ power

·         His prayer demonstrates true faith on the part of the dying thief

·         Jesus rewarded that request, and that thief has been in the paradise of God ever since

In this one verse and its context is the complete picture of salvation!  It could not be more simple or profound.  There is no better expression of faith, and faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to the Kingdom.

Inscription on the Cross

 

The Inscription on the Cross

Luke 23:38; John 19:19

The inscription on the cross was the Roman accusation of Jesus’ crime; it read, “This is Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.”  Though Pilate doubtless thought it was an ironic insult and believed it was false, yet what he wrote was true and absolutely true on so many levels that it exceeds my ability to describe them.  This inscription is the repetition and confirmation of the prophets, it is the consummation of the law, it is the anticipation of the apocalypse, it is the cry of the believers, it is the banner of the redeemed, and it is the wail of the lost.

The most immediate and tragic reality of this inscription is that it has become an indictment against the contemporary church.  This indictment brings tears to my eyes and anger and shame to my heart.  How is it that we, the blood-bought church of the redeemed can so denigrate and repudiate our King that He is scarcely mentioned by name even in our worship let alone made the conscious object of our daily life and thought?

Most of the songs we sing in our contemporary “worship” services do not mention the name of Jesus Christ.  The songs use repeated spiritual-sounding words, pronouns, jargon, and cute figures of speech so that the “initiated” might know what the song is about, but most of these songs avoid direct references to Jesus of Nazareth who died for our sin.  An even greater tragedy is that the sermons are filled with psychology and self-help for the spiritually wounded, but again the name of Jesus is absent, and Christ is not presented as the Savior, Deliver, and Sustainer of our lives.  Jesus alone is the answer to the problems of life and living.

Is it any wonder that the world laughs at Christians in post-Christian America?  We are so consumed with the luxuries of the world and the success of doing the business of church that we are ashamed of the Name of Jesus and have reduced references to Jesus Christ to pronouns and jargon.  I am a Christian not a “Him-ian” or a “Lord-ian.”  I am not even a “God-ian.”   I am a Christian!

The Coin of Caesar

Luke 20:15
He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

This is an interesting passage to come up next in my study on the morning after the election of 2012.  The words of Jesus, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's,” ring for today.  In truth, we the church had great hope for a turn in this election away from the control of humanism in the government of the United States and a return to the godly principles upon which our nation was founded.  Our collective disappointment should be a wakeup call to shake us from the notion that this vile world could ever be “a friend to grace to bring us on to God.”

I see in the events of the past two weeks the true and deliberate hand of God.  God’s judgment is surely falling, but it is not yet falling on the world.  God is judging His people.  When our Lord spoke the words recorded in Luke, Tiberius Caesar and Rome ruled the world.  The Jews were looking for a political and economic Deliverer, but they rejected the King of Kings because He came to deliver their souls from sin not their society from oppression and foreign domination. 

It is imperative that the children of God in America, the church of the redeemed, realize how far we have gone into acceptance of and dependence on the world and its systems.  It seems to me that our churches, our programs, our efforts individually and collectively are all focused on the material, the coin of Caesar, and the call of the Spirit of God is absent from our work and silenced in our hearts.

The Storm Is Coming

Luke 13:2-3(ESV)
² And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? ³ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Coming to this passage in my daily study at the time of the tragedy of the shooting in Aurora, Colorado, is indicative and suggestive.  The debate has resurfaced in America, “How can a just God permit such undeserved disasters?”  These Galileans who were killed in the Temple and the people of Jerusalem who died suddenly, painfully, and dramatically raised the same implied accusation – “God's not fair.  They didn’t deserve to die like this!”

Jesus’ answer was very direct, “Unless you repent, you will all like likewise perish.”  Within the lifetime of many of those people listening to Jesus, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans.  I do not predict a similar national disaster, but we should echo Christ’s warning.  In our day, the church and its leaders should with one voice answer with the same message, “Repent!”  Instead, we have churches and church men stammering with some form of apologetics trying to defend Jesus Christ as a loving God.  Jesus is love personified, but at this time and in this context, the message of the church should not be one of defending the faith in an apology, but the message must be, “Repent or you will all perish in the same way.”  Indeed, we all will die, and the only remedy for sin is repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ answer to disaster and tragedy was not a defense of God’s goodness or fairness, but a stern reminder of God’s righteousness, judgment, and sovereignty.   If this message is branded by the media and society as harsh, it is so branded by those who most need to hear and heed it.  In truth, the message of repentance is the only merciful message to give in times of disaster.

Coram deo

Responsibility of the Servant

"The Stairs of St. Barnabas"

At this place/stage of my life, I find myself able to do only two things well - I teach the Bible to a group of old men and I make paintings.  Of the two, only one, the first one, has any eternal value.  So I hear my Lord say, “Blessed is that servant whom the Master finds so doing (feeding His household) when He comes” (Luke 12:43).

In spite of everything else, my priority and my true responsibility is to be providing the Word to the portion of the Household assigned to me.  That portion may be more broad than I imagine, and my work as an artist may be another means by which I discharge my primary duty.

As Barnabas aided the work of others, may my labors make the work of others easier and more pleasant.

Biblical Illiteracy

 

I am doing something that is new for me - I want to point you to another blog.  This statement encapsulates the problems I see in evangelical churches across America, including my own.

Please follow this link to Leading from the Sandbox.

Thanks for reading.