Aleethia!

Q: Is there any true/biblical difference between hymns & praise/worship songs?

That is our question for this week. But I have to ask a couple of defining questions before answering this one.

1) What defines a hymn?

2) What defines a praise/worship song?

By definition a hymn is merely:

a religious song or poem, typically of praise to God

This means that a hymn IS a praise/worship song.

So the question really is,

“Is there any biblical difference between what we consider to be traditional hymns, and modern/contemporary worship music?”

In one sense the answer is a simple “No.” But in another sense, there are some differences. To explore them, we should begin by learning what God has revealed in Scripture regarding the use of music in worship to him.

I say that very carefully, because I want us to begin with the understanding that music is not the totality of worship. There are other aspects of worship than just the music.

John Stott in his book The Living Church defines true worship as being compromised of these four things.

1) It’s biblical

He says that true worship is a response to the biblical revelation of God to man. Based on this characteristic he concludes that › Continue reading

Last week we looked at the book of Judges. We’re skipping over the book of Ruth to look at 1 Samuel this week. The reason we’re skipping Ruth is that we’re taking the OT books in the order they appear in the Jewish Scriptures rather than the English. The Jewish organization has existed far longer and carries a purpose that we can learn from.

This is the order of Scripture that the early church, including the Apostles and even Jesus, would have been familiar with.

Remember that the Jewish order divides the OT Scriptures into three parts.

Law – Prophets – Writings

We’ve already covered all five books of the Law, which are in the same order in our English Bibles.

Currently we’re in the Prophets, which includes Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and The Twelve (minor prophets).

Ruth is part of the third grouping known as the Writings.

Studying the OT in this order shows us what happened and why (as explained by the Law and Prophets) and then doubles back, covering the history again while demonstrating how faithful people responded.

By surveying the Old Testament in this order, the ways history, theology, and faith work together in Scripture becomes evident. ¹

1 Samuel

1 Samuel is a continuation of the history from the book of Judges. As the book begins we are at the end of the period of the judges. It is a time of spiritual darkness in which the Lord seems to have stopped communicating with his people.

The book can best be outlined by using a diagram.

Let’s take a look at each of these men, in turn. This will take us through the book in a zig-zag pattern. › Continue reading

Last week we looked at the book of Joshua and we saw the Israelites successfully conquering the Promised Land. We learned from the book of our need for total dependence on God, and exclusive loyalty to God. We then saw the piles of stones the Israelites erected to serve as reminders, reminders of God’s covenant with them, reminders of God’s miraculous deeds for them, and reminders of the consequences of not keeping the covenant.

This week we’re looking at the book of Judges. Judges is the sequel to Joshua. We don’t know for sure when the book was written or who the author is, though Jewish tradition attributes the book to Samuel. That would place the writing at some time around the institution of the monarchy.

Much like Joshua, the book of Judges will again relate a period of Israel’s history with the intent of teaching a specific lesson. The history related is somewhere between 200 to 400 years, covering the time from Joshua’s death to the time just before the rise of the monarchy.

There are many stories in Judges. Tragic stories and hopeful stories, but even the hopeful ones don’t go just right. The story is told of twelve different “judges” who arise in Israel during this time. Now the judges have a God appointed job to do, that is, to deliver the Israelites from their oppressors and lead them in worshiping God.

Now you might ask why they would need delivering. Didn’t they conquer the Promised Land and renew the covenant with God in the story we saw in Joshua. Well, yes they did, the problem is, they didn’t keep that covenant.

And so, the purpose of the book of Judges is to show us what happens when God’s people don’t heed the lessons we learned last week in Joshua. That is, what are the consequences of not relying in total dependence on God, but rather relying on our own strength and wisdom? And, what are the consequences of not being exclusively loyal to God in the worship of our hearts? What happens when we disregard those piles of stone and don’t remember the lessons they were intended to remind us of?

What happens when we try to claim victory by our strength and wisdom? What happens when we commit idolatry and worship the same gods the world worships?

The book of Judges has some cool stories, but it’s a tragedy. I’ll warn you right now that it doesn’t end well. › Continue reading

Last week we finished our tour of the first division of the OT, the Torah or Pentateuch. The five books of Moses introduced us to God, mankind, creation, the nation of Israel, and most importantly, God’s plan of redemption. We saw the beginning of that plan in the promises to Adam & Eve, and then to Abraham and his descendants, and finally in the exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Law.

There were some snags along the way as the people rebelled, sinned by not living in faith, and turned to idolatry.

Now, with the book of Joshua, we see the resumption of action toward fulfilling God’s promises. Finally, the people of Israel are entering the Promised Land to take possession of it.

The book is part of a group of books known to the Jewish people as the Former Prophets. This includes Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. In our English arrangement of the OT though, we group it with other books to form the books of History.

In a sense, it is both. It is a book of history, but it is not a history textbook like you would see in school. It is a prophetic history. What I mean is that it presents the history of the nation of Israel during a crucial period of time, and presents that history from a prophetic or theological framework. This is history with insight.

The goal of studying history is to learn from it. Joshua presents history as a lesson and explains the lesson clearly. It gives us the events and the “Why?” behind the events. This is sacred history, presented in a God-centered way.

If you turn to the last chapter, Joshua recites the nation’s history from the call of Abraham to the conquering of the Promised Land (as presented in this book). It is fairly short and completely God-centered. › Continue reading

How do you witness to someone who is strongly against Christianity? What if that person is a friend?

First let’s define our terms.

What does it mean to “witness” to someone?

There are several definitions of the word “witness” in the dictionary. Since we’re using it as a verb, I looked at those definitions and chose the one that most closely represents what I think we mean.

Witness: give or serve as evidence of; testify to; openly profess one’s religious faith in;

And from the Thesaurus, this use of the word is mirrored in these phrases.

Witness: attest to; testify to; confirm; verify; demonstrate; reveal

What we’re saying is this. To witness to someone about Christ, is to verbally express your faith in Christ and give evidence of the truth of Christianity, confirming that truth by demonstrating its effects in your life.

Late in his ministry, Paul recounts his salvation experience and uses the word witness in this way. He uses it as a noun, saying that he will be a person who does the action of witnessing in this way.

…for you [Paul] will be a witness for him [Jesus] to everyone of what you have seen and heard. – Acts 22:15

He means that he would testify to the truth of Christ as he had seen and heard it in his own life.

But our question really is, “How do you get through to someone who has heard the Gospel before and is openly opposed and resistant to it?” › Continue reading

Deuteronomy is the last book in the Torah or Pentateuch, the last book of Moses.

In Genesis we saw the creation, the fall, God’s judgment in the flood, the call of Abraham, and the story of Joseph. This left us in Egypt.

In Exodus we were introduced to Moses. We saw the sovereign deliverance of God in bringing the Israelites out of slavery.

In Leviticus we saw the application of the theology we learned in the first two books. We saw the importance of discernment in all areas of life. We saw the primary job of priests as discerning between holy and unholy. And we saw that we are all priests under the new covenant and that no area of our life is neutral, but all things have a bearing on our worship of God.

In Numbers we saw God’s judgment on an idolatrous generation. We saw a 40 year death sentence carried out to purge the nation of a group of people who trusted themselves more than they did God. We also saw God’s faithfulness to preserve the people as a whole during this time. At the end of the book the people were posed on the Eastern banks of the Jordan river waiting to enter the Promised Land.

In Deuteronomy we will pause right there. There is less narrative action in Deuteronomy than there was in Leviticus. The people do not enter the Promised Land yet. Basically the book is three sermons, or public addresses given by Moses to the people as they are camped on the East side of the river.

Deuteronomy has much in common with Leviticus. I said that Leviticus had two main points: God’s people are to live holy lives, God’s people are to confess sin. Deuteronomy is primarily concerned with that first point. As God’s chosen people, we are to live holy lives.

Leviticus told us to live holy lives, and it told us how to deal with our sin when we don’t, but Deuteronomy is going to tell us how to live holy lives. › Continue reading

* Note: All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version

Numbers. The very name turns many people off to this book. When we think of numbers, we tend to think of a math class we hate, or a spreadsheet, or something boring like that. And when you begin to read the book of Numbers, that suspicion may be verified.

The book opens with a chapter full of numbers. A census is to be taken. Sounds boring doesn’t it. Well perk up! This isn’t just a regular old census. This is a head count of the warriors of the nation!

The people of Israel are still at Mount Sinai in the wilderness. God has given them the law. They have built his tabernacle. And now he is numbering them, for war. They are to depart from Mount Sinai and march toward the Promised Land with intent to destroy the peoples currently living there.

And so this census is a hopeful event. 70 people of one family went into Egypt. A great multitude came out. Among that multitude is an army of considerable size, especially for that day and age.

Two aspects of the covenant promises to Abraham are in view here. First, God had promised to make his offspring numerous, and this census certainly provides proof that God fulfilled that promise. Second, › Continue reading

Race is certainly a “hot button” in our society. With the recent election of Barack Obama as our President though, many feel we have overcome “racism” at last.

And so we turn to the Bible to see what it says about race, and where these different races come from.

To begin with, let me say that my conclusion may seem shocking to some. This is something I’ve been thinking about off and on for some time now and attempting to answer this question forced me to sit down and study it out to see if my thoughts were, in fact, Biblical. I believe they were.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26-27

Here in the opening chapter of Genesis the Bible asserts that all of mankind was created in the image and likeness of the Creator himself. Chapter 2 tells the story of the creation of one man, Adam, and one woman. In chapter 3 we are told the woman’s name.

The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. – Genesis 3:20

Scripture is claiming a common ancestry for all mankind. In scientific circles this is called, monogenesis (monogenism). › Continue reading

There are several component pieces often used in a good sermon. An exciting or touching story to grab the audiences attention is one element often used by preachers. Jesus did this with the story of the prodigal son, or the good samaritan.

Theology is a necessary component. Theology is simply the study of God. If the preacher presents a sermon devoid of theology, then it was by definition devoid of God and a bad sermon. So a preacher must present some theology. As he attempts to explain a passage of Scripture he relates what that passage teaches us about the nature of God.

There is one other vital part to any good sermon. If the preacher tells a gripping story, and teaches solid theology but fails to do this, the sermon was for naught. What is it that you want at the conclusion of a good sermon? Application. How does this relate to me? How do I take what the preacher has told me about God today, and put it to work in my life?

If these first three books of the Bible were a sermon, Leviticus would be the application. Genesis and Exodus told us an engaging story. They taught us a lot of great, and exciting theology, which hopefully got applied to our lives in my presentation. Now Leviticus is going to take that story, and that theology and apply it to our lives.

By way of review.

In the first two books, Genesis and Exodus, we began with a discussion of the main characters and events, and then moved to theology. We learned of: › Continue reading

The Trinity is a difficult concept to understand, let alone articulate. Here is a definition of the Trinity by Wayne Grudem:

God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God. ¹

Basically, there are three truths that must be understood about God.

1) There is one God.

There are not three Gods, or any number, other than one. Scripture is clear on this point.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one,…” – Deuteronomy 6:4

Jesus affirms this himself.

“Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…’” – Mark 12:28-30

Paul also states the same.

…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. – Ephesians 4:5-6

There is one God.

2) God exists in three distinct persons. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

From the opening chapter of Genesis we see the plurality of the Trinity. › Continue reading