The Book That Made Your World

Posted on 10/06/2013 by | Leave a comment

9781595553225

Book Review – written by Lindsay

The Book That Made Your World* by Vishal Mangalwadi, published by Thomas Nelson 2011

I am grateful to a missionary friend for drawing my attention to this remarkable book. It is subtitled How The Bible Created The Soul of Western Civilization and as the back-cover says: “will transform your perception of the Bible’s influence on virtually every facet of Western Civilisation”.

So much that we take for granted in our own society, such as education, human dignity, the social and economic empowerment of women, human rights, the passion for scientific, medical and technological advancement – all these and more can be traced back to the Bible and the godly men and women who took the Bible seriously and whose lives were transformed by its message of the Saviour of the World. Continue reading →

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Why does style and instrumentation in corporate singing matter?

Posted on 07/06/2013 by | 1 Comment

Church music style and instrumentation

Answer: Because it’s not about style and instrumentation. Interestingly, two different blogs commented on the centrality of the singing in corporate worship, and how important it is that the congregation singing is the main game.

Firstly, T. David Gordon at Second Nature (HT: Carl Trueman):

‘Congregational praise is a commanded duty that can be audibly discerned; we should hear congregational praise when it is sung, and nothing else (choir, organ, marching band, bagpipe) should be permitted to obscure the thing that is commanded.’

Secondly, Justin Taylor quotes Piper and Smith at Between Two Worlds. Here’s Piper:

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Wrong Worship

Posted on 04/06/2013 by | 4 Comments

Wrong Worship

There is a kind of worship that is sensual, ungodly and corrupt. This kind of worship is wrong. What makes it wrong is that it is not done in accordance to God’s way. Wrong worship is coming to God on the basis and by means of man’s ways and not God’s. Scripture is filled with examples of wrong worship. I have only selected a few examples that illustrate the corrupt practice of wrong worship.

Cain
Both Cain and Abel worshiped the Lord by means of sacrifice (Gen. 4:3-4). Despite the fact that they both offered a sacrifice to God, only Abel’s was deemed acceptable (cf. Gen. 4:4). In the eyes of man, Cain’s offering would have appeared visually acceptable and sacrificial. However, that is not what makes sacrifice or worship acceptable to God. Abel’s was received and Cain’s was rejected (Gen. 4:5) because one worshiped God according to His ordained way and the other didn’t (cf. Heb. 11:4; 12:24). Because it is not revealed in Scripture the reason why Abel’s offering was acceptable, we can only assume that the Lord had revealed the method to them prior (cf. Gen. 3:21) and by faith Abel acted on that (cf. Heb. 11:4).

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Posted in Bible Reflection, Church, Doctrine, Faith, Life Application, Spiritual Growth, The Bible