Nicky Gumbel, in the sermon, read a letter written from someone who was complaining about the song selection and music.
The letter said:
“I am no music scholar, but I feel I know appropriate church music when I hear it. Last Sunday’s new hymn - if you can call it that - sounded like a sentimental love ballad one would expect to hear crooned in a saloon. If you insist on exposing us to rubbish like this - in God’s house! - don’t be surprised if many of the faithful look for a new place to worship. The hymns we grew up with are all we need.”
This letter was written in 1863 and the song they were concerned about was the hymn “Just As I Am“.
Another letter said:
“What is wrong with the inspiring hymns with which we grew up? When I go to church, it is to worship God, not to be distracted with learning a new hymn. Last Sunday’s was particularly unnerving. The tune was un-singable and the new harmonies were quite distorting.“
This letter was written in 1890 and about the hymn “What A Friend We Have In Jesus“.
A reader of Brian McLaren’s blog writes in asking about what many presume to be the “controversial” points of “emergents.” The writer of the questions does a pretty great job at answering his own question.
Nate wrote a post that got me thinking: What do people mean when they say “conservative” and “liberal?” Some say Obama is the most “liberal” senator. I’m not sure what makes him so liberal. So, is Mccain a “conservative?” If so, why is he tagged as such?
Can someone please explain to me what the terms “liberal” and “conservative” mean?
Gary Bredfelt writes in Great Teacher, Great Leader (My least favorite book of all time) this quote:
As Deuteronomy 6 mandates, you should find yourself teaching the Word in the common experiences of life. In whatever way, in whatever context, we who lead must set our heart to teach the Word of God. Make the ministry of teaching the Word a priority whether you lead in a classroom or in discipling adolescents; whether in the pulpit or counseling session, keep in mind that you need to be a person of the Book. Set your heart to be one who seeks to communicate God’s Word as a central part of your walk with God.
I like the idea of being a teacher in any setting. Let your wiring shine through wherever you are. Be who God made you to be.
Tim Kumfer writes a great post on the God’s Politics blog:
Polls show that show young evangelicals as voting increasingly for Democrats is all but a given. The temptation I pray we will avoid is hopping in bed with the Democrats like previous generations did with the Republicans. It is my hope, that instead of becoming more liberal, we would become more biblical. We need to be more realistic about partisan politics, both its capacity to exploit and use the church and its limits in creating large-scale social change.
