February 13, 2015. You don’t want to hear this song, watch this video, or read its lyrics. I haven’t heard it on the radio, and I cannot find it on any of the charts I frequent (speaking of which, I’m clearly not checking the most relevant charts based on what won a Grammy).
My wife volunteered at the local Winter Jam concert. She only really got to see/hear Jeremy Camp’s segment, and was happy to report that in between songs he held up a Bible and declared to the large crowed that God’s Word is the only source of Truth, that His Word is the standard. I smiled as she shared that with me because we recently reviewed his song “He Knows” and it was pretty good.
However, there was one band that kept singing “crank it like a chain saw” and they were doing a chainsaw dance motion. While my wife was trying to figure out what the song was about, she over heard one of the other volunteers say, “I hope Jesus is in this place”. So we looked it up. ::sigh::
Family Force 5 – Chainsaw [feat. Tedashii] Lyrics
Artist: Family Force 5
Album: ReanimatedYeah, they like the way I do this
When I crank it like a (chainsaw)
Yeah, they like the way I do this
When I crank it like a (chainsaw)
Full throttle heavy metal
Set the bar next level
Wasteland gettin’ all danky
Soul Glow (chainsaw)
Let it go with them elbows back
Engine smokin’ like this track
Shirt’s soakin’ from all this sweat
Catch my breath (chainsaw)
Now hear me roar
I’m an apex predator
From the sycamores, let’s get skeletor (Chainsaw)
Watch and learn, watch and learn
Get that thang crankin’ baby, slash slash burn
Bows to the knees yeah crank it like a chainsaw
Crank it crank it crank it back
Crank it like a chain, crank it like a chainsaw
Fresh flannel shirt, country bumpkin
Lumberjackin your moves, a.k.a. Paul Bunyan
Run yun yun-yun-yun yun-yun-yun yun-yun
I make it run I make it run I make it run run (Chainsaw)
Drop it drop it drop it down low
Chop it chop chop it chop, here we here we go
Teeth so sharp that they’re callin’ me Jaws
I’m your boss, baby, crank it like a chainsaw
Chained out, head hunter
Cyberpunk yeah I’m a blade runner
Turned up automatic
Full tank, you ain’t gotta think about it (chainsaw)
Drop it drop it drop it down low
Chop it chop chop it chop, here we here we go
Vroom vroom and you know it’s goin’ off
I’m yellin’ timber, crank it like a (chainsaw)
Positive Elements
None. This song is stupid even by secular standards. In many ways, the video reminded me of a Weird Al Yankovic parody… only the object of this parody is the Christian music scene.
Concerns
The Christian youth will gravitate toward this nonsense. You want to know why we (the Church) lose so many of our youth before they leave High School? Mislabeling garbage like this as “Christian” or claiming it is even remotely God-honoring sets our youth up for false teaching and false doctrine.
Conclusion
Please help me find better charts/lists of emerging music passing itself (or being labeled) as Christian music. If this is getting threaded into major Christian concert events, we may need to increase our DiM coverage. Please help. Also, talk to your kids about what they watch and what they hear. Teach your children discernment. Pray for our youth, and pray for the Christian Music Industry.
Today, we’ll visit TruthforLife.org for a sermon by Alistair Begg. The world doesn’t get to define love. It isn’t theirs. It isn’t ours, honestly… God is the very definition of Love. The world first redefines “love” and then flips this scripture to read “love is god”, but they’ve made their own god by taking the liberty of first defining what they want love to be. Now, this isn’t really where Alistair takes this message, but this is why I’m choosing this sermon for this day.
God’s love for us – for each one of us – is expressed in the great cost He paid at Calvary, bearing the wrath that our sins deserve. But as we learn in this Good Friday message, until the Holy Spirit shows me my sinfulness, I won’t understand my need of salvation.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.19 We love because he first loved us.20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
May God bless you and keep you, In Christ Jesus, Jorge
February 10, 2015. So last night as I was driving home I heard the DJ of a local Christian radio station congratulate Lecrae and For King and Country for their Grammy. I thought, “oh yeah… we should probably take a look at what was honored at the Grammy’s for DiM Tuesday.”
So today we are going to take a look at the winners of the “Gospel” category of the Grammy’s. The winner for BEST CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC PERFORMANCE/SONG was indeed “Messengers” by Lecrae Featuring For King & Country. We’ll look at this song today, but before we do let’s look at the other nominees:
Now, one thing I couldn’t help but notice is that though we’ve been trying to review the top 20 Christian songs over the past year, we’ve only managed to cover 1 of the 5 nominated songs. Should I be using a different list? Should we try to add a DiM day in our week? I don’t know. Your feedback on this question would be most appreciated.
Okay, so let’s take a look at the song “Messengers”. First, I want to try to clarify that rap, like poetry, rarely makes clear objective statements. It is a genre that tries to poetically allude to societal themes or trends. Rap music is a part of a very dynamic rap culture that is intentionally kept in a state of flux. The vast majority of secular rap is filled with fad references and short-lived colloquialisms connected to even shorter-lived trends in clothing, entertainment, and civil unrest/outrage. A big part of secular rap culture is demonstrating how “fresh” you keep your language, tastes, and style. In fact, my use of “fresh” in that sense clearly signifies that I am not on the cutting edge of rap culture… and I’m okay with that. “Christian” rap is equally poetic and it needs to speak to a culture whose language changes faster than the headlines at CNN about a timeless, unchanging Truth of God’s Word. Rap is a genre of poetry, and poetry isn’t the best way to convey the clear message of the Gospel. God indeed breathed out the Psalms, but the Apostles didn’t write poetry in the New Testament, they wrote clearly and concisely as the Holy Spirit led them.
Calling all the messengers
Calling all the messengers
Calling all the messengers
We’ve been given a call
Been forgiven, risen
We livin’ to give him our all
Rise up from your past
That’s holding you down
This moment is all that matters
The future is now
How will the people know if we don’t tell ’em?
If we fail ’em
They’re stumbling in the dark
But the lighters that we carryin’
Don’t have to wonder your purpose
Or what you’re here for
Reflect his image
And show the world what he cares for
And I know it’s all right
And you know it’s your life
And we know that time’s running out
Can’t wait around cause
Calling all the messengers
Calling all the messengers
Calling all the messengers
I’ve been a lot of places where the scene ain’t pretty
I’ve seen plenty of hate, death and destruction
Where ignorance kills many
The blind leading the blind
We turnin’ a blind eye
That alone is a crime
We’ve got the power to life
I know that we make mistakes
Don’t let ’em keep you away
Mercy, love, and His grace
The reason we movin’ here
Speak out
Though we’ve never been qualified to do it
I ain’t earned it
I was loved into it
I’m brand new
Calling all the messengers
Calling all the messengers
Calling all the messengers
Publishing: Fellowship of the Unashamed Music (BMI), WB Music Corp./Method To The Madness/Shankel Songs (ASCAP) (Admin. by WB Music Corp.), Warner Tamerlane/Kilns Music/Shankel Songs (BMI) (Adm. by Warner Tamerlane), Ally Plane Music (BMI), Evident Music (ASCAP), Before I Die Publishing (BMI), Joseph Prielozny Music (ASCAP)/Unashamed Music (ASCAP) and Track or Die Music LLC (BMI) Writer(s): Lecrae Moore, Joel Smallbone, Luke Smallbone, Ricky Jackson, Ran Jackson, Kenneth Chris Mackey, Joseph Prielozny and Torrance Esmond
Positive Elements
I believe the title and the choral refrain points to the Christian’s call to Evangelism. We can pluck a few lines out to support this assertion. One thing I’d like to point out is that the value of a messenger is in the Message being proclaimed and from Whom the Message originates. We are called to take the Message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Let’s look at how Paul writes of this in Romans 10.
11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
There is a line in the first verse of the song that seems to come from this passage, “How will the people know if we don’t tell ’em?” I wish the emphasis of this song was on the preaching of the Gospel, the sharing of the Message of repentance and the forgiveness of sin found only at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. That was Paul’s emphasis. That was Jesus’s emphasis. This is the emphasis of the Great Commission.
Concerns
If the lyric of the song is aimed at calling Christians to Evangelism… why then do we see this song pop up seemingly out of nowhere at the Grammy’s? Why has this song not been on our radar here? I believe that this song resonates more with a secularist activism crowd of artists and producers because it doesn’t emphasize preaching of Law (repentance) and Gospel (forgiveness)… rather the song seems to emphasize works. The world is eager to judge Christianity (and Christians) for their lack of works. This song offers up a few lines that seem to echo that sentiment.
This moment is all that matters The future is now, How will the people know if we don’t tell ’em? If we fail ’em, They’re stumbling in the dark But the lighters that we carryin’ Don’t have to wonder your purpose Or what you’re here for Reflect his image And show the world what he cares for
What does “the future is now” and “this moment is all that matters” mean in a Christian context? Are these statements even remotely supported by Scripture? This is the kind of stuff you hear from a sales pitch or a motivational hype-man. Do something now! is what is conveyed. Reminds me of the song we reviewed “Do Something” by Matthew West. One of the positive lines we highlighted earlier is in bold. We connected that line to Romans 10. But when we look at this line and how it falls in the context of the song, we see the next line “If we fail ’em”… and it leads to the reflect his image and show the world what he cares for. It seems to fall in the “deeds not creeds” (which is a creed) category, or one of those “earn the right to preach the Gospel” philosophies. I’m not saying I think that is Lecrae’s intention, just pointing out that this seems to be the overall tenor of this song when we look at the lyrics apart from the music video.
The second verse has a line that I think secular activists key in on to further push the “deeds not creeds” mindset. There is an allegation by Lecrae that “We turnin’ a blind eye That alone is a crime”. This also changes the over-arching theme of “calling all the messengers”. There is now an implied rebuke to Christians for turning a blind eye to the state of… well, those places where the scene ain’t pretty that Lecrae has seen. He’s vague and generic, but the implication is much the same as Matthew West’s accusation that “we’re never going to change the world by standing still”. Lecrea’s song isn’t nearly as blatant, but the problem of a works-focused “social gospel” is still evident. Lecrae is “calling all the messengers” to pay attention and reflect Christ by showing what He loves and do something about the hate, death, destruction, and ignorance in the world.
The biggest concern with which I take issue is the avoidance of topics of Sin and Repentance. In the first verse, we are called, forgiven, and risen… but we still need to “rise up from a past that holds us down”. huh? God forgave you (when you got saved) and he raised you (from the death of your sins and trespasses) but its up to YOU to rise up from your past because it’s still holding you down? Law-Gospel-Law. There was a chance to clarify this concept in the second verse… and it was missed entirely. “We’ve got the power to life I know that we make mistakes Don’t let ’em keep you away Mercy, love, and His grace The reason we movin’ here Speak out Though we’ve never been qualified to do it I ain’t earned it I was loved into it I’m brand new“. So, we make “mistakes” that we “can’t let them keep us away”? How about, we Sin and are in continual need to repent and be forgiven, and that is the message we should be preaching to the Lost as well? Mercy, Love, and Grace are popular themes for the world to hear, but still no confession and repentance. Incidentally, the way to “not letting them keep us away” is to confess our sins one to another, forgive each other, and repent at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
The world is all for praising social activism that down-plays sin and repentance. This song won a Grammy, but I haven’t seen it on a Christian music top 20 chart. The world picked this song and championed it as what they want to see coming out of Gospel music. A world that tells Christians, don’t talk about sins, just demonstrate love. Don’t ask me to repent, go work to end world hunger, slavery, and climate change like all of us who reject your God do. You see, social activism can be overtly engaged by anyone, even those who’ve rejected the One True Living God. This song will likely see a lot more Christian radio airplay as the CCM industry gushes over it’s Grammy. The song is a poetic, generic rebuke that Christians aren’t “doing enough” because evil exists.
In closing, I’d like to remind all of the messengers, what Jesus warned.
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin,but now they have no excuse for their sin.23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also.24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
February 3, 2015. Today, we will be taking a look at song #13 on the Top 20 Songs at 20theCountdownMagazine website, “Because He Lives (Amen)” by Matt Maher. The song has an anthemic vibe (typical of Matt Maher and Chris Tomlin), a catchy tune, and Matt’s vocals are strong. It is cleverly written to get those who know the Hymn to fill in the gaps in the message automatically. Sadly, for those who don’t know what was conveyed in the hymn, the song doesn’t stand on its own. The hymn didn’t tell the full story (no repentance and a little bit self-focused), but it did a much better job than this song does.
There is an allusion to the Hymn “Because He Lives“, which is a good song. The best thing about this song by Matt Maher is that it reminds older Christians of that hymn. Unfortunately, if you’ve grown up in contemporary worship… you probably have never heard of that song. I’m thinking this is why Bill & Gloria Gaither are included in the list of writers.
Concerns
Had I seen the list of 7 writers before seeing the lyrics of the song, I would have been greatly disappointed by the vagueness and brevity of the message of the songs. Such a vague song. Never identifying who the Son is, or the Father. No mention of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. This song simply can’t wait to jump to “me”.
The second verse is very odd to me. While we are born dead in sins and transgressions, we aren’t yet in the grave. Before we are regenerated by faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we walked in our sin, transgressions, and death. The line “He rolled the stone away” is odd, too, at least in this verse if we are to connect it to our sinful state… are we placing ourselves in the resurrection of Jesus? In the Baptism, we do join (by faith) in His death and resurrection… but is that being properly conveyed here? I don’t think so. I don’t mean to impune the intent the song’s writers, but the brevity of the song and this verse makes clarity tough to achieve. If you cannot be clear with the analogy, either write more verse(s) or dump the analogy and declare the Gospel outright.
I also struggle with the use of the word “Mercy” calling our name. Grace and Mercy are not interchangeable terms in the New Testament. Since this verse is alluding to Ephesians 2, let’s look at the passage.
Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV) | By Grace Through Faith
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
So why use “Mercy call my name”? The song doesn’t preach Law or repentance. When we preach Grace, we include the need for the atonement. Society sees “grace” and they think of a temporary reprieve, but the payment is still due. That is fitting; however, in the case of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the payment has already been made. We still need only confess our sinful state and repent from our sins and receive the Grace of God by faith in Christ Jesus, and this we do on a daily basis for as long as we continue living in these sinful bodies. Mercy comes after the judgment, it doesn’t skip it. While I may be splitting hairs a bit, I feel like keeping the terms and concepts of Grace and Mercy in their proper places in Scripture.
Conclusion
The world is eating up the lawless version of God’s love and mercy, and churches are crumbling under the pressure of “church growth” and “seeker sensitivity”. With the recent news of another megachurch declaring unrepentant sexual immorality to be an acceptable lifestyle for Christians, I think of this song being played on the radio or even in the worship service at such a church. Let’s sing about the self-esteem building side of the Gospel without mentioning the Law which identifies sin in our lives. Ultimately, the song is too vague to be given a pass. It’s a somewhat random collection of ideas that point to the Gospel, but they are not articulated well… and I’m comparing it to a short hymn. Did this song really take 7 writers?
Jude 1:20-25 (ESV) 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Today has been a different sort of day for me, so today’s post is more of me sharing in a blog what has been rolling around in my head for the past week or so.
Drink water
Are you and avid water drinker? If you aren’t part of the “get fit” crowd, chances are you go through your day without so much as a single glass of water. We have lots of sports drinks, sodas, milk, tea, coffee, fruit juices and even very tasty vegetable juices, not to mention beer and liquor. Our bodies need water for their functions. If I may, I thought I’d grab a quick list from a fun site (though we could turn to medical journals for a more scholarly approach)
Your body is mostly (50 to 70 percent) water. Exactly how much water depends on how old you are and how much muscle and fat you have. Muscle tissue has more water than fat tissue. Because the average male body has proportionately more muscle than the average female body, it also has more water. For the same reason — more muscle — a young body has more water than an older one.
You definitely won’t enjoy the experience, but if you have to, you can live without food for weeks at a time, getting subsistence levels of nutrients by digesting your own muscle and fat. But water is different. Without it, you’ll die in a matter of days — more quickly in a place warm enough to make you perspire and lose water more quickly.
You need water to
Digest food, dissolving nutrients so that they can pass through the intestinal cell walls into your bloodstream, and move food along through your intestinal tract.
Carry waste products out of your body.
Provide a medium in which biochemical reactions such as metabolism (digesting food, producing energy, and building tissue) occur.
Send electrical messages between cells so that your muscles can move, your eyes can see, your brain can think, and so on.
Regulate body temperature — cooling your body with moisture (perspiration) that evaporates on your skin.
Lubricate your moving parts.
As much as three-quarters of the water in your body is in intracellular fluid, the liquid inside body cells. The rest is in extracellular fluid, which is all the other body liquids, such as
Interstitial fluid (the fluid between cells)
Blood plasma (the clear liquid in blood)
Lymph (a clear, slightly yellow fluid collected from body tissues that flows through your lymph nodes and eventually into your blood vessels)
Bodily secretions such as sweat, seminal fluid, and vaginal fluids
Urine
Personal confession: while growing up, I did not enjoy drinking water directly unless it was during a break in Wrestling or Football practice. After serving in the Army, I learned the value of good drinking water, even from a plastic canteen that has been sitting in the 90ºF sun for several hours. However, whenever I am comfortably in my home enjoying time with friends and family and not breaking a sweat… I don’t turn to water, I go for some of those empty calorie drinks. Why? Because they taste goooood. Sure, in every consumable liquid there is some measure of water; however, the body has to work a lot harder to use what little water is available and some of it has to be then used to cleanse the system of impurities (pointing mainly at the sugary sodas, coffee, tea, and alcoholic drinks). When a doctor prescribes “more fluids”, we should understand “water” (you should get your electrolytes from eating good foods, it doesn’t have to be in drink form).
Drink Water
John 4:1-15 (ESV) | Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
This passage is often heavily spiritualized (particularly within the continuationist view) pointing to God the Holy Spirit. This passage isn’t just about God the Holy Spirit, but about the Word of God, the Word made Flesh in Jesus Christ and in the Written Word that was Breathed Out by God. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot hope to see God in the Scriptures; however, we who have received faith by hearing the Word of God and have accepted the Law and Gospel of Jesus and been baptized have been sealed in Christ by the Holy Spirit, who teaches us as we read the Written Word of God.
During any given week, I read through some 20 or so discernment articles or blogs, and listen to a good 15 hours of exegetical teaching, discernment ministries, commentaries, and (regrettably) some really bad sermons. The answer I jump to in almost all cases is “read your Bibles”. Last week, while I was listening to one of the bad sermons, I heard the false teacher implore the listeners to “read their Bibles”. That’s when it struck me… they don’t know how to read their Bibles, and the false-teacher knows it. The false teacher presents himself (or herself) as the keeper of the well. They are the only ones who know how to draw the water, because the well is so deep. So they’ll say in one breath “read your Bibles” and with the next they’ll twist a passage completely out of context to woo the crowd and impress them with their sugary drink theology. The question that is left in the mind of the listener is, “why is it when I draw my own water (Read the Bible) it never comes out tasting so sweetly?” There is no way to read the Bible yourself and come up with the wild allegories and “life applications” that these false teachers peddle, and they know it. But they are counting on you to defer to their teaching for your next “sugar rush” more than they are on you clearing your palate.
A child who has grown up on a steady diet of fruit juices and milk will find water unpleasant to drink. It tastes bland without all of that sugar. There aren’t any bubbles. There’s no buzz. Even as an adult, have you ever tried to eliminate extra sugar from your diet? It makes everything taste… well… blah. The truth is, you’ve grown accustomed to high-fructose sugary everything. Your palate has been overloaded for so long, you have no idea just how much sugar you ingest without noticing (incidentally, we also tend to do this with salt). Most people can’t handle going from a normal-high sugar diet to a balanced diet and hold steadily. I find that I need to reset my palate first by eliminating as many sources of added sugar as possible, so that I can once-again detect when my food/drink has been sweetened.
Learn to Read Your Bible and Drink Pure Water
What we try to focus on here is pointing out to our readers what it takes to read the Bible for what it says, without additives. Please, take a break from all of the NY Times Best Sellers advertised in your Christian bookstore, and learn to read your Bible. I recommend getting a good coach. I’ve learned a lot from listening to Chris Rosebrough at Fighting for the Faith, Jonathan Fisk at Worldview Everlasting, Alistair Begg on Truth for Life, and Todd Friel at WretchedRadio. For those keeping track of denominations, that’s 2 Lutheran, 1 Nondenominational, and 1 Reformed. From time to time, if we get side-tracked and you feel we’ve not made clear where we draw our connections in the text, please challenge us here. Let us know when we’ve skipped a step or erred entirely. Hold us accountable, so that we might be Faithful Stewards of God’s Word.
Colossians 3:16-17 (ESV) 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Today is “Discernment in Music” (DiM) day here at Faithful Stewardship (2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV)).
Faithful Stewardship 
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