Context or Confusion

Open Your Hymnals to "Dirty Me" One of the running jokes in the Andy Griffith Show episodes featuring the backwoods Darling family occurs when Andy and the family are choosing a song to play. Someone names a song which is followed by something like "oh no, that one make me cry." One of the songs offered by Andy was titled, "Dirty Me, Dirty Me, I'm Disgusted With Myself." Well, joke or not, it sounds like a song the modern church sorely needs.
One of the most insidious doctrines which has poisoned Christianity is this strange idea that we don't love ourselves enough. I would argue that the chief obstacle to people coming to Christ is self. Even the few people who think they're just too far gone for Christ to save have a "self" problem. I can't find anywhere in scripture where lack of self-love is listed as a problem and numerous places where pride (which God hates) is at the root of our difficulties.
The Psalms recounts how David&…

Our creeds should be guided by doctrine, not our doctrines by our creeds.
“Do animals have souls?” Is a question I’ve heard over the years, and, unfortunately, it is often answered in the negative despite the Bible being clear on this matter. I’ve heard several teachers I admire over the years dismiss the idea with a mocking, “Of course, animals do not have souls.”


As noted the Bible is clear that animals are souls and have spirits. I think the problem, however, has its roots in a few assumptions which preclude what the scripture has to say. Most Christians do not understand the “soul,” nor the “spirit” and assume that only man must “have” a soul for only he is immortal. These are all assumptions from tradition and creeds, not from scripture. The Bible is very clear on these matters, but since it upsets the catechism, it must be “reinterpreted” to fit the accepted understanding.


1. Animals Are Souls (Hebrew: Nephesh; Greek Psuche)

It’s suggested that “living ones” is a better translatio…

The words "is to be" are not in 2 Cor 5:8, they are merely imposed on the text by those with a pretext.
Possibly the most misquoted verse in the New Testament


Below this entry I’ve posted a previous short study of mine from 2015, but I wanted to add more detail as to the context in which we find the verse.


A radio ministry I follow has been going through 2 Corinthians and the teacher is passing from chapter 4 into chapter 5. Another radio ministry I follow was recently through that section of scripture. Both misquoted a well-known verse, but they are not alone. I hear the verse misquoted and taken out of context probably more than any verse in the New Testament.


Some dynamic equivalence Bible translations suffer from biases on the part of the translators. Instead of a direct translation (formal or static), the writers impose thoughts on the verse which they believe are inferred. Well, if you believe some verse already teaches something before you get to it, it very well could…

For His Mercy Endureth Forever
In Part 1 and Part 2 of this little series, I made note (as part of the accusations against contemporary worship or CW) the charge of CW being repetitive. Previously, I simply noted that repetitive is in the eye of the beholder. One of the common pejoratives leveled is to call all CW “7/11 music.” That is, “7 words, repeated 11 times.”

Although I would dispute the accuracy of such a generalization, let me take just two examples of how applying this standard to all music presents an interesting dilemma for the hymns-only folks.

I would first point to the only songbook we know is inspired of God, the Psalms. In Psalm 136, the words “For His mercy endureth forever” repeat 26 times; “5/26” if you will. Compared to 7/11, that’s fewer words repeated more times (with the understanding that Psalm 136 has additional verses). And how many times have we been told to find comfort in the fact that the words “fear not” appear scores of times in scripture?

We note th…

In Part 1 of this little study, we briefly looked at some of the accusations against contemporary worship (CW) and the parallel arguments for the use of the hymns (H). The study was inspired by yet another article on the superiority of the H.

The article juxtaposed a popular CW song (“One Thing Remains”) with a classic H (“Rock of Ages”) to show the supposed shallowness of all CW compared to the depth of all the H. Again, I have nothing against the H, and I agree that many contain excellent doctrinal content, but each must be judged on its own merit. I gave my example of CW v. H by comparing “This I Believe” with the H “In My Heart There Rings A Melody.” The latter being somewhat generic and applicable to all kinds of heretical groups. It also contains rather weak sauce in its refrain, “In my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody of heaven’s harmony; in my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody of love.”
If I posted those words and said they’re from a CW song, the…

There is a subject that I have seen debated since the day I became a Christian. That is the question of music in The Body (the church). It’s a very large topic, but I’d like to break it into small, digestible bits. But if you want to save time and avoid reading these notes, music in The Body should be judged the same way we should judge everything: by scripture, by doctrine.


My only dog in this fight is truth. I enjoy both the hymns (H) and contemporary worship (CW). I judge each the same way: doctrinally from an Evangelical, biblical perspective. To that end, I like some H and some CW; I don’t like some H and don’t like some CW. Similar to my previous note on the names of the Lord, I really don’t care what you use, as long as it’s based on ultimate truth and as long as you don’t use non-biblical reasoning to condemn others who choose differently.


The arguments against using (CW) are generally the same (and it’s fair to say the attacks on CW are far more common than any on the H). If we…

Isaiah warns Israel with a series of woes. These were for Israel and her Gentile neighbors, but we can look at the principles. The first section lists the "charges" against the nation and nations, and the second is a list of national "sentences." This list is not exhaustive and consists of a summation of the prophet's words. As always, refer to the original for context and study!
The Charges
Forsaking the Lord; you have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned your backs on himYou've become a sinful nation, a people whose guilt is greatYou've become a brood of evildoersYour children are given to corruptionYou have a haughty, prideful lookYou parade your sins like SodomYou take over house after house and field after field, until there is no room left for anyone else in all the landYou rise early to chase after intoxicating drinksYou stay up late intoxicatedYou have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his handsYou drag around y…

“The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.” (Hebrews 8)
The New Covenant, as late as the writing of Hebrews was still future (“the days are coming”). The New Covenant is not the gospel of this present age. It is a covenant to and for a future Israel. It was not given to The Body in the Present Age. 
Grace is not a covenant.
Jeremiah 31
At that time, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people”“The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness; I will come to give rest to Israel.” I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuiltYou shall again be adorned with your tambourines, And shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice. You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food. For there sha…