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Glory In the Cross

August 22, 2008 in Worship by Isaiah | 5 comments

By Steve Camp

Glory in the cross, our faithful High Priest
Went beyond the veil as our Prince of Peace
Clothed with our sin, its guilt and shame
Our sinless Substitute, Jesus His name

Glory in the cross the Law now fulfilled
Righteousness displayed on Calvary’s Hill
Imputed to all who’d ever would believe
The Lord, the spotless Lamb, hung cursed upon a tree

Glory in the cross where grace doth abound
Where the Man of Sorrows wore transgressions crown
Wounded and chastened for our iniquities
Our faithful Redeemer, God the Father pleased

Together for the gospel; redeemed by the risen Lamb
By grace alone, through faith alone, on Christ alone we stand
Clothed with His righteousness; peace with God forevermore
By His word and for His glory, we proclaim the gospel story
That salvation is through only, Jesus Christ our Lord

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A La Carte {02 July 2008}

July 2, 2008 in Christianity by Isaiah | 5 comments

Feminization of Man's WearDestroying the Myth About Global Warming
I’ve always maintained that the “Global Warming” phenomenon is just a farce. Sure, the days seem to be hotter nowadays, but is there such a unprecedented level of danger to the survival of the earth that we need to make so many sacrifices, with even some scientists and politicians calling for the preservation of the environment at the expense of human lives?!

Of course, we are to be good stewards of the resources given to us of God, but when you think about the agenda behind this movement, you begin to see who really benefits. Do you benefit when you decline a plastic bag for your groceries? No, I’d say that the supermarket saves on providing you with some convenient manner with which to carry your purchases. And what about all these calls to buy environmentally-safe products at higher costs? Who gains?

HT: The Reformed Gadfly.

I Kissed A Girl And Liked It
Oh, wonderful, I am so thrilled, NOT!

A recently-released song titled “I Kissed A Girl And Liked It” was apparently done by Kate Perry who claims to be Christian and was herself formerly known as Katy Hudson in the gospel music industry.

I’m not displaying the video here, but you can view it on YouTube if you’re interested.

HT: Slice of Laodicea.

The Feminization Continues
The color pink, frills, ribbons, lace, and other materials more commonly found on ladies’ wear like crepe de chine, organza, shantung and silk voile, are soon going to be worn by men if these fashion designers have their way (pictured above).

I’m thinking they might go even go well with these new under-things called “manties“.

Genesis, Babel And The Chinese Language
Since a brother, Nelson, mentioned the discovery that the Chinese language might actually reflect what was recorded in the book of Genesis, I have been quite interested in this subject since it touches part of my heritage and culture.

Chinese words are pictograms, i.e. each word is made up of characters separately representing the idea or object. Some scholars have recently put forward the theory that some Chinese words actually concur with events recorded in the Bible, in particular the flood, the ark and even the fall.

Answers in Genesis has a three-part series (so far) on this proposition. The entire video is listed as being 55 minutes long, with each part lasting 11 minutes, so I think there’ll be two more parts coming.

Photo Credit: “Men’s Fashion Gets a Feminine Touch At Paris Shows.” Breitbart.Com. 29 June 2008. <http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080629200339.bztl1xwu&show_article=1>.

Hillsong Says: Reformers Fought for Nothing

June 30, 2008 in Christianity, Roman Catholicism by Isaiah | 16 comments

Hillsong -- Savior KingLooks like it’s a musical Monday today…

This piece of news, taken from Symphony of Scripture, rather saddens me because I’ve always quite enjoyed the more Biblical songs by Hillsong such as Hosanna and Savior King:

Hillsong church are promoting and uniting with the gospel of the Roman Catholic religion. On a poster advertising World Youth Day, Hillsong worship leader Darlene Zschech says:

“We see WYD08 as a great opportunity to serve the Catholic Church in its vision to present the gospel and reach out to our city, our nation and our world in unity.” (Source)

Serve the Roman Catholic Church, the Whore?!

And which gospel would that be, Darlene?

Moving forward, I don’t see myself spending any more money buying their CDs and thereby indirectly supporting the preaching of a false, ecumenical gospel.

Full story at Symphony of Scripture.

Sweetly Broken

May 6, 2008 in Worship by Isaiah | 2 comments

NSFW: This song will make you cry.

While writing the response to “ordinary guy” and going through those verses myself, I am reminded of how much God has done for me. I think this song rightly sums up how much I want to praise God for His love and faithfulness!

Amen!

Hymns Still Top the Charts

March 14, 2008 in Christianity by Isaiah | 10 comments

Calvary Pandan Church ChoirI’m not one of those stiff-necked folks who insist that only hymns are proper worship songs, but given the fact that there’s actually a plethora of bad Christian music out there nowadays, I still prefer hymns to contemporary Christian music (CCM).

There’s just something majestic and magnifying of the Lord in hymns, unlike bad CCM that harp about “what I want from God” or worse, not mentioning God at all in the lyrics.

As you can probably guess by now, lately I’ve been harking back to hymns after having listened to CCM for awhile. Perhaps it’s a ‘grass is greener on the other side’ phenomenon, but for most of my time in a church it was in one that only sings hymns, and not CCM.

The only reason I started listening to CCM was that I was younger then and needed a beat. I mean, if you’re a teenager who’s listening to Run D.M.C. and Bon Jovi on normal days and had to go with the slow solemn hymns on Sunday, you would not have any interest in the latter.

So, perhaps it’s also because I’m older now and (hopefully) more matured as a Christian, I have a new-found appreciation for hymns, especially those sung by a good church choir.

Here’s one I found recently that I particularly like titled Worthy of Praise — it’s from the church choir of a church that I plan on visiting on Sunday.

Of late, I’ve also thought much about going back to my Bible-Presbyterian roots, hence the planned visit. Sure, I don’t agree with infant baptism, and the KJV-only stance, but it’s a Biblical church and teaches sound doctrine.

Not to mention a great choir and mmm… hymns!

If you liked Worthy of Praise, take a listen to the hymn Trusting Jesus too.

Soli deo Gloria!

Source: All hymns linked in this post are sung by the Calvary Pandan Church Choir. Photograph of the Calvary Pandan Church Choir taken from the Calvary Pandan Church web site.

Make War! (Otherwise Titled “Beat Up That Sermon”)

February 21, 2008 in Christianity by Isaiah | 7 comments

MAKE WAR!John Piper’s exhortation to constantly make all-out war against temptations that we face, our pride, our fleshly cravings and all-enslaving desires in the sermon featured below definitely spoke to me.

Yes, I am guilty of murmuring and murmuring “oh, how I wish to be free of this” and not do anything concrete about it, much less actually wage war against it!

Perhaps you are a better and more conscientious warrior than I am, but I am sure that there are many like me else we wouldn’t have so much heresy and that many hypocrites in our churches today.

If you are honest about it and have been putting off fighting that giant of a sin — be it pride, sloth, pornography, mean-spiritedness, covetousness, or just about any sin — then I pray you take this as the impetus to begin to make constant war.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

Ephesians 6:13-17

With reference to the alternate title of this post, it has to do with how the sermon was presented.

If you like how it was set to music, then you might also like how other sermons have been treated in the same fashion by the good folks at 10:31 Sermon Jams. Not all of the treatments are good, but there are gems like the one from John Piper I just linked, aptly titled “WAR”.

There’s another site that does the same thing with some of the better sermons called Relevant Revolution. I haven’t gone through much of their treatments yet, but the one I’ve heard — “Go” by Paul Washer — sounds pretty good.

Shalom Aleichem.

The Heart of Rock and Roll

January 20, 2008 in Christianity by Isaiah | 7 comments

If you still love secular music, this 4-part series will explicitly remind you of the warning given of God when Paul wrote:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:12

I’ll advise that this series will shock you. Minors are strongly advised to be accompanied by adult supervision when viewing the series.

[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2494291415376995856[/googlevideo] [googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6108886486287002393[/googlevideo] [googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4315257824039757348[/googlevideo] [googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5288201614619778233[/googlevideo]

The Best Christmas Gift

December 7, 2007 in Christianity by Isaiah | 8 comments

Are you making a list of what you want this Christmas? Are you counting out money and budgeting for the list of presents you think your relatives and friends would like? Are you busy scouring the departmental stores everyday after work and on weekends like a honey bee just to find that perfect gift?

Well, stop.

Because the best gift on Christmas day is already there for the taking, and it’s free.

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Praise You In the Storm

December 1, 2007 in Christianity by Isaiah | 2 comments

This song for Shabbat has a special meaning for me as, with thanksgiving, I seek God’s own Will for me following the episode at work last Friday.

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Shabbat Shalom.

Her Song

November 10, 2007 in Christianity by Isaiah | 11 comments

My wife requested that this song be our song of the Shabbat recommendation, and I agree with her totally, so here’s Hillsong with Hosanna:

Listen especially to the bridge, which I love.

On another note, my apologies for the lack of a voice at the moment; I’ll get to answering all your comments and a post soon as I am rested from a most strenuous week.

Shabbat Shalom from both of us to you and your loved ones.

Goodbye U2, John Mayer and Others…

November 5, 2007 in Christianity by Isaiah | 21 comments

Paul Wilbur: Praise AdonaiBono of U2 left, along with John Mayer and a host of others just this afternoon. Well, they left not of their own free will, but because I decided that it was time to kick them out.

Out of my iTunes collection.

You see, I just did a purge of all secular music from my iTunes library and have invited musicians like Don Moen, Paul Baloche, Paul Wilbur and groups like MercyMe and Casting Crowns to take up residence in their stead.

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Let All the Earth Sing His Praises

November 3, 2007 in Christianity by Isaiah | 1 comment

I love it when I come across music videos showing how all the people of the earth who love the Lord, though of different races and from different cultures but all of one voice, come to sing praises to Him and dance to celebrate His glory and majesty!

Here’s our meditation this Shabbat:

for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Galatians 3:26-29

Hallelu et Adonai! Amen, and amen!

If you love Messianic praise music as much as I do, check out Ted Pearce, a former atheist who came to give his life to the Lord Jesus Christ and today composes and sings some of the most amazing Messianic praise music.

Be Thou My Vision

October 20, 2007 in Christianity by Isaiah | 9 comments

It is fast beginning a ‘tradition’ of sorts in our household that we have a song also for each Shabbat.

This Shabbat, as we rest let us (my wife and I) both share with you one of our favorite hymns of all time.

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me Lord.
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son,
Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not nor man’s empty gain,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always.
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won
May I reach heaven’s joy, O bright heaven’s Son
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

Shabbat Shalom.

This Had Me In Stitches

October 14, 2007 in Christian Worldview, Humor by Isaiah | 4 comments

Presenting the CD set you have always wanted to own on the prosperity gospel.

Order today and receive a pair of gold plated prison chains! Hurry, limited time offer!

Tag, You’re It!

October 13, 2007 in Christianity by Isaiah | 25 comments

I got tagged by Casey to reveal seven things about me that you do not already know, so here goes:

  1. It used to be my ambition to be a radio disc jockey because I loved music so much. I actually had the Top 10 charts in the 80s clipped from magazines like Smash Hits and others.
  2. I learned Japanese so that I could understand what the Japanese singers were warbling about when I was caught up in the Japanese music invasion in the mid-80s. Because of a lack of practice, I have lost most of my Japanese skills, but I can still write and read though understanding the words can take some time.
  3. I prefer dogs to cats.
  4. I spend more time in front of my PC than the television. About the only television programs I watch are House, CSI and CSI:NY, CNN, BBC News, and documentaries.
  5. When I was a child, my parents got very exasperated with me taking apart every mechanical toy that my maternal grandmother gave me. I was trying to find out how they work, but could never find a way to put them back.
  6. Though I no longer do any programming work, I am still a geek at heart and do like to fiddle around with code and templates once in a while as a hobby. I’ll die if you ask me to code full-time again.
  7. I have a squint in my left eye due to an accident in college that I am quite conscious of, and therefore avoid taking pictures as much as possible.

There, now you know more about me. :-)
Here’s a tag coming your way, my dear brothers:

I’d love to tag everyone on my blogroll, but rules are rules, sigh!

Shabbat Shalom.

A Greater Song

September 30, 2007 in Christianity by Isaiah | 3 comments

It has been years since I have bought a single Gospel-oriented CD, but thanks to Shalene who has now earned the honor of being a great DJ (in my opinion at least), I added a new Gospel CD to my collection today.

Paul Baloche’s “A Greater Song”.

What drew me to Paul Baloche was the fact that I had the chance to sing one of his compositions “Your Name” at the church I visited on Shabbat a fortnight ago, and the song has become one of my favorites.

And when Shalene linked the YouTube version of it, I finally found out that Paul Baloche was the composer behind this wonderful song.

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Above All — Meditation for the Shabbat

September 29, 2007 in Christianity by Isaiah | No comments

Lord Jesus, thou art

Above all powers, above all kings,
Above all nature and all created things.
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man,
You were here before the world began.

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones.
Above all wonders this world has ever known.
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth,
There’s no way to measure what you’re worth.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

1 Colossians 1:16-20

Shabbat Shalom.

Lyrics taken from “Above All”
Lenny LeBlanc and Paul Baloche
©1999 Integrity’s Hosanna!Music/ASCAP & Lensongs Publishing/ASCAP
(From the album Above All; Worship Leader:Lenny LeBlanc; CD 14842/CS 14844/TRAX 14849)