Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts

Saturday, March 12, 2022

With Poland Behind Me

And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once (Luke 21:9)

I wish I knew more about the current situation in Ukraine so that I could let you all in on what is really happening but, as you have probably heard, truth is often the first casualty of war. This you can be sure of though--many Christians are caught up in the conflict on both sides and they have very few choices available to them to escape violence. Millions are fleeing to Poland. Being Polish myself and the son of immigrants, I grew up hearing stories of war time atrocities and when I visited then communist Poland in 1985, you could cut the air that was heavy with Soviet oppression. There is a long history of bitter rivalry that exists between nations in that part of the world that we, relatively comfortable in our blessed country, really have no concept of and if you would like to read about my reflections and travels to Eastern Europe, you can do so by getting my brief travelogue that I wrote upon my return to the USA from behind the Iron Curtain that existed then. It's available here at Amazon. But above all, I encourage you to remember the members of the Body of Christ that are facing death and tribulation daily and pray for peace.

RED BEETS COVER by Melinda Pietrusza.JPG

Red Beets and Horseradish

Curiously enough, I received this week an order to do a music review and band feature on the new album by long time musicians, Little Wretches. RED BEETS AND HORSERADISH is inspired by a relish or side-dish usually served around the holidays of Easter or Passover by various ethnicities of Eastern Europe. For the Serbs, for example, the red of the beets is symbolic of the blood of their people, and the horseradish the bitterness of their suffering. For others, the symbolism involves the blood of their savior and the bitterness of His suffering. People in the Jewish tradition also enjoy the dish, but there is no blood involved—the beets are merely for flavor—but the horseradish does represent the memory of bitter suffering in bondage. It always fascinates me how the timing of these things work out. You can check out the post here on my blog.

After a few weeks of collaboration with various artists and others involved in the project, my band, Patient Chill's second EP is almost ready for full distribution soon when the finishing touches have been applied. It's an eclectic combination of songs in smooth jazz, pop/rock, worship style and psychedelia that we are proud to release. You can hear snippets of it at our Linktree page and, if you go there, please click on the link to follow us on bandcamp.Honestly, I don't know what's so hard about following! I do it all the time to support other Indie Christian musicians. But alas, a prophet is without honor amongst his own.

Thanks for subscribing to the CMA newsletter and remember: As crazy as things appear on earth these days, all is right in heaven! Just keep calm and listen!

Sunday, February 6, 2022

His Workmanship

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO SERMON

A Sermon on Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

It is through salvation that Christians instantly join the eternal family of Christ. In this sermon on Ephesians 2:10 titled “His Workmanship,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows how redeemed men and women now live new lives that are marked by the work of Christ in their hearts. This continual work in the life of believers is what is commonly called sanctification. Dr. Lloyd-Jones proclaims that part of salvation is that all who are truly regenerated are continually formed and fashioned in holiness so that they imitate Christ. God uses many means to conform Christians to the image of Christ, but one of the main ones is the chastisements of God. When believers fall into sin, God brings rebuke and correction into their life as a good father would. This is both a great comfort and reassurance of salvation, for all whom are truly saved are sons and daughters of God and treated as such. Those who claim that one can be saved yet not be sanctified grossly misunderstand the Scriptures’ teaching. From start to finish, all of salvation is under the control of God. For this reason, God works so that those whom He saved will be brought to fulfillment through sanctification and glorification.

The Exceeding Riches of His Grace

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO SERMON

A Sermon on Ephesians 2:7

so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

God uses the salvation of guilty and rebellious sinners as a means to bring glory and honor to His name. In this sermon on Ephesians 2:7 titled “The Exceeding Riches of His Grace,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones brings this convicting truth as he speaks of God’s Son Jesus Christ who died a cruel and torturous death as a criminal upon a cross. He did not do this so that the world would be a more comfortable place to live or so that people would become more moral. He did this to redeem a people to the praise of God the Father. The sin He died to overcome was far more than a simple social phenomenon; it was rebellion against God the Creator. And this world He came to set free from sin was not simply a world that had problems, but it was ruled by the devil, the god of this world. All of creation looked forward to this great act of redemption. From the creation of the world to God allowing the fall, it all finds its meaning in Jesus Christ and His vicarious death on the cross. Because this salvation is of God and wholly by grace, those who receive it can never fall away. For all who God saves, He will bring to perfection on the last day when He returns.

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Westminster Confession of Faith

Westminster Chapel, London, England

The Westminster Confession of Faith
Table of Contents

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Tests of Christian Profession

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO SERMON

A Sermon on Ephesians 1:15-16

Thanksgiving and Prayer

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, (ESV)

How does one know they are saved? The world calls anyone a “Christian” even if they are associated with theism or morality in a Western context. The title has lost its distinctiveness due to the evaporation of its first century meaning. This is a problem for the church, as it is difficult to know who is truly a Christian and who is deceived or ignorant of the meaning. What then is the test of salvation? In this sermon on Ephesians 1:15–16 titled “Tests of Christian Profession,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones suggests the apostle Paul provides the ultimate test as he is giving thanks and petitioning in prayer on behalf of the Ephesians. There are just two things necessary: faith in the Lord Jesus and love for all the saints. Within these two tests, Dr. Lloyd-Jones expounds not only the significance of the terms used by Paul, but also the apostolic order in which they occur. It is faith in the Lord Jesus, then love for all the saints. Paul is uninterested in vague sentimentality in the church. Faith (in the biblical sense) in the person of Jesus Christ is non-negotiable. Only after this, but definitely following it, is love for all the saints. Faith and works are joined here.

Additional Scripture Translations

Ephesians 1:15-16, New American Standard Bible

15For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, 16do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of youin my prayers;

Ephesians 1:15-16, King James Version

15Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

About Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.

Sunday, January 9, 2022

How one is 'made' Christian

Martyn Lloyd-Jones CLICK HERE TO LISTEN Does the sovereignty of God minimize the responsibility of humanity? Reformed theology is often caricaturized by insisting it promotes a world where people lack true humanity. God’s work in salvation is said to be in contradiction to human responsibility of proclaiming the gospel and the sinner believing the gospel. But that is not Reformed theology, says Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. A fundamental truth is lacking in this common objection. While it is absolutely God’s work, He uses means to accomplish His work. In this sermon on Ephesians 1:11–14 titled “Heard. Believed. Trusted,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds the listener of these means that are always constant as God is working. If these means are not present, then a person cannot become a Christian. They are necessary for the sinner to move from being under the wrath of God to being in Christ. Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones carefully works through God’s Word and teaches on this extremely important subject. Whether the listener is a faithful Christian who desires to better understand the relationship between evangelism and the work of God or a skeptic of Reformed theology, Dr. Lloyd-Jones will assist in explaining this important truth of Scripture.

Additional Scripture Translations

Ephesians 1:11-14, New American Standard Bible

11In Him we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things in accordance with the plan of His will, 12to the end that we who were the first to hope in the Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, 14who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:11-14, King James Version

11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

About Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Music in the Bible: Take 2

Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? -- Genesis 31:27

This next reference to music in the Bible is found in a later chapter of the foundational book of Genesis. Remember: God is setting up principles and prototypes in a federal sense to show how He perceives and will deal with humanity whether we like it or not. As Charles Spurgeon once said, "Nothing angers mankind so much as the absolute sovereignty of God." Or as the Apostle Paul writes in Romans: But who are you, o man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" (Romans 9:20) Arguing with God is like complaining about the weather--what's the point in getting angry at storm clouds?

Rachel and Jacob by William Dyce (source: wikipedia)

The context of Genesis 31:27 provides the backdrop for one of music's most played out themes: illicit love and deceit. In this case, Jacob (Abraham's grandson and the legitimate son of Isaac and Rebecca), has spent years toiling and waiting patiently in Haran for his future father-in-law's permission to marry his youngest daughter, Rachel, who he met by pop culture chance at a well one day. But did you know that in the Hebrew there is no definite word for 'coincidence'? Connect the dots on this one yourself.

Laban the Aramean, Rachel''s father, sees that Jacob is a brave, able bodied young man (after all he would soon wrestle with the Angel of the Lord and draw a tie because of his determination). So he presses Jacob into servitude and makes him wait for seven years because marrying off the youngest daughter first was against custom in those days. But after seven years, Laban tricked Jacob and sent him his oldest daughter, Leah, as a veiled bride. Being the enduring gentleman that he was, Jacob agreed to work another seven years for Laban so that could marry Rachel making her his second wife. This kind of arrangement was not unheard of back then and still exists in some places in the world today. So we get to the bridge of this song and the final stanza where God intervenes, justifies Jacob against Laban through miracles, and Rachel steals the family jewels and runs off with Jacob to head back to the Promised Land. Laban pursues him, catches up and as they parley, the estranged father-in-law tells Jacob of the record deal he had in mind for him had he not "taken the money and run" albeit justifiable so. To be continued...

Digital one man bands

So with all the technology available to musicians these days, it's pretty easy for a guy to 'play' all the instruments on a track or album and call himself a 'band'. But to me, it's just a digital version of some lonely guy on a street corner somewhere with whistles and bells attached to him making semi-attractive noise for slightly amused pedestrians passing by. At least be honest and present yourself as a soloist. If not, it's like watching one of those early covid lockdown televised sporting events with fake crowd noise and AI images filling the seats. I would like to think that most people are not that dumb to fall for it.

Probably the first time that I ever became conscious of this recording artist phenomenon was when I heard and saw Peter Furler of Newsboys fame in his video, Reach. It's a great song and the acoustic version is even better but I scratched my head watching it because he was the only performer visible but the drummer and bassist had their faces hidden even though you could be pretty sure it was Pete himself. I felt somehow conned and cheated. It was like he was pulling his pants down without revealing his genitals. Awkward.

In the end, I think of music as a conversation between sentient beings using melody and harmonics, and if the spirit and lyrics praise God, then so much way better. Just as some people have the annoying habit of always talking to themselves in public, those who make music for the consumption and enjoyment of others should demonstrate to their listeners that they appreciate the social aspect of music by at least having one collaboration partner in my opinion. After all, who would attend a concert with a vocalist performing acapella alone for two hours or more? And now Facebook and other social media platforms are filled with these individualists who don't know how to (or maybe don't like) playing with others. How did they ever graduate kindergarten?

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Music Appreciation postpartum

Blogging is my day job. Making, producing and promoting music, namely Christian music, is what I do to dust off the dreams of my failed teenage attempts at being a rock star. But as a wise friend of mine once said: "Yes, there are a lot of musicians and talent out there but there's no reason you can't be part of it all."

God Plays Montana on YouTube

So after fooling around with guitar and limited poetry performances for many years, I finally buckled down during the pandemic 'rockdown' and started producing demo tracks and releasing them prematurely via DISTROKID without really knowing what I was doing. But the creative impulse once let loose is hard to stuff back into the bottle. So my first two solo albums, God Plays Montana and Naked Flame, didn't make a dent in the universe as was to be expected. So I turned to what I knew about the creative arts and Internet marketing from author blogging days a few years back and shifted gears into music marketing full speed ahead. Two month laters, over 10,000 site visits and a bonafide collaboration EP with other musicians that I produced executively (and which is getting FM radio air play in European stations now), I've learned a few things in music appreciation post production.

Naked Flame EP on YouTube

1. The music scene ain't hardly what it used to be like back in the day. It's a quantum infinite universe accessible to anyone anywhere now and that has its advantages and disadvantages. Easy accessibility often means a lot of garbage gets into the mix so I had to retrain my ear for quality and originality.

2. Music, for the most part, has been 'de-mystified' and is not the pseudo-religion it used to be for us long hairs. People can take it or leave it now pretty much and it's just a lot more background white noise in an Atmos Dolby verse--an Internet with no intermission.

3. There are so many genres and sub genres that when a person claims to be a Christian musician, I have to ask (besides the obvious moral implications of avoiding vulgar lyrics) what he or she means by that? Christian rocker? Hip hopper? Rapper? Hymnal or acoustic? Or in my band, Patient Chill's case--Nu pop. It's all good and I've featured all genres on this blog and will continue to do so but sometimes folks seem hard pressed to classify themselves.

patientchill.com

4. Production matters and promotion does even more but very few independent artists will focus on the latter, hoping against hope that a record label will suddenly swoop down from heaven and lift them up into the spotlight. So many are just satisfied with turning the church into a stage and claiming humility as an excuse and perhaps rightly so in a lot of cases. But if you are sharing your music on the Internet, what are you really thinking? Is it a ministry or is it a show? Maybe neither, maybe both? Do you even know? Whatever motivations, speculations, appreciations you harbor, never forget that all this is passing and God's love is better than life.

Monday, January 3, 2022

FREE is the new four letter word

Artists have never had it harder marketing their work in this age of free trials and free giveaways. Granted, it's never been easy in any age to get noticed or to make a Return on Investment for musicians but things now are in the realm of the absurd. Copyrights work for the bigger platforms who can pursue violations but the little guy is left in the lurch and his hard efforts at making melody are often passed around like a bag of popcorn on movie night. So what do to? There are just a few ways to tackle this problem that's not going away anytime soon as far as I can see it. We have crossed the Rubicon with our insistence to share and share freely. Nobody is immune to this firmly established plague and, to my chagrin, independent artists are the toughest nuts to crack. Here are just a few observations that I have made based on my experiences in promoting indie writers and musicians.

Is it really FREE?

1. Everyone is your Christian brother and sister until you ask them to spend a dollar to help you out. I don't know what world these people live in where Facebook likes and high fives are substituted for chump change. Honestly. Some folks spend hundreds of dollars or maybe more on equipment for instruments and home studios but when it comes to promotion (if they want to be heard outside of church) then the crickets start singing loudly. Dream on.

2. Is it really about praising God or getting people to like you and your music? If you're honest, you'll examine yourself on this one. The meek shall inherit the earth. It's awful hard to be humble and generate a stir in the music world at the same time. But as Christ said, "All things are possible with God." (Matt 19:26)

3. Envy is like high blood pressure. It's a silent killer. Scripture clearly warns us against it. Here are 10 Bible verses that condemn jealousy. I'm not talking about ambition placed on honest scales. That is a characteristic I believe God puts in our hearts to drive the economy to get food on the table and supplies for our families.

4. Even with limited success, the opportunists will come knocking at your door. I'm not saying I'm a god, but I like one of His attributes of not sharing His glory with mankind. Why would He ever consider such a thing? It is to be admired and praised but never given away freely like some cheap bimbo on 2nd Avenue as the song says. My talent and my human glory are all mine, given to me by God through the Holy Spirit to be used as He sees fit and that is a contract between me and my Maker and nobody else.

So immediately as I'm writing this today, I get this card in the mail from a health insurance company that wants me to claim my FREE gift for participating (see picture above). This four letter word has now become a trigger for me since as a teenager I have mostly worked for every dollar I got. But worse, because the only thing in the universe FREE worth having is God's gift of salvation through His only begotten son, Jesus Christ and everything else in this world has strings attached for selfish or Satanic purposes. (Romans 6:23) Let the gift receiver beware.

Good message about what's truly free by The Five Man Electrical Band

Cheap Christian Music Promotion

Click here to go to fiverr.com and order now!

Sunday, January 2, 2022

God, Music and Making Sausage

There's a saying about politics that goes something like this: Most people only see the final results of a political proclamation or passage of a law. Sometimes it is palatable and sometimes it is not, but if we could see how it looked in the making, nobody would bite into it.

I used to watch my father making Polish kielbasa in our kitchen when I was a child. The process fascinated me and the ingredients that he stuffed into the animal intestinal casing did not whet my appetite in the least. It was just the effort that he put into it that I admired and found really interesting. When he served that sausage for friends and family at the dinner table, I kept silent as I watched everyone eat with appreciation because it was good and spicy and very palatable. Most of the time. Every so often he would come up with a bad batch but nobody had the heart to tell him and we were none for the worse because making kielbasa was a labor of love for papa.

And so it seems to be as I dig deeper into the music industry. I speak as a novice so if you're a jaded veteran of the biz, you can probably stop reading right now and go check out some of the great musicians I have featured before on this blog here, here or here. Yet after successfully producing, distributing and promoting my band Patient Chill's debut EP which will be played daily for the next 3 months on a major London, England FM station and a popular FM station in Sweden simultaneously, I feel like I've earned a stripe so keep calm and listen.

Listen to Patient Chill music

Even God began with a mess on his hands before taking it into His studio and polishing creation into perfection:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters--Genesis 1:1-2

So (and I say this with reverence), God, the Executive Producer of the cosmos, had a creative score in mind and had to bring all the diverse elements together into a finished product that satisfied Himself before anything or anyone else was satisfied including humanity. Why there was such a mess in the universe before God went to work on it is a subject of scholarly debate and speculation that is beyond the scope of my post here so I won't even fake an attempt at trying to explain and understand it. But some say Satan ruined things and God went right to work making things perfect again but that can't be proven.

Anyhow, the Lord's got this mess that He's got to somehow repackage like sausage ingredients into a casing that looks, smells and sounds superb--beyond perfection--but He would like some players in the band because that's what music is supposed to be about ultimately--a conversation in tempo, lyric and sound between sentient beings. But that bad actor the devil is still lurking around in the studio hallways, envious and ready to muck up the mix. Why God allows this is another serious question for debate that will only be answered beyond the grave probably for believers and unbelievers also, both having different reactions to the same reason.

So the cosmic Maestro, Yahweh as he was called in the Old Testament, masterfully brings it all together creating perfect harmony out of total dissonance and adding countless elements into the mix that no human sound engineer would ever be capable of handling. But God does it all in just six days and takes a break to probably shuffle and repeat and listen and look to what He's accomplished with the work of His mighty hands through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. And He surely decided, in spite of what He knew would happen with the fall of Adam and Eve, that it was all worth it and redeemable and could be (pardon the human expression) remixed and digitally remastered to sound brighter, clearer and more vibrant that anyone or any angel could imagine. But, in sympathy with the apostle Paul, I speak only as a human and it probably all sounds foolish. (Romans 6:19) However, I will keep watching the sausage and the music made behind the scenes and I will produce and serve what I hope is the best possible musical kielbasa to whoever wants to sit at the feast table of the redeemed saints. Yes. I will sing this new song for however long I am required to do so.

Saturday, March 12, 2022

And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once (Luke 21:9)

Red Beets and Horseradish

Monday, February 7, 2022

Sunday, February 6, 2022

A Sermon on Ephesians 2:10

A Sermon on Ephesians 2:7

Sunday, January 30, 2022

The Westminster Confession of Faith

Sunday, January 16, 2022

A Sermon on Ephesians 1:15-16

Additional Scripture Translations

Ephesians 1:15-16, New American Standard Bible

Ephesians 1:15-16, King James Version

About Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Sunday, January 9, 2022

Additional Scripture Translations

Ephesians 1:11-14, New American Standard Bible

Ephesians 1:11-14, King James Version

About Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Monday, January 3, 2022

Sunday, January 2, 2022

Popular Posts

Contact Form