Scripture and ...

I am a bit of a Christmas Music connoisseur. I have multiple Christmas playlists on my smartphone, but my general Christmas playlist has over 400 songs and is nearly 24 hours long. I grew up listening to Bing Crosby and Perry Como croon Christmas carols on vinyl and loving Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant's newer Christmas songs. I thought I would share with you what I thought was the best modern version of each Christmas carol.  Which are your favorites? Or do you think another artist has topped any of these versions? The First Noel - TobyMac with Owl City O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Matt Maher O Holy Night - Point of Grace O Little Town of Bethlehem - Natalie Grant What Child is This? - Jason Bare Angels We Have Heard on High - Sanctus Real  or Chris Tomlin Silent Night - Big Daddy Weave It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Kutless Joy to the World - Avalon Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Building 429 God Rest You Merry Gentleman - MercyMe  or Pentatonix We Three Kings - Tenth Av...

As I stated in my last post, I found several songs and poems while going through a box containing my grandfather's funeral guest book from 1972. When I talked to my now 94-year-old grandmother just yesterday, she still exhibits the faith in a Lord who cares for her that got her through the difficult time of becoming a young widow.  I found the hymn When Jesus Leads quoted in a letter from my grandfather's brother shortly after my grandfather's funeral. Though we don't know why the Lord allowed my grandfather to die when my dad was only 16, God has a plan and just because we don't know what it is doesn't mean we can't continue to trust Him and how He leads us.  When Jesus Leads by C. Austin Miles Verse 1 : When Jesus leads, the way grows bright, E’en though before ‘twas darkest night; About Jesus in John 1:4-5 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness , and the darkness did not comprehend it. From H...

Recently my mom gave me a box of old photos and family history documents to scan. In them was the guest book for the funeral of my grandfather, a godly preacher who died long before I was born. It also had a stack of old letters and cards written to my grandmother, a rather young widow at the time. I've always yearned to know more about my grandfather, so I read through the letters. I learned much of how my grandfather was a faithful servant of the Lord and mentor. I also found two hymns and a poem that were shared with my grandmother at the time of her bereavement. I found them very special and would like to share them with you as well. The Lord Will Provide was written on the back of the funeral service program. "The Lord will provide" was also quoted several times in letters to my grandmother as something my grandfather said often during his two-year-long battle with leukemia. The hymn was written by John Newton. It is not in many hymnals anymore and even the olde...

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of music lately. I had been feeling down and worship music really lifted my spirits. It led me to look into some verses in the Bible about singing and music.  What does the Bible say about singing? When and where should we sing? How should we sing? Why should we sing? What should we sing about? What effect does singing have? Just click here to print out the Bible study . Go through the verses I have listed and see what the Bible has to say about singing. And maybe listen to some worship music while you do it. Feel free to use this printable for personal use or in a small group or Church Bible study.  You may also share them online, but please include a link to this webpage rather than a direct link to the google drive file.

Yesterday morning someone tweeted a request for me to do a song study on Symphony. Ironically, I had been listening to that song on the radio the other day and the words of the pre-chorus had struck me as being from Romans 8:28. The correlation to Bible verses for the rest of the lines isn't quite as easy. While the principles are scriptural, the words are original (and there's nothing wrong about writing a new song to the Lord - Psalm 149:1). While the idea that we are God's symphony is not in the Bible, there are other similar ideas. Isaiah and Jeremiah both talk about God as a potter forming us from clay. Paul talks in Ephesians about Christians being His workmanship. These expressions of us as God's artistic design (not only in our initial creation but also forming us throughout our lives) definitely relate to the idea of being God's musical masterpiece. If you are unfamiliar with this song, Below is a video of the song and here is a link to an intervi...

My husband recently came across this video of a mash-up of Easter songs by Anthem Lights. It's fabulous. The songs flow together seamlessly and the harmony is amazing, but all three songs have words based on Scripture making the song even more powerful. And if you like Because He Lives by Bill and Gloria Gaither, then you should check out my song study of Matt Maher's Because He Lives (Amen) . If you are interested in more songs and children's lessons for Easter, check out my Easter page. Easter Medley Because He Lives by Bill and Gloria Gaither My Redeemer Lives by Nicole C. Mullen Arise, My Love by Eddie Carswell Because He lives, I can face tomorrow 1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead , to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade awa...

Here are all of the links to my Easter blog posts in one place.  All of the Easter and resurrection songs, the Children's lessons, ... the Bible studies. All connected here so that you can find them easily. Easter/Resurrection Songs Because He Lives (Amen) One Day/Glorious Day Ressurection Power Same Power Anthem Light's Easter Medley Easter/Resurrection Adult Bible Study The Resurrection of Jesus Bible Study Easter/Resurrection Children's Bible Lessons The Resurrection and the Life The Way, the Truth, and the Life The Bread of Life Easter Bible Scavenger Egg Hunt

Lately, I have been posting verses on my social media accounts about the power of God. I spent a week on each of these themes: Power belongs to God. God has the power to save and sanctify. Man's power can do nothing compared to God's. God's power is tied to the Holy Spirit. God gives power to His people. God has power for resurrection. The last topic had me often breaking out in song. I was constantly singing either Chris Tomlin's Resurrection Power or Jeremy Camp's Same Power. What a blessed reminder of God's power these songs are! The story behind Jeremy Camp's song is encouraging. Also, the power of Christ's resurrection is in believers through Christ and the Holy Spirit has two main effects: It provides hope for our future physical resurrection. If Christ has been raised, then we who are in Him will also be raised. ( 1 Cor. 6:14 ). It enables us to live in godliness now. We are spiritually united with him in his death and re...