Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview


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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS


Acoustic Sketches 3 – Phil Keaggy
****

I’ve long appreciated the music, both instrumental and vocal, of Phil Keaggy. His album Acoustic Sketches was released in 1996, and Freehand: Acoustic Sketches 2 was released in 2003. I would often enjoy these CDs quietly in my office at work, and continue to enjoy them when sitting at our desk at home.
Keaggy began working on what would become Acoustic Sketches 3 in February of this year. He wrote all 23 of the songs, as well as producing the album.
This acoustic instrumental album features Keaggy playing a number of different instruments. For example, on the album cover (from left to right) are the following instruments: Skinner Sunburst Acoustic (L’il Hoss), Brunner Compact Guitar, Oceana Ukulele, Brunner Pocket Guitar, Olson SJ Acoustic Guitar and Langejans Classical Guitar. As the title Sketches implies, at times these are rather short songs, with 5 of them clocking in at less than 2 minutes.
If you enjoy instrumental guitar music, you will enjoy the beautiful music of Acoustic Sketches 3 from Phil Keaggy.


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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


How Can I Live by Faith? (Crucial Questions) by R.C. Sproul. Reformation Trust Publishing. 71 pages. 2020
*** ½

This is one of the newest books in R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series, all of which are free in the digital edition. Here is a list of all of the books in the Crucial Questions series. These books/booklets offer clear answers to the most common and difficult questions about the Christian faith.
Dr. Sproul tells us that trust in God, faith in Christ alone for salvation, is at the center of the Christian religion, and it is a key part of the Christian life to learn how to live out that trust in a life of faith. He writes that our God is utterly trustworthy, and to not believe Him is irrational.
Sproul writes that the cardinal doctrine of the Protestant Reformation was the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Through justification, God can be both just and the justifier of the one who believes in Jesus. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are justified by a righteousness that is not our own. It is an alien righteousness. It is the righteousness of Jesus, and Jesus’ righteousness becomes the basis for our justification. Sproul writes that if we are to be justified, we must both get rid of our unjustness and acquire justice. These two things must happen, and the gospel says that both are provided by Christ. When Jesus died on the cross, He died for our sins, to pay the punishment for our wickedness. At the moment we place our trust in Jesus, His righteousness is transferred to our account before God. Jesus takes our unrighteousness and gives us His righteousness in the sight of God. This double transfer can take place only through trusting in Christ. We are justified by Christ and by Christ alone. Sproul tells us that is a summary of the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone.

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