Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview


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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS


Simple Songs for Young and Old – CityAlight
****

CityAlight is a music ministry from St. Paul’s Castle Hill, a church in Castle Hill, Sydney. The vision of CityAlight is to write songs with biblically rich lyrics and simple melodies for the Christian church to sing.
Simple Songs for Young and Old is a new EP consisting of six songs. CityAlight has stated that these are not songs only for children or only for adults. They are written to resource adults and children, singing together. Their prayer is that these songs might be a blessing in churches, Sunday schools, morning breakfasts, car rides to school and work, by the bedside, and in private prayer.
Here are a few brief comments about each song on this excellent new collection:

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

Devoted to God’s Church: Core Values for Christian Fellowship by Sinclair B. Ferguson.  Banner of Truth Trust.  200 pages.  2020
****

This book, by respected theologian Sinclair Ferguson, is about what it means for Christians to be members of a church. Some wonder if it is important to be members of a church. This would be a good book to read to help address that question. The author tells us that being a Christian, by definition, involves belonging to the church—and that, in turn, means belonging to a particular church.
Ferguson tells us that family is what the church is. Through faith in Christ, we become members of his family, and when we become church members, we are saying ‘I too am a disciple of Jesus.’
Among the topics covered in the book are church membership, worship, discipleship, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, prayer, service, witness, and evangelism.

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BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by  R.C. Sproul
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THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

  • Should We Exercise “Pronoun Hospitality”? Tim Challies writes “It’s a question each of us will have to face if we haven’t already—should I use another person’s preferred pronouns?”
  • Can I Still Have Joy in Seasons of Doubt? On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to the question “My question for you is about how much joy I can hope to experience in the Christian life as someone who struggles seasonally with doubt. Sometimes I struggle with doubts about whether God exists or whether God is good, based on all the evil that I see on the news. Or I doubt whether God has a plan and purpose for my life. These doubts come and go. They’re seasonal. None of them extinguishes the smoldering flax that is my faith. The doubts do not stay long, and they do not overwhelm me. So, my question for you is this: Can I ever hope to have deepening joy in God in seasons when I also struggle with doubts like these? Or is joy in God simply impossible when doubts are present?”

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • The Blessings of Difficult Bosses, Coworkers, Employees, and Customers. Russ Gehrlein writes “My main ideas are these: the difficult people we must work for and with are going to be the ones God uses to develop perseverance, teach us valuable lessons, and are the ones who need what we have to offer: our time, talents, and unconditional love.”
  • 4 Ways Pastors Can Help Women Think About Work. Courtney Moore shares four theological concepts pastors can teach that will help women think about their work.
  • Integrity. On this episode of the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, Stanley discusses how to build integrity and the importance of maintaining it.
  • God Works in Sales & Advertising, Too. Stevan Becker writes “God is intimately involved in our work. He cares about the details. He’s doing his work through the work of our hands—even in the “secular” sales and advertising space.”

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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS


Fever/Sky – Wilder Woods
***

Bear Rinehart (lead singer/songwriter for NEEDTOBREATHE) brings his strong vocals to his second full-length solo album as Wilder Woods (the first names of his two older sons). Rinehart wrote or co-wrote all of the songs, most of them during the pandemic. The songs are generally about horizontal relationships. The album was produced by Cason Cooley, and features Tyler Burkum and Carl Broemel on guitars, Aaron Sterling on drums, Tony Lucido on bass, and background singers.

Below are a few comments about each song:

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  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Everknown by NEEDTOBREATHE

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

Providence by John Piper. Crossway. 752 pages. 2021
**** 

I read this excellent book slowly over a period of more than two years. The book, which is what the Bible teaches about the doctrine of providence, is divided into three parts:

  • Part 1 defines providence and then illuminates a difficulty, namely, the self-exaltation involved in God’s aim to display his own glory.
  • Part 2 focuses on the ultimate goal of providence.
  • Part 3 focuses on the nature and extent of providence.

Question 11 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks what are God’s works of providence. The answer is: God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions. A brief definition from Piper is “God seeing to it that things happen in a certain way”.
Piper states that the reason this book is about the providence of God rather than the sovereignty of God is that the term sovereignty does not contain the idea of purposeful action, but the term providence does. He tells us that the focus of the book is on God’s sovereignty considered not simply as powerful but as purposeful. Historically, the term providence has been used as shorthand for this more specific focus.
Over 45 chapters, Piper addresses many topics in relation to the doctrine of providence, including creation, Israel, the exodus, the new covenant, suffering, Satan, pride, Pharaoh, repentance, faith, perseverance, holiness, prayer, evangelism and missions.
This is a thorough, in-depth look at the doctrine of providence by a well-respected pastor and theologian.
Below are 30 my favorite quotes from the book:

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BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by  R.C. Sproul
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THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

  • Why You Should Take Drastic Measures against Sin. In this short video, John MacArthur tells us “When our Lord talked about sin, he was very serious.”
  • The Priority of Purity. John MacArthur writes “Incredibly, many churches today proudlyignore the sin in their midst in the name of tolerance, unity, and love—proving only that they have no true understanding of what the Bible means when it talks about unity and love.”

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

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• More links to interesting articles
• The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
• Faith and Work Book Review ~ A Good Return: Biblical Principles for Work, Wealth and Wisdom by John C. Lennox
• Quotes from the book Agents of Flourishing: Pursuing Shalom in Every Corner of Society by Amy Sherman. Continue reading


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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs Live – Shane and Shane
****

The latest album from worship duo Shane and Shane (Shane Barnard and Shane Everett) was recorded live at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. The album was produced by Bryan Fowler with Shane Barnard, who also co-wrote each song. The album includes additional vocals from The Worship Initiative’s Davy Flowers, Aaron Williams, and John Marc Kohl, as well as Trenton Bell.
I really enjoyed this new live worship album, and it is one that I will revisit often. It is my favorite album of the first half of 2023.
Below are a few comments about each song:

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  • Song of the Week Lyrics~ Our God Will Go Before Us – Keith & Kristyn Getty, Matt Boswell, and Matt Papa

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


Forgive: Why Should I And How Can I? by Timothy Keller. Viking. 271 pages. 2022
****

Forgive the last book Tim Keller published before his death on May 19, 2023, is a thorough and practical treatment of all aspects of forgiveness. It is the best book I have read in some time and is sure to be among my favorite books of 2023. I am certain that it will be a book that I will want to revisit again in the future.
Keller tells us that the ultimate purpose of forgiveness is the restoration of community. He writes that the concept of forgiveness is central to the meaning of the Bible, and that human forgiveness is dependent on divine forgiveness. From the very beginning, the Christian church was remarkable for its emphasis on and practice of forgiveness and nonretaliation.
He then looks at the approaches to forgiveness that have emerged in our secular society (cheap grace, little grace, and no grace). He tells us that what these models have in common is the lack of any vertical dimension. They all contrast with the costly grace model of forgiveness assumed in the Bible, which has both a horizontal and vertical dimension to it. He adds that social media has only accelerated this movement toward a graceless culture.

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BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by  R.C. Sproul
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