Everything

A missionary couple, Mr. and Mrs. Porteous, were led to a lonely mountain spot by their Chinese executioners. The angry band hated that these missionaries were preaching the gospel. Pushing them to the ground, one very angry man took out his long sharp knife to kill them, only awaiting for the leader’s order to kill. Expecting…

Two weeks ago, I visited my brother in Texas and did what we love during Sabbath afternoons, make music! It’s been years since we played together and it was a lovely experience to collaborate with him again. We played several pieces of music, but we played heavily from Ed Hogan’s Instrumental Duet Series, Book 3…

It was the common custom of Johann Sebastian Bach to begin each one of his musical compositions with the Latin phrase Soli deo gloria — to God alone be the glory. This was done not out of pious custom. It was because of an overwhelming conviction that what he had composed was chiefly offered to…

This past week, I dedicated 5-6 hours of my time in listening to the music presentation series entitled, “Music in Your Sphere: Max the Potential of Music in Ministry.” It was by a group of young people with musical backgrounds and was held at Phoenix, Arizona in the most recent GYC Conference, “Arise.” What I…

This hymn is one of those oldie but goody kind of hymn. Whenever I hear this sung in church, I can’t deny the fervor and excitement that people usually sing it with. Musically speaking, I think one thing that contributes to that is the quick dotted rhythms at the beginning and end of every phrase…

One of my favorite blog authors, Ashley Danyew, wrote: “Reflection is vital to learning, growing, and success. It works hand-in-hand with action, a constant cycle of doing followed by observing and evaluating our work, our relationships, and the choices we make…Reflection is how we learn and grow as teachers, directors, musicians.” I I totally agree! Most…

The twin virtues of worship are prayer and praise. “The melody of praise is the atmosphere of heaven; and when heaven comes in touch with the earth, there is music and song, — ‘thanksgiving and the voice of melody’ (Isaiah 51:3)…As a part of religious service, singing is as much an act of worship as…

The place of music in worship is a question of direct concern to each of us. Is music merely a time-filler, something to drown the conversation while the congregation assembles, or is it a part of worship itself? To some people, music conveys even more of a religious meaning than the spoken word. We would…

Charles Wesley could not have been more on point when he wrote about the “long expected Jesus.” Adam and Eve looked forward to His coming when they first heard the promise. Every son that was born brought hope to parents that this could be the Messiah. From the days of Enoch, patriarch and prophets recalled…

Charles was the other Wesley. Alongside his brother John who was considered the main guy behind the founding of Methodism, it was Charles’ hymns that pushed through the envelope of being “just another religion.” His lasting and well-known hymns have captivated Christians all around the world. Through his poetic lines, we are able to sing…

My first introduction to this hymn was in the Philippines. The music coordinators of the Adventist university church where I regularly attended chose it as the regular hymn of response to close the service, right before the postlude. It seemed like an appropriate choice for a hymn for it outlines what Seventh-day Adventists and other…

The firm but gentle molding power of music is described by Lord Byron in the following lines: “It softened men of iron mold, It gave them virtues not their own. No ear so dull, soul so cold That felt not, fire not to the tune Till David’s lyre grew mightier than his throne.” Plato, in…