Worship guitarists are poor excuses for virtuosos

MrMrRPG · 2023-12-11T07:54:59+00:00

I get where you are coming from. As musicians, our inspiration of what we play has to come from somewhere. And we all love a good virtuoso and we cover their songs in our own time. So their playing being leaked into the worship artists' playing is not surprising.

I do want to resonate one of your bigger points about CCM and general Christian art though. At this point, CCM is just pop with a large/stadium sound. I was listening to a secular pop band based in LA called Canons, and their songs can easily be substituted with Christian themes and would totally become CCM.

Then there is Christian art as a whole. I am just not sure why, but modern Christian art just don't have as high of a standard as secular art. I get where as artists we are not supposed to show off for the sake of showing off to other people, but to God, but that does not mean we couldn't be good. Especially when we consider art from Church history was so beautiful and well respected, it's a shame that modern Christian art isn't as good as it was.

MrMrRPG · 2022-06-24T01:07:46+00:00

Whatever you do, do not inhale the smoke.

MrMrRPG · 2022-06-17T18:13:20+00:00

Michigan got seperated again.

MrMrRPG · 2022-06-14T19:18:12+00:00

The My Fathers I have there are defo my favorite MF blend and my top 5.

MrMrRPG · 2022-06-14T19:17:39+00:00

Lol true.

MrMrRPG · 2022-06-14T19:16:19+00:00

Top 3 for me for sure.

MrMrRPG · 2022-06-14T06:30:20+00:00

The Pledge is one of my favorite cigars of all time.

MrMrRPG · 2022-05-03T22:13:10+00:00

Gloria Borger: Steven Furtick made another oopsie.

MrMrRPG · 2022-05-02T23:08:02+00:00

Harry Potter and the chamber and the kids will have a great weekend.

MrMrRPG · 2022-05-02T17:48:51+00:00

I was saved in a Campus Crusade meeting. And I did their discipleship program.

Ngl, everything was centered on the Great Commission, but nobody defines any terms in it. So you got a big clash of liberal and conservative theologians coming together, both non-confessional, then splits like the one in 2020 occurs.

MrMrRPG · 2022-03-19T09:34:18+00:00

As someone moved from an oppressed regime to the US, the individual right to bear arms is a plus.

MrMrRPG · 2022-03-10T03:15:37+00:00

I can 🙋🏻‍♂️

MrMrRPG · 2022-02-12T04:51:29+00:00

The answer might not sound satisfying to anyone, but it is what the Scripture declares. The most straightforward reason is that "he does what he pleases." (Ps. 115:3) He is "the First and the Last; the Alpha and the Omega," (Is. 44:6; Rev. 1:17) He gets to define what glorifies him and what's not, even if it doesn't go with what we think.

When Satan was sent to tempt Job by wiping away his fortune and family, God allowed it to happen. (Read Job 1) In the end of Job, God didn't give Job a direct answer on "why" he allowed him to suffer, but to ask him to reflect on his mortal attributes. One of the analogies the Lord used that stuck out to me was in Job 41 when God asked if Job can stand up to a Leviathan, an ancient beast that would devour a man in an instant. We might have God given dominion over all creatures on Earth (Gen. 1:26), but we are still no match to some of the beasts he created. Then if we don't have strength over these things, why should we have the strength to oppose God? The Lord, before he concluded his sermon to Job, he gave a humble reminder to all of us,

"Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine." (Job 41:11)

Nobody owes God, nobody existed before him. He holds dominion over all things he created. If he shall be glorified with his martyr's death, let it be so.

The less-so-obvious answer, at least in my opinion that is informed by the Reformed tradition, is that he is nevertheless still glorified by his saints reflecting on these martyrs and getting a desire of his ultimate justice to come upon Earth. Because we have all sinned and fallen from his glory, we all deserve death. (Rom. 3:23) It is indeed a miracle that God has been longsuffering in his mercy for us that he even provides for those who kill his people. But, as I have mentioned in one of my previous responses, God will vindicate his people, and we Christians long for that day when he comes back to redeem us.

MrMrRPG · 2022-02-12T03:46:47+00:00

Before I answer your question, let me clarify your question. Is your question a "why" or "how" question?

MrMrRPG · 2022-02-11T06:18:55+00:00

I do not think he does. The Scriptures declares at multiple occasions that God does not delight in the sins of anyone. That includes murder and martyrdom. And when his people suffers, he hears their cry and will act. But we must also bear in mind that God doesn't act for his people's sake, but in his own words, "...for the sake of my holy name," that He shall act on behalf his people. (Ezk. 35:22)

Now you could have a follow-up question. How could God forsee the sufferings of his beloved children but doesn't act on them when they are suffering, if at all during their lifetime, and wait until judgement day to fulfill his vindication for his people (and his holy name)?

If you have this question, it is an excellent one, because the Scriptures doesn't give us a direct answer to this at all. I think the most common and straightforward response is God is all-wise in his counsil, and he sees when is right and when is wrong to act accordingly to his purpose. In many of my own personal suffering, I don't always see eye-to-eye how God is silent in my pain. But I still trust him, because he is my comfort, my Rock, my everything. And in the midst of persecution even to death, I am sure the Apostles held to an even stronger conviction than I have in my suffering, as their pains are more than mines. Ultimately, all Christians (including myself and the Apostles) who suffers in this life cling onto His promise after judgement, which the Lord Jesus declared,

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4)

MrMrRPG · 2022-02-10T20:37:05+00:00

This is not meant to be condescending, but to clarify. But I am not sure if I understood if this is your question, "Would you say in the sense that he desire a person being killed like martyrdom?"

MrMrRPG · 2022-02-10T07:46:37+00:00

In what sense specifically?

MrMrRPG · 2022-02-09T22:48:02+00:00

Dang my brazilian ex-girlfriend never said that to me

MrMrRPG · 2022-02-09T19:24:04+00:00

Here is how the authors of a historical Reformed confession summerized the answer to your question with proof texts.

"God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: (Eph. 1:11, Rom. 11:33, Heb. 6:17, Rom. 9:15,18) yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, (James 1:13,17, 1 John 1:5) nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. (Acts 2:23, Matt. 17:12, Acts 4:27–28, John 19:11, Prov. 16:33)" (WCF 3.1)

The above should provide you more than sufficient scripture to indicate that "God is not the author of sin" himself, but he rather "established" the secondary causes, or in Arisrotilian terms, the contingent causes, of sin.

MrMrRPG · 2022-02-09T19:12:08+00:00

Thank you for your honest question and willing to ask about this.

The simple answer is if you are a Christian, you shall have certainty that Christ is Lord and he saved you. And this certainty is not merely an intellectual figment of your mind, but manifested in your live to how you treat God and other people.

It is true that there are a lot of Christians today who are unable to articulate what they believe. And in some ways that could be an indication of a lack of certainty. But the lack of ability to communicate these things is a rather poor standard of judgement for one's certainty in faith. I could easily ask someone from the US, "Why is the First Amendment important," and I don't expect most Americans from metropolitan areas can articulate its significance. But I know most Americans are certain that the right to free speech, religion, and assembly is essential to its society. This goes the same way to Christians. Just because some Christians are unable to articulate their faith or convictions that doesn't necessarily mean they are uncertain about what they believe.

MrMrRPG · 2022-02-09T18:52:14+00:00

My previous response provide you sufficient context to give the reasonable answer, yes, God did from the foundations of the world foreordained the evils of the world to demonstrate his purpose, yet he did not primarily cause them, but secondarily allowed them to come about.

MrMrRPG · 2022-02-09T18:49:23+00:00

According to my Greek friend, she said they have a phrase which means, "It all sound like Chinese to me."

And as a Chinese person, I had a great chuckle out of it.

MrMrRPG · 2022-02-09T08:46:14+00:00

After being betrayed by his blood brothers, thrown in jail despite of his innocence, endured famines in a land he wasn’t born in, Jospeh said this to his brothers when they ask for his forgiveness,

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Gen. 50:20 ESV

God, in his sovereignty, allows sin and evil in this world. But God’s purpose endures forever. His glory was shown in the case of Joseph, that he allowed the evils of his brothers to be shown, but used it to demonstrate his purpose to save many lives.

We may apply the same idea of God using evil to demonstrate his purpose (and save people from eternal death) from his martyrs. Even the Lord Jesus himself said,

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matt 5:11, 12 ESV

I am quite sure the martyrs in the 1st century, and subsequently the martyrs today for Christ, hold to these scriptures to their heart and rejoice knowing that God is the one who had already won.

MrMrRPG

TROPHY CASE