Music
The last trumpet
Richard Simpkin
I've just been on a student conference, where the speaker took us back to Scripture to encourage us to live in the light of the end times. I'm still smarting from the old joke, 'If you don't know what eschatology means, it's not the end of the world', but the students seemed to appreciate it.
What struck me is that Jesus is very clear about the physical nature of our resurrection: new bodies, new heavens, new earth, a city, meeting Jesus in the air, the throne, seeing God as he really is. Do I believe Jesus's promises about Heaven? Yes. Then Heaven exists, and I'm going there to be with Jesus for eternity. The physical decay that we see all around us drives us to hope in the physical perfection and eternal security that is ours in Christ. I'm so looking forward to Heaven. At the same time, however, the Holy Spirit also convicted me of the physical horror of Hell, and the deep terror of meeting God without a Saviour. The lake of fire, the gnashing of teeth, the worm that never dies. Do I believe Jesus's promises about Hell? Yes. Then Hell exists, and by the grace of Jesus, I have been plucked from the fire.
Music
Mission and music
Richard Simpkin
Mission and music
February and March seem to be a big time of year for missions. Churches, University and School Christian Unions all over the country put on talks, events, dinners, and 'grill-a-Christians' to get their guests of wide-ranging tastes in earshot of the gospel.
Accompanying those events, or even integral to them, will be the use of music. Whether in the background during the event, or up front in a classical concert or jazz night, music can play a big part in breaking down cultural barriers so that the culturally uncomfortable message of the gospel can be heard. Many great evangelists have used music to great effect. Dwight Moody and Billy Graham are the two most famous examples.
Music
Wanna-be writers
Richard Simpkin
This article has been inspired to a certain extent by Nick Page's book, And now let's move into a time of nonsense, which I've reviewed in this EN (page 29).
The book has been written as a plea for modern song-writers to give us songs which use the highly-crafted techniques of historic hymnody while also appealing to a contemporary culture.