Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Church Culture: Music, Bible Translations, and a Prayer Inside a Historic Chapel

“The problem with my youthful logic only began to dawn on me about seven years ago. I had come to recognize that these ancient hymns accomplished something that the new songs weren't. While contemporary worship seemed to take the listener on an exciting and emotional rollercoaster, the old hymns engaged the mind with deep and glorious truths that when sincerely pondered caused a regenerated heart to humbly bow before its King.”

The above observation comes from an insightful and compelling article, "My Journey Away from Contemporary Worship Music" by Dan Cogan. Check it out.

“About 88% of Americans have a Bible in their home, and when they reach for their Bibles, more than half of them are still reaching for the King James Version (KJV)…Yet, it is interesting that the KJV translators themselves had particular ideas about translations other than their own, and they lay out their views clearly and forcefully in the published Preface of the original edition of their eloquent translation. Ironically, their views are very different from those who champion their translation today.”

Interesting? You’ve no idea yet! So please go on and read the short but revealing article from Dr. George H. Guthrie, “6 Surprising Ideas the KJV Translators Had about Other Bible Translations.”

“A Prayer in a Park, for Peace and for Preservation” by Tom Gilson is a brief, inspirational piece about he and his wife coming across a historic chapel in Michigan’s Hartwick Pines State Park. A very nice article with applications that go beyond the rustic beauty of the chapel itself.