November 3, 2006

[Rev. Doc]

The Transforming Power Of Song

"Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 5:19-20

In his book, Psalms of the Heart, George Sweeting illustrated a great truth from the experience of two Moody Bible Institute graduates, John and Elaine Beekman. God called them to missionary work among the Chol Indians of southern Mexico. Sweeting reports that they rode mules and traveled by dugout canoes to reach this tribe. They labored 25 years with other missionaries to translate the New Testament into the language of the Chol Indians. Today the Chol Church is thriving. More than 12,000 Christians make up the Chol Christian community, which is financially self-supporting. What’s interesting is that when the missionaries came, the Chol Indians didn’t know how to sing. With the coming of the gospel, however, the believers in the tribe became known as "the singers". "They love to sing now," Sweeting commented, "because they have something to sing about."

Prayer: Ask God to help you draw closer to Him through the use of music in worship.

"The devil takes flight at the sound of music, just as he does at the words of theology, and for this reason the prophets always combined theology and music, the teaching of truth and the chanting of Psalms and hymns. After theology, I give the highest place and greatest honor to music."
~Martin Luther

[Mithrandir]

Woah. I though all clutures knew how to sing. I just ifgured it was a universal thing. That's pretty cool!