Ryan Rippee - A Royal Priestly Bride

This message is from the Coram Deo Conference 2025 at Trinity Bible Church in Morgan Hill, CA:

CCM Needs Reform - Part 4

For nearly 40 years, I have been a fan of the legendary Christian rock group Petra. I have enjoyed listening to their music whether I was sitting in my room or in the car. My youth group played them from time to time before our midweek service. 

One thing that I admire about them was their commitment to make their songs based on scripture.  I remember reading the lyrics to their songs and seeing scripture references to those songs. The same can be said of Steven Curtis Chapman. Almost every song he wrote, has a scripture reference attached to it. 

Commitment to the Bible and being Biblically literate is another area that need reform in the CCM industry. If these singers are going to be singing songs about God, they need to know who He is as He revealed Himself in His holy Word. 

Sadly, there some singers who cannot even answer basic questions about God and even what His Word has said about certain areas of life. When CCM singer Lauren Daigle was asked on iHeart Radio if homosexuality was a sin, her answer showed how Biblically illiterate she is. Her answer was, "I don't know. I am not God." Yes, she is not God, thankfully, yet God has shown us in His Word that homosexuality is a sin. 

For reform to happen in the CCM industry, we need people in the Word.

CCM Needs Reformed - Part 3

What needs to happen for Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) to have reform. As we have seen in the last post that Christians should be the ones singing these songs which made me realize that that it's not just the singers who need to be Christians to be in CCM, but also the writers of these songs and those who produce their albums. 

I mentioned in the last post about a comment Alisa Childers made that there some songs in the CCM industry that are written by non-Christians. It makes me wonder how anyone can, who is not a Christian, write a song about a God they do not even know. Why write about songs that is contrary to what they believe? Do we expect Muslims to write a Christian song about Christ? The same with Mormons and any other world religion.

The CCM industry should be one where God is glorifies as His people use their gifts for His glory and edify the church at large. We cannot and should not expect this from those who do not know Christ. They will be focused more on image and making songs that sound like something you will hear on any non-Christian music station, if you still listen to the radio rather the streaming music on your smart phone. 

Christian record labels need to have people who profess Christ as Lord and seek to honor Him.

Book Review: The Nicene Creed by Kevin DeYoung

This year marks the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, which says:

We believe in one God,

the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

begotten from the Father before all ages,

God from God,

Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made;

of the same essence as the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven;

he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,

and was made human.

He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered and was buried.

The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.

He ascended to heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again with glory

to judge the living and the dead.

His kingdom will never end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord, the giver of life.

He proceeds from the Father and the Son,

and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.

He spoke through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.

We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,

and to life in the world to come. Amen.

This creed has been accepted by not just Protestants, but by Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox.  In fact, there a vote in last year's annual meeting for the Southern Baptist Church to be incorporated into the Baptist Faith and Message, which was defeated. 

This creed has been studied by many in the church over years and there have been a few resources available on what the creed teaches. Kevin DeYoung has taken the task to write a brief commentary on the creed titled, The Nicene Creed: What You Need to Know about the Most Important Creed Ever Written.

DeYoung does a good job writing on each of the key elements of the creed without making the reader feel like he was going over their heads. I personally think his writing on the church being "one holy catholic and apostolic church" because the word catholic tends to be associated with the Roman Catholic church which is not a true church. 

When addressing the subject of Baptism, obviously DeYoung is going to speak from a Paedo Baptist perspective which makes it the weakest part of the entire book. One issue I did have with this chapter was DeYoung said that he believes a baptism from the Roman Catholic church was actually valid. Seriously? The Roman Catholic church believes that child is saved, incorporated into the church, by baptism. This is non-biblical, however, the fact that DeYoung said this was a valid baptism really makes his teaching on baptism not worth reading, which has also made the book less desirable to read or even use as reference.

I received this book from Crossway in exchange for an honest review.

CCM Needs Reform - Part 2

What needs to change in the CCM world? That is the question we will explore. I know there are a lot of opinions on this issue. I know there are some that have expressed their desire to see change in the CCM world while others want it to die. I truly believe the CCM industry can be salvaged only if certain changes can be made. 

Before I go any further, I want to say I am not talking about worship music. There have been many posts and podcast addressing the issue of worship music in the church today, but this is not what I am talking about. I am addressing a genre of music as an alternative for Christians to listen to and have their kids listen to as well. I am not saying abandon all of those non-Christian artists you have been listing to. That would be legalism. There are some decent musicians that are not in the CCM world that make good songs that are fun to listen to although you should use discernment and exercise caution when listening to non-Christian music and other forms of entertainment. 

With that being said, the first area that needs to happen to bring about change in the CCM is this, CCM stands for Contemporary Christian Music, therefore Christians are the ones that need to be singing Christian music. I heard Alisa Childers say that is astonishing that many who write Christian songs are not Christians themselves. I remember hearing someone saying about a singer for a Christian band, who was arrested for hiring a hitman, saying 9 out of 10 bands he toured with were not Christians.

It boggles my mind that those who sing the name of Jesus in song do not believe in Christ. Then again, how many artists sing Christmas songs proclaiming Christ's birth, yet their albums talk their immoral lifestyle? Why would any non-Christian sing songs about Christ if they are not living for him? Remember, CCM is a money-making industry. They may not make as much as those in the mainstream world, but they make money.

We need Christians singing songs about Christ on the radio, streaming service, and arena all over the world, not those who only want to make a buck. 

CCM Needs Reform

The situation with Michael Tait has many people talking. Some are expressing sadness while others are expressing confusion and, for some, anger. Some non-Christians hope that this kills Christian music. 

I have loved Christian music for years. I even attended church with a Contemporary Christian musician, who would do solos at church from time to time. Christian music has been a way for me to hear music that was not worldly or even had to worry about the lyrics.

Christian music is not immune from scandal, and it is not just Michael Tait. I will never forget when Michael English, who we dubbed at my church, the Michael Bolton of the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) world, confessed to an affair with one of the female singers of a group named First Call. English only had two CCM albums released at the time and his music played on Christian radio. After the affair was confessed, his albums were pulled from Christian Bookstore shelves, and his songs were never played on the radio again.

While this along with recent scandals in the CCM world, many have wondered what needs to change for CCM artists. Let's face it, CCM is a money-making industry. I get it. A worker earns his wages. However, record labels care about image and what sales. Just watch the movie "Unsung Hero," and you will see how true that is. 

Granted, there have been many great CCM artists and songs over the years, but there needs to be a change. There needs to be reform if artists want to magnify Christ and encourage its listeners. Not trying to sound like K-Love, but I remember songs encouraging me during my teenage years. I am still encouraged by some of them to this day although there are some songs I have issues with theologically that I would not even recommend today. 

I do not want to give up on CCM. I still think it can be used by God to magnify His name, but there needs to be reform. There needs to be a change. I know some of you might not agree with me and that is fine. Some of you might want to see CCM go away. Granted, there are some CCM artists that I wish did not make music because of their links to false teachers, but CCM needs solid artists who are not ashamed of the gospel and long to see people come to faith in Christ. 

Over the next few posts, I will be sharing my thoughts into what changes need to happen in the CCM world. 

The Difference Between Rome's Mary and Mary in the Bible

Allen Nelson IV:

Roman Catholicism is a dark religion and this is not by accident. It is demonically influenced to have a veneer of Christianity while actually leading its adherents away from Christ and to eternal destruction. Today’s post is to show you how the “Mary” of Roman Catholicism is not the biblical Mary at all.

Here are 5 demonic characteristics of Rome’s Mary:

Divine Attributes 

Immaculate Conception and Sinless Life 

Bodily Assumption

Queen of Heaven

Advocate, Helper, and Mediatrix

Read the entire post here.

Manny Pereira: The Splendor of the Bride

This message is from the Coram Deo Conference 2025 at Trinity Bible Church in Morgan Hill, CA:

Voddie Baucham: Preach the Word

Brad Klassen on the Triunity of God

James White on Galatians 5:4 and Hebrews 6:4-6

You have been severed from Christ, you who are being justified by law; you have fallen from grace! (Galatians 5:4)

For in the case of those once having been enlightened and having tasted of the heavenly gift and having become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and having tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and having fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame (Hebrews 6:4-6).

Galatians 5:4 is written to those who attempt to be justified by their works. They refuse God’s grace, God’s way of righteousness. It is because of this that they are said to be severed from Christ, and to have fallen from grace. These men were not Christians to begin with. There are a number of passages in Hebrews that provide “warnings” to the Church. In each instance, the entire Christian fellowship is addressed. The book of Hebrews is written to all who are a part of that fellowship— including non-believers, some of whom were not completely convinced of the superiority of Christ over the old law, others who were simply hypocrites. The warnings that are provided are needed since we, as human beings, cannot see into the hearts of all men. We cannot assume, simply because someone sits in the pew next to us each Sunday, that they are of God’s elect. 

The minister of God’s people must exhort his people to examine their lives— knowing that some who sit before him are not actually followers of Jesus Christ. However, are we justified, in light of all the plain Scriptures affirming the security of the believer, to take warning passages to the Church and use them to deny that Christ will save His people? Are warning passages sufficient basis to assert that Christ can fail to do the will of the Father? Is this consistent biblical interpretation? I think not.

Adapted from The Sovereign Grace of God by James White

Justin Peters: Boasting in the Beloved

This message is from the Coram Deo Conference 2025 at Trinity Bible Church in Morgan Hill, CA:

Top 5 Books for 2025 so far

We are halfway through 2025, and it has been another good year for reading God-exalting material so here are my top 5 books of the year so far in no particular order:

Consider the Lilies: Finding Perfect Peace in the Character of God by Jonny Ardavanis

Cultivating Spiritual Growth: Striving for Maturity in Christ by Conrad Mbewe

Fight Like a Man: A Bold, Biblical Battle Plan for Personal Purity by Emeal (“E.Z.”) Zwayne

The History and Theology of Calvinism by Curt Daniel

A Biblical Theology of Climate Change by Darrell Harrison and Virgil Walker

Joel Beeke: The Beautiful, Biblical Worship of Christ's Bride

This message is from the Coram Deo Conference 2025 at Trinity Bible Church in Morgan Hill, CA:

What is Zeal in Religion?

Zeal in religion is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. It is a desire which no human feels by nature, which the Spirit puts into the hen of every believer when he or she is converted, but which some belies feel so much more strongly than others, that they alone deserve to be called zealous Christians. This desire is so strong when it really reigns in believers that it impels them to make any sacrifice, to go through any trouble, to self-deny to any amount, to suffer, to work, to labor, to toil, to spend and be spent, and even to die, if only they can please God and honor Christ.

A zealous man is preeminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thoroughgoing, wholehearted, fervent in spirit. He sees only one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one thing — and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives or dies, whether he has health or sickness, whether he is rich or poor; whether he pleases man or gives offense; whether he is thought wise or foolish; whether he gets blame or praise; whether he gets honor or shame —for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing, and that one thing is to please God and to advance God's glory. If he is consumed in the very burning, he is not worried; he is content.

Adapted from Our Great Redeemer: 365 Days with J. C. Ryle

Resting in Christ

The rest that Christ gives is an inward thing, It is rest of her, rest d conscience, rest of mind, rest of affection, rest of will. It is rest from a comfortable sense of sins being all forgiven and guilt all put away; it is rest from a solid hope of good things to come, laid up beyond the reach of disease, and death, and the grave. It is rest from the well-grounded feeling that the great business of life is settled, its great end provided for; that in time all is well done; and in eternity heaven will be our home.

Rest such as this the Lord Jesus gives to those who come to Him y showing them His own finished work on the cross, by clothing them in His own perfect righteousness, and washing them in His own precious blood. When a man begins to see that the Son of God actually died for his sins, his soul begins to taste something of inward quiet and peace.

Rest such as this the Lord Jesus gives to those who come to Him by revealing Himself as their ever-living High Priest in heaven, and God reconciled to them through Him. When a man begins to see that the Son of God actually lives to intercede for him, he will begin to feel something of inward quiet and peace.

Rest such as this the Lord Jesus gives to those who come to Him by implanting His Spirit in their hearts and witnessing with their spirits that they are God's children. When a man begins to feel an inward drawing toward God as a father and a sense of being an adopted and forgiven child, his soul begins to feel something of quiet and peace!

Adapted from Our Great Redeemer: 365 Days with J. C. Ryle

Kevin Hay Preaching on the Creation Mandate

Does 2 Peter 3:9 Disprove the Doctrine of Election?

We must always apply sound rules of exegesis to the Scriptures. Peter accepted the Old Testament’s teaching about the nature of God. He knew Psalm 135:6 and Psalm 115:3, and the truth that whatever God pleases, He does. And, since we have already seen that repentance is the gift of God, could He not give repentance to anyone He chooses? Finally, the context of the passage must be consulted. 2 Peter is written to the elect, as 2 Peter 1:1 shows. In chapter 3, Peter is explaining the delay of the parousia, that is, the coming of Christ. He explains that Christ will indeed return, and that the delay is in order that God may gather His people. “He is patient with you,” Peter writes to God’s people, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” The “everyone” is in reference to all of God’s elect. The only reason that you are reading this book nearly 2,000 years later is because God has been patient, giving the world all this time, so that all of God’s elect could be gathered in.

Adapted from The Sovereign Grace of God by James White

Brad Klassen on the Spirituality of God

Why I made the Switch to the LSB

This is from my original post Switching to the LSB:

When it comes to Bible translations, this is something that I do not take very lightly. I do not switch when new translations come out, but when it came to the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), it was almost an easy decision but still something that was not made overnight. Why did I make the switch? Here are my reasons.

First, it is a better update of NASB. When it was announced that the New American Standard Bible (NASB) was getting an update, I was excited because I love the NASB, but there was a lot of jargon in the translation. There were a few verses that were confusing that made it hard to read. However, I read the NASB 2020 and was disappointed they were going to the gender-neutral way of translating the Bible as other translations such as the New International Version (NIV) and Christian Standard Bible (CSB). The LSB is what the NASB 2020 should have been.

Second, it is a smoother read. Unlike the NASB, the LSB is a better read even though the translators focused more on what the author of the text said rather than focusing on how the readers is going to take it. 

Third, the use of Yahewh. In most translations, the Old Testament has God's covenant name, Yahewh, as LORD. God's name is not Lord. Lord is a title that we ascribe to God. Yahewh is His name. In Exodus, we see:

Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am about to come to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they will say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” 

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

And God furthermore said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name from generation to generation (Exodus 3:13-15).

In Psalm 110:1, we see God's covenant name and the Hebrew word for Lord, Adonai, used:

Yahweh says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.”

In other translations, it would read, "The LORD said to my Lord," which reading it, it made no since especially when reading it out loud. Reading Psalm 110:1 in the LSB shows us that Yahewh is speaking to an earthly master. Yes, there was the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) that did use Yahewh in the Old Testament, but that translation is out of print and became the CSB. There is also the Lexham English Bible (LEB), which is a great translation to use for study, but it is not that accessible unless you have Logos or use Bible Gateway. 

Fourth, the use of doulos. The LSB uses the Greek word doulos as slave rather than servant or bondservant as other translations have used. I know in America; the word slave is not very appealing. If we understand how the word was used when the Greek New Testament was written, we would see that it is not referring to what most Americans think of slavery. We owe a debt to Christ for saving us from our sins which can never be repaid. We call Jesus our Master; therefore, we are His slaves. 

Fifth, the consistency. The LSB is a very consistent translation. It does not translate the text based on tradition. One place would be the model prayer. As Jesus concludes the prayer, most translations have it as "And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil" (ESV). The LSB has it as this, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." This is translated the same way in Matthew 5:37 and John 17:15. 

Finally, When I read the LSB, it gives me a greater desire to go in depth into the original languages of both testaments. I will admit, I am not a great Hebrew and Greek scholar, but I always want to see what the original word was when it written. As I read the LSB, I seek to see how it was translated. I compare it to other translations to see if it was the right way to translate it or not. One passage that comes to mind is Psalm 73:25-26. My pastor uses the ESV and made a reference to this passage which reads:

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

This is how the LSB translates this passage:

Whom have I in heaven but You?

And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

My flesh and my heart fail,

But God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.

Both translations read very similar except where most translations say, "God is the strength of my heart," it says in the LSB, "God is the rock of my heart." The original Hebrews refers to a rock, cliff, block of stone. So the word "rock" is a better translation than "strength." 

I highly recommend the LSB to any pastor and anyone that loves God's Word.