God Was Listening

For 37 years I've taught piano, rewarding my students not only for mastery but effort. Points are earned for memory work, amount of practice, written ...

Learning the Second Verse

Our children's church, which I directed, was putting on a play for Christmas. As I began planning the music, I asked one of my daughters and another little ...

All Music Belongs to God

Secular music, do you say, belongs to the devil? Does it? Well, if it did I would plunder him for it, for he has no right to a single note of the whole ...

Another Day in Paradise

Last year's song of the year was called Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins. The song tells about a beggar in the street asking, "Can you ...

Envying Mozart

Remember the story of Mozart's life told from the perspective of Antonio Salieri. The play and the film were both called Amadeus. Salieri was the ...

Worship Needs Time to Build

If a good sermon needs time to develop and drive home a point, so does authentic worship. Worship needs at least fifteen to twenty minutes to build.

Desensitized by Science

If I had my life to live over again, I would have made it a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once a week; for perhaps the part ...

"Willing" Means "Able"

Ira D. Sankey was helping with his father's business and working as a local revenue collector, married and with one child, when Moody's path crossed ...

Do You Have a Song?

Somehow, about forty percent of churchgoers seem to have picked up the idea that "singing in church is for singers." The truth is that "singing ...

Bells and Organs

The year bells are first known to have been used in a church: A.d. 560.

The approximate year an organ was first used: A.d. 730