Easter 2012 Part 1

It’s Easter! Well, almost. April 8^th is rapidly approaching. What does Easter mean to you? There are two things that stand out to me when I think about Easter. First, Easter calls us to contemplate the crucifixion. We ought to think about the fact that we no longer have to bring an animal to the priest in the temple and sacrifice it in order to be made right in God’s eyes. We are no longer under the law because Christ has freed us from that bondage. As one old saying goes, “He paid the price I could not pay, to pay a debt He did not owe.” Does this thought affect your day-to-day decision making? Do you live differently because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Easter calls us to contemplate the crucifixion.

Second, Easter calls us to celebrate the resurrection! Our atoning sacrifice, our Lord and Savior is not rotting in a tomb somewhere. He is alive and desires that we have new life. Lives that are noticeably different from our lives before we knew Him. Do you desire to know Christ and the power of His resurrection? Do you live your life in such a way that people can see the change? Easter calls us to celebrate the resurrection! When we allow Christ’s sacrifice for our sins to change the way we live our lives, our lives become lives of worship to our Lord and Savior.

Book Review of Then Sings My Soul Volume 3 by Robert J. Morgan

   Then Sings My Soul Volume 3 is an excellent book! I've got all of Robert Morgan's books in the series. While this book has less of a devotional feel to it, I liked it more than the others. As a music minister I have mainly used his books as background information to share with my congregation about the songs we were singing. I don't see myself using this book in that capacity as much, but the overall read was even more enjoyable for me. The stories in the previous edition are great. However, the entire set-up of this book is even better.

   Morgan starts with a section of the History of Hymnody. Starting in the early church and continuing through to modern times, he highlights the progression of congregational singing as well as the types of songs that were being used. In the middle section (the longest) entitled "Do You Know These Hymns," He highlights lesser known works and or authors of hymns. I found many of these hymns to be excellent and plan to incorporate them into our local services. The final major section of the book is devoted to telling the story of 6 different hymn writers in a much longer form than normal. Normally he has a hymn on one page, and the story on the opposite page. For these final six stories he takes several pages and includes multiple hymns from those authors to tell a more complete story of those authors lives. He ends the book with some personal thoughts on worship and "worship wars" that many churches go through over style and preference. While obviously a lover of hymns, Morgan encourages churches to continually be searching for new songs to sing as well as continuing to use those songs from our past.

   All in all, I gained a greater appreciation for hymns than I already had, discovered several new hymns that I plan to use, and I look forward to passing hymns as well as more modern songs of God on to my children. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

   I received a copy of the book from the booksneeze program for free in return for an honest review. I was not required to give a good review, but in this case it is a pleasure to do so.