The Lord has willed that this congregation has fulfilled its purpose in Bourne, TX and no longer meets. Praise be to Him Who wills all that comes to pass. You may find a church home at the Reformed Presbyterian Church of San Antonio. The website is http://rpcsa.org/
Feel free to email Pastor Mencarow with questions and prayer requests. Use the email button below.
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Reformation Church 317 S. Sidney Baker, PMB 304 Kerrville, TX 78028
Okay! Just wanted to let you know that you misquoted that Lazarus was dead three days,but he was dead four days! (John 11:39)....You know scripture well, so I'm pretty sure you didn't mean to say 3days! I'm surprised a little that the students you were doing this study didn't bring this to your attention though!!!
Things To Come Mr. Fulton
If you really want to know about the things to come, read J.Dwight Pentecost's book THINGS TO COME, A STUDY IN BIBLICAL ESCHATOLOGY.
Great Sermon! Verses 3-12 is not hard to understand at all. It is pretty plain to me. Maybe if you let the bible speak for itself, instead trying to spiritualized most it. It wouldn't be so hard to understand. Wow, I bet you have a difficult time with Ezekiel 40-48 too. I have no formal learning, and I understand it well enough.
Wonderful Sermon! We are the blame for most of the sin running wicked in this world. We as believers need to take a stronger stand against sin...Amen Bro. !!
a valuable & timely message This is excellent and applies very much to our situation in the United Kingdom also. Thankyou for you faithful cry in this !
Great Sermon! Thank you pastor for this good teaching. The church is in so low an ebb, because of all the "I thinks" out there. Can you imagine Paul and Silas singing "just as I am ". What blasphemy.
Is the Psalter Inspired? I just can't follow the distinction that the Psalter is inspired and other hymns, even if they use Scripure, are uninspired. We have little patience with people like the Ruckmanites who say that the King James Bible translation is inspired, and where it differs from the original languages, the KJV is the final authority. But I don't see a lot of difference between this extreme view and calling the "Psalter" inspired hymnology. It is a translation, and since it is made to rhyme, it can't even be a translation on the same level as a good English translation of the Bible. I think this sermon is very helpful... SID=810082234199
Reply to 'Some Other Scriptures To Consider' Dear Mr. Brown,
Thank you for your irenic comments. One of my frequent prayers is that I will always be teachable: “Rebuke not a scorner, lest he hate thee: but rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.” “Iron sharpeneth iron, so doeth man sharpen the face of his friend” (Prov. 9:8; 27:17).
As I trust you know, the Bible is its own dictionary and is its own commentary. As believers, we must turn to God's Word to understand God's words. Thus we must always be watchful that we are not unconsciously putting modern definitions upon words in the Bible, including “hymns” and “songs.” We should look to the Bible to determine the meaning of those words. We should ask ourselves, “what do they mean in the language of Scripture? What did the words mean to the writer and to his first century audience?” Continued below..
Reply ctd to Some other Scriptures to consider The misunderstanding of what is meant by “psalms,” “hymns,” and “songs” in the New Testament is because many believers do not know that the 150 compositions in the book of Psalms were titled as “psalms” (Heb. (mizmohr) , “praise” (t'hillah)” and “songs” (sheer) .
In the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), which was the Bible used by the believers in Ephesus and Colossae, the book of Psalms is divided into “psalms,” “hymns” and “songs” – thus Paul's use of “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” in Eph. 5:19 and Col 3:16 to refer to the entire book of Psalms, not to uninspired compositions. (“Spiritual” means “inspired by the Holy Spirit.”)
The Greek word psalmos is the equivalent of mizmohr and is translated “psalms.” Humnos is the Greek word that is the equivalent of t'hillah and is translated “hymn” or sometimes “praise.” Odee is translated “song.” Psalmos, humnos and odee follow the Old Testament, of course, and are used often in the titles of the Psalms in the Septuagint. Sixty-seven are titled psalmos. Six are simply titled humnos. Thirty-five are titled odee. Twelve of the titles are both psalmos and odee, and two are both psalmos and humnos. And Psalm 76 is titled with all three: “psalmos, humnos and odee” (“psalm, hymn and song”).
Reply ctd to Some other Scriptures to consider We no longer make the distinction between the three titles of inspired compositions and refer to all of them as simply the psalms. Sadly, this has resulted in the widespread belief that when the Bible says “psalms” it means the book of Psalms and when it says “hymns” and “spiritual songs” it means uninspired compositions.
When the writers of the New Testament used the terms translated in our English Bibles as “psalms,” “hymns” and “songs” they were referring to the inspired psalms. They were certainly not referring to uninspired compositions. Every first century believer, Jew or gentile, who heard “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” knew immediately that the reference was to the inspired compositions in the psalter. That is how the compositions were titled. It would never occur to them to think that “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” meant “inspired psalms and uninspired compositions.”
Reply ctd to Some other Scriptures to consider The hymn Jesus and the disciples sang in Mt. 26:30 and Mk. 14:26 was undoubtedly the hymn that was ALWAYS sung at the conclusion of Passover, part or all of the Great Hallel, psalms 113-118.
In Acts 16:25, Paul and Silas sang a hymn. The 1599 Geneva Bible translates it correctly: “Now at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang Psalms unto God, and the prisoners heard them.”
The quote of Rom. 15:9 you cite is from the NIV. I am very sorry to see that the translators simply inserted the word “hymns.” The word is not in the verse in the Greek nor in any other English translation I have consulted. Not even humnos is in that verse (even if it was, it would simply mean one of the psalms). The KJV and the Geneva Bible both translate the verse accurately: “...For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.” (KJV) “...For this cause I will confess thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy Name.” (Geneva Bible).
Reply to 'Some Other Scriptures To Consider' Please accept my brotherly urging to use a version more faithful to the original text; one that is based on the Received Text (Textus Receptus). I recommend the Geneva Bible of 1599/1560 from Tolle Lege Press.
There is much more to be said, but to keep my response reasonably brief, there is no evidence whatsoever, Biblical or historical, direct or inferential, that “hymn” or “song” in the Bible ever means an uninspired human composition.
In fact, uninspired hymns have been usede to introduce heresy into the church. A very interesting book is “Hymns, Heretics and History” by Louis F. DeBoer at http://www.amprpress.com/hymns_&_heretics.htm I highly recommend it.
In addition, I would appreciate it if you would take the time to prayerfully study the resources at
http://wp.me/p1q0BF-5f
The bottom line is: No one has ever found a commandment in Scripture to sing uninspired songs in worship. Please think and pray about that.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Mencarow