music – La Vista Church of Christ

Hymns and Opportunity Cost

September 9, 2022

by Matthew W. Bassford As a rule, people have trouble understanding the importance of what they can’t see. We prefer buying a big-screen TV to saving for retirement, so we benefit from ideas that help us to reckon with the unseen. Of these, one of my favorites is the concept of opportunity cost. It comes…

Am I bad for not liking Christian music?

August 6, 2022

Question: Greetings My question is concerning music. I am a devoted Christian. I love my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. All I want to do is honor Him and glorify Him. I read and study the bible. I read many good Christian books. I don’t like Christian music. Does this make…

Worshiping like the Psalms

July 19, 2022

by Matthew W. Bassford The other day, I saw an article by a professor of Old Testament studies in which he compared the content of the book of Psalms to the content of Top 25 Christian contemporary music. He observed that many of the most prominent themes of the Psalms, like God’s help for the…

Singing to the Lord

January 29, 2022

by Michael Hickox via The Sincere Milk of God’s Word “Speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,…

Name the Hymn

December 6, 2021

/20 49 You have 180 seconds (3 minutes) to complete 20 questions. Ah! Times up! Created on December 06, 2021 Name the Hymn The clue will be the first phrase of the first verse of the hymn. Guess the title of the hymn from a multiple-choice list. You won’t necessarily get the same set of…

Now Thank We All Our God

November 25, 2021

by Cloyce Sutton II The “Thirty Years’ War” (1618-1648) was a devastating European conflict centered in what’s now Germany. It began as a power struggle between Protestant and Catholic forces within the Holy Roman Empire but spread among various factions throughout Europe, eventually drawing in much of Central Europe, including Spanish, Swedish, French, Dutch, Croatian,…

Review of Songs for Worship and Praise

April 29, 2021

by Wayne S. Walker The newest general hymnbook published for use among churches of Christ is Songs for Worship and Praise, edited by Robert J. Taylor Jr., and published in 2010 by Taylor Publications of Montgomery, TX. Brother Taylor has been active in church music for many years. I believe that he set the type for…

Fanny Crosby

March 25, 2021

by Bob Buchanon If I told you that today would have been the 201st birthday for Frances Jane Crosby van Alstyne (born March 24, 1820), many would ask, “Who is she?” If I told you that I was referring to Fanny Crosby, many would then reflect on their favorite hymn from this amazing writer and…

Just as I Am

November 10, 2020

by Doy Moyer Just as I am without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me. And that Thou bids’t me come to Thee O Lamb of God, I come. by Charlotte Elliot I have long thought that “Just as I am” is a beautiful, inspiring hymn. While I don’t know that it…

A Gender-Neutral God in Hymns

June 11, 2020

by Matthew W. Bassford The other day, I found myself going through some hymns of hope and comfort that a hymn blogger has been posting daily through the coronavirus pandemic. The style (organ plus choir) isn’t my thing; from my perspective, you’ve got a nasty instrument drowning out the good parts. However, the hymns themselves…