Our own worst enemy

Abraham Lincoln gave this speech when he was a young lawyer and a representative in the Illinois State Legislature. He considered his time as the inheritor of blessings from the founders, and that those inheritances were being eroded. I included the previous paragraph before the one I bolded (to give a bit of context and introduction) . Certainly, times and military prowess have changed in the nearly two hundred since Lincoln’s speech. Nevertheless, his observations are up-to-date. We are still our own worst enemy.

The hits (against Jesus and the Bible) just keep coming

It seems you never can know all the crazy “theology” that lurks out there in the interwebs. (And often I wish I didn’t know.) I noticed someone on Facebook referring to the servant in the story of Matthew 8:5-13 as being a “sex slave.” To that person making this claim, it is an important perversion of story because “Jesus heals the Centurion’s sex slave and doesn’t complain about the homosexuality.”[i] The crank further asserted that he preferred to follow “actions directly taken by Jesus” rather than any condemnation of homosexuality found elsewhere in the Bible. Yes, and many prefer to (and do) follow the “Jesus” of their own imagination rather than the Jesus of the Bible. If the Bible doesn’t support your position, just make stuff up!!

So, as I checked on this, I found this view exists beyond this one crank. The anemic argument seems to hinge on a nonsensical claim that the use of the term pais (παῖς) in the Greek to describe the servant means that the servant was a male sex slave.[ii]

Even if that were admitted for argument’s sake, it does not logically lead to the conclusion that the promoters of homosexuality need to get to – that this act of healing affirms the lifestyle of the person healed. Through healing, Jesus showed his power and his compassion, and demonstrated he was the promised Messiah. Every act of healing doesn’t mean that Jesus affirmed everything the people healed believed or practiced.

The use of the word παῖς does not suggest a sexual relationship.[iii] In the ancient Roman world there were sex slaves. However, to assume the centurion is using the servant/pais as a sex slave just because he is a servant is like assuming that an employer is using an employee as a sex slave just because he has an employee (and some employers abuse their employees), or like assuming a husband is abusing his wife, just because he has a wife (and some husbands abuse their wives). It is simply creating whatever one wants to have and believe out of whole cloth. Make-it-up-as-you-go theology won’t hold water. There are a couple of thousand years of history in which Christians have defined and regarded homosexual sex as sin.

John Byron, Professor of New Testament Studies at Ashland Theological Seminary, noted that the uses of παῖς in the Greek New Testament do not in any way suggest a homosexual relationship.

“The Greek noun pais is used in the New Testament twenty-four times and has a range of meanings that include ‘adolescent,’ ‘child,’ and ‘servant.’ … it appears numerous times and it always refers to a ‘servant.’ There are no occurrences of the term anywhere in the Bible that can be interpreted referring to the junior partner in a homosexual relationship.”[iv]

This argument – and any argument for a so-called “gay-affirming” Jesus – is an argument from silence. The advocate of this assertion must create places to insert words and meanings that do not exist in the Bible. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of God showing grace to sinners. It is not a message of affirming their sins, but a message that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus did not come to excuse sin, but he did come to seek and to save that which was lost.[v] Like God with Adam and Eve, Jesus did not wait for the lost to seek him (Romans 3:11). He went looking for them.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

John 1:29

…Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

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[i] Such an interpretation just as much suggests that Jesus in the healing was not “complaining” about but rather was affirming the same-sex sexual abuse of a minor servant by an older master in the position of power. The logical end of such ragged theology will prove too much even for most promoters of homosexuality.
[ii] It is correct that the noun παῖς is masculine in this case (nominative, singular, masculine).
[iii] To counter such nonsensical arguments – for people willing to compare scripture with scripture, God also inspired Luke to tell the story using a different word for servant, doulos (δοῦλος). Luke 7:2-10. So the Bible revisers need to deal with that fact as well.
[iv] John Bryon, “Did Jesus Heal a Centurion’s Same-Sex Partner,” The Biblical World, August 9, 2012, https://thebiblicalworld.blogspot.com/2012/08/did-jesus-heal-centurions-same-sex.html

[v] Not specifically a healing, but when Jesus forgave the woman taken in adultery, he did not excuse the sin of adultery, but said rather, “Go, and sin no more.”

My two bits

“Jesus paid it all; and he doesn’t want my two bits. He doesn’t want anything I do, and he doesn’t want my commitment – because he’s found out I lied about that two or three times! And don’t you look at me that way, because you’ve done the same thing. Thank God tonight for a Saviour who did it all.”

J. Vernon McGee, From “The Power of the Word of God,” preached at Shadow Mountain Community Church, San Diego, California

Consolation

Charles Albert Tindley wrote the words and music of Consolation. It is also listed as “Arr. by Wm. D. Smith.” The song was copyrighted in 1909 in Soul Echoes No. 2, where it appeared as song No. 7.

For my fuller biography of Tindley, see Leave It There. Someone has written, “If Thomas A. Dorsey is the ‘Father of Gospel Music,’ then Charles Albert Tindley is the ‘Grandfather of Gospel Music.’”

1. Ye pilgrims through this vale of tears,
Come, let us cheer each other,
Amid the danger’s doubts and fear,
Let each console his brother.
Our way is often dark and hard,
Temptations all around us,
Unless we pray with one accord
They surely will confound us.

2. We see the pit where others lie,
All smitten by the Tempter,
We too shall come to grief and die,
If we to him surrender.
We’ll walk the blood-be-sprinkled way,
The road that leads to glory,
And as we go we’ll sing and pray,
And tell redemption’s story.

3. While some are shouting all the time,
Some other hearts are bleeding,
They want the heavenly peace to find
For which their souls are pleading.
Come, let us lead them through the gate,
The way of sins confessing,
The word of God will put them straight
And they will find the blessing.

4. There may be some that’s growing tired,
Because the way is tedious,
Let’s take the Book that was inspired
And tell them more ’bout Jesus.
Tell them of him who bled and died
The crucifixion story—
Who rendered justice satisfied
And then went home to glory.

5. We soon shall reach the shining shore,
And see our dear Redeemer,
Where we shall weep and sigh no more,
But praise his name forever.
Our time is short, and crosses great
And often hard to carry,
Unless we start we’ll be too late,
We’ve got no time to tarry.

6. We almost hear the happy shouts
Of saints beyond the river,
They’ve gone beyond this world of doubts,
They’re saved with God forever.
Our kindred they are in that happy throng,
O what a happy meeting,
We’ll watch and pray, it won’t be long
Before the Heavenly greeting.

Liberal infection of conservative causes

The quote below is from someone who back in the day would be sold to us as a conservative evangelical safe to follow.

There is, then, no absolute proof that our Canon is precisely the true Canon and no absolute proof that any one word of the text is precisely as God gave it. But the quest for absolute proofs, whether historical or theological, is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of history, theology, and the human mind. History is at best an approximation to truth based on an incomplete induction of facts. Theology is a fallible human attempt to co-ordinate the data of revelation.

Christ and the Bible, John William Wenham. London, Tyndale Press, 1972, p. 184.

Don’t get puffy

1 Corinthians 8:1 “…Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.”

1 Corinthians 13:4 “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up…”

Below is an excerpt from Dustin Benge writing about the church where he grew up. It was his family church for generations, with his relatives were buried in the nearby cemetery.

“The pastor preached from the KJV, visited the sick, and called unbelievers to repentance. We sang from the Heavenly Highway Hymnbook. I heard the gospel, was saved and called to preach in this church.

“When I began theological education, I quickly became puffed up with pride thinking I knew much more than everyone in this little southern church who were not as ‘intellectual and I was.’ Many years later, I came to realize that these faithful farmers, miners, teachers, truck drivers, veterans, and homemakers genuinely loved the Lord, the gospel of Christ, their neighbors, and desired to obey the Bible faithfully.

“…we must never dismiss those who faithfully serve the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

Pastor problems

Gallup’s 2025 “Honesty and Ethics Survey” finds that the perceived “honesty and ethics” of clergy has dropped 40 points since its 1985 poll – 67% in 1985 versus 27% in 2025. I think that view combines actual problems created by clergy for themselves, and the perception of their honesty and ethics created by other factors. The latter can be seen as part of the equation because this perception varies in different demographics – for example older folks have a better perception of the honesty and ethics of clergy than younger folks do, and people with higher incomes trust clergy more than those with lower incomes.

Not that it should give much comfort, but clergy is still a more trusted group than journalists, lawyers, members of Congress, and telemarketers.

See Americans’ Trust in Pastors Hits Historic Low and Nurses Continue to Lead in Honesty and Ethics Ratings.

The History of Texas Baptists, reprise

I wrote the following several years ago, when I was thinking about the need for a true Texas Baptist Historical Society, one that was not geared toward a particular flavor of Baptists. Now that I am doing a microcosm of that with my Rusk County Baptist history, I thought it would be could to republish this (slightly edited) before writing about my work in the county.

The history of Texas Baptists is one of the great loves of my life. I do not remember exactly when it happened, but it is an ongoing affair of about fifty years. In 2019, I focused on the history of the Sabine Baptist Association, the earliest Baptist association in our area (organized 1843). I found a treasure trove of information at Baylor University’s archives (oh, sure, I wish for more).[i] As I began to understand what is there, a sad wonderment struck my mind. How long has this information lain dormant there? How many historians who mention the Sabine Baptist Association ever bothered to check these primary documents? I would love to see a new history of Texas Baptists refocused on primary documents that have previously been undiscovered or ignored. Perhaps we have long had the big picture, but the devil is in the details.

Previous histories are too partisan in outlook. What is labeled “a history of Texas Baptists” is most often “a history of my Texas Baptists.” Don’t get me wrong. There is a place and need for denominational histories. The Free Will Baptists write theirs, Missionary Baptists write theirs, the National Baptists write theirs, Primitive Baptists write theirs, Southern Baptists write theirs, and so on.[ii] The plus side includes access to records not easily obtained, and that they offer their own unique perspective and understanding of themselves, things frequently missed by “outsiders.” The minus side is that they often fail to assimilate their story into the whole of the history of Texas Baptists (and miss the insight of “outsiders”). Even the large tomes of Carroll and McBeth, in my opinion, only make meager mention of the existence of other Baptists after they move on from the earliest years.

Previous histories are too narrow in research. Hand in hand with the partisanship in history writing is its narrowness.  For example, to many historians, Daniel Parker is a wart on the nose of Texas Baptists. Mention him we must, but let’s move on. Quickly![iii] However, those who bother to check might find that Asa Wright labored in the west in the late 1830s with “missionary” Z. N. Morrell and in the east in the early 1840s with “anti-missionary” Daniel Parker – then later hooked up with “missionary” Lemuel Herrin and “anti-missionary” Isaac Reed to form the Sabine Baptist Association. Or, that Thomas Hanks was a member of the “Separate” Union Baptist Church near Nacogdoches before he was a member (and later pastor) of the “Regular” Pilgrim Baptist Church of near Elkhart.[iv] Through this narrowness, historians fail to branch out and learn all they might about the vagaries of even their own partisans.

Previous histories are too predictable in narration. Too often the same sources are used repetitively without seeking for other available and overlooked primary sources. I know one person will never find them all. Nevertheless, I can’t express how mind-numbing it has been to see the same story about the Sabine Baptist Association repeated over and over, when the writers kept checking the same old source, apparently never bothering to check the Sabine’s own sources – their minutes. This must be true (unless they were afraid or dishonest). Had they checked the available Sabine Association minutes, reporting accurately and honestly, they would not have repeated the same old sad story of the association .[v] Leon McBeth writes, “Any history of Texas Baptists must begin with Z. N. ‘Wildcat’ Morrell…”[vi] I have no particular quarrel with that. Morrell’s book is a wonderful record of one who lived the early history of Texas Baptists, from when he arrived in December 1835. On the other hand, Morrell is the source of the some of the errors on the Sabine Baptist Association. I find no evidence that he ever attended its sessions.[vii] His information is second-hand. Should not those who attended and recorded their sessions receive some priority of testimony?

What to do? Southern Baptists have written the majority of the history of the Baptists of Texas. I don’t fault them. They are the majority of Baptists in Texas. They may have the “training and necessary leisure.” However, they have frequently been sectarian while at the same time blaming sectarianism on their foes. Smaller Baptist sub-denominations then rebut with their own clannishness, and ultimately we fail to read the whole story. Future writers could learn a lesson from Albert W. Wardin in his Tennessee Baptists: A Comprehensive History, 1779-1999. The bulk of the book is about the majority party, but Wardin clearly takes an interest in all the Baptists of Tennessee. Further exacerbating the Texas problem, in my opinion, is that the main (if not only) Baptist historical society (if it even still exists) is connected to and funded by the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Even though they don’t/didn’t restrict their membership to BGCT folks, others often feel restricted by the integral connection. Creating an historical society not connected to or dependent upon a particular association, conference, or convention might reflect the greater diversity of Baptists in the state, create greater buy-in of Baptists across the state, and promote the kind of research that sees the connectivity of early Texas Baptists of various “stripes.” Such a society would allow historical corroboration without compromising denominational connections. I have no problems wrestling with you over faith and practice while uniting with you to better understand our history. What about you?

Maybe one day we will have an integrated account of all Texas Baptists.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

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[i] The Texas Collection “is Baylor University’s oldest special collections library.”

[ii] Some Texas Baptist denominational histories include A History of Texas Baptists: Comprising a Detailed Account of Their Activities, Their Progress and Their Achievements, James Milton Carroll, Dallas, TX: Baptist Standard Publishing Co., 1923; A History of the Primitive Baptists of Texas, Oklahoma and Indian Territories, Joseph Sylvester Newman, Tioga, TX: Baptist Trumpet, 1906; From the Red to the Rio Grande: a History of the Free Will Baptist in Texas, 1876 to 2014, Thurmon Murphy, Columbus, OH: FWB Publications, 2017; History of the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas, William Henry Parks, Cleburne, TX: [n.d., before 1916], Missionary Baptists in Texas, 1820-1998, Oran Heaton Griffith, Henderson, TX: History & Archives Committee of the Missionary Baptist Association of Texas, 1999; Texas Baptists: a Sesquicentennial History, Harry Leon McBeth, Dallas, TX: Baptistway Press, 1998.

[iii] As does Baker in The Blossoming Desert, p. 26.

[iv] And [1] Deacon William Sparks was a member of the “Regular” Hopewell Baptist Church in Cooks Settlement (Nacogdoches County) before he was a member of the “Separate” Union Baptist Church. [2] William Brittain had been an ordained Elder nearly 30 years (ordained 1810) before he came to Texas. William and Rosanna moved from North Carolina to Arkansas, then they moved to Texas in 1837. They were first connected with the Pilgrim Church of Parker, with which church they united in 1838. They organized a church in Shelby County in 1841, then reorganized it in 1846 after splitting with the Parker churches. At this time they began to fellowship with Isaac Reed and the Sabine Baptist Association. While likely not called Missionary Baptist in the lifetime of Elder Brittain, they would come to be recognized as such.

[v] This is not to say that they got it all wrong, but that the minutes would have corrected what they did have wrong.

[vi] Texas Baptists: a Sesquicentennial History, p. 495

[vii] Z. N. Morrell does not say he did, neither is he mentioned in any of the existing minutes. On the other hand, Morrell does say he was informed on the subject by David Lewis (pp. 263-264). Though Morrell probably did not know, we have enough information today to know that Lewis was both a scoundrel and a primary cause of dissension in the association.

Resurrection hope in the Old Testament

The forces of death are visible and active in this fallen world.

We should allow the Bible’s depictions of death to influence how we think about the problem of death in this world. Interpreters may not see how resurrection hope is present in some passages if they haven’t noticed how death is present in other passages.

The outworking of death takes manifold forms. Whatever inhibits, harms, or destroys life is a kind of death. When the biblical authors tell of God’s power that restores, frees, heals, or raises, you are reading about the power of life overcoming the forces of death. The reason resurrection hope is more prevalent in Scripture than it may first seem is because the promises and actions of the God of life pervade the testimony of the biblical authors.

Mitchell L. Chase, Resurrection Hope Is More Prevalent in the Old Testament Than It May First Seem

God’s Wonderful Book Divine

“What light is this shining so brightly for me?” Why, it is none other than “God’s Wonderful Book Divine.” What hope for the traveler, what chart to guide? God’s Wonderful Book Divine!

• Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
• Psalm 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

1. What light is that shining so brightly for me,
That gives me such courage, the right way to see?
What hope for my trusting soul ever shall be?
God’s wonderful book divine.

2. What hope for the traveler with strength almost gone,
That makes him determined to keep plodding on?
What sweet consolation from heaven’s bright throne?
God’s wonderful book divine.

3. What chart can you trust as a guide for your soul,
When tempests would strand you on some treacherous shoal?
What compass will point you to heaven’s bright goal?
God’s wonderful book divine.

Chorus:
I love the old Bible, the precious old Bible.
A light on my pathway to shine.
It keeps me so happy, always so happy.
God’s wonderful book divine.

God’s Wonderful Book Divine, Luther G. Presley, Starlit Crown: Our 1938 Book for Singing Schools, Conventions, etc. Virgil O. Stamps, et al., Dallas, TX: Stamps-Baxter Music Company, 1937.

God’s Wonderful Book Divine was written by gospel songwriter Luther G. Presley. It shows the Bible as light, hope, consolation, a chart, and a compass – and a source of happiness. It first appeared in the 1938 Stamps-Baxter publication Starlit Crown (copyright 1937). I have been unable to locate the first printing; the words above are a compilation from and representation of later printings, probably accurately representing the original with three stanzas and a chorus.

Luther G. Presley (March 6, 1887 – December 6, 1974) was born in Faulkner County, Arkansas, the son of James Thomas Presley and Nancy Ann Brooks. Presley married Julia Magdaline Yingling in 1911. They had three children. After Maggie’s death, Presley married Lorena Henderson. They had one child. Lorena Presley was also a songwriter. Luther Presley died in 1974. He and Lorena are buried at Saint Mary’s Cemetery near Rose Bud in White County, Arkansas.

Luther Presley wrote his first song when he was 17. He wrote this one when he was about 50. His best-known song likely is the spiritual When the Saints Go Marching In. Presley wrote the lyrics of that song in 1937, and Virgil O. Stamps composed the music. He also wrote When All of God’s Singers Get Home. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Luther Presley “told his friends that his best song was ‘I’d Rather Have Jesus.’” Heavenly Highway Hymns was compiled by Luther G. Presley for the Stamps-Baxter Music Company in 1956. Presley was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 2008.

Some King James Bible defending churches sing the following stanza, and sometimes end the chorus as follows:

Now if you are wondering of what book I sing,
It’s the same one the old-time revival did bring,
It’s the only one version authorized by the King:
God’s wonderful book divine.

Chorus:

I love the old Bible, the Old King James Bible.
A light on my pathway it shines.
It keeps me so happy, always so happy.
God’s wonderful book divine.

Baptist Identity

Referring back to some old material on Baptist identity, two book reviews:

• Book review of "The Baptist Identity"
• The Baptist Identity - chapter one
• The Baptist Identity - chapter two
• The Baptist Identity - chapter three
• The Baptist Identity - chapter four
• The Baptist Identity - conclusion

• More on Baptist identity -- another book review

Holes in your stockings

“…in one place in Virginia, where Mr. [John] Leland went to preach one cold day, the principal people were in the habit of going out before the meeting was done, if the minister spake much over three quarters of an hour. Some of the brethren told him they hoped he would not preach long, for if he did, there were some gentlemen that would leave the house. He said nothing, but went to meeting. After speaking about forty-five minutes, he noticed that some grew uneasy, and acted as though they meant to go out. Observing this, he paused a moment, and then said, ‘My friends, it is cold, and I have now got about half through my discourse, and I suppose those of you who have holes in the heels of your stockings will be obliged to leave the house before the meeting is done.’ This saying removed all the apparent uneasiness; and no one dared leave the house, till the meeting closed.”

From The Life, Conversion, Preaching, Travels, and Sufferings of Elias Smith, pp. 225-226

Moving toward “The Generic Harp”

Did the Sacred Harp Publishing Company and their 2025 Revision Committee move The Sacred Harp 2025 Revision towards words with less explicitly Christian meaning? I believe so (and, whether carelessly or deliberately is a question to consider).[i] I analyzed the texts/words of the new songs added to The Sacred Harp 2025 (as well as the old songs removed from The Sacred Harp 1991) and divided the texts of these songs into 3 categories: (1) texts that might be generally accepted in principle as true by singers with any religion or no religion; (2) texts that might be generally accepted in principle as true by singers who believe in some idea of “God” or a higher power, though not necessarily the Christian God; (3) texts that could not be generally or readily accepted in principle as true by those who are not Christians. Here are the specific songs categorized and the results/conclusions from that. (You should hopefully be able to select the images and enlarge them for reading.)

Old songs that were added to The Sacred Harp 2025 (32).

32 songs from older/other sources were added to the 2025 Edition of The Sacred Harp.

• 3 with “Category 1” lyrics; this is 9% of the old songs added.
• 14 with “Category 2” lyrics; this is 44% of the old songs added.
• 15 with “Category 3” lyrics; this is 46% of the old songs added.

53% of the older songs that were added have somewhat generic texts, that could be more acceptable to non-Christians.[ii]

New songs that were added to The Sacred Harp 2025 (81).

81 songs by 49 living composers were added to the 2025 Edition of The Sacred Harp.

• 12 with “Category 1” lyrics; 15% of the new songs added.
• 38 with “Category 2” lyrics; 47% of the new songs added.
• 31 with “Category 3” lyrics: 38% of the new songs added.

62% of the new songs have somewhat generic texts, that could be more acceptable to non-Christians.

Considered together, 59% of the total songs added to the 2025 Edition have somewhat generic texts, that could be more acceptable to non-Christians.

Songs that were removed from The Sacred Harp 1991 (77).

77 songs that were in the 1991 Edition of The Sacred Harp were removed in order to make way for 113 songs added to the 2025 Edition of The Sacred Harp.

• 9 removed songs with “Category 1” lyrics; this is 9% of the songs removed.
• 15 removed songs with “Category 2” lyrics; this is 19% of the songs removed.
• 53 removed songs with “Category 3” lyrics; this is 69% of the songs removed.

These actions show favoritism toward removing explicitly Christian words over more generic ones.

Conclusion.

Of 113 newly added songs in 2025, 15 have “Category 1” lyrics and 52 have “Category 2” lyrics (a total of 67). This is 59 % of the songs added, exhibiting a tendency toward favoring songs that can be considered less explicit in the Christian message they contain.[iii] When comparing added songs to removed songs, the choices exhibit removing more songs with more explicitly Christian texts, while adding more songs with more generic texts. 59% of the newly-added songs have somewhat generic texts. 69% of the removed songs have somewhat more explicit texts.

This analysis is enough to raise serious questions and heighten further concerns about the theological and cultural “drift” of The Sacred Harp, its songs, and its message. These concerns should not be dismissed with a hand wave, but considered and addressed by a community whose tradition is based in and fed by Christianity. Overall, the Sacred Harp Publishing Company failed its trust.

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[i] For example, was the committee (or some members of it) complicit in favoring song texts that would be less-offensive to non-Christian and anti-Christian singers? (If you do not believe there are anti-Christian singers, see footnote 3.) Was the committee careless in not articulating a committment to explictly Christian texts for an explicitly Christian songbook? How will these questions be answered?

[ii] As a plurality, the total old songs added slightly favor Category 3, but the total of Categories 1 and 2 favor generic readings. That fits well in the overall situation of past versus present, seeing that the older composers would have been less likely to specifically desire generic texts in the same way or for the same reason that modern non-Christian composers would choose them.

[iii] This is not to say they are not Christian hymns, but that the texts appear to have been picked in order to favor hymns or stanzas of hymns that are not as explicit in directly speaking of Jesus Christ, his atoning blood, his bodily resurrection, salvation through Christ alone, the exclusivity of the gospel, and so on. In past times, Christian singers would just understand all the songs from within their Christian worldview. The current participation of many non-Christians who like the music but not the theology turns that once-common understanding on its head. Shockingly (in his audacity), one composer who has a song in the 2025 Edition wrote on Bluesky that “Christianity isn’t morally acceptable.” (Perhaps it is not that audacious, since he hides cowardly behind a pseudonym.)

Questions for the Revision Committee

The following thoughts and questions about the latest Sacred Harp Publishing Company songbook revision were addressed to two members of the 2025 Sacred Harp Revision Committee. First, after the October 2025 Board meeting, the committee’s music editor offered to answer questions about the revision committee music selection and editing process. However, after receiving the specific questions, he declined to answer but instead directed me to listen to remarks made at the symposium in Atlanta in September 2025 – none of which videos that are available directly address my questions. Some of the videos (even if they do answer the questions) are still not even available online over nine months after the fact. Failing in that effort, I next addressed the questions to the revision committee chair. His reply offered no answers. After reading the reply four times, I came away with the feeling that – written between every line was the mantra “we could care less about the singers who have concerns about the new book.”

So, here are the questions asked, presented for public consumption. I have changed the formatting somewhat in order to make it easier viewing for the reader. If there was nothing done unethically in or wrong during the process, why are the questions so hard to answer?

Submissions. The committee reported to the Sacred Harp community that 1155 song were submitted for consideration. 

• How many of the 1155 were new compositions and how many were previously published/old songs?
• Are there any statistics on how many songs were submitted per composer – that is, not how many did each individual submit, but perhaps an upper number (the largest amount submitted by a composer), a lower number (presumably one), and an average?
• Of these 1155 songs submitted, how did the committee arrive at the 113 chosen?
• Did the committee select songs based on what the song itself was, or what they envisioned it could be (considering the kind of editing that was done to some of them)?

Blind selection process. The Sacred Harp community and composers were assured that only the committee chairman knew the names of the songs and their composers. I have no doubt that the chair sincerely envisioned it that way. But perhaps such an ideal was a pipe dream from the start, considering the digital age in which we live. There were so many variables -- such as songs being printed in The Trumpet, submitted to FaSoLa Songwriters, the New Harmony Facebook group, YouTube, SoundCloud, composiums, other songbooks, on various websites, and such like. With all this, managing to keep the process “blind” not only to the committee but even to others singing at trial singings must have been an impossible challenge. Songs written by the committee members were obviously known to themselves.

• I have found 75 tunes that are publicly available and that could possibly have been known by the revision committee through various means (twenty-five are on Jesse’s site, SacredHarpTunes.com, so obviously  he knew those). 
• Considering the disconnect between what we were told and what was the situation, what assurances do we have against the appearance of conflict-of-interest, and that all composers were treated equally and respectfully?

Editing process. One of the more shocking revelations to some of us outsiders is the heavy editing of the songs that were selected for the new edition. I know you are aware of the situation with Linda Sides’s song, and you may be aware that she has demonstrated how her song was edited without her collaboration, then sent to her with a week’s notice to sign off on for inclusion in the book. This is when I first began to take close notice of the process. Other credible reports have surfaced of songs receiving the same or similar treatment, and of possibly one other composer refusing to sign off on the edited product. 

• Who decided that songs should be edited? (Not talking about fixing errant notes and typos, but changing the songs themselves.)
• Who decided which songs would be edited? Who did the editing? Did the entire committee approve the process both before and after editing?
• Of these 1155 songs submitted, were there not more songs that were deemed good enough substantially “as is” without having to edit possibly 50% (per Mike Hinton) or more of the songs to make them worthy to include in the book?
• What was the time frame of editing the songs?
• Were all composers given only one week to accept the edits proposed for their songs (in a process that overall covered nearly seven years)?
• Or did some receive preferential treatment? (For example, on a recent podcast, one composer said that after he submitted his songs, the revision committee reached out to him to say one of them had potential. So, he worked on it, and eventually his song made the cut.)
• I also noticed there are three songs in the 2025 edition whose composition dates are after the time for submitting songs was over.

Removal of songs. 

• What method or methods were used for removing songs that were not among the bottom 77 songs?
• For example:
• The song FEDERAL STREET ranked 187th overall, out of 554 songs. It was sung more than 367 other songs over the course of 30 years. It was removed.  
• The song CHARLTON ranked 552nd overall, out of 554 songs, over the course of 30 years. That is, this song was down near the very bottom among the least used songs. It was not removed.
• The old B. F. White arrangement SOFT MUSIC (ranked 293) was removed, while the weird THE BRIDE’S FAREWELL (ranked 545) was kept.
• How do you explain these kinds of choices?

I realize that the revision committee took on an enormous task beyond the scope of previous revisions (particularly in the number of songs submitted), and can appreciate that fact. However, I think that fact actually calls for all the more transparency, not less.

Al Mohler on Sacred Harp

On “The Briefing” podcast, June 26, 2026, Al Mohler (president of Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky) answers a question sent in by a listener: “[Would] Love to hear your thoughts about the leftist takeover of the sacred harp singing community.”

Here is an excerpt from the answer. Go to the Part V at the link to the podcast to hear Mohler’s answer in its entirety.

“My thoughts are, here’s the way the world works. The sinful world will hijack anything and so what I think you have here is another example of something good and wonderful and beautiful and true being hijacked by a culture committed basically to subverting those very things while using the music and even taking the tunes. And what surprised me coming from some of these folks is they say they’re even taking the words because they don’t mind singing the words because they are just words. Those original sacred harp communities who sing those words never saw them as mere words.”

https://albertmohler.com/2026/06/26/briefing-6-26-26

Lowest common denominator theology

“‘Lowest common denominator theology’ is a rejection of the perspicuity of scripture.  It undermines the certainty and conviction of God’s Word. Someone can always excuse his behavior and even his faithlessness, because he couldn’t know. Even if he does know, he could embrace the label of ‘non-essential,’ and excuse his behavior or provide deniability to his laxity. This is now the norm.  Some even blame this on the Holy Spirit, who is the spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit didn’t provide the necessary conviction or feeling to believe or stand strongly enough.”

Kent Brandenburg

Preach the word

2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

1. Preach the word, the holy word,
Lade with meat the heav’nly board,
Stewards of the store of God,
Sound the saving truth abroad.
You are sent the world to draw
To the Saviour and His law,
Praying them to leave sin’s road
And be reconciled to God.

2. Preach the word, O ministry,
Let the earth salvation see.
Tell it, woman, child, and man
Where you may and where you can,
Let no sluggish spirit bind,
Let not earth absorb your mind,
Keep salvation on your tongue,
Roll the Saviour’s praise along.

3. Preach the word, ’twill faith produce,
Turn the struggling captive loose,
Heal his pain and give him sight,
Turn his darkness into light,
Cheer his soul on heaven’s way,
Keep him watchful day by day,
Cause him happy here to be,
Save him for eternity.

Charles Price Jones, preacher and songwriter, wrote this hymn about “preaching the word.” He also wrote the tune, which has been designated by the title Gaines. Charles P. Jones was born December 9, 1865, at Texas Valley near Rome, Floyd County, Georgia, the son of Mary Jones.[i] He grew up in Kingston, in Bartow County to the east of Floyd County. His family attended Shiloh Baptist Church at Kingston. After the death of his mother, Jones wandered about to live and work in various places. He was saved in 1884 at Locust Grove Baptist Church, while living in Cat Island, Arkansas. He soon surrendered to the call of the ministry and began preaching. Jones started attending Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock in 1888, and was ordained that same year by the Mount Zion Baptist Church (also in Little Rock). He graduated in 1891, and married Fannie A. Brown in 1892 in Pulaski County, Arkansas. They had one child, a daughter, who died in 1897. Fannie was still living in Jackson, Mississippi when 1910 census was taken. She died, possibly in Jackson, in 1916.[ii] While living and pastoring in Arkansas, Jones served as the corresponding secretary of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.

In or around 1894, Jones accepted a holiness view of a second work of grace, while pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma, Alabama. When he began teaching this view in the church he pastored in Jackson, Mississippi in 1896 – the Mount Helm Baptist Church – some members of his congregation as well as other Baptist churches in the area opposed the new-fangled teaching. He eventually came to reject the teaching of eternal security as well.[iii] The congregation removed Jones as pastor, and he and his followers eventually built the Christ Temple campus in Jackson.[iv] In 1917, Jones organized Christ Temple Church in Los Angeles. In early 1918, C. P. Jones married Pearl Eleanor Reed.[v] They had three sons, Charles Price Jones Jr., Vance Reed Jones and Samuel Sherman Jones. Charles Price Jones died January 19, 1949 in Los Angeles. He and Pearl are buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California.

C. P. Jones is the author of over 1000 songs, many of which can be found in His Fullness Songs, published by the National Publishing Board of the Church of Christ (Holiness). Some of his better-known hymns include “Hark, ’tis the voice of love I hear,” “Hear the blessed Saviour calling the oppressed” (Come Unto Me), “Jesus Only is my motto.” The majority of Jones’s song were written in a ten-year period, between 1895 and 1905. Jones and Truth Publishing Company in Jackson, Mississippi published Jesus Only, Songs and Hymns in 1901.

Note: I found some discrepancies in various records about Charles Price Jones, and have tried to sort it out to the best of my ability. An early biography of Jones appears in The History of Negro Baptists in Mississippi (1898, pp. 613-615). A later reflection on his life can be found in History of the Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. 1895-1965.

The History of Negro Baptists in Mississippi, 1898, p. 614

---

[i] Various sources list Charles’s father as Edmond Jones or William Jones. It is uncertain who was his father or what happened to him. His mother later married Barry Latimer, who became his stepfather.

[ii] Wikipedia says she died in Little Rock, Arkansas, but does not give a source for this information. History of the Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. 1895-1965, (p. 311) says she died in Jackson, Mississippi. Both History of the Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. 1895-1965 and Hymnology Archive give the name of their daughter as Ola Mae, saying she was born in 1893 and died of severe burns in 1897.
[iii] Jones’s modification of views eventually led to the official organization of the “Church of Christ (Holiness)” denomination in 1920. Several sources (e.g. Handbook of Denominations) give the origin of the church as 1894. This is anachronistic at best, possibly trying to identify when Jones first adopted his new views. He was still pastor of a Baptist Church in 1896, and the first “holiness convention” connected with Jones was held in Jackson, Mississippi in 1897. Jackson, Mississippi is still the headquarters of the denomination.
[iv] “Church of Christ (Holiness) Founded in Jackson,” The Clarion-Ledger, Sunday, March 4, 1979, p. 1G. The removal of Jones from Mount Helm was a battle that took place over several years. The new denomination eventually rejected Baptist congregationalism and adopted an episcopal model of church government.
[v] Probably in January 1918. The California Eagle (Saturday, January 12, 1918, p. 6) describes C. P. Jones as lately married and “spending his honeymoon in Fresno.”

In other words, adamant to zeitgeber

• adamant, adjective. Utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion in spite of all appeals, urgings, etc. (noun) any impenetrably or unyieldingly hard substance.
• cataract,  noun. A place in a river where the water falls to a lower level.
• chyron, noun. A digital text-based caption superimposed over usually the lower part of a video image (as during a news broadcast). Named after the Chyron Corporation, manufacturer of a character-generating device that created such captions.
• desultory, adjective. Leaping or skipping about; jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another.
• divagate, verb. To wander or drift about; ramble; digress; stray.
• dysania, noun. An extreme difficulty rising from bed or an inability to leave the bed.
• eidolon, noun. A likeness; phantom; apparition; a shade or specter; a confusing reflection or reflected image.
• exercise, verb. Do repeatedly, especially to improve.
• exorcise, verb. Free from evil spirits; cast out demons.
• idioglossia, noun. An invented language developed by an individual or a very small group of people (e.g.,  by children in close contact, such as twins).
• kritarchy (aka kritocracy), noun. A system of government characterized by rule by judges, especially the system of rule by Hebrew judges described in the Old Testament Bible.
• nudiustertian, adjective. Of or relating to the day before yesterday.
• pastrix, noun. Female who claims to be a pastor, a term usually used pejoratively by Christians who do not recognize female pastors, but embraced by some supporters of female pastors.
• pismire, noun. An ant; emmet.
• rückenfigur (or ruckenfigur), noun. A compositional device in painting (or photography and film) in which the subject is depicted from behind, typically facing away from the viewer to contemplate a distant scene (German, meaning “back-figure” or “figure from the back”).
• stupor, noun. The feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally; marginal consciousness.
• telluric, adjective. Of or pertaining to the earth; proceeding from the earth.
• torpor, noun. A state of mental or physical inactivity or insensibility; the dormant, inactive state of a hibernating or estivating animal.
• veridical, adjective. Truthful; veracious; showing what is true or real.
• zeitgeber, noun. An external stimulus or cue, such as daylight or a regularly repeated occurrence, that serves to regulate an organism’s biological clock.

A Greater than Satan in Here

In Satan we have a great adversary (1 Peter 5:8), but in Christ we have a greater advocate (1 John 2:1). In Satan we have a great accuser (Revelation 12:10), but in Christ we have a greater intercessor (Romans 8:34). Satan is a great fiend (Ephesians 2:2), but Christ is a greater friend (Proverbs 17:17; 18:24).

1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

God is our natural environment

When God created fish, he spoke to the sea. When God created trees, he spoke to the earth. But when God created man, he turned to himself. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

If a fish is taken out of the water, it will die. If a tree is taken out of the earth, it will die. Likewise, when a man is disconnected from God, he dies.

God is our natural environment. We were created to live in his presence. We must be connected to him, for only in him is life.

Water without fish is still water, but fish without water is nothing. Earth without a tree is still earth, but a tree without earth is nothing. God without man is still God, but man without God is nothing.

Copied. Original author/source unknown.

Elder Robert G. Green

I am hoping/trying to identify Robert G. Green, who was involved in the organization of Union Baptist Church in 1838 near Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County, Texas and Plum Grove (Hopewell) Baptist Church in 1839 near La Grange in Fayette County, Texas. Morrell mentions him three times in his book Flowers and Fruits from the Wilderness.

Flowers and Fruits, page 187

At the time of the organization of Union, Reed lived probably 30 miles north of Nacogdoches

Flowers and Fruits, page 141

In this Morrell is quoting from the letter of the church to the Union Baptist Association

Flowers and Fruits, pp. 200-201

This last mention of Green by Morrell is concerning Baptist ministers who were in Huntsville, Walker County, Texas around the time he was trying or organize a church there. It is certainly not complimentary, but perhaps instructive of both from whence he came (Tennessee) and the last-certainly-known place he was living in Texas. He was evidently around Nacogdoches early in 1838, and was living in or near Bastrop when he helped organize the church at Plum Grove. He may have only been passing through Nacogdoches. The Union Church was organized in May 1838, and at least as early as September 1838, Green was advertising as an attorney-at-law in Bastrop. Though Morrell describes Green in Huntsville, he evidently had still been a member of Providence in Bastrop County up to the time he was excluded for drunkenness. The Robert G. Green in the 1830 Tipton County, Tennessee census may well be him. (For example, an R. G. Green filed a Tipton County circuit court legal notice in 1832.) If so, his age range puts his birth between 1781 and 1790.

J. M. Carroll in A History of Texas Baptists (pp. 124-125), quotes from History of the Primitive Baptists of Texas, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory, by J. S. Newman (pp. 37-38, 1906). According to Carroll, Newman had access to the minutes of the Providence Baptist Church, which met on or near the Colorado River in Bastrop County, about 12-15 miles south of the town of Bastrop. The church was organized in 1834, in the district of Mena (Mina) of the State of Coahuila y Tejas – while this still belonged to Mexico. Both Asahel Dancer and R. G. Green were members of this church when they organized the Plum Grove Church. Newman writes:

“Elder R. G. Green joined by letter in December, 1838, and was excluded for drunkenness in February, 1840” (p. 125).

Green is not mentioned as a member of the Union (Old North) Church near Nacogdoches. He served on the organizational presbytery, prayed the organizational prayer, and served as moderator of the conference when the organized church adopted the name Union.

It seems easy to believe – though proof is not positive – that this could be the R. G. Green who briefly edited a paper in Lexington, Holmes County, Mississippi; who served on the Board of Trustees of the Judson Institute, while living in Choctaw County, Mississippi; and who married Mrs. Elizabeth Boren (or Bowen) in Warren County, Mississippi December 25, 1837.

Perhaps because R. G. Green disgraced himself with drunkenness, was excluded from his church, and is left frenzied in the streets of Huntsville in Morrell’s history – no one has bothered to discover what happened to him. Additionally, he may have been estranged from wife and children (the former of which would seem to be suggested by Morrell, assuming domestic troubles means family troubles). However, if he is found to be the R. G. Green, Esq. of Crockett, Texas, he may have recovered at least a modicum of respect.

A proposed outline suggesting a line for further research on Robert G. Green.

• 1781-1790. Birth; guess based on 1830 census.
• 1815. Possible marriage; guess based on 1830 census.
• 1830. Tipton County, Tennessee. (Census)
• 1831. Tipton County, Tennessee (A Commissioner).
• 1834. Ordained by or before 1835, when Z. N. Morrell left Tennessee.
• 1835. Lexington, Holmes County, Mississippi.
• 1836. Choctaw County, Mississippi.
• 1837. Warren County, Mississippi.
• 1838. Bastrop, Bastrop County, Texas.
• 1840. Bastrop, Bastrop County, Texas.
• 1842. Huntsville, Walker County, Texas (at least before September 1844).
• 1845. Crockett, Houston County, Texas.

With nothing obvious turning up for R. G. Green after 1845, perhaps his death occurred 1845-1850. The use of “Esquire” after the name R. G. Green in 1835 in Lexington, Tennessee and in 1845 in Crockett, Texas might suggest a man who was an attorney-at-law (which our R. G. Green was) – though not necessarily. This Crockett R. G. Green seems to make a court filing in 1844. It would be good to discover that R. G. Green came to repentance and recovered respectability before the end of his life.