when has a Christian written a classic romantic song? I dont know of any. Perhaps they have, but I am not aware of it.
I urge Christian song writers to read their Bibles, and specifically, the Song of Solomon, and get inspired, and may the world learn the value of true love.
In the meantime, here’s a song by Michael Bolton called “soul of my soul.”
“I appeal to you, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name.” – 1 Cor 1:10-15 (ESV)
As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church there were many issues that were of concern to him, one of which he outlines in this passage, namely division in the Church. He wished to see harmony and unity and was alarmed to hear reports that there were four factions amongst the Church members. The King James Bible states the problem this way, “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.” In considering the four groups a few things come to mind.
The first group he mentions were followers of Paul. Now lets remember who is writing this. It’s Paul! Yet Paul seems just as much concerned that people would follow him blindly as they would anyone else. Paul saw his ministry as a gift to the whole body of Christ, and he was not in this to gain a following, but to point people to Christ. He looks back at his time of ministry in the city and now knowing of these factions is happy when he remembers he did not baptize them, except for the two people he names, Crispus and Gaius. If he had baptized most of the Christian Corinthians (even though doing so would not have violated any Scriptural principle at all) then it might have added fuel to the fire, so to speak, further cementing the ridiculous idea that these Christians are unified by their love for Paul, rather than another prominent Christian leader. Paul wanted the Church to look to Christ alone as the Head and that there be no divisions amongst them, united in the same mind and the same judgment (v. 10). Continue reading
In the last 1,000 years, what came to be known as “The Tower Experience” of Martin Luther might well be the most significant historical event in the Western world for all the ramifications which ensued. Here are Luther’s own words as he describes what happened as he was studying Romans 1:17 (and reading the insights of Augustine on this verse from a fairly obscure article he had written centuries before):
“For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” – Romans 1:17
“I greatly longed to understand Paul’s epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but that one expression “the righteousness of God,” because I took it to mean that righteousness whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust.
My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage Him. Therefore I did not love a just angry God, but rather hated and murmured against Him. Yet I clung to the dear Paul and had a great yearning to know what he meant.
Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the righteousness of God and the statement that “the just shall live by faith.” Then I grasped that the righteousness of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before “the righteousness of God” had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven…”