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In order to understand the questions and discussions contained here, you must know a few things that brought us to this point in our study.  Kenneth Starr (longtime friend) and I have recently embarked on a "new" way to study the Word Of God.  A couple years ago, I was handed a set of talks given at the Focus On The Family Institute in Colorado by Ray Vander Laan.  Ray is a long time pupil of the Word and spent a significant portion of his life in Israel learning everything he could about the Jewish lifestyle, culture, and language (Hebrew, Greek, etc?).  When he returned to the United States, he brought back with him a fire and a passion to teach and share his insights and the lessons God taught him while he was over in the Middle East. 

In the talks I was given, Ray lays the foundation of how Ken and I approach the Text.  First, you must understand the difference in the thought process between "Westerners" (the USA) and "Easterners" (The middle East, much of Asia and Africa).  In general, Western thought is very logic based.  They want facts, they possess a need to UNDERSTAND the things around them.  If a Westerner fails to understand something, there is a good chance they will refuse to believe it, and will question it until it makes sense.  Easterners, on the other hand, base their understanding on their experiences.  Something doesn't have to make logical sense for them to believe it, it just has to fit their experience.  For example, an Easterner might believe that a car has an engine even though he's never looked under the hood based on his experience of driving the car, where a Westerner would need to physically see the engine to truly believe it's there.  As silly as that sounds, the implications of this idea are far reaching.  A Jew doesn't have to understand God to believe in Him, where many Westerners today reject God based on the fact that He doesn't make "sense" to them.  Moses encountered God in a burning bush that didn't burn up (Exodus 3).  I don't think he came down from the mountain trying to figure out how the bush was on fire but not burning up, he came down knowing that he had an encounter with Almighty God and although not everything made logical sense, He trusted God and proceeded to do what was asked of him. 

Second, Ray points out that Westerners are very abstract thinkers, while Easterners are very concrete thinkers.  For example, ask a Westerner who or what they think God is, and they will likely answer with words like "God is love", "Joy", "Almighty", "Holy", etc.  It will be very hard to see anything if you close your eyes and try to picture those answers, but ask an Easterner the same question, and they will answer with "God is my Rock", "my shield", "my fortress", "my shepherd", "my living water", etc.  Those things are concrete.  You can see them, they're "pictures". 

Third, Ray points out the absolute necessity of our Jewish roots as Christians.  We, as Americans (Gentiles), are essentially adopted Jews and cannot exist without our roots.  Without our Jewish heritage we wouldn't have Jesus, as the Bible says (using the picture of an Olive tree) He was a "shoot" from the "stump" of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), and that we (Gentiles) are branches from wild "fruitless" olive trees that have been grafted in "among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root..."  (Romans 11:11-24)  Verse 18 of that same chapter says this: "You do not support the root, but the root supports you."  Our root that gives us the "nourishing sap" is not Jesus, but the "stump of Jesse", or our Jewish heritage.  Don't hear me wrong, Jesus is the source of our salvation and our savior from sin, but Jesus was, as we are, a branch from the stump, not the stump itself.  Sadly, Westerners and Western translations have done everything they can to strip the text of it's Jewish "roots" and make it, for lack of a better word, "Western". 

With these three points in mind, Kenneth and I have begun to reexamine the text and experience for ourselves the power of God's word when it is put in the context of which, and to whom it was written.  In addition to just reading the text, we study with an exhaustive concordance, which is nothing more than an alphabetical listing of every word in the bible and where it is used.  When we come to a new name, we look it up in the concordance and see if and where else that person is mentioned.  We then read that passage and the surrounding context to try to get a picture of who that person was and how they fit in (what tribe were they from, who are they related to, etc).  Same procedure for places, strange objects that we might not be familiar with (ex. a Goad), tribes, laws, and anything else that might be mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.  Yes, it takes a lot longer to get through a passage of scripture, but as you begin to put the whole picture together and see the Bible as one continuous interwoven message instead of a collection of short stories, God truly begins to open your eyes to things you've never before seen.

Finally, but most importantly, I leave you with an exert from an email Ken sent me recently:

...I think it is imperative that we stress the reading of the text, but more importantly stress that the text itself will not get you there. A person must first be concerned with pleasing God and coming to know Him. No formula, including the text or not will get you to God. Only His grace and following him as you strive to be in his "will" (that continual relationship with Him) can cause you to grow and do the things you should...

Wayne, you're definitely welcome to contribute.  I'll kick my self and try to post as well.  Maybe we'll actually develop some readers who will benefit from this!  Let me know if you need permissions or anything of that nature...

Do you want a separate guitar section?  I can easily set one up, or make you a moderator or something so you can do what you want, haha...

YO Wes, wayne here aka geekocaster. maybe i can post some info on gtrs, theory, technique, build/repair etc...

The musical alphabet consists of the first 7 letters of the English alphabet:  'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F', and 'G'.  After 'G', it wraps back around to 'A' instead of moving on to 'H', 'I', etc.  These letters correspond to single notes, or tones of a certain pitch.

The basic building block of Music as we know it in the West (The USA) is the half step (HS).  2 half steps = whole step (WS).  12 HS = 6 WS = An Octave.  An octave is also the interval of one sequence of the musical alphabet.  For instance, the interval from one 'C' to the next higher or lower 'C' is an octave.  (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C)  Notice the number of letters in the sequence is 8, hence the name: OCTave.  If a note is "sharp", it is raised up a half step.  If it is "flat", it is lowered a half step.  So, the half step above 'D' is referred to as "D sharp", also notated by the number sign "D^#". Similarly,  the half step below 'D' would be "D flat", also notated by a small 'b' (D^b).

A "scale" is a sequence of notes, consisting of half steps and whole steps.  The sequence of halves to wholes is what determines what kind of scale it is, such as major, minor, blues, chromatic, etc.  The most commonly known type of scale is the major scale, and is defined by the following sequence ascending in pitch:  2 WS, 1 HS, 3 WS, 1 HS.  Not surprisingly, most people end up memorizing their scales and don't derive them from these simple mathematical formulas, but here they for your information.

In order to get a visual picture of the above ideas, let's look at a piano keyboard. 

(Image to be inserted later)

As you can see, the white keys are the notes that correspond with the alphabet, and the black keys are the sharps and flats. 

(more to come...)

What is music?  It seems like a retorical question since everyone is familiar with some type of music, but in this context, music is a language.  Just like any languge, there is an "alaphabet", there are rules, and there are exceptions to the rules.  Just like any language, the basics stay the same, but it is an ever-evolving entity, a complex artform that has the potental to connect with the brain (logic and reason), emotions (feelings), and the soul.

Once the language is understood, it can be applied and "spoken" with a virtually endless array of "instruments".  This is how many musicians become proficient with several different instruments, and are able to pick up and play a new instrument with amazing speed. They know the language, the only thing new is the individual technique that is unique to each instrument.

It is not easy to become a master of the language, and many devote a lifetime of study to perfect their expertise.  With this in mind, don't get discouraged if you are just now starting out on this journey.  It is relatively easy to learn a few basics and a little technique on a particular instrument and be able to make your own music.  Just realize that the more time and effort you invest in learning the theory, the better you will be able to speak this wonderful language, and the more it will truly impact your life.

[1 Chronicles 16:23-36 (NIV)]

Post scriptures here related to worship.  When you quote, surround the quote with 'quote tags'.  There's a button above the smileys that will insert them for you or you can type ['quote'] put scripture here ['/quote'] without the single quote marks.  Ok. got that?

1 Chronicles 16:23-36 (NIV)

23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. 24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 25 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 27 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place. 28 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength, 29 ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his [d] holiness. 30 Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. 31 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!" 32 Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! 33 Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. 34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 35 Cry out, "Save us, O God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise." 36 Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said "Amen" and "Praise the LORD."

I have a few friends that have been asking about music theory, etc.  I thought I'd create a place for me to put 'lessons' or answer questions you might have.  So, lurk and learn, or ask whatever it is that you might want to know...

Silly Ryan... 

First!