音乐之父巴赫 （J.S.Bach）

音乐之父巴赫 （J.S.Bach）说，他的每一个音符，都是用来歌颂上帝的。当音符用在宗教，二者相遇并发出耀眼的光辉。想一探基督教音乐之精髓，不得不了解圣诗；想一窥音乐于基督教崇拜礼仪中广泛运用的深层意义，也得从圣诗着手，可见圣诗在基督教的生活中占了极重要的地位。

Reformation Day

On the eve of All Saints’ Day in 1517, a German Augustinian friar, Martin Luther (1483-1546), nailed on the door of the collegiate Church of Wittenberg in Germany a parchment containing ninety-five these (academic propositions) written in Latin – the usual procedure for advertising an academic debate. Luther’s theses constituted an attack on the Roman Catholic doctrine of indulgences (forgiveness of punishment for sins, usually obtained either through good works or prayers along with the payment of an appropriate sum of money); this was currently being preached near Wittenberg to help raise funds for the rebuilding of Saint Peter’s in Rome.

Luther’s act touched off a controversy that went far beyond academic debate. For the next few yearsthere were arguments among theologians, while Luther received emissaries and directives from the Vatican as waver in his criticisms. On June 15, 1520, Pope Leo X (Giovanni de’ Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent) condemned Luther’s teaching as heretical and, on January 3, 1521, excommunicated him from the Catholic Church. The Protestant Reformation had been born.

Luther’s reformation principles began to apply in churches throughout Germany, and a rapid and widespread outbreak of other reforming movements was touched off by Luther’s example. By 1523, radical reformers far more iconoclastic than Luther began to agitate for a purer Christianity free from any trace of “popery”. These radical reformers are often called Anabaptist (“baptized again”) because of their insistence on adult baptism even if baptism had been performed in infancy. Many of these Anabaptist groups had radical social and political ideas, including pacifism and the refusal to take oaths or participate in civil government, which appealed to the discontent of the lower classes. One outcome was the Peasants’ War in Germany, which was put down with ferocious bloodshed in 1525.

The Reformation was not confined to Germany.

基督徒要行善

非信徒都一直以来抱着“善有善报，恶有恶报”的观念去行善。请注意，他们行善的动机是为了什么？佛教为了超度，目的仍是回报！身为基督徒你为何要行善？人不是因着行善，就可以上天堂的或不下地狱！而是基督徒有了上帝的爱心，愿意去爱人。这个真爱的付出，不是在理论上的标准答案知道而已，而是你和我内心深知上帝的爱是多么浩大，以至（我们）重生得救的基督徒愿意为主去爱他们愿意爱别人，我们爱上帝是因为上帝先爱我们。

当你真正了解为何基督徒要行善事，你就会在日常生活中行善，无需刻意的举办某个活动来吸引人留意你所作的一切。基督徒行善是要与福音相称啊！当做的时候是传扬主的名而去做，或者在传扬主的名时而去做呀！

分裂 Vs 合一

分裂是一个团体所必需的，但是有良性与恶性之分。“分裂不可怕，但是问题是：为什么分？”看初期教会历史时，正是因为遇到逼迫，门徒四散福音才从耶路撒冷广传到各处，这是良性的分裂，神也总是做分散的工作使福音广传。但是，因着纠纷、大家的情绪、彼此的贪婪、嫉妒……而分裂，这是恶性的分裂。

『福音使命』与『文化使命』

本人亲眼目睹、亲耳听到本团契主内弟兄说：“我要在大学生涯里，好好地做一位大专生的基督徒，学习更像基督，成为这世上的光和世上的盐，却不是要传福音给身边的朋友和同学。”我听了后，感到莫名其妙。罗10：14至17里，告诉我们把福音信息传达给非信徒，好让他们能够更认识上帝。今天宣称自己是基督徒的人要文化使命，而不要福音使命，这实在是错误的教导！唐牧师所推动‘归正福音运动’（Reformed Evangelical Movement）是告诉我们：我们需要『福音使命』，也要『文化使命』。『福音使命』要我们把人带到教会，而『文化使命』也教我们把信徒带到社会。

到底什么是福音使命？福音使命是主耶稣命令祂的门徒往普天下去传福音给万民听。『传福音』(Evangelize, Evangelism)就是宣讲神救恩得胜的好消息。使万民作主的门徒，这大使命记载在马太福音廿八章十八至廿节。所以，每个信徒必须认清自己应有的使命，传扬福音，为顺服主，为爱主而作。

什么是文化使命？文化使命是基督徒在世上过着成圣的生活，就如主耶稣所吩咐：“你们是世上的盐。。。你们是世上的光。。。你们的光也当这样照在人前，叫他们看见你们的好行为，便将荣耀归给你们在天上的父。”（太5：13-16）唯有真正的基督徒，真正明白对神永恒旨意的总原则，并肯在这方面下功夫，才能够给世界各种文化活动层面的人（如：政治、经济、艺术、教育等）明光的照耀。这因为在文化成就（Culture Achievement）与文化使命（Culture Mandate）中间，已经有我们祖宗亚当犯罪以后，所带来的隔膜。故此，人类的堕落，使在历史中间，人类没有办法能完全成全神给人的文化使命。