The UCCD Herald

The Destroyer at Dehra Dun

February 21

I had expected much more. From outside, the Hindu temple in Dehra Dun, northern India, was ornate and impressive. But as Anand Samuel and I entered the temple, it was just a big room with cold concrete flooring. (We had removed our shoes before entering.) There were no priests, no teaching, no choirs, although music played outside all day long over loudspeakers. Painted flowers and Hindi signage covered the walls inside, warning adherents not to offer money to Shiva, the "Destroyer," and not to be flippant in their acts of worship but to take them seriously. ...Keep Reading

Numbers in the Church: Is Bigger Badder or Better?

February 13

Churches can be big or small for all the right reasons. Or for all the wrong reasons. We simply should not conclude that bigger is better or smaller is more sanctified. In God's eyes, the success of your church and your pastor are measured by criteria more important than weekend attendance....Keep Reading

Improving Congregational Singing

January 5

According to the forty-seventh Psalm, we are to sing the praise of the Lord "with skillfulness." I will leave the musical instruction side of that commandment, with its pitches, note reading, beat, proper breathing, harmonizing, etc., to those more gifted than I am in this area (which would be quite a number of people). Yet a congregation can make vast improvements in its singing even without choral training. How? Simply by listening to and obeying the Word of God's instruction on how we are to sing in the presence of God. Consider applying in a purposeful way these short exhortations to your singing as you go to the house of the Lord the next time....Keep Reading

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