Archive for the ‘Ellen White’ Category
I was recently introduced to Doug Berdahl’s seminar when he visited my parent’s church. They came back with rave revues, so I took a look. I was not nearly as impressed. Doug Berdahl’s criticisms of contemporary music styles, particularly rhythm and percussion, reflect a rigid, dualistic mindset that has no foundation in scripture or the writings of Ellen White. By misinterpreting doctrine and selectively targeting modern music, Berdahl creates a false divide between the sacred and the profane, while ignoring the larger truth: all of life, when lived in harmony with God, is sacred. Let’s dismantle his objections and uncover a more compelling, inclusive vision of worship.
Music Misunderstood: Addressing Berdahl’s Claims About Contemporary Worship
I was recently introduced to Doug Berdahl’s seminar when he visited my parent’s church. They came back with rave revues, so I took a look. I was not nearly as impressed. Doug Berdahl’s criticisms of contemporary music styles, particularly rhythm and percussion, reflect a rigid, dualistic mindset that has no foundation in scripture or the writings of Ellen White. By misinterpreting doctrine and selectively targeting modern music, Berdahl creates a false divide between the sacred and the profane, while ignoring the larger truth: all of life, when lived in harmony with God, is sacred. Let’s dismantle his objections and uncover a more compelling, inclusive vision of worship.
The Demonization of Rhythm and Percussion
Berdahl claims that rhythm-heavy music and percussion instruments have roots in paganism,
Click here to continue readingEllen White and Fiction
Many have read the comments of Ellen White on fiction and wondered what she could have meant. Is she really condemning fiction of all kinds? I have long pondered this myself, trying to make realistic sense of it.
A Sampling of Ellen White’s Statements
A few quotes will suffice to give us an idea of the nature of her comments:
- “That mind is ruined which is allowed to be absorbed in story-reading. The imagination becomes diseased, sentimentalism takes possession of the mind, and there is a vague unrest, a strange appetite for unwholesome mental food, which is constantly unbalancing the mind. Thousands are today in the insane asylum whose minds became unbalanced by novel reading, which results in air-castle building and lovesick sentimentalism.” – The Signs
