This week I thought we might take up a slightly different kind of theme on the podcast.

We could call it Christian's love to sing, and we do, don't we?

But why is that?

Before I came to faith, I liked listening to music, largely popular music, I think, so

it was mainly songs, but I actually didn't like singing, and if I were to break out into

song you would understand why.

Now I wouldn't argue that regeneration all in its own improved my voice, but it did

make me want to sing, want to sing Christ's praises, and I imagine the very fact that

I wanted to make the effort to do that probably did help a little.

It wasn't that I now felt under an obligation to sing, or that I'd worked out theologically,

it was only a young teenager.

It was simply an inner urge, a new desire to express praise and admiration and gratitude

for what I knew the Lord Jesus had done for me, and all that the Father had come to

mean to me, and all that the Spirit was beginning to work into my life.

I remember a minister friend telling me about a young man who had no church background,

who started coming round their church, and eventually said he would like to become a member.

And when the elders met with him and asked him about his spiritual journey, he told them

how dramatically their church had changed since he started coming to it.

The services he said were much livelier than when he had first come, and the hymns were

much better as well, and he enjoyed singing them much more than the ones they had sung

on the first game. He even said to my friend the minister that his sermons had become

much more interesting in recent weeks.

...