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God and Beauty

God is one. All truth, goodness, and beauty proceed from God. Since God is one, His truth, goodness, and beauty are one. You can’t take away from one of these three without taking away from the other two. Each of those relate to God, so their perversion perverts an understanding of God, creates a false god or false gods, and/or takes glory from the one and true God.

God is beautiful and beauty itself also issues from Him. He defines beauty both in His essence, in His acts, and in His creation. Man made in God’s image, functioning according to His likeness, produces or generates beauty and beautiful works. Of course, sinful man operating in his flesh does not do that; only his performing according to the image of God. This requires regeneration. After conversion, he can, and should generate only beauty and beautiful works, but still must submit to God to do so.

The production of beauty and beautiful works means the skillful formation or formulation of what reflects God’s nature and achievement. One judges the formation or formulation according to standards aligned with revealed truth about God and what He does. A believer can know beauty. He can know he forms or formulates it. He can know when someone else does. How does he know? He knows based on the testimony and application of God’s Word.

How Do You Know Beauty?

Scripture states in a sufficient manner truth, goodness, and beauty. A believer then applies these to the world. God enables believers to do that. I call this truth, goodness, and beauty in the real world. Believers don’t just know these three in the Bible. They know them also in the real world.

God’s Word says a truth such as “flee idolatry,” “flee fornication,” or “let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.” It assumes that you will understand the application of that truth in the real world. You can’t say that you didn’t know that. You can also understand and apply, “think on whatsoever things are lovely” or “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”

When Proverbs 7:10 says that a young man met a woman “with the attire of a harlot,” the passage doesn’t explain the attire of a harlot. It assumes you know already. People are still responsible for things that God does not explain. Lack of explanation does not permit dressing like a harlot.

Like many other applications of the Bible, music and art require honesty and setting aside lust or self-will. God gives the necessary capacity for judgment. As is so often the case, the problem isn’t with intelligence, but volition.

Departure from Beauty

The Standard for Beauty

Does someone leave the truth when he departs from beauty? Or does a departure from beauty stand alone, totally isolated, disconnected from the truth? Does leaving beauty start with a flight from the truth?

The view that beauty was neither true nor false, that it made no pronouncements about the world, that it just reflected the mind or feelings of an artist was a completely novel view when it appeared with the origins of modernism in the late 18th to the early to mid 19th century. Truth was true in itself, goodness, good in itself, and beauty, beautiful in itself, separate from the judgment of any man. All of this came from God. If someone can criticize beauty, it could only be because there is some objective standard outside of the object by which to judge it.

Absolute beauty requires principles by which to judge them. If not, then beauty is meaningless. Beauty must be beautiful in itself, not from a mind or feelings, Its judgment comes from external criteria. The standard of beauty transcends the beautiful thing. For something beautiful to exist, something not beautiful also must exist.

Kant and Mill and Beauty

Immanuel Kant in his 1790, Critique of Judgment, introduced the concept of subjective beauty, beauty in the eye of the beholder. He said concerning beauty, that it was

a judgment of taste . . . not a cognitive judgment and so it is not a logical judgment but an aesthetic one, by which we mean a judgment whose determining basis cannot be other than subjective.

John Stuart Mill, English philosopher, later in the 19th century popularized the notion that art was nothing more than the intrinsic personal feelings of an artist. Beauty was just an expression of subjective emotion. An assertion of a thing as beautiful described the state of mind of the one asserting. Beauty did reflect reality, but now only a person’s perception of reality.

You can see how that man dethrones God when he decides what is beautiful. Man becomes final arbiter of beauty. Value becomes subjective based on his thinking or feelings.

Beauty Doesn’t Care About Your Feelings

God and Science

Some might say subjective beauty is a matter of freedom. You can say what you like or don’t like. You’ve heard the phraseology, especially made popular by Ben Shapiro, “facts don’t care about your feelings.” How does that relate to beauty?

Isaac Newton, believer in God, and others like him stand as the foundation of scientific progress of the last three hundred years, which started with God as the standard. God’s Word inspired science. It did not disregard man’s senses. In accordance with God’s Word, Newton and his colleagues recognized the place scripture gave to man’s reason, his senses, and evidence. This was different than elevating man’s thinking and his feelings to the only source of truth. They must function in subjection to God within His world.

Empiricism: Senses as the Source for Beauty First and then Science Second

Kant and Mill established a secular approach to beauty. They elevated man’s senses as the sole source for beauty. Empirical beauty. Not long after, empirical methods became the sole source for truth, a philosophy called empiricism. A secular approach to knowledge and truth followed a secular approach to beauty. Sensory experience formed the basis for both and it started with beauty.

Very often today, Christians say that truth is objective with the Bible as final authority, but they judge beauty with their feelings as the standard. They might confuse the feelings with a mystical experience from God or the moving of the Holy Spirit. Long ago many churches ejected to various degrees from objective beauty. Today we see many of those churches capitulating in objective truth and goodness. This follows along the pattern of the first effect of empiricism on the arts with Kant and Mills and the second with science.

View of Beauty Shapes View of God

When someone starts with God on beauty, he will have the right view of beauty. He will produce, support, and endorse only the beautiful. However, the opposite is also true. Someone’s view of beauty shapes his view of God. He might have God in his doctrinal statement, but his imagination of God will accord with his depiction of beauty. The view of beauty and the view of God will both match.

Easily the world deceives on beauty to pervert the imagination of God. The non-beautiful or what is ugly will draw someone away from the true God. At the same time, he thinks he has or sees God. The two views cannot coexist.

Two people might say they are Christians. They should be similar, shaped by the transcendent view of truth, goodness, and beauty. Their standard is the same.

If two professing Christians’ thinking on beauty is different, their Christianity will seem like two different religions. They are. One has the true God. Very often, depending on the extent, the other does not. He has God on his doctrinal statement, but he imagines a different God, not in fitting with the God of the Bible. What I’m explaining occurs today by far more than it ever has in my lifetime.

So Which Is It, Truth or Beauty? Authenticity

One can say that truth is beautiful and beauty is truthful. When you look at beauty, actual beauty, it is true. It is real. If it is not beauty, it is not true or is in error.

If it is beauty, it is not just someone’s imagination or feelings. Very often today, when it is feelings, people call that authentic. They say it’s authentic, because from the perspective of the performer, it is how he feels. However, it may not and probably does not represent the truth, which mean it is not authentic.

I think I can say the following is ironic. Authenticity isn’t authentic anymore. Authenticity is now a lie.

In the past, authenticity meant true. It wasn’t leather. Instead, it was naugahyde. It wasn’t a diamond, but it was cubic zirconia. If it is not beautiful according to the nature of God, then it is not authentic. In this way, it is not true.

If the lie starts with beauty, treating the non-beautiful as beautiful, that spreads to the judgement of truth. This is where our world is today. You can’t say something is true, but that started with eliminating objective beauty. Today your truth can be your truth, but for a longer time, your beauty is your beauty.

“They Will Reverence My Son”

February 23, 2022 / Leave a comment

In a story told by the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry, He said in Mark 12:6:

Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.

In the story, obviously this son is a representation of Jesus Christ Himself and so communicates the purpose of God the Father sending His Son to the earth: “They will reverence my son.” They don’t reverence the son in the story and this is why they deserve punishment. Jesus says in verse 9:

What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.

The “lord of the vineyard” in the story represents God the Father. I understand this to be a message to Israel, but it is one to anyone does not respond to the God the Son with reverence. Should not all of us assume “reverence” is a necessary aspect of saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

.The Greek word translated “reverence,” a verb, is entrepo, which according to BDAG means “to show deference to a person in recognition of special status,” including with that the following references: Mattthew 21:37, Mark 12:6, Luke 18:2, 4, 20:13,m and Hebrews 12:9. BDAG provides another translation of the word in other contexts, which means “to cause to turn (in shame), to shame.” Examples given are 1 Corinthians 4:14, 2 Thessalonians 3:14, and Titus 2:8.

In the story Jesus told, the husbandmen should have been ashamed of themselves for what they did to the representatives of the lord, whom we know represent the Old Testament prophets. Feeling shame can be a part of this reverence unto the Son. Not reverencing the Son is not reverencing the Father. This is how someone could take believing in God. If someone does not believe in the Son, He does not believe in God.

How can someone reverence if there isn’t such a thing as reverence or no way to reverence? Going along with the BDAG meaning “recognition of special status.” How does someone recognize someone for having special status? Is there a way to do that? Is there a way not to do that? A culture where nothing is sacred anymore won’t know how to reverence anything, let alone God. This, of course, completely messes up its people’s values, because they won’t know how or whom to give special status.

Churches today very often do not reverence the Son with their music. Their music isn’t sacred. It is worldly, fleshly, and lustful. The husbandmen thought the lord, the vineyard, the representatives in the story, and the Son were all about themselves. Because of how important they thought they were, they couldn’t reverence the Son.

This reverence of the Son relates to repentance. It relates to true faith in Jesus Christ. When churches won’t reverence the Son, they are also undermining the gospel. People cannot imagine or know the true Son of God, when churches do not treat Him with reverence.

Free sacred and classical music

February 11, 2022 / 6 Comments on Free sacred and classical music

If you would like beautiful sacred and classical music for free, here are some resources. Consider bookmarking this post and come back to it when you want to listen to some good music.

Sacred:

In the ecclesiology section of my website, I have a number of resources for sacred, reverent, and free conservative psalm and hymn music. Lord willing, I will keep those resources updated as links change. So for free sacred music, please click here.

Classical:

Netherlands Bach Society: They are playing everything that Bach wrote, over time, and making it available for free. Their YouTube channel has no ads in their videos (as of the time I am writing this).

YouTube channel #1: No ads (as of writing this) within the music, only possibly at the start of each video.

YouTube channel #2: No ads on the most recent videos, but ads on the older ones (just listen to the most recent amazing music to avoid ads).

So you know, I have a real soft spot for the baroque and for early classical music.

May these resources be a blessing to you, as you offer God holy praise in psalms and hymns, and enjoy the beauty of His design seen in classical music.

–TDR

Pragmatism, Playing Games, and “Recovering from Fundamentalism”

December 15, 2021 / 9 Comments on Pragmatism, Playing Games, and “Recovering from Fundamentalism”

If you look at a picture of the attendees of a professional baseball game during the 1940s, you see the crowd filled with men in suits and ties. I don’t know if they called them fans then, but were they legalists? Anyone who would wear a suit and tie to a baseball game must be a legalist. That’s what I’ve heard about men today who wear that to church. They’re legalists.

On the other hand, if someone now wears skinny jeans and a t-shirt while he preaches, that, my friends, is, what I’ve been told, someone who understands the grace of God. He’s also recovering from fundamentalism. Maybe you didn’t think it was that simple, but that’s how men, who refer to themselves as “recovering fundamentalists,” do characterize those who wear a suit, shirt, and tie, when they preach the Word of God behind the pulpit.

Men who wore suits to ball games in the 1940s had their reasons. They didn’t wear suits everywhere they went and doing anything they did. Men for similar reasons in the 1950s wore suits when they traveled on an airplane or other kinds of public transportation. In many instances still today, men will wear a suit to a wedding or a funeral. This was a way to show respect in a culture that put a premium still on showing respect.

Some still consider events and places sacred. You’ve heard the question, “Is nothing sacred any more?” Events and places once treated sacred are not any more. A culture where little is sacred surrenders its means, its symbols and expressions, for treating anything sacred. It blurs the distinctions between the sacred and the profane.

More than ever today being comfortable and casual is more important in priority than respect and sacredness. Men come as they are. In 1 Corinthians 13:5, Paul teaches that love does not behave itself unseemly. Something unseemly is unfitting of the occasion, like having bad manners. If something can be unseemly, it can obviously also be seemly.

Personal comfort is about yourself. “You do you.” Respect, which relates to something else besides you, is less important, of lesser value, than you. Love is fruit of the Spirit. Love seeketh not its own. That’s God and not you. Many, if not most, worship the idol of “you.”

IFB Off-Ramp

In a very recent youtube video entitled “The IFB Off-Ramp,” Mark Ward interviewed, whom he identified as one of the “recovering fundamentalists” (RF), whom I don’t know. His interviewee had debated a Ruckmanite IFB over “KJV Onlyism,” also abbreviated KJVO. Behind the RF in the interview was a piece of modern artwork with a row of varied abstract headstocks of guitars, promoting also a kind of modern music.

The RF says he wants to help and encourage men to be scriptural. The commonality between Ward and the RF was replacing the King James Version with a modern version. In the comment section, John Brock, perhaps the former academic dean of Maranatha Baptist University or a close relative, wrote:

Mark, good vid. I appreciate your spirit and the work you do. I would love to see Nathan’s organization change its name to something less demeaning to the IFB faithful. “Recovering” is commonly used for sinful vices and applying the term to Bible believing Christians/churches is more apropos to the enemies of the cross. Your ministry is special and done so well. I appreciate the sensitivity that you have. The average believers in fundamental Baptist churches are sincere brethren and demeaning them with broad strokes is unhelpful and can be unloving. I also would tend to respect the common dress expectations of a church (when invited as a speaker) rather than to parade differences on things of lesser significance. Keep placing the emphasis on lovingly, respectfully but courageously affirming the truth regarding our precious Book.

Mark Ward answered also in public:

I totally understand where you’re coming from. I think I’ve made my peace with the name, because as an internet writer (blogs and YouTube) I have come—a bit reluctantly—to realize that some amount of “clickbait” in one’s headlines is part of the game. I say some amount because me and my old editor at the Logos Blog agreed we would never promise something that didn’t come true. But we knew we were fighting for eyeballs. You can see that in my video title here: “The IFB Off-Ramp.” That’s probably a bit more attention-getting that strictly necessary.

Brock presented at least two criticisms: (1) Change the name of RF because of wrong aspects especially about the meaning of “recovering” and how it demeans independent Baptists, and (2) respect the common dress expectations of a church.

Ward dealt only with argument one. He justified to Brock the titles Recovering Fundamentalist (RF) and IFB Off-Ramp because they were (1) clickbait, (2) part of the game, and (3) fighting for eyeballs. You get a bigger crowd if you use the methodology.

Mark Ward didn’t answer either of Brocks points. He essentially said that you’ve got to do certain means and methods to reach a certain end. The end justifies the means. Some might be familiar with this as pragmatism.

Pragmatism?

Do modern version advocates, most often critical text proponents, follow scripture as the basis for what they do? Both Ward and the RF say that’s what it is. I don’t hear anything scriptural in particular coming from either of them in the interview, except for Ward’s brief reference to 1 Corinthians 14:9 and his intelligibility argument. I’m not going to address that again here.

From my observation and many others’, IFB has been steeped in pragmatism. They’ve used gimmicks or carnal means to attract crowds. They’ve been doing that for decades, because it was a good way to get eyeballs. It is proverbial “clickbait” and “playing the game.”

This IFB pragmatism also either followed, led to, or paralleled a superficial, 1-2-3 pray-with-me “gospel” for numbers. The two feed off each other. You can’t keep a crowd attracted by superficial means with an in depth presentation. It also must carry with it certain characteristics fitting of the spirit of this age.

When almost the entire infrastructure and happenings around an apparently serious dealing with scripture is modernistic, worldly, compromising, and casual, that affects the message. As someone famously wrote: the medium is the message. All of the surrounding and environment and context affect the understanding. It’s like blowing an uncertain trumpet. The message will lose its intelligibility. This all relates to Christian worldview.

What does it mean to recover from this brand of fundamentalism? Does it mean going to more that is superficial, like the modern art, pop music, and casual and worldly dress? Many adherents to evangelicalism want a church with a modern version. It’s a prerequisite that goes along with all the other pragmatism that is used to get eyeballs. Most everyone in the theater seating doesn’t care what the underlying text is.

Mark Ward is willing to associate and fellowship with Recovering Fundamentalists. The real deal breaker would be if they used only the King James Version. On the other hand, if someone preaches a true gospel, evangelizes in a scriptural way, and has a reverent assembly with robust expository preaching, even using the original languages, but it uses only the King James Version, that divides Mark Ward. The RF are Mark Ward’s bedfellows. These are his people.

How Is Alcohol Related to Worship?

March 31, 2021 / Leave a comment

Maybe the question of the title got your attention. It sounds like that’s what I was trying to do, but I wasn’t. Instead I jumped into the car and turned it to the 24/7 radio station of the biggest Calvary Chapel in our area of Oregon. The son, who is now the senior pastor, was preaching on worship, a subject that is near and dear to me, as you readers know. In the midst of his talk, he had his crowd turn to Ephesians 5:18-19, which read:

18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

He didn’t break down verse 18 very far, but he related being “sloshed,” a word he used twice to refer to being drunk. He said that alcohol itself was fine, just not being drunk. To start, that belies the grammar of the verse. Look at it. Speaking of the “wine,” Paul said, “wherein is excess.” In other words, in the wine is excess, which is riotousness. The “wine” itself isn’t innocent. This is also how the Bible reads about alcohol or “wine” that can get someone drunk. It must be alcoholic, so in it is excess or riotousness, which are both sinful.

The Calvary Chapel senior pastor then said that there is a kind of singing when someone is sloshed. He compared to drunken revelry, and he said that was a contrast here. One can imagine the pub where a group of men are staggering home off pitch and slurring a popular song, what today is called a drinking song. I know this happens, but is this what Ephesians 5:18 is talking about? No. It really misses the point.

Being drunk is contrasted with being filled with the Spirit. There are at least two points that Paul is making with this contrast and it does relate to worship. One, drunkenness puts alcohol in control of someone. He’s controlled by the alcohol. The Greek words for “filled with” mean “be controlled by.” The believer is commanded to be controlled by the Holy Spirit and not alcohol. The alcohol is related to worship, but someone is never to be controlled by anyone or anything but the Holy Spirit. That means in every area of life, which the next twenty something verses reveal.

The control of alcohol brings excess and riotousness. The control of the Holy Spirit results in something else, what follows in the proceeding verses. Alcohol really does control. Someone can understand that. With that understanding, come to the Holy Spirit and imagine His controlling instead. Alcohol almost totally takes over with limited human control. Holy Spirit control is almost total control with a background of human control. A person is still doing something, but he’s controlled by Someone else as a whole, the Holy Spirit.

The second point of Paul is to relate to the false worship of Ephesus at the temple of Diana that the audience of the church at Ephesus would know. In the base of the pillars were ornately carved grapes. Drunkenness was part of the worship. It would bring a state of ecstasy, which was confused with a kind of divine control. This out of body type of experience of drunkenness gives the impression that someone is out of control, which he is, but that he is under the control of divine power. He isn’t. It’s the alcohol. Paul contrasts the false worship of Ephesus with the true worship of the true God. It isn’t ecstatic, which unfortunately and ironically is the worship of these Calvary Chapels.

The rock music of the the CCM that even originated with the first Jesus’ movement of the first Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California gave the impression of something spiritual occurring. It wasn’t. It was entirely fleshly, ecstatic, like the drunkenness of the worship of Diana. Fleshly music brings a kind of ecstasy like that produced by alcohol that gives a counterfeit, false experience of spirituality. It might be “a spirit,” but it isn’t the Holy Spirit. It isn’t Holy and it isn’t Spiritual. Spiritual worship does not arise from the flesh, from alcohol, or from rhythm. These churches manipulate their listeners, giving them the wrong understanding of true spirituality. It is a form of idolatry.

There is actually no contrast in the worship of the Calvary Chapels with the world’s temples. They incorporate the ecstatic experience of the world into their so-called “worship.” In so doing, their people develop a false imagination of God. Their worship gives them a false god that does not have the same nature as the One and True God.

The local Calvary Chapel pastor compared drunken singing to the singing of Ephesians 5:19. First, he approved of alcohol as long as someone isn’t “sloshed.” He was saying this in a mocking tone, like he was embarrassed to be preaching about something bad related to alcohol. He was approving of alcohol as long as it didn’t result in drunkenness. In many people’s minds, being “sloshed” is a further level of drunkenness than the mere term drunken or legal drunkenness. This is missing the teaching of the verse and is dangerous to his audience.

The worship of Ephesians 5:19 proceeds from the control of the Holy Spirit. This is not carnal or emotional. It might result in emotions, but it is not emotional. Colossians 3:16 is a parallel passage and it compares Spirit filling to being controlled by the Words of Christ. If someone is controlled by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, the first way that will manifest itself is in true worship.

The participles of Ephesians 5:19 relate to being controlled by the Holy Spirit. You can or will know if someone is saved and then filled with the Spirit, based upon your worship. Worship comes first in this list of manifestations. False worship is controlled by something other than the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t have to be alcohol. It could also be fleshly music that brings a closely related ecstasy to that occurring in the false worship in Ephesus.

Four Thousand Praised the LORD with the Instruments Which I Made

March 4, 2021 / 1 Comment on Four Thousand Praised the LORD with the Instruments Which I Made

In the midst of a variated list, 1 Chronicles 23:5 reads:

Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.

Part of the worship of God was praising Him with instruments. Instruments were made with the intention of praising Him. These were musical instruments.

Psalm 150 teaches praising God with instruments.

1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. 2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. 3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. 4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. 5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. 6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Christian Piano Teacher Offering Internet Lessons

September 11, 2020 / Leave a comment

My wife, Heather Ross, has availability to take some new piano students. She has taught piano for many years with many students successfully using their skills for the glory of God. When we were in Wisconsin, she was already teaching students over the Internet for students from Bethel Baptist Church in El Sobrante, CA, and Carson River Baptist Church, in Carson City, Nevada. Please note her description (very slightly edited) of her music ministry below:

Having begun teaching lessons while still in high school, I went on to major in music and graduated with a degree in sacred music in 1999. Since earning that degree, I have accompanied for four separate vocal music CDs using original improvised piano accompaniments. I have played sacred music in church for 25 years and have a great deal of experience improvising with hymns. I have taught piano, flute, choir, and general music at Mukwongo Baptist Academy for many years.

Having
earned my Masters in Education in 2014 and partnering with a local
music academy between 2015 and 2018, I continue to add new skills,
implement tested methodology, and discover students’ individual
strengths as I work to help them become the best musicians and
individuals they can be. Throughout my years of teaching, I have
experimented with various methods and have discarded those which have
not proven to be a positive focus of energy in the lesson time.

I
believe children learn by doing and, when given clearly laid out plans
and directed down a productive path, every child will be successful no
matter what his / her natural ability. I invite parents to sit in on any
lesson. You will find that instruction time is used efficiently;
specific objectives are used to maximize instruction; students are
encouraged multiple times during each lesson and individuals leave
feeling encouraged to do their best as they create beautiful music with
their hands and hearts.

If you would like more information, please use the link here to contact us.

You can listen to CDs where Heather created the piano accompaniment here and also here.

You can read her testimony of conversion to Christ here as well.

Here are some testimonials about Heather Ross:

Allison

I have been taking lessons with Heather
for almost 3 years and it has significantly improved my piano playing. I
started as an adult learner and was stuck “in a groove” when I started
lessons with Heather. She has helped me to learn more technical skills
to play piano more efficiently and with more ease. She is extremely
experienced and knowledgeable, so if you’re looking for the best, look
no further. I have recommended her to my niece, sister-in-law, and
mother-in-law. If you are looking for classical and/or hymns piano
teacher, Heather is an excellent choice.

Gina

Heather is a very patient and
encouraging teacher who seeks to bring out the best in your child. She
is always finding ways to better herself as a teacher and to help your
child reach their full potential. My child was challenged through her
teaching and made great progress. Highly recommend her.

Angela

Heather teaches my daughter via Google
Hangouts. It always amazes me the technicality she can see over the
internet. She knows if my daughter is tense, bending her knuckle wrong
or doesn’t have her fingers on the right part of the keys. Heather is a
patient and talented teacher and we are grateful to have her at our
disposal.

Philip

Her solid musical training and education, coupled with her years
of experience have proven to be a great help for numerous piano
students. Heather Is well capable of helping students of all different
levels in their musical skills.

Sarah

I have received help from Heather for
specific pieces that are “beyond me” and she has always been able to
communicate the best way to learn the piece. I have also observed her
teaching young piano students and have been impressed with her ability
to help each student improve and strive for their very best!

A Former Student

I really enjoyed taking lessons from
Heather. She provided many fun incentives to reward practicing and help
me reach goals. I appreciated that before she pointed out something I
needed to correct that week, she first gave positive words about what I
had accomplished that week in my practicing. I also appreciated her
emphasis on theory–(learning chords, cadences, scales, arpeggios),
playing by ear, and improvising. She provided me with a great classical
foundation and helped me develop into an advanced pianist before
entering college and furthering my pianistic development.

Amber

If you are looking for a teacher who
cares about her students and wants there best, Heather is a wonderful
option! She is very experienced, knowledge, and a phenomenal piano
player! I had several piano teachers as a little girl, but I had the
privilege of taking piano lessons from Heather during my high school
years. None of my prior teachers developed me in piano at the rate that
Heather did. She knows how to motivate students to not just “get by” but
encourages them to achieve their best. Definitely recommend her!

Alexis

My son has been taking piano lessons
from Heather for several years now. I am so pleased with how much I have
seen him progress in his skill as a result of her teaching. She
challenges and encourages him to do his best and master each new piece. I
also like how she takes the time to plan recitals at local senior
living facilities so that her students can learn to use their talents to
be a blessing an encouragement to others. I would recommend her to
anyone looking for a quality piano teacher who will really invest the
time into your child to see him or her become a the best piano player
that they can be!

Micah

Heather is a very dedicated, loving, and experienced teacher. I
know I learned so much through her piano teaching. She doesn’t simply
teach for a pay check, but to see each of her students fully developed
in piano And all other areas of life!!