A friend of mine delivers his two children to school every day on his way to work. Every single day, he asks them the very same question: "how will you make a difference today?"
I would imagine his kiddos get weary of the same-o same-o stupid question every day... but I guarantee they have something burned into their consciousness that we could all stand to remember...
So I challenge us to rekindle the 'outflow' spirit.... to re-energize the mindset which reminds us, minute by minute, to look for opportunities to make a difference.
And for the most part, that simply entails a keener awareness of our surroundings. Because I promise your daily world (like mine) is overflowing with chances for you to do good to others...
Is there a kind word you can say? Is there an extra 2 bucks you can leave as a tip? Is there a door you can open? Is there a dropped bag you can bend over and pick up?
There is an insurance commercial that I have fallen in love with (I admit that's a little weird)... it shows one person doing something nice for someone else, then that person doing something nice for someone, then that person.... you get the picture... at the end, the voiceover says something like "when an individual does the right thing, we call it personal responsibility; when a corporation does it, we call it Liberty Mutual"...
I thought it was just a very good advertising campaign until I learned that they developed an entire website to this sort of 'pay it forward' thinking... http://www.responsibilityproject.com/ is the site, and it is awesome!
The point is this: let's get in the habit of asking ourselves the question: "how will you make a difference today?"
You have no idea how far a simple random act of kindness to a single person will go in showing Jesus to your world!
Galatians 6:10
Blessings!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
better is one day
SO I have a new favorite song... I intend to try to teach it to the Riverside body this Sunday...
It is the 84th Psalm set to music... (by the way, have you ever longed to hear these psalms set to the original music? - just a thought...)
anyway, here is the 'chorus':
wow... what a thought... I liked it so much, I read and re read the entire psalm....
I commend it to your reading... it is an incredible word picture of the dwelling place of God.
Read it right now... then find Third Day's version and give a listen!
Blessings!
It is the 84th Psalm set to music... (by the way, have you ever longed to hear these psalms set to the original music? - just a thought...)
anyway, here is the 'chorus':
Better is one one day in your courts. Better is one day in your house.
Better is one day in your courts, than thousands elsewhere.
Better is one day in your courts, better is one day in your house.
Better is one day in your courts. than thousands elsewhere.
Better is one day in your courts, than thousands elsewhere.
Better is one day in your courts, better is one day in your house.
Better is one day in your courts. than thousands elsewhere.
wow... what a thought... I liked it so much, I read and re read the entire psalm....
I commend it to your reading... it is an incredible word picture of the dwelling place of God.
Read it right now... then find Third Day's version and give a listen!
Blessings!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Spiritual maturity
(Most of what follows is borrowed from an essay by Brian Knowles on the BibleStudy.org site...)
Most of us are trying to 'get there'... my prayer is that this post will help us as we travel together the road toward being more and more spiritually mature...
So maybe the best way to begin the discussion is to discover what spiritual maturity is NOT:
Spiritual Maturity is not:
God Bless!
Most of us are trying to 'get there'... my prayer is that this post will help us as we travel together the road toward being more and more spiritually mature...
So maybe the best way to begin the discussion is to discover what spiritual maturity is NOT:
Spiritual Maturity is not:
- Being baptized a long time ago.
- Intimate knowledge of and belief in your denomination's doctrines.
- Going to church services every week.
- Being old.
- Having a loud voice and a domineering personality.
- Being a "high ranking" minister.
- Being a deacon or deaconess.
- Having gray hair and dressing well.
- Being a master of the putdown.
- Being a great preacher.
- Spiritual pedigree.
- Hanging out with ecclesiastical big shots.
- Being excessively righteous (as in having a religious spirit).
- Being wealthy.
- Being highly placed in a church hierarchy.
- Knowing a lot.
Jesus, in teaching his own talmidim – disciples – said,
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" ( John 13:34-35).
The way the first Christians treated each other in public was the visible sign that they were Christians. Their interpersonal relationships were wholesome, selfless, giving, forgiving, and mutually supportive. Unlike much of the Church today, they were not competitive enemies. They were "in it together." At the same time, they had their occasional disagreements. After appropriate prayer and haggling, they worked out their differences and moved unitedly ahead (i.e. Acts 15).
Love, like faith, without works or manifestation, is dead. If we say we have love, but we do nothing that demonstrates it, we have no reason to claim it. Love, to be love, has to have legs.
And the result should be how we Christians treat each other...
The word used for love in the Greek Gospel that preserved Jesus' originally Hebrew words is agape. Its basic meaning is "love."
In short, Jesus taught that if one is a true Christian, one loves one's fellow Christians. How this love is manifested is determined by the need of the moment.
Love is the antonym for hate. True Christians do not hate other Christians for any reason. If they do so, it is a symptom of spiritual immaturity. It is one thing to disagree on a point, it is quite another to hate. There is no room in the Christian's emotional vocabulary for hatred.
Paul's vision of maturity is best described in his own (Spirit-breathed) words, recorded in his first letter to the Corinthians:
"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish things behind me" ( I Corinthians 13:11).
Consider the nature of a child. The smaller the child, the more self-centered it tends to be. A small baby thinks only of its own needs, comfort and wants. It is a black hole of self, sucking everything into it. It sees the universe as revolving around itself.
As the child grows, its awareness of things, people and needs outside of itself is heightened. Instead of seeing all toys as its own, it eventually learns that some toys belong to other children. Gradually, incrementally, the child's world opens up. As it matures, it moves progressively outside of itself into the larger world of others. Over time, it becomes "socialized."
Children who freeze their emotional and intellectual progress at certain levels are said to have become victims of arrested development. We have all know adult men and women who appear to be emotional adolescents. Such people can become "emotional vampires" sucking the energy of all who come in contact with them. Like children, they use emotion as a weapon. Sometimes such arrested adults use "emotional blackmail" techniques to manipulate and control others. Volumes and volumes have been written on this subject.
The problem of arrested development occurs in people at both the natural level and at the spiritual level. When we find Christians who have been baptized for decades behaving as though they were "baby Christians" we are probably looking at cases of arrested spiritual development. If we find ourselves fighting the same old problems we fought when we were first converted, we may be suffering from it ourselves. Here are some ways of testing for arrested spiritual development:
- Do you still have just as big a problem with your temper as when you were first converted?
- Do you feel spiritually powerless?
- Do you have long dry spells in which nothing seems to be going on between you and God?
- Are you unable to generate love, care and concern for others?
- Do you live a fundamentally self-centered, self-seeking life?
- Do you still seek to manipulate and control others through tantrums, emotional blackmail and negative stroke seeking?
- Is it "all about you"?
- Do anger, hatred and jealousy play an inordinately large role in the way you express your personality?
- Do you put others down to make yourself look better?
- Does your life reflect more of the works of the flesh than fruit of the Spirit?
- Do you seek to get next to important church leaders in order to project "merit by association"?
These questions and their answers are revealing. They can be helpful in taking stock of where you are in a trajectory toward spiritual maturity....
So where are you?
(Brian's article may be read in its entirety at http://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/how-can-we-achieve-spiritual-maturity.html )God Bless!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
so what 'delights' you?
in the 37th Psalm, David makes a promise...
Seems like a pretty straightforward statement... if we can understand what it is to 'delight ourself'...
If we are not careful, we will let this verse lead us down a path toward a sort of 'prosperity' gospel; one which promises this world's wealth if we live a certain way or give a certain percentage...
To put it simply, I believe this verse (and many like it) teach a different type of gospel... they lead us to a life that, as we gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for our Father (and as we learn to 'delight ourself' in Him), our desires become tuned in to His will for us...
Sort of a 'molding' of our will into His...
so what delights you?
God Bless!
"Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Seems like a pretty straightforward statement... if we can understand what it is to 'delight ourself'...
If we are not careful, we will let this verse lead us down a path toward a sort of 'prosperity' gospel; one which promises this world's wealth if we live a certain way or give a certain percentage...
To put it simply, I believe this verse (and many like it) teach a different type of gospel... they lead us to a life that, as we gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for our Father (and as we learn to 'delight ourself' in Him), our desires become tuned in to His will for us...
Sort of a 'molding' of our will into His...
so what delights you?
God Bless!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
The Blu Pig and the traveling spirit
So last night we're eating at a wonderful little Barbecue joint called the Blu Pig... which, by the way is a cool place with great ribs and pulled pork and some dude absolutely tearing it up playin' jazz on a Fender Stratocaster!
Anyhow, some friends stopped by the table to say hi, and they said something that struck me...
While describing some new neighbors who had moved in next door a year or so ago, they told us that these recent retirees from California had brought their tricked-out RV with them to Mountain Home... of course they planned to travel in it often and 'see the sights' so to speak...
But a funny thing happened when they settled in here... God has placed so much natural beauty and so many great people in this place we call home, that they told our friends "there is no reason to go anywhere... this place has it all!" ...and their RV has never left the driveway...
Wow, what a chamber of commerce commercial!
But it made me think of how we will feel when we finally get Home...
'cause I believe God gave His kiddos a spirit of adventure; I think He gave us an itch to travel... so we do that a lot throughout our lives...
maybe it's an instinctive need, a 'DNA-level' bent to always be moving...
but I can imagine us 'bringing' that with us to our eternal house... and, like these California transplants, I can envision us arriving.... then looking around... then parking the RV forever...
God Bless! enjoy the weekend!
Anyhow, some friends stopped by the table to say hi, and they said something that struck me...
While describing some new neighbors who had moved in next door a year or so ago, they told us that these recent retirees from California had brought their tricked-out RV with them to Mountain Home... of course they planned to travel in it often and 'see the sights' so to speak...
But a funny thing happened when they settled in here... God has placed so much natural beauty and so many great people in this place we call home, that they told our friends "there is no reason to go anywhere... this place has it all!" ...and their RV has never left the driveway...
Wow, what a chamber of commerce commercial!
But it made me think of how we will feel when we finally get Home...
'cause I believe God gave His kiddos a spirit of adventure; I think He gave us an itch to travel... so we do that a lot throughout our lives...
maybe it's an instinctive need, a 'DNA-level' bent to always be moving...
but I can imagine us 'bringing' that with us to our eternal house... and, like these California transplants, I can envision us arriving.... then looking around... then parking the RV forever...
God Bless! enjoy the weekend!
the weekend
Aaahhh... it's the weekend! and no rain is predicted... just planning to spend it with my family and chill (oh, yeah, and mow the yard).
Just a note to remind us all to enjoy each other and God's creation and slow down just a little this weekend!
God Bless!
Just a note to remind us all to enjoy each other and God's creation and slow down just a little this weekend!
God Bless!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
the Insidious nature of sin
we don't talk about sin much anymore. I don't. the preachers I hear don't.
For me personally, I salve my conscience by telling myself that I've heard enough 'sin-will-send-you-straight-to-hell-fire-and-brimstone' sermons growing up to last 5 lifetimes... and, in fact, I have.
But here's the deal. We gotta deal with it, because it is our condition. It is the original 800 pound elephant sitting in the middle of our spiritual living room.... and it is what puts distance between me and my God.
....and the devil (who, incidentally, is STILL roaming around like a lion looking for a good meal) is laughing all the way to the 'soul bank' because we are not paying attention! I know we are not paying attention to it, because we are not talking about it. I'm not. Preachers are not. Nobody is!
There are many dangers to ignoring sin... the most terrifying one is this:
Sorry for the fancy 6-dollar word, but it an absolutely fitting description. Here is Webster's take on the word:
intended to entrap or beguile;
sound like something we can ignore? well, we seem to be ignoring it... and while all three of Webster's definitions are scary, the most frightening (to me) is the last one... sounds sorta like the description of an incurable disease, doesn't it?
...after all, hasn't everyone got a family member (maybe it's you) who has ignored an ache or pain or other symptom for a while, then gone to the doctor to find out they have a bad illness... one which may have been prevented by paying better attention to it sooner?
I will never address the subject in the same manner it was presented to me as a kid, but that poor experience does not excuse me from daily reminding myself and my family that sin is insidious... it creeps in slowly until at last I am so trapped I don't even recognize it for what it is! then I rationalize and reason and excuse and justify and battle until I finally smell the stench of my own boiling flesh! (well that went south in a hurry! sorry about that... just referring to the frog in boiling water analogy... I'll try to give a PG-13 warning next time...)
....but that's exactly how it works! A dear friend said it this way:
Anyhow, I challenge us to objectively inspect our lives - today! And get away from whatever sin is in or around us...
is it the Internet? (wow! a subject for another time) is it the music pumping from our IPods? is it all the crap that passes for prime time TV programming today? is it an unhealthy relationship? is it idolatry? is it 'things'? is it less than desirable friends?
are you able to be completely honest about any of these things? I implore you to get completely alone with God and discover what it is in our life which separates you from Him.
then get rid of it, no matter what 'it' is.
God Bless each of us as we take that hard look at ourselves...
For me personally, I salve my conscience by telling myself that I've heard enough 'sin-will-send-you-straight-to-hell-fire-and-brimstone' sermons growing up to last 5 lifetimes... and, in fact, I have.
But here's the deal. We gotta deal with it, because it is our condition. It is the original 800 pound elephant sitting in the middle of our spiritual living room.... and it is what puts distance between me and my God.
....and the devil (who, incidentally, is STILL roaming around like a lion looking for a good meal) is laughing all the way to the 'soul bank' because we are not paying attention! I know we are not paying attention to it, because we are not talking about it. I'm not. Preachers are not. Nobody is!
There are many dangers to ignoring sin... the most terrifying one is this:
Sin is insidious...
Sorry for the fancy 6-dollar word, but it an absolutely fitting description. Here is Webster's take on the word:
intended to entrap or beguile;
stealthily treacherous or deceitful;
operating or proceeding in an
inconspicuous or seemingly harmless
way but actually with grave effect
sound like something we can ignore? well, we seem to be ignoring it... and while all three of Webster's definitions are scary, the most frightening (to me) is the last one... sounds sorta like the description of an incurable disease, doesn't it?
...after all, hasn't everyone got a family member (maybe it's you) who has ignored an ache or pain or other symptom for a while, then gone to the doctor to find out they have a bad illness... one which may have been prevented by paying better attention to it sooner?
I will never address the subject in the same manner it was presented to me as a kid, but that poor experience does not excuse me from daily reminding myself and my family that sin is insidious... it creeps in slowly until at last I am so trapped I don't even recognize it for what it is! then I rationalize and reason and excuse and justify and battle until I finally smell the stench of my own boiling flesh! (well that went south in a hurry! sorry about that... just referring to the frog in boiling water analogy... I'll try to give a PG-13 warning next time...)
....but that's exactly how it works! A dear friend said it this way:
sin will take you farther than you want to go,
cost you far more than you are willing to pay,
and keep you longer than you intended to stay
Anyhow, I challenge us to objectively inspect our lives - today! And get away from whatever sin is in or around us...
is it the Internet? (wow! a subject for another time) is it the music pumping from our IPods? is it all the crap that passes for prime time TV programming today? is it an unhealthy relationship? is it idolatry? is it 'things'? is it less than desirable friends?
are you able to be completely honest about any of these things? I implore you to get completely alone with God and discover what it is in our life which separates you from Him.
then get rid of it, no matter what 'it' is.
God Bless each of us as we take that hard look at ourselves...
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Broken Arrow last weekend
What a great weekend in Broken Arrow!
Vocal Union, Free Indeed and First Day sang at Broken Arrow church of Christ on Saturday night, and it was such a blessing!
We spent time in song and just hangin' with their youth group Friday night... that was terrific!
Then, on Saturday night, we did a 40 minute set before Free Indeed and VU did their own 45 minute sets; at the end, all 3 groups filled the stage and raised the roof with "Roll the Stone Away" (Brian Wiersma, VU, and Devin alternating verses) and Amazing Grace... with 500 people lifting their voices in praise with us!
It was awesome!
Kyle Jones will be spending the summer in Martha's Vineyard again, so we won't sing together again til mid August...
Thank you for all your prayers on behalf of the First Day guys and this ministry... we are truly blessed by your support!
God Bless!
Vocal Union, Free Indeed and First Day sang at Broken Arrow church of Christ on Saturday night, and it was such a blessing!
We spent time in song and just hangin' with their youth group Friday night... that was terrific!
Then, on Saturday night, we did a 40 minute set before Free Indeed and VU did their own 45 minute sets; at the end, all 3 groups filled the stage and raised the roof with "Roll the Stone Away" (Brian Wiersma, VU, and Devin alternating verses) and Amazing Grace... with 500 people lifting their voices in praise with us!
It was awesome!
Kyle Jones will be spending the summer in Martha's Vineyard again, so we won't sing together again til mid August...
Thank you for all your prayers on behalf of the First Day guys and this ministry... we are truly blessed by your support!
God Bless!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Empty Tomb Gear
So I met a guy over the weekend in Broken Arrow who developed a whole line of apparel and decals and such... all with the resurrection theme...
...his company is Empty Tomb Gear, and it is all about this symbol of a stone next to an open tomb... maybe the coolest thing ever...
He told me this has become his ministry... making sure this icon is on as many tshirts, cars, hats, etc. as possible! The whole concept is about causing someone to see the 'empty tomb' icon and ask you what it is, which necessarily means you have to tell them about the resurrection!
pretty ingenious...
check it out: www.emptytombgear.com
God Bless!
...his company is Empty Tomb Gear, and it is all about this symbol of a stone next to an open tomb... maybe the coolest thing ever...
He told me this has become his ministry... making sure this icon is on as many tshirts, cars, hats, etc. as possible! The whole concept is about causing someone to see the 'empty tomb' icon and ask you what it is, which necessarily means you have to tell them about the resurrection!
pretty ingenious...
check it out: www.emptytombgear.com
God Bless!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Ode to Shawn
"Hello, Sir!" that, a firm handshake and his crooked, genuine smile is what I will always remember about my young friend Shawn Oden. He is in the final chapter of his time here, and I am convinced the angels are anxiously awaiting his arrival...
What a party they must be planning! I feel certain they have hired the finest caterer and best decorator for the event... Heaven's best C & W band is doing a final sound check (with the angel choir on backup vocals), and the paparazzi is standing by for Shawn's red carpet arrival!
This young man may be the gentlest person I have ever had the privilege of meeting... yet his life here was a series of illnesses and ailments and surgeries and stints and medications and failed procedures... but I NEVER heard him complain. never.
What I wouldn't give to see him - with that head full of red hair - on the other side, dancing and singing and smiling and laughing and... without pain.
I am so glad Heaven's eternity is his reward. I thank God that Shawn's new home will make him completely forget - in an instant - all the pain he endured almost every minute of his life here...
No, I don't understand why he suffered here without any relief. I won't pretend to... I always have more questions than answers when this life's sufferings are so evident, and the pains of earth are revealed in such stark relief....
But this I know: I do look forward to the day when I see Shawn (and mom and Russell and all my other friends and family) in our new Home. I envy them their head start...
What a party they must be planning! I feel certain they have hired the finest caterer and best decorator for the event... Heaven's best C & W band is doing a final sound check (with the angel choir on backup vocals), and the paparazzi is standing by for Shawn's red carpet arrival!
This young man may be the gentlest person I have ever had the privilege of meeting... yet his life here was a series of illnesses and ailments and surgeries and stints and medications and failed procedures... but I NEVER heard him complain. never.
What I wouldn't give to see him - with that head full of red hair - on the other side, dancing and singing and smiling and laughing and... without pain.
I am so glad Heaven's eternity is his reward. I thank God that Shawn's new home will make him completely forget - in an instant - all the pain he endured almost every minute of his life here...
No, I don't understand why he suffered here without any relief. I won't pretend to... I always have more questions than answers when this life's sufferings are so evident, and the pains of earth are revealed in such stark relief....
But this I know: I do look forward to the day when I see Shawn (and mom and Russell and all my other friends and family) in our new Home. I envy them their head start...
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Cara's Choir Concert
Wow, the choir concert last night was awesome! Mrs. Hitt does a great job with a really talented group of singers...
My Cara sings alto, and performed in 4 different numbers, and was, of course, terrific! Her voice is beautiful, and her ear is so good... she harmonizes as well as anyone I've heard...
While listening and watching last night, one couldn't help but notice the strong Christian content of the songs sung... the opening number was "Baba Yetu", a very moving Swahili arrangement of the Lord's prayer, and that was followed a few songs later with the old negro spiritual "He never failed me"...
As my wife whispered to me during Choplin's arrangement of "I'm Going Home": "it's good to have a Christian leading the choir".
Indeed. there are lots of His roaring lambs in our school district... and they are in constant need of your prayers.
God Bless you Mrs. Hitt as you lead these young people...
It is good to live in Mountain Home!
My Cara sings alto, and performed in 4 different numbers, and was, of course, terrific! Her voice is beautiful, and her ear is so good... she harmonizes as well as anyone I've heard...
While listening and watching last night, one couldn't help but notice the strong Christian content of the songs sung... the opening number was "Baba Yetu", a very moving Swahili arrangement of the Lord's prayer, and that was followed a few songs later with the old negro spiritual "He never failed me"...
As my wife whispered to me during Choplin's arrangement of "I'm Going Home": "it's good to have a Christian leading the choir".
Indeed. there are lots of His roaring lambs in our school district... and they are in constant need of your prayers.
God Bless you Mrs. Hitt as you lead these young people...
It is good to live in Mountain Home!
home for the summer
Well, Cait's home for the summer... and we couldn't be more thrilled! God blessed her with a safe trip, and she got in about 8:30 last night... finals are over, as are her first two college semesters, and there is a certain 'relieved' feeling about her.
Wow, it literally seems like yesterday we were leaving her, crying in the parking lot of her dorm before starting the longest of 9 hour trips from Nebraska to Arkansas... (cue the string music)
And now it's over. As I wrote back then, it was hard. and we imagined it would go by in a flash... and, boy, did it ever!
new chapters in her story have been written, and even newer ones are waiting to be started...
We remain wide-eyed about all her possibilities, and unbelievably optimistic about what God has in store...
And, as God would have it, just as she has decided to make Harding her home for her remaining college career, He has presented a new opportunity to her.... a coach called from Williams Baptist College and needs a post player for her basketball team, and has asked Caitlin to come visit the campus to check it out... wow!
oh, well, that's what keeps it interesting... I'm just along for the ride! and learning to relish it...
Blessings!
Wow, it literally seems like yesterday we were leaving her, crying in the parking lot of her dorm before starting the longest of 9 hour trips from Nebraska to Arkansas... (cue the string music)
And now it's over. As I wrote back then, it was hard. and we imagined it would go by in a flash... and, boy, did it ever!
new chapters in her story have been written, and even newer ones are waiting to be started...
We remain wide-eyed about all her possibilities, and unbelievably optimistic about what God has in store...
And, as God would have it, just as she has decided to make Harding her home for her remaining college career, He has presented a new opportunity to her.... a coach called from Williams Baptist College and needs a post player for her basketball team, and has asked Caitlin to come visit the campus to check it out... wow!
oh, well, that's what keeps it interesting... I'm just along for the ride! and learning to relish it...
Blessings!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Sharon - the sequel
OK, so several of you have challenged me to consider other ways to view the subject of what type of songs we sing in our worship assemblies...
My argument (see previous post "who is sharon") had to do with relevance. Since some of you asked the very pertinent question "what about me?" (I'm paraphrasing, of course), I have studied and considered (and continue to study and consider) that aspect of the worship...
The discussion is this: what if those old songs DO speak to me? What if my sweet grandmother took the time to explain 'rose of Sharon' and 'night with ebon pinion' and 'ebeneezer', thereby making them relevant to me?
And, I have to admit, I hadn't considered the implications of that... I was thinking primarily of our children or the seeker or new brother or sister who is being assimilated into our fellowship... and, for them, I have to say… some of our old hymns must seem like code words with secret meanings, for which they must have a secret decoder ring to decrypt and understand them!
(I have to stop and say that I REALLY LOVE some of those old songs!!! I truly do! And please understand: 1) these posts are just my considered opinion… and 2) it is never my intention to alienate or upset people who are kind enough to read this blog... )
and, incidentally, I was not trying to make a case for throwing out all the old songs to the exclusion of the new 'praise and worship 7-11' songs... my concern was/is relevance.
So, let me say that I have considered (and continue to study) that aspect...
and I still believe it circles back to the same, central question: who is our audience, and what is the relevance? During our worship, who are we singing for and to? Well, obviously, GOD is an audience of one... no question about it. That's the vertical part... so, with regard to the horizontal part (Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19), to whom are we singing?
A friend of mine suggests that the Biblical examples we have of 'worship singing' seem to include the 'members'... the 'saved'...
Listen to the language and you will see his point: "teach and admonish one another" and "speak to one another" may indeed suggest that the horizontal audience is comprised of fellow Christians.... so what do we do with that? I dunno... but, taken to its logical extreme, wouldn't that mean that today's church should be singing the exact same songs that it was singing in the first century... and in the exact same way they were sung then... (by the way, is it possible the 1st century church was struggling with this? could it be there were some who wanted to sing the songs their ancestors had sung, while others were leaning toward those wild, new-fangled Gregorian chants?) ...sorry, I digress...
Here's the deal: it is unrealistic to think that the songs we sing this Sunday are the ones our grandchildren will be singing on Sunday, May 5, 2052! and it is similarly unrealistic to believe that we should be singing the songs Kelly's grandma Hazel enjoyed when she was a young woman in the 1950's... so what are we hanging on to?
And to the extent we will or should be expected to explain archaic language to our kids or new seekers so they can understand our old favorite songs, I wonder if our time may be better spent teaching them the simple truths of the Bible (using, by the way, a contemporary-language version...) Speaking of that, one could use this same reasoning to promote sticking with the King James version of the Bible… but few people would argue that we should intentionally expose our children – or any new ‘seeker’ – to the KJV as a primary method of learning ‘the story’… OK, another can of worms… sorry.
But… again, taken to its logical extreme, the 'hanging on' mentality will necessarily mean that our assemblies will become less - not more – relevant… to anyone but us!
On another note: All my life I have felt that our 'church' life was separate from our ‘everyday’ life... it is something I believe – at a visceral level- we must change! I do not want to perpetuate the habit which separates and compartmentalizes our Christianity from 'real life'… it is my goal in life to NOT perpetuate that cycle. I want to close the gap between our ‘Tuesday’ life and our ‘Sunday’ life…
So, for me, that compartmentalizing is all about relevance... what we do on Tuesday MUST be relevant to what we ‘do’ on Sunday…
So why would I want to use some secret, exclusionary, almost inexplicable language on Sunday (whether in song or prayer or scripture reading) that I use in no other part of my life? When I do that (as we have for generations), the gap widens, and I virtually guarantee the perpetuation of the ‘separation’ of ‘church’ and ‘life’…
OK, I’m ranting… again, sorry for that… I welcome your thoughts…
God Bless!
My argument (see previous post "who is sharon") had to do with relevance. Since some of you asked the very pertinent question "what about me?" (I'm paraphrasing, of course), I have studied and considered (and continue to study and consider) that aspect of the worship...
The discussion is this: what if those old songs DO speak to me? What if my sweet grandmother took the time to explain 'rose of Sharon' and 'night with ebon pinion' and 'ebeneezer', thereby making them relevant to me?
And, I have to admit, I hadn't considered the implications of that... I was thinking primarily of our children or the seeker or new brother or sister who is being assimilated into our fellowship... and, for them, I have to say… some of our old hymns must seem like code words with secret meanings, for which they must have a secret decoder ring to decrypt and understand them!
(I have to stop and say that I REALLY LOVE some of those old songs!!! I truly do! And please understand: 1) these posts are just my considered opinion… and 2) it is never my intention to alienate or upset people who are kind enough to read this blog... )
and, incidentally, I was not trying to make a case for throwing out all the old songs to the exclusion of the new 'praise and worship 7-11' songs... my concern was/is relevance.
So, let me say that I have considered (and continue to study) that aspect...
and I still believe it circles back to the same, central question: who is our audience, and what is the relevance? During our worship, who are we singing for and to? Well, obviously, GOD is an audience of one... no question about it. That's the vertical part... so, with regard to the horizontal part (Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19), to whom are we singing?
A friend of mine suggests that the Biblical examples we have of 'worship singing' seem to include the 'members'... the 'saved'...
Listen to the language and you will see his point: "teach and admonish one another" and "speak to one another" may indeed suggest that the horizontal audience is comprised of fellow Christians.... so what do we do with that? I dunno... but, taken to its logical extreme, wouldn't that mean that today's church should be singing the exact same songs that it was singing in the first century... and in the exact same way they were sung then... (by the way, is it possible the 1st century church was struggling with this? could it be there were some who wanted to sing the songs their ancestors had sung, while others were leaning toward those wild, new-fangled Gregorian chants?) ...sorry, I digress...
Here's the deal: it is unrealistic to think that the songs we sing this Sunday are the ones our grandchildren will be singing on Sunday, May 5, 2052! and it is similarly unrealistic to believe that we should be singing the songs Kelly's grandma Hazel enjoyed when she was a young woman in the 1950's... so what are we hanging on to?
And to the extent we will or should be expected to explain archaic language to our kids or new seekers so they can understand our old favorite songs, I wonder if our time may be better spent teaching them the simple truths of the Bible (using, by the way, a contemporary-language version...) Speaking of that, one could use this same reasoning to promote sticking with the King James version of the Bible… but few people would argue that we should intentionally expose our children – or any new ‘seeker’ – to the KJV as a primary method of learning ‘the story’… OK, another can of worms… sorry.
But… again, taken to its logical extreme, the 'hanging on' mentality will necessarily mean that our assemblies will become less - not more – relevant… to anyone but us!
On another note: All my life I have felt that our 'church' life was separate from our ‘everyday’ life... it is something I believe – at a visceral level- we must change! I do not want to perpetuate the habit which separates and compartmentalizes our Christianity from 'real life'… it is my goal in life to NOT perpetuate that cycle. I want to close the gap between our ‘Tuesday’ life and our ‘Sunday’ life…
So, for me, that compartmentalizing is all about relevance... what we do on Tuesday MUST be relevant to what we ‘do’ on Sunday…
So why would I want to use some secret, exclusionary, almost inexplicable language on Sunday (whether in song or prayer or scripture reading) that I use in no other part of my life? When I do that (as we have for generations), the gap widens, and I virtually guarantee the perpetuation of the ‘separation’ of ‘church’ and ‘life’…
OK, I’m ranting… again, sorry for that… I welcome your thoughts…
God Bless!
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