Music in church.
What God has created for an awesome expression of praise, worship, solace, joy, meditation, conviction, challenge, surrender, and discipleship is sadly a major source of division in the Body of Christ and has been for centuries.
Truth For Today
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
(Psalm 2)
Music. I said it.
You want to start a possible firestorm in a conversation? Mention the word “music.” Even writing about this causes me to cringe a bit. There is much debate about the kind of music being used today in our churches. May I kindly offer the following?
Often the cry is heard, “We don’t sing the old hymns in our church anymore,” or “I sure miss the old hymns,” or “These old hymns will die if we don’t sing them in church.” No matter whether that is the case or not, may I ask, as I was reminded recently, “Do you sing hymns at home?”
The best place to learn the great hymns of the faith is at home. Sing them at supper. Sing them in the car. Sing them around the fire pit. Sing them during your family devotions. Sing them on the way to church. Sing them while holding your child in your arms. Sing them while washing dishes. Sing them at family gatherings.
On any given Sunday, a congregation may sing around 30 minutes. How many opportunities do you have at home each week? Take advantage of those hours to disciple and worship with your family and guests. Make your home a house of praise! I have a hunch your worship time on Sunday will be more Godward-focused and heart-expressed.
Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people (Psalm 9:1).
I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me (Psalm 13:6).
Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name (Psalm 18:36).
Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy (Psalm 33:3).
Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:18).
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16).
Thank the Lord He created music! Sing!!
Just What You Need . . . Everytime!
My dear wife loves to cook! Often I have heard her say, “Cooking is so much fun especially when you have the right tools.”
Just recently, after baking a few loaves of French bread, she was delighted to pull out her stash of newly purchased double-bag size bread bags from King Arthur Flour. She looked at me, held up a bag and reveled in the size, exclaiming, “See! I can also use these for large loaves of sour dough bread. It’s just what I need!”
This reminds me of God’s Word. The absolute, eternal, always-relevant words of scripture are always “just what you need” in every situation of life every time.
Psalm 119:97-105
97 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.
101 I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.
102 I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Proverbs 2:6-11
6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;
10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you,
So, since the Word is applicable, relevant, and eternal for all situations of life, why do we not avail ourselves to reading the Word, memorizing the Word, meditating on the Word, listening to the Word, and sharing the Word? Why do we take a leisurely approach to attending gatherings where the Word is preached? Why do we too often have a non-committed attitude about attending church, retreats, conferences, small groups, lunches, etc. where the Word will be taught and upheld with high esteem?
2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us, All Scripture is breathed out by God and is PROFITABLE for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The Word of God is always profitable; it’s always just what you need!
The Sum of It All
Ministry. That really sums up my life.
Having grown up in a pastor’s home, that’s basically all I’ve known.
I have fond memories of moving from town-to-town in my school days. (We lived in ten different towns and fourteen houses, and served in nine churches.) Although I did not like to leave my friends, I always made new ones in the next move. And, oh the many precious souls who impacted our lives during those years! How marvelous to see many precious ones of all ages come to the saving knowledge of Christ! Oh, the joy of seeing answered prayer on so many fronts!
Of course, I remember many of the difficulties of ministry as well. When I was in the third grade, the church took up a petition one Sunday morning while we were out of town and voted my dad out of the church. Why? Because he preached salvation by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), and my mother played the piano with too much gusto, or as they said, “She put too many runs in the piano.”
I could write a year’s worth of blog posts about ministry, but . . .
Ministry . . . is Jesus (Mark 10:45).
Ministry . . . is the continuation of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (Acts 1-2).
Ministry . . . is following Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 19:10).
Ministry . . . is making much of Jesus—-He’s the issue; He’s the complete reason; He’s the “celebrity;” He’s the cause; He’s the only -ism; He’s the message (Colossians 1:15-18, 27-28).
Ministry here on earth has its share of delights and disappointments, fun and failure, joy and jams, selflessness and selfishness, relationships and rejections, blessings and battles, etc.
The only way to see ministry biblically fulfilled and to run the complete race of ministry until the Lord calls you Home is wrapped up in one word: submit (Galatians 2:20; James 4:6-8; 1 Peter 5:5-10). Submit every facet of ministry, including what is mentioned in the previous paragraph and . . . yourself to Jesus everyday.
John the Baptist said it so well when he spoke of Jesus, “He must increase; but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
That sums up ministry.
Answered Prayer on Sunday
Pointing toward the auditorium door after the morning gathering, a dear child of God said, “Pastor, we saw all kinds of answered prayer in there today!” And she was right!
37 and Counting
According to takemeback, “It was Saturday. The US president was Ronald Reagan (Republican). Famous people born on this day include Céréna (singer) and Sarah Marshall. In that special week of June people in US were listening to Medley by Stars On 45. In UK Being With You by Smokey Robinson was in the top 5 hits. Dragonslayer, directed by Matthew Robbins, was one of the most viewed movies released in 1981 while The Beverly Hills Diet by Judy Mazel was one of the best selling books. On TV people were watching Bellamy. If you liked video games you were probably playing Colony 7 or Mystery Fun House. But much more happened that day.”
And that is exactly right! Much more did happen on that day. It was a hot, humid Saturday in Sumter, SC, where a sweet, precious, petite gal from Winchester, KY, walked the aisle to be joined in marriage to a tall, lanky, man dressed up in white tails. Not many in the world knew about it, but it meant the world to us.
Now 37 years later, what seemed like a long time to be married is now becoming more-and-more, “Where did the years go?’
Those 37 years amount to 13,514 days. Wow!
Looking back over all the joys, sorrows, hardships, fun, decisions, children, deaths, answers to prayer, struggles, laughter, misunderstandings, steps of faith, assumptions, dates, difficulties, delights, disappointments, discouragements, etc., I must say two things among many that could be said.
First of all, for a marriage to thrive, both husband and wife must work every day at their marriage. That’s 13,514 opportunities to love, forgive, kiss, listen, hug, serve, sacrifice, do the little things, look at each other, talk, date, pray, care, etc.
The second thing I must say is, “through it all, God’s been good.”
Tomorrow, we will work on day 13,515!
Praise the Lord for the Interruption!
Sunday evening while we were worshiping the Lord in song as a church family, I received a text from a dear church member whose husband was in the hospital in severe pain. As soon as the song was finished, we took the opportunity to pray for this dear man and his wife.
During my visit in the hospital today, I expressed my appreciation for her taking the time to send a text so we could pray. Immediately she apologized with a bit of embarrassment for the interruption.
At that moment, the Lord brought something to my mind which I shared with them. Prayer never interrupts our Heavenly Father. Prayer never interrupts the Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16). Prayer never interrupts the work of God. Prayer never hinders the goings on in Heaven. Therefore, why should stopping to pray be an interruption in our church services. We have, I’m afraid, come to the place that in too many of our church services/gatherings our formalism has drowned out the Holy Spirit’s leading to change the service order so we can pray.
When I shared these thoughts with this dear lady and her husband, he without hesitation declared, “AMEN!”
Our churches would be so much better off, enjoying the presence of God, seeing His power at work, watching souls come to Christ, believers being revived, and enjoying the blessings of unity around the Throne of Grace if we prayed more (Psalm 85:6; Acts 2:42; 12:5; 16:16; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Timothy 2:1).
Prayer is never an interruption!
Buffering
Cell service in my neck of the woods has been an adventure since we moved here almost five years ago. I am told that we live between two cell towers and therefore, service is sketchy. We have tried LG, Samsung, Moto, and iphones from Sprint and Verizon. Used a booster. Talked hours to tech support. Nothing has changed. Most of the time, I have one bar showing on my phone. Not to mentioned a gazillion dropped calls.
“I Don’t Have Time.”
Really?
Question is, how does any true born-again believer think he or she can live in this present life without spending time at the feet of He Who created life; He Who gives you the ability to walk, talk, breathe, think, act, speak, etc?
Trust is, there is not a moment in our life that we are not desperate for God. There is not a moment in our life that we are not dependent upon God.
