WWJS?
Why is there so much controversy between generations about music style and its use in church liturgy? It’s not necessarily a generation thing either. I have met some 60 year olds who desire to have “modern” praise and worship in the service. Also, I have heard 20 somethings tell me that the hymn book is the only appropriate method of worship. Some might argue that the liturgy of the Roman Catholic or the Eastern Orthodox is the appropriate method of worship since both claim to descend from the apostles at the time of Christ. What would Jesus sing? Well, we know that there are songs in Heaven and we even know the lyrics to one. That being said, I fear the issue of music in worship will never be resolved until we get the welcome packet to Heaven and are instructed by the New Jerusalem worship leader what we will be singing. My vote is to sing before the meal though. No one sings very well after they eat. It is Heaven though, so I guess our physical limitations don’t apply. The one foreseeable problem is that some of our songs will have to change lyrics. For instance, “When we all got to Heaven (well, most of us)” and “Everbody is happy over here”, and “We all are having a time since we got over yonder” will be new versions. Also, the lyrics to “You are holy” will have to be changed to “I see the Lord, high and lifted up…”. It does make you wonder exactly what music style will fill Heaven though. I bet many would be surprised if we find out that God preferred Polka.
Gas prices got you down?
I was thinking…..How many times have you heard it prayed in church for God to restore families. You know, bring the families back together, keep us from being so busy that we don’t spend time with each other anymore. Maybe, just maybe, God has in His unique way began answering our prayers through world economics. Gas prices will definitely keep people at home more. It will cause us to budget our money better. It will cause us to eat at home together at the dinner table more. It will cause us to spend more time together as a family. Gas prices will accomplish work for the advancement of God’s kingdom. It will also cause people that normally dont come to church to seek spiritual help, guidance, and probably gas money from the church. So, here we are at a time when we are praying for the restoration of families and for God to send lost people our way and He has done just that. We can’t see it though because we are worried why God is punishing the worlds economy. We’re so busy trying to piece together the books of Daniel and Revelation to try and figure out exactly where we are in the “end times” that we dont see what God has dropped right on our lap. God is bringing His revival His way. Man can’t plan it. Why would you take a trip to a revival hours away and miss out on what God is doing in your own house and neighborhood.
Friends of God?
After missing several days of blogging, my audience (thanks to both of you) is demanding I resume my intellectually stimulating blog (sure). I have been busy with several different things going on lately but I hope to return to daily or bi-daily (just made that word up) posts. This morning I taught Sunday School (young adult married class). I taught about how that God gave us 10 Commandments which told us things to do and some things not to do. The Pharisees later added many of their own laws and interpretations of these laws. When Jesus arrived He preached a message that we call the “Beatitudes”. He was not changing the law, He was merely clarifying some doctrines that had been misinterpreted (intentionally or not) by the scholars of that day. He then later said that the numerous laws that the people had been told to abide by could be summed in just 2. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. Now most of us do okay with the “Thou shalt nots” (murder, adultery, theft), but why is it that the commandment we have the most problem is in the top 2: Love your neighbor as yourself. This didnt mean just your friends or fellow church members, Jesus clarified this when He said that the felons in prison, the hungry, the naked, and the poor were all his brothers and when you showed love to these, you were loving Him. Brothers! What an amazing term for Jesus to use when referring to these types of people. We like to sing (ad nauseum) that we in the church are “Friends of God”, but Jesus said that the people on the street are also His brothers and friends. He was known as a friend of sinners. He had to hang out with a prostitute to be able to cast 7 devils out of her. He had to hang out with some rejects to call them to be His disciples. What an amazing way to look at the love of Jesus. Do we want to be like that Jesus? Be careful in the way you answer that. Be prepared for religion and tradition to suffer if you say yes. Be prepared to be scorned by your “fellow Christians” if you say yes to that. Be prepared to be blessed beyond measure if you say yes to that.
The Lost Sea
So today I was on my way to an appointment and was taking my daughter along with me. On the way, my appointment called and cancelled. So I was driving around figuring out what we could do the rest of the day and up ahead was a sign for the Lost Sea. For anyone who has never heard of it, the Lost Sea is “the world’s largest underground lake”. You walk through a series of caves until you come to this lake in which you take a boat ride around. Halfway through this thing, I realized how cool it would be to be a tour guide at this place. I’m sure you don’t make a huge salary but the experience of getting to show hundreds of people this amazing place and all the stories that go along with it would be exciting to me. After we left and were eating lunch, it hit me. Anyone called into ministry (pastor, evangelist, teacher, or any Christian for that matter) should be doing exactly what this tour guide was doing for us. That’s why that job seemed so exciting to me because, in a sense, thats exactly what God has placed inside me to do. Ministry today should be taking people on this amazing adventure of life and guiding them around certain obstacles and pitfalls, sharing the great stories that have taken place in the past on this very journey, and in the meantime our goal is to find the “Lost” Sea. The more people we find and bring into this tour the better. I joined the tour this morning because I didnt know what was inside and I needed someone to show me the way and answer my questions about it. Sure I could have walked through on my own, but knowing the right way through and where to watch for low rocks was worth the ticket price. In the same way, people in the world are looking for the same thing: Someone who has been where they want to go and are willing to share their experience with them. Thats what my goal in ministry is: to share my life through the scriptures to others. Think about who is on your tour. Where are you guiding them to?
Hoist the colors
Part 2 of my Pirates of the Caribbean 3 spirituality blog is “Hoist the colors”. Toward the end, the pirates crews are all faced with the impossible odds of fighting a huge fleet. There are at least 5 enemy ships to 1 pirate ship. Anyway, the Captain of the Black Pearl (no spoiler there if you havent seen it) makes a speech in which the final rallying war cry is “Hoist the colors!!” This sparks a fleet wide frenzy of motivation followed by the raising of each ships “colors” (flag). This seems to be the rallying point for the pirates. My question is why was hoisting the colors such a big deal? Because when you are a pirate, you dont want ships that you are hopefully going to raid being able to see who you are until it is too late. Hoisting the colors meant they were going to battle with who they were flying high for all to see. How many people do you know that act differently around certain types of people. How many church folk show up on Sunday and make people believe they are something that they are not. How many people in general and especially in ministry masquerade as what they think people are supposed to act and look like. The answer is because traditional social groups like the church do not look very fondly on people who are different than they are. Homogeny is encouraged. Most churches are state of the art “cloning” factories. There’s so much I could talk about in that area but my point is this. What would happen if we lived without fear of scorning from the status quo because we are not exactly like them. How much more would the world be better because people stopped trying to be like the latest and greatest fashion magazine, tv show, celebrity, political views, church, or televangelist. Maybe what we need is to stop trying to make people think we are someone who we are not. Maybe it’s time we motivate ourselves to be who we really are no matter what the consequences. It’s time to “hoist the colors” and be proud of the flag of truth that waves above.
Up is Down
So I’m watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and it hits me how spiritual this movie is. Two parts in particular but the first one I want to mention is “Up is down”. If you havent seen the movie, the pirate crew realize they must flip the ship upside down to escape “world’s end”. The map says that “up is down”. Anyway, it hit me that our map (Bible) says the same thing. How many places in the Bible does it mention opposites. Alot. To be strong in God, we must be weak in flesh. To be the leader, we must first be the servant. The way up to the throne room is down on our faces. The beauty of this is most people think that if they become a Christian that they will have to join some boring group of people who do everything by the book. Jesus said and done so many things to prove that true Christianity is radical. Jesus was so radically different from the established religion of the day. He called the religionists out so many times because of their man made traditions. He left them so embarrassed that they put out a hit on him. Jesus is calling people to an extraordinary life of non-conformity. When you live the life of a true follower of Jesus and not a clone of other dead church going traditionalists, you learn that up is really down and sometimes that means we need to do things that have never been done before. Maybe it’s time to roll the ship over.
First Blog
So this is my first blog. I read several blogs (Brian Hunter, Mark Driscoll), so I decided I would try one for myself. Thanks to the 4th Musketeer for steering me toward this blog site.
