Reading the Psalms quickly reminds those who worship God that the tradition of musical expression is strong in our past and reasonably should be strong in our present.
The call to praise the Lord is a call to “sing a new song” and to praise God for his mighty acts. The methods and means for praise appear largely unlimited in scope as we hear the Psalmist call upon all of creation to praise the Lord utilizing all available means…the sound of the trumpet, the psaltery and harp, the timbrel and dance, stringed instruments and organs, cymbals and high sounding cymbals. Vocally and instrumentally, we have every reason to praise our God and that begs the question…Do you share in making music unto the Lord? Do you participate in singing and praising and yes, dancing for the glory of God? Do you have a heart of thanks and gratitude that abounds with rejoicing and witness to the God of our salvation? Do you use musical abilities to play instruments and offer expressions of worship through music?
On any given Sunday, I must confess that what I see in congregational singing participation is at best weak and often lethargic! And we are honestly regarded as “musically blessed” in light of the capacity and abilities of many of our members to sing. May I suggest that what is lacking may be one of two things. First, some think they do not have the ability to “make a joyful noise” unto the Lord. Some feel they lack the ability to “keep a rhythm.” Some think that the sound they make is too lacking in melodic expression. It is true that for many these are challenges, but all can be overcome.
The second and significant problem may be a spiritual one. If you do not prepare yourself to worship the Lord, then likely you will not. To worship is to offer something of yourself. Part of your worship of the Lord your God is your witness, your expression of praise, your prayer, your offering, your giving from your heart the testimony of your thanks. If you do not sing, because you seem not to have the heart for it, then consider the need for a “spiritual check-up.” Is unconfessed sin stifling your spirit? Is broken fellowship hurting your witness and capacity to worship?” Is there a lack of spiritual attentiveness and focus in your daily walk with God? Are you reading the scriptures and learning to follow the way of Jesus? As you consider such matters, talk to God about your needs and struggles and ask for His help to give you a rejoicing heart.
In worship, begin with using your hymnal. Pick it up and turn to the page of music as we sing. Take note of the words. They are broken down by syllables to follow the phrasing of the music. Listen to the song as it is sung or played, the next verse will follow the same pattern. By the third or fourth verse, you can learn the song, even if you did not know it at the start. Many who do not read notes can listen and learn. Reading notes is not that hard either. My mother taught six year olds how to do it and they learned to press keys on a piano to match. You can learn too. Teach your children to follow along in the hymnal the same way, it will help them learn to read more proficiently and to sound out words. The hymnal is a tool for worship that includes songs of many types relating to many subjects, but the focus of them all is the worship of God.
A scripture passage that has long been one of my favorites was imprinted on the dedication page of the 1956 Baptist Hymnal and is a strong reminder to us all:
“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
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Literacy
I learned this past week that approximately 29,000 people in our county did not complete High School or a GED. Hundreds do not read well enough to read a newspaper. Literacy is a necessary step for those who would be able to read the Bible. If you can’t read the newspaper, or the bible, or help with your child’s homework, how awkward it might feel to be a part of a Sunday School class or group in which you were “assumed to be a reader.” It might be the reason some people stay away. Might you become a bridge toward someone being able to read in this community? Volunteers may become involved in literacy efforts throughout the county. Basic skills programs through the community college can assist you in your efforts to volunteer in this way.
Hundreds of language groups across the globe do not have the Bible in their own language in any form. Imagine the work necessary to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those people. It requires going to the people, learning the language, and translating the scriptures. This work continues in many places today. In addition, efforts often include developing means of biblical story-telling and developing audio-visual means for sharing the story of Jesus. The Jesus film has been translated into many languages and has had a powerful impact in communicating the Gospel. Your support of world missions through your local church makes an impact in these ways. You can be a bridge to help bring the Good News of Jesus to unreached people groups.
Poverty throughout the world is often linked to war, ethnic and cultural division, the absence of education and resources for learning, along with geophysical factors such as land availability and climate that often undermine efforts to develop communities. As we consider ways to address such issues in our own community, we would do well to recognize that the message of Christ is for every economic group, every nationality, and every person to hear. You can be a bridge to bring that good news to others. And as we do so in the name of Christ, we bring glory to God and discover joy in our own hearts as we do it.
Hundreds of language groups across the globe do not have the Bible in their own language in any form. Imagine the work necessary to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those people. It requires going to the people, learning the language, and translating the scriptures. This work continues in many places today. In addition, efforts often include developing means of biblical story-telling and developing audio-visual means for sharing the story of Jesus. The Jesus film has been translated into many languages and has had a powerful impact in communicating the Gospel. Your support of world missions through your local church makes an impact in these ways. You can be a bridge to help bring the Good News of Jesus to unreached people groups.
Poverty throughout the world is often linked to war, ethnic and cultural division, the absence of education and resources for learning, along with geophysical factors such as land availability and climate that often undermine efforts to develop communities. As we consider ways to address such issues in our own community, we would do well to recognize that the message of Christ is for every economic group, every nationality, and every person to hear. You can be a bridge to bring that good news to others. And as we do so in the name of Christ, we bring glory to God and discover joy in our own hearts as we do it.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Bible Reading
On more than a few occasions, people have asked for helpful ways to incorporate daily bible reading into their busy lifestyles. The frustration of many has often concluded that“I just don’t have the time.”
Let me offer a few suggestions that you might utilize as regular ways of “finding time”for bible reading and prayer.
1. If you use a computer regularly, add your email address to a “devotional scripture reading site.” This service provides you a daily passage for reflection and thought. Rarely does it take more than three or four minutes to read and afterwards to spend time thinking about that passage during the day.
2. Get a small readable New Testament with the Psalms (and Proverbs) if you can find it. Keep it with you-- In your shirt pocket, coat pocket, pants pocket. When you are waiting in line, stuck in traffic for extended periods, waiting for food in a restaurant, or between appointments, take a few minutes to read. Consider reading the Psalm that begins with the date of the month. For example on the 20th of September, read the 20th Psalm and if you are able, then add 30 and read the 50th Psalm, add 30 more and read the 80th Psalm and continue that pattern until you have read 5 Psalms that day and one chapter of Proverbs, again reading the chapter that corresponds to the date. Proverbs happens to have exactly 31 chapters. Over time, the repetition of this devotional reading pattern will give you great insight into prayer and praise, petition and instruction from the scriptures.
3. Another great pattern is to Read one book of the Bible at a time, one chapter at a time. Some of the great books to read this way are Genesis, Romans, John, or Philippians. All are good, but some help you to quickly gain a better understanding of important themes for Christian understanding. You can buy scripture portions that highlight certain books from places such as the American Bible Society. These are also then easy to distribute in Sunday School Classes, to friends, or to distribute along with an encouragement to others to read the good news of Jesus.
4. Find a regular place and time for quiet reading and reflection. Whether early in the morning, in the moments prior to starting your work day, or at the close of your lunch break, or before you go to sleep. All are great times to set aside as best fits your work and activities. Select one and do your best to stick with that pattern faithfully for 3 weeks. After that time, it will be much easier to keep going.
5. If you have young children, include them in a time of nightly prayer and bible reading. The times spent sharing with your little ones in teaching them about God’s love will impact them forever.
6. Find a Bible translation you can reasonably understand, and keep a dictionary handy. Both tools will help you.
7. A dear pastor friend who was in his 80’s shared that as a boy, his mother had challenged him to read the bible through every year. He said he had done that and some years had gone through more than once, but he also said, never did he ever read the scriptures without profit and blessing from doing so. With every reading, he gained new insights and understanding. You will too.
Let me offer a few suggestions that you might utilize as regular ways of “finding time”for bible reading and prayer.
1. If you use a computer regularly, add your email address to a “devotional scripture reading site.” This service provides you a daily passage for reflection and thought. Rarely does it take more than three or four minutes to read and afterwards to spend time thinking about that passage during the day.
2. Get a small readable New Testament with the Psalms (and Proverbs) if you can find it. Keep it with you-- In your shirt pocket, coat pocket, pants pocket. When you are waiting in line, stuck in traffic for extended periods, waiting for food in a restaurant, or between appointments, take a few minutes to read. Consider reading the Psalm that begins with the date of the month. For example on the 20th of September, read the 20th Psalm and if you are able, then add 30 and read the 50th Psalm, add 30 more and read the 80th Psalm and continue that pattern until you have read 5 Psalms that day and one chapter of Proverbs, again reading the chapter that corresponds to the date. Proverbs happens to have exactly 31 chapters. Over time, the repetition of this devotional reading pattern will give you great insight into prayer and praise, petition and instruction from the scriptures.
3. Another great pattern is to Read one book of the Bible at a time, one chapter at a time. Some of the great books to read this way are Genesis, Romans, John, or Philippians. All are good, but some help you to quickly gain a better understanding of important themes for Christian understanding. You can buy scripture portions that highlight certain books from places such as the American Bible Society. These are also then easy to distribute in Sunday School Classes, to friends, or to distribute along with an encouragement to others to read the good news of Jesus.
4. Find a regular place and time for quiet reading and reflection. Whether early in the morning, in the moments prior to starting your work day, or at the close of your lunch break, or before you go to sleep. All are great times to set aside as best fits your work and activities. Select one and do your best to stick with that pattern faithfully for 3 weeks. After that time, it will be much easier to keep going.
5. If you have young children, include them in a time of nightly prayer and bible reading. The times spent sharing with your little ones in teaching them about God’s love will impact them forever.
6. Find a Bible translation you can reasonably understand, and keep a dictionary handy. Both tools will help you.
7. A dear pastor friend who was in his 80’s shared that as a boy, his mother had challenged him to read the bible through every year. He said he had done that and some years had gone through more than once, but he also said, never did he ever read the scriptures without profit and blessing from doing so. With every reading, he gained new insights and understanding. You will too.
Thursday, September 8, 2005
Storm Relief
Storms come in all kinds of ways. Jesus demonstrated his ability to calm the winds at his command. The storms we often find ourselves in need of calming are not always of the meteorological variety. Yet, our Lord is our best hope for finding calm in those storms as well.
Some storms are of our own making. We fret or fume about things or events or expectations that in one way or another were not in accord with our wishes. I’m sure the president felt a little storm tossed by the circumstances and critics of this past week. The natural disaster zone that the Gulf Coast presented sent multitudes of people into traumatic circumstances that overturned their expectations, plans, and preconceived ideas of the future. Yet, our Lord is the best hope for finding help in the midst of such horrific experiences.
We turn to government, world leaders, community helping agencies, and the local church to seek out help for times of despair and danger. Communities that have strong relational capacities to identify persons, to know their needs, and to offer resources for meeting those needs have been the most efficient centers of help in times of disaster. At the same time, such networks of support often falter in the context of more personal storms, like divorce, the death of parent or spouse, the trauma of a child in prison, dealing with mental illness, or suffering bankruptcy or business failure. The reason for many failing to find help in the midst of these “personal storms” lies in the natural tendency we have been taught by our culture to “keep such things private.” Individualism in America is a strong cultural tradition. At the same time it is not individualism that has been the bedrock of progress or the strength of our generation. The strength has come in the willingness of those sharing in community to recognize the necessity of sharing together in overcoming life’s storms. And in the community we call church, there is the center that is our resource, Jesus Christ our Lord. In Him we share our identity. In Him we acknowledge our Savior. In Him we confront our sin and find forgiveness. In Him we move from our darkness into the light of His truth and righteousness and love. Jesus was no stranger to storms. He faced them in every place that he took the Good News of God’s truth and love. He confronted bigotry, political schemers, hypocrisy, prejudice, disease, poverty, world powers, religious zealots, and the commercial interests of his day. He confronted them all with love, with truth, and with the witness of his touch, his healing, and his divine wisdom. His peace was his gift to those who had ears to hear, faith to believe, and hearts to trust and follow Him. Jesus is still our best hope for finding help in the midst of the storms.
Some storms are of our own making. We fret or fume about things or events or expectations that in one way or another were not in accord with our wishes. I’m sure the president felt a little storm tossed by the circumstances and critics of this past week. The natural disaster zone that the Gulf Coast presented sent multitudes of people into traumatic circumstances that overturned their expectations, plans, and preconceived ideas of the future. Yet, our Lord is the best hope for finding help in the midst of such horrific experiences.
We turn to government, world leaders, community helping agencies, and the local church to seek out help for times of despair and danger. Communities that have strong relational capacities to identify persons, to know their needs, and to offer resources for meeting those needs have been the most efficient centers of help in times of disaster. At the same time, such networks of support often falter in the context of more personal storms, like divorce, the death of parent or spouse, the trauma of a child in prison, dealing with mental illness, or suffering bankruptcy or business failure. The reason for many failing to find help in the midst of these “personal storms” lies in the natural tendency we have been taught by our culture to “keep such things private.” Individualism in America is a strong cultural tradition. At the same time it is not individualism that has been the bedrock of progress or the strength of our generation. The strength has come in the willingness of those sharing in community to recognize the necessity of sharing together in overcoming life’s storms. And in the community we call church, there is the center that is our resource, Jesus Christ our Lord. In Him we share our identity. In Him we acknowledge our Savior. In Him we confront our sin and find forgiveness. In Him we move from our darkness into the light of His truth and righteousness and love. Jesus was no stranger to storms. He faced them in every place that he took the Good News of God’s truth and love. He confronted bigotry, political schemers, hypocrisy, prejudice, disease, poverty, world powers, religious zealots, and the commercial interests of his day. He confronted them all with love, with truth, and with the witness of his touch, his healing, and his divine wisdom. His peace was his gift to those who had ears to hear, faith to believe, and hearts to trust and follow Him. Jesus is still our best hope for finding help in the midst of the storms.
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