Newspaper Article Week 4

~Love~

   We have spent the last three weeks looking at the candles of Advent. We have looked at how HOPE, PEACE, and JOY can come from knowing Jesus Christ as Savior.  We have also looked at how these things interact with each other.  Now we get to LOVE.  Our society thinks it knows all about love.  We have song upon song upon song upon song and then some telling us what love looks like.  We talk about falling in love, falling out of love, having a heart full of love, and having our hearts broken.  So what does it mean when we sing “Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine.”

   In John 15:13 the Bible tells us “Greater Love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  1 John 3:16 tells us “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.”  Jesus came and was born as a baby in order that he might lay His life down for us.  The crazy thing is He came when the majority of the world wouldn’t have called Him a friend.  In fact we see how the world ended up treating Him.  They hung Him on a cross.  Love came down at Christmas…a love that lasts forever despite our tendency to throw it to the side…a love that is stronger than any struggle and gives a peace that surpasses all understanding…a love that fills our hearts with a joy that can’t be taken away.

   I hope that this Christmas Season you have experienced Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.  I hope that you have experienced these things with Jesus as the Lord of your life.  If not…it’s not too late!  John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life.”  That life eternal filled with hope, peace, joy, and love can be yours today.  Accept the gift today. 

Newspaper Article Week 3

~Joy~

   If you were to rate on a scale from 1-10 how much joy you have in your life, where would you land?  I’m not talking about being happy.  I’m not talking about putting a smile on your face and acting like everything is perfect all the time. In fact I am not even talking about the Webster Dictionary definition of joy…

the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying;

    I’m talking about that feeling of peace, of purpose, of ABUNDANT LIFE… that is found in the person whose heart is belongs to Jesus.  I’m talking about a person who has trusted in Jesus as their savior and knows that their future is secure.  Imagine how your life could be.  Instead of trusting in an emotion of great delight caused by something good, your joy would come from knowing who you are and whose you are. You are God’s unique creation. You are adopted into God’s family despite your inability to earn that position.  That little baby we celebrate at this time of year is more than a nice story or pretty picture.  He came that you might have HOPE, enjoy PEACE, and experience an abundant life full of JOY!  For this reason we sing Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King…it’s not a happy feeling, it’s the knowledge that you are loved and desired.  When we allow Jesus His righteous place on the throne of our lives, we can experience a joy that this world cannot touch.

   I guess the dictionary might have gotten it partially right…Joy is the emotion and great delight/happiness caused by something exceptionally good/satisfying…True joy is only found when that exceptionally good/satisfying something is the love and lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives.  Then when the world falls to pieces around you, you can rest assured in the knowledge that the One who holds you is taking those pieces and working all things to the good of those who love Him.  I hope that you are experiencing that joy in your life this Christmas Season. 

Newspaper Article Week 2--Peace

Here's the Week 2 newspaper article...

~Peace~

   Do you know what I find interesting…I think that the four Candles (themes) of Advent can build on each other.  So without further ado, let’s look at how Hope leads to Peace.

   I don’t know if you've ever felt hopeless.  I think people who do tend to react in one of two ways.  They either give up or they fight back.  Some people simply stop trying.  They figure that if there is no hope of a better tomorrow then why try to change/love/grow/create/imagine/strive etc…  On the other side of the spectrum, you have those who fight back.  They push hard against anything and anyone they feel they can beat in order to exert control in some areas of life since they feel lost in others.  For people on both sides of this coin, the fight to simply care enough to try or the fight to maintain a semblance of control can be exhausting.

   But I think that is where we see hope and peace colliding.  For the person who has given up, they now have something to live for; a future that is brighter than today.  For the fighter, they now have a glimpse of something good that isn't dependent upon them winning another fight.  When Jesus came, we were all offered a hope for the future.  A future home in heaven, and a purpose here on earth.  With that hope comes a peace of striving less on our own strength.  With that hope comes a peace of knowing that the future is in hands that are eternal and strong.  There is a peace that can overwhelm our souls when we give ourselves over to the Hope of the World—Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

   That peace can be yours…You can stop attempting to make it on your own.  You can give your helplessness and your fighting over to the one who gives strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.  That is the peace that surpasses all understanding.  That is the peace Jesus Christ brought to the world.

Week 1 of Newspaper Articles

For the month of December, I get the privilege of writing an article each week for our local newspaper. Since I am a bit terrible about getting on the blog here and writing stuff, I thought I might as well share my articles here. Here is what I turned in last week.

-Hope­-

Advent…that time of year where we remember, celebrate, and wait anew for the coming of Christ as a baby in the manger.  If you go to a church like mine, you might light a candle each of the four weeks leading up to Christmas day. These candles represent Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.  Let’s examine that first candle of Advent today shall we?

Hope…that which inspires us to work for a better tomorrow and which encourages us to endure through times of trial. We sing songs that say things like “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”  But do we really put our hope there?  We enter the advent season singing about Jesus, putting up nativities, and even going to church and watching them light that candle that is supposed to represent the hope that Jesus brings in the world.  But, oftentimes we live in ways that seem like our hope is built on other things. 

We work overtime to make extra money to purchase things that we don’t truly need.  If our spouse or child is later getting home than we expected, we begin to worry about what terrible thing might have happened to them.  We fear the unknown and known alike, and do our best to make our lives as safe and simple as possible. 

What about you? Is your hope built upon Jesus?  Do you trust in Him who scripture calls the precious cornerstone?  We are told by Jesus Himself that He is returning one day.  In fact He tells us that not only is He returning, but He is preparing a place for us who have made Him Lord in our lives.  When Jesus came the first time, He brought hope to God’s people.  He desires to bring hope into your life if you will let Him.  As you spend the coming days preparing to celebrate His birth would you take a couple of moments to ask yourself where you place your hope?  If you place your hope in anything other than Jesus, it will eventually let you down.  However, Jesus is eternal; He has offered us a hope that never ends.  Won’t you accept that hope today?

Desert Song and the Election

We sang a new song in church yesterday, and the more I listen to it the more I like it. It's called "Desert Song" and it was released by the Hillsong Music group. The verses of the song speak about our dependence on God in the midst of our circumstances. The first three verses relate to difficult circumstances...times in our lives when we are going through trials, fires, battles etc...Then the chorus simply responds to who God is. It says:

    I will bring praise, I will bring praise
   no weapon formed against me shall remain
   I will rejoice, I will declare
   God is my victory and He is here...

I love this response. As Christians this should be our response to life...no matter what, I will bring praise because I know that my God has already won the victory and seen fit to allow me to be part of that victory. Through Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death on the cross, I have been adopted as a co-heir to eternity! The last verse of the song is a reminder that when life is good and going well, God has blessed us so that we can be a blessing to others. It's a great reminder. Something that we need to be reminded of often.

Why did I mention the election in the title of this post? Simply for this reason...Your candidate might be able to claim the victory tomorrow or they might lose, but the only one who can guarantee your absolute victory is God. If you are in Christ, the victory has been won. By all means go out and vote. Make your voice heard. Represent your King well by voting for men and women who stand for biblical values. But, at the end of the day, if worse comes to worse and you wonder where our country is headed, remember this...God was here before the United States, is here now in the United States, and will be here after the United States are gone (unless Jesus comes back first). Our trust is not in the government ruled by man but in the one who rules the universe. God is my VICTORY and He is here...now go vote tomorrow. 

Shine Your Light on Me

   I listen to allot of music. My job kind-of requires it. Much of the time at work I am listening for music that I think would work within the setting of a congregational worship service. So in my head, music naturally falls into categories...

   I recently heard a song that fell into my I love this and it speaks to my heart, but I don't think it would work in a church setting...category. The song is called "Shine Your Light On Me." It is off of the new Andrew Peterson Album called "Light for the Lost Boy."  The reason I love this song so much, is that it paints an awesome picture of the church. Not a building, but the people. It starts off telling the story of a young man who wanders into a church "nursing a broken heart" and having walked through the woods after his car broke down. As he listens to the people around him and hears "the story" once again the chorus shines out "Shine Your Light On Me." The song goes on to view several snapshots of this mans life when people have shined the light on him. Isn't that what we are called as Christians to be for each other and the world? People who shine the light of God. Sometimes other Christians are the ones who need to feel/see the light of God in their lives. We need to be reminded of who God is and what He has done in our lives because sometimes we simply forget. The world of worries, distractions, work, school, play, kids, spouses, paychecks, and life push the thoughts of God right out of our heads. We need each other to be the light of God in our lives. When I listen to this song it reminds me of times when I've needed people to shine the light on me, and reminds me that I want to shine God's light for others. I'm plugging in the song here for you to enjoy. I hope it speaks to your heart...

P.S. I love the mental picture of calling us "the servants of the secret fire." I want to be a person who burns brightly with a light that is visible to the world around me Christians and non-Christians alike.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

   Are you familiar with the old hymn "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go?" I've heard a few different recordings of it in my life, but I'd never sung it in a congregational setting. Lyrically it is a song that speaks to me. In recognizing God's love that never lets us go, and then responding by giving ourselves back to God, I feel like it is a song of hope that recognizes God's centrality to our hope. I also love the imagery of giving our weak and weary selves to God and allowing Him to make something more. 

   Anyway, I was recently reintroduced to this song through a book I read and I decided that I wanted to sing it for my congregation. For whatever reason, the music in the hymnal wasn't my favorite so I decided to try my hand at re-arranging things a bit. So here for your listening pleasure (or maybe not) is my rendition of "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go". I hope the lyrics touch your heart as they have mine.

Making the World Flat...

I just an article in the most recent issue of Worship Leader Magazine about multicultural worship.  Within the article (written by Vaughn Thompson Jr.) are these words...
"The world is not the same as it was 20 years ago. Cultural lines are becoming blurred and less  definitive as globalization and the booming technology age makes the world smaller and flatter than ever before."
What do you think this means? As we gain more opportunities to interact with more and more people, are we truly connecting more? Or are we simply setting ourselves up for more chances to set sail for new horizons and finding ourselves falling off the edge of the world.  As much as I love the internet and social media, I wonder sometimes if we are losing the art of communication. How much longer will it be before we lose the ability to have compassionate debate and considerate sharing of ideas. Maybe it's not just the internet age that has contributed to this loss, but we seem to be losing ground faster everyday.
What do you think? Is this shrinking of the world leading to more opportunities to learn and share, or more building of walls to fend of the ideas coming at us from all sides.

New Post and New Music

     So...it has been exactly 1 month since I have blogged anything. Summertime has been a crazy hectic time. Great ministry has taken place. Great songs have been sung. Life has flown by while at times I have felt like I was standing still. While I have considered blogging on several occasions, it seems like there is always something to distract me from sitting down long enough to put words to this digital page. So you might be wondering what broke me out of my blogging stupor...it was a new CD.

   I pre-ordered Andrew Peterson's new album "Light for the Lost Boy." I mainly pre-ordered it because I was on his page buying something else and to be honest I tend to enjoy his music. I received my package with the new CD a day earlier than it was supposed to release and opened it excitedly (I mean all you digital only folks couldn't hear it until today.) Upon putting this disc into the player I think i literally stopped everything I was doing for several tracks. I won't go so far as to say that every track is amazing, but some of them simply should not be missed. The opening track "Come Back Soon" speaks poignantly about the longing each of us has in our hearts for Christ's return. The track "Shine Your Light on Me" made me literally catch my breath. These two are the highlights for me, but there isn't a bad track on the CD. And in actuality, there are most awesome songs here. This is musical and lyrical poetry like I've seldom enjoyed. I would encourage everyone who reads this (all 15-20 of you) to go check it out. We serve an awesome God, and Peterson knows how to poetically express many thoughts on about that awesome God. It is honestly a beautiful expression of worship and awe. I hope you enjoy.
   I'll try to get back to being regular with my blog posts now...so hasta la vista.

Book Review of "Spirit Fighter"

   I received a free copy of “Spirit Fighter” by Jerel Law from the booksneeze book reviewer program in exchange for an objective review. I wasn’t sure what to think about this book when I read the description. Anytime someone writes a fictional story based on an obscure and seldom understood passage of scripture, I tend to be skeptical. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this story. Make no mistake…I’m still not sure that I’m ok with basing a story off of a passage of scripture that scholars don’t truly understand themselves. Thus the fact that Jonah and his family have powers because they are descended from fallen angels is a bit far-fetched. That being said, the actual story being told here is very enjoyable.

   Jonah and his sister are thrust into an age old struggle when Jonah begins to exhibit super strength. As his power begins to develop, his parents explain that his mother is a child of an angel and human, meaning she is half angel. This means that Jonah and his siblings are a quarter angel. When Jonah’s mother is kidnapped by a demon, Jonah and his sister are called upon by God to go and rescue her. While it seemed strange to imagine that God would send a couple of angels to your house to tell you about your mother’s kidnapping and to give you a wristwatch from God to direct you to your next coordinates. However if you can suspend your inclination to put the book down just because it seems a bit far-fetched, the story picks up very nicely. The pacing is good, the characters are decently fleshed out and believable, and the action is well-written.

   So, all things considered, this is a pretty good story for kids and young adults. The biggest drawback is that the scriptural references sometimes seem out of place in a fantasy story. 

Book Review Behemoth by Jonathan C. Leight

Behemoth was a very enjoyable book.  As a fan of the Jurassic Park books, I was excited to pick up a book written by a Christian dealing with dinosaurs. While Behemoth was not nearly as action packed as Jurassic Park, the action that is here is fun and believable. The creationist belief system is very strongly represented throughout the book. While I agree with this belief system, it did feel a bit heavy handed at times. Some of the dialogue felt like a creationist vs. evolutionist debate forum more than an actual conversation. There is a lot of dialogue that feels academic as well. I got used to it, and it didn’t bother me nor did it distract from the story greatly. Once I got used to how the dialogue flowed it felt fairly natural.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a rip-roaring adventure story in the vein of Jurassic Park, you might get bored at times. If you are looking for a well told story with a Christian creationist base point, some fun action, and dinosaur adventure, then I would highly recommend this book. I would even buy and read a sequel if one is written.

I was provided a digital copy of the book “Behemoth” by Jonathan C. Leicht by booksneeze.com. In return for the copy, I was asked to provided an honest review of the book.

Easter Part 2

   Last time I posted about a couple of my thoughts when it came to Easter. I had another thought while writing that post that was connected but didn't really fit in with what I had already written. So, here is Easter part 2.
   Have you ever read the book of Leviticus? I am attempting to read through the Bible this year and while I was reading Leviticus, I was amazed at how much the people of Israel had to do in order to make themselves clean and presentable before God. There are rules upon rules upon rules for everything from which type of animal to bring for each different type of sacrifice, to an extensive list of actions that will make you unclean and thus require you to be apart from the rest of the people for a specified amount of time followed by specific actions to purify yourself and thus be allowed back into camp. Then a thought hit me...since the crucifixion, we don't have to do any of that.
   As a matter of fact, since the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross to pay for my sin, my first coming before God to offer my life to Him is as a broken and filthy sinner. No sacrifice was required on my part, because the sacrifice was given by Jesus. As Christians on this side of the crucifixion, we can come before God any time we desire and lift up our praises, concerns, struggles and victories to Him. As I thought about this, a third thought struck me...what do we do with this freedom?
   When we go to church, do we revel in the freedom from the law and freely give ourselves in passionate praise and pursuit of our Lord and Savior? Sometimes... However, we also do a whole lot of thinking about ourselves. We design worship centers with great acoustics and hire worship leaders who will play the style of music we like (complain if they don't). We buy padded chairs to sit in and expect the thermostat to read 73 degrees anytime we are there (if it is too hot or too cold, or if we have to stand too much we complain). We create Sunday School classes that will cater to various age groups and interests so that we can study what we want with people we are comfortable with. We do all this and more in the name of reaching the lost, but then we refuse to invite people to come; and if visitors do come we are often to busy talking to the people we know to notice them much less welcome them.
   I know that this is not true of all Christians all the time, but so often we take our freedom in Christ for granted. Rather than going to church for the purpose of loving and passionately pursuing the God who sent His son to give us freedom, we have made church about us and our desires. May I challenge you with something? This Easter as you go to church to contemplate the crucifixion and celebrate the resurrection, ask God to remind you of Jesus' sacrifice. Then if the pastor preaches 10, 15, or even 30 minutes past noon, thank God for the opportunity to enjoy that padded seat and climate controlled air and focus in on that which was given so that you could enjoy God and look forward to the day when you will join Him in heaven.  We are extremely blessed, we should live like it.

Easter 2012 Part 1

It’s Easter! Well, almost. April 8^th is rapidly approaching. What does Easter mean to you? There are two things that stand out to me when I think about Easter. First, Easter calls us to contemplate the crucifixion. We ought to think about the fact that we no longer have to bring an animal to the priest in the temple and sacrifice it in order to be made right in God’s eyes. We are no longer under the law because Christ has freed us from that bondage. As one old saying goes, “He paid the price I could not pay, to pay a debt He did not owe.” Does this thought affect your day-to-day decision making? Do you live differently because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Easter calls us to contemplate the crucifixion.

Second, Easter calls us to celebrate the resurrection! Our atoning sacrifice, our Lord and Savior is not rotting in a tomb somewhere. He is alive and desires that we have new life. Lives that are noticeably different from our lives before we knew Him. Do you desire to know Christ and the power of His resurrection? Do you live your life in such a way that people can see the change? Easter calls us to celebrate the resurrection! When we allow Christ’s sacrifice for our sins to change the way we live our lives, our lives become lives of worship to our Lord and Savior.

Book Review of Then Sings My Soul Volume 3 by Robert J. Morgan

   Then Sings My Soul Volume 3 is an excellent book! I've got all of Robert Morgan's books in the series. While this book has less of a devotional feel to it, I liked it more than the others. As a music minister I have mainly used his books as background information to share with my congregation about the songs we were singing. I don't see myself using this book in that capacity as much, but the overall read was even more enjoyable for me. The stories in the previous edition are great. However, the entire set-up of this book is even better.

   Morgan starts with a section of the History of Hymnody. Starting in the early church and continuing through to modern times, he highlights the progression of congregational singing as well as the types of songs that were being used. In the middle section (the longest) entitled "Do You Know These Hymns," He highlights lesser known works and or authors of hymns. I found many of these hymns to be excellent and plan to incorporate them into our local services. The final major section of the book is devoted to telling the story of 6 different hymn writers in a much longer form than normal. Normally he has a hymn on one page, and the story on the opposite page. For these final six stories he takes several pages and includes multiple hymns from those authors to tell a more complete story of those authors lives. He ends the book with some personal thoughts on worship and "worship wars" that many churches go through over style and preference. While obviously a lover of hymns, Morgan encourages churches to continually be searching for new songs to sing as well as continuing to use those songs from our past.

   All in all, I gained a greater appreciation for hymns than I already had, discovered several new hymns that I plan to use, and I look forward to passing hymns as well as more modern songs of God on to my children. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

   I received a copy of the book from the booksneeze program for free in return for an honest review. I was not required to give a good review, but in this case it is a pleasure to do so.

Wonder as We Wander

Do you feel wonder at anything in life? A child’s voice, a song, a story, God’s gift of breathe and life…? Do you revel in God’s love as revealed through nature? Do you ever take time to simply dream, imagine, and create? When is the last time you pulled over to appreciate a sunrise/sunset? Can you remember the last time you colored a picture simply to enjoy creating something? Do you ever feel the desire to run through a field, climb a tree, or splash in a puddle? Do you allow yourself to sing out loud, even in the privacy of your shower?

Our God is a God of creation. He has gifted us with a world that literally shouts His name if we take time to hear it. He has gifted us with the ability to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch His gifts. He has given us the ability to dream and create with our own hands.

I know that many of you are already thinking things like…”I don’t have the skills needed to create.” “I don’t have time to waste.” “I’m too old to act ‘foolish.’ What if someone sees me?” To these excuses, I would urge you to make time, forget your age, and create without worrying whether your creation is perfect. Slow down, relax, play, and create. I think you will experience God when you do.

The Message of the Song Service

   I was wondering aloud Sunday with a friend about whether people in the congregation saw the progression that I saw when I put songs in a certain order. There's nothing super spiritual here and it might not even be interesting to anyone but myself, but one of the things I try to do every week is try to make sure that the songs fit the message and each other. I also try to put them in an order that progresses both musically and lyrically. For instance, this past Sunday we had a guest speaker so I wasn't able to plan the music service to compliment the message like I would on a normal week. So I spent time trying to put music together that would work well together and have a message together.
   We used the following songs, Come Thou Fount Come Thou King, Forever Reign, Crown Him with Many Crowns, and Jesus Draw Me Close. I pictured the progression like this...With the first song, we prayerfully admit our own tendency to wander and our utter need for God. Within the first song we ask for God to be present with us in this place. Then we move to the second song which recognizes God as the one who is all that we cannot be with Him. We claim the right to run into His arms as His children and we promise to seek Him and Him alone. Crown Him with Many recognizes the greatness and worthiness of our heavenly Father. We see Him as the Lord of all we see and even that which we don't see. Finally, in spite of the great awesomeness of the Lord, we ask Jesus to draw us close to Himself so that the world around us would fade away.
   I often see an arc in the music I choose. Sometimes it is not as strong. Sometimes I find mini arcs between 2 or 3 songs rather than every song for a service. Hopefully you found this look into a music guys head interesting. If not sorry...maybe next time. God Bless

Invasion by Jon Lewis. Review for Booksneeze

   Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. The story of a young man who's world is turned upside down after his parents are killed in a car accident. He learns of the existence of aliens and that they live among us. As he learns more and more, he is thrust into the middle of an invasion that has been brewing for many years, and learns that he might be the key to stopping said invasion.

   The plot for this book was well developed and I enjoyed the concept a lot. I think pre-teen and young adult readers would enjoy this book. For those who enjoy the sci-fi/fantasy genre, this was a solid effort for a Christian publishing house. While there are some good discussion topics in the book (loss of a parent, crushes on girls, etc...) they are not always handled with much thought. Pretty average sentiments expressed without allowing for the characters to grow through the situations. My biggest complaint about the book (and the reason for giving it 4 rather than 5 stars) is that the Christian influence is almost non-existent in this book. Outside of saying that some characters go to church and believe in God, faith in God plays very little into the story. For a book published by Thomas Nelson, I would expect Christianity to play a more prominent role.

   I look forward to the next book in the series, and I hope that Christianity will play a bigger role in the characters lives as they continue to unravel the mysteries that face them.

I received a free e-copy of this book for the purpose of review from Thomas Nelsons book review club booksneeze.com.

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