The more I live, and the more chances I am given to get this wrong in every conceivable way, the more I have come to realize that the heart of the Christian life is a jaw-dropping awe for the love of Jesus.
The difficulty in talking about this love is that it can hardly be explained with our words, especially those written and necessarily devoid of emotion and inflection as these are. But even just saying that doesn't quite convey what I mean... I shall dive in regardless!
The Lord works in mysterious ways, and most recently he decided to speak to me through a movie. The film in question was "Ragamuffin," a film about the life of Rich Mullins. I highly recommend this movie for many reasons, including it's relevance to the use of music as a tool for ministry, the ideas that will be discussed in this post, the fact that not knowing about Rich Mullins' life is a shame, and more.
I had God speak very palpably to me for the first time so clearly in quite a while during and after this movie. When I thought on the things I'm writing here, I was kept awake by a joy-breeding desire to worship, to sing and write music and write this post and just enjoy the truth of it all. I pray that, through this admittedly poor yet far-reaching medium, God will share it with you as well.
I'll begin this post with a long quote from Brennan Manning that is featured in the movie (in fact, it may not really be a quote, perhaps more of a paraphrase or compilation. Strictly speaking, I'm quoting the movie) because I'm not to do much justice without it:
"In the 33 years since I was first ambushed by Jesus in a small chapel in western Pennsylvania, and the literally thousands of hours of prayer and meditation, silence and solitude in those years, I am now utterly convinced that on Judgment Day the Lord Jesus will ask one question and only one question:
'Did you believe that I loved you? That I desired you? That I waited for you day after day? That I longed to hear the sound of your voice?'
The real believers will respond and say, 'I believed in your love, and I tried to shape my life as a response to it.'
But many of us who are so faithful in our ministry, our practice, church going, are going to answer, 'Well, frankly, no sir. I never really believed it.'
And there's the difference between the real believers and the nominal Christians that abound in our churches across the land. No one can measure like a believer the depth and intensity of God's love. But then again, no one can measure like a believer the effectiveness of our gloom, our pessimism, our low self-esteem, our self-hatred and despair that block God's way to us.
Do you see now why it's so important to take hold of this basic truth of our faith? Because you're only going to be as big as your own concept of God. We make God in our own image and he winds up being as fussy and rude and narrow-minded and judgmental and legalistic and unloving and unforgiving as we are.
I've been in churches in Bangor, Maine, Miami, Seattle, San Diego, and Saint Louis, and honestly the God of so many Christians I meet is too small for me. Because he is not the God of the Word. He is not the God who is revealed in and by Jesus Christ, who at this moment comes to your seat and says,
'I have a word for you.
I know your whole life story. I know every skeleton in your closet. I know every moment of sin and shame and dishonesty and degraded love that's darkened your past.
Right now, I know your shallow faith, your feeble prayer life, your inconsistent discipleship, and my word to you is this:
I dare you to trust that I love you. Just as you are, not as you should be.'
Because none of us are as we should be."
-Brennan Manning
This quote stuck out to me incredibly, and I feel like it will be sticking with me for my entire life. I wrote it in various places, posted pieces on the farthest-reaching social media platforms I had, and memorized it almost instantly (isn't it funny how that happens sometimes?).
I don't think there's a person alive who doesn't need this spoken into their life; I sure did, as did Rich Mullins. What Manning says here is profoundly true. It is so easy to lose sight of how much God loves us. I have spent more of my life in such a state than I have spent really seeing God's love for what it is.
But taking a step back, to not be constantly awestruck by the fact that God loves me is just ridiculous! I have done absolutely nothing to deserve His favor, in fact nearly everything I have ever done has involved throwing his mercy back into His face. Even what I do in the name of righteousness is more often motivated by misguided piety or disguised pride than by true love.
The heart of the Christian gospel is the fact that we don't have to change to come to God. God came to us, in all of our garbage, and is willing to bear with us through all of it. This is amazing. It's much easier to type or read than it is to really believe. Seriously, how often have you said "Jesus loves me" and REALLY meant it? Recently, I've been able to mean it more and more.
Grasping (or beginning to grasp, as its full magnitude is unfathomable) the the reality of Jesus' love for me, even as watching a movie, filled me with the sort of joy that only such a reality. The sort of joy that we as humans were created to run on, that which flows from God's very presence, that which we will experience forever in eternity, and that which we are unbelievably blessed to experienced as sweet tastes of Heaven here on earth.
This sort of joy is what worship, in its natural state, flows from. Worship is a response. We must not get to thinking that worshiping God is what we do first, before we talk about God's love for us. Or something that somehow impresses Him and elicits such love. No! When the reality of Jesus' love is seen clearly, joyful exultation in worship is the only possible response!
There's probably much more I could say here, but I am going to stop because I believe I have said what, hopefully, some or all of you will be blessed by hearing.
Dare to believe that He loves you. Right now. With all of your skeletons, all your doubts, insecurities, cynicism, past, present, and future. His love is reckless, relentless, and downright stupid crazy.
Know that when you sing this song, you sing the most theologically profound statement you will ever hear:
Jesus loves me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Monday, November 10, 2014
It's All About You, Jesus
I have a new favorite worship song. You know it; it's called "The Heart of Worship" by Matt Redman. I'm going to tell you about my experience with this song thus far and why I have rather suddenly decided that it is basically pure gold.
This song is nearly as old as I am, and I can remember singing it growing up in church for as long as I can remember. So, naturally, for very much of my life it has been a song that I've known very well, yet I never pay any attention to the words. This trend is tragic, but it happens all the time, even to people like me who really play a ton of worship music. Something psychologically within us allows us to sing songs without listening to the words. I often say that I hope one symptom of my worship ministry will be to encourage people to really listen and really sing the words. Unfortunately this is a rather difficult task, one that there's no clear-cut way of achieving. One possibility, I hope, is to write a blog post on the subject.
It was just tonight that the song took on new life for me. As I was singing whatever songs came to me, this one came to my mind. I realized, after singing the chorus once or twice, that I had actually misunderstood what exactly the chorus was saying the whole time. I'll briefly talk about that here: basically, the "it" in "it's all about You" does not refer to the "heart" of worship, but "worship." So, despite its place of honor in the title of the song, the song isn't so much about this ethereal "heart" of worship as it is about worship itself.
I guess I had always been annoyed by that first phrase, I'm coming back to the heart of worship. It sounds like Christian-ese with little actual meaning. And that would be the case, except that (given the distinction I made above) the next line defines this odd term: It's all about You all about You Jesus. What is coming back to the heart of worship? Coming back to having worship be all about Jesus. Tragically, this is not always the case. It may not even be the case a majority of the time. I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it is something I have confessed to God on many occasions. Turning "worship" into a performance or popularity grab is so easy and so common. This pitfall is difficult to avoid, but I'll suggest one solution: sing this song and mean it! I found myself this evening unable to stop confessing and realigning, getting more and more excited I get to say that It's all about You all about You Jesus.
Of courses, the verses and prechorus to the song are great too, but I'm not going to go through them line by line. To reexamine the song cuts deep as I realize how often I've only brought "a song in itself," and not myself in worship.
I would love to urge you, in any way I can, to develop a practice of really listening to the songs you sing in worship. It is so easy to just sing words! I do it all the time, I'm trying to develop this discipline right along with you. I want every word I sing in worship songs to be something I am actually personally praying and meaning. I have no problem confessing that this is not the case at all times, but I foresee a future where it happens more frequently.
I don't see it or act like it all the time, but it's all about Jesus.
This song is nearly as old as I am, and I can remember singing it growing up in church for as long as I can remember. So, naturally, for very much of my life it has been a song that I've known very well, yet I never pay any attention to the words. This trend is tragic, but it happens all the time, even to people like me who really play a ton of worship music. Something psychologically within us allows us to sing songs without listening to the words. I often say that I hope one symptom of my worship ministry will be to encourage people to really listen and really sing the words. Unfortunately this is a rather difficult task, one that there's no clear-cut way of achieving. One possibility, I hope, is to write a blog post on the subject.
It was just tonight that the song took on new life for me. As I was singing whatever songs came to me, this one came to my mind. I realized, after singing the chorus once or twice, that I had actually misunderstood what exactly the chorus was saying the whole time. I'll briefly talk about that here: basically, the "it" in "it's all about You" does not refer to the "heart" of worship, but "worship." So, despite its place of honor in the title of the song, the song isn't so much about this ethereal "heart" of worship as it is about worship itself.
I guess I had always been annoyed by that first phrase, I'm coming back to the heart of worship. It sounds like Christian-ese with little actual meaning. And that would be the case, except that (given the distinction I made above) the next line defines this odd term: It's all about You all about You Jesus. What is coming back to the heart of worship? Coming back to having worship be all about Jesus. Tragically, this is not always the case. It may not even be the case a majority of the time. I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it is something I have confessed to God on many occasions. Turning "worship" into a performance or popularity grab is so easy and so common. This pitfall is difficult to avoid, but I'll suggest one solution: sing this song and mean it! I found myself this evening unable to stop confessing and realigning, getting more and more excited I get to say that It's all about You all about You Jesus.
Of courses, the verses and prechorus to the song are great too, but I'm not going to go through them line by line. To reexamine the song cuts deep as I realize how often I've only brought "a song in itself," and not myself in worship.
I would love to urge you, in any way I can, to develop a practice of really listening to the songs you sing in worship. It is so easy to just sing words! I do it all the time, I'm trying to develop this discipline right along with you. I want every word I sing in worship songs to be something I am actually personally praying and meaning. I have no problem confessing that this is not the case at all times, but I foresee a future where it happens more frequently.
I don't see it or act like it all the time, but it's all about Jesus.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
The Armor of God (God's Armor)
The following are the most interesting nuggets of information I gleaned from an inductive study of Ephesians 6:10-18. Getting into the meaning of many of the Greek words (via bible dictionaries and Logos software) really illuminates a lot of the meaning of the passage, much of which may have been lost or muddied in translation. Enjoy! I think there's some pretty great stuff here. I suggest reading the passage in question at least once before continuing.
Verse 10, "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power," serves as a heading under which the rest of the passage falls. The verses that follow are an explanation, more specifically, of how believers are to fulfill this exhortation.
The phrase "full armor" is the technical term (panoplia) for the complete armor set of a heavily armed infantryman. Paul (the author here), through his frequent imprisonment, had frequent run-ins with Roman soldiers. Some scholars suggest that he was chained to one or otherwise in rather close quarters while writing this passage (I don't think this is the case, but my faith would not be in shambles if it is). This means he is not necessarily referring to an ambiguous set of objects, but a specific set of things that his audience would have been familiar with.
The difference of a seemingly unimportant connective really illuminates the purpose of the armor. The phrase translated "stand against the devil's schemes" is most literally translated "stand toward the devil's schemes." This word is the same one used in 4:12, "equip... for works of service." This phrase does not denote a passive defense to the devil's schemes, but willful and overt opposition.
"Day of evil" does not refer the end times, any specific act of the devil's, or even any specific event at all. Notice in 5:16 that Paul says all "the days are evil;" the same word for "evil" is used in both cases. It more specifically has to do with work or toil, as the sort of "evil that causes toil." Paul is not talking about preparation for a future event but action to be taken right now in the evil days that the world has continually experienced since the first evil day, when man fell away from Him.
My previous understanding of "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" was, I confess, incorrect. "Spirit" here does definitely refer to the Holy Spirit, the Person, and the connective "of" denotes origin; so we are not talking about just any spiritual sword here, but a specific sword that has come from the Holy Spirit Himself. The second half of the phrase makes it clear what exactly the sword is- "word of God" here refers to that which God has literally spoken. It is, importantly, not the same word used in John 1 to refer to Jesus. Paul names the sword "the word of God," referring to the Scriptures, which were God-Breathed, indeed given to us by the Spirit Himself.
What follows is the most interesting thing that I personally learned. Paul didn't even make up the armor of God! He took them from Isaiah (11:5, 52:7, 59:17), which he would have known very thoroughly. In Isaiah, it is God Himself who is wearing this armor, which illuminates the phrase that titles this blog post. "The armor of God" refers to the armor that god wears, "God's armor." This makes more sense when you consider that many of the pieces of armor, like truth and righteousness, are God's attributes, with which he is eternally clothed. It seems that the whole armor passage is an extension of Paul's call in 5:1 to "follow God's example." When we "put on" the qualities and attributes of God that He has revealed, we become truly strong.
As I mentioned in my previous post, this study has as its ultimate aim an application to be applied to daily life. This is a very specific action to be taken by the perpetrator of the study- I suppose what I should be doing is using "big ideas" and "pedagogical ideas" to "teach" this passage to you, but I haven't gotten that far in the class :). Therefore, I'll just share what I got out of it for myself. Perhaps in your own study the Spirit will illuminate something that you can do in your own life in response to what He has taught you with this passage.
What stuck out to me was the passage's clear focus upon preparation, and prayer's essential role in such preparation. Even "putting on" any given piece of armor is not automatic, but something that happens only through prayer. This passage has illuminated the fact that I am often unprepared for the constant assaults of the devil and his forces as I live my earthly life. More specifically, I do not pray regularly, and when I do, I don't often pray for the kind of preparation this passage discusses as so essential.
If I were to live out the preparedness through prayer that Paul is urging upon the Ephesians, I would daily seek strength from the Lord to resist lethargy, temptation, and any other "flaming arrows." Over this month, I will pray every day, setting aside a specific time to do so. Each time I pray, I will read this passage and be sure to pray in the manner Paul urges. After each time I will write a small (one sentence) journal entry signifying that I have done so, providing a way to keep a record of preparedness.
Like I said above, this is specific to me. Perhaps you don't even need this, and you walk in prayer and preparation. If you are like me and want to choose to have the same response to the passage, tell me if you want to be kept additionally accountable. Consider making the decision I discussed in my previous post to actually, tangibly respond.
In any case, thank you very much for reading, and I pray the Spirit will use the word of God to bless you.
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this n mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.
Ephesians 6:18
Verse 10, "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power," serves as a heading under which the rest of the passage falls. The verses that follow are an explanation, more specifically, of how believers are to fulfill this exhortation.
The phrase "full armor" is the technical term (panoplia) for the complete armor set of a heavily armed infantryman. Paul (the author here), through his frequent imprisonment, had frequent run-ins with Roman soldiers. Some scholars suggest that he was chained to one or otherwise in rather close quarters while writing this passage (I don't think this is the case, but my faith would not be in shambles if it is). This means he is not necessarily referring to an ambiguous set of objects, but a specific set of things that his audience would have been familiar with.
The difference of a seemingly unimportant connective really illuminates the purpose of the armor. The phrase translated "stand against the devil's schemes" is most literally translated "stand toward the devil's schemes." This word is the same one used in 4:12, "equip... for works of service." This phrase does not denote a passive defense to the devil's schemes, but willful and overt opposition.
"Day of evil" does not refer the end times, any specific act of the devil's, or even any specific event at all. Notice in 5:16 that Paul says all "the days are evil;" the same word for "evil" is used in both cases. It more specifically has to do with work or toil, as the sort of "evil that causes toil." Paul is not talking about preparation for a future event but action to be taken right now in the evil days that the world has continually experienced since the first evil day, when man fell away from Him.
My previous understanding of "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" was, I confess, incorrect. "Spirit" here does definitely refer to the Holy Spirit, the Person, and the connective "of" denotes origin; so we are not talking about just any spiritual sword here, but a specific sword that has come from the Holy Spirit Himself. The second half of the phrase makes it clear what exactly the sword is- "word of God" here refers to that which God has literally spoken. It is, importantly, not the same word used in John 1 to refer to Jesus. Paul names the sword "the word of God," referring to the Scriptures, which were God-Breathed, indeed given to us by the Spirit Himself.
What follows is the most interesting thing that I personally learned. Paul didn't even make up the armor of God! He took them from Isaiah (11:5, 52:7, 59:17), which he would have known very thoroughly. In Isaiah, it is God Himself who is wearing this armor, which illuminates the phrase that titles this blog post. "The armor of God" refers to the armor that god wears, "God's armor." This makes more sense when you consider that many of the pieces of armor, like truth and righteousness, are God's attributes, with which he is eternally clothed. It seems that the whole armor passage is an extension of Paul's call in 5:1 to "follow God's example." When we "put on" the qualities and attributes of God that He has revealed, we become truly strong.
As I mentioned in my previous post, this study has as its ultimate aim an application to be applied to daily life. This is a very specific action to be taken by the perpetrator of the study- I suppose what I should be doing is using "big ideas" and "pedagogical ideas" to "teach" this passage to you, but I haven't gotten that far in the class :). Therefore, I'll just share what I got out of it for myself. Perhaps in your own study the Spirit will illuminate something that you can do in your own life in response to what He has taught you with this passage.
What stuck out to me was the passage's clear focus upon preparation, and prayer's essential role in such preparation. Even "putting on" any given piece of armor is not automatic, but something that happens only through prayer. This passage has illuminated the fact that I am often unprepared for the constant assaults of the devil and his forces as I live my earthly life. More specifically, I do not pray regularly, and when I do, I don't often pray for the kind of preparation this passage discusses as so essential.
If I were to live out the preparedness through prayer that Paul is urging upon the Ephesians, I would daily seek strength from the Lord to resist lethargy, temptation, and any other "flaming arrows." Over this month, I will pray every day, setting aside a specific time to do so. Each time I pray, I will read this passage and be sure to pray in the manner Paul urges. After each time I will write a small (one sentence) journal entry signifying that I have done so, providing a way to keep a record of preparedness.
Like I said above, this is specific to me. Perhaps you don't even need this, and you walk in prayer and preparation. If you are like me and want to choose to have the same response to the passage, tell me if you want to be kept additionally accountable. Consider making the decision I discussed in my previous post to actually, tangibly respond.
In any case, thank you very much for reading, and I pray the Spirit will use the word of God to bless you.
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this n mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.
Ephesians 6:18
The Blog Returns!
So, I have material for another blog post. I may have material for some more after that. Before jumping right into it, I thought I'd post about the fact that I'm beginning to post again.
It is amusingly ironic that this blog, created originally to chronicle my college experience, basically disappeared as soon as I actually experienced college. There's a lot to say about college; it's incredibly fun, and incredibly busy. Perhaps my experience will be further explored in further posts. The reasons for its disappearance are many and are rather subtle; in the end it just became something that wasn't very important to me.
God has really been speaking to me recently, over the past two days specifically, and it's because of this that I'm posting again. I had spent a long time without reading the bible or praying very regularly, with a definite feeling of something lost but not quite enough motivation to seek that lost closeness. This began changing because of numerous small motions on the part of God, but it most specifically began yesterday in Zondervan Library.
As I was in the midst of an inductive study on Ephesians 6:10-18 (for Intro to Christian Educational Ministries class), it became clear to me that I had uncovered enough interesting information to form a blog post. That was the beginning of the train of thought that will culminate with my next blog post. The ultimate goal of these inductive studies is an Application to be directly applied to our own life, and (in theory) actually carried out. I am no foreigner to the idea of such applications, having heard a plethora of lessons and sermons that ended with one or more such things. My pattern in the past has been, usually, thinking about it, maybe even doing it a little bit, but not really implementing these sorts of things. As I wrote my application for this passage, I resolved to be sure that that would not be the case.
Part of my application involved praying every day, at specific times. As I finished writing the application at 8:45, I wrote "the weekly time for Saturdays would be 9," printed my assignment, and headed to the prayer chapel to practice what I preached. Once there I prayed, out loud, for the first time I had with such sincerity in a long while. I prayed through the passage I had studied and then began laying before the Lord all the thoughts and insecurities and hopes I had kept subconscious previously.
It is hard to describe that experience, or describe the change in general attitude that followed. I re-found the closeness with God that had only ever been one intentional step away. I resolved to, yes, actually pray through this passage every day. It has become clear to me that, as long as I approach life in this recently re-found fullness, I will indeed have experiences to blog about. So here we are.
Church today was fantastic, as the presence of God was experienced and a lot of relevant truth was spoken into my life. I have resolved to live with a different response to these sort of experiences, to actually live differently because of them. This blog is a way of chronicling those efforts. I think I'm back to posting about what this blog was originally about, finding how to worship everywhere and in every way. My experience worshiping through study and prayer has lead me to worship by, well, blogging.
Thank you for reading this, I hope the relating of my experiences will inform you regarding the posts to follow and, hopefully, be used by the Spirit to bless you in some way beyond that.
It is amusingly ironic that this blog, created originally to chronicle my college experience, basically disappeared as soon as I actually experienced college. There's a lot to say about college; it's incredibly fun, and incredibly busy. Perhaps my experience will be further explored in further posts. The reasons for its disappearance are many and are rather subtle; in the end it just became something that wasn't very important to me.
God has really been speaking to me recently, over the past two days specifically, and it's because of this that I'm posting again. I had spent a long time without reading the bible or praying very regularly, with a definite feeling of something lost but not quite enough motivation to seek that lost closeness. This began changing because of numerous small motions on the part of God, but it most specifically began yesterday in Zondervan Library.
As I was in the midst of an inductive study on Ephesians 6:10-18 (for Intro to Christian Educational Ministries class), it became clear to me that I had uncovered enough interesting information to form a blog post. That was the beginning of the train of thought that will culminate with my next blog post. The ultimate goal of these inductive studies is an Application to be directly applied to our own life, and (in theory) actually carried out. I am no foreigner to the idea of such applications, having heard a plethora of lessons and sermons that ended with one or more such things. My pattern in the past has been, usually, thinking about it, maybe even doing it a little bit, but not really implementing these sorts of things. As I wrote my application for this passage, I resolved to be sure that that would not be the case.
Part of my application involved praying every day, at specific times. As I finished writing the application at 8:45, I wrote "the weekly time for Saturdays would be 9," printed my assignment, and headed to the prayer chapel to practice what I preached. Once there I prayed, out loud, for the first time I had with such sincerity in a long while. I prayed through the passage I had studied and then began laying before the Lord all the thoughts and insecurities and hopes I had kept subconscious previously.
It is hard to describe that experience, or describe the change in general attitude that followed. I re-found the closeness with God that had only ever been one intentional step away. I resolved to, yes, actually pray through this passage every day. It has become clear to me that, as long as I approach life in this recently re-found fullness, I will indeed have experiences to blog about. So here we are.
Church today was fantastic, as the presence of God was experienced and a lot of relevant truth was spoken into my life. I have resolved to live with a different response to these sort of experiences, to actually live differently because of them. This blog is a way of chronicling those efforts. I think I'm back to posting about what this blog was originally about, finding how to worship everywhere and in every way. My experience worshiping through study and prayer has lead me to worship by, well, blogging.
Thank you for reading this, I hope the relating of my experiences will inform you regarding the posts to follow and, hopefully, be used by the Spirit to bless you in some way beyond that.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
It's Raining (Right Now)
After completing my grueling 2-class first day of college, I'm taking advantage of the fact that I'm stranded in the Student Union by tons of rain to blog a bit.
Welcome Weekend here finally ended with classes beginning last night. I'm sure all of my fellow freshmen also enjoyed the seminars, schedules, and sweat. (I've sweated a LOT these past few days. It's been hot. Hopefully this rain will be cooling us all down.)
In between fun with O Groups and various other officially scheduled Welcome events, I've been spending a lot of time having fun with my floor, 2nd Berg (aka "Sigma Beta"). We've chilled in the DC, played large amounts of games, gone out for Thai, and generally enjoyed each other's company quite a bit. This is a pretty great floor to live on.
In between fun with O Groups and various other schedule Welcome events, and in between spending a lot of time having fun with my floor, I have already been able to get quite a few jam sessions in (as of now... 4). A student body including a lot of musicians who were as big a fan of worship music and I am is one of the huge benefits of going to Taylor. I've made fast friends with many, and there are still plenty of guys and gals I have yet to jam with.
Over the past few weeks/months, I hope to continue having as many jam sessions as possible and hopefully get one or two band lineups actually solidified to start actually practicing and performing music. We'll see how the plan goes, for now it's going great.
If you're at Taylor and you want to jam- make sure you let me know. I believe my e-mail is somewhere on this blog, but it's probably best to find me with a FB message. See you soon!
Peace.
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a LOUD noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Psalm 98:4 (KJV)
Welcome Weekend here finally ended with classes beginning last night. I'm sure all of my fellow freshmen also enjoyed the seminars, schedules, and sweat. (I've sweated a LOT these past few days. It's been hot. Hopefully this rain will be cooling us all down.)
In between fun with O Groups and various other officially scheduled Welcome events, I've been spending a lot of time having fun with my floor, 2nd Berg (aka "Sigma Beta"). We've chilled in the DC, played large amounts of games, gone out for Thai, and generally enjoyed each other's company quite a bit. This is a pretty great floor to live on.
In between fun with O Groups and various other schedule Welcome events, and in between spending a lot of time having fun with my floor, I have already been able to get quite a few jam sessions in (as of now... 4). A student body including a lot of musicians who were as big a fan of worship music and I am is one of the huge benefits of going to Taylor. I've made fast friends with many, and there are still plenty of guys and gals I have yet to jam with.
Over the past few weeks/months, I hope to continue having as many jam sessions as possible and hopefully get one or two band lineups actually solidified to start actually practicing and performing music. We'll see how the plan goes, for now it's going great.
If you're at Taylor and you want to jam- make sure you let me know. I believe my e-mail is somewhere on this blog, but it's probably best to find me with a FB message. See you soon!
Peace.
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a LOUD noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Psalm 98:4 (KJV)
Friday, August 22, 2014
Arrival at My New Home
As I have mentioned on numerous previous occasions, I originally had the idea of creating a blog in order to journal my college experience. I created quite early. Now, I am glad to announce, the time is here! I arrived on campus here at Taylor University today, and this is what I did.
The first order of business was carrying all my stuff, in large and heavy bags, up a flight of stairs to my room. This was accomplished with ample help from my father. After unpacking a little bit and "Facetiming" my mom, dad headed back home and I was on my own.
I didn't have anything going on till dinner at 5 Indiana time, so I set about setting up my dorm room. I have a really fantastic setup (TU peeps: come say hi!). My room is very large and there are only 2 people in it (my dorm, Bergwall, usually has 3), so all in all it is quite spacious. I have plenty of space in which to store/display my various instruments, currently including 2 guitars (Thor and Little Thor, christened by my dad), a banjo, a "Jingling Johnny" (see previous blog posts), and a harmonica.
I am currently sitting and typing at my desk, situated strategically at an outlet so I can dial in all sorts of gadgets into my surge protector. Add sheets to the bed, dry-erase calendar to the wall, and clothes to the closet, and my room is pretty much set.
Anyway, around 5 P.M. I headed down to dinner with my roommate Jacob Bernard and his parents for dinner, where we were joined by our floor PAs (Personel Assistants) and our floor DA (Discipleship Assistant). From there, we wandered around our floor a little bit, I whipped out some card tricks, and Jacob, myself, and my boy Trayvon headed to our "Dedication Service" at 7.
I am going to continue in my general trend of shooting very straight here and say that this Service was boooring. It was rather exciting to be gathering as a body and committing to the Life Together Covenant, but after the 6th or 7th person detailing how excited yet frightened I was supposed to be, I was ready to check out.
Eventually all the freshman from my dorm gathered and met our Hall Director, later splitting off by floors and meeting with our PAs/RAs. Then we waited in the Berg lobby, making friends and generally socializing, waiting for the members of our sister floor to swing by in order to participate in an activity that was, at that time, a secret.
This secret event was the "Awk Walk." You probably have a good idea of how this went down. Each guy had to walk beside a randomly selected girl, occasionally switching partners, being given odd walking instructions, or discussing prompted questions. It was all very good fun (really).
After the Awk Walk we headed back to Berg, watched a little Top Gear, and here I am blogging before I go to bed. Looking forward for many great days to come!
Cheers!
The first order of business was carrying all my stuff, in large and heavy bags, up a flight of stairs to my room. This was accomplished with ample help from my father. After unpacking a little bit and "Facetiming" my mom, dad headed back home and I was on my own.
I didn't have anything going on till dinner at 5 Indiana time, so I set about setting up my dorm room. I have a really fantastic setup (TU peeps: come say hi!). My room is very large and there are only 2 people in it (my dorm, Bergwall, usually has 3), so all in all it is quite spacious. I have plenty of space in which to store/display my various instruments, currently including 2 guitars (Thor and Little Thor, christened by my dad), a banjo, a "Jingling Johnny" (see previous blog posts), and a harmonica.
I am currently sitting and typing at my desk, situated strategically at an outlet so I can dial in all sorts of gadgets into my surge protector. Add sheets to the bed, dry-erase calendar to the wall, and clothes to the closet, and my room is pretty much set.
Anyway, around 5 P.M. I headed down to dinner with my roommate Jacob Bernard and his parents for dinner, where we were joined by our floor PAs (Personel Assistants) and our floor DA (Discipleship Assistant). From there, we wandered around our floor a little bit, I whipped out some card tricks, and Jacob, myself, and my boy Trayvon headed to our "Dedication Service" at 7.
I am going to continue in my general trend of shooting very straight here and say that this Service was boooring. It was rather exciting to be gathering as a body and committing to the Life Together Covenant, but after the 6th or 7th person detailing how excited yet frightened I was supposed to be, I was ready to check out.
Eventually all the freshman from my dorm gathered and met our Hall Director, later splitting off by floors and meeting with our PAs/RAs. Then we waited in the Berg lobby, making friends and generally socializing, waiting for the members of our sister floor to swing by in order to participate in an activity that was, at that time, a secret.
This secret event was the "Awk Walk." You probably have a good idea of how this went down. Each guy had to walk beside a randomly selected girl, occasionally switching partners, being given odd walking instructions, or discussing prompted questions. It was all very good fun (really).
After the Awk Walk we headed back to Berg, watched a little Top Gear, and here I am blogging before I go to bed. Looking forward for many great days to come!
Cheers!
Friday, August 15, 2014
"How He Loves"
"How He Loves" is a very well-known and well-loved worship song, and has been particularly meaningful to me recently. Unfortunately, not too many people know about the circumstances surrounding this song's creation, and I think the story adds significant depth to the song. Here it is!
First off, you should know that it was written by John Mark McMillan, NOT the David Crowder*Band. A woefully low number of worship music listeners are aware of this, as the song was made popular with the circulation of DC*B's cover. In fact, to this day I have never heard any of John Mark McMillan's recorded versions on the radio. (BTW, I have many problems with the radio, and discrepancies like this are only one of them. My general dislike for the radio will serve as the subject matter for at least one, probably many, future post(s).)
So, John Mark McMillan wrote this song shortly after one of his best friends died in a car crash. He was frustrated and angry, and in his words "needed to have a conversation with God." As he tried to process his agony through music he created this beautiful celebration of God's love that we sing in churches across the nation today.
There's actually a third verse to the song that is far too personal for any worship leader or cover band to sing. On the first recording of the song (I think the only one in which he includes the third verse), McMillan actually breaks down and cries. I'm sure he could have recorded it once without crying, releasing it this way was definitely a conscious choice, don't lose sight of that. Regardless, my favorite line from this verse says "people try to tell me You're cruel // But if Stephen could sing he'd say it's not true." I think you'll agree that such sentiment is quite powerful, especially coming after such tragedy.
Lines like "all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory" and "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way that He loves us" certainly take on more meaning with context. Moreso, the entire great song with its great poetry saying "God loves us so so so soooo much," having been written on the worst day of his life, showcases a very pervasive and inspiring faith. Resilient joy that endures despite negative circumstances, as John Piper said in his last sermon from his pulpit, is THE thing the world needs from the church.
The song would be awesome and worth singing if it was written and sung from a mountaintop. Unfortunately, the fact is that many people who walk into worship are not going through a mountain, but rather a valley. These are truly beautiful lyrics to sing in such times, celebrating a love that is at once beautiful and unfathomable.
The act of looking beyond tragedy and seeing God's steadfast love through it all that this song represents has always been powerful to me, and now with a recent loss of my own to keep in mind, it has become that much more personal and poignant.
Anyway, it's a great song. Here's a link to the original recording I referenced above. Give it a listen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0luHiWwi08
We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
-"How He Loves" by John Mark McMillan
First off, you should know that it was written by John Mark McMillan, NOT the David Crowder*Band. A woefully low number of worship music listeners are aware of this, as the song was made popular with the circulation of DC*B's cover. In fact, to this day I have never heard any of John Mark McMillan's recorded versions on the radio. (BTW, I have many problems with the radio, and discrepancies like this are only one of them. My general dislike for the radio will serve as the subject matter for at least one, probably many, future post(s).)
So, John Mark McMillan wrote this song shortly after one of his best friends died in a car crash. He was frustrated and angry, and in his words "needed to have a conversation with God." As he tried to process his agony through music he created this beautiful celebration of God's love that we sing in churches across the nation today.
There's actually a third verse to the song that is far too personal for any worship leader or cover band to sing. On the first recording of the song (I think the only one in which he includes the third verse), McMillan actually breaks down and cries. I'm sure he could have recorded it once without crying, releasing it this way was definitely a conscious choice, don't lose sight of that. Regardless, my favorite line from this verse says "people try to tell me You're cruel // But if Stephen could sing he'd say it's not true." I think you'll agree that such sentiment is quite powerful, especially coming after such tragedy.
Lines like "all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory" and "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way that He loves us" certainly take on more meaning with context. Moreso, the entire great song with its great poetry saying "God loves us so so so soooo much," having been written on the worst day of his life, showcases a very pervasive and inspiring faith. Resilient joy that endures despite negative circumstances, as John Piper said in his last sermon from his pulpit, is THE thing the world needs from the church.
The song would be awesome and worth singing if it was written and sung from a mountaintop. Unfortunately, the fact is that many people who walk into worship are not going through a mountain, but rather a valley. These are truly beautiful lyrics to sing in such times, celebrating a love that is at once beautiful and unfathomable.
The act of looking beyond tragedy and seeing God's steadfast love through it all that this song represents has always been powerful to me, and now with a recent loss of my own to keep in mind, it has become that much more personal and poignant.
Anyway, it's a great song. Here's a link to the original recording I referenced above. Give it a listen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0luHiWwi08
We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
-"How He Loves" by John Mark McMillan
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Simplicity and Neon Steeple
[I just noticed that over a month ago, on June 13, I suggested that I would write a post on Neon Steeple. Rather than make myself out to be a liar, I'm going to use some time in the backseat of my parents' car here to write this post. I set out to discuss the album and ended up bringing an interesting discussion about worship music I frequently ponder. Enjoy!]
For a very long while the David Crowder*Band was my absolute favorite worship band. I love them very much, and their music will always hold a special place in my heart. (They've only been beat out by Rend Collective!) My favorite thing about the DC*B was that, on top of writing true and worshipful songs, they were musically interesting. In other words, their incredibly variable rock-to-techno-to-bluegrass sound would be worth listening to if it was NOT worship music. Unfortunately, that's not the case for most worship bands out there. Pretty often, the fact that a song is a worship song is used as an excuse for its instrumental (and even vocal) parts to be quite boring.
Blogger's note: It's hard to say whether the "problem" described in my previous two sentences is a bad thing. On the one hand, songs intended for congregational singing need to be easy to learn and sing. Simplicity itself is often a virtue, giving congregations a chance to affirm simple yet amazing truths. On the other hand, the worship music industry is inundated with songs that are boring or uninteresting musically.
What are worship artists to do? Write songs that are easy for bands to learn and congregations to sing, but be criticized by not being worth listening to? Or write songs with musical excellence that can't be brought into a congregational setting easily? Obviously, each artist will approach their craft differently, and many probably don't think of their music in these terms. In the best case scenario, bands prove that these two ideals are not exclusive, producing songs that are interesting to listen to AND to use with congregations.
I think the David Crowder*Band produced songs that were very interesting to listen to but often difficult to bring into a service. Artists like Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman tend to produce songs that are (in varying degrees) instrumentally bland,* but very effective and easy for use in services. I guess that as a worship artist, one has to sit down and decide what role exactly your songs will play. I don't think Chris Tomlin's band is unskilled, I think they consciously play simpler instrumental parts to make the song easier to learn and sing.**
Another blogger's note: All of the above is a discussion that applies to "worship artists," by which I mean the people that write and record worship songs, NOT the ground-level worship band playing at a given church. Each band (with the proper licensing) has the ability to choose exactly which songs to play, giving the worship leader great control over the lyrical and musical complexity of the music. Recreating recordings is boring, people! Simpler songs can easily be made more musically interesting, and vice versa. Every band and every congregation are different. I think enough worship artists produce enough music all along the simple-complex spectrum for each band to find exactly what it needs.
NOW, to what I originally wrote this post for: Neon Steeple! (I know, quite a diversion there. Good talk!) On my first listen through the album, I was unhappy that no songs on the album were going to make their way into my worship sets. Some may, with some work, but for now most of the songs are farther down the complexity spectrum than I usually attempt. This initial disappointment was completely forgotten after I had listened through a couple more times. The truth is, the album is very enjoyable to listen to. I like it for many of the same reasons I liked his work with the DC*B. It may not be easy to sing along to or play, but MAN it is fun to listen to. As I may have mentioned before, the album is a combination of bluegrass and techno- if that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what does! If you'd like to get a feel for the album, here's my favorite song to listen to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQk7RQg5p3k&feature=youtu.be
Let me know what you think! About the song, album, and complexity in worship music. Until next time, cheers!
*I actually regularly listen to Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman, despite the frequent blandness of the instrumental parts and the simplicity of vocal melodies. This is mostly because I am a huge fan of worship music and usually think with congregational singing in mind; true, enjoyable, and worshipful lyrics ARE enough for me (and many others) to buy and listen to music. Writing songs with congregations in mind is not necessarily a terrible business model, and does not necessarily mean the death of the industry.
**Unfortunately, NO Chris Tomlin song is easy to sing (for guys). He has the vocal chords of some sort of Siren. David Crowder, Matt Redman, Kristian Stanfill, and really most male worship artists are also culprits. [To any worship bands reading this: it IS ok to lower songs from their original key! Please do. Even if you can sing it, your congregation probably can't! I don't think there's a hard and fast rule, but when I lead worship I rarely sing any higher than D.]
Final blogger's note: Being the huge Rend Collective fan that I am, I thought it worth mentioning where they seem to fit in this continuum. They are definitely very far to the simple, congregation-minded end. Their songs have very simple chord progressions, simple lyrics, and simple melodies. Besides wanting to write songs for congregations, simple worship is their "thing" (they wrote a song about it). However, their very simple songs are backed up by very energetic and interesting instrumental parts (very Mumford-y folksy sound) making them VERY enjoyable to listen to (for me, at least)!
For a very long while the David Crowder*Band was my absolute favorite worship band. I love them very much, and their music will always hold a special place in my heart. (They've only been beat out by Rend Collective!) My favorite thing about the DC*B was that, on top of writing true and worshipful songs, they were musically interesting. In other words, their incredibly variable rock-to-techno-to-bluegrass sound would be worth listening to if it was NOT worship music. Unfortunately, that's not the case for most worship bands out there. Pretty often, the fact that a song is a worship song is used as an excuse for its instrumental (and even vocal) parts to be quite boring.
Blogger's note: It's hard to say whether the "problem" described in my previous two sentences is a bad thing. On the one hand, songs intended for congregational singing need to be easy to learn and sing. Simplicity itself is often a virtue, giving congregations a chance to affirm simple yet amazing truths. On the other hand, the worship music industry is inundated with songs that are boring or uninteresting musically.
What are worship artists to do? Write songs that are easy for bands to learn and congregations to sing, but be criticized by not being worth listening to? Or write songs with musical excellence that can't be brought into a congregational setting easily? Obviously, each artist will approach their craft differently, and many probably don't think of their music in these terms. In the best case scenario, bands prove that these two ideals are not exclusive, producing songs that are interesting to listen to AND to use with congregations.
I think the David Crowder*Band produced songs that were very interesting to listen to but often difficult to bring into a service. Artists like Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman tend to produce songs that are (in varying degrees) instrumentally bland,* but very effective and easy for use in services. I guess that as a worship artist, one has to sit down and decide what role exactly your songs will play. I don't think Chris Tomlin's band is unskilled, I think they consciously play simpler instrumental parts to make the song easier to learn and sing.**
Another blogger's note: All of the above is a discussion that applies to "worship artists," by which I mean the people that write and record worship songs, NOT the ground-level worship band playing at a given church. Each band (with the proper licensing) has the ability to choose exactly which songs to play, giving the worship leader great control over the lyrical and musical complexity of the music. Recreating recordings is boring, people! Simpler songs can easily be made more musically interesting, and vice versa. Every band and every congregation are different. I think enough worship artists produce enough music all along the simple-complex spectrum for each band to find exactly what it needs.
NOW, to what I originally wrote this post for: Neon Steeple! (I know, quite a diversion there. Good talk!) On my first listen through the album, I was unhappy that no songs on the album were going to make their way into my worship sets. Some may, with some work, but for now most of the songs are farther down the complexity spectrum than I usually attempt. This initial disappointment was completely forgotten after I had listened through a couple more times. The truth is, the album is very enjoyable to listen to. I like it for many of the same reasons I liked his work with the DC*B. It may not be easy to sing along to or play, but MAN it is fun to listen to. As I may have mentioned before, the album is a combination of bluegrass and techno- if that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what does! If you'd like to get a feel for the album, here's my favorite song to listen to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQk7RQg5p3k&feature=youtu.be
Let me know what you think! About the song, album, and complexity in worship music. Until next time, cheers!
*I actually regularly listen to Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman, despite the frequent blandness of the instrumental parts and the simplicity of vocal melodies. This is mostly because I am a huge fan of worship music and usually think with congregational singing in mind; true, enjoyable, and worshipful lyrics ARE enough for me (and many others) to buy and listen to music. Writing songs with congregations in mind is not necessarily a terrible business model, and does not necessarily mean the death of the industry.
**Unfortunately, NO Chris Tomlin song is easy to sing (for guys). He has the vocal chords of some sort of Siren. David Crowder, Matt Redman, Kristian Stanfill, and really most male worship artists are also culprits. [To any worship bands reading this: it IS ok to lower songs from their original key! Please do. Even if you can sing it, your congregation probably can't! I don't think there's a hard and fast rule, but when I lead worship I rarely sing any higher than D.]
Final blogger's note: Being the huge Rend Collective fan that I am, I thought it worth mentioning where they seem to fit in this continuum. They are definitely very far to the simple, congregation-minded end. Their songs have very simple chord progressions, simple lyrics, and simple melodies. Besides wanting to write songs for congregations, simple worship is their "thing" (they wrote a song about it). However, their very simple songs are backed up by very energetic and interesting instrumental parts (very Mumford-y folksy sound) making them VERY enjoyable to listen to (for me, at least)!
Babusha
[I just returned from a fantastic mission trip to Jamaica. Some posts about that are coming soon. There's too much material to share in one blog post, so once I figure out how I'd like to organize them I'll post a couple. Today, I'm posting about more recent history.]
My grandmother on my mom's side passed away this week, while I was in Jamaica. After returning to the States on Friday night, I departed with my family early yesterday morning to attend her funeral in Indiana. We had a beautiful service at the funeral home, a procession to the gravesite, and a graveside service. Afterwards, we all ate lunch together and enjoyed an evening of fellowship and memories. I got to see plenty of family, including all of my cousins on my mom's side, some of whom I have not had the joy of seeing for quite a while. All in all it was a great time to spend with family honoring my grandmother and enjoying each other.
My grandmother was always "Babusha" (Ukranian for "grandma") to Silas and myself. Maria was born in Brazil and moved to Argentina at 16, where she met my grandfather Peter Slobodian, from whom I received my middle name. Together they were powerful warriors for the faith, blessed by a fruitful worldwide ministry including church planting, radio ministry into the Soviet Union, and the founding of Baptist International Evangelistic Ministries (BIEM), currently continuing its work under the direction of mom's brother Sam, our host yesterday. A much more in-depth telling of their life and ministry can be found in the book "Giving God the Glory," my grandfather's posthumous biography.
Since my grandfather Peter (or "Dedushio") passed away 9 years ago, Babusha had been living with my aunt Ann (mom's sister) and uncle Rick in Gladstone, Missouri. We have been richly blessed with many opportunities to go and see them since then; we got to see plenty of grandma before she left us. She was very loving and generous, the very embodiment of motherly and grandmotherly affection.
I am very sorry to have seen her go, but I am overjoyed that she is now receiving the rich reward that such a "good and faithful servant" has been promised. I will always love Maria and Peter very much, I am incredibly blessed to call them my grandparents, and I am beyond proud of the rich heritage they have given me.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:7-8
My grandmother on my mom's side passed away this week, while I was in Jamaica. After returning to the States on Friday night, I departed with my family early yesterday morning to attend her funeral in Indiana. We had a beautiful service at the funeral home, a procession to the gravesite, and a graveside service. Afterwards, we all ate lunch together and enjoyed an evening of fellowship and memories. I got to see plenty of family, including all of my cousins on my mom's side, some of whom I have not had the joy of seeing for quite a while. All in all it was a great time to spend with family honoring my grandmother and enjoying each other.
My grandmother was always "Babusha" (Ukranian for "grandma") to Silas and myself. Maria was born in Brazil and moved to Argentina at 16, where she met my grandfather Peter Slobodian, from whom I received my middle name. Together they were powerful warriors for the faith, blessed by a fruitful worldwide ministry including church planting, radio ministry into the Soviet Union, and the founding of Baptist International Evangelistic Ministries (BIEM), currently continuing its work under the direction of mom's brother Sam, our host yesterday. A much more in-depth telling of their life and ministry can be found in the book "Giving God the Glory," my grandfather's posthumous biography.
Since my grandfather Peter (or "Dedushio") passed away 9 years ago, Babusha had been living with my aunt Ann (mom's sister) and uncle Rick in Gladstone, Missouri. We have been richly blessed with many opportunities to go and see them since then; we got to see plenty of grandma before she left us. She was very loving and generous, the very embodiment of motherly and grandmotherly affection.
I am very sorry to have seen her go, but I am overjoyed that she is now receiving the rich reward that such a "good and faithful servant" has been promised. I will always love Maria and Peter very much, I am incredibly blessed to call them my grandparents, and I am beyond proud of the rich heritage they have given me.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:7-8
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Orientation
Catching a few minutes to blog while I am hindered from leaving my house by a large tree recently felled across my driveway. Speaking of tree felling, let's talk about Summer Orientation!
So I left with my buddy Brad Ryer the transfer student after church last Sunday for a relatively uneventful 4-hour car ride to a hotel in beautiful Gas City, Indiana, very near to the equally beautiful Upland, Indiana. Now when I say "relatively uneventful," I don't mean it wasn't fun. There was plenty of radio scanning and spontaneous singing and dancing from the passenger seat (that's me). Actually there were two events: once we took a wrong turn (fixed it right quick!), and once we got McDonald's.
Taylor Orientation was an all-day Monday deal, so you may wonder, "why did you leave Sunday afternoon, Roscoe? So early?" You are right to wonder such things. You see, buddy Brad Ryer the transfer student had placement tests to take Sunday night, so I was left to hang out in the beautiful Gas City's beautiful hotel room by myself all evening. So, naturally, I jammed. A never-failing technique to entertain or otherwise occupy myself.
Anyway, after a night's sleep Brad and I found ourselves at our future home, Taylor University, and proceeded to take Orientation by storm. I had a great time, getting to see my ridiculously large and well-situated dorm room (git jealous!), get my course schedule for first semester all set up, and (my favorite) meeting a whole bunch of my future classmates. I love the people that attend Taylor and the environment they create. I am beyond excited to live there!
Besides it being an awesome time, I don't know if I have any particularly amusing stories to tell. Brad repeatedly failed to perform our pre-orchestrated handshake in public. I met quite a few people who will surely participate in jam sessions. I got out of Medical Anthropology!
Great time, great place, great people. I had a lot of fun.
And that's what I did this week!
So I left with my buddy Brad Ryer the transfer student after church last Sunday for a relatively uneventful 4-hour car ride to a hotel in beautiful Gas City, Indiana, very near to the equally beautiful Upland, Indiana. Now when I say "relatively uneventful," I don't mean it wasn't fun. There was plenty of radio scanning and spontaneous singing and dancing from the passenger seat (that's me). Actually there were two events: once we took a wrong turn (fixed it right quick!), and once we got McDonald's.
Taylor Orientation was an all-day Monday deal, so you may wonder, "why did you leave Sunday afternoon, Roscoe? So early?" You are right to wonder such things. You see, buddy Brad Ryer the transfer student had placement tests to take Sunday night, so I was left to hang out in the beautiful Gas City's beautiful hotel room by myself all evening. So, naturally, I jammed. A never-failing technique to entertain or otherwise occupy myself.
Anyway, after a night's sleep Brad and I found ourselves at our future home, Taylor University, and proceeded to take Orientation by storm. I had a great time, getting to see my ridiculously large and well-situated dorm room (git jealous!), get my course schedule for first semester all set up, and (my favorite) meeting a whole bunch of my future classmates. I love the people that attend Taylor and the environment they create. I am beyond excited to live there!
Besides it being an awesome time, I don't know if I have any particularly amusing stories to tell. Brad repeatedly failed to perform our pre-orchestrated handshake in public. I met quite a few people who will surely participate in jam sessions. I got out of Medical Anthropology!
Great time, great place, great people. I had a lot of fun.
And that's what I did this week!
Sunday, June 22, 2014
My First Experiences at the B.K. Lounge
So tomorrow I'm at my future home, Taylor University, for summer orientation. Right now, I'm sitting in a hotel room by myself for the rest of the night. I thought, "if there was EVER a time to get around to blog posting, it's now." So here I am!
So one month ago I got my first regular job, at Burger King. It was a great relief to finally get called for an interview after applying both online and in person to almost every business in my area. I had (inaccurately and pridefully, yes) thought that I'd be quite a prospect for all of these businesses to which I applied, being an Eagle Scout and all, but fast food restaurants and the like don't really care about that. I learned this when my interview at BK essentially went, "you can work this week? Good."
My first week or so was training, or as it is at my BK, "be told how to do stuff and be made to do it." It didn't take long for me to become a mostly-functional employee, by the time I got my first paycheck (120 dollars- BIG bucks!) I felt that I was a pretty productive worker there.
I have since learned quite a lot about the fast food industry, namely, what it is like to be behind the counter when people behave in certain ways. I personally have always tried my hardest to be as polite and conversational as possible to anyone behind any counter that I interact with. It really surprises me that so many people still don't. Speaking as the *incredibly* experienced fast food worker that I am, please give whoever's behind that counter a break! The voice at the other end of the drive-thru speaker is a person, too! Especially as Christians, we have a special responsibility to brighten everyone's day we can, from either side of the fast food counter.
Really my experience hasn't been all that bad, most people are pleasant, and I get paid anyway. As my dad always says, if it wasn't in some way unpleasant, they wouldn't have to pay you to do it! The job is even fun at times. I always try to be cheerful and brighten the customers' days, and sometimes I am clearly successful in such endeavors and I have a grand old time.
Anyway. I'm excited to see Taylor tomorrow and meet many of my classmates. Soon enough I'll blog about how Orientation went!
So one month ago I got my first regular job, at Burger King. It was a great relief to finally get called for an interview after applying both online and in person to almost every business in my area. I had (inaccurately and pridefully, yes) thought that I'd be quite a prospect for all of these businesses to which I applied, being an Eagle Scout and all, but fast food restaurants and the like don't really care about that. I learned this when my interview at BK essentially went, "you can work this week? Good."
My first week or so was training, or as it is at my BK, "be told how to do stuff and be made to do it." It didn't take long for me to become a mostly-functional employee, by the time I got my first paycheck (120 dollars- BIG bucks!) I felt that I was a pretty productive worker there.
I have since learned quite a lot about the fast food industry, namely, what it is like to be behind the counter when people behave in certain ways. I personally have always tried my hardest to be as polite and conversational as possible to anyone behind any counter that I interact with. It really surprises me that so many people still don't. Speaking as the *incredibly* experienced fast food worker that I am, please give whoever's behind that counter a break! The voice at the other end of the drive-thru speaker is a person, too! Especially as Christians, we have a special responsibility to brighten everyone's day we can, from either side of the fast food counter.
Really my experience hasn't been all that bad, most people are pleasant, and I get paid anyway. As my dad always says, if it wasn't in some way unpleasant, they wouldn't have to pay you to do it! The job is even fun at times. I always try to be cheerful and brighten the customers' days, and sometimes I am clearly successful in such endeavors and I have a grand old time.
Anyway. I'm excited to see Taylor tomorrow and meet many of my classmates. Soon enough I'll blog about how Orientation went!
Friday, June 13, 2014
Regular Posting Approaches!
A time when I regularly post on this blog is approaching! Originally intended to chronicle my college experience (but created early), this blog should see more action in the coming months, eventually settling into some regularity. In the meantime, I've been quite busy recently (why I haven't posted much), but all of this business has given me plenty to write about tonight!
I graduated high school two weeks ago! I'm obviously very glad. This whole year in school was gruelingly difficult, it is very energizing to no longer be caught in the loop of labor school became in its last weeks. Come the actual moment when I said goodbye to them, I noticed that I'll miss some of my high school friends than I thought I would. Huh. Thankfully I still have a few months to spend with all of my CRAVE friends, the thought of leaving them is truly heartbreaking.
Unfortunately, those few months will not be completely carefree, as just before my graduation I got a job. I'll be working at Burger King 5 or 6 days a week, unfortunately not allowing for as much free time as I may have imagined, but helping me out a lot with college funding and whatnot. Work itself has been a pretty interesting experience and will probably yield a post of its own at some point.
In between the time I spend working, I've been getting super excited about going to Taylor next year! I've got music theory placement tests to study up for, summer orientation to attend next weekend, and plenty of packing to do. I have a lot more excitement bundled up inside of me for next year than I could ever write.
Also, in the "what's new?" department, I've been taking voice lessons for about a month now. Although I have had a passion for worship music for more than four years now, at least three of those were spent with no attempt to be vocally disciplined at all and I ended up singing habitually quite badly. As I paid more and more attention to singing over the past year or two, it became clear that I would benefit from some formal training. This summer I'll be whipping these vocal cords into shape! Lessons are going great so far.
Thanks for checking in and reading, everyone!
I'll have plenty more to write on in the coming weeks, whenever I get the time. A few "Roscoe's blog-worthy" events have occurred, not the least of which being THE RELEASE OF DAVID CROWDER'S SOLO ALBUM.... He-llo! Neon Steeple in the house! You can bet I'll talk about it soon enough.
Peace!
I graduated high school two weeks ago! I'm obviously very glad. This whole year in school was gruelingly difficult, it is very energizing to no longer be caught in the loop of labor school became in its last weeks. Come the actual moment when I said goodbye to them, I noticed that I'll miss some of my high school friends than I thought I would. Huh. Thankfully I still have a few months to spend with all of my CRAVE friends, the thought of leaving them is truly heartbreaking.
Unfortunately, those few months will not be completely carefree, as just before my graduation I got a job. I'll be working at Burger King 5 or 6 days a week, unfortunately not allowing for as much free time as I may have imagined, but helping me out a lot with college funding and whatnot. Work itself has been a pretty interesting experience and will probably yield a post of its own at some point.
In between the time I spend working, I've been getting super excited about going to Taylor next year! I've got music theory placement tests to study up for, summer orientation to attend next weekend, and plenty of packing to do. I have a lot more excitement bundled up inside of me for next year than I could ever write.
Also, in the "what's new?" department, I've been taking voice lessons for about a month now. Although I have had a passion for worship music for more than four years now, at least three of those were spent with no attempt to be vocally disciplined at all and I ended up singing habitually quite badly. As I paid more and more attention to singing over the past year or two, it became clear that I would benefit from some formal training. This summer I'll be whipping these vocal cords into shape! Lessons are going great so far.
Thanks for checking in and reading, everyone!
I'll have plenty more to write on in the coming weeks, whenever I get the time. A few "Roscoe's blog-worthy" events have occurred, not the least of which being THE RELEASE OF DAVID CROWDER'S SOLO ALBUM.... He-llo! Neon Steeple in the house! You can bet I'll talk about it soon enough.
Peace!
Monday, May 12, 2014
Why I Love All Sons & Daughters
Here's a post about a duo that is rapidly becoming one of my favorite worship bands.
All Sons & Daughters is mostly made up by David Leonard and Leslie Jordan. When they record and tour, they have more players around them (including, often the guys from "Delirious?"), but the heart and soul of the "band" is just this duo.
The All Sons & Daughters sound is very broken-down, stripped-back, and acoustic, most prominently featuring Leonard's piano and Jordan's acoustic guitar. They both sing, coloring almost every note of their songs with beautiful harmonies. They avoid having too many bells and whistles, but still display musical proficiency and complexity. Their harmony-rich vocals alone are a real aural treat.
What I love most about them, besides the very acoustic sound, is probably their songwriting. This pair has written some really great songs- some you may have heard, especially if you've been hearing us, include "Brokenness Aside" and "God With Us". Brokenness Aside is a very clear confession of our sinful, fallen state, while at the same time celebrating God's tendency to take fallen things like us and make them beautiful. God With Us, co-written with the ever fantastic Jason Ingram, takes the often-sung idea of Emmanuel, "God with us", one step further by celebrating God's presence in the very room where the song is sung, if two or more are gathered.
This duo sees all of the hurt and pain of life as an unavoidable part of worship. Only by starting by recognizing our complete depravity can we truly appreciate what God's relationship with us means. They never seek to beat around the bush or pretend like life isn't hard- it is, and they see beauty in that. We praise God for taking us out of the pain we were in and for sustaining us through the pain we are in.
Checking these guys out is definitely worth your time, especially if you're a fan of the acoustic sound and the search for simplicity I love Rend Collective so much for. They just released a new album, self-titled, but if you only buy one album of theirs I would recommend their 2013 "LIVE" album, as it is essentially a "best-of" filled with some really great tunes. Look them up, and enjoy!
I am a sinner, if it's not one thing it's another
Caught up in words tangled in lies
But You are a savior and You take brokenness aside
And make it beautiful, beautiful
-"Brokenness Aside"
All Sons & Daughters is mostly made up by David Leonard and Leslie Jordan. When they record and tour, they have more players around them (including, often the guys from "Delirious?"), but the heart and soul of the "band" is just this duo.
The All Sons & Daughters sound is very broken-down, stripped-back, and acoustic, most prominently featuring Leonard's piano and Jordan's acoustic guitar. They both sing, coloring almost every note of their songs with beautiful harmonies. They avoid having too many bells and whistles, but still display musical proficiency and complexity. Their harmony-rich vocals alone are a real aural treat.
What I love most about them, besides the very acoustic sound, is probably their songwriting. This pair has written some really great songs- some you may have heard, especially if you've been hearing us, include "Brokenness Aside" and "God With Us". Brokenness Aside is a very clear confession of our sinful, fallen state, while at the same time celebrating God's tendency to take fallen things like us and make them beautiful. God With Us, co-written with the ever fantastic Jason Ingram, takes the often-sung idea of Emmanuel, "God with us", one step further by celebrating God's presence in the very room where the song is sung, if two or more are gathered.
This duo sees all of the hurt and pain of life as an unavoidable part of worship. Only by starting by recognizing our complete depravity can we truly appreciate what God's relationship with us means. They never seek to beat around the bush or pretend like life isn't hard- it is, and they see beauty in that. We praise God for taking us out of the pain we were in and for sustaining us through the pain we are in.
Checking these guys out is definitely worth your time, especially if you're a fan of the acoustic sound and the search for simplicity I love Rend Collective so much for. They just released a new album, self-titled, but if you only buy one album of theirs I would recommend their 2013 "LIVE" album, as it is essentially a "best-of" filled with some really great tunes. Look them up, and enjoy!
I am a sinner, if it's not one thing it's another
Caught up in words tangled in lies
But You are a savior and You take brokenness aside
And make it beautiful, beautiful
-"Brokenness Aside"
Friday, April 18, 2014
Good Friday AND Easter
Hey everyone!
As you may or may not have noticed, I took a break from posting here for about three weeks. Basically, life got in the way- I've been pretty busy. My original purpose for creating this blog was to chronicle my college experience, so I'm not going to feel compelled to post with any sort of rigidity until then.
Speaking of my college experience, I am PUMPED for the fall! Taylor University is going to be a fantastic place for me to spend the next four years of my life. I could not possibly type out the words to communicate to you all how excited I am. WOO!
In other news: Holy Thursday? Holy Saturday? Easter Monday? Are these real? Apparently, yes, according to various different calendars I have seen recently. It's great that we get to extend our Easter celebrations a little with more days off school or more services at various churches, but do we really need to give them new names? I guess so.
Anyway, I'm writing this on Good Friday, after coming from my church's service. By the time you are reading this, it is no longer Good Friday (apparently it's "Holy Saturday!"), so writing about Good Friday itself would be a little mistimed. Thankfully, we've got Easter coming up- surely we can blog about that!
I actually really like the relationship between Good Friday and Easter. You could say the same thing about the relationship between Christ's death and his resurrection (what those two holidays celebrate, respectively). I like how they are both equally important- one doesn't have the necessary magnitude without the other. If Christ had just come and died, then it would have been clear that he was, in fact, not God. Thankfully, Good Friday isn't the end of the story, and Christ asserts his victory over death with his resurrection. In the words of the poet Propaganda, he "payed a check with his life... and at the resurrection we all cheered because that means the check cleared!" Jesus ascending back into heaven would have proven his Godhood, but if he did so without first paying the price for our sins, it wouldn't be of any use to us. The events celebrated by Easter and Good Friday are two parts of the same glorious event.
As it is, Jesus came and died in exactly the most perfect way possible. Nothing was left to chance. Infinite God becoming fallen man and taking on all of our punishment, the central event in all of history, there is nothing so beautiful in the whole world. From our perspective, at times, it just doesn't make sense- WHY would such a powerful and perfect being take such a punishment for ME, so unworthy?
God's love doesn't make sense to us. Really, why do we think it should? We can't comprehend it. The cross and what it means are something we will never be able to fully wrap our minds around. "GOD LOVES YOU" is the craziest sentence you have ever heard! THAT is wonderful! THAT is the kind of good news that gets us singing or dancing! THAT is the love we celebrate over this weekend.
Have a wonderful Easter everyone, enjoy the grace fallout. I'll talk to you later.
Oh, that rugged cross my salvation
Where Your love poured out over me
Now my soul cries out hallelujah
Praise and honor unto Thee
-"Man of Sorrows" Hillsong LIVE
As you may or may not have noticed, I took a break from posting here for about three weeks. Basically, life got in the way- I've been pretty busy. My original purpose for creating this blog was to chronicle my college experience, so I'm not going to feel compelled to post with any sort of rigidity until then.
Speaking of my college experience, I am PUMPED for the fall! Taylor University is going to be a fantastic place for me to spend the next four years of my life. I could not possibly type out the words to communicate to you all how excited I am. WOO!
In other news: Holy Thursday? Holy Saturday? Easter Monday? Are these real? Apparently, yes, according to various different calendars I have seen recently. It's great that we get to extend our Easter celebrations a little with more days off school or more services at various churches, but do we really need to give them new names? I guess so.
Anyway, I'm writing this on Good Friday, after coming from my church's service. By the time you are reading this, it is no longer Good Friday (apparently it's "Holy Saturday!"), so writing about Good Friday itself would be a little mistimed. Thankfully, we've got Easter coming up- surely we can blog about that!
I actually really like the relationship between Good Friday and Easter. You could say the same thing about the relationship between Christ's death and his resurrection (what those two holidays celebrate, respectively). I like how they are both equally important- one doesn't have the necessary magnitude without the other. If Christ had just come and died, then it would have been clear that he was, in fact, not God. Thankfully, Good Friday isn't the end of the story, and Christ asserts his victory over death with his resurrection. In the words of the poet Propaganda, he "payed a check with his life... and at the resurrection we all cheered because that means the check cleared!" Jesus ascending back into heaven would have proven his Godhood, but if he did so without first paying the price for our sins, it wouldn't be of any use to us. The events celebrated by Easter and Good Friday are two parts of the same glorious event.
As it is, Jesus came and died in exactly the most perfect way possible. Nothing was left to chance. Infinite God becoming fallen man and taking on all of our punishment, the central event in all of history, there is nothing so beautiful in the whole world. From our perspective, at times, it just doesn't make sense- WHY would such a powerful and perfect being take such a punishment for ME, so unworthy?
God's love doesn't make sense to us. Really, why do we think it should? We can't comprehend it. The cross and what it means are something we will never be able to fully wrap our minds around. "GOD LOVES YOU" is the craziest sentence you have ever heard! THAT is wonderful! THAT is the kind of good news that gets us singing or dancing! THAT is the love we celebrate over this weekend.
Have a wonderful Easter everyone, enjoy the grace fallout. I'll talk to you later.
Oh, that rugged cross my salvation
Where Your love poured out over me
Now my soul cries out hallelujah
Praise and honor unto Thee
-"Man of Sorrows" Hillsong LIVE
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Joy!
I’m still
listening to a ton of The Art of Celebration here. As you can see in their video, the album is all about JOY. Oh, you want to talk about joy, you say?
Let’s do it! We’ll look at it and then talk about why it’s important.
Joy isn’t happiness.
Happiness is an emotion and is circumstance-dependent. When good things happen
to you, you become happy. When bad things happen to you, you cease to be happy.
Hopefully the things of the Lord cheer you up and give you happiness, but
that’s not what we’re talking about here. Joy is deeper, and harder.
Joy is an
act- a discipline. Something you DO. It’s not an emotion. While there is
something emotional about it, it’s a kind of deep-seated, different sort. (Joy
feels good in a much deeper way than happiness ever will.) It persists in the
midst of trouble or hardship. That’s really the biggest difference between
happiness and joy- you can have joy when life is rough. It’s a good thing, too,
because life is always rough.
Joy isn’t
easy, it’s a challenge. It’s hard. When you’re sitting in a car for three
hours, how do you have joy? How can you be joyful when you are dead tired? How
can you keep that cynicism from creeping in? No one really has it down. Not
Rend Collective, not John Piper, not me, no one. We’re all striving to be as joyful as possible on earth.
HOW does joy
exist despite bad circumstances? Joy is a choice. Unlike happiness, you can
wake up in the morning, say “I choose joy!” and be joyful. It’s not nearly that
easy, as I noted in the previous paragraph, but the point remains. In the midst
of hardship and pain, we can choose
joy. In fact, as believers, we’re called to.
WHY is joy
important to us? I’ve never done numbered points before, but I thought I’d
shake it up this time. Plus it helps me organize my thoughts and prevent
rambles! Here are 3 reasons joy is important to us as believers:
1.
Joy is a
direct result of salvation. Without God, true joy is impossible. He is the
most exciting entity in the universe, and meeting Him results in uncontrollable
joy. The apostles said they can’t help
talking about Him! Jeremiah says his words are like fire burning to be let out! When you meet God, really meet
God, you (for the first time) experience the joy that surpasses understanding.
You don’t walk out of that experience the same way you went into it. You’ve
tasted and seen- a joyless life is no longer quite good enough.
The sad thing is, the church in general has a
tendency to lose this joy. Rather than enjoying God in childlike wonder, we
legalize, we overanalyze, we cynicize. The list goes on and on; I am guilty of
all of these things. No wonder God has to command
us to celebrate! Leaving behind negativity and chasing after unconventional joy
is freeing, and I for one am loving it!
2. Joy glorifies God. It’s worship!
Remember I call anything that makes God greater “worship.” How does having joy
make God greater? Well, He’s the author and originator of joy! He invented it!
As noted above, joy is a natural response to God’s beauty and his love for us.
Isn’t that what all worship is? It’s a response- when you actually see God, you
can’t help but worship him (think
the apostles and Jeremiah). The bible says everyone will worship God when they
see him- “every knee will bow” and all that. How great it is that we can have
that heavenly experience on earth, and without condemnation!
3. Joy evangelizes. I noted above that
joy, true joy, is something that is impossible without God- joy always starts
and ends with Him. That means joy is something believers have and non-believers
don’t. However, since we’re all made
to joyfully enjoy God, they WANT it. People like to joke about a
“God-shaped-hole” in people’s lives- this is it! Joy! Before we meet God, we’re
like engines trying to run on orange juice- we don’t have the fuel we really
need (God)!
Joy is attractive to non-believers even if they don’t
realize or admit it. Especially when joy is evident in tough situations,
otherwise it can be mistaken (from the outside) as happiness. But when
believers are in bad times, or even persecuted for their faith, and rejoice? That turns head. There’s no
better witness for the gospel than believers who celebrate God in the midst of
lives which seem to be turned upside down. And , speaking of evangelism, think
of it simply: nobody wants to listen to a over-cynical, over-analytical prick.
But someone who’s joyful and having fun
walking with God? Hmm.
So what does
this look like? To tell the truth, I’m not a hundred percent sure what joy
looks like in every situation. That’s what I’m trying to discover right now. I
enjoy you to go on this adventure with me- let’s choose JOY! WOOOOOOOO!!!!
Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.
-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
(I don't know who he is either, but he's right!)
Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.
-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
(I don't know who he is either, but he's right!)
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
How Creation Worships
I visited the Creation Museum today. Naturally, it got me thinking about... well... creation... Specifically, how the magnificence of God is evident in the magnificence of his creation. It brought up an odd little thought of mine I've thrown out at numerous small group discussions over the years. So let's talk about it!
God created everything for His glory (including us). The ultimate goal of it all is to glorify the Lord (something that is more enjoyable than anything the world can offer, making it a mutually beneficial goal for us humans to adopt). Furthermore, I think God made certain things just to tell us more about himself.
First notice: God, in his infinite wisdom, power, and creativity, could have created a universe in any way he wanted. He is more creative than we could ever be (we can only think of rearrangements of things He's created, He can actually create something out of nothing). So, he didn't make something like water because it was actually necessary for the universe to work. At a certain level it is, but he could have created an entirely different universe with no water that would still work- anyway that's not really the point. The point is, He made water to say, "hey, you see how vast the ocean is and how small you are in relation to it? That's kind of like me." "See how magnificent all of these galaxies and galaxy clusters are? That's kind of like me."
Basically, a lot of metaphors that we use to teach about God were actually created by Him- in reverse. He thought, "how do I give them an idea of just how glorious and radiant I am... I can't show them, they'll blow up... right, I'll make the sun!" (I doubt His thought process was exactly that, but the point stands.) The sun gives us a way to understand (to a lesser degree) a lot of things about God- his vastness, his power, his constancy, his faithfulness.
When I look up into the night sky (or watch a really cool "The Created Cosmos" planetarium show), I marvel at the God who is so glorious that such things are just cheap imitations of the real thing. I think when we get to Heaven and see Him, even the brightest colors on earth will seem muddy in comparison. There will probably be a "THAT'S what He meant!" moment when we realize why he gave us all these galaxies and nebulae and star clusters- just to give us a little picture of Him.
Will we wrap our minds around how great and glorious God is? No, not on this earth anyway. But, thanks to the beautiful creation He's given us, we can get little glimpses of it here and there. Paul had it right when he said we're "without excuse-" creation clearly evidences a very great and very glorious God!
We, like the rest of creation, were created for the purpose of giving God glory, and will be most satisfied and most effective when fulfilling that purpose. (see What Is Worship?) The being that made the sun, stars, oceans, and galaxies is more than worthy of my worship, my life.
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Romans 1:20
God created everything for His glory (including us). The ultimate goal of it all is to glorify the Lord (something that is more enjoyable than anything the world can offer, making it a mutually beneficial goal for us humans to adopt). Furthermore, I think God made certain things just to tell us more about himself.
First notice: God, in his infinite wisdom, power, and creativity, could have created a universe in any way he wanted. He is more creative than we could ever be (we can only think of rearrangements of things He's created, He can actually create something out of nothing). So, he didn't make something like water because it was actually necessary for the universe to work. At a certain level it is, but he could have created an entirely different universe with no water that would still work- anyway that's not really the point. The point is, He made water to say, "hey, you see how vast the ocean is and how small you are in relation to it? That's kind of like me." "See how magnificent all of these galaxies and galaxy clusters are? That's kind of like me."
Basically, a lot of metaphors that we use to teach about God were actually created by Him- in reverse. He thought, "how do I give them an idea of just how glorious and radiant I am... I can't show them, they'll blow up... right, I'll make the sun!" (I doubt His thought process was exactly that, but the point stands.) The sun gives us a way to understand (to a lesser degree) a lot of things about God- his vastness, his power, his constancy, his faithfulness.
When I look up into the night sky (or watch a really cool "The Created Cosmos" planetarium show), I marvel at the God who is so glorious that such things are just cheap imitations of the real thing. I think when we get to Heaven and see Him, even the brightest colors on earth will seem muddy in comparison. There will probably be a "THAT'S what He meant!" moment when we realize why he gave us all these galaxies and nebulae and star clusters- just to give us a little picture of Him.
Will we wrap our minds around how great and glorious God is? No, not on this earth anyway. But, thanks to the beautiful creation He's given us, we can get little glimpses of it here and there. Paul had it right when he said we're "without excuse-" creation clearly evidences a very great and very glorious God!
We, like the rest of creation, were created for the purpose of giving God glory, and will be most satisfied and most effective when fulfilling that purpose. (see What Is Worship?) The being that made the sun, stars, oceans, and galaxies is more than worthy of my worship, my life.
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Romans 1:20
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Our Wildest Dreams
So I've been listening to a ton of Rend Collective this week. A TON. While this is my natural state, this week has been particularly exciting because I've been listening to (and playing) NEW Rend Collective from their NEW album I posted about a couple days ago. Also, I got my hands on a banjo. Anyway, that's what I've been up to...
On Thursday I was asked to discuss what doubts/reservations/questions I had regarding the faith, and the discussion reminded me of the way I had decided to approach such doubts some time in the past. I thought I'd blog about it.
See, I had doubts and questions all the time before I was (really) a Christian, so many that at one time I concluded that God didn't exist. This post isn't about my testimony, though (more on that later), allow a long story to be short and know that, eventually, I did meet Him. Sooner or later I was overwhelmed by the reality of God, that everything I had sung about his immense power, majesty, and love were all more-than-completely true. Did the doubts and questions go away? Well, actually, yes... but it wasn't magical. Here's how I approach them.
Whenever I come up against something I don't understand, I simply acknowledge the fact. I tell myself (and God) that I may never understand it, but I believe in a God who is big enough to handle it.
For example: I wonder about God having no beginning and no end. Is it possible for my mind, having a clear beginning and only moving in one temporal direction, to wrap itself around such a concept? No! I wonder about how God can be omnipresent, at all places at all times. Can my mind, having always occupied one moment and one space, wrap itself around omnipresence? No! I wonder about the trinity- "3 in person, 1 in essence," yeah, yeah, seriously, how does that WORK? Can my mind, perpetually one in person and one in essence, wrap itself around a triune God? No!
The good news is, essentially, I don't have to. I don't really have to spend my time sitting around working out exactly what being eternally present or omnipresent means- why would I? God knows what I can handle, and He's given me that much.
Here's the rub: there are things about the universe that we will never be able to understand. God's ways are higher than our ways; it's actually a little silly to strive to understand every facet of his existence- such a feat is clearly impossible for us. More often than not, when I think about something mind-boggling, I just throw it up to God and say "I'll take Your word for it- You know better than I do!"
Does this mean I don't meditate on these sort of things or that I avoid any sort of study by chalking everything up to "in-understandable God things"? I just think there are some, and we are better off taking God's word for it than trying to figure out exactly what it means.
That being said, one of my favorite pastimes is to sit back and marvel at some facet of God or his universe that I'll never understand. I enjoy being reminded of how small and insignificant I am when compared to the God who invented time [He INVENTED time. Think about that. Time wasn't a thing, then God was like, "Hm, it'd be cool if I made a universe that has time," and there was time. WHAT!? What an awesome God!]- then, you tell me that that God DIED for me? That's crazy! That's what knowing God is all about. We can use the things we don't understand as something to marvel at and worship Him for, rather than something to breed doubt and insecurity with.
Are we ever (on this earth) going to really, fully wrap our minds around time, eternity, or the vastness of the universe? No. But we follow a God who came up with it all in his master plan, a plan so great and glorious our heads would probably explode if it was laid out for us. We worship Him for that- we follow the God who made time, eternity, and the farthest and brightest galaxies we've ever heard of. Our wildest dreams don't come close to Him.
God's ways our higher than our ways not because he is less compassionate than we are but because he is more compassionate than we can ever imagine
-Rachel Held Evans
P.S. if you (Christian or not) do have any deep, gnawing, unsettling questions, ones you keep coming back to time after time, ask someone. Seriously. Don't behave like me and keep a stash of inconsistencies piled in the back of your mind. After all, there's probably someone around you with the wisdom necessary to set your mind at ease, so why not give it a shot?
On Thursday I was asked to discuss what doubts/reservations/questions I had regarding the faith, and the discussion reminded me of the way I had decided to approach such doubts some time in the past. I thought I'd blog about it.
See, I had doubts and questions all the time before I was (really) a Christian, so many that at one time I concluded that God didn't exist. This post isn't about my testimony, though (more on that later), allow a long story to be short and know that, eventually, I did meet Him. Sooner or later I was overwhelmed by the reality of God, that everything I had sung about his immense power, majesty, and love were all more-than-completely true. Did the doubts and questions go away? Well, actually, yes... but it wasn't magical. Here's how I approach them.
Whenever I come up against something I don't understand, I simply acknowledge the fact. I tell myself (and God) that I may never understand it, but I believe in a God who is big enough to handle it.
For example: I wonder about God having no beginning and no end. Is it possible for my mind, having a clear beginning and only moving in one temporal direction, to wrap itself around such a concept? No! I wonder about how God can be omnipresent, at all places at all times. Can my mind, having always occupied one moment and one space, wrap itself around omnipresence? No! I wonder about the trinity- "3 in person, 1 in essence," yeah, yeah, seriously, how does that WORK? Can my mind, perpetually one in person and one in essence, wrap itself around a triune God? No!
The good news is, essentially, I don't have to. I don't really have to spend my time sitting around working out exactly what being eternally present or omnipresent means- why would I? God knows what I can handle, and He's given me that much.
Here's the rub: there are things about the universe that we will never be able to understand. God's ways are higher than our ways; it's actually a little silly to strive to understand every facet of his existence- such a feat is clearly impossible for us. More often than not, when I think about something mind-boggling, I just throw it up to God and say "I'll take Your word for it- You know better than I do!"
Does this mean I don't meditate on these sort of things or that I avoid any sort of study by chalking everything up to "in-understandable God things"? I just think there are some, and we are better off taking God's word for it than trying to figure out exactly what it means.
That being said, one of my favorite pastimes is to sit back and marvel at some facet of God or his universe that I'll never understand. I enjoy being reminded of how small and insignificant I am when compared to the God who invented time [He INVENTED time. Think about that. Time wasn't a thing, then God was like, "Hm, it'd be cool if I made a universe that has time," and there was time. WHAT!? What an awesome God!]- then, you tell me that that God DIED for me? That's crazy! That's what knowing God is all about. We can use the things we don't understand as something to marvel at and worship Him for, rather than something to breed doubt and insecurity with.
Are we ever (on this earth) going to really, fully wrap our minds around time, eternity, or the vastness of the universe? No. But we follow a God who came up with it all in his master plan, a plan so great and glorious our heads would probably explode if it was laid out for us. We worship Him for that- we follow the God who made time, eternity, and the farthest and brightest galaxies we've ever heard of. Our wildest dreams don't come close to Him.
God's ways our higher than our ways not because he is less compassionate than we are but because he is more compassionate than we can ever imagine
-Rachel Held Evans
P.S. if you (Christian or not) do have any deep, gnawing, unsettling questions, ones you keep coming back to time after time, ask someone. Seriously. Don't behave like me and keep a stash of inconsistencies piled in the back of your mind. After all, there's probably someone around you with the wisdom necessary to set your mind at ease, so why not give it a shot?
Monday, March 17, 2014
The Art of Celebration
Rend Collective's new album "the Art of Celebration" released today. The album is beautiful and has a beautiful message, one that I can't explain any better than they can, so check out this video!
Friday, March 14, 2014
Know Your Enemy
I haven't posted in five days! Unthinkable! Happy Pi Day everyone.
I've been thinking about John 8:44 lately (Jesus is speaking):
I've been thinking about John 8:44 lately (Jesus is speaking):
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Lewis is right in saying that we are in enemy territory, and we need to be aware of that. He is also right in saying that Jesus does hold the ultimate victory- there is nothing the Enemy can ever do that will undo God's plan. Our goal is to take back as much of this rebel-occupied territory as possible before the full-scale invasion. This is what we pray for when we sing "Build Your kingdom here, let the darkness fear": we want God's will to be done right here and now, and we want to beat back the false kingdom of the Enemy.
So: we need to know our enemy. I always think of the passage I quoted above when I think of Satan- it seems to me that Jesus' description is probably all-encompassing. This is who our Enemy is: he is a liar and the father of lies. He's powerful, because lying works. He has been lying to human beings from the beginning, and we are too weak to resist it on our own. Don't ever get the idea that Satan is weak- he's much more powerful than you and me. The good news is, he's nowhere CLOSE to God. There's no contest. Satan lies. That's all he does. It's his defining characteristic. While his lies are powerful, they're all he has! All he can do, all he has ever done, is lie. This passage gives me great hope- our God can move mountains, change lives, and raise the dead... all Satan can do is lie. When it all comes down to it, in the face of God Almighty, he's powerless.
But apart from God, his lies hold sway over us, and you know what? He pisses me off. Really, when I think about him, it's hard to stand him. He has lied too many times. He has lied to me too many times. He's still lying. He's lying to all the girls growing up around the world who don't think they're beautiful or valuable. People who starve themselves or harm their bodies in all sorts of ways to conform to artificial and impossible standards. He lies to people who mistreat their spouses, kids, or parents, telling them that kindness and justice aren't necessities. He's lying to everyone who doesn't feel loved or important, telling them that they're just a face, just a statistic. He lies to everyone who hasn't known God's love, telling them there's nothing more to life than this. I walk through hallways at school and see people who are being lied to- that they're not pretty enough, not smart enough, not unique enough, not popular enough, and not valuable.
THIS is what we're up against when we live as Christians. We're trying to beat back the Devil's manifold deceptions. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can do just that. He can still deceive us, but he won't own us anymore. THIS is what's at stake- billions of people are not only headed for a very bad eternal residence, but their being lied to on Earth! People are worth more than that.
There's a lot of good news in this department- we serve a God who's in the business of telling the truth. Praise God! He is doing great things across the face of this planet, through his Spirit and through us. More people see the devil's lies for what they are every day. The cross already destroyed Satan's power for ever and ever. Now he's just trying to wreak as much havoc as he can. YOU are an instrument of truth, uniquely equipped by the Holy Spirit to combat the enemy's rebel forces in whatever way God calls you to.
Don't just pass the devil off as no big deal- but don't sweat him too much, because God Almighty is on our side.
The war is over, but the battle is on!
“In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth -- only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair.”
- C.S. Lewis (of course!)
We need to know our enemy. In the ever-quotable words of C.S. Lewis, "Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel.” Mere Christianity was broadcast on the radio during World War II, so Lewis uses extensive wartime imagery throughout the book. Jesus, the rightful king of the world, will land, and will land in power, but for the time being the rebellion, headed by the devil, holds sway over the earth. [Jesus is holding off His full-scale invasion to allow as many people as possible to join his side- when he arrives it will be too late!]
Lewis is right in saying that we are in enemy territory, and we need to be aware of that. He is also right in saying that Jesus does hold the ultimate victory- there is nothing the Enemy can ever do that will undo God's plan. Our goal is to take back as much of this rebel-occupied territory as possible before the full-scale invasion. This is what we pray for when we sing "Build Your kingdom here, let the darkness fear": we want God's will to be done right here and now, and we want to beat back the false kingdom of the Enemy.
So: we need to know our enemy. I always think of the passage I quoted above when I think of Satan- it seems to me that Jesus' description is probably all-encompassing. This is who our Enemy is: he is a liar and the father of lies. He's powerful, because lying works. He has been lying to human beings from the beginning, and we are too weak to resist it on our own. Don't ever get the idea that Satan is weak- he's much more powerful than you and me. The good news is, he's nowhere CLOSE to God. There's no contest. Satan lies. That's all he does. It's his defining characteristic. While his lies are powerful, they're all he has! All he can do, all he has ever done, is lie. This passage gives me great hope- our God can move mountains, change lives, and raise the dead... all Satan can do is lie. When it all comes down to it, in the face of God Almighty, he's powerless.
But apart from God, his lies hold sway over us, and you know what? He pisses me off. Really, when I think about him, it's hard to stand him. He has lied too many times. He has lied to me too many times. He's still lying. He's lying to all the girls growing up around the world who don't think they're beautiful or valuable. People who starve themselves or harm their bodies in all sorts of ways to conform to artificial and impossible standards. He lies to people who mistreat their spouses, kids, or parents, telling them that kindness and justice aren't necessities. He's lying to everyone who doesn't feel loved or important, telling them that they're just a face, just a statistic. He lies to everyone who hasn't known God's love, telling them there's nothing more to life than this. I walk through hallways at school and see people who are being lied to- that they're not pretty enough, not smart enough, not unique enough, not popular enough, and not valuable.
THIS is what we're up against when we live as Christians. We're trying to beat back the Devil's manifold deceptions. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can do just that. He can still deceive us, but he won't own us anymore. THIS is what's at stake- billions of people are not only headed for a very bad eternal residence, but their being lied to on Earth! People are worth more than that.
There's a lot of good news in this department- we serve a God who's in the business of telling the truth. Praise God! He is doing great things across the face of this planet, through his Spirit and through us. More people see the devil's lies for what they are every day. The cross already destroyed Satan's power for ever and ever. Now he's just trying to wreak as much havoc as he can. YOU are an instrument of truth, uniquely equipped by the Holy Spirit to combat the enemy's rebel forces in whatever way God calls you to.
Don't just pass the devil off as no big deal- but don't sweat him too much, because God Almighty is on our side.
The war is over, but the battle is on!
“In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth -- only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair.”
- C.S. Lewis (of course!)
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Jingling Johnny
This post is entirely journalistic in nature. Here's the story:
So there's this band called Rend Collective Experiment (read my thoughts on them here). When performing "Build Your Kingdom Here," live or in their fantastic music video (here!), they employ an instrument which they have lovingly named the "jingling johnny." This is the odd contraption being wielded by Gareth Gilkeson, band leader and percussionist. It's beautiful, isn't it?
A jingling johnny is basically a stick that you thump on the ground, to which you may affix any number of various noise-making objects. Most include a small pie-pan-screen-door-spring contraption that makes a snare drum sound and numerous jingle bells. It has long been my dream to possess one of these beautiful contraptions.
Anyway, turns out Gareth and his wife Ali (also a member of the band- shouldn't be hard to figure out which one she is) have set up shop online selling handmade jingling johnnies for $280 a peace. Despite the fact that I know they certainly make high-quality instruments, I certainly could not justify spending that much money on such a device. However, as I looked at pictures of the thing, I thought "hey, I can probably build myself one for much less..." And sure enough, I soon found online videos and posts of people who had done that. It was at this point that I learned that the jingling johnny is also known as a stumpf fiddle.
So, sooner or later, building a jingling johnny for myself was firmly planted in my mind. The night I came up with the idea, my mom bestowed these pie pans upon me.
They next time my dad ran to Menard's, I tagged along and we bought a dowel rod, a plumbing reducer, and 2 screen door springs.
I spent the next couple days staining and then varnishing the rod.
Finally, yesterday, my dad and I went into the garage and did most of the actual building. This involved screwing one pan to the pole, pouring pinto beans into it, bolting the other pan on top, affixing the springs, attaching a rubber ball to the base of the pole, and affixing jingle bells at various points. In the end, we had this masterpiece:
Naturally, I brought it to church on Sunday to brag on it. We had some fun banging it around before church, and during the afternoon Josh and I actually spent multiple hours figuring out all the different was to use the thing (it is an entire trap set on a pole- it's really fascinating). Of course, neither of us could resist unleashing this force at Crave that evening, so we opened our worship set with an exclusive Joshcoe performance of "Build Your Kingdom Here" straight out of Bangor, jingling johnny and all. Here are a couple pictures of the result:
So there's this band called Rend Collective Experiment (read my thoughts on them here). When performing "Build Your Kingdom Here," live or in their fantastic music video (here!), they employ an instrument which they have lovingly named the "jingling johnny." This is the odd contraption being wielded by Gareth Gilkeson, band leader and percussionist. It's beautiful, isn't it?
A jingling johnny is basically a stick that you thump on the ground, to which you may affix any number of various noise-making objects. Most include a small pie-pan-screen-door-spring contraption that makes a snare drum sound and numerous jingle bells. It has long been my dream to possess one of these beautiful contraptions.
Anyway, turns out Gareth and his wife Ali (also a member of the band- shouldn't be hard to figure out which one she is) have set up shop online selling handmade jingling johnnies for $280 a peace. Despite the fact that I know they certainly make high-quality instruments, I certainly could not justify spending that much money on such a device. However, as I looked at pictures of the thing, I thought "hey, I can probably build myself one for much less..." And sure enough, I soon found online videos and posts of people who had done that. It was at this point that I learned that the jingling johnny is also known as a stumpf fiddle.
So, sooner or later, building a jingling johnny for myself was firmly planted in my mind. The night I came up with the idea, my mom bestowed these pie pans upon me.
They next time my dad ran to Menard's, I tagged along and we bought a dowel rod, a plumbing reducer, and 2 screen door springs.
I spent the next couple days staining and then varnishing the rod.
Finally, yesterday, my dad and I went into the garage and did most of the actual building. This involved screwing one pan to the pole, pouring pinto beans into it, bolting the other pan on top, affixing the springs, attaching a rubber ball to the base of the pole, and affixing jingle bells at various points. In the end, we had this masterpiece:
Naturally, I brought it to church on Sunday to brag on it. We had some fun banging it around before church, and during the afternoon Josh and I actually spent multiple hours figuring out all the different was to use the thing (it is an entire trap set on a pole- it's really fascinating). Of course, neither of us could resist unleashing this force at Crave that evening, so we opened our worship set with an exclusive Joshcoe performance of "Build Your Kingdom Here" straight out of Bangor, jingling johnny and all. Here are a couple pictures of the result:
You can't really tell, but I wore my relevant "Build Your Kingdom Here" shirt in honor of the event. It was so much fun! My goodness, when it looks like Gareth is having the time of his life beating this thing to death, he really is! Anyway- thanks a lot to my dad for really helping me out with the construction, to Josh for piloting it on its inaugural voyage, and to everyone at Crave tonight for making it all so fun!
You'll probably be seeing the jingling johnny again. In the meantime, why not build your own? :)
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Why I Love Worship Music
I wrote a summary of my overall view of worship a couple posts ago, here. To make a very long story very short, worship is anything that makes us less and God greater (John 3:30). We can do everything as an act of worship- in fact, that is how we are called to live (1 Corinthians 10:31). If we seek to worship first, everything "else" follows (Matthew 6:33).
Nice recap! Anyway, I followed this post on worship with two consecutive posts about worship songs, and you might be justified to say, "hey, I thought worship wasn't about music! What's up with that?" And you're right- worship isn't about music. But music, like anything else, can be used to worship God (hence resulting in the common misconception that "worship" and "corporate musical praise" are the same thing), and it is one of my favorite ways. In this post I'll share a couple reasons why.
God created music- that is why it is something so beautiful and so endlessly fascinating. God is a creative God. Once there was a universe without music, and then God came up with the idea. Think about that, huh! Anyway, I believe that God's main purpose in creating music was to glorify himself. (On a related note, God's ultimate purpose in doing everything is to glorify himself- more on that in future posts.)
So I think music that glorifies God is more beautiful and more fascinating than music that doesn't, because it's being used to exactly fulfill its ultimate purpose. We've all probably noticed, at one time or another, that music can communicate things mere words can't- remember, God made it. Music gives us a way to express things to God that we wouldn't be able to without it. And, by the way, while its true that God knows our thoughts, there is always value in expressing them out loud, and at times, out LOUD!
Something particularly beautiful happens when a group of believers gathers together and worships God, and something particularly particularly beautiful happens when that worship involves singing. The community present in a group of Christians praising their Lord and Savior is like none other- congregational singing itself encourages group participation. It's a great way to get a whole group on the same page: to sing something out saying, "we believe this!"
I love worship songs, as you have probably guessed from my previous posts about them. Worship songs can give words to prayers people have but have not enunciated. This happens to me quite a bit, and it's one of my favorite things about worship music. Sometimes I hear a song, and I basically say "MAN, I've been thinking this! But I never said it!... now I can sing it!" Just like God gives us words to speak right when we need them, He tends to give us a song to sing too. He's good, is he not?
Another thing I like about worship through music- hearkening back to Why I Love Rend Collective Experiment here- it's FUN! (Disclaimer: lament and mourning can also be worship- everything can!) God made music something that can fill us with joy time and time again; something to enjoy, play, write, sing, and create. I LOVE playing worship music. It's my absolute favorite thing in the world. I plan on doing a ton of it in college, and if all goes according to plan, make a living out of it. There is, as a general rule, nothing I would rather do in any given slot of free time. I can't say much more than the simple fact: it is fun, people! If singing about God and his awesomeness doesn't bring you joy, you're doing something wrong, because that is some joyous stuff to sing about!
As is already true, this will not be my only post on worship music. I'm sure I'll be able to think up more to say about it. I think about it, listen to it, and play it- well, all the time. So I'll probably blog about it often too. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Always remember it is about true worship first and music second. I'll leave you with these lines that reflect my prayer at every worship night, that behind the music are hearts in honest and unabashed worship:
When the music fades all is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart
I'll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear You're looking into my heart
Nice recap! Anyway, I followed this post on worship with two consecutive posts about worship songs, and you might be justified to say, "hey, I thought worship wasn't about music! What's up with that?" And you're right- worship isn't about music. But music, like anything else, can be used to worship God (hence resulting in the common misconception that "worship" and "corporate musical praise" are the same thing), and it is one of my favorite ways. In this post I'll share a couple reasons why.
God created music- that is why it is something so beautiful and so endlessly fascinating. God is a creative God. Once there was a universe without music, and then God came up with the idea. Think about that, huh! Anyway, I believe that God's main purpose in creating music was to glorify himself. (On a related note, God's ultimate purpose in doing everything is to glorify himself- more on that in future posts.)
So I think music that glorifies God is more beautiful and more fascinating than music that doesn't, because it's being used to exactly fulfill its ultimate purpose. We've all probably noticed, at one time or another, that music can communicate things mere words can't- remember, God made it. Music gives us a way to express things to God that we wouldn't be able to without it. And, by the way, while its true that God knows our thoughts, there is always value in expressing them out loud, and at times, out LOUD!
Something particularly beautiful happens when a group of believers gathers together and worships God, and something particularly particularly beautiful happens when that worship involves singing. The community present in a group of Christians praising their Lord and Savior is like none other- congregational singing itself encourages group participation. It's a great way to get a whole group on the same page: to sing something out saying, "we believe this!"
I love worship songs, as you have probably guessed from my previous posts about them. Worship songs can give words to prayers people have but have not enunciated. This happens to me quite a bit, and it's one of my favorite things about worship music. Sometimes I hear a song, and I basically say "MAN, I've been thinking this! But I never said it!... now I can sing it!" Just like God gives us words to speak right when we need them, He tends to give us a song to sing too. He's good, is he not?
Another thing I like about worship through music- hearkening back to Why I Love Rend Collective Experiment here- it's FUN! (Disclaimer: lament and mourning can also be worship- everything can!) God made music something that can fill us with joy time and time again; something to enjoy, play, write, sing, and create. I LOVE playing worship music. It's my absolute favorite thing in the world. I plan on doing a ton of it in college, and if all goes according to plan, make a living out of it. There is, as a general rule, nothing I would rather do in any given slot of free time. I can't say much more than the simple fact: it is fun, people! If singing about God and his awesomeness doesn't bring you joy, you're doing something wrong, because that is some joyous stuff to sing about!
As is already true, this will not be my only post on worship music. I'm sure I'll be able to think up more to say about it. I think about it, listen to it, and play it- well, all the time. So I'll probably blog about it often too. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Always remember it is about true worship first and music second. I'll leave you with these lines that reflect my prayer at every worship night, that behind the music are hearts in honest and unabashed worship:
When the music fades all is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart
I'll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear You're looking into my heart
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
"Give Me Faith"
Let's talk about another song! Same band. YES, I'm on an Elevation Worship kick. If you haven't Spotify'd them yet (as I suggested in my last post- I think I just invented a word), you are missing out. Anyway, I'm going to introduce to one of my favorite songs that I've discovered recently, "Give Me Faith." There's a video at the end of the post if you have not heard this one (we played it 2 Sundays ago).
The bridge of this song is my absolute favorite part, one that puts into words a prayer I've offered up to God many times before, perhaps with less eloquence and/or EGs. However it's not one of those deals where you have to suffer through 3/4ths of a mediocre song to get a sweet bridge- it's an all in all good song, the bridge is just the best part.
The verses and chorus share the request from which the song gets its title: "Give me faith to trust what You say". It's nice and singable, with themes of surrender ("all I am I surrender"), recognition of our status ("I'm broken inside"), and acknowledgement of our deep need for God and his guidance ("I need you to open my eyes").
The bridge, which the live performance I linked below begins with, goes thus:
I may be weak, but Your Spirit's strong in me
My flesh may fail, but my God You never will
It's awesome because it is an exactly equal presentation of our weakness and God's strength. This paradox is one of those things that we'll never wrap our minds around- just HOW strong God is and just HOW frail we are. We need him, and this bridge puts that need very poetically. It also calls attention to all the times God pulls through for us- times when our weakness would have failed, but God never did.
Singing this bridge out loud and proud (is there any other way?) is one of my favorite things to do nowadays. Such an honest cry out for the Help we will always need, and always have... try it out!
Sunday, March 2, 2014
"Open Up Our Eyes"
Yes, worship is more than music. Regardless, I still love worship music very much, and I'm going to talk about it a lot :). I'll post every now and then when I discover a new song that I fall in love with and want to share with you all. I'll share what I like about the song and any interesting bits of info I have on it.
Right now I'll talk about "Open Up Our Eyes" by Elevation Worship. We played this song tonight. I'll put a video to it at the end of the post so you can listen.
This song came from 2 Kings 6:15-17:
When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, no, my lord! What shall we do?" the servant asked
"Don't be afraid." the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
And Elisha prayed, "Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
The verses of the song are basically bread-and-butter praise, calling God "greater", "stronger," and "mighty."
The chorus is at once a simple reflection of God's goodness ("Your love endures forever") and a prayer that God would open our eyes like Elisha's servant's were: "Open up our eyes, surround us with your light."
The heart of the song is this prayer; the song is asking God to bring us greater awareness of his constant protection and the battles he is fighting for us.
The song's FANTASTIC bridge, "Our God is fighting for us always//We are not alone" echoes Exodus 14:14: The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still. This bridge has basically been "on repeat" in the back of my head since I first heard it. What a great truth to walk through the day with! Whom shall we fear?
Life definitely may be hard or ugly at times, but I am thoroughly convinced that we are constantly being spared even more pain by God's constant providence over us. Perhaps chariots of fire even intervene. This song gives a lot of confidence and strength to my daily life- it's hard to complain about minor obstacles when you have the God of the Universe fighting for you! This song also brings peace, because we don't have to fight, God will do it for us. We can just rest in this hope.
I love this song, and I am going to be carrying it with me for some time. I hope you enjoy it as well.
P.S. I only recently discovered this band, Elevation Worship. They are quite fantastic. Check them out!
Right now I'll talk about "Open Up Our Eyes" by Elevation Worship. We played this song tonight. I'll put a video to it at the end of the post so you can listen.
This song came from 2 Kings 6:15-17:
When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, no, my lord! What shall we do?" the servant asked
"Don't be afraid." the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
And Elisha prayed, "Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
The verses of the song are basically bread-and-butter praise, calling God "greater", "stronger," and "mighty."
The chorus is at once a simple reflection of God's goodness ("Your love endures forever") and a prayer that God would open our eyes like Elisha's servant's were: "Open up our eyes, surround us with your light."
The heart of the song is this prayer; the song is asking God to bring us greater awareness of his constant protection and the battles he is fighting for us.
The song's FANTASTIC bridge, "Our God is fighting for us always//We are not alone" echoes Exodus 14:14: The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still. This bridge has basically been "on repeat" in the back of my head since I first heard it. What a great truth to walk through the day with! Whom shall we fear?
Life definitely may be hard or ugly at times, but I am thoroughly convinced that we are constantly being spared even more pain by God's constant providence over us. Perhaps chariots of fire even intervene. This song gives a lot of confidence and strength to my daily life- it's hard to complain about minor obstacles when you have the God of the Universe fighting for you! This song also brings peace, because we don't have to fight, God will do it for us. We can just rest in this hope.
I love this song, and I am going to be carrying it with me for some time. I hope you enjoy it as well.
P.S. I only recently discovered this band, Elevation Worship. They are quite fantastic. Check them out!
Saturday, March 1, 2014
What Is Worship?
You've probably heard sermons that say "worship is more than music" and go on to define worship as something more then "that thing we do when we all stand up and sing". Since this blog is focused on worship, I thought I would share my definition. Well, it's not exactly a definition, I don't claim to have some insight that no one else does... I'll share how I think about and approach worship. That's what this post is about. Will the title of the blog be explained? Maybe ;)...
If you did ask me to define worship, I would put it simply and say that worship is anything that looks like John 3:30, "He must become greater, I must become less." Anything that makes us less and God greater, that's worship. Anything. NO, worship is not just music.
Thinking about worship as a thing we do on Sundays or something that happens when we all sing together is a really huge misconception. You see, "worshiping God" is basically the name for HOW we should live our lives. Living a life of worship means following 1 Corinthians 10:31, "so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." As Christians, we are called to approach everything we do by saying, "how can I do this for the glory of God?"
Now, doing so is actually impossible. Doing it with all of our strength for literally everything, I mean. We are too imperfect for that (in Heaven we will finally be able to perfectly worship God). For now, the process of becoming more like Christ can be boiled down to one simple goal: worshiping God more.
This goal isn't actually simple, it's a very complex, multifaceted thing, but I think of it as simple because, if we worship God, than all the rest of a Godly life follow. Kindness, gentleness, self-control, evangelism, wisdom, excellence, and all of the other things we are called to do and practice flow from worship. If our lives are all about making God great, then of course we're going to tell people about him! If our lives are all about making God great, then of course we'll behave in ways that point others to him! If, whatever you're doing, it makes God great, than you may be inadvertently fulfilling one of his other commandments!
Actually, it becomes clear that not only are our good acts a result of worshiping God, but our sin is a result of not doing so! You are never going to set out to do something with the aim of making God great and, in doing so, sin. The universe just doesn't work like that. If we were to worship God in literally everything we do, we'd never sin (remember, that's impossible for this life). It really does become simple: do things for God's glory, and in doing so your sin will be combated. Jesus tells crowds in Matthew 6:33 to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [food, water, clothes] will be given to you as well". Living a life of worshiping God (i.e., "being a Christian") is a question of HOW, not WHAT.
It is the combination of these three verses that, from a bird's-eye point of view, encapsulate the Christian life. That's why I've put them in the sidebar on every page in this blog. I think that trying to "do this, and do that" or to "not do this, and not do that" is all wasting time, treating symptoms rather than the real problem. We don't have sin issues, we have worship issues. If we do everything to make God greater and ourselves less, everything, than all of the particulars will fall into place.
This is by no means all I have to say about worship. It's life, man! That's what this blog is about! "Finding Worship" refers to the constant effort made to find HOW to worship through everything I do. Sort of like, "finding the fun in it", I like to "find the worship in it": how can any given act, however mundane, be done for His glory? This is the question that, as much as God empowers me to, I ask about everything I do.
Don't think I'm some sort of worship master, by the way. I DON'T worship with everything I do. I do a LOT of things that are not for God's glory. I am convinced that it is impossible in our earthly flesh to worship perfectly- but I am even more convinced that God is dedicated to making us better at it!
That's what I pray for myself, and all of you, all the time. Lord, make us better worshipers.
Be glorified!
"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither."
-C.S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"
If you did ask me to define worship, I would put it simply and say that worship is anything that looks like John 3:30, "He must become greater, I must become less." Anything that makes us less and God greater, that's worship. Anything. NO, worship is not just music.
Thinking about worship as a thing we do on Sundays or something that happens when we all sing together is a really huge misconception. You see, "worshiping God" is basically the name for HOW we should live our lives. Living a life of worship means following 1 Corinthians 10:31, "so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." As Christians, we are called to approach everything we do by saying, "how can I do this for the glory of God?"
Now, doing so is actually impossible. Doing it with all of our strength for literally everything, I mean. We are too imperfect for that (in Heaven we will finally be able to perfectly worship God). For now, the process of becoming more like Christ can be boiled down to one simple goal: worshiping God more.
This goal isn't actually simple, it's a very complex, multifaceted thing, but I think of it as simple because, if we worship God, than all the rest of a Godly life follow. Kindness, gentleness, self-control, evangelism, wisdom, excellence, and all of the other things we are called to do and practice flow from worship. If our lives are all about making God great, then of course we're going to tell people about him! If our lives are all about making God great, then of course we'll behave in ways that point others to him! If, whatever you're doing, it makes God great, than you may be inadvertently fulfilling one of his other commandments!
Actually, it becomes clear that not only are our good acts a result of worshiping God, but our sin is a result of not doing so! You are never going to set out to do something with the aim of making God great and, in doing so, sin. The universe just doesn't work like that. If we were to worship God in literally everything we do, we'd never sin (remember, that's impossible for this life). It really does become simple: do things for God's glory, and in doing so your sin will be combated. Jesus tells crowds in Matthew 6:33 to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [food, water, clothes] will be given to you as well". Living a life of worshiping God (i.e., "being a Christian") is a question of HOW, not WHAT.
It is the combination of these three verses that, from a bird's-eye point of view, encapsulate the Christian life. That's why I've put them in the sidebar on every page in this blog. I think that trying to "do this, and do that" or to "not do this, and not do that" is all wasting time, treating symptoms rather than the real problem. We don't have sin issues, we have worship issues. If we do everything to make God greater and ourselves less, everything, than all of the particulars will fall into place.
This is by no means all I have to say about worship. It's life, man! That's what this blog is about! "Finding Worship" refers to the constant effort made to find HOW to worship through everything I do. Sort of like, "finding the fun in it", I like to "find the worship in it": how can any given act, however mundane, be done for His glory? This is the question that, as much as God empowers me to, I ask about everything I do.
Don't think I'm some sort of worship master, by the way. I DON'T worship with everything I do. I do a LOT of things that are not for God's glory. I am convinced that it is impossible in our earthly flesh to worship perfectly- but I am even more convinced that God is dedicated to making us better at it!
That's what I pray for myself, and all of you, all the time. Lord, make us better worshipers.
Be glorified!
"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither."
-C.S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"
Concert Recap: Rend Collective Experiment
This should be a short post, I just thought I should record my most recent encounter with my favorite band in the whole wide world :). I should start by admitting that I actually didn't go to a Rend Collective concert, I went to a Kari Jobe concert that they opened for. I confess that I definitely went to see the Collective.
MAN, those guys have fun! They really mean all that they say about celebration! No matter what they do, be it beating on trash cans or stomping in unison upon the stage, they make it look like so much fun it is hard to resist the urge to run up and join them. They played around six great songs, all of them ones I loved to hear, including My Lighthouse (radio single from their upcoming album) and Burn Like A Star (brand new song on the album that has only been played live TWICE).
Short story short, I had the time of my life, enjoying a great night of celebration and worship with my awesome friends- thanks a ton guys!
Burn like a star
Light a fire in our hearts
For Your glory For Your fame
In this darkness light a flame in us
MAN, those guys have fun! They really mean all that they say about celebration! No matter what they do, be it beating on trash cans or stomping in unison upon the stage, they make it look like so much fun it is hard to resist the urge to run up and join them. They played around six great songs, all of them ones I loved to hear, including My Lighthouse (radio single from their upcoming album) and Burn Like A Star (brand new song on the album that has only been played live TWICE).
Short story short, I had the time of my life, enjoying a great night of celebration and worship with my awesome friends- thanks a ton guys!
Burn like a star
Light a fire in our hearts
For Your glory For Your fame
In this darkness light a flame in us
Thursday, February 27, 2014
I Stand Amazed
So tonight I watched "Betrayal" and "Passion" from the "Bible" miniseries, the episodes in which (you may have guessed) Christ is betrayed, tortured, and crucified. First let me digress and say that I am kind of annoyed whenever I see an adaptation of any bible story, because when studying the passage afterwards one tends to think of the previously viewed image and it can taint/skew/prevent future insight. That being said, this adaptation was quite well done, and it got me meditating on Christ's death, and thinking...
Observe that Jesus wasn't weeping and sweating drops of blood over the crucifixion- that is, the actual, physical, horrendously painful death. We know this because numerous disciples of his would later go to equally gruesome deaths joyfully, sometimes with songs on their lips. Jesus wasn't any weaker-willed than these mortals; he had more to dread than the cross itself. He pleaded in Gethsemane for God to take away his Wrath, whatever huge and unknowable punishment was necessary to pay for the sins of the world. Christ went through SOMETHING during and/or after his death that we will never have to experience. This "something" involves unimaginably infinite pain that we will never be able to wrap our minds around, let alone relate with.
It's pretty crazy to think about because it seems that, in a lot of ways, the cross itself would be enough. What I mean is, if some guy went through that horribly tortuous experience (have you ever read about exactly how you die when crucified? It's not for the faint of stomach) and he said he did it FOR YOU, it would be pretty clear that he loved you a lot, wouldn't it? If he said, "go into all the world and tell them what I did for you," it would make SENSE to do so. Even if he was just a human being.
However, God's love is even more insane than that. He didn't just endure the cross, but he took some unimaginable punishment that we will never have to even taste. He didn't do it for one person, but for everyone! (Read that again: everyone!) Not only that, but after the fact, he rose again, having conquered death itself. THEN the Savior of the World says, "go into all the world and tell them what I did for you!" That's weighty!
When surveying the figurative cross (and the punishment, beyond the cross itself, which it represents), all of my troubles appear immensely unimportant. Complaining or suffering through this and that seems so ridiculous when I follow a God who personally endured immeasurably more for my own sake! His perfectly selfless act also makes all of my "good deeds" into rubbish... When the Bible says our good deeds look like rags to God, this is what it means! How DARE I claim to be a "good enough" person, good enough to enter Heaven, comparing my petty acts of kindness to Jesus' sacrifice. That's just silly!
Gazing at the cross long enough also throws the resurrection into sharp relief. Jesus came back from the dead in power and in might, changing the timid cowards the disciples had become into the bold life-risking proclaimers that we know them as today. It was Christ's resurrection that changed that! Just when they thought they had all been wrong, in the "All Is Lost" moment of all of history, Jesus bursts into the scene, back from the dead. This is glorious! We can live our lives within that victory- nothing, not even death, can stop us!
In light of all the above musing, as I was driving home listening to the radio, numerous songs that said "life is hard but trust in God and it'll be okay" didn't seem to have much weight to them... [Not to say that they don't serve a purpose, I like to think that any given one of those songs has been heard by many people who needed that message spoken into their life. God is the the God of Comfort, working all things for our good, don't forget all of that.] But when it comes to worship, we are doing something wrong if we don't worship in view of the cross. Our worship should always have less "Lord, please help me with this problem/pain/issue" and more "Jesus, I am in awe of your sacrifice." As always, when I speak of worship I don't mean songs alone (I'll make a blog post on this soon), but I refer to how we can use everything we do to glorify God. If we go about our lives trying to glorify him without being constantly aware of his great sacrifice and equally great victory, we miss something beautiful.
The cross and its magnitude show us God's love for us: unfathomable, indescribable, infinite, and infinitely wonderful.
You may have noticed that this blog post has stolen the title of a well-known hymn. God laid it upon my heart as I mused at the foot of the cross:
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene
And wonder how he could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean
How marvelous, how wonderful!
My song shall ever be:
How marvelous, how wonderful
Is my Savior's love for me!
Let's take some time to stand amazed.
Observe that Jesus wasn't weeping and sweating drops of blood over the crucifixion- that is, the actual, physical, horrendously painful death. We know this because numerous disciples of his would later go to equally gruesome deaths joyfully, sometimes with songs on their lips. Jesus wasn't any weaker-willed than these mortals; he had more to dread than the cross itself. He pleaded in Gethsemane for God to take away his Wrath, whatever huge and unknowable punishment was necessary to pay for the sins of the world. Christ went through SOMETHING during and/or after his death that we will never have to experience. This "something" involves unimaginably infinite pain that we will never be able to wrap our minds around, let alone relate with.
It's pretty crazy to think about because it seems that, in a lot of ways, the cross itself would be enough. What I mean is, if some guy went through that horribly tortuous experience (have you ever read about exactly how you die when crucified? It's not for the faint of stomach) and he said he did it FOR YOU, it would be pretty clear that he loved you a lot, wouldn't it? If he said, "go into all the world and tell them what I did for you," it would make SENSE to do so. Even if he was just a human being.
However, God's love is even more insane than that. He didn't just endure the cross, but he took some unimaginable punishment that we will never have to even taste. He didn't do it for one person, but for everyone! (Read that again: everyone!) Not only that, but after the fact, he rose again, having conquered death itself. THEN the Savior of the World says, "go into all the world and tell them what I did for you!" That's weighty!
When surveying the figurative cross (and the punishment, beyond the cross itself, which it represents), all of my troubles appear immensely unimportant. Complaining or suffering through this and that seems so ridiculous when I follow a God who personally endured immeasurably more for my own sake! His perfectly selfless act also makes all of my "good deeds" into rubbish... When the Bible says our good deeds look like rags to God, this is what it means! How DARE I claim to be a "good enough" person, good enough to enter Heaven, comparing my petty acts of kindness to Jesus' sacrifice. That's just silly!
Gazing at the cross long enough also throws the resurrection into sharp relief. Jesus came back from the dead in power and in might, changing the timid cowards the disciples had become into the bold life-risking proclaimers that we know them as today. It was Christ's resurrection that changed that! Just when they thought they had all been wrong, in the "All Is Lost" moment of all of history, Jesus bursts into the scene, back from the dead. This is glorious! We can live our lives within that victory- nothing, not even death, can stop us!
In light of all the above musing, as I was driving home listening to the radio, numerous songs that said "life is hard but trust in God and it'll be okay" didn't seem to have much weight to them... [Not to say that they don't serve a purpose, I like to think that any given one of those songs has been heard by many people who needed that message spoken into their life. God is the the God of Comfort, working all things for our good, don't forget all of that.] But when it comes to worship, we are doing something wrong if we don't worship in view of the cross. Our worship should always have less "Lord, please help me with this problem/pain/issue" and more "Jesus, I am in awe of your sacrifice." As always, when I speak of worship I don't mean songs alone (I'll make a blog post on this soon), but I refer to how we can use everything we do to glorify God. If we go about our lives trying to glorify him without being constantly aware of his great sacrifice and equally great victory, we miss something beautiful.
The cross and its magnitude show us God's love for us: unfathomable, indescribable, infinite, and infinitely wonderful.
You may have noticed that this blog post has stolen the title of a well-known hymn. God laid it upon my heart as I mused at the foot of the cross:
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene
And wonder how he could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean
How marvelous, how wonderful!
My song shall ever be:
How marvelous, how wonderful
Is my Savior's love for me!
Let's take some time to stand amazed.
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