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!)

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

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?

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!

I love these guys, and I love this album. I may write more on it after I've listened through it one hundred thousand times.

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):

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.

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!)

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:

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? :)

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