Ok, Time to Get on With This

I may have mentioned before that the original intent of this blog was to provide a place for myself, as a former Baptist, to work through some of the challenges, and adaptations I encountered as I entered and grew in the Presbyterian world.  Originally, I had hoped to help and encourage other believers coming from a similar background as mine.  Early on though, I admit I got cold feet and reverted to simply posting safe articles I wrote for our church newsletter.  I avoided my blog's mission because I had two concerns.

First, I was concerned that what I write might alienate my old Baptist friends and family.  Please understand, I have absolutely no animosity toward my Baptist roots or my former denomination.  My transition into Presbyterianism was not due to a theological dilemma, crisis of faith, or failure to have my spiritual needs met.  My transition was due primarily to my life's circumstances. In fact, I had no intention of making any such transition.  Life had provided me with an opportunity to step away from my role as a Baptist minister.  I expected to spend a short period of time simply enjoying participating in another denomination.  God used my circumstances, my lovely wife, and the loving people of Main Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, MS to move and mold me into where and who I am today.

That brings me to my second concern.  I had no desire to cause my new family of faith consternation that I "wasn't getting it" as a new member of the flock nor that I regret having taken this road.  The people of the church were very open to me and afforded me the opportunities to grow in knowledge and service.  There were lines of logic, ways of thinking, and ways of doing to which I had to become adjusted.  There really was a brand new vocabulary that I had to learn.  Very soon I learned that Presbyterians and Baptist believe and practice the same things, for the most part.  The trick is, each denomination has a different way of thinking, talking, and doing their faith.  What may on the surface appear to be a point of contention is actually just another way of saying or looking at something we actually agree upon.

Before I go further, please understand this.  I don't want to reference horrible cliches or make cheap stereotypical statements.  I do not wish to insult anyone of either denomination. But here it goes.  Based on my experiences in both denominations, I have to say that Presbyterians are by far more intellectual in the way in which they do their religion.  Baptists tend to be focused on putting their faith into practice in the daily arena of life. Ok, there it is. Crucify me if you must.  I am not calling Baptist dumb and I am not saying Presbyterians are all talk and no doing.  I am making a generalized statement that hopefully conveys in simplest terms an opinion based upon my experiences.  The opinion, whether right or wrong, says some extremely positive and negative things about both denominations. There is nothing new or original in those statements. Both groups deal with a lot of labeling that goes along with these stereotypes.  Presbyterians are often mocked as the "Frozen Chosen",  while Baptist deal with being labeled, "legalists." As I have stated repeatedly here, I have no intention of personally offending you with either of these generalizations.  At the same time, I hope you are disturbed by both, regardless of your current or former affiliations.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could embrace the strong steadfast theological positioning that is expected of someone bearing the name Presbyterian, yet display the passion, fervor, and single-minded devotion we expect of one called Baptist?  These are generalizations only.  I know Baptist who are intellectual theological giants, and I know Presbyterians who live and breathe the gospel of Christ with every breath they take.

Why am I now hashing this around and what am I up to?  Simply this.  It is time to get on with this.  It is time I move forward with the original intent of this blog.  A request from a friend about the issue of Baptism has spurred me forward with the notion it is time to get on with this.  I always knew Baptism would have to be the first topic I took on.  I have dodged it long enough.

As I move forward I do welcome comments and questions, but I want everyone to understand that I do not wish to argue or debate with anyone.  I fully confess that I am totally unqualified as a theologian and even less qualified as a debater. I am simply what I have said I am.  I am a former Baptist minister whose life circumstances put him in the Presbyterian world.  I would like to think that I have learned to draw from what I have learned and experienced in both worlds. Hopefully, that has made me a better person and a better Christian than I was.  Maybe, just maybe, I have something to say to encourage someone else who might be walking a similar path.  Maybe working through some of this will help me to get on with it as well.

Brave New World

Miranda:

O wonder!

How many goodly creatures are there here!

How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world

That has such people in't!

Prospero:

'Tis new to thee.
The Tempest Act 5, scene 1, 181–184

Have you ever had the feeling that you woke up one morning and the world had changed while you slept?  At risk of identifying myself with some unpronounceable psychotic condition, I admit I have experienced this phenomena many times.  Since I have encountered this wonder off and on since childhood I don't think it has anything to do specifically with growing older although it does have to do with the world constantly changing around us.  You may have encountered this strange development in perusing the new car market.  When did the cost of a car exceed the cost of the home you grew up in?  Yes, the world had changed and no one asked our permission.

There is nothing mysterious going on here.  The world keeps changing and we don't always keep up with it.  Then one day we get a surprise.  This is what has happened to a lot of us when it comes to technology, and its impact on the church and on how we minister in the world around us.  Back in the first decade of this century we began to see the impact of church web pages.  At first they were little more than electronic interactive business cards.  Today they have evolved to serve as message boards, video and audio libraries, and various other functions that work to express the individuality and uniqueness of the church congregation they represent.

Somewhere along the way a new, strange creature came along that began to impact the world of church ministry.  The creature bears the title "social media". The world literally changed when MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and a host of copycats and competitors flooded the internet.  As with the internet or any other media, there is good and evil within these social media outlets.  Whether we do or do not like these new media, they are there and they do not appear to be going anywhere.  The church has a responsibility to be salt and light in the world.  Here is a venue that needs much salt, and light to disperse a heavy thick darkness.  Here is a means of communication we must tap into, try to understand, and use for the glory of our God and the advancement of His church.  Linda and I are trying to develop and improve our "virtual presence".  Here are some of the things we are doing and how they can help you.

We have a very basic web page with a plethora of tools and an abundance of untapped potential we are only now beginning to unlock.  For some time we have had the electronic business card and the audio library function up and running.  Now we are going to be utilizing the page for its ability to communicate, mobilize and present an image of who we are.  When you visit our page at http://www.mainstreetpres.org you are going to see a sort of rotating billboard that is being used to promote upcoming events, sermon series, and special announcements. An electronic calendar is available under the <EVENTS> button at the top of the page.  You can go there to look for upcoming events.  Click on the link for any occasion and get more details.  This is very helpful should you misplace your copy of the printed calendar from the Main Thing, or if last minute changes have been made to these events.  Each week sermon audio files are added under the <RESOURCES> button.  If you want to download a sermon onto your MP3 player or stream to your smart phone and listen to them on your drive to work, they are here for you. Usually, by Friday afternoon, the bulletins for the upcoming worship services are posted here.  You can download them to see what we are singing, what the message will be on, and what readings we will be observing in each service.  You  can actually prepare yourself for worship.  In coming weeks we will be adding more and more photos of church life here so that you can direct friends and interested individuals to the page so that they can get an idea of what MSPC is like.  Visitors and new comers to the community can "check us out" here and decide if they want to get to know us better with a personal visit one Sunday morning.  The page is a work in progress.  You can help us out by visiting it regularly and checking out the functions being made available to you.

Many of you, if not most, have a Facebook page.  You have been using it for some time to share pictures of cats.  We would like you to use your Facebook page to minister in the world around you.  Main Street Presbyterian church has a Facebook page that has daily updates to it.  We are committed to using it as a bulletin board for our church, not a forum for theological debates or yard sale announcements.  The Facebook page is being managed for the church by Linda Simpson.   Linda has been posting upcoming events, pictures of church events, the family worship helps, inspiring quotes of reformers and theologians, choral videos, and other suitable items. You can help be a part of this ministry by visiting the church Facebook page.  You can get to the page several ways.  You can go to our webpage and click on the Facebook icon at the bottom of the page, or you can enter this address in your browser (https://www.facebook.com/mainstreetpresbyterianchurch). Once you have visited the page click on "Like" and "Follow".  Then you will get all the updates posted there straight to your Facebook page.  There are two more things you can do to help unleash the potential of a Facebook page.  When you see one of our posts, as often as you are willing, "Share" that post on your Facebook wall.  This expands the reach of our page.  Right now, only those who "Like" and "Follow" our page get our updates.  If you "Share" a post, then all your contacts get the post. Anyone else willing to share from within your contacts geometrically expands our audience.  Whether it is an upcoming event, an inspiring quote, or a choral video, our post you share may reach someone and pique their interest in what is going on here at MSPC.  If you have updates for your organization, changes or corrections in event details or other information that might be suitable for the page you can contact the church office.  Diane will forward your information on to us.

Finally, you need to know about Twitter.  Twitter is a little harder to explain than Facebook.  Twitter is a personal network you build, the way you want it.  Your friends, celebrities, businesses, ministries, and organizations have Twitter presences.  Using your computer or smart phone,you can "Follow" any of these Twitter accounts and you will receive what they post.  If you want to get John Piper, Ligon Duncan, or anyone else's posts you can "Follow" them and receive every post they make. Posts are limited to 140 characters (including spaces) so they have to be brief. It is very handy for sending out a quick announcement like a last minute change of schedule, a closure due to bad weather, or to pass a link along.  We are using the Twitter account of Main Street Presbyterian Church to expand our Facebook presence and pass along links to the webpage, information on upcoming events, and prayer notifications.  If you have a Twitter account you can access Main Street Presbyterian Church's feed by following "@MainStreetPres".  Go to our webpage and click on the Twitter icon at the bottom of the page.  If you have Twitter and are logged in, it will take you to our feed and you can click on "Follow".  If you don't have Twitter, or are not logged in, a page will open allowing you to sign up or log in.  You can help us expand our Twitter audience by clicking on the "Retweet" icon underneath a post.  (It looks like two arrows forming a square shape.)  When you "Retweet" a post, everyone in your Twitter network gets the post as well.  Once again our audience gets expanded and more people see our posts and can be drawn back to our church webpage.

I suppose the question many of you will have is, "What is the point of all this?  What is the main thing we are trying to achieve?"  As mentioned before, some time back the world changed on us.  We all know the power of advertisement.  Word of mouth has always been proven to be the strongest form of advertisement of all.  The reason companies pump millions of dollars into advertisement it to expand word of mouth.  If you like the Geico Gecko commercials, or Flo, the Progressive girl, or catch yourself singing that horrible "Marshmallow World" song, then the advertisers have succeeded and in one form or another, by word of mouth, you will discuss their product (just like I did here).  Their product gets more exposure and they sell more of their product.  Through the internet we have free advertisement that is an expansion of word of mouth.  The more people, "Follow", "Share", "Retweet", and visit links we send out, the more exposure our church gets and the more interest is built in it.  It may take a thousand clicks of the mouse, but eventually one of those people will be a local person who will visit our webpage, get interested in what is going on, give us a visit, and who knows, may even come to know the Lord.  That, is the main thing.

Fearless Worship

 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. II Timothy 1:7

I hope you have been as excited about our worship services of late as I.  The integration of additional instrumentation, in my opinion, has brought a new energy and spirit to the services.  This has not come about as simply a whim or a passing notion.  For quite some time now pastoral leadership, the session, and other concerned individuals have been discussing, debating, researching, and praying about worship music. At the same time we have been hesitant to take any actions for fear of alienating any segment of our church family.  I suppose we were fearful of collateral damage from a worship war. 

All of us are familiar with the worship wars.  We have witnessed with horror the degeneration of worship music in many congregations.  Fearful that traditional worship practices were becoming irrelevant in the modern world they have moved from the singing of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs into stage band performances.  Not long ago I read an article complete with an accompanying photo of what appeared to be a very modern and upbeat worship "stage" with the theatrical lights and the praise band in casual attire.  But a closer look at the photo and the caption underneath revealed it was actually a photo from a popular night club.   Assured that the slippery slope of contemporary worship will lead to such compromise others would like to see worship music remain familiar and unchanged. Yet congregations who choose that route continue to shrink in number and in their effectiveness to minister in the community.  Obviously, neither of these options are desirable for our congregation.

As a remedy, there are churches in our area who have chosen to hold two different styles of service:  one, a traditional service, and the other a contemporary.  I hope it works for them, and I wish no ill will on any churches or their leadership who have chosen that route, but I strongly question a program or a plan that by definition of itself divides a church rather than unifies it.  Should not a family of Christ come together in some form of unity? Life and its struggles bring with it a plethora opportunities for division and divisiveness within the church.  We have no need to make division part of the logistics of our worship.  I do not believe this is a desirable option for our congregation.

As I have stated before in other articles, I believe it is possible to worship God in a style and manner that is not limited by the words,"contemporary," or, "traditional."  I believe we can worship without fear using the full heritage of our reformed faith, and embrace the modern world of song at the same time.  I don't care if someone is compelled to label that as blended, eclectic, or schizophrenic.  I call it real people worshiping their Savior with all that is available to them.  In fact, I once heard of a group of radicals who saw so great a need to update their worship practices with a brand new set of contemporary Christian hymns and songs that they resorted to writing them themselves.  Today we refer to those fearless worshipers as the reformers.

The integration of the flute, guitar, violin, and cello with piano is something very new for us.  Quite honestly, we are still finding our way with it.  I have never had the opportunity to work with this combination of instruments.  I believe this will give us a unique sound, a desired flexibility, and the essential confidence so that whether we are singing an original composition, the latest product from Gettymusic, or a Bach chorale, we will do so with joy, energy, and daring.  My prayer is that we will come to be absolutely fearless when we approach any psalm, hymn or spiritual song.

What isThat in Your Hand?

God asked Moses an interesting question in Exodus chapter four, "What is that in your hand?"  In and of itself the question is actually quite reasonable.  I can remember several incidents as a child when one of my parents would ask, "What is that in your hand?"  Usually it was because whatever was in my hand probably should not have been.  While my parents may not have always known what was in my hand when they asked, we can say for sure the Lord knew what Moses held.  The point of the question was to get Moses to see what he held.  God then demonstrated to him what could be done with that old walking stick when it and its owner were in the hand of God.

Moses was equipped with a shepherd's staff, a unique experience with God, and the portion of God's Word given to him in his day.  While we may not have the same sort of burning bush experience Moses had, we have the completed cannon of scripture available to us in multiple translations, paraphrases and media.  We have over two thousand years of writings of Godly men who have studied those scriptures through the ages and recorded their thoughts, insights, prayers, laments and conclusions.  On top of all that we live in an age in which through technology we can access any of that information at any time at no great expense. Truly we do hold much in our hands, and no doubt should be held accountable for these blessings we take for granted.  

There is something else you hold in your hand.  Every week you pick it up on cue, confidently turn in its pages and are exposed to some of the content already mentioned in this article.  There you see words of scripture, the thoughts and prayers of Godly men, and tears of great theologians on the pages of your hymnal.  As the words of our creeds, catechisms, and confessions link reformed believers past, present, and yes, future; so the songs of our hymnal link us through the years.  

You probably seldom think about the hymnal, other than to be exasperated when there is not one in your pew slot.  Many churches have made the decision to do away with hymnals.  It is so much cheaper now to simply project the words of songs on a wall or screen rather than waste resources on dusty books used only once a week.  Although I have always considered myself one who idolizes innovations and promotes progress, I mourn for a new world so brave it does not need the comfort and consolation provided by the companionship of a good hymnal.

Sadly, we don't make use of our hymnals.  Perhaps that is because few know of the tools, resources, and structure of hymnals.  Maybe that is because our church members have never been properly introduced to their hymnals.  Our hymnal, the Trinity Hymnal, is more than an anthology of old music.  It is a rich resource for personal and public worship.  Have you ever looked at the Table of Contents?  You may have assumed there was no rhyme or reason to the order in which hymns are listed.  Did you ever notice ours are arranged based on their general content or use. For instance, the first 99 are about different attributes of God.  Other sections are devoted to the Trinity, God's Word, The Church, etc.  In other words, if you were depressed because of the struggles you have had against Satan and temptations, you might want to look at hymns 570 through 582 that deal with spiritual warfare.  Could singing or reading the words of #570 Faith of Our Fathers, #571 Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus or #582 Yield Not to Temptation, be a source of encouragement to you at such a time?

At the back of the Trinity Hymnal there are a number of different cross referencing tools allow one to look up a hymn by author, (of the text) composer (of the tune), Biblical reference, name of tune, poetic meter, first line of the hymn or hymn topic.  Personally I find it exciting that  we have hymn text going back to Ambrose of Milan (340 A.D.) and as current as Michael Card's El Shaddai #42.  We have hymn tunes composed by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Bach, and Handel, as well as folk tunes from various continents.  Creative combinations and switching around of hymn texts is made possible by using the poetic meter index.  For instance, both O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing (#164) and Amazing Grace #460 have the same meter.  That means either set of words can be sung to the tune of the other.  From the scripture reference index we can see that the largest set of hymns find their source in the book of Psalms.  I count somewhere around 260 hymns having their references there.

There is a big emphasis these days on singing new and modern songs.  Have you ever noticed that the Trinity Hymnal has 742 hymns in it?  Did you know there are 576 different tunes or melodies used for those 742 hymns?  As best I can figure, of those 576 tunes we utilize only 263, and we are probably only comfortable with about 200 of those.  Now I will be the first one to say that a lot of the hymn tunes are just not very singable.  I will also admit to you there are a lot of hymn tunes I really don't like and dread when I see we are going to sing them.  But, just because you or I don't like a certain hymn does not mean it can't minister to someone else and touch their heart.  Through the years there are hymns I absolutely could not stand when I first heard them, but now they are some of my favorite.  Maybe we should try and learn the hymns in our hymnal that have stood the test of time while we also explore the new and modern.

Beyond the anthology of hymns, the Trinity Hymnal also contains printed creeds, the Westminster Confession, and the shorter catechism.  These have little to do with music, but much to do with worship. These resources are available to the individual for personal devotion, or for use in corporate worship.

I am looking forward to the coming months as we attempt to make greater use of our hymnal.  As always, I would like to point out that if you are interested in learning more about music, singing, our hymnal and want a deeper worship experience, then perhaps the choir is where you belong.  We begin rehearsal at 9:00 AM on Sunday mornings.  We have some who go to their Sunday School class at 9:30 and rejoin us at 10:15 for a final run through.  Others stay and we work the whole hour and a half preparing for the coming weeks. You are welcome to come give it a try.  I do warn you though.  Praising God is addictive and once you start it is hard to quit.  Now I ask you that simple question, "What is that in your hand?"

Heal Our Land

I love my country. I am one of those irritating flag waving Christians.  If you don't believe me, just drive by my house on a sunny day and you can see Old Glory blowing in the breeze. I am the son of a World War II veteran.  While I love my country and our heritage, I cannot help but grieve over how wretched and sickening our society has become.  I also happen to believe that as a Christian I am responsible to pray for my country.  As believers we are responsible to lift prayer for our sin sick nation.  There is nothing a candidate, party, special interest group, or filibuster can do to bring healing to our land. Only God has the power to bring spiritual renewal.

On July 6, our choir will be singing a prayer in song for our country.  The song title is an appeal to God repeated over and over again, "Heal our Land." The prayer asks God to "grant us peace".  We are a violent and unruly people.  The psychologists, psychoanalysts, and sociologists argue over the impact of violence in our entertainment, or wish to ban firearms yet ignore the fact that as a fallen race we are at the mercy of a fallen and depraved nature apart from the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Yes Lord, please "grant us peace" and "strengthen all who lack the faith to call on Thee each day."

The prayer of the song goes on to seek the guiding hand of God.  I firmly believe it was the guiding hand of God that led to the founding of our country.  We have never been a theocracy, and I don't pretend to believe God holds America in some favored status over any other country.  But I do believe we have been the recipients time and time again of His blessings and His mercies.  This country has been a rich land in which the seed of the Gospel could take root and grow abundantly and touch the world.  Our nation as it stands today is far removed from this and the ideals upon which it was founded and is sick.  Our failure to live and share the Gospel outside the self imposed ghettos of our churches has opened our nation up to cancerous decay brought on by the sin we embrace.  Only the intervention of God can bring about the change we need.

One of the more uncomfortable topics hit upon in this lyrical prayer is the chastening rod of God. Truly, if we were to ever experience the revival of spirit we need, then it would be brought on by repentance and that repentance would no doubt be the result of God's chastening hand.  Oh that we could turn to Him willingly and not have to face what may come.

II Chronicles 7:14 says, "if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  While this was a word of promise given to Israel, I believe it can apply to any nation who turns to God. Notice how closely this passage compares with the idea of being born again? What would a born again nation look like?

A song will not change a nation.  A prayer, in and of itself, will not change a nation.  The hand of God sought through prayer and repentance would change a nation.  Will you pray with us, not only this Sunday, but in these days in which we live.  Pray for God's healing on our land. Pray that His Gospel would take root in our lives changing us, and therefore, changing our country.

Be Thou My Vision - A Word of Encouragement to Our Graduates

Through the years a lot of work has gone into developing hymnology tools that aid church musicians in finding appropriate hymns and choral music for special occasions.  One of the most useful of these tools is the topical index at the back of our Trinity Hymnal.  Unfortunately I often find that the topic I am looking for is not there.  "Graduation," should be in there somewhere, I am sure.  Unfortunately our topical index skips from, "Grace" all the way to, "Gratitude."  However, after looking at a few blogs and posts and a little consideration of the topic myself, I came to the conclusion that Be Thou My Vision would be a wonderful selection for our choir to sing on Sunday June 1, the day we recognize our graduates.

The text of Be Thou My Vision comes from a sixth century Irish monastic text.  It was first translated into English by Mary E. Byrne in 1905 and was later versified by Ellanor Hull in 1912.  The modern text we are most familiar with was edited and versified in 1964. The hymn, like so many others like it, is a prayer to God. It is an excellent prayer for anyone, but especially for a young person taking the first steps out into a big wide confusing world.

When we translate a hymn from one language into another and then try to versify the translation so that it fits the rhythm of the original tune to which it is sung, sometimes we get confusing and jumbled wording.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart,

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art,

Thou my best thought by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

The first stanza of they hymn is a petition for a single-minded devotion and focus on the things of God.  The request is that God, and God alone would be the Lord of my heart.  The confusing second line is saying, "Nothing else, only Thou!"  The petitioner, knowing that in him dwells no good thing, declares that the best thought he can have, day or night, awake or asleep, is to think on the Lord.  He fully acknowledges that God must be not only his vision, but his light.  For those graduates who embark on a collegiate career, you need to prayerfully ask God to be your vision.  You will see great and marvelous ideas, theories, and world views that you will find wonderfully tantalizing.  You will be exposed to wonderful explanations of facts that will challenge the very foundation of all you have been taught.  You will literally hear that good is evil and evil is good.  You will need to have God as your Vision, and the ruling thought in your mind.  Believers, this is a good prayer for all of us, regardless of our age.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my True Word,

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;

Thou my great Father and I Thy true son,

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

This second stanza of the hymn is actually about the Word of God.  How can God be a believer's Wisdom and True Word? By the believer reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on the written Word of God. Only by the process of reading and studying God's Word can be achieve the duality expressed in this stanza.  As God's Word becomes part of us we become more aware of the mind of Christ.  We truly begin to act like children of the Father as His Word becomes part of us.  Graduate, if you are not already, it is time to become a student of the Word of God.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,

Thou mine inheritance, now and always,

Thou and Thou, only, First in my heart,

High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.

It is my sincere hope and wish that every single one of our graduates would have very successful and lucrative careers.  Many a young person has sought a career that promised wealth or prestige, but what he found was bankruptcy of the soul.  Be successful.  Pursue your dreams.  Remember, however, that if you are a believer, you are already a child of the King and there is no higher claim to fame than that.  There is no greater inheritance.  There is no greater treasure than what you already have.  This is a perspective we loose site of in the struggles of life.  Believers of all ages, as you face the challenge of life, remember that your Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

High King of heaven, my victory won,

May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun,

Heart of my own heart, whatever be fall,

Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

The last stanza, graduates, is about a subject you do not think on that much.  It is about the end of life.  I pray God grants you a long productive life full of challenges, victories, and few defeats.  There are people I went to school with who did not live to graduate.  There are people I went to school with, who within a decade of graduation no longer walked the earth. This final stanza reflects upon the ultimate and final graduation.  It refers to the end of life as, "my victory won."  Even as you see your high school life ending and a new life beginning, one day you will graduate from this mortal school of hard knocks and, like a victor, you will enter into eternity. But notice even now the petitioner, while addressing God as, "Heart of my own heart,"  requests that God continue to be His Vision, whatever may happen.

You will have a vision and an outlook that characterizes you life.  People will know you for your vision, whatever it is.  You can adopt the vision of your professors, or your employers, or that of your favorite celebrity you follow on various social networks.  Or you can seek to have the Master and Creator of the universe as the source of your vision, and your outlook.  He can be the world view that characterizes your life after this graduation, and those to come.  God Bless you graduates. 

Observations and Conclusions

For the last several years I have been making some very disturbing observations from which I have drawn some very uncomfortable conclusions. I have shared with you before that I have concerns regarding trends in worship music.  It seems to me that there is an almost fanatical move to eradicate traditional worship and replace it with the modern contemporary model that is patterned after the youth rally concept of the 80's.  I really don't have anything against contemporary worship music, and have utilized it throughout my career.  Likewise, I see no problem in utilizing multiple styles of music in worship.  The style and forms of music in worship will quite naturally reflect the culture of the participants.  Depending upon the congregations's education level, overall music background, and local cultural influences, I have utilized, features from folk, components from country, rudiments of rock,  sounds of soul, and the cornerstone of classical upon the occasion.

I have no fear of music styles and I do not believe the utilization of any style is a threat to the Gospel.  I do, however, find the tendency toward polarization extremely disturbing.  The active trend, fueled by popular culture is to go contemporary.  Therefore, the reactive archetype is to embrace more ancient styles and forms.  Are our only two options the scream of the electric guitar or the wail of the Gregorian chant? With the polarization comes new labels.  Now we must stipulate. Are we going to the traditional worship, the contemporary worship, or the blended worship service? Can we no longer simply go to worship?

Another trend that disturbs me involves the absence of music education.  Many of you remember the music teacher who would come to the class room and teach songs and music basics in elementary school.  That is no longer a common sight.  Fewer and fewer families are educating their children musically.  Don't worry though.  The various talent competition shows on TV are training our children about music.  They are learning through watching those shows what "real" music sounds like and what "real" musicians look, act, and dress like.  (In case that wasn't obvious enough for you, that was sarcasm.) In other words, popular culture is leading again.

With music education at an all time low, and popular culture running at an all time high, I fear that worship, as we know it is severely threatened.  As congregations embrace text only song sheets, and lyrics projected on the wall, our heritage of four part sung music is being eroded.  Choirs are being replaced by praise teams because of the lack of interest in singing.  The tunes and forms of more ancient hymns are being lost because they are not familiar to us in structure.  We are moving toward simpler and more infantile melodies in place of the majestic, the artful, the beautiful.

A silly but fun movie I enjoy watching on occasion is Sylvester Stallone's Demolition Man.  In the story, a 20th century cop is wrongfully accused of a crime and sentenced to suspended animation in a cryogenic prison.  Following a Buck Rogers type story line, he is awakened in a very changed 21st century.  While the story is very campy and light, the writers seemed to make some interesting commentaries on society.  One of the more comedic elements in the story revolves around what passes for popular music in this supposed Utopian future. Advertisement jingles from our day have become the popular music culture of the post nuclear world.  "The Oscar Mayer Wiener song is considered top 40 material.  Interestingly enough, with the devolving of music I see taking place in our world today I fear that future may not be as fictional a possibility as it sounds. 

I believe it is possible to maintain scriptural integrity, utilize a foundation of traditional music, and employ elements of various music styles in a balanced manner that would simply be characterized as worship, and need no other label.  I also believe the key to the church's music future is participation in the church choir.  (Oh, come on, you knew that was where I was headed.)  We need to see more people involved in choir and we specifically need to see more young people involved.  You young married need to find a place in the choir so you can learn more about singing and pass it on to your children.  You teenagers and young singles need to pour your energy and your enthusiasm into learning more about our musical heritage through participation in the choir.  The more people we have involved, the more we can explore that heritage and the more we can learn together.

Choir rehearsal begins at 9:00 AM on Sunday mornings.  We would love to see you there.  You enjoy hearing the choir.  You won't believe how great it sounds when your sitting in the middle of it.  Come join us and give it a try.