Writing As A Means of Grace

While Kristen and Bobby take some time away from blogging, several guest bloggers will appear here at MySongInTheNight.com. Today, welcome Katina French, a Sojourn Church member. Katina is a fiction writer, and the Operations Manager at Social Media Explorer.

Recently, in reference to a sermon on Titus 2, our Community Group leader asked, “In what ways has grace made it possible to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and live self-controlled, godly lives in this present age?” For me personally, writing has been a means of this kind of grace.

Right now, I’m keeping a private journal, consisting of 2-3 pages of free writing each day. I’ve kept similar journals off and on for most of my life. This private writing is a place where I strive to be fully honest about where I am mentally, emotionally and spiritually. This kind of writing serves a number of purposes. As a writer, it keeps the words flowing. Often, we get blocked because of the things we’re not saying. Self-censorship becomes writer’s block. Having a safe place to wrestle with dark or difficult thoughts keeps those unspoken words from calcifying into a block.

As a Christian, this daily writing practice also serves as a mirror. One of my favorite books is C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces. The main character, Queen Orual, writes a book that is her “complaint against the gods.” In writing her life’s story, she sees her life from a slightly removed perspective. She comes face to face with her own inconsistencies, selfishness and sin, glaring from the pages, and is humbled and repentant.

James 1:23-25 tells us that if we only hear the Word, and don’t take action on it, we’re like foolish men and women who look in a mirror and immediately forget what we look like. A daily, private journal can be one way to capture that image, so we have a clear reminder of our own need for grace and forgiveness. It helps us keep our self-image grounded in reality, instead of seeing ourselves through rose-colored glasses. The knowledge that what you do today will likely show up in your journal tomorrow can also help provide accountability. Studies show that people who journal what they eat make better nutritional choices. Keeping a journal of your daily life can have a similar effect, giving the Spirit an additional means of conviction.

It can also be a source of encouragement. Sanctification is a glacial process. Looking back at old journals, I am often encouraged to see changes the Spirit has brought about that are impossible to see without the perspective of time. I can see answered prayers I’ve long since forgotten, and be reminded of friends who God brought into my life for only a season. I can see trials that are now long over that seemed endless at the time, and see how fleeting and transient even my most turbulent emotions are.

Writing also allows me to minister to others. In writing, I can express myself more clearly. I can take the time to consider my words more carefully. I can look up scriptures to make sure what I’m sharing is consistent and biblical. Writing helps me organize my thoughts on those occasions when someone asks me for advice or counsel as a sister in Christ. Since the time of the epistles, the church has used personal writing and correspondence as a means of sharing the gospel and encouraging each other.

Recently, poet Dave Harrity of Antler lead a number of members of Sojourn in a creative writing retreat. We looked at the different ways that Christian writers, poets and creatives can worship through our writing. Writing as worship, according to Harrity, is honest, whether that honesty is reflecting praise or lament. It expresses awe in the face of the divine, and bears witness to the world as it is: created good, fallen, and in the process of being redeemed.

Writing can be a means of grace in many ways. It’s provided me with rewarding work, material provision, and brought new people into my life I wouldn’t have otherwise met. It’s given many Christian writers, poets and songwriters the joy of imitating our heavenly Father through expressing creativity.

• How has writing been a means of grace for you?
• In what ways have you responded to this grace?
• What do you value more: private writing, public writing, or personal writing (such as private correspondence)?

Wings photo above courtesy Anatoli Styf.

Follow Kat French on Twitter (@katfrench)

The Screen Is The New Hymnal: 3 Steps To Better Worship Slides

While Kristen and Bobby take a brief time away from blogging,  several guest bloggers will appear here at MySongInTheNight.com. Today, welcome Chris Bennett. Chris is Director of Media for Sojourn Community Church. He is also a graphic designer and a banjo player for Sojourn Music.

The screen is the new hymnal. This is both amazing and horrifying.

Amazing because you can now introduce a new song with a few clicks instead of obtaining a new hymnal, but horrifying because now anyone can design their own digital hymnal. Trained professionals typeset hymnals. Most worship slides don’t enjoy such luxury.

The design of worship slides may not seem like a big deal. But, second only to their Bible, they are the most important thing people read on a Sunday.

Consider this quote, but replace “book” with “slide”, and you have the goal of worship slides:

“The real work of a book designer isn’t making things look nice, different, or pretty. It is finding out how to put one letter next to another so that an author’s words seem to lift off the page. Book design doesn’t delight in its own cleverness; it is done in the service of words.” – Richard Hendel, On Book Design.

Worship slides should not look cool; their job is to make the words of the songs lift off the slide. People don’t hum and sing swirling neon slide backgrounds throughout their week, but they do hum and sing the songs they heard on Sunday. Our job is to make the words they sing as easy to read and remember as possible.

With that in mind, here are three simple steps toward that end:

Make Slides As Boring As Possible

Yes. Boring. Ditch the swirling colors, the butterflies, the hip grungy backgrounds, and the serene cabin in the woods. Default to a black background with light type, or a white background with dark type, and be proud of it. Hymnals, bibles, and books written for adults look plain on the inside for a reason. The Hip Teen Super Study Bible is the one that looks “cool” on the inside. Design for the masses, not the teenagers.

Pump Up The Font Size

Your text is probably too small. Your main text should be no smaller than 30pt. Your grandmother doesn’t complain if the font is big. She will if it’s too small.

Use A Decent Typeface

If anyone thinks the font you chose looks awesome, you chose the wrong font. If anyone besides graphic designers even notices your font choice, you chose the wrong font. Again, the goal is to lift the words off the slide and be boring. Use a sans-serif typeface such as Helvetica or Frutiger. Or, a serif typeface such as Garamond, Minion Pro, or Jenson.

Good Grief – Our Beautiful Baby Boy’s Walk Home With Jesus

Kristen and I have felt such comfort from the many cards, letters, texts, visits, emails, tweets, Facebook messages and links to songs that you have sent to us in this week since Kristen bore our son Parker David Gilles into the immediate arms of our Lord. Thank you for grieving with us and for reminding us of the hope we have in Christ that we will see our son again, and forever praise God with him. And thank you for your continued prayers.

We want to share the following poem and short story with you, as they portray the lament and questions we’re facing, as well as our cause for joy. Kristen’s brother Ben Smith wrote the poem, “Beautiful Baby Boy,” which provided a perfect outlet for our grief and our limited ability to understand, at this time, how God will work this for our good. He read it aloud at our family’s graveside service.

My Aunt Charlean wrote the short story “Parker’s Trip Home,” which is a more accurate look at our final two weeks of family life with Parker than I would have thought possible, given that Charlean didn’t know the details until after she’d written the story and Kristen shared those details in her eulogy for Parker (these two weeks occurred while Parker was in the womb, of course – he was born exactly two weeks after his due date)

Beautiful Baby Boy
Written by Uncle Ben 

Beautiful Baby – Where did you go?
Why are you hiding? Your place is at home.

Beautiful Boy – No need to rush.
With hair this perfect who needs a brush?!

Beautiful Smile – Please let me see,
at least one time before you leave.

Beautiful Angel – Sent from above,
to kiss your face, oh how I’d love.

Beautiful Child – Please tell me what to do,
for I can’t see your eyes, or label the hue.

Beautiful Son — How I miss you so,
you went to a place and I can’t yet follow.

Dear Lord in heaven why did you take him?
Please make sure you remember to bathe him!

And give him all of the finest of toys,
At night tuck him in,
Our Beautiful Baby Boy.

************************************************

Parker’s Walk Home
Written by Aunt Charlean

Prologue

Heaven – January, 2012

“Parker?”

“Yes, Father.”

“I’s time, son.”

“Oh, boy.  I. AM. READY.”

“Now, son.  You won’t be gone very long.  I’ll send your brother to come and walk you home.”

“WOO WEE!”

Heaven – October 2012

“Parker.”

“Yes, Father?”

“It’s just about time to come home.”

“OK.  Could I have just a couple more weeks?  We’re going to go for some more walks, and football comes on tonight!”

“Sure, son,  have fun.”

“WOO WEE”

Chapter 1

“Hey Parker, I’ve come to walk you home,” Jesus says as he takes Parker’s hand.

“Hi, Jesus.”

“Well Parker, did you have a good time?”

“I had the best time ever!” Parker says, skipping along, hand in hand with Jesus.

“Tell me all about it.”

“I have a Mommy, and a Daddy.  I have THREE – one, two, three – brothers.  I have a Nana, Papa, Granddaddy, Mamaw, Great Grandma, lots of uncles, and aunts, cousins, great uncles and aunts, great cousins –Oh I have a big family.  And … they all love me.”

“Of course, Parker; you’re easy to love.”

Parker and Jesus walk along a beautiful path for a little while, then Parker says, “Jesus?”

“Yes Parker.”

“Everyone was there when we left, and they were really sad to see me go.  They don’t get it, do they?”

“No, they have a hard time understanding.”

Parker and Jesus walk a few more steps, still holding hands and swinging their arms.  Parker asks again, “Jesus?”

“Yes, Parker.”

“Could you help them understand?”

“It’s already being taken care of, buddy.”

Chapter 2

Parker and Jesus continue walking along the beautiful path, holding hands and swinging their arms.

“Tell me some more about your trip, Parker.”

“I had the best time.  I got to go on lots and lots of walks with my Mommy, Daddy, and board games with them and my THREE, one, two, three, brothers.  We had such fun.

“I got to go swimming with my Mommy, too. I love to swim.

“My Mommy sings so pretty.  I really like to hear her sing.

“My Daddy sings too, but he’s quieter.  Except…when he watches football.  I really like football.  My Daddy would jump up and down when there was a touch down, and I’d jump too.  My Mommy would laugh.

“The food is really good.  I liked the food, except sometimes it’s really hot.  I let my Mommy know when it was too hot for me. Haha!”

“Sounds like you had a really good time.”

“I did.  I’ll tell you a little secret if you promise not to tell.”

“I promise.”

“Well, I played a little joke on my Daddy.”

“Parker???”

“Yea, it was so funny.  See, my Daddy liked to rub my head and it felt really good.  But, sometimes I’d turn and he would rub my….butt!  HEHE  I’d have to giggle.  He didn’t know!!”

“Parker!  That’s a good joke!”  Parker and Jesus have a really good laugh.

Jesus and Parker continue walking home, Parker talking a mile a minute all about his wonderful trip.  “Football is the greatest!  I really like football.  Did you play any football?  You know something though, you need to do something about the refs, they don’t do so good, and it makes my Daddy mad.  I don’t think the refs talk with you enough, Jesus.  It’s a really great game, though. You see, there are a bunch of guys on two teams.  They have a ball that they kick and throw………    WOO WEE … “

Eulogy For Our Son Parker David: What God Has Shown Us

At yesterday’s memorial service at Sojourn Community Church (New Albany campus) I read this eulogy that I wrote for our son Parker David Gilles, who died in childbirth this past Sunday, October 21. We are amazed at the continuous outpouring of love from our family, friends, our local church and all of you who have come to our blog or offered prayers and condolences through social media:

2012 was the year our family was blessed to have our son, Parker David, journeying with us.  He joined the rhythms of the Gilles family when he was conceived the 2^nd week of January.  What a joyful journey began then! As His Creator was knitting him together in his mommy’s womb, God was also knitting our family together in a beautiful way. We knew God was giving us His perfect provision for our family in this precious one’s life.

Parker joined us in celebrating three family birthdays in January, two in February, one in March, one in April, one in May, one in June, one in July, too many to count in September, and finally his own on October 21^st.

But prior to his birthday, we had 42 weeks of enjoying Parker’s growing presence in our lives. Every meal, every game, every story time we shared together as family around our dinner table included our little buddy. His big brothers often boasted at meal times about their big brotherness and eagerness to meet Parker. They also helped us pick out his Parker name (by suggesting possibilities like Paco, which were easy to eliminate), and not less important his wrestling name, Parker the Punisher. This was fitting given that his brothers have earned their own titles at school on the wrestling mats.

Parker may not have understood everything we said or were doing in our home, but he was surely familiar with the rhythms of his family’s life together: the sounds of housework, meal times, movie nights, NASCAR and football Sundays with Daddy, Bible reading, story time and prayer, big brothers rough-housing, mommy singing and playing the piano and guitar, daddy singing freshly-scribed lyrics (or a host of his long-time favorite tunes), family and friends in fellowship together, moments of quiet and rest, and loads of laughter. Parker was present for all our family’s moments this year and that made them all sweeter.

Parker also knew the rhythms of walking and swimming since his mommy made sure he got plenty of exercise and fresh air while he was growing inside her. And his daddy made sure he took plenty of extra hikes and walks in these last few weeks too.

And Parker, like his mommy and daddy, appreciated good food! He tasted deliciousness from all over Louisville and Southern Indiana, and even in places like Tennessee, Texas and South Carolina where he got to travel with us. He especially enjoyed ice cream. He had ice cream almost every night, in fact. And that made him (and his mommy) very happy.

We had the privilege of sharing our church family with Parker too. Not only did he join us in our gathered worship times and receive the warm hospitality of our brothers and sisters in Christ, he was a great addition to the Sojourn Music Team and came along for all of mommy’s rehearsals at home and with the band for Sunday morning worship. He was also resting snuggly inside her while she and daddy composed more than 20 songs (and countless blogs!). As a member of our family, Parker heard the Gospel every week in our conversations, prayers and songs and our pastors’ sermons.

We all watched him growing from the outside, as God was growing him inside and preparing him to know fullness of joy and life in Christ Jesus. Parker was overwhelmed with the love of Christ through the tremendous overflow of demonstrative love, powerful prayers and praises poured out to God on his behalf by all of our loved ones.

As God has given us great joy in sharing our lives with Parker for the last 42 weeks, He will continue to comfort us with joy and peace as we remember the beautiful family time we had with him here, and long for more family time together in Christ’s kingdom, where Parker is continuing his journey of knowing the Lord, feasting at His bounteous table, being held in His strong embrace, laughing and praising His name, and watching his family as we journey on here, while he waits with Jesus to welcome us into our heavenly home.

We love our Parker David Gilles, and are so thankful for God’s provision of joy and countless blessings through his life to our family. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

OBITUARY FOR PARKER DAVID GILLES

Parker David Gilles was born into the arms of Jesus on October 21, 2012 after 42 weeks of being masterfully woven together in his mother’s womb while journeying with his family here on earth. He is survived by his Daddy and Mommy: Bobby and Kristen Gilles, three big brothers: Garrett, Logan and Connor Gilles, Papa and Nana: Bob and Claudean Gilles, Great Grandma: Eleanor Creech, Granddaddy and Mamaw: Steve and Mindy Smith,  Uncle Ben and Aunt Susan Smith, Aunt Julia and Cousin Jayli Smith, Uncle David and Aunt Mandi Smith, Uncle Darrell and Aunt Trisha Gilles and cousins Caleb, Collin & Mia Gilles, Uncle Scott and Aunt Emily Gilles and Cousins Sam and Stella Gilles and a score of beloved great uncles and aunts and second and third cousins.

On The Life & Death Of Our Son Parker David Gilles

Our baby Parker was born and died on Sunday, October 21 around 5:30pm. Until the moment his heart stopped, every medical test throughout Kristen’s 42 weeks of pregnancy had shown him to be a healthy, strong, growing baby. And then, for some reason we don’t fully understand, God took him.

We each got to hold our son’s beautiful body, as did several members of our family and our pastor Daniel Montgomery. And then after everyone left, and as Kristen slept due to the medication she’d received for her C-section and recovery, I held Parker until 1 a.m. the next morning. I will always treasure this time with him.

It is true that the body I held was no longer “Parker” — he was “absent from flesh,” as the wonderful song by Isaac Watts and our friend Pastor Jamie Barnes so truthfully says. But as I held him, the Holy Spirit showed me that this little body was not something to be discarded lightly, or looked upon as a worthless object. This was the work of art that our Lord fashioned and cultivated for Parker from within mommy’s womb.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them. — Psalm 139:13-16

This body was created and specifically gifted for use by our son, even for such a short time. You and I might hastily and shoddily construct something that will only be in use for a day or a moment, but God does all things well.

Hosea the prophet wrote of Jacob, “In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God.” (Hosea 12:3). And when Mary told her cousin Elizabeth about the impending birth of Jesus, her own unborn baby (John the Baptist) “leaped in her womb.” Then the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth, prompting her to say that this wasn’t just some involuntary muscle movement but that “the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” (Luke 1:41-44).

I know that our son was a living part of our family for those 42 weeks he was in Kristen’s womb. And I have every assurance that as I paced the floor of our hospital room with the body God made for Parker, and as I rocked him in the chair, that Christ or an angel may have pointed Parker to that scene and said, “That’s your earthly daddy. See how he loves you, and is waiting for the day he can come to you.”

All I Have Is Yours

In the same day Parker was birthed and died, our Sojourn Church family celebrated baby dedications across all campuses, and cemented the occasion by singing the offering hymn I wrote with Rebecca Elliott, “All I Have Is Yours.” As our friends dedicated their children to God, Kristen and I released ours to Him, submitting to His will.

One of the challenges of being a worship songwriter occurs when you’re presented with an opportunity to live your words, and prove whether you really meant them or whether it was just a matter of rhyme and meter. Satan knows this too and has tempted me to renounce that song. He has also mocked me for writing these lines a couple weeks ago, in a song about the Holy Spirit that we may record someday:

You ripple through a grave site, and comfort the bereft
With promise to reanimate the dust with Holy breath.

Do I really believe that? Does it really bring me comfort? And can I really surrender everything to God, and even praise Him that “All I have is Yours”?

With God’s help I can. With my family and my church I can. With a spouse who truly models what it means to be a worship leader in every aspect of live, I can. In my own power, I’m too stingy to even share a helping of mashed potatoes at a gathering, but in the power of Christ I can declare now more than ever that His way is best, and everything He gives me is truly His.

Your Will Is All I Need

In the last few days many songs have comforted me, including lyrics and links to songs and hymns that many of you have sent me through Twitter, Facebook and email. One of the songs I’ve reflected on a lot is “Your Will.” Three worship leaders from different churches (Shannon Lewis, McKendree Augustus and Gary Durbin) wrote this song but they did not have a second verse for it. Shannon asked if I could take a stab at it, which I was glad to do.

Now Shannon and his wife Cyle have recorded it with their band Saint Lewis, and they’ve been kind enough to donate all the proceeds from the $0.99  per iTunes download for the month of October. These proceeds will pay for whatever portion of medical bills uncovered by our insurance. Kristen and I are very grateful. You can read more about it at Shannon’s blog, and you can hear a preview and download “Your Will” on iTunes here.

Although the loss of Parker is the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through, I am thankful that God gives me the strength to say “Your will is all I need” and to trust the care of all my children to the one who surrendered His “own body to the wrath reserved for me.”

To all of you who have prayed, wept, or reached out to us through social media or in person, know that we love you and praise God for your tenderness. Thank you so much for your kindness. We love our friends and family. We love our church Sojourn. We love our campus in New Albany led by Pastor Michael Fleming, and our brothers and sisters in Sojourn Music, led by Mike Cosper. We love all of our family in Christ, including even those we’ve never met but with whom we’ve interacted on Facebook, Twitter, this My Song In The Night blog and other online spheres. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The Idol Of Stylistic Preferences In Worship Music

“Addiction to a style inevitably leads to a fear of variety. Are we afraid to assume that God is the Lord of continuous variety and first-day newness? ‘Not in my style, therefore I cannot worship’ represents this particular idol … The foolishness of style-centered worship is exposed by the nature of God’s creatorhood, namely that he does not confine himself to one vocabulary or one language.”

— Harold Best, Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts, p. 169

We are all so quick to champion our style and codify it as “the way worship music has to be.” And this behavior is just apparent in those outside the majority (in other words, “the indie crowd”) as those inside (“contemporary worship”). We say, “Enough of the Chris Tomlin style! Our sound will be like … Sigur Ros!” Or “Mumford and Sons!” And so we end up with a congregation that, up until now, was belting out anthems like this at the top of their lungs:

The Godhead Three in One
Father, Spirit, Son
Lion and the Lamb
Lion and the Lamb
How great is our God! Sing with me,
How great is our God!

And now they don’t know how in the world they’re supposed to sing along with this new style. But we don’t care, because we know better than they do. We, after all, are artistes.

And so, we’ve just done the same thing we criticize others for doing.

Leaders must sometimes lay aside their preferences. Followers must sometimes lay aside their preferences. The young, the old, the expert, the novice and everyone must sometimes lay aside their stylistic preferences when the church gathers — no matter what those stylistic preferences are, as long as we’re left with something that stirs affections for Christ in the true revelation of Himself, and something our congregation finds singable.

 

When Does 3=4? Find Out In My Interview With The Band Interstates

Interstates is an instrumental rock band, most of whom are also fellow members in Sojourn Music with Kristen and me.

Now they’ve released a new album, 3+4, my favorite Interstates record yet. You can buy it for only $4.99 on iTunes today.

Then listen to this interview I conducted with Interstates members Alex O’Nan, Neil Degraide and Brian Meurer. You can listen by downloading it from our podcast, SojournMusic.com Radio. Or just click the “play” button below:

No Reason To Doubt – Every Reason To Praise

I am pregnant. I’ve been pregnant for a little over 41 weeks.

You can probably imagine what it’s like to be anticipating something for nearly 10 months and wondering, more than anyone else could possibly be wondering, what are the answers to all those “baby timeline” questions posited by loving friends, family and observant strangers: “Didn’t he get the memo to come out?” “Have you felt any signs of labor yet?”

I feel an aggressive temptation to doubt, to question whether God knows precisely what He’s doing or to wonder why He’s taking so long to bring this baby into the world, or what His grand purpose is in all this waiting.

Since I’ve been away from my legal secretary desk for two weeks now after starting maternity leave a week before my due date, I’ve been able to spend more time at home than I’ve ever had to spend at home. I’m thankful that Bobby has been able to work from home for part of this time which at least has given me someone to interact with throughout the day (sharing meals, taking walks, listening to music, etc., although I try not to disturb his work too much). During this short season of waiting, trusting, anticipating, and resting, God has been continuously reminding me that He is near, He is good, and He is faithful. Why does this matter?

In the face of rest-robbing doubt, remembering God’s faithfulness throughout my life, throughout all of history, and dwelling upon His goodness and love inspires my heart to abide in Him, to rest in Him, to continue trusting His unfailing Word and His steadfast love. And it inspires my whole being to praise Him now, while I still have my being. There’s no need for me to put off praising Him until I’ve experienced the fulfillment of the thing I’ve been looking forward to for the last 10 months (holding my precious baby boy). I have every reason to praise Him now (just as I’ll have every reason to praise Him then, when I am holding His precious provision for our family).

This is true for all believers as we hold fast to the hope that we’ve been given through Christ of living eternally in the presence of God, completely free from the presence and power of sin and death. We have this hope as an anchor for our souls, firm and secure. God will finish the good work He’s begun in us and in all of history.

For those of you who are now in Christ, remind yourself of these powerful truths which are the pillars of your present reality:

• I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.
• I have been brought out of exile and loneliness, adopted into the family of Christ!
• I have been rescued from death, forgiven of all my sins! I have been reconciled to my Maker, the One, True, Living God!
• I have been given new life through the very Word of God (James 1:18; I Pet. 1:23)—Jesus Christ who laid down His spotless, blameless life for utterly sinful me and raised me to new, abundant, never-ending life through His resurrection power now at work in me!
• I have been given everything I need in Christ! The Lord is my Shepherd—I suffer NO lack!
• And even though I’ve never seen God, I heartily trust Him (by grace through faith) and rejoice with inexpressible joy because I am now receiving the goal of my faith, the salvation of my soul! (I Pet. 1:8-9)

Yes, today is the day to remember that the Lord is good and completely trustworthy. God cannot fail. He has never failed. Today is the day and now is the moment to lift our hearts and hands in praise to the God who gives life and hope to wretched, condemned sinners. He alone is worthy of ALL praise ALL of the time!

Today, I remember again that He has written all of our days in His book, including the birthday of my little Parker David Gilles. I am confident that God will complete the good work of this 41+ week pregnancy in His perfect time and that we’ll have a wonderful time celebrating the display of God’s power, beauty and wonderful love as we sing “Happy Birthday” to our baby boy, whenever that day comes. . .

Why Keep Teaching God’s Word To Those Who Don’t Seem To Care?

The Word of the Lord is powerful wisdom and effective to save us. It is able to heal us and transform our hearts and minds. God Himself uses it to make us ready to do every good work. His perfect Word is corrective, teaching us what is true, what is wrong in our lives and what needs to conform to His righteousness.

All Scripture is inspired by God.

• This is why we sing it.
• This is why we read it and listen to it.
• This is why we preach and teach it faithfully.
• This is why we persevere in sharing it with our children, who, like all of us, were born sinners in need of salvation.

If we’re trustworthy parents, our children can trust us to teach them what is true. And if we faithfully teach them from their childhood the perfect ways of God as revealed in His inspired Word, then, like Timothy, they will have the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus:

II Timothy 3:14-17—But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.  All Scriptures is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.

Our aim should be that they would turn from trusting us or anyone or anything else for salvation. Rather, that they will take hold of the wisdom of the Scriptures and run to their only Savior, Jesus Christ, to receive His salvation by trusting in Him.

This should be our prayerful hope for all who don’t know Christ.

It’s easy for us to grow weary and be discouraged as we continuously share God’s Word with believers and unbelievers alike through our hymns, psalms, praise songs, sermons and conversations — especially when it appears that our message, God’s message, is falling on deaf ears and dull hearts. It’s also discouraging to us when our children seem to care less about the Word of God that we share with them.

In our discouragement, we should let the words of Paul to Timothy encourage us—Timothy heard the Scriptures from his childhood and they gave him the wisdom to receive the salvation that was revealed through Jesus Christ. The inspired Words of God inspired Timothy to receive this salvation and trust in Jesus. This is true for any of us who have received Christ’s salvation. We heard the Truth of Scripture and by God’s gracious Spirit we were inspired to receive salvation by trusting in Jesus Christ.

Let’s persevere together by God’s grace and power at work in us in humbly yielding and listening to God’s Word. It continually corrects and teaches us and prepares and equips us for every good work, including the critical work of teaching His Truth to everyone we meet. And let’s trust that the God who sent His Word, Jesus, to heal and save us will continue to faithfully perform His Word and save all who take hold of the wisdom of the Scriptures and receive His salvation.

God who promised is faithful.

 

The Bitter Worship Leader’s Dilemma

“It’s plain from the Bible that we worship by the Holy Spirit (see Philippians 3:3); but it’s also clear that the Holy Spirit can be grieved. Ephesians 4:30 urges us: ‘Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.’ Then it tells us some of the ways not to grieve Him: ‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger’ (v. 31). The implications of this are huge … We talk a lot about Spirit-led worship, but if we truly want to be led by the Holy Spirit, we need to make sure we’re keeping in step with Him in our everyday lives.”

— Matt Redman, The Unquenchable Worshiper: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship, p. 24

It’s easy for worship leaders to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, first by becoming bitter and then by letting that bitterness grow into rage and anger. Worship leaders can turn bitter because:

• The senior pastor blames you when the church doesn’t grow, or doesn’t attract/retain youth and 20-somethings.
• The congregation seems like it would kill them to sing out, raise their hands or display any sort of passion.
• The elderly say the music is too loud and strange.
• The young say the music is too old fashioned.
• The hipsters say the music is too mainstream.
• Somehow your equipment keeps disappearing during the week.
• Your drummer keeps speeding songs up.

I’m sure you could add plenty more reasons. But …

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger …”

Your bitterness won’t change anything, except that you’ll be grieving the One who can turn those situations around or give you the grace to endure them for as long as they last. Let the first sign of a bitter feeling spur you to pray. And not just a “Lord, deal with this unfairness” prayer, although God wants you to take your frustrations to Him. But praise Him, too.

Praise Him for all the things that go right. Praise Him for His sovereignty over the things that go wrong. Praise Him for His faithfulness and wisdom. Praise Him because His ways are higher than your ways. Praise Him because His benevolent control of your situation extends further than you can even imagine.

Photo by David Masters, used via Creative Commons license