Hearing

A couple weeks ago I listened to Adrian Warnock interview Liam Goligher.

Liam: There is a magic that happens in the pulpit...

Adrian: *discusses words used for that: anointing, unction

Liam: It's the Holy Spirit taking up the preacher, it's the word coming in power, what Paul was preaching about: not in word only, but also in power.

They go on to talk about the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching. Later in the discussion Adrian and Liam talk about listening to preaching.

Liam: Even this note taking thing... I've gotta stop reading when somebody is reading the Bible to me and hear it the way it was meant to be heard. The Bible was meant to be read. If I'm taking notes I'm replicating a lecture hall... Calvin believed strongly this was a divine interaction taking place.

Last night, reading Spurgeon's conversion account, I was reminded of the interview:

Personally, I have to thank God for many good books; I thank him for Dr. Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul; for Baxter's Call to the Unconverted; for Allein's Alarm to Sinners; and for James' Anxious Enquirer; but my gratitude most of all is due to God, not for books, but for the preached Word,

He goes on to describe the snowstorm/country laymen sermon that brought him to Christ.

These are interesting thoughts for an educator like me. I am working on projects where I try to see how much music I can get out of young learners without introducing note reading. I want to find out how much music they can internalize before they need visual cues.

I've always been a more visual learner myself. But when I'm glued to music notation I'm not anywhere on the path to learning jazz. And if I'm copying down a powerpoint during a sermon maybe I'm missing part of God's personal message to me.

Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God.

We who, in the modern era, used to attend lectures on the weekends for kicks, now can't hear what someone is saying next to us for staring at our iphones. How much of the gospel is our visually overstimulated society missing? We have become dull of hearing in many ways.

Good link every Christian MUST read

Evangelize by loving Christians. A Biblical mandate Satan wants us to forget. Please take two seconds to read this concise but thought-provoking article!

Boy like me, Man like you

So, Jesus. You're from earth?

Yeah, but, you know; I'm originally from heaven.

Nope. Jesus wasn't like that. He was one of us. You know, it's not even like Jesus came over one day to shoot a few hoops to make us THINK he was one of us; he WAS one of us. Jesus didn't have to kiss babies or have his own family to show that he was down-to-earth; Jesus was from Hicktown, Galilee.

I started thinking about this when I was reading Hebrews 2 this week. I've always thought: 'Why do we talk about Psalm 8 and refer to ourselves' (What is man, that God is mindful of him, or the son of man, that God cares for him?); 'but then the writer of Hebrews uses Psalm 8 to refer to Christ?' (God has crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.)

During Monday's reading God opened my eyes and I understood: this passage works because Jesus WAS a human being. Yes, God notices the human race and cares for us. And by honoring Christ in verses 7-8 God is in effect honoring or giving special attention to the entire human race, because Jesus came from us.

Of course I knew that's what Hebrews 2 was getting at and of course I've believed in the incarnation since I was 2. But this is a fresh look. In the great Super Bowl of the Universe, Jesus won and he is, in essence, from my hometown.

Those thoughts flashed through my mind during a hurried Bible reading Monday morning. I got to choir practice Monday night and God had incredibly planned for me to sing and meditate about God's provision for our race through the incarnation. Who could say it better than the Apostle Paul and then hammer into my system better than Handel and a good choir?

Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

By. man.

Books about snow that you should read to your child.

I'm very interested in reading to children, although I hope I don't overstep my bounds being the music specialist in my elementary school. I slip literature in whenever I can. Here are two snow-themed books that you should read to your children.

Snowflake Bentley tells the story about Wilson A. Bentley, the first person to ever photograph a single snow crystal. The story blends biography with storytelling well and although I think it might be most fitting for 2nd-3rd grade I was even able to interest my preschoolers with it for a few minutes. The artistic storytelling is enhanced by great artwork and pictures of snow crystals.

My mom read Treasures in the Snow to me. Patricia St. John sets her story about children and forgiveness in Switzerland. A small war of revenge between two children, Annette and Lucien, turns almost deadly when Annette's younger brother Dani gets in a life-threatening accident that is Lucien's fault. The concepts of guilt, forgiveness, and reconciliation come alive.

You can read the original 'chapter book' or, if you have a Sunday School class or teach very young children you can get the visual version. The third grade teachers at my school are reading the original version right now.