Sunday morning

I wrote this two Sunday mornings ago, 'upon singing a favourite hymn' and 'whereupon I should have been listening to the preacher but was remembering another sermon I heard a year ago and writing a poem about my sin.'

Sunday Morning

David just danced,

But I became aware of my Michal too soon.

So praise him that the stones cry out

When a living heart becomes one.

Look at me I love to praise:

On another day I am sounding my trumpet before me.

Praise him that I’ve been made alive

Even though I’m acting like a coffin full of bones.

So loosen my tongue and give it a job,

Make me want one thousand opportunities to say

That your blood breaks the power of sin;

The power of Michals and trumpets.

Pretty sure this doesn't count as poetry, but just thought I'd throw it up here in the interest of giving attention to my forlorn blog.

Oh, and here's the sermon that kind of stuck with me. I had never heard the 'David dancing' story applied this way. Basic gist of the sermon: David was so thankful that he got to return the ark that he didn't care who saw how excited he was.

LOVE this...

Justo Gonzales's synopsis of some of the Greek writer Celsus's statements (the primary source was too wordy):

The complaint of the pagan writer Celsus was quoted earlier: Christians were ignorant folk whose teaching took place, not in schools nor in open forums, but in kitchens, shops, and tanneries. Although the work of Christians such as Justin, Clement, and Origen would seem to to belie Celsus' words, the fact remains that, in general, Celsus was telling the truth... Wise scholars among Christians were the exception... It is significant that in his apology Against Celsus Origen does not contradict Celsus on this score. From the perspective of cultured pagans such as Tacitus, Cornelius Fronto, and Marcus Aurelius, Christians were a despicable rabble.

Love that foolishness!

this is the start of something good

I've always kind of known that playing music with other people is what keeps us, as musicians, ticking (no pun intended). It's what keeps me on the straight and narrow, anyway...

More proof when Kirsten and Brighton, my two four year old violin students, went bonkers today when I allowed them to play their first rhythm together. They were bouncing and giggling and stomping their feet; and the moms and I were consequently smiling our heads off when we realized the exploding energy that comes from "duet."

why do I care about kids' voices... oh yeah...

not sure about the soloists but otherwise I thought this was exquisite...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKngT4m3ETM

giving thanks is the answer to life

AND I quote Rich Mullins again...

and they say that one day Joshua

made the sun stand still in the sky

but I can't even keep these thoughts

of you from passing by

oh we are not as strong as we think we are...

Dear God, please help me. How can I stop thoughts of discontentment, regret over sin, and low self-image or egocentricity (whatever the heck those thoughts are)? Why am I so selfish? When will I stop comparing myself to them and focus on your will for my life? When will I have the peace to realize that my life is a beautiful gift from God and it doesn't have to measure up to what I perceive others' standards are?

In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Thanks, God. I didn't deserve to know that secret for success. Thank you.

I think, if I start physically listing God's gifts in my journal, it will renew my mind. Here I go!

I'm with those guys

I work for a good-sized parachurch ministry, and I went to Christian college. One tendency of Christians that I've noticed over the years is that of Christians wanting to disassociate themselves from other Christians. Why?

The name Bob Jones University dredges up not a few negative stereotypes, and I remember some of the professors there assured me that they were the exception to some kind of rule, that they were different than the other staff members.

Bob Jones is a massive organization, and I don't know that anyone's feelings are getting hurt by these little conversations. But moving a little closer to home, I was surprised a year ago by a statement made by a woman in my hometown. She had been serving in the same ministry for many years and made a statement about one of her personal living standards that established an us (or her) versus them (the organization) idea. Maybe she misspoke. But it wasn't just a vibe I got though I forget the specific language; she was definitely putting herself in a different category from her own ministry. And yet I thought, "lady, you ARE the organization..." "Ma'am, there is no question that we all exercise our Christian liberty at home; why does that change the fact that you labored and cried and prayed for this organization for these many years. You ARE the organization."

You know, I do it too. I'm an American, I have a right to an opinion, I am independent. Any friend reading this knows that I very well could have been griping about a staff guideline or another Christian more conservative than myself who makes me feel guilty or another Christian who is less conservative that I am judging. I am the one pompously and needlessly declaring my independence from other Christians.

During those times when we talk about ourselves, some clarifications are well intentioned. Some are even necessary. Nobody believes that their boss or their organization or their church is perfect. We work in places where we hope to make positive change; and to impose any fake optimism or gloss when we could be brainstorming solutions is another kind of sin. But while we often communicate to those closest to us our good goals and our secret stereotyping and mental self-portraits I sometimes wonder: does anyone have the humility to lose themselves in a group; to say without apology and without any qualifiers; "I'm with those guys..."

Why do we do it, why do we do it? I'm still not quite sure. Is it because we are ashamed of Christ? The Bible equates treatment of Christ's disciples to treatment of Christ himself. I've had this blog post in my drafts for a year, but now I'm going to post this because I found these verses today in Matthew 10.

"The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's award, and the one who receives a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward."

I think it is implicit in the "receiving" that when we have someone in our house, eating our food, taking our help, and showing us things about Christ, we should also be most decidedly identifying ourselves with those people.

Why do I need to look for the edgy Christians before I start striving for the reward in Matthew 10? Shoot, the fundamentalists have tons of righteous people so I'd better scoop those opportunities up. There is no distinction, the same Lord is Lord of all...

The path of the just is a shining light. Why don't we enjoy that light? Let this psalm be our heartbeat:

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.

The aural footprint of Christ's birth

Christmas is the time of year when you can get anyone to sing. The average layman in my church is willing to travel far and wide to sing carols to the homebound, and the crowd at a local public school choir concert willingly joins in an impromptu sing-a-long.

Christmas carols, themselves, compared to the ever-changing popular music scene, are the champions of enduring folk song. Christmas carols that emerged centuries ago are still being sung today, in contrast with other traditional songs that have been lost or if not lost, missing from our everyday lives.

Not only do we sing Christmas songs, we sing them well, because they have stood the test of time. Now the average layman can sing a melismatic passage in Angels We Have Heard on High, because the song is burned onto his aural memory. I encourage my older violin students who have not had the benefit of Suzuki ear training to play by ear. I had a recent breakthrough with my hesitant students when guiding them to play Christmas songs. We know those songs cold.

Why, when sadly, most of our folk songs are being sung by the elite musicologists, can we sing 15th century carols without even thinking? Why, when Baptist churches have cut out old European hymnody with its complex harmonies, do we still know God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen? Why, when most other churches have cut out hymns all together, do we know 20 some odd strophic Christmas hymns? Why do we want to sing this stuff?

The event where God came to earth and became one of us was an event that shook us. We are still feeling the cultural aftershocks of this event 2000 years later. Not only did Christ's birth affect politics, how we write our calendar, and a myriad of other things; it affected art and music.

I will admit, there has been a rape of this tradition that I am speaking so confidently about. B-101, our soft rock station, plays continuous Christmas music and the abysmal void left by only playing secular songs is felt, for me in a spiritual sense but by everyone in an artistic sense. But why do we want continuous Christmas music? And why, since we are on the topic, does everyone, even to the least talented, feel compelled to use their creativity in writing and performing music during this blessed season? (You've got to admit there is an infinite amount of writing of Christmas music going on and it ain't all pretty).

Why is Christmas music a big deal? I concede to my first point. In the dead of winter, when we remember God's first footprint on earth, flowers have sprung up. God visited us, and we were affected.