A Tale of Two Churches

When I was a teenager, our church youth leader took my brother and I and a couple of friends to the mountains on a spiritual formation retreat. We were there on a Sunday evening. So, we decided that it would be interesting to visit a church in the area. We drove around for a bit, saw a sign for a church and walked in. The preacher had already begun his sermon. Maybe there was a strike against our little group for arriving late. We got some annoyed stares. There were about twenty people in the pews of this small sanctuary. When the service was over we stood up ready for a chance to chat with folks but no one greeted us. Not a soul. We got into the car and headed back to our cabin. I think that this group misinterpreted the thing about putting on the armour of God.

On the road going back we noticed another church that had a Sunday night service and it was just starting. We pulled in to the parking lot and walked in the door. There were about thirty people singing their hearts out. Twenty of them were in the choir loft. When the hymns were over, the singers in the choir came down into the congregation and on the way to their seats every single person came by to greet us! When the pastor began his sermon he also gave us a welcome from the pulpit.

What a contrast! Why were these two congregations so different in their responses to visitors?

This episode has lead me to keep asking this question, “How do people feel when they visit my church?” What characteristic of the heart could make us cold and fearful rather than warm and welcoming? Maybe a genuine kindness and openness to visitors or strangers is a true sign of the presence of Christ and a very real evidence of the fruit of the Spirit. Let’s grow out of “circling the wagons” of our insular friend groups and comfortable church congregations. Let’s guard our hearts from hardness. Jesus is among us as believers. We are his body.

It Adds Up

One of the principles of life that has been hard for me to put into practice is taking advantage of compounding interest. We have some investments and hopefully that growth from compounding interest will mean we have enought to live on after we can no longer work… at least for a month!

But a similar principle can be applied to daily life, too. It’s something that compounds but I think of it more like simple addition.

Strategy + Consistency + Patience = Growth

I am trying to apply this to my music- music production, music composition, music ministry and music business. If I follow a sound stategy, work on it regularly and frequently and resist despair and the temptation to stop, then there will be growth.

Growth will come in two ways-in personal growth and in achieved goals. I stay away from the word “success” because it is so often associated only with material or financial gains. But we get so much more with strategy, consistency and patience.

A good example of this, and one that is commonly used, is physical training. Go to the gym on day-one and feel like a fool. Wake up two days later aching all over and go back to the gym and you’ll feel like less of a fool. But after six months of consistency and patience there will be a noticeable difference in your body and in your ability.

So with music, for instance, if I work on writing, recording, mixing, mastering, distributing and promoting a song, the first effort will be, let’s say, not that good. But each time I go through that process I learn more, become more adept at each step, more confident. Eventually I could complete a project that sounds pretty decent. That’s growth. If I keep going, being consistent, it can sound really good. I’m going to do my best to stick with it.

What’s your project or goal? Do you have a plan to start, the first step in strategy? Can you be consistent and dedicated? Will you persevere? I hope the answer is “Yes”. Because growth will come.

Vive la Langue!

Language changes through usage. Rules or logic play a part but eventually usage wins. However, the process is torturous for my mind. There are two things that are particularly irksome to me: the verbification of nouns and changes following fashion.

I’m sure nouns being turned into verbs has been happening all along but it seems like that transformation has exploded with the advent of the internet and new forms of communication. “I texted my friend” instead of “I sent a text to my friend” or “emailed” vs. “sent an email”. “Referenced” instead of “referred to”. Saying fewer words makes the change useful. I do this myself. That’s an understandable advantage given our culture’s bent for saving time and effort.

Changes related to fashion really bother me, though. This one has been sticking out a lot the past couple of years. It seems to have begun as a British thing. But now it is creeping into usage in American English. It’s the weird conjugation of verbs with collective nouns, treating them as plural words. Saying, “the team are” instead of “the team is”, “the family are”, “the company are”. How did this happen? Team is singular, “one” team, a term describing a group, as are “company” and “family”. I’m hearing this new usage spoken and written by many journalists now. Why? Is it some sort of demonstration of I-know-better-than-you. I don’t know. They have the journalism degrees, not me.

It’s hilariously funny to me that on a British TV show that I recently watched a character makes the point that “team” is a collective noun that should be treated in the singular sense. Lol

The language is alive. That’s why it changes. I’m going to approach my observance of this develpoment with curiousity instead of negativity as much as I’m able. Vive la langue!

(There’s another aspect of our communication that I might cover later: the use of profanity and its detrimental effect on effectively descriptive communication.)

How Independent?

So, here we are at another Independence Day celebration. 247 years since July 4, 1776. I am beyond grateful to have been able to grow up here in the United States of America.

I wonder, though, about the beginnings of the Revolutionary War. Especially this: How did Christians understand the meaning of bible verses about obeying governmental authority? This is complicated. When the New Testament was written followers of Christ were being terribly persecuted- discrimination, tortue and death. Yet, still, “Obey those in authority over you.”

(Meandering thoughts here…) But here’s something interesting about the Declaration of Independence… It ends with a sort of declaration of dependence, “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions”… “with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

So, this weekend while we celebrate, I am going to remember my blessings. I’m also going to be meditating on how dependent I am upon God and that I am not my own.

An arrangement from a long time ago! Probably done for memorial day since it quotes Taps.

Who Do You Think You Are?

This is a real thing. Impostor syndrome. Even as I type this I’m questioning my ability, my worthiness to share what I’m thinking.

One major trait of someone living with this is denying their ability and discounting praise from others. Yep! Got it. Psychologists say it could be related to upbringing or trauma. Sounds kind of dark. I think that I have mostly taught myself to believe the negative thoughts.

I question all that I do.

Should I ask this person to collaborate? They don’t want to? What is wrong with me?

Should I share this song? What’s so special about it?

Why would I release a song that’s going to be distributed worldwide?

Your joking, right?

Using social media makes it worse. Of course it does. All of that comparison going on after reading each post.

(So, impostor syndrome is telling me here and now to explain why I’m not going deeper with this issue in this post. But I want to get to the point.)

Remember playing as kids? We could be anyone. We could do anything. No thoughts of lack of ability or unworthiness. Just soaring joy in imagination. I think that I need to recapture that approach and put an adult spin on it somehow.

Here’s what I’m telling myself now…

“If you’re doing the work, you’re not an impostor.”

Head in the Sand

In pursuit of some peace, I have had to learn to turn off the shouting voices, even the well-meaning ones.

“Listen to this everyone!!!…Trump and DeSantis!!! Joe and Kamala!!! Bill Johnson and John MacArthur!!! Clemson and Carolina!!!, LOL :)”

Facebook posts that fuss and complain but offer no solutions cascade down my feed. I know some folks on Instagram that act like the muck-raking, trail-blazing newspaper reporters from the late 19th century… except the only news they broadcast is a shared post. It can get to be too much.

So, I stick my head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich. Or, at least that’s what I could be accused of doing. It’s not an act of fear but an attempt to maintain my sanity.

There’s a verse in the bible from the book of Psalms that says, “Be still and know that I am God…” And, usually we Christians take that to mean rest or go on some kind of retreat. “Be still” has also been translated as “cease striving”. So, it’s not merely giving up. It’s growing into the realization that the change for good that you want to see in the world or in yourself doesn’t totally depend on your voice or what you do (or what you share online).

The next part of that verse, which is not often quoted, says, “…I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” God knows what he’s doing and it will be noticed by the whole world. My little bit of time with my “head in the sand”, my cessation of stiving, is like a quiet confession of my trust in him and his unseen plan, a trust in his infinite, far superior wisdom.

Gently Whispered I-Love-Yous

I’m beginning to see now that feeling far away from God has most to do with me, my thoughts and attitudes. In the Psalms the songwriter says, “Where are you, God? Why do you stand so far away?” Everything around the poet is crumbling, all the outside stuff. The nation is suffering loss and defeat. This kind of suffering is not of our own making as individuals.

(Now, I have to be careful to not begin to immediately draw parallels between what God’s word is describing and the difficulties that my particular country might be facing. This is a topic for some other time- but I think that God “uses” the nations to carry out what he wants to do. But it’s different with the believer, the “beloved”. The hardships and inner suffering that I experience are for my growth in becoming more like Jesus Christ.)

But there is a type of struggle and suffering that I can bring on myself.

When I am offended, my response to that offense affects my Drawing Near to God. I can choose forgiveness, understanding and reconciliation or I can wander down the thorny path of pride, anger and accusation.

When I hold on to resentment which eventually grows into bitterness, when the largest screen in the theater of my mind is playing-rewinding-playing the images of the past, when my thoughts are focused on my “enemies” all day long, is that not a type of adoration or worship? Have I given my loving God a place below those dark feelings?

If I keep listening to the voice of resentment echoing in my heart, I will be unable to hear the gently whispered I-love-yous from the Father. I’m not saying that he doesn’t love me. I am saying that I am less aware of that affection. There is a loud, harsh voice in my mind and heart screaming for attention.

Resentment and unforgiveness are anti-loves that shout too loudly to be silenced. They have to be replaced with adoration of the One who suffered punishment for every wicked offense ever given and carried the weight of every injury ever received through all eternity.

Block out the noisy voice. Listen to him. “I have loved you with an everlasting love…”

(First photo: Photo by BOOM 💥: ttps://www.pexels.com/photo/children-whispering-in-ones-ear-12659334/)

Taste the Words

How much do you read? Are you a speed reader? I do read fast when it’s necessary, when I have to consume a lot of information or when I have to glean pertinent info and avoid the extraneous.

But what about reading fiction? Sometimes an author may spend hours or days composing one sentence, not just to convey information but to evoke a feeling, to present a sound to the ears between your ears as you read to yourself.

I read novels as if I’m listening to the author, narrator and characters as they sit in my living room on the couch across from me telling me their story, slowing the pace for emphasis, speaking louder and faster when excited. You know what I mean? Like a good audiobook reader.

Imagine skimming through this passage, speed reading to get to the next paragraph. In the novel, Great Expectations, Estella has told Pip that she is going to marry Drummle, “a stupid brute”:

“Nonsense,” she returned, “nonsense. This will pass in no time.”

“Never, Estella!”

“You will get me out of your thoughts in a week.”

“Out of my thoughts! You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since—on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to be displaced by your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere, and will be. Estella, to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil.”

Speed reading that passage would be like listening to Barber’s Adagio for Strings at 2X speed so you can take it all in as quickly as possible. What a loss! So, I think we get the same result when we hurry through prose that is created with beauty and emotion in mind, not information only.

Take your time. Listen to the voices. Taste the words.