Sunday afternoons are usually spent watching baseball or football or golf, waiting for evening church services. Rather than feel like I'm wasting time, I've decided to start blogging on these Sunday afternoons. Until I can come up with a series title better than this, they will just be called Sunday Thoughts. I think the message below the title needs more thought than the title anyway.
It's a beautiful Sunday here in Northeast Texas, so I'm writing from my parents' back porch as my puppy climbs all over me wanting to help with typing today's post. Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of one of the most tragic moments in American history. Fifteen years ago, this nation lost 2,977 souls of every race, religion, creed, etc. Some of those souls were without Christ, which is a huge tragedy in my eyes. Anytime there is mass death, whether from a human with a weapon or from a natural disaster, I mourn for the lost souls, the lost opportunity to make followers of Christ.
Obviously, this morning's service centered around observing the events of September 11, 2001. Last night, I was preparing the powerpoint for services. We project the words of each song we are singing, which means my job is to type those words from the hymnal. As I was typing the National Anthem, contemplating the controversy around its presence at athletic events, I actually read the second verse.
"O thus be it ever when free men shall stand/Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;/Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land/Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!/Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just;/And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"/And the Star-spangled Banner in triumph shall wave/O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"
Now, in recent years our nation's leaders have pounded their podiums and hatefully stated that America is not a Christian nation. Facebook crusaders have taken to their Wikipedia pages and "proven" that America was not founded as a Christian nation because of one quote they found from one of our founding fathers. You can have your belief, but my belief is that quotes like the second verse of our national anthem prove that this nation was, in fact, founded by God-fearing men and women and on Christian principles.
I also believe that this second verse gives us some insight into what may be a factor in the potential downfall of our nation. As we draw further and further away from giving to praise to the One Who has had His protective hand over our nation, that protective hand is also drawing further and further away. It's happened before to God's own people.
In 1 Samuel 28, we are told of a gathering of Philistenes who intended to go to war with Israel. Previously, Saul had disobeyed God in dealing with the Amelekites and even tried to blame the Israelites for Saul's disobedience. Saul's actions in direct disobedience toward God severed the communication between Saul and God. God had decided to remove Saul as king of Israel. As the Philistenes gathered for war with Israel, Saul began to beg God for guidance. God gave Saul no guidance. Saul then decided to take matters into his own hands (which made everything worse) and consulted a witch for guidance. God removed His hand of protection and Saul, his sons, and many Israelite men died in battle. These were God's CHOSEN people who disobeyed Him.
God is the beginning and end, and we can either stand with God or stand with the world. The only safe way is with God.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Please, Don't Applaud My Special
This post is difficult to write. Let me just start out by saying, I truly love my church family. They've been supportive for the past two years (the whole time I've been a member). But there is something happening that is becoming more and more widespread in churches, and it honestly makes me extremely uncomfortable.
God blessed me with a talent for music. I play the flute and I sing. I tend to sing more in church because I've never been a huge fan of playing my flute. What I do is not the point, however. I tend to not sing very often because I don't like bringing a special unless I feel as though God is laying a song on my heart to bring before my church family or I have been asked to sing for a special church event. Bringing special music before my church is not for my glory or my church family's entertainment. Special music is intended to bring glory to God and possibly touch the heart of someone who may be lost.
I don't perform. I bring a special. I will never say "Thank you" as I am exiting the pulpit after singing. And I am not a fan of applause after a special has been brought before the service.
You may not see an issue with it, you may call me old fashioned, but I do and I am. It makes me extremely uncomfortable to hear a smattering of applause after I have put my heart into a song that was intended to be for God's glory. You're probably wondering why I'm not a fan of applause after special music. I'll sum it up in Scripture.
He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30
Those words were spoken by John the Baptist, the man who came to pave the way for Jesus Christ, a true servant of God. The multitudes were asking if he was Christ, and he had to explain to them that he was simply a man that was sent to prepare the way for Jesus. Am I comparing myself to John the Baptist? No. Am I saying that by applauding my special music you are wondering if I am Jesus? No. What I am saying is that by applauding, you are giving the same response that you would give to a secular performance, whether it be in sports, music or theatre. And that's not okay with me.
Using the talent that God gave to praise Him and bring glory to His name is above a musical concert, a theatre performance or outstanding sporting performance. It is something that should be regarded, not applauded. My personal belief is that if you would applaud a performance outside of the church building, you should not do the same for a special brought before a congregation.
God blessed me with a talent for music. I play the flute and I sing. I tend to sing more in church because I've never been a huge fan of playing my flute. What I do is not the point, however. I tend to not sing very often because I don't like bringing a special unless I feel as though God is laying a song on my heart to bring before my church family or I have been asked to sing for a special church event. Bringing special music before my church is not for my glory or my church family's entertainment. Special music is intended to bring glory to God and possibly touch the heart of someone who may be lost.
I don't perform. I bring a special. I will never say "Thank you" as I am exiting the pulpit after singing. And I am not a fan of applause after a special has been brought before the service.
You may not see an issue with it, you may call me old fashioned, but I do and I am. It makes me extremely uncomfortable to hear a smattering of applause after I have put my heart into a song that was intended to be for God's glory. You're probably wondering why I'm not a fan of applause after special music. I'll sum it up in Scripture.
He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30
Those words were spoken by John the Baptist, the man who came to pave the way for Jesus Christ, a true servant of God. The multitudes were asking if he was Christ, and he had to explain to them that he was simply a man that was sent to prepare the way for Jesus. Am I comparing myself to John the Baptist? No. Am I saying that by applauding my special music you are wondering if I am Jesus? No. What I am saying is that by applauding, you are giving the same response that you would give to a secular performance, whether it be in sports, music or theatre. And that's not okay with me.
Using the talent that God gave to praise Him and bring glory to His name is above a musical concert, a theatre performance or outstanding sporting performance. It is something that should be regarded, not applauded. My personal belief is that if you would applaud a performance outside of the church building, you should not do the same for a special brought before a congregation.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Happiness and Positivity
This post may not be very long, but I really hope it it winds up helping someone in the long run. This post's topics are happiness and positivity.
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down on your wrath." Ephesians 4:26
I know that this world is not sunshine and rainbows every day. We have good experiences and bad experiences. This is how life balances itself. However, sorting through the good and the bad may become overwhelming and we begin making decisions when we are in a bad place emotionally. Ephesians 4:26 is the age old adage of "don't go to bed angry." Well, I wanted to know what science said about the subject of going to bed in an angry state.
I believe that the article from Godly Gentalman and The New York Times are quoting the same experiment done by neuroscientists. What is important is, the Bible is once again being backed up by science. So what does this tell us?
Well, in that New York Times post we learn that plain and simple going to bed with anger in our hearts does nothing but preserve that emotion. In my experience, the preservation of that emotion tends to result in bottling up the emotion, which then results in an overflow of anger at the slightest sign of offense. I know I'm focusing on not going to bed angry, but there's so much more to happiness and positivity than simply not going to bed angry.
We live in a world that is constantly bombarding us with negative images. Our news today is filled with situations that are fueled by anger and hate. This tends to rub off on how we relate to one another, how we communicate with fellow humans. We may use a word to describe the way that someone is acting, but it is actually something that will truly offend them.
I remember growing up, if someone was mean to me my parents would say that they were "ugly to me." That's how they spoke, and I grew up thinking that ugly referred to someone's actions or behaviors, not their face. One day I said at school that a girl was ugly to me because she was mean to me. Everyone who heard me told her that I said she was ugly. This almost got me in trouble until I had to explain that she was always mean to me and I was describing her actions, not her. This is all too common this day in age - a misunderstanding of words which causes a ton of pain and strife. Unnecessary pain and strife.
So how do we battle this negativity, this pain that we encounter EVERY DAY? First and foremost we turn to Christ. Recently I gave myself a piece of advice. "In all that you do, chase God. He will lead you where you're meant to be." When this thought first popped into my head, I had just finished praying to God to help me find the man I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with. I feel as though the Lord spoke to my heart and told me that in everything I do, if I pursue Him, I will find my true happiness. This is the first line of defense. Honestly, it's the only thing we truly need in our arsenal. Anything I say past this point in our defense against negativity can be traced back to Scripture.
Don't be the person that is saying the things that hurt. I love a question that I saw posed online. "What if the hurtful words people say to one another were worn like scars?" What if every cross word you ever said to someone was worn as a scar? What if it had your name scarred right next to it for the world to know who left that mark on a person? In Scripture we are taught to love our neighbor as ourselves. Don't call someone a name if you aren't ready to have that same attitude handed right back to you.
By the same token, be quick to forgive. Nothing is quicker to create a negative heart than a grudge. To quote Madea, "forgiveness is not for the other person, it is for you." When you hold a grudge, you're letting someone live in your soul rent free. Everyone messes up, everyone makes mistakes. But if our God can forgive us for nailing his Son on a cross, we can forgive someone for calling us a hateful name or doing wrong towards us.
I tend to draw away from calling myself a Christian due to the fact that the word "Christian" means Christ like. It is not up to me to decide if I am Christ like. That is up to the lost and dying world. If they see the love of Christ and my walk with Him, then I am a Christian. Until such a time, I am a follower of Christ, a sinner saved by grace. I personally pray to have the same love for God's creation as Jesus Christ had. However, I am a sinner, I fail God. The beautiful thing about this life God has given me is that He is always waiting for me to repent and be forgiven so that I may see how to do the same for my fellow man. That is my prayer for you all as well.
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down on your wrath." Ephesians 4:26
I know that this world is not sunshine and rainbows every day. We have good experiences and bad experiences. This is how life balances itself. However, sorting through the good and the bad may become overwhelming and we begin making decisions when we are in a bad place emotionally. Ephesians 4:26 is the age old adage of "don't go to bed angry." Well, I wanted to know what science said about the subject of going to bed in an angry state.
I believe that the article from Godly Gentalman and The New York Times are quoting the same experiment done by neuroscientists. What is important is, the Bible is once again being backed up by science. So what does this tell us?
Well, in that New York Times post we learn that plain and simple going to bed with anger in our hearts does nothing but preserve that emotion. In my experience, the preservation of that emotion tends to result in bottling up the emotion, which then results in an overflow of anger at the slightest sign of offense. I know I'm focusing on not going to bed angry, but there's so much more to happiness and positivity than simply not going to bed angry.
We live in a world that is constantly bombarding us with negative images. Our news today is filled with situations that are fueled by anger and hate. This tends to rub off on how we relate to one another, how we communicate with fellow humans. We may use a word to describe the way that someone is acting, but it is actually something that will truly offend them.
I remember growing up, if someone was mean to me my parents would say that they were "ugly to me." That's how they spoke, and I grew up thinking that ugly referred to someone's actions or behaviors, not their face. One day I said at school that a girl was ugly to me because she was mean to me. Everyone who heard me told her that I said she was ugly. This almost got me in trouble until I had to explain that she was always mean to me and I was describing her actions, not her. This is all too common this day in age - a misunderstanding of words which causes a ton of pain and strife. Unnecessary pain and strife.
So how do we battle this negativity, this pain that we encounter EVERY DAY? First and foremost we turn to Christ. Recently I gave myself a piece of advice. "In all that you do, chase God. He will lead you where you're meant to be." When this thought first popped into my head, I had just finished praying to God to help me find the man I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with. I feel as though the Lord spoke to my heart and told me that in everything I do, if I pursue Him, I will find my true happiness. This is the first line of defense. Honestly, it's the only thing we truly need in our arsenal. Anything I say past this point in our defense against negativity can be traced back to Scripture.
Don't be the person that is saying the things that hurt. I love a question that I saw posed online. "What if the hurtful words people say to one another were worn like scars?" What if every cross word you ever said to someone was worn as a scar? What if it had your name scarred right next to it for the world to know who left that mark on a person? In Scripture we are taught to love our neighbor as ourselves. Don't call someone a name if you aren't ready to have that same attitude handed right back to you.
By the same token, be quick to forgive. Nothing is quicker to create a negative heart than a grudge. To quote Madea, "forgiveness is not for the other person, it is for you." When you hold a grudge, you're letting someone live in your soul rent free. Everyone messes up, everyone makes mistakes. But if our God can forgive us for nailing his Son on a cross, we can forgive someone for calling us a hateful name or doing wrong towards us.
I tend to draw away from calling myself a Christian due to the fact that the word "Christian" means Christ like. It is not up to me to decide if I am Christ like. That is up to the lost and dying world. If they see the love of Christ and my walk with Him, then I am a Christian. Until such a time, I am a follower of Christ, a sinner saved by grace. I personally pray to have the same love for God's creation as Jesus Christ had. However, I am a sinner, I fail God. The beautiful thing about this life God has given me is that He is always waiting for me to repent and be forgiven so that I may see how to do the same for my fellow man. That is my prayer for you all as well.
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