Behind the Music Stand

     In our church's Ash Wednesday service this year, we did things a little differently.  Instead of having a cross of ashes drawn on our forehead by our pastor, we each dipped our own finger in ashes and drew a cross on a card with Bible verses on it to help us remember the journey we Christians each travel from death to life. (Yes, that's the correct order for Christians— from death to life!)      As I looked at my ash-blackened finger tip, I thought to myself, we have each touched death.  Scientists say our cells are dying from the moment of our birth.  In each of us is the seed of death, planted there by original sin.  Unless we are still alive when Christ comes again, death is inexorable.  It will come for each of us in turn.      Death is all around us.  We see our loved ones die almost daily.  The curse of Sin even extends to creation itself.  We can observe nature move from life to death. ...

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care." (Matthew 10:29 (NIV))      There are three things in this verse that weigh on my mind this week. The first two have to do with the tiny word, "Fall." The Greek word used for "Fall" is Peseitai (πεσεῖται), which the Greeks used in any number of expressions to denote a change in physical location or position from a higher to a lower status—everything from "to fall into a given class," "to fall from power," to "to perish." (1)      First, it is important to note the original languages do not necessarily imply the sparrow dies, although that is one possible interpretation. We are analogous to the sparrow in this passage, and yes, if God cares when even a tiny sparrow dies, we can be sure He mourns when one of us suffers. He sacrificed His Only Son for each of us, proving how much He cares for and values each of us, ...

      The impact of Jesus' death and resurection cannot be over-stated.  In His resurection, He makes a way for us to be redeemed to Him.  For those of us who call Him Lord, He makes us each a new creation.  Moreover, the Bible tells us He breaks the power of sin in our lives ( Romans 6:5-10 ).  Sin's power is death, and until Christ comes again, death is expressed through time.  We all die over time.      So since Christ has undone death itself in His resurrection--since His sacrifice forgives us of all the sins we committed in the past, I propose that Christ holds power over time itself!      The point I'm driving at is that Christ not only makes us new creations, He is making us new in every moment!   Every moment of your life is an opportunity to be transformed!  Every moment of your life is a doorway you can walk through to a whole new existence!  We are ever-changing!  Ever-growing!  Eve...

     I don't know who (else besides me) needs to hear this, but here goes:      Christians should all know the Bible verse, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  That means despite our sins and regardless of whether we even repent or not, Christ died on the cross for all of us, to make a way for us to come into relationship with Him.      But sometimes those if us with chronic depression can get stuck in a viscous whirlpool of self-hatred that can suck us down to the pit of despair.      You may dislike something(s) about yourself--maybe your weight, your looks, your lack of self-discipline/motivation, your lack of ability in some area, or any number of *traits* you may or may not have.  These attributes are just that: traits.  Speaking from experience, they often are not "Sins" in themselves.  They are just the things we don't like about ourselves.      For those of us that have ...

(I wrote this for a friend of mine who has recently lost a spouse, but, as I reach an age where the elders in my life--and even some friends--are starting to pass away, these thoughts are, sadly, more regularly on my mind.  But take heart and read on!)      I don't know anything about the author Jamie Anderson, but he wrote, “Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”  I think he is close to the truth of the matter, but we, as Christians, know that we may not have a passed loved one right here to give our love to, but we can store up all that love for later delivery to our loved ones, when we see them again in Heaven.       How sad would our lives be if we had no one for whom we could grieve--no one who impacted our lives enough tha...

     They expected The Messiah to come as a king.  He came as a pauper.     They expected The Messiah to walk above the sinners.  He ate with the most blatent ones.      They expected The Messiah to be a military conquerer.  He came to bring peace.      They expected His followers to leave Him---still hungry for more.  He fed thousands.     They expected Him to drown.  He walked on water.      They expected him to fail.  He healed the sick, cured the lame, gave sight to the blind, cast out demons, and gave us hope.      Then, they expected Him to die.  He conquered death itself.     We expected He would not love us in our sin.  While we were yet sinners, He died for each one of us.     They expected The Messiah to reign on earth.  He reigns in our hearts.     Everything Jesus did was unexpe...

     I'm still re-tweaking this blog, but I cannot wait any longer to republish it, because the message God brought in my devotions this morning was so personally soothing to a sore spot in my christianity, that I wanted to share it with you, in hopes that it may possibly help someone else      Galatians 2:20 (NASB 2020) says, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."  This verse has always rankled me.  God really wants to erase my personality to turn me into some pale immitation of Himself?  He created infinitely different people just so He could homogenize our personalities into some beige, bland sameness?      It is not so much that "Who we are" dies. It is God's omnipotent creativity that designs each of the many trillions of Artworks we call "Humans" each...

     It's only been an eon since my last post... even though it's been almost three years (🤯) since my 'transition out of church work, I still deal with the emotional backlash almost every day.  It honestly makes even looking at this blog difficult.      But things that are worthy of doing aren't usually easy, and I do believe this blog has some small merit!      Today, I hope this anecdote will help you see there is also merit on both sides of the Great Church Music Debate:

Whatever style of music that brings you closer to God is *guaranteed not* to be the kind of music that brings someone else to His throne. That's not the way God made us. He made us all with different tastes. When you insist that your preferred style is better/more holy than someone else's you are depriving someone else of the music that nurtures their soul and you are insulting God's creativity! I don't know when or what paper this came from, but here is Billy Graham's take on the controversy:

I don't know if there is a good reason I am walking through this difficult time of transition in my life.   James 1:13 says, "When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone..." Matthew 5:45b says, "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."  (Note, rain in itself is neither good nor bad.) Romans 8:21 tells us creation is in bondage to decay Basically, these three verses roll around in my head and come out testifying to me that God does not send bad things into our lives.  Bad things may happen, but I believe they are a result of humans poorly exercising their free will, and of the bondage under which creation suffers. I DO know, from verses in the Bible, the testimony of countless friends, family, and other Christians, and my own experience, that God can take what was intended for bad and use it for his glory through blessi...

      In the traditional liturgical calendar, the season leading up to Christmas day is called “Advent.”   This is designed to be a time of introspection—of preparing our hearts for the coming of the Lord at Christmas.   There is usually one Sunday after Christmas and before Epiphany, when we celebrate the revelation of the Christ Child to the wisemen.   The Sundays following Epiphany, up until Lent begins, are “Ordinary Sundays,” from “Ordinal,” so they are numbered “First Sunday after Epiphany,” “Second Sunday after Epiphany,” etc.      So if we are preparing our hearts for Christmas in the season preceding it, then logically, we must be celebrating Christmas in the days following it!  How then, should we celebrate Christmas after all the gifts are opened and the tree is taken down?  We should be spreading the Good News of Christmas with our words and our actions—the Good News that Christ has come to give us the Peace of ...

Today is our annual Advent retreat at church, and, as usual, we have different rooms set up in the church for individual meditation and prayer between times of group devotions.  The sanctuary and the adjoining prayer room are set up to be rooms of sensory stimulation--sights, sounds and even smells are dominant in these rooms.  Our Choir room, on the other hand, is set up to be a quiet room--almost a deprivation of senses. "What is the point?" you may ask.  The answer came out of a desire to help you set aside this retreat time for something different than normal.  We asked ourselves, "How can we make this a time of worship?" Without going into the voluminous explanation of what exactly worship is, that begged the question, "How do we experience worship?"  (For the sake of the discussion, we'll limit the definition of worship to the corporate, "In church" version.) So you sit down in the pew or chair, and things happen.  Songs are sung, s...

In honor of finishing our sermon  mini-series on the 23rd Psalm: Psalm 23 - Amplified The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He tends His flock like a shepherd:  He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart [i] He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul. Come to Jesus, all you who are weary and burdened, and He will give you rest… He is gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For His yoke is easy and His burden is light.” [ii] He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake. So whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. [iii]   His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. [iv] Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me… The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined. [v] ...

“Every path of Yahweh is one of mercy and truth for those who cling to his promised and written instructions.” (Psalm 25:10, Names of God Bible) If "Every path of Yahweh is mercy and truth," then conversely if we are not constantly striving to walk in mercy and truth, are we behaving as Christ wants us to behave? Furthermore, non-christians, do not belittle Christianity because someone consistently walks in hypocrisy.  We do not consider the injunction against murder to be wrong because someone murders.  If someone claims to be a teacher but the do not teach, we do not say, "All teachers are hypocrites!" We ought not to condemn what a person claims to be because they do not behave how what they claim to be says they should! So let's get specific:  don't dismiss all Christians and Christianity because one person *claiming* to be a Christian bombs and abortion clinic or an organization like Westbourough Baptist (sp?) spews venom and hatred. So I'...

     Perhaps you've noticed the Christmas decorations are still up around the church.  Having spent many good years working in retail, I empathize deeply with those who feel that they should all magically disappear on December 26.  However, being a church musician in a more traditional and liturgical church, I also have a tendency to order my life by the liturgical calendar.      The liturgical calendar evolved over centuries and has its most elemental roots in the Jewish calendar of feasts, and according to the calendar, four Sundays before Christmas Day is the start of the season called Advent.      The term Advent comes from the the Latin word for "Coming."  During the Advent season we are reminded both that Jesus came into the world as a baby all those millennia ago, and that He will come again to take His children home.  It is a season of reflection and repentance, during which we are expected to prepare ourselves f...

 The annual choir workshop is on Sunday, signaling the start of our choir season, so once again it is time to post this story. =)                 nce there was a pianist with nine, happy, long and strong fingers... and one Sad, Little, Left Ring-Finger.      Lefty, the Sad Left Ring Finger was sad because she was weaker than all the other fingers, and shorter than most of them, too!   Even the Pinky Twins were stronger and more important than her!      She thought to herself, “Why Left Pinky is often the root of the chord, and Right Pinky gets to play all the wonderful, high notes!   It’s all I can do to just barely play at the same volume level as the other fingers!      So one day, Lefty the Left Ring Finger decided to quit playing the piano with all the other fingers!   And wouldn’t you know it—suddenly the chords weren’...

Over the years I have heard several of my friends say things like, "I don't have to go to church to be a Christian," or "Going to church doesn't make me a Christian any more than lying in a hotdog bun makes me a hotdog!"   (Brace yourself for a love-based tongue-lashing!) Recently in a communion service (and doubtless through our pastor, Albert Gillin’s message) I was impressed with these thoughts: è     What do you bring to the table?   Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “ 24  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25  not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” o So first we must note the obvious:   It is a direct biblical imperative to meet together.   Assuming you respect the authority of the Bible, nothing further needs to be said on that point! o But let us look a little deeper at these ver...

Above The Cross.   Jesus’ almighty power is greater than Death     itself—even the graphic, horrifying death on the cross! On The Cross.   As Jesus thought of us—as He carried our sin, we were there on the Cross with Him! Under The Cross.   We are convicted by its necessity and covered by Christ’s work on it. Through The Cross.   Jesus paid our debt. Behind The Cross.   We can take refuge with The Cross as our shield.   If even Death could not keep Christ away from us, who or what could?   We need only stand behind The Cross—behind Christ’s redeeming victory on it, and all threats, trials, and temptations pale to nothing in compression. Before The Cross.   We all stand on equal ground at The Cross.   We must all face The Cross and decide what to do with it—and with Jesus who died there.   EJA 04-03-2018

ere's my theory--maybe wiser folk than I cooked it up and I just subconsciously stole it, or maybe I'm just crazy, BUT...      I think it's funny that we humans generally dislike change, yet part of the human condition is that everything changes.   I think the reason we dislike change is because we are made “ In the Image of God ” (See Genesis ) , and GOD NEVER CHANGES.   To put it another way, part of being made in God ’ s image is longing for that quality of “ Non-Changing-ness ” that only He has!      It is interesting and amusing then that just as God is more complex than we can comprehend, the converse of this “ Change-Aversion ” is also often true for us!   As much as we dislike change, we mortals are also prone to the “ Grass Is Always Greener / Never Happy With Our Circumstances ” Attitude.   When it ’ s hot outside we long for cooler weather.   When It ’ s cold we want it to warm up. ...