Let all your thinks be thanks.

When you stop to think about it, What do you have that you did not receive? How dreadful it would be not to believe in God or even a god and see a beautiful rainbow or sunset and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude but have no one to thank. One of the things that marks a follower of Jesus Christ is our spirit of thankfulness. We have been chosen but it is not because we are special but because the One who chose us is special. In his sermon last Sunday we were reminded that we are all called to be Christlike. To be Christ like we must be a thankful people. "Does the unfathomable wonder of calling grip you like a grand compelling you can never satisfy or shake off?" Os Guinness

Language

I just finished listening to an audio book, a novel I got from Christian audio. It was an interesting story but for some reason the author used a lot of strong language when his characters were speaking. Was that necessary? I know he wanted to be realistic but is it necessary to use the language to be realistic? There is a trend today for even some preachers to use that kind of language in the pulpit. Really now, who are you trying to impress? Keith Price showed us that you don't have to be like the audience to speak to the audience. He spoke to over 175 teen agers at our former church and he did not pretend to be anything other that who he was, a 70 year old preacher. He was effective and they listened to him.

Singing in Church

The above article is from http://www.patheos.com/blogs/afewgrownmen/2013/05/why-men-have-stopped-singing-in-church/


It happened again yesterday. I was attending one of those hip, contemporary churches — and almost no one sang. Worshippers stood obediently as the band rocked out, the smoke machine belched and lights flashed. Lyrics were projected on the screen, but almost no one sang them. A few women were trying, but I saw only one male (other than the worship leader) making the attempt.


A few months ago I blogged, “Have Christians Stopped Singing?” I did some research, and learned that congregational singing has ebbed and flowed over the centuries. It reached a high tide when I was a young man – but that tide may be going out again. And that could be bad news for men.

First, a very quick history of congregational singing.

Before the Reformation, laypersons were not allowed to sing in church. They were expected to stand mute as sacred music was performed by professionals (priests and cantors), played on complex instruments (pipe organs), and sung in an obscure language (Latin).

Reformers gave worship back to the people in the form of congregational singing. They composed simple tunes that were easy to sing, and mated them with theologically rich lyrics. Since most people were illiterate in the 16th century, singing became an effective form of catechism. Congregants learned about God as they sang about God.

A technological advance – the printing press – led to an explosion of congregational singing. The first hymnal was printed in 1532, and soon a few dozen hymns became standards across Christendom. Hymnals slowly grew over the next four centuries. By the mid 20th century every Protestant church had a hymnal of about 1000 songs, 250 of which were regularly sung. In the church of my youth, everyone picked up a hymnal and sang every verse of every song.

About 20 years ago a new technological advance – the computer controlled projection screen – entered America’s sanctuaries. Suddenly churches could project song lyrics for all to see. Hymnals became obsolete. No longer were Christians limited to 1,000 songs handed down by our elders.

At first, churches simply projected the songs everyone knew – hymns and a few simple praise songs that had come out of the Jesus Movement. People sang robustly.

But that began to change about ten years ago. Worship leaders realized they could project anything on that screen. So they brought in new songs each week. They drew from the radio, the Internet, and Worship conferences. Some began composing their own songs, performing them during worship, and selling them on CD after church.

In short order we went from 250 songs everyone knows to 250,000+ songs nobody knows.

Years ago, worship leaders used to prepare their flocks when introducing a new song. “We’re going to do a new song for you now,” they would say. “We’ll go through it twice, and then we invite you to join in.”

That kind of coaching is rare today. Songs get switched out so frequently that it’s impossible to learn them. People can’t sing songs they’ve never heard. And with no musical notes to follow, how is a person supposed to pick up the tune?

And so the church has returned to the 14th century. Worshippers stand mute as professional-caliber musicians play complex instruments, sung in an obscure language. Martin Luther is turning over in his grave.

What does this mean for men? On the positive side, men no longer feel pressure to sing in church. Men who are poor readers or poor singers no longer have to fumble through hymnals, sing archaic lyrics or read a musical staff.

But the negatives are huge. Men are doers, and singing was one of the things we used to do together in church. It was a chance to participate. Now, with congregational singing going away, and communion no longer a weekly ordinance, there’s only one avenue left for men to participate in the service – the offering. Is this really the message we want to send to men? Sit there, be quiet, and enjoy the show. And don’t forget to give us money.

There’s nothing wrong with professionalism and quality in church music. The problem isn’t the rock band, or the lights, or the smoke machine. The key is familiarity. People enjoy singing songs they know.

How do I know? When that super-hip band performed a hymn, the crowd responded with gusto. People sang. Even the men.

What is Sin?

There is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Gospel when we say “that is the way God made me and He will not send me to hell.” That is wrong. This statement says that you will only go to hell if you do things that God will punish. We are born in sin. We are sinning against God everyday of our lives. We begin with a position of rebellion against the Creator. Also what is being said is that God must accept me on my own terms. When we define ourselves we must be careful. We cannot define ourselves in terms of a certain sin and say that is the way that God made me so He better deal with it. We cannot say God made me this way and He won’t send me to hell because of it. We cannot define ourselves in the way that makes sense to ourselves. We need to understand how God defines us in Scripture and then work backward from there. We come to God and say “that is the way I am deal with it” that is the very root of sin itself. So often people who are caught in the trap of sin hate themselves but the Gospel is not about hating ourselves but hating sin. Repentance is not about hating ourselves but hating sin.

Take up your cross

When Jesus said that we are to take up our cross and follow Him I don't think He was talking about those things in our lives that we sometimes call crosses. He could have said that when hardships come we are to "grin and bear it" but that is not what He said. A person who was carrying a cross in Jesus day was on his way to his death. Too often we try to get rid of our difficulties and then we add that they are the crosses that we must bear. Those difficulties are only difficulties, inconveniences but not an instrument of death.

Electronic Giving

At our church AGM the subject of electronic giving was brought raised by the treasurer. He said that the office was going to print cards for the people to put into the offering plate if they gave electronically. One person thought that was a waste of money while another suggested that if everyone had church envelopes then they should just indicate on the envelope that they were giving electronically. There are advantages to giving electronically and almost all of them are convenience. It is more convenient for the giver, for the teller, for the treasurer. However, I see one big disadvantage. It detaches giving from worship. As we bring our offerings week by week we are coming to worship bringing a gift. I think that it is important that we make people aware of the fact that giving is an act of worship. I see the placing of an offering envelope which has been marked as electronic giving is a good compromise. People are still aware that their giving is an act of worship. I give to missionaries electronically. I know that as my gift is given I haven't taken time to pray for the receiver as I would if I was to write a cheque. Is this a compromise? Yes it is. However, I can still make it a matter of prayer to pray for those missionaries daily and not just when I send a cheque. I want to state my one concern again. We should never detach our giving from our worship.

Family Meeting

We had a family in our church that we attended in another city who had family meetings. When we asked one of the boys what they did at family meetings he said that they mainly talked about Melissa, his sister, and her hiding the potato chips in her closet. Last Sunday we had a family meeting at our church. It was the annual business meeting. Though AGMs are important for all organizations it is easy to think of them has all important. We were reminded that the real business of the church is not what happens at the AGM but what happens as the family helps to grow together and to grow the kingdom of God. In our former church the business meetings were anything but a family meeting, they were more like a family fight. At one meeting one member threatened to beat up another member and sometimes the language was not appropriate for a family gathering. Some people always watched to see how one of the old time members voted before the would cast their vote. I am glad that our meeting was a family meeting where we talked about family matters.

Bring Your Bible to Church

Last Sunday when it came time for the sermon our Pastor asked us to turn to the Scripture and stand in reference to the Word of God while He read the Scripture. I looked around and saw many people with their Bibles open and following while He read. Sadly to say that is not the case in many churches. There are many who come to church and if they use a Bible at all it is one that is provided for them. Other churches project the Scripture onto the screen for all to see while still other churches don't even preach from the Bible. Now I know that not everyone in our church brings their Bible but I was impressed with the number of Bibles I did see open while the Scripture was being read. Some people follow on their iPads or phones or kindles and though that is okay I still do not think that it should replace the printed Word of God in a book.

One Hour

When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest He took three of His disciples with Him to pray and then leaving them He went off by himself to pray.  When He returned He found them sleeping and He said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour?"  Matthew 26:40

I wonder how many who call themselves Christians would hear Jesus say to them Sunday morning, "Could you not watch with me one hour?" 

Only one hour?  Too many are either too tired or too busy or some other excuse would miss church and then hear Jesus say, "Could you not watch with me one hour?"

Betrayed with a kiss

We all know that Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss but do you know that Judas wasn't the only betrayer who betrayed a friend with a kiss?  Joab betrayed Abner with an act of friendship.  "Now when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into an inner chamber, as if to speak with him privately. And there, to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel, Joab stabbed him in the stomach, and he died." 2 Samuel 3:27
But I wonder if we are not any better?  Surely we have betrayed our Lord with what would seem to be an act of friendship.  We say we will follow and obey but it is only on our terms.  When we run into obstacles then we turn away. 

Two Small Coins

I was reading in Luke this morning about the widow who dropped two small coins in the offering.  Jesus noticed her even if no one else did.  It made me stop to think about how we treat offerings.
First, it was never the size of the offering.  There is nothing too small to give to God and there certainly nothing that is too big.  In fact, whatever we give cannot be big enough.  I know people who give generously but they give out of their abundance and not our of their very existence.

Second, it is not about a percentage.  Some people give ten percent or twenty or even ninety percent but that was not the point with Jesus.  The woman gave one hundred percent.  She gave all she had to live on.  It would have been easy for her to give one of the coins and kept the other as she did need to buy food and after all, she did give fifty percent. 

Some how today we make a big deal about the size of the gift.  We visit a museum and see plagues that tell us that Mr and Mrs So-n-so gave such a large gift.  There will be no such plagues in heaven but there will be a special place for the widow who gave the two small coins.

The other day I received a cheque for $500 that I didn't expect.  I thought of spending it on myself after all I wanted a new camera but instead I put it aside and sent $300 to a friend who was a retired missionary.  As I started to feel good about myself I realized that I still had kept $200 for myself.  I sent the $300 and it didn't make any difference in my life at all.  It certainly wasn't anything like the widows two small coins.  I gave out of surplus not out of my very existence. 

Just one more thought about giving.  Too often we give because we get a tax deductible receipt.  Now if the receipt is available we should take advance of it so that we can give even more but that should never deter us from giving. 

Worldliness

Growing up I knew what worldliness was.  I saw people who smoked and drank, who used bad language, who played cards and so on.  It was even easier on Sunday.  They were the people who stayed home from church and worked on their yards or their farm or their car or played sports but ignored church.  We were not worldly as we honoured the Lord's day.
Now they can be the marks of worldliness but that is not worldliness.  Worldliness has to do with having a world view that is not based upon the Bible.  People can follow all the rules and still be worldly.  David Wells says, "Worldliness is that system of values and beliefs, behaviours and expectations, in any given culture that have at their centre the fallen human being and that relegate to their periphery any thought about God.  Worldliness is what makes sin look normal in any age and righteousness seem odd."
We desperately need to regain a God-centred view of our own lives, in which what we do is measured by what God has done and will do in and through Christ.