Sanctuary

As I have mentioned many times here, I was raised in what I now call the "A Capella Church of Christ" and over the last 5 years (really, more than that) I have followed God, opened my eyes and my life to a bigger world. I doubt that I could go back...

During this continuing journey I've had to face a number personal hangups about things (big and small) that I have had to decide if they were real issues or just another step towards that "bigger world". Things like "do you have to be baptized to participate in the Lord's Supper?" and other much more trivial things...

When I first started attending my new Church (Pinedale Christian Church) I was confronted with a term that I was very familiar with being used in a new way - for me. When people at Pinedale referred to the "auditorium" they often called it the "Sanctuary"...my first thought was..."how odd". I mean here is what is basically an "Instrumental-Progressive-Church of Christ-that changed their name", a Church that under the stuff that gave many of my former "pew-mates" the willies was the same - but calling thier auditorium a SANCTUARY?!? I was confused...

Why would such a little thing as a word make such a big deal to me? Well, first of all, it wasn't that big of a deal, just...confusing... Wikipedia states that a Sanctuary is "the consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar" - which is exactly how I understood the term. Some of you may be scratching your head right now and asking yourself what the problem is...well it's simple. All of my life, including this moment, I stongly believe that a Church building is just that...a building that a body of believers has decided to use for God's work, to promote community and regularly worship in. That building could just as easily be an old warehouse, a tent, a home, a theater or town's square. Putting any holy designation at all to the building is giving it a higher designation that it does not deserve.

When Christ came, died and rose again he brought with Him a new covenant:

For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! 2 Corinthians 3:10,11

This new covenant discarded the old covenant that had God at a distance from us and brought Him to our homes, our streets, workplaces, parks and yes, our Church buildings, but none of these places are more holy than another. The "alter" we refer to when coming forward during our time of public worship is a place between God and His child - it can happen anywhere!

So, yes, I give a Church auditorium no special, holy distinction because it has none.

However...

An alternate definition of "sanctuary" is "place of refuge" or "a reserved area in which birds and other animals, especially wild animals, are protected from hunting or molestation". When I think of my Church being a "sanctuary", this is what I think of..."my safe place". As a teenager and young adult, my Church family saved my life...they looked after me, loved me for me, cared for me and protected me...so, my "sanctuary" IS the Church and when I am with my brothers and sisters, especially in the building we worship in, I feel safe, protected and loved. It's the place where the rest of the world vanishes for a time and I can feel safe and closer to God.

That is MY SANCTUARY...

Things I Learned on FiveAndTwo Tour 2009

Another tour has come and gone... It all hit me last night and this morning and the exhaustion set in. The great thing for me is that unlike the other two tours with this group I didn't have a meltdown! Also, as a group, we handled a lot of things that were thrown at us and turned possible setbacks or disasters into blessings...wait, did I say WE did that? I mean God did that...we just helped a little.

If I had to come up with a theme song for this tour it would be "Nothing Ever Goes As Planned" by Styx.

Some things I learned:
1) Never bank on Atlanta traffic - I already knew this, but I must have forgotten...

2) I love my new Blackberry! Used it tons on this trip from uploading pics directly to Facebook for family and friends to see... To figuring out where we could go INSTEAD OF the Coca-Cola Museum because we were stuck in traffic for and hour and a half... To managing 29 kids' and their parents' cell numbers without paper...

3) Always give your best, even when you don't feel like it.

4) Make a "contract" with those you are visiting to share the program with so they don't change the venue AT THE LAST MINUTE outdoors with no video and a CD player that only works half the time during a heat wave.

5) Make the best of it even when you are stuck in a place you don't want to be...let God provide the increase!

6) You CAN go to "the beach" and never see the ocean.

7) Kids are gonna do stuff you told them not to do or vice versa...no reason to take it personally...

8) I LOVE hotel room air-conditioning...slept like a baby...

9) Pulling up to a restaurant with 37 people and telling them we just want to eat during an economic downturn is really easy and you end up being well taken care of...or maybe they are just nice...thanks Mellow Mushroom!

10) Yes, a teenager can eat sausage, eggs, biscuits, cookie ice-cream sandwich and a pint of Hagen Daz ice-cream for breakfast!

11) Dropping a cell phone in the sewer makes it a very expensive toy that does nothing (it wasn't me).

12) I'll do it all again next year - if the elders let us, if God provides and the kids are willing...

Thanks for a great tour!

“Much ado about Nothing” (Circular Reasoning III)

I just finished (well sort of) a book called "The Book of Nothing" - I say that I finished it, but I gave up on the last chapter.

It was interesting at first, then it just became a solid noise of blah, blah, blah... I love science and I have a passing interest in mathematics - this book is an exploration, of sorts, into the concept of nothing - zero.

It turns out that in the big picture of human existence on earth the concept of zero is very new. In fact, a few hundred years ago it was considered heretical to propose the idea of nothing of a vacuum. Another thing I learned from this book is that as little as 100 years or so ago, we thought that space was filled with something called "ether". It's amazing how far we've come in our understanding of God's universe in the last 100 years or so.

Barrow, the guy that wrote the book acts like a guy that knows way too much for his own good. The fact of the matter is, for all of the words in his book, he just doesn't get it. I feel bad for scientists that continually look for answers to existence in the "laws of nature". They conjecture what cannot be seen from what they can see.

I'm used to this, I've heard it all of my life, but one good thing about this book is that it allowed me to see inside the mind of just such a scientist. It gives a good look at how someone tries to take God out of the world. It goes back to something I've discussed before that we all do - "Circular Reasoning".

However, this guy takes it to the N^th degree... The reason I finally had to put the book down was because he was 5 or 6 circles into his reasoning and it was just nonsense. The last few chapters of the book are filled with conjectures based on the statements he made in the first half of the book. I believe that you can convince yourself of anything if you spin yourself in enough circles.

As far as I can tell, it comes down to this. There is a force in the universe they are calling the Lambda factor. The Lambda factor was something that Einstein postulated but later refuted. Cutting through pages and pages of droning about vacuums, cosmology and quantum physics, the bottom line is that any time these scientists can't make the numbers match up they pour the difference into the Lambda factor. The Lambda factor, in a nutshell, is a force that cannot be calculated, seen or measured but affects matter, gravity and energy in some fashion. They believe that it's there, but they can't say what it is (exactly), how much there is or how much it affects the other things they can see.

I appreciate a good, healthy curiosity about our surroundings - many, many great things have been discovered because of that curiosity. However, when you look at the facts -over and over and over again over the course of decades and centuries - and still take what you don't know and turn it into something that you are sure you just missed or cannot find yet or cannot be explained then it's not science anymore - it's agenda.

I expected an objective discussion on the facts instead heard a long lesson on circular reasoning. It reminds me of…

Bedevere: Quiet, quiet, quiet, QUIET! There are ways of "telling" whether she is a witch!
Villagers: Are there? What? Tell us, then! Tell us!
Bedevere: Tell me. What do you do with witches?
V: BUUUURN!!!!! BUUUUUURRRRNN!!!!! You BURN them!!!! BURN!!
Bedevere: And what do you burn apart from witches?
Villager: More Witches!
Other Villager: Wood.
Bedevere: So. Why do witches burn?

Villager: Because they're made of.....wood?
Bedevere: Goooood!
Other Villagers: oh yeah... oh....
Bedevere: So. How do we tell whether she is made of wood?
One Villager: Build a bridge out of 'er!
Bedevere: Aah. But can you not also make bridges out of stone?
Villagers: oh yeah. oh. umm...
Bedevere: Does wood sink in water?
One Villager: No! No, no, it floats!
Other Villager: Throw her into the pond!
Villagers: yaaaaaa!

Bedevere: What also floats in water?
Villager: Bread!
Another Villager: Apples!
Another Villager: Uh...very small rocks!
Another Villager: Cider!
Another Villager: Uh...great gravy!
Another Villager: Cherries!
Another Villager: Mud!
Another Villager: Churches! Churches!
Another Villager: Lead! Lead!
King Arthur: A Duck!
Villagers: (in amazement) ooooooh!
Bedevere: EXACTLY!
Bedevere: So, "logically"...
Villager: If...she...weighs the same as a duck......she's made of wood.
Bedevere: and therefore...

Villager: A Witch!
All Villagers: A WITCH!

Beginnings and Endings...

"Everything that has a beginning has an end."

That's a quote from a line in "The Matrix Revolutions", and it's true - but not about God.

Revelation 22:13 tells us "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." I don't think its interesting or coincidental that this verse is in the last chapter of God's word. In this same chapter he tells us he is "coming soon" - he uses this time (through John) to reassure us that he has been wherever we are going and not to worry about His return because whenever it is he's already been there.

God has no ending because He had no beginning He has always been and He will always be. Any beginnings He refers to in His word is in relation to our beginning - not His.

There is no ending for God, because there was no beginning.

"The Beetle is Back" III - Now What?

It's now about 4PM and the tow truck driver gets us to the dealership service building.

Now, I don't know much about South Charleston, but it doesn't seem like the nicest area of town. The service buiding itself seems nice enough - from the outside - which is all we will be seeing today.

When we pulled off the highway I saw that there was as Marriot and I got on the phone and talked to a nice girl that said she had some rooms. I then asked here if they had a courtesy van that could come and pick us up. She checked and found the guy that drives the van and I told her were we were. We were at the the end of "D Street" at the dealership and I could see their sign from where I was. She said she knew where we were and that she would send the van immediately.

The tow truck driver unloaded the car in front of the service door and waited until I was off the phone. He asked me if he could take us somewhere and I told him that we had someone coming to get us - besides all of our stuff wouldn't fit in the back of his tow truck. He gave me his card and told me to call if I needed anything and left us at the empty service center at the corner of D Street and 10th.

We unpacked the car and gathered our stuff up so we would be ready when the van got there to pick us up - at any time. About 4:30 I realized that something was wrong - it had been at least 1/2 an hour since the nice girl at the Marriot had told me that they would be "right there". Wherever "here" was... Since I was hoping to use my HiltonHonors points for our hotel stay anyway I went ahead and called them and found us a Hampton Inn & Suites down the road. The next thing I knew I was talking with the manager there and she had a van headed our way in 10 minutes.

I called the Marriot...she informed me that the van driver couldn't find us! I told her a) that how could that be since she knew were we were and that I could see the sign from where I was standing and b) nevermind I had already found another hotel.

Meanwhile the clock is ticking. Now, we really have nowhere to be until tomorrow morning, but it's winter and the sun is setting. Everything is actually pretty cool - Josh is having a blast on his skateboard (he'd been in the backseat of the beetle all day and ready to burn some energy). Shawn and I are just hanging out wondering what is taking so long.

Now it's after 5PM and no van. I call the Hampton and she said that he's on his way and should be there any time. OK, so we wait and we watch. We are basically in a fenced in lot on the edge of no where and the sun is still going down. The nice cool air is getting a little colder.

I get a phone call from the guy driving the van - he doesn't have a cell phone and has stopped somewhere to use a phone to find out where we are (hey - atleast he didn't just give up on us like the Marriot). He keeps asking us if we can see "Suzy's" - we can't but we can see a couple other stores and SO CAN HE. At the other end of "D Street" (the way we expect him to come) is a big hill with a little park on the top of it. It looks man made. He asks me if I can see that I say, yeah! Now he knows where we are...so you'd think.

Another 20 minutes go by and nothing. To make a long story short, he spent tha last 45 minutes driving around on the OTHER SIDE of the burm at the end of the street. He got there about 5:30. He was nice enough and apologetic about taking so long to get us.

We got to the hotel quickly and they set us up very nicely (it pays to be a HH Silver Member). They upgraded our room, there was a full breakfast (included) in the morning and each room had a flat screen TV. Also, there were plenty of restaurants in the same parking lot.

We were eating at Panera Bread by 6:30.

God provided - we were safe, warm, and well fed. Things could have certainly been much worse. We enjoyed our evening... Our adventure was in full stride, with plenty left.

A Good Day...

When life is crazy - when nothing seems the same - a good day can be hard to find.

Yesterday was a good day, like when I was growing up in Michigan and it had been cold all winter. Weeks and weeks would go by and it was so cold that you didn't want to go outside - being outside was a means to an end...to get where you were going. You didn't linger.

Inevitably, near the end of February or early March we would get a day...one day that gave us a glimpse of the spring to come. Everyone was outside - no one stayed inside. In college kids skipped class... It was a good day, warm and sunny.

Yesterday was warm and sunny and, just like those shots of spring in winter, it put a spring in my step...

Thanks God...you truly are awesome.

Manna From Heaven

God is good and he is good all the time.

Wikipedia calls Manna "...food miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus."

Bryanepedia calls it "God's showering of blessing from places you never expected when you least expected it."

God is mysterious and his greatness is beyond our grasp. Face it, you're never going to completely figure Him out. That isn't to say that He is not completely approachable, loving and caring - however it's best to bow to his ultimate wisdom and let Him bless you in His own time and in His own way and stop trying to figure out why He does what He does and when He does it.

It's amazing to me how God can just blow me away when I least expect it. Everytime it happens I am overwhelmed by His love and wisdom. Last night he sent another blessing - just a simple phone call that was supposed to just be about normal business stuff turned into 2 hours of soul launching...yes my soul was launched, not lifted straight up. I was very tired, but I just didn't want it to end. My body was exhausted, but my soul was sky high...and still is.

God almost literally dropped manna from heaven in the form of a friend on the phone last night. He knows I'm in the wilderness and he provided - just like he always does.

God, you are good and you are good all the time...

Things I've Learned on Tour

• I might actually enjoy taking a group entirely made up of middle school kids on tour more than a group of just high school kids.
• Even in a crowd of people you can still feel alone.
• Sometimes people you don't expect are the ones that make your day...
• Go ahead, be silly and let the chips fall where they may...you'll have more fun.
• There is beauty in everyone.
• Roll with whatever comes your way, leave the worrying for God...things will work out...often better than you expected in the first place ( or than you planned).
• If you want something done the right way, have a back up plan...be prepared to step in and take over.
• Sometimes good people make bad decisions.
• Learn to acknowledge and appreciate those that have a desire to help and give them the chance to do so.
• Kids love simple things.
• Sometimes the last person you expected is the one that touches you the most.
• Make an concerted effort to remember who you are and who is in control.
• Live to serve.
• Serve to Live.
• Kids appreciate it (even if they are not good at communicating it) when you care for them. Never stop, even when you don't think you are getting through.
• Don't be afraid to give complements and tell those around you that you simply are "happy that they are here".
• Give out more compliments that you accept.
• Listen to others.
• Talk to God daily...as much as you can.
• Don't be afraid to delegate...in fact great leaders are experts at it.
• Realize that things happen and to be flexible and enjoy the spice of that flexibility.
• Remind teenagers that memorial sites are just that, and to be aware of those around that may be using their time there to reflect or connect with those past.
• Reserve quiet time for yourself...make the time...it's important
• Embrace those that are different from yourself.
• When you write blog entries while you are falling asleep at the end of a long day of touring there's no telling what you are going to say...

WANTED

WANTED: Person of any age or ethnicity, can be male or female who loves God and wants to serve Him. The person will be flawed and need God to help them through each day. This person will enjoy talking about nothing at all or something very important and anything in between. This person will feel an urgent and burning need to share their greatest hopes, deepest sorrows, loftiest dreams, dreariest days and highest highs. He or she will not need an invitation to spend time with me or vice-versa. The person will ask for and accept help when needed and not keep track of such help. He or she will enjoy me because of who am I and not what I will be or the value I can add. This person will understand that I am human and I will make mistakes and also allow themselves to make those same mistakes. This person must be willing to make a lifetime commitment, even though time may change who we are and where we are.

WANTED - a true friend. No application necessary, just drop by - let's talk.

Reluctant Glorification?

Is it possible to take something that was crafted to be used in a way that was not for God's glory and use it for His Glory? In other words, is it possible to use something that goes against God's teaching and use it as if it doesn't?

I guess the question is does it matter to God if I use something that is messed up in regards to His commandments and teachings in my worship to Him? Or, is God only interested in my heart while I am worshipping Him?

When you put the question that way it almost seems silly to ask it. God IS concerned about my heart when I worship Him. Jesus told us through the gospel of Matthew that we have to come to Him without resentment in our heart

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember
that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." Matthew 5:23,24

However, he also said in John 4:24 "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." So now I wonder since He wants me to worship Him with my spirit and to come to him in truth then does that mean that if I know I use something that was originally conceived in error can I use it to worship Him?

This debate in my mind came while I was listening to one of my favorite CD's - "Exodus" by Bob Marley and the Wailers. Much of his music speaks of God, Jesus, Zion, and "Jah". I just started listening to the words a bit closer and I thought...wow this makes sense! So I did a bit of research and it turns out that "Zion" is not the Zion I know of and that "Jah" is not a different name for Jehovah. (if you want to find out about what they mean look up "Rastafari Movement")

But if I speak these words and use them to refer to my God and for His glory does it diminish my worship to Him (even though I know where they came from)? If the earthly "audience" doesn't know that they were originally used in error does it matter?

I don't know.

P.S. Now I'm even more confused, since the Christian group Acappella did a song some years ago called "Talk to Jah" and grouped that name in with Jehovah. Yep, color me confused...

Christmas Redux

I'm enjoying my second Christmas season at our new Church and a year later I find myself somewhat more at ease.

A year ago I was riding a roller coaster of emotion during this time and as I was participating in our Christmas program at Church. One moment feeling great, the next feeling a bit guilty and overwhelmed. This year things are different.

I purposefully decided to limit my participation this year to singing in the choir; there are a few cool solos and speaking parts, but (unlike me) I resisted the urge to wildly jump in. I have already committed myself to working with the teen choir and between that and "just" singing as part of the choir in the program that will be plenty. I do not want to over extend myself like I have in the past. At first, it was a bit difficult, but once I made the decision and stuck to it, I have never looked back.

Anyway, I digress... This year I'm not hyper-analyzing all the Christmas stuff going on around me and once I stopped doing that it's making more sense. There are lots of reasons that it does, but one stands out for me. If this is the ONE TIME that someone MIGHT be influenced by Christians during the course of the year then what is wrong with making that one time special so they see how great our God is. All my life I have resisted this mentality as being "wishy-washy" and conforming to the world, but God tells us through the words of Paul...

"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." I Corinthians 9:19-23

What powerful words! Paul reminds me that it's not only OK to reach out to others "while the reaching is good", but it's our responsibility!

On an even more personal note, the teen choir is singing "Love Came Down" Sunday. It's a Christmas song with a bit of a twist. If you listen to the words they remind us that God sent his son, that "...love came down at Christmas time...". I used to lose the message behind the quest for the facts (Jesus wasn't born on December 25th), if I'm honest with myself and remove the glasses, I can see that for what it is...legalism. There it is, plain and simple, I have never thought of myself as a legalist...

Now, when I hear those words, sung by some of our teens, I just get goosebumps.

Bumper Sticker

I saw something incredibly sad the other day while driving down the road.

There was a lady in front of me...maybe 45-50 years old...in a little beat up Ford Fiesta. That's a bit sad, but not that sad. What was really sad was her bumper sticker...it read...

"God is a Myth"

My first reaction to reading that bumper sticker was that I must have read it wrong. The words God and Myth were big and the rest were small so I inched up to I could re-read it. To my amazement I had read it correctly the first time.

The bumper sticker was faded and old and I wondered if it had just come with the car. However, it occurred to me that if you bought a used car with that bumper sticker on it, even if you didn't have any deep feelings about God you would most likely remove it unless that's how you felt.

Once I realized that the bumper sticker said exactly what I thought it said I had to get a look at who would make such a statement to the driving world. Probably some goofy kid that doesn't know any better...just as I was thinking that I realized it was a full-fledged adult.

What does it take to make someone turn their back on God? To deny their existence? To look around at this ordered universe and say...oh it just happened?

I can't imagine a life without God, it would be empty, void, cold, dark...hopeless. Sure, as humans we sometimes have doubt or questions in our minds and sometimes we even express these thoughts. But to proclaim to the world that God is a myth...

I can only imagine what sort of terrible thing happens to someone to make them turn their back on God. I pray that she turns around...because He will still be there waiting for her and if she takes just one step she'll be in his arms, his warm, loving arms.

"...But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was
filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him...the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. Matthew 5:20,22,23

Moving On Redux

Believe it or not, there are a few people that read this thing (other than me), although it's certainly not common knowledge by any respect. One such person told me the other day that they didn't understand Moving On... and that someday I would have to explain it to them.

Here goes.

First of all, it's just a song and not all of it really applies, but it certainly described my feelings at the time. Also, if you have ever heard the song, it's got some attitude and that's something I need right now.

Oh you know I did it
It's over and I feel fine
Nothing you could say is gonna change my mind
Waiting and I wait at the longest night
Nothing like the taste to sweet decline

I was down, I fell, I fell so fast
Dropping like the grains in an hourglass
Never say forever cause nothing last
Dancing with the thorns of my buried past

For me, this song is about moving on and moving on involves, first...moving. Going from one place to the next...a change. If there were ever a time that someone could "change my mind", that time is closing. Not because my mind is closing, very much the opposite, because it's opening! Because I have opened my mind to new things I see things differently and I can't look at them the old way anymore. Once I watch a movie at the theater, I can't stand to watch the "TV Version" of it because I know there's something missing. Besides, why would you care now, after all this time after I waited for you to question me before? ("Nothing like the taste to sweet decline"). Where did my "friends" go?

Yes, I fell and fast, but now God has picked me back up and instead of avoiding the past I am looking it over and realizing it was just part of the journey ("dancing with the thorns of my buried past").

Nevermind there's nothing I can do
Bet your life there's something killing you...

...Take a good hard look for the very last time
The very last one in a very long line
Only took a second to say goodbye
Then the pleasure 'bout the pleasure's
been mine, all mine

OK, this is a dig. But, I feel like I deserve to give out just one very subtle parting shot. This is after getting a call from someone from my past wanting to clear their conscience so they can feel better about themselves ("Bet your life there's something killing you"). No concern about how me and my family are doing, just concern for personal demons. The pleasure is mine and I love where God has guided me, I pray that I will always follow him...he has never let me down.

OK, there it is. Yes, it was a"moment of angst", what can I say?

Lost in Hope

Jonah 2:1-9 "...In my distress I called to the LORD , and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD , and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD ."

Have you ever been lost?

When I was a kid in elementary school, my mom would take us to the biggest store around at that time...K-Mart. It was the equivalent of going to Wal-Mart now. We went there alot and spent a good deal of time there. Inevitably, I would tire of following my mom around in the clothing department or whatever and ask if I could go look at toys.

As the minutes went by I would continue looking until I would wonder where my mom was, so I would start looking, of course starting where I left her. She was rarely still there. I would start walking up and down the aisles, looking down each one and as I went from aisle to aisle with no luck, my pace would quicken...and so would my heart. When I found myself at the end of the store I would turn around and do it again, this time faster. "Where could she be?", but it was such a big place. Questions would start in my head "what if she forgot me here?"

Often, I would find her before I started to really panic, but occasionally, I didn't. So I would go up to the Customer Service desk and ask them to page her...how embarrassing!

Was I lost? Not really, my mom new I was in the store and deep down inside, I knew that my mom wouldn't forget me at the store. Knowing those two truths didn't make me feel better when I was running down the aisles calling her name.

I started thinking about this when I read the lyrics to the song "Tourniquet" by Evanescence. The song asks the question that seems to wander into every red-blooded Christian's mind at one time or another. "Can I be so lost that even God can't save me?". "Can I do something so repulsive that God could never accept me into his arms again?"

The answer is a bold "NO"! If you need proof, you need not look farther than the somewhat infamous preacher named Jonah. Jonah TRIED TO HIDE from God and when he did, God showed him that he sees everything. Then when Jonah was in the belly of the big fish and sure that he would die he said "From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. " (Jonah 2:2) Jonah was terribly lost, afraid and on the edge of death. Jonah was far, far away from his Lord...or so he thought.

Then Jonah called for God "To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD , and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. " (Jonah 2:6,7) God was just a call away (just as my mother usually was), God is ALWAYS just a call away.

No, there is no place on earth or anywhere else that God cannot reach us, hear us, or care for us.

tourniquet

i tried to kill the pain
but only brought more
i lay dying
and i'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal
i'm dying praying bleeding and screaming
am i too lost to be saved
am i too lost?

my God my tourniquet
return to me salvation
my God my tourniquet
return to me salvation

do you remember me
lost for so long
will you be on the other side
or will you forget me
i'm dying praying bleeding and screaming
am i too lost to be saved
am i too lost?

my God my tourniquet
return to me salvation
my God my tourniquet
return to me salvation

my wounds cry for the grave
my soul cries for deliverance
will i be denied Christ
tourniquet
my suicide

© 2003 Wind-Up Records

"Church Music" - Part V - "Corrective Lenses"

OK, it's time to finish this (at least for now). Let me just say this so I can make myself clear and so that there can be no misunderstandings.

I believe in ACapella music for corporate worship. I base this on MY PERSONAL HISTORY, I like it's simplicity, it is harder (certainly not impossible) to let material things get in the way when we are praising God this way. As of today, I have no intention of making a practice of worshipping God by singing songs of praise with instrumental accompaniment. However, I don't think that non-ACapella worship is unscriptual, unacceptable praise to God and worth our gargantuan efforts to stamp out. If a friend of mine invites me to worship with him (or her)and they use instruments as part of their heart-felt praise to God, I will join them. I will no longer cringe or concern myself that I am doing something terrible (trust me, I've done MUCH WORSE things), in fact I will try very hard to worship HIM in spirit and in truth.

The real issue here is not about the music issue it's about our LACK OF FOCUS ON THINGS THAT MATTER. To quote Paul Woodhouse from "Grace Centered Magazine", "Let's drop the instrumental music issue. It is irrelevant to the poor single mother, the aborted infant, the divorcee, and the prison inmate...It's time to get real and move on." There are so many other things that NEED our FOCUSED ATTENTION, immorality, the declining importance of family, abortion, depression, divorce, suicide and the list goes on. We should be lights...BEACONS for the rest of the world to find Christ, not enforcers of religious practices (does that sound like a....Pharisee?) If we took just 50% of the time and effort that is spent everyday defending ACapella singing in the Church of Christ IMAGINE WHAT WE COULD DO?!?!

We have lost our focus, it's time to get corrective lenses and get to work.

OK, I'm done (for now).

"Church Music" - Part IV... our kids

I grew up, primarily, in the 70's and I really don't remember this being a big deal then. Yes, it was discussed, and yes, even then the Churches of Christ were distinguished by (among other things) that fact that we didn't have any instruments in our worship service (or our buildings). The difference between then and now is that, then we looked at the whole Instrumental Music in worship "thing" as insignificant. The kids of my day were not talking about it and our worship services (practically ALL of them throughout the mainstream Churches of Christ) were the same. It wasn't an issue because we all understood what was "right and good".

One BIG change between now and then (from my view in the cheap seats) is that our kids talk with other kids about Church, God, Religion and the Bible MUCH MORE than we did. They invite their friends to devotionals and teen outings like crazy. When I was a kid is was all well and good for US to invite THEM to OUR outings, but forget about going to THEIRS (why would we do that?). So, over the years, the youth of our faith have become more and more...accepting of other faiths.

Why? It's simple, their FRIENDS are from other faiths. We used to have our "Church friends" (those kids from OUR Church) and our "Other friends", which we did not mix together (at least not very often). Youth (and what you call "youth" can very GREATLY) look at all of their friends as one big unit and they cherish their friends that go to other Churches and regard them very highly. Why? Because they can be very good people!

So now, they are exposed to different views of their faith from a very early age and those differences are not keeping them up at night. Their discussions about spiritual things often take them down the same paths...they don't get caught up in the details.

Their friend (Chris, we will call him) is a Christian too! Even though they play guitars in their worship service and might have women preachers. Even though Chris doesn't go to the "Church of Christ" he is still a Christian. Why? "How can't he be? He believes the same things that I do, he just does a few things different. He has the same moral values that I do (sometimes higher). He is just as active in his Church as I am, and I enjoy worshipping with him (the few times I have gone) and he enjoys worshipping with me."

The youth of our faith are more accepting than we are or were when we were their age. That could be a big factor in why they are pushing our Church to update and try new things because they are being exposed those things and their positive impact on personal spirituality. Simply put, their world is bigger and the bounds of their Christianity are too. Singing with musical accompaniment isn't a big deal, they hear the arguments against it and they may even nod their head with understanding, but they also see the positive impact that their friends (their Christian friends that don't go to a Church of Christ) have on them. Furthermore, they can't believe that their friends are going to hell, they are strong Christians, so what if they sing with instruments!

Then we are surprised when they pull back from our faith and become "rebellious" when they are given a very rigid view of Christianity, one that excludes these people they look up to.

More later...

"Church Music" - Part I

I want to talk about a topic that brings fear and cringing to most Christians that attend Churches of Christ. Music.

Specifically ACappella vs. Instrumental. ACappella, is simply translated as "Church music", but has come to mean music without instrumental accompaniment. But, even that definition is not enough for some. For some, even a human voice (or hand or other body part) that mimics an instrument is no longer ACappella music. For such people, mimicking a bass or creating a beat (for example) defies the spirit of the idea of "Church Music".

On the other side we have something as simple as a Church that might use an organ or a piano along with congregational singing, then there are Choruses, all the way to full bands with electric guitars and drums. There is an organization here in our town that proclaims that they are "The Church That Rocks".

Speaking as someone that has spent his whole life singing ACappella music in worship to God, and in choruses in High School and College, at devotionals and even in a somewhat short-lived group, I feel uncomfortable with the idea of using an instrument (other than that which God gave me) to worship him in an assembly. For me, it's distracting and unnecessary, the human voice is beautiful and simple enough for our corporate praise to God.

The Church of Christ's stance (at least traditionally and generally) on this issue is that instrumental music is not commanded in the Bible, nor is there a New Testament example of any Church using instruments in their corporate worship. It's really that simple, the Bible doesn't mention it, so we don't do it. Actually, the idea of instrumental accompaniment is rather new, only for the last few centuries have Churches used instruments in corporate worship to God, so those that would try to use the Bible to explicitly show that we should use an instrument in corporate worship would be foolish, it's not there. It is truly a man-contrived addition to what God established....

However, so are song books...and, Nurseries....and, Bible Classes...and, V.B.S...and, "pew Bibles".

(I originally called this "Let's Get This Over With...", but I decided to change the name to reflect what it was actually talking about)