I read another book recently that may change as dramatically the way I read the New Testament, or at least the Gospels. Lois Tverberg’s Walking in the Dust of the Rabbi Jesus helped to transport me to the time and culture of Jesus on earth.

Instead of photoshopping Jesus into yet another improbable reality, a helpful corrective would be to restore Jesus to his original setting. … With our individualism, secularism, materialism, and biblical illiteracy, we in the Western world are the ones who have moved farthest away from Jesus’ world. –LOIS TVERBERG

Tverberg writes about the various idioms Jesus used in his teaching, ones that the people he spoke to would have been very familiar with, including how having a “good eye” is to look out for the needs of others and to be generous in giving to the poor, while having a “bad eye” is to be greedy and self-centered, blind to the needs around you.

She dispels our understanding of love, which we tend to equate with emotional feelings, whereas biblical love emphasizes commitment and actions. For instance, how can we love our enemies? By thinking nice thoughts? In this commandment, Jesus was plausibly addressing how we treat them, more so than how we feel about them. Though, our emotions can indeed be changed by our actions. Love is also loyal, especially God’s love toward us. It isn’t so much about the thrill of romance but about faithfulness. Tverberg wonders if the fact that more and more of us are growing up in broken families is causing us to lose our ability to imagine enduring love. I would agree.

Tverberg underscores biblical community as paramount, that our modern individualism contrasts sharply with the culture of the Bible. And I don’t think this is a good thing.

Even though the early Jerusalem church emphasized community, within only a few centuries Gentiles brought into the church an emphasis on individual piety and private devotion. By AD 400, many Christians believed that the hermit’s utter solitude was the path to God. Modern Christians, especially American Protestants, still maintain a strong sense of “Jesus and me” individualism, emphasizing one’s “personal relationship with Christ” as the essence of faith. –LOIS TVERBERG

She also addresses the power of the tongue and how we are to judge others according to Jesus’ guidelines.

While you can discern sin in practice, only God knows the whole motive of the heart. We can (and should) discern outward wrongdoing, but we aren’t qualified to slam down the gavel and declare God’s condemnation on the person as a whole. –LOIS TVERBERG

I earnestly encourage you to read Walking in the Dust of the Rabbi Jesus and to check out another of hers, Sitting at the Feet of the Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, which I haven’t read yet but will.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

Several years ago I attended a Wild at Heart Boot Camp, hosted by John Eldredge and company, in Colorado. God spoke many things to me during that weekend retreat. How could I not hear him in the grandeur of the Rockies?

During the weekend we had opportunities for moderately safe adventures, including hiking and repelling. Some men went fly flishing too, though I’m not sure there’s much danger in that. There would have been if I’d gone along. The men I went with, which included the elders of my church at the time, decided to take part in a sort of obstacle course, one that included a zip line high among the evergreen trees. It was quite a long course, so by the end you’d grown so accustomed to the harness you didn’t realize it was even there.

Well, the last leg of the course involved leaping from a ledge about 25 feet high and grasping a metal bar some six feet away from where I stood. If I missed, well, then I’d plummet to certain death. Surely it was more like 100 feet high. I did, in fact, miss the bar, but was held by my harness and lowered slowly down to earth, admittedly upside down like a turtle on its back.

I was never in danger, though it felt like it. Such is life when you trust in God. I’ve grown so accustomed to his harness that sometimes I forget it’s there and I become anxious about what I shouldn’t fear. Other times God is pushing me to jump from the ledge, which conflicts with my own understanding of the situation. But the harness is strong enough to hold me. And you.

The Wellspring of Life

Proverbs 4:23 (ESV)
Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.

If I don’t keep watch over my heart, it can dry up from bitterness or envy or lust or anger. The psalmists prayed introspectively, that God would shine a light into the hidden recesses of the heart. Solomon exhorts his son to be ever on guard concerning what enters the heart and what is permitted to remain there.

Andy Stanley, writer and pastor of North Point, an Atlanta-area megachurch, often speaks of this verse, how he would ask his kids every night when he tucked them in, “How’s your heart? Is everything all right in there? Are you upset with someone? …” What a wonderful discipline, to search our hearts. How much easier it would be to get rid of the weeds of sin before they’re able to firmly take root.

Jesus said that out of the heart comes all manner evil (see Mark 7:21-23). We are inherently evil, but Jesus made it possible for us to become regenerated (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). Yet how often do we nullify the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts by pouring evil right back into it?

This is especially important for me personally, because I tend to expose myself to art and media whose aim isn’t to honor Christ. My choice of music isn’t always “positive and encouraging,” for instance. I have to be careful what I let seep into my heart.

Let us trust and let us be on guard.

My Attempts to Contain the Beast

Proverbs 1:23 (ESV)
If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.

My second annual review at my first church in Toledo was a hard one to receive. The first year, that honeymoon year, had gone quite well. The second year not as much. My senior pastor and the executive pastor, with whom I primarily worked, were concerned about my inability to receive criticism concerning my area of ministry, much less respond and make appropriate adjustments. They said what I was lacking was a teachable spirit.

Since I didn’t have such a spirit, I rejected their observations that I did not indeed have one. Had I had one, I probably would have accepted their criticism. Of course, if I’d had one, they wouldn’t have needed to mention it.

(I’m not sure even I understood that last paragraph.)

Well, I took their words to heart in a moment of brokenness and humility. Even back then over ten years ago, when I would have never considered myself a writer, I put pen to paper in plumbing the depths of my own heart. I guess it’s always been a method of introspection for me. I wrote an essay of sorts called “The Beast,” where I described pride as a savage beast I’d tried unsuccessfully to keep chained in a dungeon. He kept getting lose at inopportune times. And sometimes he would stir just to remind me he was there.

Still now I go through seasons of containing the beast and others when he runs rampant. I believe I have grown in their realm of laying down my pride, but it would seem the closer you get to Jesus the more acutely aware of your sin you become. You realize you’ve grown but you also realize how much further you have to go.

I am trying more these days to welcome criticism. Much wisdom can be gained through correction. And even more than that, God promises to pour out his Spirit on those who receive reproof. How I do not want to grieve God’s Spirit for lack of a teachable spirit.

Beauty: Just Friendly or Flirty

Proverbs 2:16 (NLT)
Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman,
from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.

Over the years I have been keenly aware of the “forbidden woman” (ESV) and have sought to protect myself. (If I haven’t been aware, then Cindy would let me know.) I think most men realize when a woman crosses the line from being merely friendly to overtly flirty. It’s what we do with such awareness that matters most. Do we allow our discernment to guide us away from danger or do we close our ears to such wisdom because it feels good to be wanted?

Men, we need to be especially aware of those times when temptation will be strongest, such as after (or during) a squabble with our wife. Or, and I don’t know if you’ve sensed this one, when traveling. Something about being away from the confines of home drives a man to do foolish things.

I’ll approach this subject again in a couple chapters, since Solomon devotes much time to counseling his son away from the immoral woman. Men, may we ever be devoted to God and to the wives of our youth. And women, may you be devoted to God and the man that has begun losing his hair only to discover it cropping up in other areas.

In my previous post I wrote about how Jesus emphasized his forgiving his followers for abandoning him. It was sort of a blanket amnesty. But here in the final chapter of John’s gospel, we see the importance of owning up to our guilt.

John 21:15-17 (ESV)
¹⁵ When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶ He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

Jesus’ questioning of Peter’s devotion coincides with Peter’s three denials. I think it was Jesus’ way of addressing Peter’s sin and showing him mercy.

Abandoning a friend too

Something I didn’t write about in my post on chapter 18 was how Peter not only denied Jesus but his fellow disciple John as well. In John 18:15, we see that John had followed Jesus into the high priest’s court, where a sham of a trial was held. If you look further in that passage, you’ll see what appears to be John summoning Peter to join him, which resulted in the first of Peter’s denials.

So back on the shore where Jesus is offering specific grace for Peter’s specific sin, we find John as well, who would have been privy to the conversation. He sees Jesus not only accept Peter back into the fold, as it were, but reinstate him to be the leader of the church, to pastor the flock.

Sometimes it’s difficult for me to forgive someone that God has forgiven. I want to hold on to the hurt and in some ways make them pay for their sin, not content to allow God to be the only judge. But the truth is that Jesus already paid for their sin, and he requires us to let them off the hook. Before Jesus surrendered himself to be killed at the hands of the Jews and the Romans, he prayed for unity among his followers. The unity he requested must be marked by forgiveness and grace.

The 1st century pastor’s closing words

One last thing to close out this long series, which I hope has been as beneficial for you as it has been for me. John closes his account with these final words:

John 21:24-25 (ESV)
²⁴ This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. ²⁵ Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

I personally have greatly appreciated reading and pondering John’s gospel again. I love how he closes here, acknowledging that he’d recorded only a small amount of what happened. (Similarly, I haven’t shared everything from my journal, everything God spoke to my heart.) I would love to know more of what John experienced. Someday we’ll meet him and the others and could get to ask, “So what else happened?”

I think John would agree to give further testimony, but I also have a hunch he might return the question: “So tell me what God did through and among you?”

In reading John’s gospel you’ll discover that he never mentions himself by name. Often he refers to himself as the beloved, or the one Jesus loved. Not that Jesus didn’t love the others ones, of course. Was it John’s humility that drove him never to identify himself? The name on the front of his jersey so much more important than his own that he refused to iron his on the back?

It’s a little comical here at the beginning of John 20 how the gospel writer doesn’t give his name but, perhaps revealing a competitive side to the first century pastor, claims to have beaten Peter in a footrace.

John 20:4 (ESV)
Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

I suppose Peter’s constant putting of his foot in his mouth must have slowed his gait. They were, of course, running to the tomb where the women said they saw Jesus’ body missing. He had defeated death and risen again like he said he would do. Fast forward a bit and we find Jesus’ followers hiding from the Jewish religious leaders.

John 20:19-22 (ESV)
¹⁹  On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them,“Peace be with you.” ²⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus comforts his followers and assures them that he is the man the Jews and Romans nailed to the cross. He commissions them just as he was commissioned by the Father. (Matthew in his gospel offers more details about this commissioning. See Matthew 28.) He gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift he promised he would give. And then he says something else.

John 20:23 (ESV)
“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

It’s interesting that some of Jesus’ first words to his followers after his resurrection involve forgiving others. The crucifixion and everything that accompanied it was horrific, but even in the midst of it, Jesus forgave. Could it be that in his statement here he is also expressing forgiveness for all his disciples who had abandoned him? They all had, to one degree or another.

Peter and John and the others would go on to tell the truth regarding the Jewish leaders’ guilt for having put to death the Messiah. “You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15 ESV). Yet they never did with any rancor, never with an air of superiority. They would preach a message of forgiveness, not that they had the power to forgive — that’s not what Jesus was saying here — but that in Jesus forgiveness was available.

Forgiveness, grace, mercy, pardon — this is the essence of the gospel. And just as the apostles never tired of preaching the message, neither will I.

As I have already, I am going to be limiting how much I post here at SWYW, because I’m working on a larger writing project, a story of deep betrayal and hurt and one of even deeper grace and healing. Would you pray for me that I might communicate with my pen what God wants me to say? I’ll need his encouragement to venture into the unknown territory of fiction.

May our lives be characterized by those who have received God’s grace.

That doesn’t mean I won’t continue to write. I will.

It’s just I think I’ve gotten off course with my initial commission to write. It was two and half years ago that I sensed God telling me to write. Since then I’ve written a lot, some good, some not so good. Writing for me was supposed to be an artistic outlet, as well as a manner of pastoral communication — sharing the truths of Scripture using my own voice, as a preacher without a pulpit.

Over time, my vision for writing became polluted with grander aspirations. See, I would read other people’s blogs and covet their hundreds and even thousands of subscribers, only to be discouraged by my numbers that failed to get out of the teens. Still, I thought at some point my writing could result in some extra cash for the Owens family. Perhaps so we could pay off our van and stash away some for vacation. Considering I hadn’t played many paying gigs since we moved from Toledo, this seemed to be a good idea.

Living in Obscurity

A couple weeks back in a sermon I preached at my church, I shared something rather personal concerning a lesson God continues to teach me, a lesson on humility and not desiring the spotlight. I said something of how God intimated that I would live my days in obscurity with little influence outside those I serve. This has been a hard lesson for a man who once wanted to be the next American Idol before that show ever aired.

In a way SWYW has been my attempt to break from obscurity, to be known. So I would read the how-to-make-your-blog-as-successful-as-mine blogs and even tried some of the tried-and-true methods. To no avail. I eventually came to realize that I should just write what’s on my heart, and if someone wants to read it, then that would be an added blessing.

I will keep SWYW going, at least for a while, but I’m only going to post one or two times a week, occasionally three. Writing less here will enable me to focus on another project I’ve already been devoting some time to, a story that has been on my heart for some time. Well, it may have been buried deep, and only recently has it risen to the surface. I’ve been doing research and conducting informal interviews, and I can’t wait to get to the actual writing.

Less Media, More Social

I’m thinking of pulling back from social media as a whole — at least a little, though I suppose that would negate the whole aspect. I have a Google+ account I haven’t really used. I post on Twitter to the few followers I have, and I’ve grown increasingly disinterested in those I’m following. Tumblr was a flop. I’ll keep posting and checking in with my friends on Facebook, because I like staying engaged with family, friends, and those at my church. And I’ve gotta keep an eye on those kids in my youth band.

I won’t be reading any blogs. I haven’t been for a while; I’ve been reading books instead. You know, those collections of prose that are well thought out and proofread and edited.

I also won’t be too hurt if you don’t read SWYW regularly. Well, I probably will, but I’ll get over it, I’m sure.

I’ll post on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and everywhere else to let you know when my book gets published, the one that’ll reach the bestsellers lists and garner a prize or two and bring me lots of money and fame. Perhaps I could publish it under a pseudonym, so I could continue living in obscurity, like God said I would, while my pen name goes down in the annals of the great American writers.

I think I may have missed the point.

Whereas our girls are forced to handle being labeled churchy girls. I think that’s what they call them. I’ve not heard the term Jesus freak lately.

I was thinking about this in reading John 19 when the Jewish people denied yet again God as their king.

John 19:14-16a (ESV)
¹⁴ Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. [Pilate] said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” ¹⁵ They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ¹⁶ So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. …

How far God’s people have fallen: “We have no king but Caesar.” They have forgotten their king in God.

See, back in the Jewish nation’s early days, after they were rescued out of Egypt and when they’d begun to take the Promised Land, God served as their king, and he set up regional leaders, judges they were called. These judges were, like the kings to follow, inconsistent at best regarding their strength as God’s rulers. Samson epitomizes the time. He was potentially a great leader but fell victim to his own sin, and his people suffered.

Eventually the people ask Samuel the prophet (was he also a judge?) for a king to rule over them, as the nations around them had. They wanted one leader for the nation, forgetting that God had been that one. Samuel had been deeply grieved by their request. But God conceded to his rebellious people and encouraged Samuel saying that it wasn’t the prophet they were rejecting but God himself (1 Samuel 8:7).

So here we have the Jewish people once again opting for a human king, and one who wasn’t even a Jew. I’m uncertain whether they were simply trying to appeal to Pilate or if they actually believed what they were saying. Regardless, their rejection is clear.

Notice something else that followed.

John 19:16b-22 (ESV)
¹⁶ … So they took Jesus, ¹⁷ and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

Now, I can appreciate the Jews’ concern about the semantics of Pilate’s sign. As a writer, I’m always aiming for accuracy in my descriptions. Is there a better word, could I phrase this to make what I’m saying clearer, is this confusing? These are the questions I ask myself as a writer.

Jesus claimed to be their king. They rejected him. And they wanted history to be accurate.

It’s always easy to blame the Jewish people, the ones that cried out, “Crucify him!” But I think it’s important here to ask myself how I reject God as my king. In what ways do I deny him? If I were to reflect at the end of the day, would I echo their proclamation: I had no king but myself today. Like the hyenas in The Lion King who thought a life without a king might just be a good thing.

We serve a king whose rule is just and whose law is peace. Might we ever acknowledge our status as his subjects.

Every worship CD I purchase — and even those people would burn for me, back in the days before you could simply, and legally, send me a YouTube link — I evaluate based on primarily one criterion: Is there something I can use for Sunday morning worship? Over the years, Crowder has produced only a handful of songs I’ve used in worship services, but I include him in my Worship Influences series, because his music has been the background for many of my private worship times.

I’d just bought my first MP3 player back in 2002, a 128mb clip that resembled a pedometer and could hold about two CDs worth of music, including Can You Hear Us? In the mornings for a season — probably the summer when it was warm at 6 am — I would sort of prayer walk around our neighborhood. I’d walk about 45 minutes or so. The soundtrack for most of those mornings was David Crowder Band’s music. Something about their music has consistently drawn me into worship.

I haven’t used much of their/his music because a lot of it is difficult to sing, due to strange syncopated rhythms and awkward leaps. Some of the ones I have included over the years are:

• Our Love Is Loud
• O Praise Him (All This for a King)
• No One Like You — mostly with our youth band
• Only You
• Here Is Our King
• Wholly Yours

But I came to appreciate Crowder’s creative approach to songs, not just churning out mediocre songs we could sing on Sunday, but digging deeper and creating interesting, exciting music, though not too odd it couldn’t serve as ambiance for personal worship. Crowder invited the synth back into the worship band and not just for string pads and the occasional B3. He liked the analog rigs and arpeggiators and anything that wasn’t a preset on your Yamaha or Roland. Still, his band was a rock band with plenty of distorted guitars and heavy drums.

Somehow Crowder made due with a less than adequate voice, one that I found myself at times emulating. (Cindy asked me one time rather rhetorically, “Why are you trying to sing like him? Your voice is better.”) Despite his vocal handicap, he could work a song with dynamics and intensity alone. A great example of this is his “Glory of It All,” which is probably my favorite Crowder song. Some other favorites that I never used as congregational songs include:

• All I Can Say
• Come and Listen
• O God Where Are You Now
• Open Skies
• Stars
• Remedy

One of my greatest regrets (musically speaking) is that I never saw David Crowder Band. They concluded their final tour a few months ago. I heard theirs was always a great show. I’m not sure what Crowder will be doing, but I suppose the music he produced will keep me going in private worship for quite a while longer.

Join me next week as I take a look at a guy who could sing a bit better than Crowder.

“Arrest Me Already!”

John 18:3-8 (ESV)
So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”

This scene is almost comical. Jesus’ accosters, accompanied by the traitor Judas, ask if he is the Jesus from Nazareth, and he affirms this: “I am.” He has said this on other occasions, which I wrote about in this series (“Absurd and Blasphemous Claims“). Here my Bible records Jesus as responding, “I am he,” but denotes that the Greek indicates simply, “I am,” which hearkens back to Moses and the burning bush when God told the great prophet and leader of Israel his name, I AM WHO I AM.

All the men who came to arrest Jesus upon hearing “I am” hit the floor, a natural response to divine revelation, the ESV Study Bible notes. Jesus reminds them that they need to get off the ground and arrest him, to do what they’d come to do, to participate in the fulfillment of prophecy and the plan of redemption.

Humility and Escape

John 18:33-37 (ESV)
So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world–to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Such humility Jesus displayed in consenting to be judged by Pilate. Paul would tell the Philippians (chapter 2) that Jesus made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, despite that he was/is God. This hour was the culmination of his ministry. Beyond the healings and demonic deliverances, beyond his teaching. This was why he had come.

I remember going to Disneyland as a kid. Never one for fair rides, I had to be talked into getting in line for Space Mountain, the most adventurous ride at the Anaheim theme park. The ride is completely indoors but much of the line is outside, making it easy for fearful kids like myself to abandon any prospective thrills. Once you get inside, where the line continues a little, there are still a few escapes, exit doors that beckoned me.

Jesus had so many opportunities to abandon his plan, but he chose not to. Obviously, this wasn’t Space Mountain, but I wonder how many times he had to recommit to the plan. Early in the morning when he sought the Father in prayer, as he often did? After the upteenth time his disciples demonstrated a lack of faith or a misunderstanding of the kingdom he was ushering in?

Certainly in the garden before he was arrested. One last exit door and he passed it up: “Not my will but yours be done.”

This humble High Priest, this I AM, emptied himself so that I could be filled. So that you could be filled. He is the King to whom every knee will one day bow and tongue confess as Lord. The Savior King.

Micah and I were in a public restroom a couple weeks ago. I was trying to help him wash his hands, which proved to be difficult due to the height of the sink — we use a stool at home — and the faucet was one of those push-on varieties, the kind that you have to press every couple of seconds. I had to keep telling him that, no, we weren’t done yet: “I still see bubbles. Let’s get all the bubbles off.”

When we finished at the sink, I noticed an older man waiting rather patiently for us. I apologized for the delay which he gently brushed off: “Oh, no, don’t worry about it. A boy needs to learn from his daddy.”

Truer words have never been spoken, and I’ll never forget his. Indeed, a boy needs to learn from his daddy, and his mommy. At this stage, Micah is learning a lot from us, absorbing our actions and speech. He has begun aping his father, and initially I hadn’t recognized this. He is saying things like, “okay” and “come on,” words apparently I use all the time but hadn’t noticed before he began uttering them.

For my birthday — which was just a week or so ago, so you’re still welcome to send your belated greetings and gifts — our girls gave me a card that mentioned something about the acorn not falling far from the tree and how they are (and I am) a little nuts. My prayer is that the acorn will fall near this oak, this man whom God is strengthening each day to withstand the storms of life. They will resemble their mom and dad in their faith and devotion to God.

I spoke about all this in a sermon I preached a couple weeks ago called “An Ancient Temple, an Ancient Path.” Check out the audio/video here. A little warning, you may want to keep some tissues handy. I’m known to quicken tears when I talk about our kids.

The CDs the Passion bands produced coordinated with the annual Passion Conferences, which were basically revivals for a postmodern culture. Passion Conferences began in the late ’90s and continue today. Originally they were held annually in primarily Texas and Georgia, though also Tennessee. Recently, Passion has gone on tour, including dates in international cities.

I haven’t followed much of their music lately, but their earlier CDs certainly influenced the music I chose and led with my worship teams. The Passion band was similar to the Vineyard bands, in that they featured different worship leaders, including mainstays Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall, and David Crowder. Also featured over the years were Christy Nockels (in my opinion one of the best female vocalists to ever lead worship, or at least recorded worship), Jami Smith (a rocky Melissa Etheridge type vocalist), Steve Fee, and Matt Redman.

Pushing the music forward was sixsteps records, which was begun by Louie Giglio, who has also served, in a sense, as Passion pastor. He has co-written many fantastic worship songs and continues to be the primary speaker at Passion events. Producer Ed Cash has churned out CD after CD of similar sounding music that young worshipers have embraced the world over. The pretty-voiced Chris Tomlin has written a glut of worship songs, but I’ll write more about him in a couple weeks.

Many of the Passion songs you can find on other CDs, as typically each artist would eventually record his or her own project. Sometimes, as in the case of Redman’s “The Heart of Worship,” a song had already been released.

Some of my favorites from the earlier records:

• Better Is One Day
• The Heart of Worship
• Kindness
• We Are Hungry
• Here I Am to Worship
• Enough
• Famous One
• God of Wonders
• Our Love Is Loud
• O Praise Him (All This for a King)
• Holy Is the Lord
• Sing to the King
• Blessed Be Your Name
• Not to Us
• How Great Is Our God
• Your Grace Is Enough

Perhaps I’m just getting old, but I haven’t been all that interested in the more recent releases, although I’ll still use some of the songs they produce, like “Our God” and “God of This City.”

Next week I’ll look at a crazy-haired, maniacal-looking worship leader from the heart of Texas, one with a penchant for synths.

My early years — well, probably the first couple decades — could be described as friendless. Aside from a a few here and there, I haven’t had many friends. I’m sure there are reasons for this, which might include how I may not have been a good friend myself. Whatever the case, it left me with a sense of unlikeability (I’m not sure that’s a word), that little about me was likeable. Of course, my wife has been my best friend, but she is supposed to like me.

One of the hardest things I’ve had to accept about God is that he desires to be my friend. Father to me as one who was, in a way, fatherless — certainly. A comfort in times of distress — without question. A solid rock in an age of uncertainy — most assuredly. But one who wants to be my friend?

Why? Why would Jesus want to be my friend?

See, I’ve always had this sense about Jesus that he merely tolerates me. I also thought of him in this way regarding his disciples. How could Jesus endure such a ragtag bunch of hooligans, I would wonder. Could it be that he actually liked them? Could it be that Andrew — one we don’t hear much about — had a knack for making Jesus laugh? Didn’t Jesus once say that he would no longer call them servants but friends?

John 17:24-26 (ESV)
²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Passages like this remind me that Jesus might just like me. For he is speaking about me here — and you — when he says that he desires for me to be with him. He is not the older brother that puts up with me.

I think of him the way I think of Lindsay, the 13-year-old big sister who loves to play with Micah, to give him a bath, and to help get him dressed for church on Sundays. She was devastated when we lost Gabriel (see “Eso es todo”) certainly because she loved him but also because she liked being with him.

It’s the same with God. The wonderful thing is that I don’t have to wait to see him face to face to experience his friendship, although that will be indescribably amazing.

What a friend indeed do we have in Jesus.

One of these interviews was with their amazingly large search committee. I’m not sure everyone there served on the committee or if they were summoned for the interview. Every demographic was well represented among my interviewers. I don’t remember much except a question by someone I got to know once we moved there. She asked if I was familiar with Vineyard worship music. She’d expressed concern that the list of songs I’d been using, which they’d asked for, didn’t include many (if any) Vineyard songs.

I’m not sure how I answered the question, but either I answered it well or the question didn’t figure highly into their decision. No, I hadn’t been familiar with Vineyard songs, a few here and there. And I write today still not a big fan of most Vineyard stuff. I suppose I include them in my Worship Influences series because we did use quite a few of their songs in my early years at the church in Toledo. Most of them I fazed out.

I have several Vineyard CDs but there are really only two, in my opinion, that impacted the worship landscape: Hungry and Surrender.

Hungry had a couple huge hits, songs that churches still use over a decade later: the title track (subtitled “Falling on My Knees”) and “Breathe.” There were a few others we used at my church, including “Your Name Is Holy,” “Refuge in You,” and “Be the Centre” — that’s Cen-tree, because, for some reason, we were compelled to keep the British spelling.

Surrender wasn’t a bad follow-up with “Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing),” “You Are My King” (aka “Amazing Love”), and “All Who Are Thirsty” (aka “Come, Lord Jesus, Come”). My favorite was the title track, a rootsy ballad with a great chorus, ideal for repeating over and over, as we were wont to do.

King of the Mountain

I suppose Vineyard music, or at least these two projects, did impact me, because there were two distinctions between these CDs and other worship albums I owned. The first, and I think this is a typical Vineyard feature, is that a few different worship leaders lead a handful of songs each. There isn’t a primary leader for the entire CD, though the band stays pretty much the same, which lends to continuity.

There may be a third influence for me that I hadn’t considered until I mentioned the band. Indeed, the worship band had already begun to shift away from piano-driven music to guitar-driven, specifically acoustic guitar. (Which Chris Tomlin would bring home — I’ll write abut him a little next week.) My “ideal” band is similar to the one Vineyard used: drums, bass, two electric guitars, one acoustic guitar, and two keyboards — maybe a little extra percussion from time to time.

All Harmony All the Time?

The other distinction, which I interrupted with the band influence, is how the vocal team shrunk from the ’90s going into the new millennium. Many churches would use something like a worship choir, more of an ensemble of a dozen vocalists to back the band and mic’d primary vocalists, including the leader and two that sang harmony, usually an alto and a tenor or just two altos. There would be no more doubling the melody, meaning only the leader sang the melody, while the other vocalists added harmony.

This approach to vocals eventually became my standard after I left that first church in Toledo. All my vocalists have been required to sing (or learn to sing) harmony. And if you’re a male vocalist, you’ll be expected to sing tenor, regardless of whether you’re actually a tenor. The ladies’ parts got lower, since they wouldn’t have to reach for the melody an octave above the leader, but the tenor’s parts would soar.

Along with this change in vocals, those who sang harmony wouldn’t sing all the time, and definitely not harmony all the time. They might back away during the verses or in a quiet reprise of a chorus. Or if they do sing during these spots, I usually want them doubling the melody. Vineyard, and others at the time, ushered in a new sound a lot different than the all-harmony-all-the-time Gaitherish ensembles.

I suppose Vineyard did impact me, even if I’ve only liked a half dozen or so of their songs. The two discs I mentioned are still worth listening to, and a few of those songs I imagine we’ll be using for many years to come.

Join me as I look next week at a shift in worship — for good or bad — to a more youth-centered sound, music that sprung out of something like a tent revival for 20-somethings.

Well, the girl I’d been dating for five months or so broke up with me. She was younger and still in high school. After a short string of girls I’d only nominally dated, I decided — likely prompted by God’s Spirit — to abstain from dating and focus on God alone.

I bought a hardcover Life Application Bible featuring the Living Bible paraphrase and I began reading alone in my room with just the lamp at my desk illuminating the thin pages. And God met with me there. He spoke to me through the ancient Scriptures rendered in a modern vernacular. The study notes helped me to see how Scripture applied to my life as an 18 year old with a promising, but certainly cloudy, future.

Eventually, I purchased a New American Standard Bible, my pastor’s preferred translation. Then an NIV, then back to NASB after it was updated in 1995. Then it was the New Living Translation sometime around 2002, when my pastor (a different one) encouraged an easier-to-understand translation for use in our services. I’d misplaced that Bible around 2006 and so purchased another NLT, which had also been updated. Then around 2007, I bought an English Standard Version after discussion with a friend who is also a pastor. Today I typically use a combination of ESV and NLT. Perhaps someday I’ll learn Hebrew and Greek and those lexicons will be my go-to Bible.

What began in my bedroom as an indecisive teenager has continued on to this day, and something Jesus promised his disciples — and us.

John 16:12-15 (ESV)
¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

As a teenager,
I have been guided into truth.

As a 35-year-old husband and father,
I am still guided into truth.

As a pastor and worship leader,
I will continue to be guided into truth.

Over the years I’ve used various Bible tools: study Bibles like the Life Application and ESV Study Bible, commentaries, word helps, cross-reference and topical systems, etc. These have certainly helped, but probably the most helpful has been a simple notebook. God has proven faithful to speak as I place pen to paper. He directs me to certain passages and I meditate on them. He guides me into truth.

I have a shelf full of old notebooks and still more text files on my computer that comprise my journal entries over the years. Sometimes God repeats himself, evidence that I haven’t responded in obedience, that I am often found as a hearer only and not a doer. But I’ve also seen growth and how God has spoken to me about something that would take place. Like the time he asked me if I would be OK with living in Toledo, far from family and home, for the rest of my life. And how when I’d come to a place of agreement, he directed a new plan.

I cannot exhort you enough to accept Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit, that he would guide you into truth if you would but listen. Open God’s Word. Open your heart. And a journal wouldn’t hurt.

===

I opened up a new Tumblr acount. Tumblr is a microblogging platform ideal for brief posts of all kinds: text, pictures, audio, video, links. I’m calling mine SWYW Express: Saying What I Will … but shorter.

Why did I create SWYW Express?

Well, I’ve been thinking about focusing SWYW a little more. I’ll be going on a solitude retreat in a couple months, and I’m expecting God to speak regarding my aspirations, including writing ones. (At least, I’ll be asking him about it. Whether he decides to address it will be up to him, I suppose.) In the meantime, I want to unconvolute SWYW.

I write about a lot of different things. This is good, and I want to keep writing. But I’m eliminating the posts that distract me here at SWYW, including the Sunday Setlists and various playlists. As much as I like writing about new music I’m listening to, I’m not really interested in writing detailed reviews. I’ll continue to make recommendations but will do it over at SWYW Express. I’ll post playlists there and quick hey-check-out-this-new-artist kind of posts.

Here at SWYW, I’ll continue to post in my Scripture series, such as my current one, “Notes from a 1st Century Pastor,” as well as my normal This & That observations from and about life and family and relating to God and the world. My “Worship Inspirations” series will continue to run for several more weeks, then I’ll pick up the book reviews I usually write. I’ll do this, if even so I can continue receiving free books.

At some point I’ll clean up the site here, but the Tumblr site will be somewhat of a mishmash. Who knows, maybe if people are liking SWYW Express, I’ll look into a nicer theme there.

So, if you would, check it out let me know what you think: http://owensdad.tumblr.com

I imagine my gift to myself is a short post today.

No, I am not my own influence. But I desire to influence others, not for my own recognition but that God would be honored. Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is something that has haunted me from time to time. I say haunt because in some ways I feel like Jonah having run away from Ninevah. For years now, I’ve been wanting to write music but I haven’t disciplined myself to, at the very least, try.

I was a prolific composer in high school, though none of the songs I wrote would I share with anyone today. I’d sit in math class and write lyrics, then later at home write melodies to my poetry. So I know the ability is in there somewhere. The ability to write mediocrity perhaps. But I’ll never know unless I try.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’ve reduced my blog output the past several weeks. I’m trying to clear my schedule to allow for musical creativity. To write not prose, but lyric.

We’ll see.

I remember my dad tending to his rosebushes at my home in Arizona. We had just a few lining our driveway. He would care for them, making sure they had enough water to endure the summer heat. Occasionally, he would clip a rose and present it to my mother (see my post “Spotting the Guilty”). I also remember when he would trim down the bushes, and I always thought they looked awful. Why would he butcher them so?

Here in John 15, Jesus is continuing with his final words to his disciples, to the Twelve (minus Judas). I’m uncertain where they are now, having left the upper room, when Jesus starts talking about vines and vinedressers and fruit.

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ²  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” –John 15:1-8 ESV

I’d like to make two observations from this passage. (There are many more, as usual, but I try to keep these posts a little brief, relatively speaking.) What does it mean to abide with Christ? And what is this fruit?

ABIDE

We don’t use the word abide much, but it simply means to live, to dwell, to remain with. Abiding with Christ involves staying close. There is an intentionality, a discipline of remaining with Jesus. Sadly, this is difficult for us — with all of our distractions. We have a hard time abiding with Christ, though we know how to abide with our TVs and our cell phones. We know what nights our favorite shows are on, yet we’d struggle to recite Scripture from memory. We check our smartphones constantly throughout the day, but we seldom give the slightest acknowledgment to the presence of God.

FRUIT

I’d like someday to take an excursion with Cindy through the vineyards of California, to stay at some B&Bs and inns along the way, while sampling various wines. When I think of wine, as Jesus alludes to here in his discourse on vineyards, I consider abundance and joy. “Wine gladdens the heart of man,” the psalmist rightly sang (104:15). The vinedresser is intent on cultivating more and more grapes at a higher quality, producing an unsurpassed vintage.

That is the purpose of the Father, to help me bear more and better fruit. When I abide with him, the Spirit of Christ cultivates in me more love, more joy, more peace, more patience, more kindness, more faithfulness, more gentleness, and more self-control (see Galatians 5:21-23). All of this to the glory of the Father, for when I continually bear more and better fruit, God is glorified. In this sense, the fruit we bear is the light that shines so that others might see and give glory to our heavenly Father (see Matthew 5:16). This fruit will bless others and draw them to God.

To be sure, this is not an easy process. Dad’s rosebushes looked to me like they’d been mutilated. The pruning process feels like that. But character growth is the result of such pruning. I’ve seen, and am continuing to see, this in my life. And so I welcome, if even trepidatiously, the vinedresser’s shears.

I encourage you to stay close to God, as the branch to abide with the vine, and allow him to cultivate a greater vintage with hints of blackberries and oak. Or if you prefer white, maybe pears and tangerines.

Watch out!
There’s a speed trap on 127 at the I-70 overpass!

I chuckled because just a couple months prior I was stopped near that exact overpass for exceeding the speed limit by about 10 mph. The speed limit along U.S. 127 is normally 55 mph, but at that short stretch, the limit is reduced to 45. The officer checked my record, which is spotless, at least in the past 17 years, and gave me only a written warning. He explained that the reduction in speed is due to the two truck stops on either side of the overpass. Often trucks are stopped awaiting a turn into one of those truck stops.

What I didn’t infer from my Facebook friend’s status update was a warning to drive safe on that overpass but instead caution regarding the likely monetary repercussions of speeding. Her whole speed trap comment got me thinking. What is a speed trap?

I googled speed trap and discovered a website devoted to listing over 50,000 supposed speed traps across the United States. I don’t know if the 127 overpass is listed there, or even the state route on which my house is situated, though I hope so.

Recently, a local patrol car has been parked near our house and one particular evening his or her blue lights would flash and be gone, chasing down a hurried motorist. I have greatly appreciated the enforcement of the 25 mph limit in the small town where I live, which is mostly residential. I remember that particular evening because it was Fat Tuesday and we were enjoy Paczkis. I’d wanted to go out and thank the officer with a Paczki or two. Except, after citing that driver, he didn’t return to his spot near our house.

All this reminded me of a passage in Romans where Paul is talking about obeying government authorities.

Romans 13:1-5 (NLT)
¹ Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. ² So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. ³ For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. ⁴ The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. ⁵ So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.

All of us with driver’s licenses have known the anxiety of speeding along the interstate and discovering we’d just passed a hidden patrol car. What Paul says here quite lucidly is to rid yourself of such anxiety by obeying the law. You needn’t fear highway patrol when you’re complying with posted speed limits.

We may not understand, and even if we do, we may not always agree with the government authorities to which Paul tells us to submit. In my estimation, there is no entrapment when limits are posted and we choose to exceed them regardless. I’m not even going to address radar detectors. C’mon!

I am aiming to become a safer, more submissive driver. Would you join me?

I first saw Tommy Walker sometime in the mid-’90s when he led with the multi-ethnic Promise Keepers band, as he sported a headset mic not unlike Michael Jackson’s and Madonna’s. I would see him at a few worship conferences following. I was drawn to his worship style, not the least because he is heavily influenced by jazz, producing something like the sound of Steely Dan.

Typically, he fronts his band as the lone guitarist, playing a customized Strat, amid drums, bass, two keys players, and sometimes auxiliary percussion. And plenty of vocals. Next week I’ll post about the decrease of the vocal ensemble, but Walker maintains what a friend once referred to as the “wall of butts,” which is what the vocal team looks like from the perspective of the drummer and other back-of-the-stage musicians. Sopranos double Walker’s melody lead with alto and tenor harmony. Often Walker ad libs and vocalizes as a sort of descant, very common in contemporary worship.

Walker’s band has always had accomplished musicians, since he has led Christian Assembly in Los Angeles, which boasts a huge talent pool. His earlier recordings feature a familiar sound (from last week’s post) in Justo Almario’s saxophone and flute. Walker mixes up genres, a reflection of his church’s ethnic diversity. His Latin-sounding forays sound a bit like Santana.

The Promise Keepers band was a product of Maranatha Music, but Walker would go on to record with Integrity’s, a Maranatha rival. (Do worship recording companies compete with one another?) The first of the Integrity’s albums, Never Gonna Stop, was better than his follow-up, Make It Glorious. But even more, I prefer his church’s productions, including the double-set Live At Home and There Is a Rock.

I was accused sometime around 2002 of leaning too heavily on Walker for my church’s worship songs. I’ve done this many times over the course of ministry. When I discover an artist, I want to use every good song he or she writes/records. I have to be careful to mix up our selections to vary our sound.

I haven’t used much from Walker, however, in the past several years, but here are some of the songs (of over 100 he’s written) that I used in leading, despite not having a guitarist that could touch Walker for most of that 1998-2004 stretch.

• Mourning into Dancing
• Lift Up Your Heads
• As We Worship You
• Everyone Arise — Cindy called this the Raisin Bran song
• Doxology — a fantastic arrangement
• He Knows My Name — a beautiful lullaby-like tune
• How Good and Pleasant
• I Fix My Eyes on You — based on one of my favorite scriptures
• Never Gonna Stop
• Only a God Like You — probably my churches’ favorite Walker song
• That’s Why We Praise Him — a wonderful explanation of what we do when we worship
• Unto the King
• Your Throne
• For God So Loved the World
• Te Alabamos — a Spanish/English song combining bossa and salsa; we used this at my church in Arizona

As I write this, I’m listening to a more recent Walker recording. I might need to listen more intentionally, because his music would appeal to my congregation. Of course, I’d need to work on my chords a bit, or just move over to piano where I belong. Check out Tommy Walker, since he’s still writing and recording.

Next week I’ll look at two records that pioneered today’s worship landscape.

“Mom, you look so pretty today, and you wash those dishes so thoroughly. Do you think I could have a cookie?”

I probably wouldn’t have used a word like thoroughly. But the other words were supposed to be magic. Flattery, really, a ruse she saw right through and one that seldom worked.

There are some magic words in prayer you might be aware of. Ones you probably even use but don’t really understand. You’ve heard other people use them, people whom you perceive to be more spiritually mature than yourself. The super-spiritual even expand on this oft-used closing phrase. They’ll add multiple descriptive prepositional phrases and a few adjectives and adverbs for effect, maybe even a participle.

Here the words without the flowery additions:

” … in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

I tack this on to my prayers without giving much thought. Perhaps you do as well. Where did this phrase come from? Why do we say it?

In John 14, Jesus is encouraging his disciples, just after Judas left to seal his betrayal and after Jesus predicted Peter’s denial. Jesus assures them that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that no one can reach the Father except through him. (I considered splitting this chapter into two posts, because of that phrase there. Perhaps another post.)

Then Jesus goes on to say something that may have sounded outrageous to the disciples:

John 14:12 (ESV)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”

Greater works? They would do greater works than they saw Jesus do? Greater than healing the sick, feeding the 5,000, walking on water? And let’s not forget: raising the dead. How would they do this?

John 14:13-14 (ESV)
^{13 “}Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

They would simply need to ask. That’s all.

“Open Sesame”

But what does this mean, this “in my name”? What does asking in Jesus’ name entail? Is it simply closing our prayers with the phrase as a sort of hokus pokus magic word that turns the key to all we’d ever want? Does it assure that whatever we ask we will receive? James would argue that, no, we don’t receive everything we ask for, often because our motives are impure (see James 4:3).

The ESV Study Bible, a brief commentary I’ve come to really appreciate, offers two aspects of praying in Jesus’ name. It means,

praying in a way consistent with his character and his will (a person’s name in the ancient world represented what the person was like); it also means coming to God in the authority of Jesus. Probably both senses are intended here. Adding “in Jesus’ name” at the end of every prayer is neither required nor wrong. Effective prayer must ask for and desire what Jesus delights in. –ESV Study Bible

I’ll reverse these and say that, first, when I go to God in prayer I need to be mindful that I do so in the authority of Jesus, whose sacrifice for us made it possible that we could run confidently into God’s courts and seek his mercy and grace (see Hebrews 4:16). Jesus is indeed the Way. We have access to Father through him and him alone.

Secondly, and this is likely more pertinent to our understanding of in Jesus’ name: we need to pray in a manner consistent with God’s will. It would stand to reason that I should familiarize myself with God’s will. What would he want for me and those I’m praying for? How could I know this except through my seeking to know him? And I get to know him more by reading the Bible, which tells me all about who God is. The more I understand scriptural principles and commands, the better I can judge whether what I’m asking is in accordance with God’s will.

Thirdly, how will God be glorified if he were to give what I’m asking? I wrote in “When 2+2 = something other than 4” how Jesus’ answered his disciples who’d asked why a man had been born blind, whether it was his or his parents’ sin. Jesus said it all had to do with the Father’s glory. Jesus is most concerned with glorifying the Father, not in giving us everything we want. We should share Jesus’ concern. Perhaps a reminder would be to close our prayers this way:

” … and we pray this in Jesus’ name that you, Father, might be glorified. Amen.”

Let’s pray with understanding, not heaping up empty phrases (see Matthew 6:7). Our prayers are not to be religious exercises but conversations with the Creator of the universe who loves and welcomes our requests. Let’s seek his will and his glory and watch him do greater things through us.

I’ve started a new workout … uh … I was going to say routine, but that sounds like I’m trying some new dance steps. A new workout plan, I guess. It involves doing a lot of work with dumbbells and barbells and the various benches in the free weight section of the gym. I’ve always been a bit intimidated to workout in that room with the guys who’ve made fitness a hobby. Me, I’m just trying to lose a little weight.

I do my homework before each new workout. (They vary quite a bit to keep from boredom setting in.) I save various exercises in a YouTube playlist that I can access during my workout. Most of the time I feel like my form is all wrong and that I’m not breathing correctly. Sometimes I even have to remind myself to breathe. I’d really hate to keel over in the free weight room.  Really, I just feel like I’m thinking too much and my movements are all rigid.

I’ve learned over the years with music that when I start to think too much my playing becomes rigid. I get stuck in the technique and the art gets buried amid proper fingering. The same is true in other areas of life.

I used to listen to a podcast called Grammar Girl. In the brief episodes, the host would tackle various grammar rules and would offer tricks for writers who want to write correctly. I stopped listening, partly because I tired of hearing about all the rules, not because I didn’t want to write properly but because I found myself editing my own speech. Even worse, other people’s. I’d find myself in conversation no longer listening but evaluating and, quite frequently, wincing.

Here are some of the things I run across in regular, everyday conversation that when I hear them I clamp down on my tongue.

FURTHER VS. FARTHER

I’ve actually come upon the misuse of farther in a couple books. Grammar Girl’s tip for the distinction of use is that farther is normally used to describe physical distance (he ran farther than he did yesterday), whereas further is typically metaphorical (she fell further behind in her studies). Honestly, you could flip these around and it wouldn’t be a big deal, but I’ve come to like further as metaphorical only. 

WHILE INSTEAD OF ALTHOUGH

This is like further/farther in that it’s not a terrible grammar breach. While is normally used pertaining to time (he listened to the radio while he ran), but I’ve been hearing it in place of a better option like although (while he prefers Chinese food, they ate Italian because she likes pasta). Again, Grammar Girl doesn’t like that usage, and because of that one episode, I don’t care much for it either. There are other stronger options: (1) despite his preference for Chinese or (2) even though he likes Chinese. We don’t do this in speech enough, but in writing we should mix up our words so as not to bore our readers. (I hope I do this enough.)

OFTEN VS. OFTEN??

This isn’t a grammar related pet peave but one related to pronounciation. When I was in college, the music department produced a musical revue called Cole!, which fittingly featured the music of Cole Porter. During one of the company numbers, the ensemble sang the word often. I remember a rehearsal when the vocal director — I served as assistant vocal director — was aghast out our collective pronounciation, which kept the ‘t’: AW-ftuhn. He was convinced the correct prounounciation omitted the ‘t’: AW-fuhn. We looked it up and discovered either pronunciation is acceptable, but to this day, I’ve omitted the ‘t’ and shudder whenever anyone else doesn’t. I know, I’m a jerk.

SINGULAR –> PLURAL

This used to drive me crazy, but I’ve come to accept it in everyday speech, though lately I’ve been seeing it in writing — and even in my own!! This rule refers to the dropping of gender in speech. Rarely do you see his or her in writing, and rarer still is it employed in speech. To move away from the awkward his or her, most people switch to a plural pronoun. This has become standard: If someone wants to order sooner, they should move to that line. They as plural is technically incorrectly matched with someone, but we say it all the time because his or her is stilted. I’m not sure how the grammar geeks feel about this development (or regression), but it’s unlikely to change. (By the way, it used to be that the masogonistic his/he would be used: If someone wants to order sooner, he should move to that line.) I try to avoid this altogether in my writing and rephrase my words to fit singular or plural.

… AND I

I imagine ignorance, as they say, would be bliss. Instead, I walk around drawing invisible squigglies like Microsoft Office’s grammar check. Proper form at the gym would render better results. Proper form in speech might make a grammar nerd like myself happy — I own a book called Dos, Don’ts and Maybes of the English Language — but who really cares? 

Maybe you, if you made it to the end of this post.

Last week I wrote about the worship recording and publishing company, Integrity’s Praise & Worship. Most of the CDs — or rather, tapes — they produced featured different worship leaders, with a few repeat appearances here and there. But with the ’90s came the rise of the worship leader as a recording artist. One of these worship leaders who greatly influenced me was Ron Kenoly. His first worship project with Integrity’s featured their conventional cover art, which was something like shaped paper cuttings, but his following CDs demonstrated his rise in popularity with the prominent placement of his mug and exhuberant smile.

Ron Kenoly’s style combined elements of R&B, smooth jazz, and enough Top 40 pop to appeal to us white folk. He featured a large vocal ensemble, though not with the traditional black Gospel sound. Liner notes reveal quite a few non-black singers. Ron Kenoly was a crossover artist before we really knew what that was.

Kenoly’s band was pretty hot. Tom Brooks covered the keys by himself, typically playing variations of ’80s electric pianos with lots of tines and bells, as the warmth of the Rhodes and Wurlitzer had fallen out of favor and wouldn’t resurface for at least another decade. Two percussionists complemented his drummer, which varied from album to album, as did his electric guitarist, who played heavily chorused accents and was seldom featured.

The strength of Kenoly’s band (aside from Brooks) was his bassist, Abraham Laboriel, about whom I wrote last year, and woodwind extraordinaire, Justo Almario, who in addition to his flute brought along an early-’90s soprano saxophone (think theme song to 7th Heaven). Almario’s virtuosic improvisation soared over the brass section, which was typically three to four trumpets and a couple trombones.

The bulk of the songs I picked early on in my worship leading career were from Kenoly’s projects, which began with his Jesus Is Alive and (for me) culminated with his fourth project, Sing Out with One Voice. He would go on to record more albums, but none matched the production of Sing Out, which, even to this day, when I plan worship events I return to, in considering theme and how a musical worship journey should go.

At the church where I started in worship, we sang these songs:

From Jesus Is Alive

• HALLOWED BE THY NAME – an island sounding tune we always had fun with
• JESUS IS ALIVE – the song that put Ron Kenoly on the map
• MAKING WAR IN THE HEAVENLIES – a spiritual warfare song, at least one of which Kenoly would feature on just about every project
• WE ARE POSSESSING – same thing

From Lift Him Up, a giant of a worship album

• LIFT HIM UP – lots of funky chords my guitarist hated; diminisheds, augmenteds, 13ths, oh my
• MOURNING INTO DANCING – Latin Jazz in worship, penned by Tommy Walker, whom I’ll feature next week
• LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH – not the Matt Redman song
• ANCIENT OF DAYS – another huge hit here, as it still ranks on CCLI’s Top 100 list
• ANOINTING FALL ON ME – we weren’t shy about the Holy Spirit at my church
• ALL HONOR – an utterly beautiful minor key song
• WE’RE GOING UP TO THE HIGH PLACES – see “Making War” above

We didn’t use much from God Is Able, though Sing Out offered many great tunes:

• SING OUT – great horn parts and an altogether different variation on a song of Paul Baloche’s; it was interesting to see Baloche, whom I’ll write about, listed as a vocalist on a few of Kenoly’s albums.
• JOYFULLY, JOYFULLY – a great call to worship kind of song
• THE LORD BE MAGNIFIED – this featured the African Children’s Choir, a fun upbeat tune with a great trumpet part
• FOR THE LORD IS GOOD – a male/female echo kind of thing in the chorus, this was a great song, though with some difficult chords
• COME INTO THIS HOUSE – this was about as Gospel Choir-ish Ron Kenoly got; for good measure, he tacked on a rap
• I WILL COME AND BOW DOWN / OH THE GLORY OF YOUR PRESENCE – these weren’t new songs but greatly fit the theme of the project
• AIN’T GONNA LET NO ROCK – this was a favorite for a time at my church

As I mentioned, Ron Kenoly recorded a few more albums, but these were his better overall CDs. I saw Kenoly a couple times in concert, and his worship was infectious. You wanted what he had, as his joy overflowed. It’s my hope that my congregation would view me similarly.

These were great songs, ones I wish I could play again in church. I could say this for every post in this series. Join me next week for my look at a blond-haired California kid who could wail on guitar.

(I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I’d be holding off on book reviews during my Worship Influences series. I’m still reading, however, and I want to get this book out of my queue.)

I selected the book Preparation for Eternity with God by Rick Streight because the topic has been of interest to me for over a year now — the subjects of heaven and hell and Christ’s return and our resurrection. I also wanted to read it because we’ll be beginning a sermon series next month at my church called “If I Die Before I Wake,” and the final message will be on the resurrection.

Preparation was an immediate disappointment. If someone were to ask why I think some preachers/pastors should not attempt to write a book, I would point to this one. I don’t claim myself to be a gifted speaker, but I fancy myself a writer. I have little patience for books not written by writers. And for that matter, sermons delivered by non-preachers.

Perhaps I’m being harsh with Streight, considering he may have only written half the book, as a lot of the text is one King James Bible reference after another, which would be fine, except the prose has absolutely no rhythm, the result of which is a garbled mess. What’s more, the chapters are short and without focus. It’s as though Streight wanted to cover everything but consequently covered nothing.

If I’d pulled this book off the shelf in a bookstore and read just a sampling I would have winced and placed it back on the shelf. Instead, I was forced to read the entire thing. (OK, I may have skimmed through it.) Don’t bother. There may be some gold nuggets hidden within the mess, but it’d be a painstaking mining process I do not recommend.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Many of my non-liturgical friends might be unaware that today is Ash Wednesday. If you read last year’s post about this time (“Fat Wednesday and Other Irreverent Ideas“), then you’d know we just began observing this day on the church calendar.

After dinner tonight and before we head out for Jr. High BigGroup (our church’s weekly youth worship gathering) and my Money Map class, we’ll worship together as I impose ashes on our children and my wife (and Cindy on me). These ashes will represent for us our repentance and identification with Christ and his covering for our sin.

The girls were a little concerned about having to go out in public this year with ash on their foreheads. I reminded them that they will be among other believers, though, admittedly, junior high believers can tease with the best of the heathen ones. To console them further, I informed them that I’d be teaching a class with people staring at me for 90 minutes.

We’ll begin today a book I heartily recommend, although I’ve previewed but one chapter. We’ll read the first chapter together tonight and the following entries for the period of Lent, which I’m planning for us to read before the girls head out for school. You can get N. T. Wright’s Lent for Everyone: Matthew Year A through amazon.com and try to catch up once it arrives. Or even better, the Kindle version is $9 and you can read it instantly.

Whatever you do, I hope you take some time this season to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice as we look forward to Easter.

We also like the spin off, House Hunters International. Sometimes we imagine ourselves searching for a flat in Europe or a bungalow in South America. If even for a half hour, we consider moving to some exotic place. We don’t consider how we would do this. Maybe after that book I’ve written and the publishing deal it accompanies.

It’s ironic that we would dream of moving out of the country when for the past decade or so we’ve pondered little else than moving back closer to family in Arizona. (I suppose we could move to Mexico.) In case you weren’t aware, we moved here to Ohio in 2001. We’d only been married a few years; Lindsay was 2 and Jacque not even 1. We thought we’d live here for a few years, as I got some needed experience in my field, and then move back. Obviously, God’s plans were different than ours.

Lately we’ve been thinking more pragmatically about a move, though the least pragmatic reasoning involves a contest we entered online daily for more than a month. HGTV gives away their “Dream Home” every year. They build a $1 million-plus home somewhere in the United States and furnish it and people enter a drawing to win it. Years back Cindy entered the contest for a house in Oregon, as she’s always wanted to live in the Pacific Northwest, where she was born. This year’s home is in Utah, just outside of Salt Lake City.

Infatuated with the Landscape and Clime

Why would we consider Utah? Because last summer we visited Cindy’s father who lives there. I’d never been to Utah, despite that it’s Arizona’s neighbor to the north. It’s where my dad lived before and where his estranged sons still live, one of whom we visited.

If I didn’t fall in love with Utah then, I was at least instantly infatuated with the landscape and climate. In our past considerations of relocating back to Arizona we’ve often wondered: Could we live back in the desert? With the heat and absence of seasons? The lack of color? And did I mention the heat?! Utah was a bit toasty when we went in June, but the humidity was minimal. And the mountains were gorgeous. It reminded me of a weekend trip to Colorado years ago.

Last June we’d stayed in Utah for about three days before driving the rest of our journey to Yuma, a mere 11- 12-hour drive. We imagined living only a day’s drive from the rest of our family. We could be there for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Birthdays would be plausible. We could host family escaping the July heat. Or those interested in playing in the cold white stuff.

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Speaking of which, we’ve grown to love seasonal changes. There’s something about enduring a 5-month winter that causes you to appreciate spring and summer. And autumn is gorgeous if not for the impending winter. This winter in Ohio has been a bit discouraging. Although we’ve loved the higher temperatures, the lack of snow has been disheartening. We haven’t gotten nearly enough to play in. I hear Utah gets a lot of snow. I might have to learn to ski.

It’s doubtful we’ll be awarded the Dream Home this year, but it has caused us to focus more intently on our goals. We like where we live now. (I’ve grown more comfortable with the rural environment.) And we love our church. It would be hard to leave, as it always is. But a day’s drive to home and a breathtaking landscape and Grandpa Jensen nearby would make the move easier.

Speaking of grandparents, the last time I spoke to my grandma (whose first question, even before a hello, whenever I see or talk to her is, “When are you moving back to Yuma?”) I told her about our thoughts concerning Utah, and she seemed pleased. Perhaps she’d long resigned that we’d never return and Utah was a welcome surprise.

When will we move? Not anytime soon. We still need to sell our house in Toledo. Will we move at all? That’s entirely up to God. We present to him our request, but he has the final say. And he is the one who would make provision. We make plans, and he guides our steps.

Until then (if there is a then), we will continue to serve faithfully here and enjoy small town life.

I pulled two worship music books off my shelf, ones I hadn’t looked through in many years. The books are Integrity’s Praise & Worship Songbooks 2 and 3: More New Songs from America’s Best Selling Praise & Worship Series. Each features the songs from six of their worship recordings, a couple of which I remember wearing out. (Remember when you could wear out tape?)

My church in the ’80s used a lot of Integrity’s songs. Back then, and they still do this today, Integrity’s had a subscription service, where you paid for and received worship tapes about every other month or so. These were live recordings from various churches across America, typically featuring different worship leaders, though their style and instrumentation was rather similar. This music was very piano driven. Guitarists were welcome, as long as they left their distortion pedals at home.

Play Me a Medley

One of my absolute favorite recordings was Forever Grateful, led by Martin Nystrom, who penned “As the Deer.” A feature of this, and many of the Integrity’s tapes, was the medley. A few upbeat tunes would be merged together to create one medley. Similar keys and tempos made this possible. Medleys were quite popular in the church for the better part of a decade. The downside was that the individual songs, without beginning or end, tended to blur into one long monotonous song.

Forever Grateful‘s title track is a beautiful song of thanksgiving for Christ’s death on our behalf, and one I might use in our early service this Easter. “Prince of Peace” is wonderful, as is “Shepherd of My Soul,” which preceded one of the first hymns I’d ever heard and one of my favorites, “Savior Like a Shepherd.” “Faithful and Just” featured minor chords and modulations uncommon in the music that would follow in the ’90s and even the first part of this century.

The Songwriter

Don Moen would become a mainstay of Integrity’s recordings and would, in fact, become involved in the leadership of the recording and publishing company. Though his voice is rather weak and nasally — characteristic of the singer/songwriter, I suppose — he had a way of leading worship that ushered in God’s presence. (I’ve seen him once at a concert and once at a worship seminar.) And for 10 to 15 years he was the premier worship songwriter, especially when he teamed with others like Lynn DeShazo.

Many of the songs in Songbooks 2 and 3, I would use in my early years of leading worship at a small church plant in Yuma, my hometown. Even as I played through some of them the other day, I was taken back nearly twenty years when I led them, six or seven years after they were originally published and recorded. These were definitely piano songs, and I feel bad for what I subjected my guitarist to (sorry, Ken), myself a guitarist now. Most of the upbeat songs I would never use again, but plenty of the ballads would surely engage my congregation today.

I’m grateful I attended the church I did in the ’80s, how their worship style was progressive for the day. It left a lasting impression on me, and, if not for the songs we sang, I wouldn’t be a worship pastor today. I’d probably be an architect or something. Sure, I might have more money in the bank, but I’m not sure I’d enjoy it as much as leading worship.

Most of us know about Judas Iscariot, the trader, the one who betrayed Jesus, handing him over to the religious leaders who wanted him executed for blasphemy. Something I noted last week, if you remember, when Judas objected to Mary’s lavish worship, is that the gospel writer John refers to him as a thief. As the treasurer, Judas would dip into the money bag and fill his personal account. Not much, mind you. Just a little here and there. You wouldn’t want to set off any alarms.

I don’t know when the disciples figured out Judas had been embezzling ministry funds. Likely it was after his death and after Jesus had died, resurrected, and ascended to heaven. They learned a lot about their fellow disciple after he hung himself in a field.

I will be teaching a new financial course, as I mentioned in “Money Map“. (I’m writing this a few weeks ahead of my post date.) One topic I’ll hit hard on is our tendency toward greed, as Tim Keller so aptly illustrates in Counterfeit Gods. Judas intrigues me. Why did he betray his Master? I was reading in a Bible dictionary, which stated that no one can really know his motives for betrayal. Although, I’d like to offer that at least one motive is quite clear–greed.

Let’s look at John 13. This scene is very familiar to many of us. Jesus is with his disciples on the night before his death.

John 13:1-2 (ESV)
¹ Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ² During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him …

Satan had been working through the religious leaders to bring about the death of God’s Son. Something I did not hit on a couple chapters ago is that the Pharisees rejected Jesus because he threatened their position, their power and influence (see John 11:48). In Judas they found an insider willing to trade his Rabbi to satisfy his greed. John points out that Satan had been directing Judas’s heart, as well. Soon, Judas would be subject not merely to temptation to grasp money but would become possessed by the devil himself.

After Jesus acknowledged the one who would betray him, Judas left the men he’d shared company with for three years.

John 13:26, 30 (ESV)
²⁶ Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. … ³⁰ So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

They would see him again one final time, accompanied by soldiers and religious higher-ups, when they would arrest Jesus in the garden.

Was Judas’ only motivation greed? No, probably not. Perhaps like other followers of Jesus, he’d had other notions of a Messiah, of one who would upend Roman occupation. Maybe he wanted on the inside of such a revolution, one that, if successful, would guarantee some kind of position of power for himself.

And money.

And so we circle back to greed.

We view Judas with disdain, scoffing that we would never betray our Lord in such a manner. But I would ask: Have we truly given up the worship of money like the other disciple I first mentioned, like Matthew the tax collector? Or do we sometimes resemble Judas? Instead of scoffing, perhaps we could pray like David:

Psalm 139:23-24 (ESV)
²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! ²⁴ And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Most of the people in my congregation have grown up with traditional worship that sadly didn’t encourage physical expressions of worship. Therefore, clapping is, I imagine, quite uncomfortable for them. But — and I don’t want to sound New Agey here — there is an energy that builds when people clap in worship. I’m going to work on this one for the foreseeable future, taking the initiative myself to teach and model clapping. How I’ll do this while playing an instrument will be the challenge.

Something else I think will help our people is for the band to sell the ending. I know, that sounds weird. But take a listen to Paul Baloche, whose recordings are nearly always live worship events, and you’ll see how his band sells the final chord. They always swell, which encourages the congregation to applaud. That is, to offer God worship with their hands. Very often, Baloche will tag a chorus somewhat a capella after the clapping has faded.

Our Set

(You can see the details here including song links.)

We had four rather upbeat, or at least high energy, tunes to open the service. We also introduced a new one for us.

Our Musicians

• DRUMS – Rob P.
• BASS – Rob M.
• ELECTRIC GUITAR – myself
• ACOUSTIC GUITAR – Darah
• PIANO – myself
• KEYS – Sarah
• VOCALS – Betty, Richard, and myself

Traditional Service

(You can see the details here.)

A vocal trio led the early service and some of my favorite hymns, while I ran sound.

1. Take My Life (Vineyard Song: Scott Underwood)
2. Crown Him with Many Crowns
3. We Fall Down (Chris Tomlin)
4. Holy, Holy, Holy
5. Whiter Than Snow

Check out what other churches are doing at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

Well, when I gave the young lady a $10 bill for my $7.12 total, she accidentally entered the wrong amount I was giving her into the register. She looked baffled, unaware of what to do. She then grabbed a pencil and piece of paper to work out the change she needed to return to me.

As she engaged the borrowing rules of subtraction, I kindly (not judgmentally, I might add) said, “I think it should be $2.88.”

She was surprised, “How’d you do that?”

“In my head,” I replied.

To her I was like Einstein, I suppose.

Watch Calculators

Older generations have always warned against the overuse of calculators. Cue grumpy old man voice from SNL of yore: When I was a kid, we used an abacus for our calculations … and we liked it!

Remember those watch calculators? They had miniscule buttons and each entry returned a high pitched beep. Those beeps must have been mandated by elementary school teachers to prevent cheating. Those beeps were piercingly loud. About as loud as the kid next to you sneakily trying to snack on Corn Nuts. (You can suck on them all you want, but that crunch is inevitable.)

I carry a calculator around with me everywhere now in my phone. It’s a simple app, but if you turn the phone to the side, you get all kinds of complicated features. I only ever use the percentage one. I also have access to a wealth of information I used to have to just know. Whether my list of tasks, appointments, or notes.

I used to be a good memorizer. (I might still be today if I tried.) As a young piano student, I always had to memorize my recital pieces. I never understood why other instrumentalists didn’t have to memorize. Someone would go to a faraway closet and unearth a music stand for the flute players and violinists. We piano players had a music stand built into the piano, yet we had to lay it flat. Come to think of it, vocalists also had to memorize their songs. Of course, I’m a pianist and a vocalist. I should have played the oboe. But then, how would that help me now?

Dumber and Dumber

I read an article awhile back about how Google is dumbing us down. (I’d have to Google the article to tell you where it’s at.) It’s this sense that because we have 24/7 access to information, then we don’t actually have to know or remember any of it. I can look it up and return a result in a matter of seconds. On the one hand, we have the ability to learn a lot. On the other, we’re not storing it in our native information retrieval systems — our brains.

I’ve thought about this as it relates to Scripture. I think it was David who wrote, “I’ve hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (I think it was him. I’d have to look it up.) I’ve not done much hiding of God’s Word in my heart lately. Sure, it’s all hidden in my Bible app, and I can call it up rather quickly. But hiding God’s Word has to do with meditating. It’s repeating over and over in my heart and mind whatever it is I’m wanting to chew on.

Thinking back on it now, memorizing my music as a piano student was good for me. It forced me to get beyond the notes on the page and breathe in the music. Breathe it in, then exhale it out through my fingers. I suppose that’s what meditating — or in this case, Scripture memory — does too. I breathe in God’s Word and exhale it through my words, my thoughts, my actions.

No need for an app.

My first exposure to worship music was a vinyl record led by a cartoon hymnal named Psalty. Psalty the Psalter, I think it was. I remember my twin sister and me as kindergartners dancing in the living room to the songs of the first Kids Praise album while my mom made cookies in the kitchen.

Some of these songs were outrageously fun, like “The Butterfly Song” and “The Wa Wa Song.” But there were also some contemporary choruses that I still love to sing today, including “Jesus, Name Above All Names” and “Seek Ye First.” We must have also had the follow up collection, because I remember “Arky Arky” and “In His Time.”

These melodies were incredibly easy to sing. Sometimes I miss the simplicity of these songs. These days I struggle with guitar riffs and what I call basement/attic songs, where half the song (usually the verses) is quite low while the other (chorus, bridge) is insanely high. How rich would our worship service today be if we stopped all the clamor and just sang, “In my life, Lord, be glorified …”?

These Kids Praise songs were among the first I ever played. Even before I began piano lessons, I started plunking out the melodies, and nearly 30 years later, I still play primarily by ear (though I can easily read music).

Thank you, Psalty, for leading me as a child, back when I didn’t care about (or know anything about) singing in tune and when I danced freely, as in: “I’m gonna jump down, turn around, hit the ground, and praise my Lord.” And thank you, Mom, for investing in those records.

Becky, hit play on this video, and you’ll be transported back with me. Thinking these days I could play the honky tonk piano.

Now I’ve got a hankering for a sugar cookie.