A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

Yesterday in our worship services we sang a hymn and a new song written approximately 500 years apart. We sang Martin Luther's A Mighty Fortress Is Our God alongside A Mighty Fortress by Christy and Nathan Nockels. At the end of the first and second verses of Luther's A Mighty Fortress..., we went right to the chorus of Nockel's A Mighty Fortress. Since both songs were in the same key, it worked perfectly.

Martin Luther wrote his timeless classic right after nailing his 95 theses to the Catholic church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517. It is said that Luther would gather other reformers together for worship and prayer and they would sing this wonderful hymn as encouragement during some of the darkest days of the Reformation. Luther based the lyric of his hymn on Psalm 46. Verses 1-3 say; God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Verse 7 says; The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (emphasis mine)

Verse 1of Luther's hymn reads;
   A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark (strong wall) never failing;
   Our helper He a mid the flood, of mortal ills prevailing.
   For still our ancient foe (enemy), doth seek to work us woe (temptation to sin).
   His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.

The second verse of Christy and Nathan Nockel's song says;
  Our God is jealous for His own. None could comprehend His love and His mercy.
  Our God is exalted on His throne, high above the heavens, forever He is worthy.
   And we will keep our eyes on You. We will keep our eyes on You.

   (chorus) A mighty fortress is our God. A sacred refuge is Your name.
   Your kingdom is unshakable, with You forever we will reign.

What wonderful music to encourage our hearts. Words from the Reformation and the 21st century to help us worship God.

Learning New Technology, Again...

After a being a lifelong PC user, I took the Apple plunge this week. Kathy organized our relatives and a few friends and gave me a gift card to our local Apple store for my birthday. After I bought it, a friend who works at the store, Vince, helped me set up my mail accounts, contacts, and showed me some of the basic features. What little I have done so far, I am really enjoying it. I can understand why Mac and iPhone users are such fans. Since my only exposure to Apple up to now has been a couple of iPods, the iPad is pretty cool. The  digital growth and implementation into our lives has been spectacular.

I think it was in 1988 when I bought the first two computers for the church I was working at. We bought one for our grade school and one for the main church secretary. Among many, one task stands out in my mind as being revolutionary at the time. It was how we addressed our major church mailings. We had a huge table machine called an Addressograph. It used metal plates stamped with a person's name and address on it. The metal plates snapped into metal holders and they would go in a tray which the machine would pick up one at a time. I big arm would come across the envelope or folded newsletter and pass over the paper and an ink ribbon. It made a horrible noise, and I knew that one day someone was going to lose some fingers in the process of addressing. In order to make a change of address, we had to send off to a company to make a new metal plate. With our new computer, our secretary entered the names and addresses once, printed them to a dot matrix printer with a label roll attached and while the labels were printing, she could do something else. A few keystrokes and a change of address was made. We all thought we had died and gone to heaven.

Today that computer wouldn't even be able to load our present day operating system, much less do any work. But in 1988, it was almost miraculous. Today, with a device that comfortably sits on my knee, I can see and talk with my children in England, just as easily as I can with someone across the room. In 1988 we were so taken with the moment that we had no idea what the future might hold. And yet the same principal is true, I'm so taken with this new technology that I'm not even thinking of what may be coming down the road. One thing hasn't changed, however. In 1988 we found ways to use our new computers to affect people's lives for Christ. I have already had those thoughts with my new iPad. How, mixed in with everything else I might do with it, can I affect people for Christ. We'll see...

   

I Love Watching Nature Come To Life

I was working in my yard yesterday. We all do the annual ritual of clearing away the dead stalks of plants that had their moment of glory and now give way to a new season. Pulling here, pruning there, deciding what to keep and what needs to go. Trying not to prune too much, but making sure each plant and tree will fill out nicely and thinking about new plants to purchase when the time comes. We have had a lot of rain and snow this winter and the ground is still very saturated. In fact, it snowed a couple of inches just this past Monday, leaving behind another layer of moisture. So after getting muddy and and scrapping off my tennis shoes for the 10th time, I decided to call it a day. It is supposed to be nice next week, so I'll get more time to finish the job.

The one thing I love about this time of year, and the thing that kept distracting me yesterday, was looking at all the bits of green. I love seeing nature wake up. Tiny buds that are just starting to open. Looking at Bradford Pear and Dogwood buds. Right now they are just tiny little balls, waiting for the right time to explode into color. I was even on my roof sweeping off the last of winter debris and saw the first Redbud blossoms about to burst open. I pulled last years dead plants away from all the daffodils and crocus plants, saw the first of those blooms and took a look at my rose bushes. Tiny bits of red and green where beautiful leaves will grow in a few weeks.

Today I'm sore from all the bending over, but my spirit is rejuvenated. Spring has a way of doing that. New life has a way creating a freshness that is renewing. Today is the first day of Spring. Thank you, God, for a wonderful reminder of Your life, in us.

Sin Can Have Catastrophic Consequences

This morning my daily Bible reading was the account of the children of Israel thoroughly demolishing Jericho and then getting routed in their attempt to take the city of Ai.

When Joshua hears of the defeat he prostrates himself before God. His biggest concern is that the other kings and people of Canaan will hear of this defeat and make it nearly impossible for the Israelites to conquer the land. God tells Joshua to "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned;..." The next morning each tribe passes by Joshua and the tribe of Judah is chosen, the clans pass by and then the families and finally it gets down to Achan. He confesses his sin. He has taken a beautiful robe, two hundred shekels of silver and fifty shekels of gold. In today's prices, maybe $500 for the robe, $2,872 in silver and $28,380 in gold, for a total value of $31,752. Joshua sends some men to Achan's tent and they retrieve the plunder. They take Achan, the plunder, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys, sheep his tent and all that he had to the Valley of Achor.

The Biblical account doesn't mention how old Achan is, or anything about a wife, nor does it say there were son or daughter-in-laws or grandchildren. As I thought about the story, Achan would have been in the second generation of Israelites that was inheriting the promised land, so he could have been near 40 years old. His children were probably teenagers or in their early 20s, perhaps his wife had died in childbirth and Achan had not remarried. Can you imagine the terror in Achan's heart as he realizes that everyone he loves and everything he has worked for is being gathered up for destruction? I can't imagine the tremendous emotions he is feeling that make it almost impossible to speak to his children, to ask for their forgiveness. I can imagine Achan shouting to Joshua and the leaders "please don't do this to my family, they had nothing to do with my sin, please spare them." Losing everything for $31,752. From the Bible's account, it appears that only a short time transpires before Achan, his children and all he owns is stoned to death and burned.

As I thought about this story, I put myself in Achan's place. Would my sin ever have this kind of catastrophic consequence? Would I ever put my family in this kind of harm's way? The trouble with sin is that we rarely think through the consequences before hand. We don't pause long enough to make a "pro and con" list. In a moment of passionate violence, whole families and even neighborhoods and towns have been devastated by one person's sin. I thank God for living in a time when we experience His grace, mercy and forgiveness. I also thank Him for His word that reminds me that He can help me turn from sin and evil and follow His righteousness. And, when I don't do that, He forgives and restores.

Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow

This phrase, Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow, is the first line of one of the best known hymns, The Doxology. However, did you know that this verse is actually the fourth verse of the hymn, All Praise To Thee, My God, This Night by Thomas Ken? A hundred years ago , this hymn was considered one of the four greatest in the Anglican church, the others being Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, Rock of Ages, and Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending. Thomas Ken's hymn was part of a trilogy that he wrote. A morning hymn, an evening hymn, and a midnight hymn. The words below are the evening hymn.

The first three verses do not appear in most hymnals today. When you sing The Doxology, it appears like the one verse is the total song. I suspect that if you read these wonderful verses at night, your rest will be blessed by God's presence. If you prefer to sing them, use the melody of The Doxology. (Old Hundredth)

All praise to Thee, my God, this night, For all the blessings of the light!
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings, Beneath Thine own almighty wings.

Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son, The ill that I this day have done,
That with the world, myself, and Thee, I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

When in the night I sleepless lie, My soul with heavenly thoughts supply;
Let no ill dreams disturb my rest, No powers of darkness me molest.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Is Turmoil In the Middle East A Prophetic Sign Of the Times?

On the heels of governmental turnovers in Egypt and Tunisia, today, again, there were demonstrations and fighting in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Iran. If you look at a map of the Middle East that includes northern Africa, you see how large some of these countries are and how small Israel is. Since radical Muslims would like to wipe out Israel, I can't help but wonder if one of these uprisings will trigger anger against Israel and start a war that may lead to prophetic fulfilment. However, if you believe the Old Testament, you realize that God bent over backwards to protect Israel. I was reading today in Deuteronomy 30:1-10 about God's blessing and wondering if this could apply to today, just as much as it did when the Israelites occupied the Promised Land.

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (emphasis mine)

I believe that Israel's decisive victory in the Six Day War was a supernatural intervention by God fulfilling his promises to His people. I'm not so sure that we could see something like this again, if an enemy of Israel gets aggressive and starts a war. We are admonished to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem", and I would add, watch with great interest at what God might do again for His people.

Starting a Bucket List On My Birthday

The Bucket List was a fun movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two retired guys contemplating the end of their lives. In fact, at the end of the movie Morgan Freeman's character passes away. They meet in the hospital and Jack Nicholson finds Morgan Freeman's "bucket list", things he would like to do before he leaves this earth. They wind up collaborating on a list and set off, around the world, to do all the things on the list.

Today is my 62nd birthday, and no, I'm not terminally ill, nor am I very close to retirement, but... I have been thinking about my "bucket list." (1) For instance, Kathy and I, once we do retire, would love to spend 6 months or a year at the Brooklyn Tabernacle in Brooklyn, New York. We would volunteer to be ushers, or greeters, or hosts, or whatever they wanted or needed. We would love to be immersed in that church environment for an extended time.

(2) In 2001 I had the opportunity to work with a group of people at the Oklahoma City Rescue Mission as they learned how to become a Worship Team. I taught, rehearsed and coached them in their special project just before graduation. Ever since that experience I would love to volunteer some time in a rescue mission or homeless shelter. I think I would even like to spend some time as a homeless shelter resident, (paying, of course) to better understand their situation.

(3) When we lived in Albany, Oregon, my friend, Neal Mapes, taught me how to fish for steelhead. I would love to river fish for steelhead or salmon in Alaska, on the hottest day of the season with a guide who knew exactly where the fish ran.

(4) Many of our vacations have been trips to visit with our relatives. (when you are on a budget, free room and board sometimes dictates what you do on vacation :) )While we stopped at a few spots along the way, we usually had limited time and had to get where we were going and then get home. Kathy and I would love to take a small RV and visit many of the spots around the U.S. that we've never seen, taking our time at each location and enjoying this great country.

(5) When I retire, I will have been a Church Business Administrator for over 25 years. I would love to volunteer my time with small churches who needed administration help, and couldn't afford it. There are retired executives programs where businesses can be matched up with qualified retirees who give them a lot of pro bono help. It would be fun to start something like that for churches.

How about your "bucket list?" Have you started one yet? Have you looked around you to see what great opportunities are open for you to get involved with? Maybe down the road we'll see each other in a homeless shelter, helping out...

Worship Wars in the 1600s

Benjamin Keach, born on February 29, 1640, began preaching at eighteen. He was a Baptist minister who was seized in 1662 and put in the open market pillory (public humiliation) after the Act of Uniformity was passed by the British Parliament. In the U.S., we do not any government intrusion into our worship practices. While churches in the U.S. must conform to laws and regulations regarding property, taxes, employment, etc., our government stays out of sprititual and doctrinal issues. In 1662, the British Parliament made the Common Book of Prayers the legal standard for church government, ministerial ordination and most church life. This caused a problem for a lot of ministers who did not believe that the Common Book of Prayers allowed them to preach and lead worship in a manner that God required of them. These ministers had to decide between following a law they couldn't support or preaching and leading in a manner that they believed God wanted them to.

Fortunately for Benjamin Keach and thousands of other ministers, the laws eventually changed and Keach was able to pastor a church in London where he introduced a new and controversial practice-the singing of hymns (as opposed to only the metrical Psalms). Baptists were opposed to hymns at this time, but Keach led his church to sing a hymn at Lord's Supper services and, later, on days of thanksgiving. Finally, about 1690, the church voted (with a few dissenters) to sing hymns every Sunday. It was Benjamin Keach's bravery that paved the way for Isaac Watts, the man who popularized British hymn singing a generation later. It also opened up the way for many hymn writers whose hymns are still sung today. An interesting side note during this same time span; organs used in churches were considered scandalous because they had been used in the circus. How could an instrument used in the circus ever be sanctified enough to be used in a church?

I still remember the early days of using drums in the church, and then guitars and keyboards. How could instruments used in bars and dance halls ever be used in a church? In many churches today the conflict between singing traditional hymns and gospel songs versus contemporary worship music is alive and well. Hymn lovers critized new music for its shallowness and lack of doctrine. New music lovers boycotted hymns and traditional gospel songs because of their outdated language and musical style.

I guess every generation is the same. "Give me what I like and keep me happy." Sometimes in the debate over style and preference, we forget Who is the object of our worship and why we are singing and playing in the first place. This coming Sunday, in our church, we'll sing a blend of older and brand new songs. I will do my best to lead our congregation in singing our worship, all of it, to God. Then, if someone complains that we didn't sing their favorite song in their favorite style, I'll hope they have their favorites on an iPod or they have their favorite CDs in their car so they can listen to them on their way home. :) Thanks, Benjamin Keach.