Why I Sing Hymns, Still

Victory in Jesus my savior for ever . . .

Nanny stands in the door of her church swinging her beads around and with one hand with the other hand lifted high in praise. My little brother stands next to me with his little eyes squeezed shut belting out the words. The memories are with me and fade in and out each time I sing this song. There are a lot of hymns in my church history.

He bought me and sought me with his redeeming blood. . .

My walk with God is not just about this moment in time right now. My walk with God, now, is a summation of people and moments who have shaped and inspired my walk with God. To be reminded of my Nanny swinging her beads is to be reminded of how she worshiped and how she prayed. Taking me back to those moments in time through the power of song grounds me in my faith and my faith history. It reminds of who I am and where I have come from. It is my heritage of faith.

He loved me ere I knew him and all my love is due him . . .

When I am anywhere and hear the song Victory in Jesus or any of a very long list of hymns and choruses, my history appears before me and accompanies my worship. I may get tears in my eyes because I am reminded of many moments between me and God. Singing these songs during worship is not just about this moment in time, the time in which I am singing, it is a culmination of my worshiped moments. Singing songs from our history embeds our past experiences in our current worship moment, embodying a new lived experience, connecting the then, the now, and the not yet. Singing songs that have shaped our faith history opens the door for God to speak in this moment through my history.

The hymns of the faith are, for me, part of my worship history. They are powerful players that invite me to worship. When at least one familiar song is absent from a service, I leave feeling ungrounded and disconnect from my own faith, like I have only partially worshiped.

Remembering grandmother, her beads, and her powerful faith empowers my worship, connecting my faith history and my evangelistic future. I can stand on a legacy of faith and not one emotion filled moment that is only about my now.

He plunged me through victory beneath the cleansing flood.

Googling God's Will

I was recently asked a very serious question.  A question that could change the course of my life and career.  

It kept me up at night for 6 weeks.  I did all the right things-or the things I was taught.  I prayed.  I sought the council of many wise people who loves me and know me well.  Read my Bible.  Took long walks.  Meditated.  

Still,  there was no clarity.  (Or, maybe I could not hear the answer because I had my fingers in my ears.)

So,  I Googled the question I was wrestling with.   I really did this.

I Googled God's will for my life.  It was about as helpful as the old Magic Eight Ball that we would shake to get answers when we were kids.  (You can Google Magic Eight Ball if you don't know what it is.)

I did learn some facts from the Google search,  but, ultimately, it did not help me get any closer to my decision.  

Imagine-something Google cannot do.

 

The truth is my decision (if you can call it that) came from time and the time honored path of paying attention and listening, to God, myself, and those who love me. 

mrp

I Have Decided To Follow Jesus

I have sung this song thousands of times while standing in church.

I have decided to follow Jesus
I have decided to follow Jesus 
I have decided to follow Jesus 
No turning back
No turning back

If anyone has a reason to dislike this song it is me.  My parents were evangelists for the first six years of my life.  It was the 70's, and we did Revivals.  Back then, revivals ran all week.  Yes, full church services every night.  (I guess soccer practice was less demanding, and there were no DVRs because people came.)

The world behind me; The cross before me
The world behind me; The cross before me
The world behind me; The cross before me
No turning back
No turning back

We sang this song every night  for an invitation (The invitation is the part of the church service where you ask people if they want to follow Jesus.)  Billy Graham used it in his revivals, and so did we.    Even after we left evangelism, I went to church 3-4 times every week,  and we still sang this song and watched  people streamed down the isles tward Christ.


Tho' none go with me, I still will follow;
Tho' none go with me, I still will follow;
Tho' none go with me, I still will follow;
No turning back
No turning back

I love this song.  This song is not so en vogue as it was; we have choruses and other popular songs to sings.  Many churches do not give formal invitations, so maybe there is less of a need for this song.   Many churches try to avoid the old way of doing things because it seems new songs and methods are more appropriate.

But, this is still one of my favorites.  It stirs a deep place in me.

Maybe the songs stirs a deep place in me because it is deeply connected to my childhood, a lullaby of sorts.  Maybe I am partial to it because it is good to remind myself, aloud, of  that to which I am fully committed.  In my world where the phone beeps and dings telling me of my next appointment or the latest news,  I am still committed to this one main thing.

This one thing, He, has not moved, and,
me, I have not moved-
only the rest of the world is moving.

When searching the Internet for additional facts about this song,  I did not see this verse anywhere:

My cross I'll carry til I see Jesus
My cross I'll carry til I see Jesus
My cross I'll carry til I see Jesus
No turning back 
No turning back 

Maybe one of the country churches I was in made it up.  But,  I know we sang this verse.

For me, singing songs that have a deep history as part of my faith,  connects me instantaneously to all the moments in my life when I have sung this song.  This simultaneously grounds me and moves me forward.

Think of this way,  when you hear a bad 80's song in the mall while shopping,  you remember why you no longer wear fluorescent pink string ties and tie dye jeans.  You then put down the skinny jeans with zipper at the bottom, which have made a come back, and you buy something more practical while still humming the old song you don't even like because that song is part of your historical time and space.

Interestingly,  we recently sang I Have Decided To Follow Jesus  at my current church while giving a formal invitation.  People came streaming down the isles toward Christ.

Maybe that is why I like this song.

Church Words and Tears

"I don't know the words, mama, " my six-year-old looks up at me wiping the tears from his eyes. I hug him and sit on the pew next to him while everyone else keeps singing. I did not know the words to this one either. It happens. He has just started to read and wants so badly to know all the words. He wants to participate in worship. He loves music and he knows music. He reads music already. For the next song, I sit next to him, and I tell him the words that are coming up and he sings along, smiling from ear to ear. He nods his head to the tune and sings loudly, so do I. It is good to know the words for worship.

Lent Inverted - Giving when it hurts

"The point of Lent is for your sacrifice to remind you of Christ's sacrifice. So, as long as the task reminds you of Christ's sacrifice for you and reminds you of your sin and need for repentance, I think that would maintain the spirit and purpose" said Vicki Vaughn, a spiritual guide who is an expert in spiritual formation. I had been toying with this idea for many days before Lent and even a few days after it started. This confirmed the legitimacy of my idea and moved me forward. So this year, I am doing lent upside down, or inverted. Instead of giving something up, I have added one more thing to my to do list. For me, as for many of us, adding one more thing to the list is a sacrifice of my time and maybe even a little sleep. Certainly, every time I participate in this activity, I will be reminded of my need to follow Christ's leading in my life. So as I sit and write this blog many days into the Lenten season, I participate in a moment of obedient sacrifice, giving this moment to God, knowing I am in great need of his grace. Other tasks go undone, and I am forced to focus Christ alone. To the gift of Himself I answer in the giving of myself and my time, making myself available to his presence and his call.

We, The Church

We, The Church, do solemnly promise to embrace the name church. We understand that we, the people of God, ARE the church and that God has called us to come together as a community to act like the church to perform the function of the church. We will open our doors and our hearts to all those who enter seeking, searching, wandering lost and hungry for the things of God. We are the people of God who, by his Grace perform the functions of the body of Christ through his Church. Our church will call itself a church so we will be the the City on the Hill and the Light to the world. The lost and lonely will know they can come here and find God. We are Jesus' Church. We will honor him and his name for us, the church. There will be no doubt where we stand and to whom we kneel.

Dear God, help us to know and do your will embracing all you have for us as his church never wavering in our determination and faithfulness to hear your voice and follow your way. May we focus only on you in this worship space. We invite you here. Amen.

Fending off Buffalo And Never Backing Down

She barks bravely and furiously,
doing her job. Loud and deep,

the sound continues on and on.

She does not back down.

The big brown beast stands too close to her territory
- to her domain - the one she is called to defend.

...Instinctively,

she knows who she is and why she is on this earth...

It is bred into her;
she cannot ignore it.

The angry brown 2000 pound buffalo does not even make her flinch.
She will do what she is called to do

- no matter what.

Yes, a week ago, my dog took on a buffalo, and the buffalo almost took her on until he was herded back toward his field via police escort.

See Anatolian Shepherds and Great White Pyrenees are bred to protect and defend flocks of sheep and goats, mostly, traditionally. It is what they do. They know this is what they do, and my dog is a mix of these two breeds. She did not herd the buffalo that day; she is not a Collie. Herding is not her job. She barked and defended.

She never backed down, sure of her calling.

Daily, she stays between my son and the backyard fence at all times, doing her job. At 85 pounds, she has a presence. She romps and plays, but she is never off duty. . .never.

She will stop in the middle of a game with her face half buried in the sand to protect her perimeter, and most days, she is protecting us from joggers she does not know or the next door neighbor's Chihuahua that likes to sneak out of the house.

But, that day, she barked and barked, angering the buffalo and doing her job -
protecting...defending...

confident...fierce...and true...

She was ready . . .sure of her calling.