As has been noted so many times that it's cliché, it often takes difficult circumstances to show us what's really true. For example, how easy it is for us to say, "God is sufficient." But do we honestly believe it? We get distracted thinking we need other things (or people). Then we lose them and find out that God truly is able to supply all we need.
Have you lost family? or have they let you down? He is the Father Who never fails us. He loves us more than anyone else ever could.
Are you single or has your spouse failed you? Ephesians tells us that Christ loves the church as a husband should love his wife. God cares for us as His beloved.
Are you without a church? If you are saved, you are in the Body of Christ--the one church. Are you without a pastor? He is the Good Shepherd and will lead you to green pastures and protect you from the enemy.
Are you without a friend? Then you have a Friend Who does indeed stick closer than a brother.
And when you lose everything, you finally discover the truth. God is, in the end, enough.
Monday, March 15, 2004
Thursday, March 11, 2004
When the music becomes part of the musician
I went to an incredible concert/recital tonight. The newest member of the UWEC piano faculty (Alexandre Dossin) was playing. I had heard good things about his playing but had not yet experienced it for myself. It was a wonderful event.
I guess there are two things I noted about his playing. One, the melody was always sparkling above the rest of the music. Every note was under complete control in volume, timing, and length. The keys were his to command and the melody always soared.
Secondly, it was as if these pieces had never happened before. He played as though the thought of this music had just occurred to him. The music was in the moment, happening as we listened. I thought about this and wondered if that can only happen when the performer has so absorbed the music that it becomes part of him. He is not repeating another's ideas. They have become his ideas. Then he can state them with all the freshness of originality.
And I also thought about the difference between learning in such a way that you can recite your teacher's ideas. Whether you have memorized a catechism or just spent a long time studying someone's ideas, the result is often the same. You sound like you are puppeting another's work and teaching. But when you absorb the teaching into your thinking, analyze and accept or reject each tenet, it becomes your own. You speak it in your words, your personality--and from your heart. The ideas become fresh and gain power. There is life in your words.
And then there is the ultimate Teacher with the perfect Textbook. What better way to fill our minds than with the Scripture itself. But we don't want to recite verses in a preachy way or flippantly. Have you ever known someone who was so steeped in the Bible that the words flowed naturally from his mouth? Someone who has spent so much time in God's Word that he has begun to actually think like God? I have met those who are growing in this way. (We won't "get there" in this life.) And when I do, my heart is immediately connected to these brothers because we share intimate and personal.
Enough of my contemplating. I have been meaning to get on here to add a couple good brothers to my list. I debated how to handle this since both are named Andrew. I was introduced to both as Andy, but one does use Andrew at times. So Andy is Paul's roommate and Andrew is the one I've attended church with for the last 3 years. Got that? lol
Go visit Andrew's blog now. He's got a good entry about vision. I get on that topic from time to time. And "Be Thou My Vision" has long been a favorite song. Thanks, brother.
Then you can check out Andy's blog. He hasn't written in the last week and a half, but he's also in school. Now what is my excuse for not writing since I'm not in school?
Enough for now. Maybe I'll blog about Scottish whistle music next time, but I'd need to put in the cd and listen while I wrote.
I guess there are two things I noted about his playing. One, the melody was always sparkling above the rest of the music. Every note was under complete control in volume, timing, and length. The keys were his to command and the melody always soared.
Secondly, it was as if these pieces had never happened before. He played as though the thought of this music had just occurred to him. The music was in the moment, happening as we listened. I thought about this and wondered if that can only happen when the performer has so absorbed the music that it becomes part of him. He is not repeating another's ideas. They have become his ideas. Then he can state them with all the freshness of originality.
And I also thought about the difference between learning in such a way that you can recite your teacher's ideas. Whether you have memorized a catechism or just spent a long time studying someone's ideas, the result is often the same. You sound like you are puppeting another's work and teaching. But when you absorb the teaching into your thinking, analyze and accept or reject each tenet, it becomes your own. You speak it in your words, your personality--and from your heart. The ideas become fresh and gain power. There is life in your words.
And then there is the ultimate Teacher with the perfect Textbook. What better way to fill our minds than with the Scripture itself. But we don't want to recite verses in a preachy way or flippantly. Have you ever known someone who was so steeped in the Bible that the words flowed naturally from his mouth? Someone who has spent so much time in God's Word that he has begun to actually think like God? I have met those who are growing in this way. (We won't "get there" in this life.) And when I do, my heart is immediately connected to these brothers because we share intimate and personal.
Enough of my contemplating. I have been meaning to get on here to add a couple good brothers to my list. I debated how to handle this since both are named Andrew. I was introduced to both as Andy, but one does use Andrew at times. So Andy is Paul's roommate and Andrew is the one I've attended church with for the last 3 years. Got that? lol
Go visit Andrew's blog now. He's got a good entry about vision. I get on that topic from time to time. And "Be Thou My Vision" has long been a favorite song. Thanks, brother.
Then you can check out Andy's blog. He hasn't written in the last week and a half, but he's also in school. Now what is my excuse for not writing since I'm not in school?
Enough for now. Maybe I'll blog about Scottish whistle music next time, but I'd need to put in the cd and listen while I wrote.
Monday, March 01, 2004
Fan(atic) clubs
While I'm on my pop culture spiel, let me relate the gist of a conversation from Bible study last Friday. The topic came up of people who are obssessed with a particular work of fiction. Of course in today's culture, the first to come to mind is LOTR. (The fans have been there since the books came out, but the movies greatly increased their numbers.) We all know what Trekkies are. And Dungeons and Dragons (with all the RP games that followed) has enjoyed an equal degree of fanaticism.
Now, many people ask "Why on earth would anyone devote so much time and energy to a game/book/movie/etc.?" That's not my question because I have found the tendency to be obssessed with fiction inside myself. It makes sense to me that someone would learn Tolkien's made-up languages. Explaining the phenomenon is another matter, however.
I think that to a great extent we find our own lives mundane, boring. There is in us a desire for something bigger, more heroic. We want to explore strange lands, fight evil, or just have greater power than we experience in everyday life. There is a spiritual aspect as well. All these stories deal with unseen forces and things that cannot be scientifically measured.
Here, then, is the real question: Why do we as Christians not become equally "fanatic" about our God and the very real spiritual saga going on today? It's a story that's far from mundane--complete with temporarily "deposed" King (or, rather, One Who has the position but has not yet subdued all powers for reasons of His own). We have the opportunity to participate in truly heroic ventures, saving souls, enriching lives, and thwarting a more evil being than any dreamed up by man. It satisfies our need to be involved in the spiritual world. And the whole thing is real.
So why can so many speak knowledgeably about the Balrog, elves, Klingons, and the Prime Directive, when often Christians are less capable with the real-life things of God? The best answer I can come up with goes back to LOTR. You can't talk about it, you can't "live" in Middle Earth, unless you've read the books. All of them. Several times. And studied the appedices.
So maybe that's where we need to head in our churches. Let's work harder on getting to know the Book.
[Note: This is not directed at any one church in particular. And I know of many churches and individuals who do know the Book and are as passionate about God as any Trekkie is about Star Trek. But there are trends in evangelical/fundamental/general Christianity that stray from a burning desire to know God's Word. So I got on my soapbox for a while...]
Now, many people ask "Why on earth would anyone devote so much time and energy to a game/book/movie/etc.?" That's not my question because I have found the tendency to be obssessed with fiction inside myself. It makes sense to me that someone would learn Tolkien's made-up languages. Explaining the phenomenon is another matter, however.
I think that to a great extent we find our own lives mundane, boring. There is in us a desire for something bigger, more heroic. We want to explore strange lands, fight evil, or just have greater power than we experience in everyday life. There is a spiritual aspect as well. All these stories deal with unseen forces and things that cannot be scientifically measured.
Here, then, is the real question: Why do we as Christians not become equally "fanatic" about our God and the very real spiritual saga going on today? It's a story that's far from mundane--complete with temporarily "deposed" King (or, rather, One Who has the position but has not yet subdued all powers for reasons of His own). We have the opportunity to participate in truly heroic ventures, saving souls, enriching lives, and thwarting a more evil being than any dreamed up by man. It satisfies our need to be involved in the spiritual world. And the whole thing is real.
So why can so many speak knowledgeably about the Balrog, elves, Klingons, and the Prime Directive, when often Christians are less capable with the real-life things of God? The best answer I can come up with goes back to LOTR. You can't talk about it, you can't "live" in Middle Earth, unless you've read the books. All of them. Several times. And studied the appedices.
So maybe that's where we need to head in our churches. Let's work harder on getting to know the Book.
[Note: This is not directed at any one church in particular. And I know of many churches and individuals who do know the Book and are as passionate about God as any Trekkie is about Star Trek. But there are trends in evangelical/fundamental/general Christianity that stray from a burning desire to know God's Word. So I got on my soapbox for a while...]