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Cold Pea Salad, Part II

May16

In my last post, I detailed some apparent problems in church worship services today, seemingly contributing to many feeling they have no say in the type of music played and sung by worship teams and congregations.  I received so many great comments on this topic by people of all ages, including worship leaders, who let me know they have grappled with these same issues, sometimes in utter frustration.

I think we can all agree that the whole purpose of worship is twofold: First of all, it is not about “me” but about “Him”, or His ” Worth-ship” if you will.  The term worship was derived from these two words originally, as a form of adoration to the King of Kings.  Let us not forget this important point!  The second reason for worship is that it allows us to enter into God’s presence in a special way as we “unclutter” our minds from the mundane and secular aspects of our lives, if even for a few minutes, directing our love, praise and thanksgiving to the One who redeemed us and gives us the blessings we enjoy each day!  It is also something we do voluntarily, which is why our Father derives such pleasure from it.

So let me list a few points on the positive side to take us from “monotony, form and ritual” in music to entering into a new dimension of true meaning and appreciation for this important time!  If you missed Part I of this post, please read it before continuing.  These concepts and ideas are the result of much prayer in this area, as a worship leader myself.  With that in mind, I want to address the worship leaders first:

1.  Take time to pray and seek the mind of God through His Holy Spirit about the songs you are choosing for each service.  Remember, no two services are alike, and many times God wants to move in different ways if we’ll allow the Holy Spirit to do so.  In other words, don’t let any service get into a “rut” of, “Well, it worked fine last time; we’ll do it the same way today and every day!”  Perhaps some services will have more lively songs; some more worshipful and slower in tempo, coinciding with the message the pastor feels led to bring (it is good to find out what God is saying to him about the service, as well) and who is in attendance.  The Holy Spirit knows this ahead of time and as you pray, He will reveal to you which songs are right and which are not!  I have seen this happen many times and know it is vital; lots of prayer is so important!

2. Be open to trying different styles of music, as long as the words are full of praise and adoration to the Lord.  Testimonial songs, primarily about us and our experiences, are good in limited number, but let the majority be full of praise and worship, including scripture and perhaps words from the Psalms.  If you think all the songs sound similar, perhaps they do!  Try bringing in some “older” worship choruses and songs, even from the ’80’s and ’90’s, such as “As the Deer”, “Shout to the Lord”, “He Is Lord”, “We Exalt Thee”, and “Breathe“.  Remember some of those songs?  They are very anointed and seem to always bring the presence of the Lord into a service!  It wouldn’t surprise me at all if you see some people with tears in their eyes and hands lifted in worship when you begin to sing some of these older songs.  Don’t forget to incorporate a hymn or two every once in awhile, too!   Many of these were written centuries ago by men and women of God who experienced deep feelings of gratitude to their Lord and it shows in the anointed praise and worship which ensues when they are sung properly.  Remember “Amazing Grace”?  Wow, how can a person improve on that?  Try modulating up a half step on the last verse, “When we’ve been there 10,000 years….” and watch your congregational singing soar and “raise the roof!”  I’ve seen it happen countless times!  Remember to teach unfamiliar songs by using them a few times until everyone has a chance to learn them; it is easier to worship when a song is familiar!

3.  Try utilizing some of your talented singers and musicians in the congregation (who may not be participating on the worship team) for special music!  I was in one church that had an opera singer and a first chair violinist in the congregation, who rarely performed!  I thought this was very sad.  Remember, Paul tells the Church in  I Corinthians 14:26…”when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine…” (KJV) and so on.  It appears that it is scriptural to let the various members of the Body of Christ contribute according to the talents and gifting God has given them.  It’s not wrong to use gifted musicians in special music; it is actually quite scriptural and brings blessing to everyone!

4.  Why not include a brief questionnaire in the bulletin asking your congregation to give feedback on what types of music they would like to see employed in the worship services, what some of their favorite hymns or songs are, and how they feel about various styles of worship?  Let them give feedback (they don’t even need to sign them) and you can prayerfully read their responses to give you a much better idea of what your people want.  You don’t necessarily have to change everything to please each person, but the ideas given may be beneficial in planning future worship services!

Now, to the rest of you who are worshipping from the pew!  Pray for your worship leaders and music directors; pray for the instrumentalists and vocalists.  When you come to church, prepare your heart ahead of time for worship and ask God to give you an understanding heart and right spirit directed towards Him.  Think about the words of the songs as you sing; turn your eyes heavenward and choose to enter into God’s presence in worship, shutting out distractions about you.  (One of my biggest gripes about some worship services is the amount of people coming and going, talking, even texting, in short not caring one bit about the worship.  It is so distracting to me!)  So, just shut your eyes and begin to worship in “spirit and in truth” and trust God to take care of the things that annoy you about certain songs.  You may even find you begin to like some of those you thought were awful at first!  Remember, even the old hymns were once new; many of them were simply words set to well-known “bar tunes” of the day!  I wonder if they got flack for this at the time, too?  In short, Satan will always try to bring division among those who choose to worship, including the musicians leading the worship, so let’s not give him any territory!  We know God inhabits our praises and receives glory from our worship, so let’s make a choice to continue worshipping and entering into His presence.  He loves to hear our praises!

Cold Pea Salad

May10

I’ve received so many comments regarding the lack of variety and inclusion of worshipful hymns and songs that truly glorify God in our churches, that I have decided to include parts of just a few of them so you might see what some readers are thinking.  These have come as a result of several posts pertaining to the monotony, general lack of Biblical content, and “me” centered songs, rather than worshipful, melodious, Christ-centered ones.  Here are a few examples:

 

“This is real frustration felt by so many of us “old-timers”….I for one really loved the old hymns, and they still evoke a myriad of emotions in me…the new worship choruses, not so much.  Even so, the Holy Spirit speaks to hearts through music in spite of how it changes…all it takes is a receptive heart.”

“We have talked about taking ear plugs to church….”

“I struggle every week during worship with resentment at the worship team’s choice of songs.  Almost all are unfamiliar, “unsingable” due to complexity or range, or simply focused on the worshiper instead of the Lord.  And then the congregation applauds at the end of each song, which to me is praise for the singers, not the One being worshiped (it is not ‘clapping to the Lord’)….”

“The single largest problem the church faces today is having its priorities out of whack.  Worship and glorification of the Lord must come first, everything else including evangelism comes after.”

 

OK, so is it just disgruntled old “fogies” who are upset because their hymns have been replaced with contemporary worship songs? Do these people really hate lively songs with a good beat, including bass, guitars and percussion, preferring old, stale, slow, quiet hymns of another era? Or could it just be, perhaps, that they would like something called “variety” in worship?

Recently my husband and I attended a live, on-stage performance of C.S. Lewis’s “The Screwtape Letters“, in which his famous book is portrayed in monologue form.  The late writer used allegory, symbolism and a hint of sarcasm to portray Satan and his demons at work on earth and especially in the church, among the saints who professed faith in Jesus Christ.  Let me try a little of his brilliant technic (however, probably not quite as brilliantly and cleverly as his was)!

I recently went to a buffet (or smorgasbord, as the Swedes call it) to hopefully try a variety of foods for my palate.  I was starved and looked forward to heaping my plate up with lots of goodies!  To my horror, I discovered that every dish on the serving line was filled with “Cold Pea Salad” as the signs indicated.  Now, I love “Cold Pea Salad” and started to take a heaping spoonful, but then I realized that the next spoonful and the next would be the same….my plate was soon full of “Cold Pea Salad”!  When I asked the manager what this was all about, he smiled and told me very politely that the restaurant had tried serving “Cold Peaches” about ten years ago, but people got weary of them.  So, about five years ago they switched entirely to “fish”; of course, the same thing happened, he said…people got very tired of fish before long!  So, now they were serving what he was sure everyone loved, “Cold Pea Salad”!  When I asked him if there was any chance of getting something else to eat, he promptly told me that a restaurant up the street was serving “Green Bean Salad” to all of its customers and I might like to try that one.  I thanked him and left.  On the way out, he shouted at me, “Oh, by the way, ma am, next Tuesday we’ll have a special menu; it will be ‘Chilled Pea Casserole’.  You might want to come back for that!”  Thankfully, I found a restaurant a few blocks away with a varied menu and enjoyed my meal!

Now, of course, you can see how ridiculous this is, but in many ways, it seems the Church has followed this line of thinking.  When it observed the world coming out with a new style of music, it was not too far behind in following the trend, instead of setting it!  If a survey showed that people of a certain age group (and this is certainly our target audience; who cares about the rest!) enjoy one kind of music, we shall bend over backward to please them, ignoring the cries of, “Can’t we have some variety?  I like this kind of music, and the guy over there likes another.  Can’t we sing both styles occasionally?”

I made a promise to myself and to my blog followers on my first post that I would not write a “negative rant” for a blog.  I have tried to keep this promise!  If I point out a “negative”, or a problem, for example, I would like to follow it up with a “positive”.  That is why I am going to post Part Two of this blog next week with some possible solutions to this situation.  I have prayed and asked the Lord to guide me in what I write and I feel that the Holy Spirit has given me some good ideas that may be a blessing and of some benefit to worship leaders and those in the congregation, as well.  ‘Til next time, be blessed!

What Constitutes a “Good Song”?

Apr30

We’ve seen in the last few posts that God is pleased with many kinds of worship and music as long as He is glorified and worshipped in “spirit and in truth”.  It is obvious that actual music, as in types of foods enjoyed, art, outdoor scenery, clothing, movies, books, or  other activities, is very diverse and that there is no right or wrong kind of music!  The primary goal is that the worshipper be brought into the presence of God through the words and beautiful melodies of the songs, some learned and even some spontaneous, all of which should glorify our great God and Creator of the Universe!  As we brought out in a past post, praising God in song, word, dance, shouting, lifting of hands, on the instruments, and even bowing before Him in silence, are all very scriptural ways to worship!  One way not mentioned is “being a spectator”!

Colossians 3:16 has long been one of my “theme” scriptures as a musician and teacher of music.  It reads:  “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (KJV)   I also love Psalm 33:3, particularly as a pianist:  “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.” (ESV)  I Corinthians 14:26 puts it this way, “What then shall we say, brothers and sisters?  When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.” (NIV)  It is apparent that God’s plan for the Church was for each of us to participate in some way, not just sit as spectators while a small group does all of the “worshipping”.  If we are not entering in, we may as well stay home!  According to the above verses, we are to teach and admonish one another in the Body of Christ collectively with particular emphasis on “each of you” doing something.  What then, you may ask, is the difference between a “psalm”, a “hymn” and a “spiritual song”?

I believe that psalms can be read or sung; they include David’s beautiful poetic praise to the Lord in the Old Testament and other scripture specifically set to music as total praise and adoration to the Lord!  They are totally scriptural in that we are singing or speaking forth nothing but the Word of God.  This is, in essence, our “confession of faith” or confession of the Word in a particular situation, which builds us up in our spirits and increases our faith in God for particular situations in our lives.  Hymns, by contrast, may include scripture and can in essence present the whole Gospel message in a single anthem or song.  However, they may also include some words of testimony and adoration coming from the composer’s pen that are not necessarily the exact words of scripture as are the psalms, although they contain the essence of the thought.  Both of these are very scriptural and  should be employed in our worship services!  Spiritual songs may contain words of joyous testimony, words about our daily experiences in our Christian walk, upbeat utterances of praise or spontaneous praises to God not even written down on paper!

Here are three good ideas or criteria of what a song should include if it is to be considered for a worship team to sing.  I was recently visiting with a pastor of a large church and he said these are the guidelines he gives his worship leaders:

1.  Is the song meaningful, in that it glorifies God?  Does this song bring Him glory in its words, musically and throughout its emphasis, reinforcing the teachings of Scripture and not contradicting what we believe to be true according to the Word of God?

2.  Is it singable?  Many songs being sung in churches today are totally “unsingable” for the average congregation.  They are not pitched right and because of this some people do not know which octave they should sing the melody in!  Many are too high or too low because they have been transcribed from the music of a band with very high-voiced males, which is not the range of the average singer.  Sometimes the songs are very “wordy” and hard to learn; they are not in correct meter and thus, though they may sound good on an album, totally “unsingable” by the average amateur musician, who may not even read notes.

3.  Is it memorable?  Is the song one that sticks in your mind during the week and  easy to remember?  Studies have shown that songs containing simple, repetitive phrases and “musical hooks” are much more easily retained than complex musical patterns containing hard-to-remember phrases.  Songs should contain rhyming words, meter and rhythm to be considered a strong, singable song.  People worship more fully when they do not have to concentrate so deliberately on struggling with or learning the song, but just lose themselves in the essence and spirit of it!  Once a new song is introduced, it should be sung and re-sung regularly until the congregation becomes familiar with it.

These are just a few thoughts on what makes a good song and what God has in mind for our worship experience, based on His Word.  Obviously, if we enter into His Presence in worship, we will be abundantly blessed!

What Type of Worship Does God Enjoy?

Apr9

Rebecca Baker 4        Well, that really is a loaded question, isn’t it? You may say, “how do we know what God likes?” There are so many styles of worship  music to choose from, ranging all the way from classical to rap and everything in between! When it comes to worship, you may feel His presence while listening to a heavy metal song with a driving beat; or you may prefer some classic anthems of praise sung by an anointed choir. Some people like to stomp their feet and tap their toes to Southern Gospel; many people get it on to Black Gospel (one of my personal favorites!) because the sheer energy and rhythm of the song makes it virtually impossible not to clap, dance and move about! Of course, these same styles of music sung at a slower pace can cause a flood of emotions through the sheer beauty of the chords, bringing tears to our eyes and healing to our spirits.

How can this be, you ask?  What is there about music that touches us so deeply?  It’s simply because musical patterns have been scientifically created by the Great Musician, our wonderful God we serve! That is why some chords sound right together and others just don’t work. When you choose to go against the natural patterns He created, you have what is called “dissonance”. I believe Satan is the author of much discord in music, but that is another subject for another day.  There is nothing more intrinsically “spiritual” about one type of musical pattern over another.  Now, of course, putting words to the music can bring out emotions, but  music itself is not “spiritual”.  This is why musicians hundreds of years ago could take the common “bar tunes” of the day and put words of praise and worship magnifying God that we sing today as the “old hymns of the church”!  The question then is: How is God blessed and moved by our worship of Him? What style does He appreciate? The Word says “He inhabits, or lives in, our praises” so it seems to me that music uplifting Him, of any genre, is first and foremost what He enjoys if our hearts are totally directed towards Him in our worship! The Word is replete with examples of worship pleasing to our Lord. If you would like to do a study on which forms of worship God encourages, the following passages will be helpful:

Shouts of praise: “Shout for joy to God, all the earth;” (Psalm 66:1, ESV); “So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting…” (I Chronicles 15:28, ESV)
Singing: “Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!” (Psalm 47:6, ESV) Also check out I Chronicles 16:9  “Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!” (ESV); Psalm 66:4, Psalm 68:32, Psalm 96:1 (“Oh sing to the Lord a new song…”); Colossians 3:16, and on and on! There are literally hundreds of verses about singing in the Word of God.
Tambourines and Lyres: “They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.” (Job 21:12, ESV)
Cymbals and Trumpets: “Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!” (Psalm 150:5, ESV); “The singers…were to sound bronze cymbals;” (I Chronicles 15:19 (ESV); “Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song.” (I Chronicles 16:42, ESV); “Praise him with the sound of the trumpet” (Psalm 150:3, KJV).
Making merry; rejoicing in song: “And David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the Lord, with songs….” (2 Samuel 6:5, ESV); “And David and all Israel were rejoicing before God with all their might, with song…” (I Chronicles 13:8, ESV)
Playing and singing together: “Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings (how many fingers do you have…could this be clapping?). Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.” (Psalm 33:2 and 3, KJV)
Clapping unto the Lord: “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!” (Psalm 47:1, ESV)
Stringed instruments and organs: “Praise him with stringed instruments and organs.” (Psalm 150:4, KJV)
Dancing: “Praise him with the timbrel and dance:” (Psalm 150:4a, KJV); “Let them praise his name in the dance:” (Psalm 149:3, KJV)
Lifting of hands: “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.” (Psalm 134:2, KJV); “I desire then that in every place men should pray, lifting holy hands…” (I Timothy 2:8, ESV)

     There are literally hundreds more verses on this subject of music and worship in both the Old and New Testaments.   To answer the question:  It is obvious that God likes many different styles of music for He created all music!   All through the Word, we are told to worship with joy, loud praises, shouting, and thankfulness. Worship is to be a happy, exuberant experience!  In a day and age where everything is specialized and carved out in little niches to try and please everybody (a literal impossibility!), perhaps we can depend on the Holy Spirit’s guidance to show what the music we employ to worship the King of the Universe in the corporate setting should sound like! I pray we will all worship Him “in spirit and in truth” as Jesus said that “true worshippers” would do in John 4:23,24. It’s time to stop going through the motions and worship from our hearts!

Should Christians Observe the Passover?

Mar26
Here is a blog I did seven years ago which I would like to “re-post” today as it is extremely relevant to the current worldwide Corona Virus pandemic.  I believe if God’s people will pray and appropriate the Blood of the Lamb (Jesus or Yeshua) today, as done millenniums ago by the Israelites who were released from their bondage that night, we can see an ending to this terrible plague and move into victory through His blood!  Though not able to observe this together, we as believers can virtually or symbolically claim God’s promises and protection from illness over our homes!  Please read on:

]Every Biblical Dinner I am so blessed to see all the happy faces enjoying the message, the fellowship and the food.

I am in Tonopah, Nevada for a few days with my husband, a professional engineer, who is on a consulting job for a gold mine near here. Pretty neat, huh? This picturesque small town nestled amid the mountains in the “high country” between Las Vegas and Reno, near the California border, was the perfect setting to observe the beautiful full “Passover” moon last night. My husband and I read the Passover story from Exodus 12, particularly verse 14, “So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.” (NKJV) Should this verse be ignored as it seems to be by  many churches? What does it mean to us as Christians today?

“Passover” was the night described in this chapter where God struck dead the firstborn children and animals of all the Egyptians, but “passed over” the Israelites who had, by God’s decree, slain an unblemished lamb at twilight and put its blood on their doorposts. When the death angel saw the blood, he “passed over” that house and allowed their firstborn to live! This is why the Jewish people to this day observe the anniversary of this mighty miracle wrought by Yahweh to free His people from slavery! I was pleasantly surprised to see on the news this morning that our president and his wife even observed a “seder” (Passover meal) at the Whitehouse last night with a number of guests.

We know that our Lord Jesus Christ, Yeshua, completely fulfilled the Passover by His death on the cross and the shedding of His blood as the final sacrifice needed for our salvation! This is the fundamental core doctrine of all Christians who believe in salvation by grace. But, knowing that Christ fulfilled this event, wouldn’t it be great to use this holy day as a teaching tool for our children, as mentioned in Exodus 12 by God? I remember we used to have a special meal of lamb on this night, as did the Israelite people of old, and we put a little stuffed lamb by each child’s plate signifying that Jesus is the Lamb of God. They remember the event to this day!

Some would argue that we are not Jewish, hence we need not observe any of these ceremonies because Christ fulfilled the ceremonial laws! I quite agree that He did; however, let us remember that the Jewish people are descended from only one of the twelve tribes of Israel (thirteen actually, as the sons of “Joseph” were actually divided into two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, by his father Israel, known as Jacob, when he gave them the inheritance before his death).  There are twelve other tribes, known as the “lost tribes” which have been integrated into other societies throughout the world. You may very well be an Israelite! Does that surprise you? Well, without getting into the devisive teaching of whether or not there are two “houses”, the House of Israel and the House of Judah, as mentioned in the Word, let us just say that observing some sort of “Passover” remembrance is certainly not wrong, and a wonderful opportunity to thank and praise our Heavenly Father for His wondeful miracle of letting His people go from the land of Egypt!  Besides, as children of God, born into His family through conversion and the New Birth, we are by adoption the seed of Abraham and may rightfully claim all of the privileges and blessings promised to him so many years ago! I love Isaiah 41:8, “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend.” (NKJV) This verse speaks about Jacob (Israel) being “God’s chosen”. It says nothing about only the tribe of Judah being His “chosen”. This blesses me, because I know I am “God’s chosen” and have the right to partake of His blessings!  I believe that as true Christian believers, we partake of “Passover” when we observe the Lord’s Supper, which is what Jesus (Yeshua) did with his disciples the night He was betrayed and then arrested.  He has commanded us to do the same “in remembrance of His death”.

The Apostle Paul states in Romans 11:1, “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” (NKJV) Any who are physically or spiritually descended from one of the tribes of Israel can claim all the promises God made to His people through Abraham and later Moses. God (Yahweh) sent His Son, Jesus (Yeshua), to be that blood sacrifice and sin offering necessary for our atonement. Thus, He fulfilled Passover and the Day of Atonement when He was crucified on the Cross just before Passover. He then arose at the end of the Sabbath (the Bible speaks about the dawning towards the first day of the week, which would be Sunday, when the women discovered the empty tomb). We are not sure exactly when He arose, but the word “dawning” is also translated “dusking” in the original Greek text, indicating He probably came forth at the end of the Sabbath, around sundown. As you are probably aware, the Jewish days begin and end at sundown. When I think of Jesus fulfilling the atonement required for righteousness, the Passover observances, as well as the Sabbath, I get very excited and want to shout and sing! I know this blog is supposed to be about music, and I see a whole symphony of music played in this story! Happy Passover and Resurrection Sunday, everyone! Be blessed in Yeshua’s Name!

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How God Worked in J.S. Bach’s Life

Mar21

File:Johann Sebastian Bach.jpg

Perhaps the greatest musician of all time, Johann Sebastian Bach, widely considered to be the “Father of Modern Music”, had cause to wonder if God was really with him when he went through some severe struggles in his lifetime!

Today is Bach’s 328th birthday! This great composer was born in Eisenach, Germany on March 21, 1685 into a family that had been prominent on the musical scene in Europe for centuries! His father was the director of the town musicians and most likely started young Johann on the violin and basics of music theory. However, as the eighth child in a family of fourteen children, he was no doubt devastated when his mother passed away when he was only nine years old; just eight months later, his father also died. How tragic that the greatest musician of all time was an orphan at the age of ten!

But God, in His sovereignty, had a plan and purpose for young Johann’s life far beyond what he could have imagined! Even though it seemed that life was somehow unfair to this young lad, God showed once again that Romans 8:28 was true! This passage says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (KJV)  Young Johann had been schooled in the scriptures from an early age and had a faith in God that was real. His parents had seen to it that his religious education was sound and as devout followers of Martin Luther, they instilled into their son a Godly heritage.

Johann’s oldest brother, Johann Christopher Bach, invited the boy to come live with him. It just so happened that he was the organist in a large church in the area, and because of this, Johann was able to study, perform and copy music from his brother’s repertory. He received extremely valuable instruction from him on an individual level that he might never have obtained had his parents lived. He was instructed on the clavichord and harpsichord, in addition to the organ, and this early training could well have culminated in one of his crowning achievements, “The Well Tempered Clavier”.  Later he attended music conservatories and studied more extensively with some of the great musicians of his day. But, this early training gleaned from his time living with his brother was the foundation for all that would come later, including his keyboard, organ and chamber music; concertos; cantatas; and other orchestral works that have been revered for centuries! In fact, Beethoven called him “the original father of harmony” and we know that he perfected the musical scale we use today.

Did God have a purpose for his life? The answer is an emphatic yes! We know he was a devout Christian and that sacred music was at the center of his repertory. He regarded his music as “an act of prayer” and stated, “I play my music to the glory of God!” Once when Bach was about 32 years old, he desired to accept a post which would have given him more money and been advantageous to his career. The duke under whom he was currently serving became infuriated, had him arrested and thrown in jail for a month. During this time Bach wrote a cycle of organ chorale preludes for a year which were later published in Germany and are still available! Once again, God used a seemingly negative circumstance to His glory!

When he was just 35 years old, he went on a tour of Europe with the prince by whom he was employed, playing the harpsichord for European aristocracy, along with a musical entourage. When he returned home he found his wife of nearly thirteen years, Maria, dead and buried while he was on tour. She had been completely healthy when he left. Sadly, their four young children were now motherless. Did Bach give up and allow himself to succumb to bitterness and self-pity? Indeed not! Johann turned in an even greater measure to composing and playing the music of God and the church he loved! It was after this time that he composed most of his greatest chorales based on sacred texts, even while he served as cantor, musical director and organist in the church. He spent the majority of his life composing and playing music that glorified God and His Word!  A year later he met and married a young woman named Anna Magdalena and to this day we play many of the works she translated into notebooks for their twelve young children to practice during their daily home schooling!

As we celebrate the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach today, let’s remember that he was an ordinary human being such as you and me, and that despite the setbacks and trials of life, he chose to let God work a greater work in him through these events, culminating in music that endures and blesses people to this day!  I feel sure he is enjoying the rewards of his labors in Heaven, singing and making melody with the angels and the saints of God who have gone on before!

The “Dumbing Down” of Music?

Mar14

OK, so maybe this doesn’t sound like the most “spiritual” topic to you; perhaps you think I am just going to “vent” about some of my pet peeves concerning music today, especially as it relates to the current church scene.  Well, please bear with me.  I think you’ll find some interesting observations here that may even get you thinking about some issues you may not have thought of!

A few weeks ago my husband and I visited a nearby church that featured a very “free” style contemporary praise band.  Although it was loud, it wasn’t any different than countless other churches I had been in which featured the same style of “three chord” simplistic “praise” music, complete with several guitars, drums, keyboards, etc.  You get my drift!  Anyway, about twenty minutes into the worship, the lady seated directly in front of us started to put her hands over her ears as if in intense pain.  I hoped she was OK!  Then, she whispered something to her husband and left the sanctuary.  I assumed she wouldn’t be back until the worship was over; it was quite apparent she found the music too loud for her ears.  Well, to my great surprise, she emerged again in just a couple of minutes with two ear plugs in her hands, which she promptly put in and continued sitting by her husband!  Needless to say, I don’t think she was getting much out of the worship!

In sharp contrast, we recently visited a rehearsal for a world-renowned church choir with a more liturgical or classical slant to their music.  As they sang, I noticed the woman sitting in front of me began wiping tears from her eyes as she pulled a hanky from her purse.  Obviously, she was greatly moved emotionally by the song and the tears followed.

Now, what do these two incidents have in common, you may ask?  To my mind, it seemed as if the first woman, who was obviously there to worship, was not getting a thing out of the musical service.  She was “enduring” it!  In sharp contrast, the second woman was moved to tears by the sheer emotion exuded by a great composer and glorious choir and was obviously touched somewhere down in her soul!

I have read many times Psalm 33:3, “Sing unto Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.”  (NKJV)

I’ve used this verse so many times to encourage people to take piano (or another instrument) lessons, or even learn to sing properly, when I had my teaching studio in Texas for over 28 years.  As a student of classical music myself, I have a deep appreciation for good music, properly performed.  Badly performed music leaves me cold!   When a person has sung or played beautiful, challenging music with intricate and fascinating chord structures and patterns, such as I have, it is extremely difficult not to be bored with the current three chord “pablum” being offered up as the sole choice for any given worship service in many churches.  Any other alternative, such as time-honored hymns written by revered musicians, men and women of God, are sadly viewed as absolutely unacceptable in some churches!  It sometimes appears that the churches who wish to have a “free” worship style and move into “praise and worship” also fail to utilize great music and seasoned, well-trained musicians who can play “skillfully” as the Word mentions in Psalms.  It seems to be the “dumbing down” of music!

Interestingly,  Numbers 8:24-26 speaks of the Levites (the priests) serving in the tabernacle from the age of 25-50.  In I Chronicles   23:3-5  we read that the Levites from the age of 30 and up numbered 38,000 and of that number 24,000 were to carry forward the work of the house of the Lord.  Of this number, we read in verse 5:  “…four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David to praise therewith.” (KJV)  I want to get into this whole concept of trained, paid temple musicians more in future postings, but suffice it to say that by reading about the Levites, many of whom were musicians, we see that they were first of all trained, then spent many years actually performing as musicians before spending the last part of their lives teaching the next generation of musicians coming up!  In II Chronicles 20 we read that the singers and musicians led the  army against the enemy as they sang and praised God!  Verse 28 mentions “stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord.”  (NKJV)

It is obvious (and we will get into this subject more later) that these were skilled musicians,  anointed by God to lead the praise and worship!  Is there room for more than one type of music in our worship today?  I think that the answer is emphatically, yes!  Different styles minister to different people; it has not as much to do with age as with preference.  Does everyone like the same kind of food or pick the same thing at a buffet?  Do we all order the same food off the menu?  The same is true with our musical tastes.  Skilled musicians are going to have a greater appreciation for a deeper type of musical genre than someone who has had no musical training, perhaps.  Should we honor differing musical tastes in our worship times?  I believe we should!  If someone is not worshiping, but using ear plugs to endure, perhaps the whole idea of helping everyone enter into the presence of God has been lost!

Let’s stop picking apart each other’s musical tastes and admit that God loves variety and diversity.  Why not help each other enter into worship by respecting  various musical preferences and allow skilled, trained musicians to help us enter into the presence of God!

Benefits of Praise and Worship

Feb14

Today is Valentine’s Day and the whole world is thinking about love, sweet love! Well, that is almost everybody. I just heard on our local news about three people being murdered in a supposed “drug house” by a man, according to the reporters, who had posters and pictures about love plastered all over the apartment he shared with his girlfriend. Obviously, his kind of love was pretty superficial if he could go out and kill three people! Needless to say, we have all heard about the ex-cop in California who murdered at least four people in an effort to “clear his name” for perceived injustices he suffered at the hands of the LAPD. He allowed bitterness and unforgiveness over the fact he was fired from his job to completely consume him and take over his emotions, eventually resulting in the tragic circumstances we have all seen on every major network in the country of late!

Last night my husband and I read the wonderful story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. I had heard this story from the time I was a tiny girl, read to me by my mother. But it was so exciting to refresh my memory on the events that transpired in this young man’s life: He was sold into slavery at age 17 by his brothers (whom he should have been able to trust!); lied about by the wife of his master when he rebuffed her sexual advances and she felt rejected; thrown into prison because his master believed his wife’s lies; made to live in a dungeon for two years in prison with common criminals; finally released to become Pharaoh’s chief ruler in charge of all of Egypt’s food preservation in preparation for famine, obeyed and bowed to by all! Read the story for yourself in Genesis chapters 37-45. It makes our modern-day soap operas and mini-series pale in comparison!

When Joseph could easily have become consumed with bitterness and hatred for his brothers for what they had done to him, he chose rather to trust in the Lord his God and believe him to turn this evil situation into good. God’s favor was so apparent in his life and he was able to save many other lives, including those of his family, because of his position as head of food storage in Egypt. He truly is an Old Testament example of Paul’s words in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” (KJV)

Another example of God’s deliverance when things were seemingly hopeless is recorded in Acts 16:19-40 when Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison for preaching and casting a demon out of a young woman. Did they cry and feel sorry for themselves, wondering why God would allow this to happen to them when they were out preaching the Word? No, instead we read in verses 25 and 26, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” (KJV)

Did you catch the concept here? God brought deliverance to them after they began to sing praises to Him! Instead of allowing bitterness, anger and a “poor me” attitude to envelop them, they chose to praise and worship the One to whom they gave their allegiance and love, glorifying Him in music, choosing to proclaim His love and mercy, rather than cry out about their beaten and bloody backs. They did not apparently go to the authorities and complain about how their “rights” had been violated; they did not call the local media to see how they could bring these terrible atrocities to the attention of the public; they simply praised and worshipped the Lord and He delivered them! He took delight in what they were doing; He saw them there in the prison and came to their rescue by using such an extreme measure as sending an earthquake! That is a wonderful example of the mighty God we serve!

If you are facing some crisis in your life today, if things seem impossible from the natural point of view, I challenge you to begin to praise and worship the Creator, the One who does not change, and watch Him work on your behalf! The Word says He “dwells” in the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3)! I want Him dwelling with me, don’t you? I challenge you not to give into bitterness as did these two men who murdered a number of people as a result of anger and self pity, but give those seemingly unfair, unjustified incidents in your life over to God who will vindicate you and cause you to be an overcomer! The benefits to your daily life will be enormous. Begin to be a worshipper, for He loves to hear your praises!

What is Real Worship?

Feb8

In the Word of God, David says in II Samuel 24:24, “…nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” (NKJV)

What does this really mean to us today as we attempt to find out what God really wants from our worship?  Obviously, we no longer need to bring burnt offerings to the Lord, for Jesus Christ fulfilled this requirement for sin when He died upon the cross 2,000 years ago.  He became the “sin offering” or “burnt offering” for us as the sinless Lamb of God.  So, in reality, He has completed the work and there is nothing more for us to do to atone for our sins if we have received Him as our personal Saviour!

However, I believe that God is pleased with our praises when we offer them up to Him as “a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1).  Another great reference about this is Hebrews 13:15 which reads, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” (NKJV)  So, actually, we are offering up a sacrifice to God every time we open our mouths to praise Him!  The “fruit of our lips” is the joyful noise we make in word and song as we praise and worship the King of Kings!  David also wrote in Psalm 22:3 that God “inhabits (or lives in) the praises of Israel.”  We have all the promises of Abraham available to us today, including the assurance that our Lord will “inhabit” or live in our praises!  How exciting is this!  If you want to feel God’s presence dwelling with you each day and experience His blessings, protection, guidance, healing and abundance, just begin to lift your voice up to Him in praise!  I assure you that He will be very present in every area of your life as you begin to do this.

Praise and worship are not just limited to church.  It is not necessary to have a robed cleric speaking eloquently or a magnificent choir singing anthems of praise to enter into God’s presence.  Nor is it necessary to have a praise band with loud music blaring and strobe lights flashing to feel the spirit!  Perhaps you like the traditional, beautiful, anointed hymns of the church revered for centuries!  Maybe your taste is more to the three-chord contemporary songs played with guitars and percussion.  You may like the foot-stomping “Pentecostal”  choruses, the toe-tapping Southern Gospel songs or the powerfully sung Black Gospel melodies with intricate jazz chord patterns!  We all have our favorites; I know what mine are and you know what you prefer.  The real heart of the matter is this:  None of these things alone can bring, or are necessary for, the presence of God in your life!  You can worship Him anywhere, anytime, day or night, and He will hear and respond to your praise.  He will hear your cries for help; He will answer your longing, searching heart!  You will know that He is on His throne and that He has everything in your life under control.  It is a very freeing experience, because true worship transcends denominational barriers; it transcends barriers of style as to types of music; and, above all, it is pleasing to God.  It is not about us; it is about Him and how we can proclaim His “worth-ship”, if you will.  We were created to worship; God made us for His pleasure and if you are not worshipping there will be a huge void in your life that only companionship with Him can fill!  No lover, no spouse, no child, no close friend or relative can ever fill the void that God has reserved for Himself alone!  As we communicate in this way with Him, He communicates back to us in our spirits and we are filled, in the same way one feels full after a good meal.

If you have never been in the habit of worshipping, I urge you to begin today!  Putting on some great praise music (any style you enjoy!) is a great idea.  Then, get alone and just begin to praise and worship your Creator for who He is.  Download worship music on your iPod or play background music on the radio.  Worship involves every area of our lives, not just music, but this is certainly a good place to begin.  It is truly the foundation for the other acts of worship (such as kindness to our families and neighbors, serving God in our communities by feeding and clothing the homeless and suffering, ministering to our church families, etc.) that should be a part of every Christian’s life!  I challenge you to give Him your sacrifice of praise daily!

 

Why Does Music Stir Our Emotions?

Feb5

Have you ever had a “down” day or been a bit depressed only to feel your spirits lifted dramatically when you heard a beautiful song?  Or perhaps, in contrast, you were feeling pretty good and a terrible song that just “jarred” you came on the rado, prompting you to “turn it off” and go find your iPod with the songs you like on it!  What causes a person to hear an old song from “way back” and immediately know exactly where you were and what you were doing when that song was played the first time? It can conjure up deep emotions, such as a lost love, dear ones who have passed away, or profound sadness or joy.

I was fascinated when I interviewed a man who had his doctorate in bio physics on my TV show a few years back.  As I visited with him over the course of a couple of programs, he detailed something I had been unaware of: geometric fractals evident in music!  Of course geometry and fractals are present in every aspect of creation and the world around us.  I just had never realized what a big part they play in the composition of music!  If you are interested at all in this, do an online search for “fractals in music” and you will be amazed!  Some of this is very technical for the average non-mathematician like me (trust me on this one!), but as a musician I was especially interested in something he told me.  Studies have been conducted on various types of music and their effects on the human brain.  When chaotic, jarring music with much dissonance was analyzed on the computer using a meter to indicate pitch and timbre, the results came back as complete discord on the fractal scale.  Then they tried putting a Johann Sebastian Bach fugue to the test and the results were perfect, pure, gemoetrically correct fractal patterns on the graph!  Amazing!!

Now, I do not claim to undertstand fractal geometry in any mode, let alone music, but I do know that our God who created the universe is a God of order!  I also know from my long-running experience as a musician that music is very mathematical and scientific in its patterns and that if you understand them, you can probably create some beautiful music!  If you choose to break these patterns the results will be chaotic and stressful.  The reason for this is simple:  God created music, and if proper patterns are followed, and it is sung or played correctly, it will be beautiful and restful to our souls!

A great example in the Word of God about music soothing, calming and healing a troubled spirit is found in I Samuel 16:14-23 where King Saul had a vexing, troubling spirit which had descended upon him.  His servants, in an effort to calm him, suggested to him that he “seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp.  And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.”  (v. 16, NKJV)   His servants found David, at the King’s request, and brought him to Saul.  Verse 23 concludes the story by saying, “And so it was, whenever the (evil) spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand.  Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.”  (NKJV)  It appears that this oppressing spirit (allowed with God’s permission because Saul was doing wicked things in His eyes) came frequently upon the King and the only thing that would help rid him of it was David’s skillful playing on the harp!

Are you being troubled with depressing thoughts or feeling you are “under attack”?  The enemy of your soul wants to keep you discouraged and “down”,  but God has given us a great weapon against these attacks:  praise and worship to Him through music!  Why not put on some praise music and begin to worship right there in your home?  You will soon dispel the gloominess!  Soon you will be singing the praises of God and feeling those oppressive spirits of discouragement leave!  I Samuel 30:6 says, “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him…but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” (KJV)  I don’t think any of us are dealing with the possibility of being stoned!  If the great King David needed encouragement, and looked to the Lord for it, how much more should we, in our daily lives!  Many psalms begin with great distress and anguish and finish with joy and victory when the psalmist begins to praise and worship God (Yahweh) in the midst of his trouble!  I think this is directly related to music, so once again, I urge you to be a worshipper because He loves to hear your praises!  Watch your situation turn around as you begin to sing and praise the Lord!