WHEN THE PAST RUINS THE PRESENT

A wise man once said, ‘When your memories of the past obscures your vision of the future, it leaves you bankrupt in the present.’

I’ve been involved with ‘the church’ for most of my life. I was part of a great Quaker, I was Ordained as a Calvary Chapel Pastor in 1977, helped found the flagship church of the Vineyard Movement and now serve at Faith
Community Church in Thousand Palms as the Outreach and Worship pastor.

I have so many great memories each of the places I have been and have been fortunate to be a part of some wonderful times of great blessing. I am thankful for that, BUT, I don’t want to go back there!
Over and over again I hear people in the church pining for days gone by. ‘Gosh remember when the worship was…. fill in the blank.’ ‘Remember when the church was so small you knew every ones name.’ The list is endless. Why do we always think the past is better than the present or the future?

The fact is things change, they grow, they improve, I’m sorry but in my opinion they get better. I have written songs that were widely used in churches throughout the world over the past two or three decades, but I don’t believe there is one of them that compares to the songs that Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Paul Balouche and others are writing today. The worship music has improved so much over the past twenty years and I am blessed by the growth and change.

It’s not that the past isn’t relevant , nor do we discard the richness of our heritage, but it is important to keep things in perspective. We should know our roots, understand the past, but rather than hold us back it should be foundational to what we are doing today and prepares us for where we are going in the future.

So we celebrate the past, and embrace the present with thanksgiving, which prepares us to mover forward embracing the vision God gives us for the future.

Worship and Compassion

In my last article I wrote of being ‘affected by the Gospel’, by that I mean that the Gospel has impacted us in such a way that it causes us to see the world differently and to act differently.
I became a Christian in 1965 and for most of that time I have been deeply involved in the life of the church. To this day I find myself surprised by the lack of compassion and empathy amongst Christians. I don’t know how you can separate worship from compassion, if we are connecting with God on a deeper level, if we are saying that we desire to honor him and to serve him, how can we at the same time distain the weak, broken, poor and needy.
I have seen and heard it over and over again, people explaining away the need to be compassionate towards those who have gotten themselves in a mess. We seem to believe if the ‘bad choices’ someone has made has led them to their present condition that we are absolved of any responsibility to give care or help to such a person.
I don’t see anywhere in the life and example of Jesus that could possibly lead one to that conclusion. Jesus said to ‘give to anyone who asks of you expecting nothing in return’ (Luke 6) Why? Jesus answers the question this way, ‘But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.’
I’m not talking about ‘enabling’ here, I’m talking about empathy, identifying with the brokenness of others, remembering ‘but there by the grace of God go I’. Which we often give lip service to, but secretly don’t identify with.
The fact is Jesus never places qualifiers on those who are the recipients of his kindness, he never sought out the most deserving. Think of the ‘women at the well’, a serial adulterer, a Samaritan, as undeserving and unclean as one could get in that culture and time. Yet Jesus much to her surprise initiates a dialogue with her, setting an example for you and me.

I have I have heard countless diatribes over the years comparing modern America to Sodom and Gomorrah, well maybe that’s true. Here is what the Bible says the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was,

" 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. Ezekiel 16:49

As we approach this season of overindulgence and unbridled consumerism, I would hope that those who worship Jesus, will keep our eyes open to those around us who are poor and needy and I pray our hearts ache for and identify with them and that as an act of worship we will extend ourselves, at the very least by coming aside organizations that have as their mission a call to serve the least of the least. Yet at the same time not turning away from our own personal expressions compassion which bring honor and glory to God.

What Make A Great Worship Song?

I am probably opening a can of worms here by trying to answer this question, after all when it comes to music, art, poetry, there is much to be said for the saying ‘beauty is in the eyes (ears, hearts) of the beholder’, in other words our taste in music can vary greatly and in many aspects is based on subjective criteria, but what the heck I’ll try and identify some of the common denominators of what I believe makes a great worship song.

The songs I am referring to by the way are the ones that have emerged over the past 30 years as worship has evolved to become more culturally relevant and current in the medium and the message. Obviously there are great hymns that have been written over the centuries and are still in use today in churches throughout the world. Some would argue that they have more depth and are better musically than the songs we are utilizing today. I don’t hold that opinion, but will tackle that in a future article.

So based on the songs that are song today in hundreds of thousands of churches around the world, what makes one song stand out over and against another.
For the sake of space of which I am limited, I will make these bullet points with a touch of explanation.
Content: Are the lyrics based on truths set forth in the Bible? Are they sound doctrinally, and theologically? Do they reflect what one wants to say, to or about God?

Melody: I have listened to songs that have come straight from the scripture that are really bad and I have felt people at times have gone way to far in stating ‘the Lord gave me this song’!

Is it memorable? Is it accessible? That is, can most people who are meant to sing the song, sing it? It may be a great song, it may have great lyrics, a great melody and ‘hook’, but if it can’t be sung, what makes it a worship song?

Simplicity: I’m sure this will get a rise out of some, there has been much criticism of contemporary worship because of its simplicity and I believe much of it is unwarranted. The Bible is filled with simple statements that are profoundly true, ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by me.’ Not terribly complex but profound and true.

If people can sing it and it’s easily transferable a song will travel around the world and be used to engage God’s people together in worship, think of ‘I Love You Lord’, ‘How Great is Our God’, ‘Shout to the Lord’, in fact the songs that are used throughout the world by congregations of every tribe and nation are songs like these examples. They can be played with the simplest accompaniment or non at all, lending themselves to be used, which is the point right? People gathering with their hearts and lives open to God, expressing praise, adoration, thanks and honor to God.