Tuesday evening I had the privilege of going to Brittany Keller’s Christmas-Band Concert. I have always had a deep respect for musicians…especially composers. I often, at concerts like this one, find my mind exploring each slice of the band, searching out each part. The rumble of the percussion. The blare of the trumpets (my favorite). The relaxing saxophones. The conductor dancing his arms through the air, making it all come to life! I sure love the symphony!
The magic that is music enchants me. How these instruments come together to bring life to the pieces of paper in front of them excites me. All by itself, each instrument can be played…and can even sound good. Very rarely do multitudes gather for…an oboe solo. Not to offend the oboist, but there is only so much one can take of an unaccompanied oboe. The oboe though, plays a major part in many pieces and cannot be discredited.
Somewhere there are two people arguing whether or not Jesus’ birthday is actually December 25…or…as Christians who preach Christ Crucified, should we even recognize this “pagan holiday of consumerism.” Jesus…had to be born. Is it ok to recognize this fact? I think so. Do we worship baby Jesus? I see this in the same aspect as only talking about His death on the cross. There is a symphony that is the Life of Christ. Each part…birth, life, death, resurrection, return…melodically weaves together the music that makes our souls come to life and dance. It moves us!
When we are truly engulfed by this sweet symphony movement happens. Movement is short lived when only listening to the drum rumble of the birth of Jesus. The question has to be asked…where is your movement taking you? Does the dance of your soul reflect the symphony playing in your heart? Is your dance in harmony with the culture around you or is it in cadence with the cross? If you let the full symphony of Christ subdue you: What would be different? Would the world know the difference? Would they be attracted to it? Would they by moved to dance too?
I am ready for some movement…myself included. I long for the sweet symphony of Christ to really take hold of my soul and move me. There is noise going on inside that keeps each of us from harmonizing the melody in our lives. Shall we stop waiting for the Trumpet Solo of Christ’s return…and start playing with the melody that He is playing in the world already? After all, doesn’t the symphony always build up to the solo?
Friday, December 21, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Go...baptize...teach
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
It would be good for us to keep this at the focal point of our lives…profound statement I know. Keeping the Holiness of our Father in focus would do great lengths of good in our lives in the area of humility…but what about the second part? May God’s Will be done on earth as it is in heaven? How do we accomplish this?
Over the past month or so I’ve taken a deep interest in how the world views Christianity. I’ve been reading a few different books that are a bit depressing in the reality that is shown in the world view towards those who call themselves followers of Christ. In keeping “God’s Will being done on earth as it is in heaven” at the focal point of our lives, I have to ask how we are going about doing that.
From what I can tell, we as Christians (on the whole), have looked to politics in order to bring God’s Will to earth…as it is in heaven. There are some groups within Christianity that would banish all “sinners” from our country using the law if at all possible. I won’t list off a lot of the laws that would possibly be put in place because I don’t want to get too bogged down on this but I do want to make a quick point. I am not saying that those laws (whichever ones you might be thinking of) would be inherently bad to have around; I just want to get to a deeper issue.
Why do we have laws in this country? Isn’t it understood that it is wrong to murder, steal, commit adultery, etc.? At some point pride sets in and you begin to want what you want when you want it and take what is not yours: life, stuff, spouses, etc. Does imposing more laws changes someone’s pride/selfishness? I’ve yet to see it.
For centuries, in order to become a Christian, you had to be “Romanized,” meaning that you had to become civilized before encountering God’s Grace through Christ. It seems backwards to me…why are we still taking this approach? I think Jesus lays it out well for us in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
I think the approach Jesus would take to “God’s Will being done on earth” would be to change the heart of people. It doesn’t seem as though Jesus got offended much by the “sinners” surrounding Him. He felt compassion for them and went straight for their heart. Let’s start introducing people to Jesus, change their hearts, and then teach them His ways.
It would be good for us to keep this at the focal point of our lives…profound statement I know. Keeping the Holiness of our Father in focus would do great lengths of good in our lives in the area of humility…but what about the second part? May God’s Will be done on earth as it is in heaven? How do we accomplish this?
Over the past month or so I’ve taken a deep interest in how the world views Christianity. I’ve been reading a few different books that are a bit depressing in the reality that is shown in the world view towards those who call themselves followers of Christ. In keeping “God’s Will being done on earth as it is in heaven” at the focal point of our lives, I have to ask how we are going about doing that.
From what I can tell, we as Christians (on the whole), have looked to politics in order to bring God’s Will to earth…as it is in heaven. There are some groups within Christianity that would banish all “sinners” from our country using the law if at all possible. I won’t list off a lot of the laws that would possibly be put in place because I don’t want to get too bogged down on this but I do want to make a quick point. I am not saying that those laws (whichever ones you might be thinking of) would be inherently bad to have around; I just want to get to a deeper issue.
Why do we have laws in this country? Isn’t it understood that it is wrong to murder, steal, commit adultery, etc.? At some point pride sets in and you begin to want what you want when you want it and take what is not yours: life, stuff, spouses, etc. Does imposing more laws changes someone’s pride/selfishness? I’ve yet to see it.
For centuries, in order to become a Christian, you had to be “Romanized,” meaning that you had to become civilized before encountering God’s Grace through Christ. It seems backwards to me…why are we still taking this approach? I think Jesus lays it out well for us in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
I think the approach Jesus would take to “God’s Will being done on earth” would be to change the heart of people. It doesn’t seem as though Jesus got offended much by the “sinners” surrounding Him. He felt compassion for them and went straight for their heart. Let’s start introducing people to Jesus, change their hearts, and then teach them His ways.
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