Moles.... not the skin ones. No, not the CIA ones either. I'm talking about the infidels of our suburbs. The terrorists that work by night around the homes of our families and loved ones who leave their trademark "dirt hump trail". Little dirt-burrowing creatures (gritting teeth)..... I hate them. Now that I live in the suburbs and have a lawn that gets compared to everyone else’s I feel the new kind of peer pressure. You know what I'm talking about, right? So I've been crushing down tunnels of dirt in the early evening and standing by with a shovel. Yeah, that’s right- I'm going to dig him up when I see him move. My friend Randy Noah said this is the only thing that really works. He's tried the chemicals and the traps but no dice. With the new “shovel method” he's snagged 14 this fall! I haven't gotten mine yet but I’m very determined. This mole is making me crazy. I'm considering using firepower to rid my yard of this terror......12 gauge any one?
I told some people from a seminar that I was teaching this morning that I would post this part of my talk on my blog. What you find here is something that I found in my old desk at Youth With A Mission in Salem Oregon. I don't know who wrote it but I have a few ideas- maybe a friend named Andy Nowlen- it sounds like something he would have written. It's good. very good. In fact, I wish I had written it. It's a bit lengthy, but worth the read:
Have you ever wondered how Paul and Silas could sing praises in a Philippian jail after bing stripped, flogged, and clamped inthe stocks? Or how Jesus could sing a hymn on the eve of his arrest, knowing everything that was about to happen to him? Or how Paul could describe worship with the spine-tingling phrase “living sacrifice”? It was because their worship was not based on what they liked. It was based on who they loved.
There is an explosion of worship in the church today. The buzz word is ‘contemporary’ and the aim is to ‘enter into God’s presence’ and enjoy a sense of closeness with Him. The music, setting, the lyrics must all help create a fulfilling worship experience. But I am absolutely convinced that it’s not the worship that God wants us to enjoy. It’s Him.
Christians have often felt that worship has to suit their tastes. Many times churches have been built based on preferences in worship style. We want to choose how we will worship.
We’ve made worship self-centered instead of God centered. We lobby for what we want. “I don’t like the songs”, “I don’t like the volume”. Its as if we were worshipping worship instead of worshipping God. Imagine conducting your relationship with your spouse on the basis of only relating to them in certain circumstances. In marriage you can’t love demanding an answer; you have to love selflessly. You don't say, “As long as I get everything I want out of this relationship I’ll commit myself”. But that’s the attitude we often have in worship. We say, “You musicians, singers and pastors, do your tricks, then we’ll be happy”
Worship is not a musical experience. Musicians can no more create a worship experience than evangelists can create a salvation experience. Both worship and salvation are decisions- decisions that only individuals can make. When we allow someone else to take responsibility for our decisions we place human interests in front of Gods. If my worship depends on others creating an atmosphere, I am allowing them to make my decision to worship for me.
Worship is not a result of how good the music is or whether my favorite songs are sung. It is not a consequence of whether I sit or stand, lift my hands or kneel. My worship must be an expression of my relationship with God- in song, in shouts and
Since March of this year I've tried to write in this blog over a dozen times. Each time I'd begin writing thinking I'd finish a thought that I'd be happy about posting for everyone, someone or no one to read but after only a few lines I'd give up. I'd give up thinking that I'd be better keeping my thoughts to myself. Well, maybe I'll finish this one.... we’ll see. If you're reading this it must mean that I hit the "post" button before deleting the text. I don't think I could capture what has happened in the past 7 months with words or music. After the loss of our son Ian I began to disassemble my faith. Sometimes passively and other times actively. To passively disassemble my faith means to stop holding on to what I previously believed to be true. I just let go of things like "God is good". To actively disassemble my faith took on a very different form. I told God that I could not worship him until I dealt with my anger towards him. I'm close to deleting this again..... wow, this is getting harder. I'm not going to complete this.... I'm just going to post it so I can break the cycle of not blogging. I'm sorry for this mess of a blog entry but hopefully it will help me to get back into it.
Quick update: my mother's surgery went very well. The surgen said that she could not detect any spreading of the cancer, but will wait to confirm when the pathology reports come back. The surgery took about four hours, then she spent another three in recovery. When they brought her into her room last night at around 8:30pm our family was waiting there to greet her. Her spirit was up and she was smiling and wanting kisses from each of us. We asked Olson, our two year old son, to sing "Jesus Loves Me". It turned out to be a spiritual moment as my mom closed her eyes and joined the singing. By the "Yes, Jesus loves me" part we were all singing along quietly in the hospital room. It was a tear-jerking moment. Thanks for praying.
I've been getting quite a few emails and phone calls about mom , so here's the update. Today Gaile goes into the hospital for a very major cancer surgery. She'll be in for 7-10 days for recovery. She has the one of the best surgeons in the nation which give me some comfort, but at this point I'm relying on God's favor. Please join with us in prayer for her today. This has been a tough few months for my mom and Dad. Last September mom lost her dad to bladder cancer, a month later my dad's dad died with Alzheimers. The day of his memorial service my mom found out she had a very rare form of cancer. She immediately went in for 2 rounds (5 days each) of unsuccessful chemotherapy.
On the faith building side of things.... Almost 17 years ago my mom battled cancer for the first time. She went to the hospital for surgery to remove the cancer from her cervix but when the doctor went in to do the procedure it was miraculously gone. I believe that God heals, I want to believe that He will heal her again in any way he chooses.
I guess my first prayer is this- "God, help me in my disbelief", and my second is, "God, touch my mom's body and restore her". Please pray with me.
Ok, it's freakin cold. When we got up this morning it was -14. Yeah, -14. Who knew it ever got this cold in Cincinnati. My friend Tyler joked about going for a "Polar Bear" ride today. My toes get cold just thinking about it.
We had a party tonight.... Most of the VCC worship folks came over to hang out and get to know one another a bit more. Some how I didn't realize that some of them didn't know each other. I guess we don't have many bands that feature 2 drummers or 2 keyboardists. Hence, they don't spend much time together. Anyway, it was a good time. On another note, this weekend we're doing all old songs. I don't mean 1980's songs, I mean OLD songs.... Hymns. Here's the scoop: I grew up in the Presbyterian church and for a long time I resisted these songs. I remember singing the "money song" (which later I found out was called The Doxology) and yawning every time I sang it. To be totally honest I used to pride myself on not knowing how to play them. Some how, mysteriously, I find myself being draw back to these songs. Maybe I'm just following the trend. I'm not sure what postmodernism is but this could be it. So far it doesn't seem bad. I do know that I appreciate the depth of these songs. Modern day "hip" worship songs are often Top 40 Love songs with the words "baby" & "Oh Yeah" replaced by "Jesus" and "Praise Him". I wonder if God minds us singing to Him like He's our girlfriend. I know I'd be out of sorts if someone sang to me as if I were "the girlfriend".
Things have been a bit hectic recently- so much going on. Just a quick update on my mother (Gaile Reider) and her battle with cancer. On Monday the 26th her found her white blood cell count high enough to go in and see the effects of the 2 rounds of intense chemotherapy. Upon examination she found that the cancer had grown and did not seem to be stunted or killed by the chemo. Needless to say we are somewhat discouraged by this news. Today she goes in for a CAT scan to see if there are any other areas of cancer in her body other than the one we already know about. She's scheduled to have surgery Friday February 6th. Please, take a moment to pray for her. You're prayers are worth more than diamonds.
