• 2 years ago

Source(s):

The words are sung by Ferdnando Ortega.

Every blessing,

The Desert Pastor

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till with Christ the Lord I stand.

These next two are together. Tryggare Kan Ingen Vara, or Children of the Heavenly Father, is another Swedish hymn I love. Following immediately after is a song written by Oscar C. Eliason, my grandfather who was a Swedish immigrant. The song has a familiar Swedish lilt and is called, "My Paradise" which speaks about that moment when we see Jesus. The last line is, "then I AT LAST, shall view my paradise!"  Children of the Heavenly Father - My Paradise

Children of the heav’nly Father
Safely in His bosom gather;
Nestling bird nor star in Heaven
Such a refuge e’er was given.

God His own doth tend and nourish;
In His holy courts they flourish;
From all evil things He spares them;
In His mighty arms He bears them.

Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord His children sever;
Unto them His grace He showeth,
And their sorrows all He knoweth.

Though He giveth or He taketh,
God His children ne’er forsaketh;
His the loving purpose solely
To preserve them pure and holy.

Lo, their very hairs He numbers,
And no daily care encumbers
Them that share His ev’ry blessing
And His help in woes distressing.

Praise the Lord in joyful numbers:
Your Protector never slumbers.
At the will of your Defender
Ev’ry foeman must surrender.

I think that's partially why I so much enjoyed the Hymn Society Conference! While not everyone who comes is a musician, there are enough musicians that we can sightread new hymns and sing them well!

And, boy, did we sing!!

We started out Sunday night with a hymn festival celebrating California hymn writers...some old and some new. Some were easy to sing, while some called on the Hispanic tradition and were a bit more challenging. We sang with organ, piano, bass, drums, flute, and dancers... One of our hymns came from the 1893 Parliament of Religions, still a challenge today...

O prophet souls of all the years,
speak yet to us in love;
your far-off vision, toil, and tears
to their fulfillment move.

There's more to that one, but it was a lovely call to work together to bring God's kingdom to fruition.

Monday morning there was a plenary session with Thomas Troeger at which I found myself in tears. We sang many of his hymns--but the one that touched me so much that I couldn't sing was titled "God Weeps with Us Who Weep and Mourn"...acknowledging the pain of watching someone die, and yet ending with a promise of God's grace.

Tuesday night we shared in a hymnfest focused on the "gift of African American song." Song...and worship... It acknowledged pain but through it all yet a sense of hope. The notes on the page were there for guidance--but our ears were more important to sense where we were being called. And one thing that intrigued me was the challenge to sing whatever part we wanted to--if it wasn't on the page, make up your own(!) because the song is not complete until all voices are a part of it.

My tongue got thoroughly twisted Wednesday night! We sang from the Hispanic tradition--going way back! Chant...mariachi...spirituals... Tiring, but also energizing!!

We also shared in morning prayers--focused on worship from the Asian community...and night prayers--from yet other Christian traditions.

318 people--from 38 states and two Canadian provinces, Brazil, and New Zealand...and 27 denominations represented. I know that there are significant theological differences between us--and yet, when we lifted our voices together in praise and prayer to God, I can't help but think that God was pleased with the joyful noise we made!

As such, I developed a much different perspective regarding worship music than a lot of the folks I met in college and seminary - many of whom only wanted to sing praise songs exclusively because that's what "God is doing today."  One gentleman I met in seminary was particularly convinced that praise music was the only way to be on board with what "God is doing today."

I tend to have a deep skepticism regarding statements like that.  In fact, I find it completely bogus.  Good grief, even the Prophets had moments of looking toward the Lord and saying, "What are you doing to me!"  I have no prople with people saying, "Well, it looks like God's doing something here."  But the firm declaration of "this is what God is doing," just rings hollow to me.

Having said that, the style of worship music among Protestants that connects me to the story best is a praise team.  The source of the songs doesn't matter to me all that much (hymnal, other church, self-written, off of a CD), as long as the content of the song is relatively deep and theologically vetted.  There are songs that grate on my nerves in the hymnal ("I Come to the Garden Alone...." bleck) and out of contemporary music, ("Days of Elijah," catchy tune - the words make no sense whatsoever and I trip over "There is no God like Jehovah").  Occassionally, I'd rather just chant some liturgy - but good luck getting that done at a Baptist Church.

My take on worship music tends to confuse worship warriors who tend to want to take sides.  I tend to prefer hymns, but I like them played on electric guitars.  It confuses worship warriors because, even when they begin calling for a truce, continue to think that everything is all or nothing.  A hymn means an organ, and a praise song means a praise band - truces are called so people don't lose what "territory" they have left to them.  When I start hearing/reading people who remind people about the need for one style of music over the other - it usually means that one side or the other is done licking their wounds and are ready to go another round or two (oftern citing that they don't want to fight, they just want to make people recognize the importance of whatever style they advocate).  It's a mess.

Lately, I've been seeing more blog entries in defense of keeping hymns in worship - which may spark the very first worship war fought primarily in the blogosphere.  Maybe I'm contributing to it right now, I certainly hope not.  To say that I've been disappointed with the posts I've read is an understatement.  They are disappointing not because I think hymns are "so 19th Century," but because the arguments being made in favor of keeping hymns alive in worship are based off of over-blown, antecdotal, or historically innacurate information.  These poor defenses of keeping hymns alive in worship affect me so deeply because I absolutely agree that hymns should never be expunged from worship (even if instrumentation needs to change).  Let me sum up some of the bad arguments and give some responses:

• Praise music is harder to sing

Sorry, have you ever tried to sing a tent revival song from the early 20th Century?  The rhythm is ofter so weird the only thing I can do is listen.  Stylistic changes do make cross generational singing a bit messy if you have the mentality that one style has to "win."  But if we can acknowledge that that the style we prefer (and it really is only a matter of preference) is difficult for folks who don't share our preference to sing, maybe we can develop some empathy for each other.  That would be a good thing - don't blow it by saying only one style is difficult for some people, though, that's just not true.

• With only the words congregations can't learn the songs ahead of time

I wish that every blogger, worship leader, pastor, and lay-person in the English speaking world had to take a course on the history of English Hymnody before being allow to have  publicly stated opinion on worship.  I really do.  Hymnals as we have them today are recent inventions (yes, in terms of the history of English hymns 100 years is recent).  Hymns were written without tunes in mind - just words.  They were handed off to the music director who created a tune, or adapted a tune, for the words.  Very few people in worship would have known the hymns ahead of time (in John Newton's case, the children of the congregation may have learned a hymn earlier  - but that was it).  Not knowing songs in advance is not a new development in English-speaking worship.

What's more, with the pervasiveness of the internet and portable recorded music, it is more likely now than in any part of history that people will know a song sung in a local church for the first time before it's introduced in worship.

• Congregations sing songs differently

When hymns were written w/o tunes in mind every congregation that sung a hymn would have sung it differently.  Over time, certainly tunes would "stick" more than others (which is why some songs can be sung to more than one tune even in hymnals today) - but many hymns didn't find a common tune for decades after they'd been penned.  "Amazing Grace," for example, didn't get linked to it's most familiar tune until the mid 1800's, decades after the author's death.  Worship survived, and even thrived, in such a diverse environment.  I think it can survive the relatively slight variations modern worship songs have between congregations.

• Hymns preserve Christian theology

This isn't false as must as it is over-stated.  I once taught a Sunday school class on the theology of hymns, and fully embrace that the purpose of much of Christian hymnody was to teach common lay-folk the great doctrines of the faith.  English hymnody is no different in this respect.  I get chills, every time I sing "Joy to the World," and "And Can It Be" for just this reason - the way in which the lyrics are steeped in the Biblical narative and Christian doctrine is stunning and beautiful.

Here's the thing - not all hymns do this.  For every "Lift High the Cross" there is "I Come to the Garden Alone."  The latter being a song more sappy and sentimental than any praise chorus put out in the late 80's and early 90's (which is saying a lot, given that many of those songs are nothing more than "Jesus is my boyfriend" music).  Advocates who strive to see hymns kept in worship need to be much more honest that hymns need to be weeded almost as much as the corpus of contemporary(ish) praise music.  Thankfully, contemporary(ish) music has begun to show some good theological saavy - but which both young an old folks have got to understand that people might not necessarily want the theological hymns.  For many folks, what they want is simply what they want.  The entire church needs to be taught how to embrace the depth of worship, no matter what style - so pointing out that one does a better job (when, really, it doesn't necessarily) doesn't really help matters.

• Hymns are more reverential

Please.  This again shows a complete lack of awareness of the history of English hymnody.  Churches that sang hymns, as late at the early 1800's, were considered low class and "overly enthusiastic."  In Anglican circles such people were labeled "methodists."  What were these overly enthusiastic folks singing?  The "more reverential" hymns that people insist are more appropriate for worship today.

All in all, when it comes to worship wars (even the one currently kicking up in the blogosphere), "There is nothing new under the Sun."  People are still making the same old arguments about music styles that they've been making since as early as the 1700's.  Only the names making the claims have changed.  Also, please note, I critique the side that is advocating for Hymns (not necessarily hymns exclusively) because that is the mentality I have a stronger affinity for.

For my part, I try to swallow my pride as much as I possibly can regarding music styles.  I try to sing choruses as loud as I sing hymns (when I can handle it that early in the morning), I also sing songs that I, personally, can't stand (though I do draw the line at theological error).  Worship isn't about me, and it's certainly not making sure that the things I prefer happen.  Worship warriors, for all their great statements about what "God is doing" and "retaining tradition" seem to miss that point.

Of course, all my orthodox friends are probably reading this and thinking, "Wow, all our music is liturgically prescribed - you Protestants are certainly whacked when it comes to music."

Some good reading on worship music, as well as some history on English hymnody, would be:

• Contemporary Worship Music: A Biblical Defense - by John M. Frame
• 101 Hymn Stories - by Kenneth W. Osbeck
• 101 More Hymn Stories: The Inspiring True Stories Behind 101 Favorite Hymns - by Kenneth W. Osbeck
• John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace - by Jonathan Aitken

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Let my work be right and sure,
Every thought and word be pure;
Not one sin my heart condone:
Let my life be Christ alone.

Though the task be small or great;
Though the hour be soon or late;
Give my hands the strength to move,
Influenced alone by love.

Though the fight be hard and long;
Though the enemy be strong;
By your grace I cannot fail,
Strong in Christ, I shall prevail.

Lord, I will lie in the dust,
And embrace this, if I must -
Only grant that this should bring
Honour, glory, to my King.

Freely to my Lord I bring
All I am - an offering;
Every portion of my life,
Less of self, and more of Christ.

Heart and mind and flesh and soul,
Christ my model, Christ my goal,
Still with this my constant aim:
To exalt your glorious name.

All I have is not my own,
All I am is yours alone:
Christ to live, and Christ to die,
Christ alone to glorify.

©JRW

"Lord I believe...help my unbelief"

Fill Me Now
Hover o'er me, Holy Spirit,
Bathe my trembling heart and brow;
Fill me with Thy hallowed presence,
Come, oh, come and fill me now.

Fill me now, fill me now,
Holy Spirit, fill me now;
Fill me with Thy hallowed presence,
Come, oh, come, and fill me now.

Thou canst fill me, gracious Spirit,
Though I cannot tell Thee how;
But I need Thee, greatly need Thee,
Come, oh, come and fill me now.

I am weakness, full of weakness,
At Thy sacred feet I bow;
Blest, divine, eternal Spirit,
Fill with pow'r, and fill me now.

Cleanse and comfort, wholly save me,
Bathe, oh, bathe my heart and brow;
Thou dost sanctify and seal me,
Thou art sweetly filling now. 

Fill me now, fill me now,
Holy Spirit, fill me now;
Fill me with Thy hallowed presence,
Come, oh, come, and fill me now.

On May 21, 2008, something very interesting occurred during my quiet time with the Lord. I had been reading through Matthew's gospel, and on that particular day I had read chapters 17 and 18. As most of you know, Matthew 18 is famous for what Jesus has to say with respect to how believers ought to deal with offences from other brothers and sisters. However, right before that section appears the parable of the lost sheep. I have always been immensely touched by this brief illustration of Christ's love for his own, and by the time I had finished reading it over, I was already meditating upon just what it means for the Savior to rejoice over finding just one of his lost sheep.

The next step I took in my devotional time was to pull down off the shelf my One Year Book of Christian History. I bought this handy little book about 2 years ago and feel in love with it right away. I'm not big on devotionals nor any type of daily reading book that often supplants the place of personal Bible study and communion with God in people's alone times with the Lord, but this is one I on which I would heartily place my stamp of approval. The readings are short; they are accompanied by a set of reflective questions and a relevant verse of Scripture; and the content is both informative as well as edifying insofar as you are immersed into the wondrous world of Christian history, being constantly challenged by the lives of those who have gone before us such as the apostle Paul, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Tyndale, Spurgeon, Billy Graham, and so forth and so on.

Now back to my story. As I said, it was May 21, so of course, I read the reading for that day in my One Year book. When I glanced at one of the subheadings to that day's choice selection, I was dumbfounded. It was titled, "The Ninety and Nine". The story began by telling about a woman by the name of Elizabeth Clephane who wrote a poem that went by two names, "The Lost Sheep" and "The Ninety and Nine". Clephane had written this poem for a magazine in order to cope with the loss of her wayward brother, whom she had hoped that Christ, the Good Shepherd, had found before he had died.

Many years later, American evangelist D. L. Moody was on tour in Scotland. While on a train his song leader, Ira Sankey, was flipping through a magazine called Christian Age and stumbled upon Clephane's poem. Immediately he was struck by its power and emotive depth. So moved by the poem, Sankey removed it from the magazine and kept the clipping on his person until the following day's evangelistic meeting. Interestingly enough, the theme for this particular meeting was "The Good Shepherd". On May 21, 1874, after preaching a stirring sermon, Moody called for Sankey to play a solo on the spot. Unprepared, Sankey moved to the organ, placed the clipping of the poem on the stand, and prayed to God for his aid in helping to sing these lyrics which had no previous music attached to them. Remembering this moment, Sankey said, "Laying my hands upon the organ I struck the key of A flat and began to sing." And out came what is one my most beloved hymns.

What was so fascinating about this whole ordeal was that while I was reading Matt 18 and the parable of the lost sheep, the song "The Ninety and Nine" came to my mind and I had planned on searching my iTunes library for it to see if I still had it on hand since I had not listened to it for quite some time. So needless to say, I took it as a Word from the Lord to spend a little extra time meditating on both the Scripture text and the hymn. As far as having anything earth-shattering to tell you in terms of fumbling over some sort of revelatory gold-mine, I come bearing no new gifts. But, for me, that morning was very special. I know the Lord orchestrated the timing from the foundations of the earth that my daily Christian history reading would coincide perfectly with my Scripture reading passage, causing me to think at more length and much deeper about the The Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the one who rescued this one lost sheep, and rejoices with all of heaven that I will not perish but have eternal life in him. To God be the glory for great things he hath done!

The only version I have of the song is by Andrew Peterson. It is very celtic. Since I haven't figured out yet how to play a song on a post per se (thanks for your help so far Ched), I've uploaded the mp3 into my Box.net media player in the sidebar. You should be familiar with how it works. Check it out and let me know what you think. Click here to purchase Peterson's album Carried Away where the track "The Ninety and Nine" appears.

Here's the words to Clephane's poem:

The Ninety and Nine

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me."

(Words from The King of Love My Shepherd Is by Henry W. Baker)

What great lyrics! Oh the awesome love of God!

I should be so happy right now.

After years of just surviving, I am now able to live a better live.

My job is great, I am on top of all their "stack ranking" I am on top of my team, in all objects, top of "pay 4 performance", everything at work looks really really great. But I feel so left out in my personal life.

My husband works his buns off and so do I, so we dont see each other that much. Church I havent been in a long time, because of my work schedule.
I have only one friend from Church who consistently calls me and checks up what I am doing. I tried to set up a BBQ at my house, but for some reason it doesnt seem to get off the ground.
Perhaps because I havent been in Chruch?
Slowly but surely I feel like I am forgotten, people moved on with their busy lives, and so did the Church.

Of course than I get the responses "Well you can call too". Perhaps I am not the person who does well with "first steps". Perhaps I have to learn that, but it wont be now!
I just know how I feel, and I feel not being a part of anything. All meetings and get togethers are on Thursdays,Saturdays, so I cant attend. It is very hard to get a weekend off at my job.

I just needed to vent today!!!
My husband is a loner, so he is not affected as I am. He likes been by himself. I on the other hand, love having people around, talking on the phone, etc..

My prayer right now is that I find a church that has a evening service on Sunday's. Now that would be to cool! Probably not happening but it would be wonderful.

This post is not meant to offend anyone from my Church, it is only how I feel and see things lately!

The Lord is still directing my path, and that will NEVER change no matter what.
I am so much closer lately because He is all I have to talk to, and to cling on. I praise Him still after each and every phonecall at work. I dont care if it was a good or a bad call, I praise Him constantly. He is so good to me.
Everywhere I turn, I see the Lord's work before me, and I am in awe what He has done for me and my husband. And I am still on working on my husband to get him back to where he should be with the Lord. But he still has a hard time with it.

Well, I vented, so whoever reads this...dont beoffended, this isnt meant as an offense, it is from my heart, my thoughts, my feelings.

Blessings to all
Andrea

Wide Awake (Remix of Sunday’s sermon – audio download - http://www.firstgrandville.org/content.cfm?id=213&category_id=4 )

What is keeping you awake at night?

Many things. Finances. Guilt. Keeping a job. Finding a job. The marriage or relationship. The diagnosis. Caring for adult parents. An addiction. Trying to raise kids. The past. It could be many things…

Me? For many years now, what keeps me up at night are a bunch of people – no, not noisy neighbors J. In my lifetime, I have cared for a lot of people who have struggled with things – really hard things. And it has given me purpose. I wouldn’t change a thing. But I do often find myself awake, wide awake at night – sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. Part of it is “I wonder if the late night call is going to come” – for which I will be ready, if it ever does. There was a time when I kept a set of clothes out each night as well as a planned place of refuge because of the situation this friend was going through. God hears lots of prayers from me in the early morning hours.

Ministry or not, I have always been the kind of person that wanted to do whatever I could to help those struggling with difficult things. How many times have I prayed for it (whatever it was/is) to go away? And as things go, it usually doesn’t happen that way. So I guess I always thought that by being awake, being ready to help at any time of night – phone call, visit, whatever, that and prayer was the next best thing I could do.

My favorite song is “Bad” by U2 and it is my favorite because it so accurately captures and articulates this desire to care for others in extraordinary circumstances – but also the futility of it. It is my anthem in many ways. Bono wrote in response to a friend he was helping through a heroin addiction. “I’m wide awake, wide awake, I’m not sleeping,” the refrain goes. I have found one of the best live versions of this song, in which he explains the story behind the song and then sings it with tremendous passion. It’s often how I feel. Here is the link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7KjiDZMD5o. I like to think that I am wide awake for these people. I want them to know I am, or that I at least try.

But here’s the thing. At some point, I will fall asleep. As passionate as I may feel about staying wide awake for others, I can’t help it. Bono will fall asleep too. We are human. There is no conceivable way of me staying awake and “being ready” at all times. And it is this way for all of us, no matter what may be keeping us up at night.

Some good news?

There is someone who can literally, actually stay wide awake all the time – and does. He’s watching over us right now.

“The Lord is your protector, and he won’t sleep or let you stumble. The protector of Israel doesn’t doze or ever get drowsy (Psalm 121:3-4).”

Whatever is keeping us awake at night, there is somebody who is already on it. Already knows about it, already working on it. There is nothing that He is going to miss in our lives because He never sleeps, never has to.

Sometimes, often at night, I can feel Him watching me. It is hard to describe and I have to be in a very peaceful state. But I know He is watching, watching over me.

And He is watching over you too, whether you know it or not, whether you can feel it or not.

I may still be wide awake at night thinking about some people. But they are in much better hands than mine – the hands of the One who does not sleep or slumber – who watches over are coming in and our going out forevermore (Psalm 121:8).

We miss out on so much comfort and assurance and sleep when we try to take on and handle things that are really only for Him to handle. The old hymn says, “This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget that oft the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my Father’s world: why should my heart be sad? The Lord is King; let the heavens ring! God reigns; let the earth be glad.”

We miss out on so much comfort and assurance and sleep and joy when we keep thinking that it is our world, our problems, our struggles, when it is and always has been and always be our Father’s world…

Discussion Questions

1. What are the things keeping you awake at night? Has staying awake at night solved any of them yet?
2. Why do we find it so hard to hand things over to God?
3. What keeps you from living as if the Lord never sleeps while watching over you? What does living in that reality look like?
4. What is one thing you can give over to the Lord to handle today?

I think it's because I am a word person. I write. I read. And words are a big part of who I am. And hymns are words -- beautiful words saturated with the glorious truth of the gospel, which is a message I need to hear over and over and over and over again, because I forget so easily.

Neither Tim nor myself were particularly blessed with musical talent (although I suspect that I could have been had my parents not let me decide to opt out of piano lessons at age 6; and Tim has rhythm), but I want to be a family that sings hymns. I want my kids to know the words to hymns and to sing them with us. I also want to find an artistically-inclined friend or person to transcribe the lyrics to hymns loved by Tim and myself (Before the Throne of God Above, Be Thou My Vision, Jesus I am Resting, among others) in some kind of pretty way so we can frame them and hang them around our house.

It just amazes me how much hymns speak to my heart. I downloaded the newest Road Sessions EP from Matthew Smith (of Indelible Grace) off of NoiseTrade and was blown away by this hymn in particular (although all 5 songs on the album are beautiful):

Calmer of my troubled heart

Bid my unbelief depart

Speak, and all my sorrows cease

Speak, and all my soul is peace.

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Comfort me when e'er I mourn

with the hope of Thy return

And til I Thy glories see

Help me believe in Thee

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Such a simple song, but it so perfectly expresses what I so often feel. My heart is often troubled, I struggle with unbelief. And it is my prayer that God would comfort me with the thought of Christ's return to reign on the earth and to finally finish making all things new, including myself. And boy, do I need help believing. And, it is such a comfort to know that the Spirit enables me to believe in Christ, and will give me the faith to endure to the end.

Beautiful. That's all I can say.

]]> http://modernmormonmusic.wordpress.com/?p=16 Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:42:19 +0000 modernmormonmusic http://modernmormonmusic.wordpress.com/?p=16 It's almost Pioneer Day in Utah. That's when we celebrate and commemorate the date when the first rocket was launched from what is now Kennedy Space Center. It's also the anniversary of the day Apollo 11 returned to Earth. It's Simon Bolivar day in Ecuador, and National Tequila Day in the United States.

And, of course, it celebrates and commemorates the arrival of the main group of mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. Regardless of the topics, all hymns this week will be Good Ol' Pioneer Hymns.

Hymns
Opening: 36 They, the Builders of the Nation
Sacrament: 194 There Is a Green Hill Far Away
Congregational: 34 O Ye Mountains High
Closing: 30 Come, Come, Ye Saints

"They, the Builders of the Nation" has a great tune. I love the words, too. It presents an idealized image of pioneers, but isn't religion about ideals? Somebody had to be first, after all. After the explorer, the pioneer follows, builds a house, starts a family, and the next thing you know, you have what passes for civilization. That's what this hymn is all about.

"There Is a Green Hill Far Away" is both easy to direct, and short in duration. The imagery of the first verse is wonderful. It generally gives me a peaceful feeling to sing. I'd like it if we sang this one more often.

"O Ye Mountains High" was a good congregational hymn. The congregation needed some rousing, IMHO, because girl's camp just started, and the attendance was way way way down (not only did we not need the overflow area, I think we might have been almost able to hold the meeting in the overflow area). I screwed up the first verse when we hit the 2/4 measure. I'll do better next year.

"Come, Come, Ye Saints" is the quintessential mormon pioneer song. Back at BYU, we even played it in marching band once. Probably no other song is more associated with the LDS church, thanks to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing it at the end of "Music and the Spoken Word." From my experience, it's not a popular song to sing anymore in sacrament meeting. My explanation (for what it's worth) is that, as time moves on, people in the church relate less and less to the pioneers. While I had ancestors who were mormon pioneers, it's not like any of them were my grandparents. That means I never heard any first-hand stories of crossing the plains. It has become history, not a life story, if you follow my meaning.

I believe that there is an ever-increasing need for people today to write hymns dealing with our experiences and needs now. We aren't pioneers, needing a hymn to lift our spirits, nor are pioneers nostalgia (for most members). The church will eventually come out with another new hymnbook someday, and it should contain hymns that speak to us in our day. Somebody is going to write them—why not you? Even if you don't write music, you could write the lyrics to an existing tune, and then someone else could write a new tune around the lyrics. Why not give it a try?

Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, I thought about writing a book. I love reading, and writing seemed to be a next step. I sometimes imagine stories, when I'm tired of listening to the radio on the way to work. Finally, after (literally) decades of thinking about it, I heard about the National Novel Writing Month, and decided to give it a try. I've done it for three years now, and completed two novels. Neither of them are publishable in their current form, but so what? I enjoyed it, the stories aren't bad, and maybe the rewrite will be better. I wish I had started ten years earlier, at least.

My point is, if you think you could write a hymn, write one. If it's not good enough, change it around, edit it, revise it, or throw it out and start over. There are no great writers, after all; there are only great re-writers.

That's my screed for this week. Next week we sing one my sister's favorite songs. But, I won't tell you until next week. Is that a cliffhanger, or what?

1.

In Ghana. Shards of broken bottles improvising as barbed wire. One low powered fan, swiveling. One hundred degrees of heat and ninety percent humidity. Frogs that sound like crashing pick up trucks and muted street voices. Not to mention the shutting of doors.

2.

I hear church bells. Probably not real bells but some awkward recording played over some bulky mega-phone. The sound tip-toes into our room with the heat and sounds of rain, rain like you hear in movies or on meditation soundtracks.

3.

We met a girl named Luisa today. She stopped us on the street and told us she wanted to be friends. We shook her hand and told her our names and then she smiled and walked away. It made me wonder if something had been lost in translation but it seemed perfectly normal. I'm tired. Maybe because I'm sick or maybe because I've been listening to too many church hymns from the neighboring worshipers. I think I've exhausted myself just trying to decide whether I like their music or not. Big band orchestra meets bongos meets Jesus... Possibly not in that order.

Forgive our foolish ways!

Reclothe us in our rightful mind,

In purer lives Thy service find,

In deeper reverence, praise.

O still, small voice of calm!

In simple trust like theirs who heard

Beside the Syrian sea

The gracious calling of the Lord,

Let us, like them, without a word

Rise up and follow Thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee!

O calm of hills above,

Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee

The silence of eternity

Interpreted by love!

With that deep hush subduing all

Our words and works that drown

The tender whisper of Thy call,

As noiseless let Thy blessing fall

As fell Thy manna down.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,

Till all our strivings cease;

Take from our souls the strain and stress,

And let our ordered lives confess

The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire

Thy coolness and Thy balm;

Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;

Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,

O still, small voice of calm!

Hope you had a peace-instilling Sunday, people. This pretty hymn has words I find very applicable as I strive to keep my inner peace by keeping my focus on Jesus. It's amazing that a week of work can so easily take you away from that via distractions, and that a day of looking properly at Him can restore a sense of rest. Yay! I'll try to upload a YouTube vid to show you what it sounds like. Now, should it be the one from Atonement or the one of the opera singer? I do like the all-male choirs, but I believe someone takes God's name in vain in the movie clip, so I think the third option will win: the choir of Westminster Abbey, on a very old Songs of Praise.

Out in the Sunshine

words by Fanny Crosby

Out in the sunshine of infinite love,
Breathing the fragrance of Eden above;
I am so happy, O Savior divine,
Living or dying, to know I am Thine.

Refrain

Yes, I am Thine, Lord, I am Thine,
Living or dying, I know I am Thine.

Out in the sunshine, though shadows may fall,
Yet will I thank Thee and praise Thee for all;
Never, no, never my heart shall repine,
Living or dying, I know I am Thine.

Refrain

Out in the sunshine sweet music I hear,
Tenderly wafting a song on my ear;
Oh, what a blessèd assurance is mine,
Living or dying, I know I am Thine.

Refrain

Out in the sunshine by faith I can see,
Mansions in glory preparing for me;
O my Redeemer, what rapture is mine,
Living or dying, I know I am Thine.

Refrain

In keeping with the Sunday theme of worship and reverence, i thought I'll put down my most favorite hymn for you to read, gain inspiration and remember always that God has a plan for all of us. It has a simple and yet wonderful tune, but well, I can't put it down for you here... Maybe when you watch me live, I'll play it for ya... Have fun, and keep the Sabbath day holy...

In His time, in His time,
He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Lord, please show me every day
As you're teaching me Your way,
That You do just what You say in Your time.

In Your time, in Your time,
You make all things beautiful in Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
With its winter and its spring,
May I fathom everything in Your time.

There's a time, there's a time
Both for sowing and for reaping there's a time,
Time for losing, time for gain,
Time for joy and time for pain,
Every purpose under heaven has a time.

There are times, there are days,
Weeks and months we cannot understand God's ways.
If for years we fail to scan
What is His eternal plan,
We'll remember that He can, all the time.

Love you all...

we also have a large contingency of college students at our church.

in planning worship, we do a mix of hymns and contemporary songs. our church is not quite yet ready to give up the hymns. these historic songs have a place in the souls of half of our members.

to be quite honest, i'm not ready to give up the hymns yet. not at this church.

as a worship leader, my job is to serve the people before me. help them worship God, help them pour out their hearts to Him in song, give them the words to sing when they can't find them.

in doing so, i set my preferences, my musical tastes, and my "favorite" songs aside and lead THEM. serve THEM. help THEM. while some of the songs may not best suit my style, i consciously put my heart in the songs, in the words, in the message.

this older generation can better express their heart to God by singing "How Great Thou Art" rather than "How Great is Our God"... and, i don't want to take that opportunity away from them.

although i'd be the first to admit that a more contemporized worship service would do wonders for church growth, i'm not willing to stretch the music so far that we leave half of the congregation behind. these old hymns mean so much to them, they are mile-markers of their faith.

they're not dead yet. they are still around, and they are more than welcome to stay.

• (B) My Saviour Lives
  This song was introduced recently, so it should be fairly fresh on people's minds.
• (B) King Of Majesty
  I'm not sure if this one has been done before or not, but it will be easy to pick up and sing along to.
• (G) Your Grace Is Enough
  This is an old regular (Chris Tomlin's arrangement).
• (B) Nothing But The Blood
  I think this one will be new, but the lyrics are familiar due to the hymn and people will be singing along in no time.
• (B) Jesus Paid It All
  This is an old hymn with a new bridge added.  My Dad knew this one from way back.  I'm hoping other folk will too.
• (G) Above All Powers / (B) Healer *
  I'd love to try Healer to end tomorrow's set, but I'm not sure I can do it justice yet.  We'll have to see how practice goes tomorrow morning.

Right click on song titles and select "Save Link As..." or equivalent to save chords to your computer.  Play with Capo on fret 4 for songs in B.