God-given gifts

William Billings said, “But thus much would I say, That he who finds gifted with a tunable Voice, and yet neglects to cultivate it, not only hides in the Earth a Talent of the highest Value, but robs himself of the peculiar Pleasure, of which they only are conscious who exercise that Faculty.” (186) Music is a gift from God and it is very powerful indeed. So powerful that it can even become a god. God gave us the gift of music and the ability to enjoy and use it, especially to His glory. I agree with Billings that if we develop those God-given attributes and use them to glorify God and serve other people, great things can be accomplished. However, if we neglect or attempt to use our gifts in ways that God did not intend, our lives will be filled with frustration and failure. This sentence reminds me that God has entrusted His people with these wonderful gifts and when He comes back, I want to be a person who is found ready, who does not waste the gift He has given me.

Staying relevant

Horness said, “In short, we must constantly remind ourselves that to stay relevant and meaningful to people we really love and care about, we have to grow younger or our church will just grow old.” (241) It is true that we have a lot to learn about this generation but do we necessarily have to go with the flow just to become more and more like a “seeker sensitive” church? We should be extremely cautious about putting to much emphasis on meeting one’s emotional or “felt” needs rather than preaching the Gospel. How the younger generation feels on issues regarding worship, the program and the teaching environment is too much focused nowadays that the foundation, which the Word, the Gospel is placed as secondary (At least, that is what I am seeing happening) As the younger generation is searching for answers all over the place, should we not go back to the only thing that is relevant, the Bible?

A Fitting Summary

William Caldwell's words provide a beautiful summary to everything we have discussing for the past two weeks. "The giver of every good and perfect gift has been pleased to bless us with singing faculties, and to music we are indebted for one of the most refined and exalted pleasures which the bounty of heaven ever permitted to gladden the hearts of the children of men. Then, most certainly, it is the reasonable that we improve those faculties of our nature as we have opportunity that we may be prepared to exercise them in accents of acceptable praise to our Creator. (198)" Caldwell rightly viewed the singing of God's praises as both a duty and a pleasure.

As we prepare to enter the Spring semester of 2012, may this quotation remind us that Hymnology was much more than three academic credits. This course has given us some great tools that we can use to worship God throughout the rest of our lives.

The Future Well-Being of Society

In Robert Lowry and W. Howard Doane's essay, they state, "The music of the Sunday School is now acknowledged to be an important factor in that grand educational force which is levering up the rising generation to a plane of personal morality and Christian enlightenment. It is admitted that the Sunday School is more potent in providing for the future well-being of Society, than any other instrumentality that affects to mould the coming constituents of the Commonwealth; while no one questions that the saving truths of the Scripture are nowhere brought to bear with greater converting power on the minds of our children, than in the Sunday School. How important, therefore, that the material of a Sunday School Song Book should be made up of the "Pure Gold" of God's Word, with the truths of that Word concreting themselves in Christian experience and life!" (204)

Well, I would have to agree with Lowry and Doane. I never really thought of how important Sunday School is for the souls of our children until this year. Instead, I thought "it's probably unnecessary because it is extra-biblical". However, now, I believe it's vital to have the "milk" of the Gospel being offered to the children during Sunday School. And, along with that, how important it is that children learn catchy, gospel-filled songs!! I pray that many more good, gospel-filled songs will be written for kids. In our desperation to create a good, God-honoring, adult, church worship service, let us not neglect the children, who are, as the authors rightly stated, the "future well-being of Society."(204)

The Emerging Burnout

In response to Sally's description of an emerging worship service, Webber states, "Yes. I would love to be at this service. Once, maybe twice a year. But every Sunday? The burnout rate of the worship creators (yes, creators, not planners) would be excessively high, as would the burnout for the worshipers. Nobody could take this week after week after week. Why not? It is too much like the world in which we live. What we need in worship is not more of the culture in which we live. This only continues the failure of contemporary worship." (248)

After I read this paragraph by Webber, I thought to myself, "Hey that's what Stephen was talking about!" In fact, Stephen and Webber are exactly right. We don't need more of culture in our worship services, but rather, the "counter-cultural nature of the Christian faith and community." (248) As for Webber's statement about the "burnout rate of the worship creators", he is, again, right on track. How long can worship creators entertain their congregations with their extra-biblical creativity? Why don't we help ourselves out by looking PRIMARILY to the Bible which is "old, yet ever new." (note: I am not arguing that we shouldn't use some creativity, but that we should base our services off the Word of God which is able to reach any culture in any day and age.)

Pay the Piper

Where to start? This article by Sally Morgenthaler has so many different branches that we could discuss! I think what most impacted me though is this: we played the song, now we have to pay the piper. Sally in her article talks about how the church for so many years was functioning on a misconception of where the people were. She basically presents that the church functioned in a modern way. Modern in the sense that based on all the discoveries of that time period and economic growth we finally understood how life functioned and that it would only be a short while before we figured everything out. I believe the church did in fact conform to that idea and that it bought into it. Then when suddenly (suddenly in our human perspective) the world turned upside down the church’s, and all of the United States’, view of life changed. Sally writes, ”Surprise! We are neither masters of our destinies nor masters of ourselves. We are not, as we imagined mere decades ago, one government program or one scientific discovery away from utopia.” Exactly. I agree completely! The sad thing about that statement though it that the surprise wasn’t for the un-churched alone, the church was also caught. Speaking of the effect 9/11 had, Sally wrote, “Suddenly our enforced-happy, you-can-control-your-world services could no longer maintain the illusion of relevance. Easy-answer, religion-as-personal-project Christianity came up short-way short.” Again, I agree full heartedly. However this is where we split ways. Sally Morgenthaler explained the effects very well but she didn’t explain the reason. The reason we were caught unawares was precisely because we conformed to the world. We bought into the idea that man was going to figure out life. If we had preached the bible, would that have happened? If our songs had reflected man’s true nature would we have been surprised that man doesn’t hold the answer to the universe? Of course not! So what now? Where does that leave us? Sally Morgenthaler would say that now we have to realign. Realign with what? The bible? Amen! But that’s not where she would have us align with. Sally believes we have to align with culture and post-modernity! WHAT? Isn’t conforming what got us here in the first place? Why would we turn to a cosmo-vision that, when the knowledge of the bible is the lowest it has ever been, we would allow the average Joe believe what he wants and have none to correct him. This article is by far the saddest to me because we haven’t learned. We played the song and had to pay the piper. Why are we playing it again?

My Hymn

1^st Verse
You are the Sovereign King
Creator of all things
Who dwells in light unseen?
Removed from all unclean
You are the Holy One
Worshiped in Zion
God above all unknown
Reigning upon the throne
Chorus:
Who am I to call you Father?
Who am I? You’re my Defender
You're words are to wondrous for me
Who am I that you know my heart?
Who am I to be set apart?
O God, we worship you.
2^nd Verse
For my sin You did die
Paid the price that was high
Lamb of God Crucified
Dying for all mankind
But the grave did not reign
Because death You have slain
Salvation freely gained
Redemption unconstrained
Chorus:
Who am I to call you Savior?
Who am I? You’re my Redeemer
You're words are to wondrous for me
Who am I that you know my heart?
Who am I to be set apart?
O God, we worship you.
3^rd Verse
You reveal all man's sin
Disclose the guilt within
Expose unrighteousness
The Lord's one true witness
But with you came the truth
To glory whom it’s due
God's gift to guarantee
That we have been set free
Chorus:
Who am I to call you Counselor?
Who am I? You’re the peace giver
You're words are to wondrous for me
Who am I that you know my heart?
Who am I to be set apart?
O God, we worship you.
Bridge:
It’s not who I am
It’s not through my plan,
It’s not what I do
It’s because of you
It’s not what I’ve done
Nor what I’ve become
That my sins are now paid
But the power of your name
It’s not through me
That I am set free
It’s who you are