Acappella: With or Without Notes? (My Musical Journey)

This post will be longer than most on this site.   It's main audience are the members of the church I attend.   It offers some history, some insight, and mostly our resolve to continue in an acappella tradition for our church family.   Feel free to read and enjoy.

For almost a decade, and maybe longer, the Springtown church has been projecting the words of our songs on screens. We started with the single screen behind the pulpit, then later divided it into the two screens that we have today. The splitting of the screens made it more convenient when we would have baptisms. Does anyone still remember when we would have to raise the screen in the center so we could see the baptism, and then drop it back down if we had another song to sing?

With the projection of the songs, we left the songbooks and their notes in the pews. When we made the switch to the screen, it wasn't met with 100% approval, but it was made with much thought. This former youth minister from California was one who was leading the charge to make the switch from books to screen. I lead the charge with the banner claiming, "The notes are keeping us from truly worshiping!" We were more interested in sounding pretty than we were praising an almighty God.

While you think about what I meant by the last sentence, let me take you down my life's journey with acappella music.

SPEBSQSA( sing right and well)

I didn't just sing acappella in church growing up. When I was young (before my voice changed) I was singing first tenor in the local chapter of SPEBSQSA. I was around eight years old. Now if you Google SPEBSQSA, you will find lots of pages about a style of music called Barber Shop. It stands for the Society and Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America. I loved singing Barber Shop music. The harmonies that were produced with those four parts were incredible. The power that came behind just men singing was also breathtaking. I love to hear women sing, but there is something powerful about hearing a group of men hit those final tags that all Barber Shop songs had with such precision. The harmonies were so tight that you would swear that you could hear high notes being sung above those singing. Those overtones had me hooked on acappella. But in order to hear those overtones, we had to learn our parts well. We practiced. We focused on vowel pronunciation knowing the importance of everyone singing the word the exact way. If someone had a brighter tone to their voice than the rest, it could forfeit that treasured overtone we all sought. And so I would practice. Afterall, if you are going to sing, it needs to be done correctly!

Timothy Classes and the pitch-pipe (lead right and stay on pitch)

Around the same time, I was also active at church. I participated in our church's "Timothy Class." It was there where I learned how to play the only instrument allowed in churches of Christ; "The Pitch-pipe!" I knew how to look at the key signature of a song, interpret it to know what key the song was written, how to find that note on the pitch-pipe and how to blow that pitch so quietly that only I could hear it. I knew how to sing "DO-MI-SO" and give everyone singing parts their exact pitch. I learned how to lead a song in 4/4 time, 3/4 time, 2/4 time, 2/2 time, and struggled through any song that had a 6/4 time. Funny thing is that through all of this, I never really knew how to read music. I picked up on the songs so fast by listening to those around me that I really never had a need to pay close attention to the notes. I only looked at the music to get the pitch and then the rest was from memory.

5th Sunday Singing (Shout for joy to the Lord)

Not too long after this, my father started preaching for a small church across town. It was a type of church plant that my grandpa was instrumental in leading. It's when I became a minority and where I realized that there were much more ways to sing acappella. This predominately African-American congregation knew how to sing. Our small church of just under 50 members could sing so loud you could hear us outside of its walls. That never happened at my previous church. You had to go inside the building to hear any singing.

Some of my favorite memories is going to 5th Sunday Singings and fellowshipping with other churches throughout the valley. We would travel two hours for these events depending on which church was hosting it. We would eat lunch and start singing around 3 pm. We would sing for hours and those church buildings rocked with the sound of worship and praise we were bringing before the Lord. We didn't sound crisp and clean like we did at my former church. We sang loud and proud, and wrong and strong. We didn't care if we didn't sing it like the book. In fact, we preferred not to sing it like the book. The notes within the staff just did not portray the true feeling behind the songs. So from the time that I was eight or nine through my senior year in high school, I grew up in a Black Church. I learned how to worship and praise. I learned how to say, "Amen!" This became my new normal. It's what I knew and understood "church" to be.

LCU Experience (Church, Choir & Chapel)

After I graduated from High School, I went to Lubbock Christian College. Trying to find a church to go to was a little more challenging. Crazy, right? I mean there were more than 30 churches of Christ in Lubbock at the time and I couldn't seem to find one that worshiped like I was used to. Nothing ever felt like home. I loved the fact that we would have chapel every day at LCC. It was one of my highlights, yet I couldn't help but feel the absence of something while we sang. Most people who sang used the books and sang their parts beautifully. I was hearing the songs sung they way they were written again. I was singing songs the way they were written again. I began to pay attention to the notes. While I wasn't good at reading music, I knew shape notes well. That was something else that I learned back in my Timothy Class. The songs sounded beautiful and at the same time, empty. I experienced the same thing everywhere I went. While at Lubbock Christian, I joined the Acappella Choir. I still had a love for singing songs correctly and hearing the beautiful harmony that ensued. I loved the challenges of the more difficult songs. Let's face it! Music is beautiful! It is one of my favorites gifts that God has given mankind.

A call to worship; not sing (From song leader to worship leader)

As beautiful it is to sing songs as their composers intended, it is more powerful and meaningful to not focus so much on hitting every note right, but rather to focus on the meaning behind the words with clarity and understanding, giving glory to an almighty Father and life-giving Savior through the power of His Holy Spirit. We in the churches of Christ have been notorious for quoting Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19 to refute those who would suggest that we use instruments in worshiping God. The argument would go something like this.

The Bible doesn't say to use instruments and we don't want to add or take away from what the authority of the Bible has to say.

Ah yes!   But you keep saying the Bible is silent and it isn't.   The Old Testament is full of instruments of praise to God.

But we are not bound by OT law anymore, We live under the law of Christ that is in the NT. We are to sing with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. (Col 3:16 and Eph 5:19)

But psalms comes from a word that is used to discribe the plucking of strings on an instrument.

Ah, but if you read that in context, it is talking about the plucking of our heart strings, so it is not talking about an instrument at all

We used the passages in Colossians and Ephesians to claim that if God wanted instruments, he would have said so in these passages. That word for psalms can stump us. Throughout the Bible, it is used in conjunction with an instrument. Yet in the New Testament, we claim that the instrument that is being strummed is that of our own hearts. Ironically, we don't even see that we have done the same things with our style of music. Many have forgotten to listen to the word and sing with the heart. We focus on the tuning of our voice or the strumming of our perfect beat. We still focus on the externals making sure every note is perfect. (But in many cases, our hearts are far from Him)

Don't think so? Have you or someone you know ever say the following words? "O you don't want me to sing." "I just prefer to listen. I would only mess it up."

It was clear to me that our song books with their shaped notes and authorized version of correct singing were getting in the way of worship. We lost the heart and traded it for beautiful sounds (which is no different from what we claim those who what to use instruments do). I realized this, even more, when we switched to putting the words on the screen and leaving out the music notes. People argued for the need for music (notes). They claimed that it would not sound good without it. That was what our instrumental friends would tell us. They loved their music (instruments). They claimed it just doesn't sound the same without it. Do we want to sing with spirit and understanding? Then let's revisit what it means to sing.

I made the decision to rebrand what I do when I lead singing. I even renamed the role to worship leader. I got a lot of weird looks when I started calling myself this, but I pressed forward with this newly defined role. If we were going to learn to worship and not just sing, I had to change the title.

The move from book to screen was the next step in this process. I believe those of you who worship with us at Springtown church know that there is something about the spirit of our singing that is different than other churches of Christ we may have attended. I still think we have a ways to go, but we are heading the right direction.

Wednesday night format

So why are we going backward by spending time learning parts? Because there is something about four part harmony that adds to the music. I admit that it is an enhancement. It's the one we choose to have over adding instruments. It is the one with the most comfort and familiarity to us. It's a tradition I believe is worth holding onto. I don't believe we have to sing in four part harmony to be pleasing to the Lord. But it does sound pretty. I think it is a tradition worth passing down to the next generation. I believe it is important to consider it a tradition and not law. If we can remember that, then there is nothing wrong with holding on to our traditions. We need to tune our instruments to enhance the experience we share when we come together to sing praise to our Savior. It is after all a very special gift he has given us. The gift of music is to be cherrished.

May God alway bless his children everywhere and may we always sing with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord! Pluck those heart strings! It was meant to be felt, and not just sung! Get emotional! Put your heart into it. Experience this amazing gift of song!

God Bless!

Can we be too comfortable that we don't see God? Isaiah 32: 9-15

Reading through Isaiah brings to mind many things that that God's people did to bring on the judgment of God. Listed among those things was being too comfortable, too complacent.

Being comfortable isn't a sin. We should be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor and rejoice in times of comfort. But we must also not automatically equate comfort with faithfulness and security. We might just find ourselves becoming spiritually lazy if we are not careful.

Listen to the words of Isaiah.

9Listen, you women who lie around in ease.
Listen to me, you who are so smug.
10In a short time—just a little more than a year—
you careless ones will suddenly begin to care.
For your fruit crops will fail,
and the harvest will never take place.
11Tremble, you women of ease;
throw off your complacency.
Strip off your pretty clothes,
and put on burlap to show your grief.
12Beat your breasts in sorrow for your bountiful farms
and your fruitful grapevines.
13For your land will be overgrown with thorns and briers.
Your joyful homes and happy towns will be gone.
14The palace and the city will be deserted,
and busy towns will be empty.
Wild donkeys will frolic and flocks will graze
in the empty fortsa and watchtowers
15until at last the Spirit is poured out
on us from heaven.
Then the wilderness will become a fertile field,
and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.

While this passage addresses the women of Judah, the message is clear for us all. We can become complacent and even dependent upon the things we have. When we we living it up and basking in our comfort, others are being forgotten. Look at the scriptures before verse 9.

6For fools speak foolishness
and make evil plans.
They practice ungodliness
and spread false teachings about the LORD.
They deprive the hungry of food
and give no water to the thirsty.
7The smooth tricks of scoundrels are evil.
They plot crooked schemes.
They lie to convict the poor,
even when the cause of the poor is just.
8But generous people plan to do what is generous,
and they stand firm in their generosity.

Starting with verse 6, needy people were being neglected and falsely accused. Almost sounds like our lives today.

Lord, help me to see with your eyes the things you call me to do each day. Thank you for my comfortable surroundings, but may I never hide from my responsibilities in them. In Jesus name, amen

He'll Heal Deeper Matters.

Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” (Mark 2:8-12 NIV)

Wow!  Everyone is amazed at what Jesus did for this man.   From reading this, it seems they were more impressed with his ability to physically heal.   I am more amazed at his willingness to spiritually heal.  Even more, that his is willing, able and has healed me.   The display of physical power was just to show that he already have all power to do it all.   He forgives sin, and he heals the flesh. 

Thank you, Lord for all you do!

Healing of Forgiveness

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:1-5 NIV)

I love this passage.  During this morning's re-read, it struck me that God sees the true need and heals where it is needed most, the heart.  This man's main problem was that he was spiritually lame.  But God healed that before he healed his physical body.   The love God has for this man, he has for us as well.  Are we willing to do what it takes to seek God's forgiveness, even if it means we need a little help along the way to do it?

Jesus Amazes in New Ways!

Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” (Mark 2:8-12 NLT)

The question for us is does he still do amazing things?  Do we have Jesus put in our religious box that doesn't allow for him to work?  Is it possible the Jesus is behind more things that happen than we realize or will acknowledge?

Something to think about.

Trinity

As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” (Mark 1:10, 11 NLT)

A rare occurrence where you can see the three personalities of God in one place in separate form.   The voice of the Father, the Spirit of God in the form of the dove, and. The  Son of God in the form of human.

I just thought this was cool.

Following Him Outside Our Comfort Zones

Matthew 9: 9-13

When it comes to the activities and people Jesus chooses, we find him in the home of sinners having dinner. The religious people did not understand what Jesus was doing. After all he picks a tax collector to be one of his closest companions. They are known to be crooked in their handling of taxes. 

When I look at the way many of our church activities are lined up, I see a lot of hanging out with the healthy or the righteous. From reading this passage, it looks like the Pharisees thought much like we do. So they ask his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with sinners?" Jesus heard them and answered. His response is one that should grab our attention, especially if we have no part of our time set aside for offering mercy to those around us. 

This takes us out of our comfort zone. If we are going to be like Jesus, then we need to realize that Jesus wants to heal, feed, bless, and save those who are broken, hungry, without hope, and lost. 

I for one need to be better about this.

Lessons from the Plagues:

Other Info

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/epidemics/tp/10PlaguesEgypt.htm

Exodus 7-11

There are a lot of things to learn from the plagues in how God works.   You can do research to find out just how God was combating each of the gods of Egypt.  But there is one thing that really caught my attention through it all as I read through them this time.    PHARAOH!

I found myself relating to Pharaoh.   He reminds me of me.  He reminds me of us.  

How often do I know what the right thing to do is, and still I don't do it?  How often do I say I believe and trust in God, yet still refuse to let go of total control.   Pharaoh does just that.   He knows all along that God is all powerful and the only true God, but he fears the total surrender to him.  

Now I know that in this case, God has already determined to use Pharaoh at his discretion, but perhaps so we can see how we are just like Pharaoh.   Or perhaps to show how God can do what ever he wants and we have to decided if we are good with that.  

So two things I get:

1.  If I am like Pharaoh, how can I break out of the same outcome?

2.  If God can do whatever he wants with me, how can I have a say in my salvation?

1. I Am Like Pharaoh!

I am not God!  I know he is powerful.   I also have "gods" to which I hold on.  You do too.  We all hold onto certain things that keep us from fully giving ourselves to our God.  Just listen to any excuse we give when asked to do something for our Lord that is outside our comfort zone.   Just pay attention when we are asked to let go of somethings because it hinders our relationship with God, or even is an abomination to God.  

Pharaoh knew from the very beginning the difference between the signs shown by God and the work of his magicians.  But his heart was hardened.  Pharaoh knew God was who he said he was and that his gods were no comparison, but he was too proud to completely surrender to him.   He fought it to the very end.   He saw that he was at a point of no return.  I believe this to be true.  He couldn't let go of pride, power, or the past.   He couldn't let go of his belief or his way of life.   He knew truth and rejected it.  He knew truth, and fought against it.  

Sounds like me.    Sounds like you.    

So How do I break out of this?   Surrender!    

Unless God is the one hardening your heart (see next section) then you have the power to break the pattern.   It will not be easy!   You will want to give up!   You will want to fight the truth!   But you can  do it.   And once you do, you will truly be free.  (more can be said here about this freedom, but for the purpose of this blog, I will move on to the next section.)

2.  God Can Do Whatever He Wants AND I Am in Charge of My Own Salvation.

God is all powerful.   He is HOLY!   I am nothing like Him.   He IS GOD!!  He put the world in motion. He gave man breath.  He created the rules.  He can change them at anytime.  He doesn't have to ask my permission to do something outside of my comfort level.  What makes us think he does??   Why do we think God can't do certain things.   He is God and He can do whatever he wants to do.   We do not have a say to question why certain things happen.  We don't get to choose what God will or will not do.   

So this brings to my mind the following:

1.  Why do we pray?

2.  Why do we bother trying to save ourselves?

3.  Why do we bother trying to do good?

4.  What hope can we offer others when our God is unpredictable?

There are other truths about God that are important to realize.  GOD IS GOOD!!!  He is LOVE!! and HE IS HOLY!!

Why does God HARDEN Pharaoh's heart?   What kind of mean God is that?   

Look at the life of Pharaoh!  He made things hard on God's People.   God heard HIS Peoples cries of help and desperation.  Look at all the people who were freed by this act.   God hardened Pharaoh's heart because he loved his people.   More people were delivered through this act that would have been otherwise.  Through Pharaoh's hardened heart, the Egyptian world was able to see who God was.   Egyptians were already beginning to empathize with God's people.  They gave them things before they left Egypt to go worship God.  The world back then got the message. 

Our society likes to second guess a lot of things and point fingers and blame to cause doubt.   If God doesn't meet our understanding of who WE think he should be and OUR definition of love, then he is no god at all.  We want God to be nice and neat and full of love and compassion without the counter side of justice that comes with it.   The problem is, we all have a different understanding of love and justice.   Love without discipline is no love at all.  True joy cannot be experienced if there is an absence of pain.

God loved us so much that he gave is only Son.  HIS SON suffered!  Because God is a JUST God! He took on OUR sin.  

God is unpredictable, but he is a constant.  He is always there!  His is always loving!  He is always just!  He is always right! He did what he did with the plagues because he loved.   He does what he does with us, because of love.   

So how can we offer hope to others when our God is unpredictable? Because God is LOVE!   He wants a relationship with us.  He wants to save us from judgement.  He wants to free us from sin.

Why do we pray?   Because he cares and he listens.   When God chooses a different answer for our prayers that what we pray, it doesn't mean he doesn't care.   His ways are higher than our ways.   We don't know why he does the things he does.  But we trust that he is good.   He does't promise us an easy live, or a painless life.  He promises to be with us to the end and to provide a home for us.   Can we live with that?

Why do we bother trying to save ourselves when he has the ability to harden our hearts?   Because he gives us the ability to do so.   Pharaoh had the same ability.   He had the ability of choice.  We see that in his mental battles.   But you can be so set in your ways that you are beyond return to the right ways.   Pharaohs heart was harden already.   God used him for his purpose.   God didn't take a good man and make him an enemy.   He took his enemy and used him for His purpose.  So, are you an enemy of God? or are you a friend of God?   

You might ask, what about Judas?    Judas was the treasurer and had some problems of his own to deal with.   Throughout the Bible, you will see God using imperfect people to accomplish his tasks.   Judas wasn't perfect, but I do believed He knew Jesus was God's Son.   I believed he had battles in his heart for who would sit on the thrown of his life.   A famous battle he lost was when he sold Jesus.  A sign that this was indeed a battle, was when he realized what he had done, and no longer had the mental capacity to keep fighting, and so he hung himself.   Some of us have been quick to say that his place is in Hell.   I'm not so sure.   God is God!   He knows the heart.   I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Judas in Heaven!   God used him for HIS purpose.  God is LOVE!  I don't think God would send a believer who struggles to HELL for others good.   I believe he uses people where they are.

In the story of the plagues, God used Pharaoh right where he was.   God's will was done, and freedom was given to a people who were in a foreign land 460 years to the day.    GOD BE PRAISED!!

How Sin Finds Us

Genesis 13:10-13 NIV

"Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord."

See it at YouVersion.com:  http://bible.us/Gen13.10.NIV

We may wonder how sin finds us. We have come up with many excuses as to why we do some of the things we do. Truth is, if we would just pay attention to where we are everyday, we might find why we are so prone to sin the way that we do. 

Here is an example with Lot. Lot chose what he thought was a great place to live. He set up his home just outside of Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. But Sodom was a wicked city. I don't think lot knew that when he made his decision to live in this area, but it definitely had an influence on him, because before you know it, he is living in the actual city (after he knew it was evil) He became desynthesized by their way of living. 
Pay attention to your surroundings. Keep yourself free from sin.

Life Changing Unity

Philippians 2:1-4

So now that you are in Christ and are enjoying life in the Spirit, isn't it great. Isn't it amazing the way that when Christians are at their best, there is a oneness that is out of this world.

So if you have been encouraged by seeing and experiencing the selfless love of others toward you, then let's make Paul's joy in this unity complete. Let us turn around and do the same.

Let us all be like-minded. It is not about us!! Consider the interests of others as more important than yours. (Romans 12:9-16 also speaks to this)

What would your co-workers think if you started treating their ideas as more important than yours? What about your wife or your husband? How about your kids? When is the last time you really listened to what they said and not just wait till they were done before you got the last say?

This verse will really hit home when we allow it to be seen at home! And when this happens, there is not greater joy!

Strong Leaders - Titus 1

The setting is Crete, an island off the coast of Greece in the Mediterranean. The people of Crete are known for their business tactics and not in good way.
They are known to be liars and cheats. Check out verses Titus 1:10-12. A pretty tough environment to start a church. But the church was established in many cities in Crete, and it is in dire need to have solid leaders.
Paul gives Titus the instruction to establish these leaders throughout the island.
There are some high standards of living that these men must live up too. Among the standards are living a blameless life and living honestly. A quality that was not real easy to find on the island. But Titus did it.
Actually, when you look at the standards for elders, they really should be the standards for Christians everywhere. But if you are wanting an entire new church to take on these characteristics, it better start with the leadership. They are the ones who are to lead by example. They are the ones that members can look to in order to see what God expects. While no body is perfect, elders should be the cream of the crop.
This is not an easy task when you stop and think about it. After all, if you know that you are among the top, you run the risk of developing a proud heart. Elders should be humble yet know that they have a task and shepherding the flock. In other words, they know they have the gifts of leadership and are humbled by it. They recognize where the gifts came from and realize the need to use those gifts. In other words, it is a calling. One that is not taken lightly. They realize the importance of living a higher standard and must be disciplined and surrendered in all they do.
Caring for the body of Christ is no easy task, but it is an important one. And a good elder is priceless to the young Christian who is trying to see how to live life on earth with a heart that wants to serve God.
The churches in Crete definitely needed Godly leadership if they were to change their behavior to be more inline with God's teachings.
So as I conclude my thoughts on Titus 1, what I see is that God has a structure in place in the church that is designed to foster relationships, teachings, caring, and sometimes judging. He does this to help all believers come to know him more. When elders are in place that lead their flock and provide opportunities for growth and relationship with others and God, then you a church that will flourish and grow in amazing ways. What a great impact that would have on the church and the community the church is in.

At least that's what I think.

On the Road Marked With Suffering - Job 2-3

Job 2-3
Satan tries again
Round 2.
Satan tries again to get Job to curse God and die.
Satan has his meeting with God where he is adamant about his reasons why Job still hangs on to his integrity. It is because God has protected his health. So Satan gets permission go touch his health without killing him.
So Satan does his worst. He inflicts boils upon Job.
Picture the scene. A man who has just lost all of his possessions, including his children now sits in ashes that have fallen from his own body from a painful condition. He sits with shards to scrap the boils from his skin.
He sits.
He hurts
He winces.
He screams in his pain and yet never curses or blames God.
His own wife is fed up with the misery and is in Jobs face telling him he is an idiot for still holding on to his God.
How do you handle calamities? What is your response when things in this world go so very wrong that you feel God has left you? How would you respond to your spouse if they were to try to persuade you to curse God and quit holding on to him?
Would they think that you have done something wrong and so God is punishing you? How would you respond to that?
Job, in his morning, and in his pain, and in the berating of his wife.. (get this)...sins not one time.
Are you kidding me?
How could anyone go through that and not sin?
Was he really in pain? Oh yes! When his friends show up on the scene, they did not recognize him. They ripped their clothes in acknowledgement of the pain Job was going through. And they sat with him.
That's it! No talking or anything! They just sat for seven days!
Then finally, Job spoke! Not afraid to tell God how he felt about his life. He laid it all out there. He cursed the day he was born wishing he never was. He laments over the worth of being born when life seems like nothing but pain and misery. Why be born? Why offer hope?
You ever feel like that? Ever feel like screaming , "Why???"
That's what Job does, and yet he still does not sin. He still does not curse God. Throughout it all, you will find him acknowledging that God is in control.
Job learns lessons along the way. We will see that. But at the end of the day, he is humbled at the Father's feet. He is fully surrendered to the one who can bless and curse.
I hope to never have to go through the pain that Job does. Though I already have gone through much pain as a result of my own sin. But I hope I never have to endure pain because of my efforts to do the right thing like Job. But if I do, I pray I can handle it like him. Worshiping God the whole way.
"BLESSED BE YOUR NAME, ON THE ROAD MARKED WITH SUFFERING. THOUGH THERE IS PAIN IN THE OFFERING, BLESSED BE YOUR NAME!"

Misunderstood!

Why is it that no matter what you do, it ends up being misunderstood? Have you ever felt like that? So, what do you do in those situations? Do you find yourself sulking wishing people would understand your intentions? Or maybe you stand up for yourself and try to prove how your way is that right way. It might be that you choose to apologize hoping they will forgive you instantly.

The truth is that misunderstandings will happen from time to time. There is not much we can do about them.

Jesus lived his life with people misunderstanding him, including his own apostles. On some occasions he would try to teach them through those moments, but there were time when they still didn't understand. Jesus would leave it alone and let them understand on their own time.

Those who didn't know Jesus like the apostles didn't even get the teaching moments. Jesus would speak in parables and many would not understand what he was saying. While he explained it to his disciples, he did not always do the same for the crowds. They weren't at a place that they would understand. While Jesus would have loved for them to understand, he knew that trying to explain something to a crowd that expected an earthly king, would be futile discussion. And so he let the parables remain in their heads for something that would give them more understanding as they sought to know him more.

Still, many misunderstood him and his purpose on this earth and crucified him. They considered him a fraud. And Jesus submitted to this humiliation and shame. Of course it was all part of the plan that Jesus knew he must endure. But he did it because of love.

Certainly, we can let our way go when we are misunderstood. There is no rule written that says that everyone has to understand you at all time or even most of the time. It's ok. Let it go. Love the people who misunderstand you and be ready for a renewed relationship with you. And if they should never come to understand you and open up that relationship again, let it go. Remember, Jesus did the same. And it made the world a better place.

My thoughts on Psalm 63

I can't stand it when people lie.   More so, I can't stand it when people lie about me.    
How about you?  Do you ever feel that burning inside when someone is out to get you, and everything they are saying about you is a lie.  David felt that way.  As I said in the last entry, David has a way of knowing that God is in control and he finds comfort in His relationship with him.  Even in dark times like these.  Listen how he talks to God with boldness and confidence.
 
Psalm 64
 
 1 Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint; 
   protect my life from the threat of the enemy.
 
 2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, 
   from the plots of evildoers. 
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords 
   and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. 
4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent; 
   they shoot suddenly, without fear.
 
 5 They encourage each other in evil plans, 
   they talk about hiding their snares; 
   they say, “Who will see it?” 
6 They plot injustice and say, 
   “We have devised a perfect plan!” 
   Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.
 
 7 But God will shoot them with his arrows; 
   they will suddenly be struck down. 
8 He will turn their own tongues against them 
   and bring them to ruin; 
   all who see them will shake their heads in scorn. 
9 All people will fear; 
   they will proclaim the works of God 
   and ponder what he has done.
 
 10 The righteous will rejoice in the LORD 
   and take refuge in him; 
   all the upright in heart will glory in him!  
-NIV
 
Isn't verses 7 and following great?  It's like the turning point of a movie when good begins to win.  You want to stand up and yell, YES!!! FINALLY!!!  It's the part where David visualizes a truth about God.  
He will not allow the evil to go unpunished.  
David pauses in the middle of the chaos and sees the ending of the story.  To often, I'm too ensnared by the moment and fail to see that God is with me and he sees the same thing I do.  Far too often I feel like I have to fight my own battles.  But I don't.  
God is our defender.  And David knows it.  
 
Lord, help me to be more like David.