SEPERATION, REUNION, AND THE GOSPEL AT THE MOVIES

Posted February 18, 2012 by Paul Clark Jr
Categories: Uncategorized


  Those who know me well know that I can be emotional.  Saying that feels odd, since humans are emotional beings.  Frequently, however, I feel like some of us may be more emotional than others, especially when I am a bit overcome with emotion and try to fight back those feelings, (primarily in public) in fear of embarrassment or ridicule.   Obviously, there is a whole range of emotions in human life, and I suppose I need to identify which emotions I am speaking of to better focus what I want to say reflecting on recent discoveries.  I am specifically talking about reactions of sorrow (lament, hurting, longing) and joy (happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment).  I know these are more than emotion, especially joy, but emotions seem intrinsically tied to them in human expression and response.  I am particularly given to tears whether at the movies, listening to beautiful music or a simple song, or reading a dramatic story.  I won’t even “go there” to talk about observing life; grandchildren, family, friends, etc.

Well, Friday provided an unexpected blessing as travel plans changed and I ended up with the all too rare opportunity to spend an evening with my wife.  We went to a movie I had wanted to see and then to dinner.  The movie was Red Tails, a George Lucas film starring Cuba Gooding Jr, and based on a true saga of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II.  The story is itself an inspiration and appropriately the source of legendary hero status for these pilots and crew of the 332nd Fighter Group.  The movie was masterfully crafted to pull us into the lives of the characters and get a sense of the struggles these men faced in their personal lives and relationships, as well as the hell that is war, aggravated beyond compare given prominent issues of racial discrimination at the time.  The complexities of the story are well developed.  Though fully anticipated, every last good-bye, every downed pilot, and every surprise return of those who were feared doomed or lost had me fighting tears.

The discovery for me in this, another emotional two hours t at the movies, was initially spurred by my comparing the “guy movie” parts – blowing up “Jerries” (slang for Germans in WWII) with the softer undertones of the obligatory love story subplot and human relations parts – Caucasian bomber pilots finally inviting the African-American fighter pilots into the officer’s club after they saved their lives.  But I began to analyze a little more closely the juxtaposed responses from within me (an emotional human being) in light of being a believer and one who seeks to center worship (personal and corporate) in God’s story.  It started to occur to me that nothing turns on the tears and emotions that precede them as quickly or powerfully as moments of separation (sorrow, lament) and/or moments of reunion (joy, happiness).  And this is Gospel, God’s story.  The Bible is one long ongoing revelation of separation and reunion, is it not?  Because there are so many different directions you can go with this application, I’ll leave it to you to explore and ruminate on those, Old and New Testament from pre-history into eternity.

I have been reminded that the Gospel is everywhere, and Christian worshipers should be keenly aware of its revelations in life whether in what we experience or observe on the local news, in our communities, or even displayed in arts – could even show up in the movies.  Now, I fully expected it when I saw Courageous, given its writers, actors, and producers were all from an evangelical (Baptist) church…and yes, I cried like a baby through that one…but I also find grace revealed in the likes of Red Tails and other films, books, symphonies, country songs (did I say that?), and all points where good can eek through and show its face.*

As stated in the first paragraph, humans are emotional beings, and I suppose my admission to being emotional means I am acknowledging that I am human, and hey….that’s not such a bad thing after all.

*For a rich treatise see Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue by Fuller Theological Seminary professor, Robert K. Johnston.

 

 

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Unuseful

Posted February 13, 2012 by Paul Clark Jr
Categories: Leading Worship, Music Ministry, Shared Ministry, Spiritual formation through singing, Worship Leader Relationships, Worship Leaders, Worship Pastors, Worship Reminders, Worship theology, Worship thoughts, Youth Worship

 

  Worship Pastors, how do you measure your work in relation to the church’s worship?

We live in a society obsessed with utility.  One of the stumbling blocks to giving and receiving Gospel is a prevailing attitude of “What’s the use?”  The dominance of utilitarianism has certainly not been exorcized from the church and thus from its worship.  The obsession may explain the pressure many of us feel who have responsibility for the arts in worship.  Sadly, many pastors and worship music leaders contend with depleted reserve banks of personal courage in the struggle with forces that would turn worship into a means to an end endeavor.  Thus we have music selected to attract people to our church.  We have rooms that announce a higher priority on personal comfort and/or theatrical entertainment than God- in-the-world reflection.  The push for bodies and nickels pushes us to a bent more akin to incantation than Incarnation.

 

One reason art serves worship well is that each, art or worship, in its purest form defies explanation as utility.  Andy Crouch states that each of these “asserts itself as an end – intrinsically, and in some sense inexplicably, worthwhile.”  This does not mean each is not subject to perversion.  To the contrary, we find ourselves steeped in attempts to subject art and worship, or more particularly, art in worship to the idol of utility.  Moving through and past those attempts calls for that which is at the root of salvation itself, namely Christian faith.

 

In its final analysis it seems we would be best to declare the truth that worship is obedience to our Lord Jesus, who said, “this do in remembrance of me.”  It enjoins us not by means of something we do, but by something He has done.  Hearts freed to live in follow-ship, whether during lament or triumphant celebration, find satisfaction in the spirit and truth function that is worship based upon His terms, carried out in a way only He can provide, and indeed has provided.  Crouch further reminds us:

 

What we do in our churches, when we do what we should be doing, is unuseful!  It is better than useful.  The economy of grace overflows with the unuseful.”  Worship, like prayer, brings us into the life of the one by whom all things were made and are being remade.*

 

Worship Music Leaders serving in the culture that lives to serve itself as its own idolic reward (wanting to be in worship where we “get something out of it”), are in need of prayer and support to speak truth to this power much as the prophets who spoke into the idol worship of straying Israel.  Just remember that Christian life sustained by worship is best understood as gift.

What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.  (Micah 6:8)

 

*Andy Crouch in David O. Taylor’s For the Beauty of the Church: Casting a Vision for the Arts (Baker Books, 2010)

 

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Winning Worship

Posted January 31, 2012 by Paul Clark Jr
Categories: Leading Worship, Music Ministry, Singing Worship, Spiritual formation through singing, Uncategorized, Worship Leaders, Worship Reminders, Worship theology, Worship thoughts, Youth Worship

   This is not an article about worship on Superbowl Sunday.  To the contrary I want to invite you to a much larger view of worship not only on this coming Sunday but every Sunday, and ask you to consider the victorious tone that surely should characterize, or at the very least, underscore every service of Christian worship.   I think this is important especially as we approach the Lenten season.

I have written on this subject before and always find it challenging to address Triumphant worship insofar as today’s church culture too frequently confuses victorious tone with happy clappy escapism.  Robert Webber says, “The current crisis of the church is that many define it out of the world’s narrative.” In this setting the song of celebration is presumed to have the same tone as our favorite football team’s fight song.  The theme of winning, as we perceive it, is often steeped in our view of success.  Instead, I want to remind fellow worship planners and leaders of our responsibility to cast the victorious vision before worshipers where God wins.  We have the opportunity to engage them in triumphant worship expression to the praise of His glorious grace.  This tone of victory results from what God has done (past) and what He is doing (present), and what He will do (future hope).

Consider how you might convey a sense of Christ-victory even as you prepare for worship this coming Lord’s Day.  As you plan and prepare consider these themes:

  • Christian worship is timeless
    • As old as time itself – Ancient
    • As lasting as eternity – without end – Future
    • Worship reflects a battle that has already been won and that for all eternity
    • In worship we win by surrender
    • The Victor desires the worshiper
    • Our unity is in Christ, not our ability to bring uniformity

As you plan each segment of corporate worship for your church consider how a victorious tone might help to shape and characterize the worship gathering.  Whether you publish an ordered worship guide or not, consider within the flow of the acts of the worshiping community ways that Christ’s triumph (past, present, and future) is being demonstrated or even fleshed out through worship expression.  This tone may be expressed as much through spirit as specific material.  For instance, the song What Wondrous Love Is This, sung in its minor key (material), is still full of the hope and promise and deep faith expression (spirit), “to God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing” (from Revelation).  In this wondrous love that takes us aback, “O my soul! O my soul!” there is sweet and transforming victory.

  • Gathering – entering His courts with praise (singing praise that reflects His sovereignty and Lordship over all creation), greetings and hospitality that recognize our unity in Christ (songs of unity, spirit, and fellowship-if a time of fellowship is observed encourage robust expressions of sincere welcome and not just “how ya doin?’” speak)
  • Prayer of Invocation – pray or sing scripture that assures worshipers of His presence. Could there be greater victory than Incarnation in our worship?
  • Confession – wherever we place this act in our free church tradition, it is crucial that we engage in confessing our bent toward sinning and ask forgiveness.  The victorious tone of His promise will closely follow
  • Assurance of Pardon – scripture whether read or sung proclaims His triumph over our sinful selves, “Prone to wonder, Lord I feel it.”
  • Word – read, sung, and responded to, the Word is central and authoritative in our retelling of the God story.  The Biblical record is a book of complete victory.  This is not just in the end (Revelation), but rather throughout.  The same is true and applicable for our lives in the present.
  • Table – whether the actual Lord’s Table, or what Constance Cherry calls alternate thanksgiving, the song of victory raises to its apex of crescendo in our partaking and response to Who Christ is, what He has done, and our full hope to feast with Him forevermore.  Music must surely permeate this portion of our worship
  • Sending – singing, covenanting with one another and committing ourselves to remain faithful.  We can sing our way out, greet and bid Christ’s presence as we prepare to go, or depart to a resounding musical theme (postlude) of victory – just do not let this time slide into a sense of “we’re outta here” as has too often been the case.  We have marching orders to live victoriously as Christ-bearers marked by our faith and baptism.

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Trusting God’s Revelation in Worship

Posted January 16, 2012 by Paul Clark Jr
Categories: Congregational Singing, Leading Worship, Singing Worship, Spiritual formation through singing, Worship Leaders, Worship Pastors, Worship Reminders, Worship theology, Worship thoughts, Youth Worship

   In the introduction to his book, Simply Jesus, N.T. Wright is talking about “Jesus’s way of running the world….” which he states is through his followers.  Then he says, “The heart of their life is Spirit-led worship, through which they are constituted and energized as ‘the body of Christ.”

When I think of half-empty pews, superbowl Sundays, and tepid singing in our worship services, I wonder if we have failed to help the body of Christ to comprehend that herein we are “constituted and energized.”  Let me hasten to say I am convicted there is a vast difference in disciplining (disciple-ing) the church to “not forsake the assembling” while waiting upon the Lord on the one hand and running countless (pun intended) attendance campaigns and/or even scolding believers to be faithful church members on the other.  Hints of egocentric emphasis, “be sure to come and hear me _____ (sing) (preach)” can so quickly distract from the true center of Christian worship, the Christ, whose chosen bride we have become, into Whose likeness we are being formed.

All students of worship know well that the rhythm of Christian worship as demonstrated in the biblical narrative and in classic historic practice is Revelation and Response.  That is, God reveals Himself and we the people respond.  Since “God is Spirit and his worshipers worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24), it is difficult to know what His revelation may look like specifically.  Our opportunity in gathered worship is to show what He has done in times past, and how He has revealed Himself, then to pray and remain sensitive to His revelation in worship.  For worship leaders it is incumbent upon us to trust the Lord for revelation, and to do our planning and preparation in a way that will lift up the things of God, the acts of God, the person of Jesus, and wait upon and pray fervently for the movement of the Holy Spirit.

The well-known and loved proverb says,

Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your   path.  (Prov 3:5)

Just because we are leading others in worship does not mean that following the psalm’s admonition will come easy.  To the contrary, it can be difficult to trust and obey in the throes of parishioner demands, whether for certain music styles, their pet interests for emphasis, personnel, or just generally trying to please people in public worship.

As pastors and worship leaders charged with maintaining the coffers and finding ways to keep the lights on (yes, even robo, L.E.D. lights), we feel pressure to allow organic Spirit-trusting worship to turn toward something that falls far short of incarnational feasting on Presence of our Head and body gathered, the Sacred Word, the Table, and the mission of being sent to do kingdom work.  Attempts at commandeering worship to make it an attraction event that will pack the pews with inspiration- consumers reminds us how easily we humans function in non-faith based ways.

Would that we might trust the Lord in all our ways that He would make straight our paths, and that He might refresh and renew our worship through His revelation of Himself.

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Do You Suffer from Worship Fatigue?

Posted January 10, 2012 by Paul Clark Jr
Categories: Leading Worship, Private Worship, Shared Ministry, Singing Worship, Spiritual formation through singing, Uncategorized, Worship Leaders, Worship Pastors

    Do you ever get tired of worship? Those who serve in worship leadership roles have good reason to be tired given the workload that comes with weekly worship preparation, not to mention the mental and emotional strain of a kind of forced creativity for which we strive week in and week out. But I wonder, too, if there is a kind of weariness that sets in when we meet week after week with the same people and find our faith drifting into what Thomas Long calls “a jaded sense that nothing of real significance happens here.” I wonder if we even have a notion of what it is we want or need to happen that would indicate real significance in gathered worship, at least from our perspective. What are we looking for? We are all probably familiar with an exhaustion that comes from working hard at something that just never seems to materialize in a fashion that can be seen (or heard) and quantified. Frustration sets in and along with it we just get plum pooped. If we are in a weary state for long it becomes (or may already be) a kind of funk. People around us know something is not right. In a worst case scenario we can slip into a depressive state. We long for a kind of worship payoff to help us know it is all worthwhile. It is hard to sense, especially if we have mixed messages about what a “payoff” in worship might look and feel like.

Like me, some of you may think from time to time that what you need is a break from worship. Those who handle holy things week in and week out may begin to fantasize about Sundays on the beach, at the movies, staying home to read the Sunday paper in our pj’s, or just sleeping as late as we darn well please. Surely there is something wrong with us when we are listening to a so-so sermon and singing worship songs with a band whose artistic goal is to sound like Air Supply. If we were brutally honest, we suspicion that our neighbors are hearing more dynamic stories at the movies, and are listening to whatever music they please after they get back from their casual trip to Starbucks, and that they are somehow richer from it than we will be from our gathering with church people doing church things in church ways. What’s more, we wouldn’t dare let any of those private daydreams be known, lest we lose our position of prominence, or worse yet, our livelihood. Can I get a witness? There is nothing inherently unchristian about any of those activities. In fact they all seem like wholesome endeavors exercised at the right time as a part of a balanced Christian life. If they are more imaginative for us than worship, then perhaps our sense of worship has been restricted by an oppressive pastor, a suppressed imagination, or simply an undisciplined mind or heart.

Those who know much about my work and emphasis with fellow worship leaders and pastors know that I tend to accentuate foundational worship theology, and engagement of worshipers through active participation whether singing or listening. My journey of recent years through worship study, warm friendships, and spiritual walk has led me to a broader imagination and a view of a Triumphant Christ that speaks in alternating waves of whispered tones and flashes of blinding brilliance. One of the real challenges for me in my role relating to churches of so many shapes and sizes and stylistic environments is finding those basic issues that relate across the spectrum of churches. What is interesting is that in focusing on Christ as the center of worship with a relentless tethering to the Word, I find rich fuel for the kind of basic motivation that I think we all are hoping to find through inspiring worship.

A recent Out of Ur essay quoted Walter Brueggemann from his book, The Prophetic Imagination, “We need to ask if our consciousness and imagination have been so assaulted and co-opted by the royal consciousness [popular culture] that we have been robbed of the courage or power to think an alternative thought.” So true! Oh that we can allow our imaginations (and that of those we lead in worship) to see a vision of our triumphant Lord! How can we be anxious for our presentation when the need of all time is to be at rest in what has been done for us in the great mystery of Christ?

Here are some worship fatigue busters for me:
• Realizing that our gathering on Sunday morning mirrors the worship of heaven
• Remembering the church is the bride of Christ
• Being humbled to know we are part of His Kingdom
• Christian fellowship and hospitality expressions whether handshakes, kind words, or hugs
• Biblical reminders of how worship in His presence is made possible, such as

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
-Hebrews 10:19-25
• Biblical reminders of heavenly worship such as in Revelation 4 and 5. Christ the Victor!

Looking again to Long’s commentary on Hebrews we are reminded that ”while we are in the beach chair filling out the crossword puzzle, the faithful in the sanctuary doing the best they can with their off-key voices to belt out, Holy, Holy, Holy, have been gathered by a mystery beyond their own seeing and knowing into the great choir of angels in festal garb and the saints singing ceaseless praise to God (Heb 12:22-23). Things are not what they seem. What looks like leisure turns out in the end to be exhausting, and what appears to be the labor of prayer leads to a ‘safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at last.”

Peace just as new life is in Christ

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Where to Find “New” for Worship

Posted January 4, 2012 by Paul Clark Jr
Categories: Church Music, Congregational Singing, Leading Worship, Singing Worship, Spiritual formation through singing, Worship Leaders, Worship Pastors, Worship Reminders, Worship theology, Worship thoughts
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     What shall we include in worship? We are often looking for something new.  The question of what to include in worship can plague evangelical worship leadership whose churches worship in the free church tradition.  As proud as we are of  our independence from any ecclesial hierarchy, the question can be haunting when it comes time to start putting some plans on paper for Sunday worship – choosing songs, placing dramas or readings.  In talking with worship music leaders in our state and beyond I find the vast majority of Baptist worship leaders work their weekly worship order from a sort of “blank page.”  I have spoken with pastors who indicate they try to get into series preaching, either working their way through exposition of a book of the Bible, or designing a thematic series to address perceived pastoral leadership needs within his congregation.  Many Worship Music Ministers are relieved when they have their pastor’s preaching series information as it allows them to select music and other material that will compliment the direction of the sermon theme.  Though relatively few and far between, there are those evangelical pastors and worship leaders who use a lectionary to guide sermon, song, and readings selections for weekly worship, or who in some other way follow a Christian calendar in planning worship.

I am always interested to know how worship planners get started in their worship planning process.  I like hearing from seasoned veterans and from newbies where they start to write out a worship plan and how they make decisions about what they will and won’t place as part of the worship liturgy.  I know some worship leaders are strongly driven by songs they hear and want to incorporate into the worship language of their church.  I know there are some pastors who demand a certain timbre in the worship environment, whether somber or celebrative.

In this new year there are likely some who stretch to find “new” in the novelty of new music material, or in dazzling digital graphics.  With all the newly published music packets music ministers receive, it may take hours to find that gem that somehow moves the emotions of the worship leader that he or she presumes will likewise be a surefire hit with the congregation.  Lost in the sonic world inside the headphones a worship planner can lose sight of the core of worship, much as a pastor might if he gets sidetracked into planning a sermon beginning with an illustration that he thinks is just too good to pass up.  Nothing wrong with a great new song, or an effective illustration, but it seems important to maintain equilibrium as to the heart of worship and the source of transformative power.  The best “new” we can possibly offer in our worship gatherings is the new that is the heart of the Gospel itself.

Spurgeon says it well:

We ought not, as men in Christ Jesus, to be carried away by a childish love of novelty, for we worship a God who is ever the same, and of whose years there is no end. In some matters “the old is better.” There are certain things which are already so truly new, that to change them for anything else would be to lose old gold for new dross.

The old, old gospel is the newest thing in the world; in its very essence it is for ever good news. In the things of God the old is ever new, and if any man brings forward that which seems to be new doctrine and new truth, it is soon perceived that the new dogma is only worn-out heresy dexterously repaired, and the discovery in theology is the digging up of a carcase of error which had better have been left to rot in oblivion.

-taken from Kingdom People blog by Trevin Wax

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Christmas Lives On

Posted December 26, 2011 by Paul Clark Jr
Categories: Leading Worship, Private Worship, Shared Ministry, Singing Worship, Worship Leaders, Worship Pastors, Worship Reminders, Worship theology, Worship thoughts

The day after Christmas we are still picking up shreaded wrapping paper and emptied toy boxes.  I feel like I have been stuffing myself with rich food for three days.  I think it’s because I have been stuffing myself with rich food for three days.  Christmas day 2011 has come and gone, but there are still evidences of that day all around.  Granted we will soon try to clean the house and I already have faint thoughts of starting some sort of diet to overcome my indulgences of our multiple celebrations with family, church(es), and friends.  What a Christmas!  We are up to six grandchildren and they help to make our family gatherings so very special.  Favorite moments that will become precious memories include the three newest grandbabies decked out in their Christmas outfits including the youngest in his Santa suit sitting on the sofa posed for shots taken on cameras and cellphones, though children under six months old do not fully comprehend the word, “pose.”  Sounds of laughter rang out as these precious offspring grabbed each other by the feet, by Santa’s hat and poked at each other’s cheeks (great facebook fodder).  Another very emotional moment for me caught me by surprise.  We had just finished a nice dinner at my daughter’s home when my oldest grandson sang Silent Night with perfect pitch in his sweet child voice.  It was not just cute, nor was it just a celebration that he was unmistakably musical, but it overwhelmed me to realize that the heritage of celebrating Christ’s birth, singing His praise, even worshiping Him was in process of being passed on to the next generation right before my eyes.  Cherished moments and memories I’ll not forget.

 

Christmas day may be over for 2011 and though many believers will continue observance of Christmastide for days longer, most evangelicals tend to move on toward the opportunity afforded by a new year to progress toward organizational goals.  Leading worshipers includes opportunity and perhaps even responsibility to direct their sensibilities connecting the things of God and Kingdom to the present context.  Rather than simply moving on to rather corporate business models of new beginnings in a new year, why not help our churches bask a bit longer in the great truth of Christmas that God is with us.  The power of the living church is found only in the living God.  Our Christmas message regarding the profundity of the birth of Jesus can hardly seem legitimate to unbelievers when we so quickly check its celebration off our proverbial list as if to say, “yeah, yeah, Jesus was born….Now, on to the next thing. “  Could worship leaders help point worshipers back from time to time toward the profound nature of Jesus’ birth?  Can we so quickly “move on” from contemplation of when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us?  Could we help the believers in our care to more deeply continue reflection upon ways in which the Lord is alive in our daily lives?  Could we help them slow down life pace to see and hear the Word in our worship?

 

Can we help worshipers continue the prayer we likely prayed in song more than once through the season?

 

O come to us abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel

 

May the living Spirit of Christ be made known in our lives, our churches, in our worship, and in our world today.

 

Paul

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Pregnant

Posted December 5, 2011 by Paul Clark Jr
Categories: Congregational Singing, Leading Worship, Private Worship, Singing Worship, Worship Leaders, Worship Reminders, Worship theology, Worship thoughts

It was a Wednesday night church supper in the downtown church where I served as Associate Pastor for Music and Worship.  My regular routine was in full swing.  I spent much of the day preparing the weekly choir newsletter, studying for rehearsals and placing finishing touches on Sunday’s worship.  My wife, Ebbie, had run errands, gotten the boys home from school, and driven downtown to prepare for children’s choirs.  The regular routine included us eating the church supper meal separately, I ate in fellowship hall, and Ebbie ate in her choir room.  She usually dropped by to let me know she made it.  On this particular Wednesday night I was preparing  to sit down at a table where five or six folks were already seated and Ebbie walked up, I said, “hi”, and she whispered in my ear, “I’m pregnant.”

 

Talk about shock and awe!

 

We had tried for several years to get pregnant with our third child.  After two fun-filled boys who kept our home hopping and laughing, I really wanted a little girl.  We had given up on the idea.  And then, Surprise!  I did not know what to do or how to act on that Wednesday night in that setting.  I sat down and ate some of my dinner (I think), while trying to control my racing mind, which was flooded with questions, excitement, worry and joy, all at once.  I knew not to let on, but had several people including the pastor ask me if I was ok.  I said, “sure,” but was thinking, “if you only knew.”  My normal routine had been suddenly sidetracked at least emotionally as I began to process what I had heard.

 

For the next weeks that turned to months we let others in on our secret.  It was hard for me to contain myself as I prayed this would be “my little girl,” which by the way it was.   The process was not to be hurried.  It took how long it took, and we prayed for delivery to be at the appropriate time.  Though she was a little late (not the last time in her life), our little Rachel Elizabeth was born at just the right time.  Just as was the case with her brothers before her and all of our grandchildren since, the period of pregnancy was a time of great anticipation, more than a little angst at times, and a time of just exercising patience.  I have to say, however, that throughout the pregnancy I was excited.  I guess there’s such a thing as patient excitement.  Through those months I thought a lot about what life would be like with a little girl in our home.

 

As a part of Advent reading I came across this beautiful poem by English poet, Alice Meynell.  A Roman Catholic at the time with deep faith convictions, she begins the poem with a Latin quote from the Vulgate (a 4th century Latin translation of the Bible used in Roman Catholic worship).  The quote is read regularly in Advent season worship in Catholic worship.  It is the Latin translation of Isaiah 45:8, which I encourage you to read.

 

Rorate coeli desuper, et nubs pluant Justum

                Aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem.

 

                No sudden thing of glory and fear

Was the Lord’s coming; but the dear

Slow Nature’s days followed each other

To form the Saviour from His Mother

–One of the children of the year.

 

The earth, the rain, received the trust,

–The sun and dews, to frame the Just.

He drew His daily life from these,

According to His own decrees

Who makes man from the fertile dust.

 

Sweet summer and the winter wild,

These brought him forth, the Undefiled.

The happy Springs renewed again

His daily bread, the growing grain,

The food and raiment of the Child.*

 

In our impatient efforts for compressed convenience we often jump from the Annunciation to the manger birth, toss in some animals, jump to the spooking of shepherds to three Kings, wisemen, or magi (take your pick), and connect the famed Hallelujah chorus.  Like the impatient children we seem to have become, we want to get to the gift opening, and miss out on the sweet savor afforded by the mystery in the mundane.  We tend to be drawn more to a winged Gabriel hanging in the sky than a flesh and blood Elizabeth sharing days of anticipation and probable concern as the flesh and blood messenger inside of her leaps for joy.   We prefer the “sudden thing of glory and fear” to the “slow nature’s days.”  The real danger is that we miss the dazzling beauty of God subjecting Himself to His own design, “He drew His daily life from these, according to  His own decrees.”  He becomes one of us, fully human though fully divine.  Astounding! Puzzling!  Yet within this great mystery is fleshed our salvation.  Is it any wonder that Mary’s song (Magnificat) is likewise filled with awe?  It gives me pause to know that she did not sing the song immediately after an angel of the Lord (Gabriel) departed, but rather apparently only after she had spent moments with her equally pregnant relative, sharing their common condition.

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ who make music and set forth the sweet, sweet song of salvation in this season of Advent and Christmas, allow the mystery to soak deep into your own soul that you might help others to join the song.  The need of our day is not only to retell a story of a sweet baby born in a tough place surrounded by stinky animals, but to convey the One who has come to dwell among us, to turn us and our world rightside up.  Let our songs of Advent and Christmas be avenues of worship expression that wrap the best gift we could possibly offer, the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Who is “full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

 

Expectantly rejoicing,

Paul

*Advent Mediation by Alice Meynell

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Posted November 28, 2011 by Paul Clark Jr
Categories: Church Music, Congregational Singing, Leading Worship, Music Ministry, Singing Worship, Spiritual formation through singing, Worship Leaders, Worship Pastors, Worship thoughts

‘Tis the season..game on!

 

Advent has begun, Christmas is coming quickly.children’s programs, hanging of green services, Living Christmas Trees, Christmas Eve services, musical productions, etc., etc.  Here we go.

 

Although I realize we have all been working on Christmas for some time already, I want to request your attention for a moment here at the front end of the carrying out of those plans you have; plans to lead your people through these weeks of Advent into the full-on celebration of Christmas.  My appeal to us is an oft-repeated caution regarding the excesses of the season – too much production (the big Christmas show) or too much cultural saturation by which we will presumably attract or please our American congregations.  Lest the brief discussion seem solely based on the negative, my appeal to you is to saturate the season’s worship with God-centered, Christ-pointed affection.  Love pointed toward all that is Christmas – God’s mercy and grace, affection toward God Himself and our neighbors as ourselves.

 

In this season we certainly re-tell the story, some use allegory, some try to be historically accurate, some place the birth story in the larger Gospel framework – something I hope we all find ways to convey clearly as part of our Christmas worship.  My appeal to you is that we will allow room for songs to tell more than just factual truth of a child born in a manger, but that they will express affections of the redeemed whose lives have been changed.

 

Is there some way to help believers recognize their part in conveying our common love of Savior in each corporate expression of praise and thanksgiving?  Sadly, a frequent practice is for us worship leaders to spend the month of December looking to re-warm the spirits of those who should already be white hot with passion, who should be simply looking to us leaders to guide toward those familiar words and tunes upon which will ride their vocal expressions of “Glory to God in the highest!” and “Hallelujah!” Perhaps during our time of greening the sanctuary we can rehearse the congregation to capture the proclamation and spirit of carol-singing.  What if “O come let us adore Him” was not a plea for church members to sing along, but was a raucous invitation by a unified voice of the church for others to see this Christ, the Lord to whom all glory is giv’n.  This is a time of year when there are more visitors who slip into worship than any other time of the year.  Yes, they may come to hear the music, see the production, or just attend in order to be with family.  Regardless, let’s give them the Gospel – not only the facts, but the evidence of faith gleaned from lives affected by the change that occurs in lives who sing with heart as well as voice in declaring “Joy to the World!”

 

Our friend, Keith Getty, wrote a blog regarding Christmas carols that is well worth reading.  In it he states,

 

Today carols continue to be one of the few remaining conduits that allow us to express our faith in the public square.  Amazingly, they’re heralded on secular radio, used in advertisements and sung on television throughout the holiday season.

See full article at http://www.gettymusic.com/news.aspx?id=338

 

Just imagine, people are hearing carols sung in these places, and upon stepping into our churches they can experience the songs from those who testify to have been changed by the Christ whose birth they proclaim.

 

Let all within us praise His holy Name!

Paul

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Hymn of Grateful Praise

Posted November 24, 2011 by Paul Clark Jr
Categories: Church Music, Congregational Singing, Hymnals, Leading Worship, Singing Worship, Spiritual formation through singing, Worship Leaders, Worship Reminders
An often-overlooked Thanksgiving hymn is For the Beauty of the Earth.  Perhaps it is passed over because the 19th Century text does not actually contain the word, “Thanks” in it anywhere.  Perhaps it is because the straightforward hymn is more closely associated with a standard Sunday morning hymn of praise.  Regardless, it is a song lyric that strikes me today as a great expression of personal and potentially corporate praise rooted in a deep sense of high praise, or praise rooted in a deep sense of thankfulness – works either way you look at it.  It speaks for me important words of worship today as I have been recounting blessings for which I am so very thankful, which causes my heart to burst into praise for the blessings of the Lord, and perhaps most importantly, for the Lord Himself (see stanza six).
 
A centerpiece of worship is remembering.  We do not gather, personally or corporately, to focus on our worship, or on how committed we are to worship. The core substance and content of Christian worship is found in Who we worship and what He has done – the Gospel of God in Christ.  One of the reasons our worship must be Word-driven is that the Bible tells us what God has done.  It tells us over and again.  Even the long genealogies of Matthew 1 reflect God’s sovereign hand at work to bring us Jesus.  Gospel – good news!  Remember.recount.rehearse.
 
These last few days Ebbie and I had an opportunity (aka “made” an opportunity) to be together in Florida – just to get away and reflect and enjoy some time.  Morning walks for me were times of recounting.rehearsing.remembering rich blessings.  The more I recall the more my heart sings.  “Lord of all to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!”  Of course walking along the Oceanside helps, even in the morning rain, to recount the beauty of the earth. It also brings floods of memories with children and grandchildren and offers hope for more thanks to the Lord’s healing hand.  “Lord of all to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!”  Healing and close calls bring to mind again the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night – every one a precious gift.  “Lord of all to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!”  Family . through all of life.what a gift!  The joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child.”Lord of all to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!”  The church..the pangs of difficulties fade to black when recalling so many wonderful relationships, the priceless opportunity to be a part of peoples’ lives who are brothers and sisters in Christ.  The hope of eternity spent with the One body lifting holy hands above.  “Lord of all to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!”  O the joy of ear and eye, the heart and mind’s delight and this time of year especially for mystic harmony linking sense to sound and sight.  My mind is full of flashes of memories of TLC and/or TMC singing ministry before Tennessee church bodies, before those in foreign lands, before brothers and sisters in other states.  It is gleeful to think of the sounds and songs being sung week after week led by the hearts, minds, and hands of you leaders.  “Lord of all to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!”
 
I find that if I give thanks long enough there is an eruption of spirit that follows as naturally as exhaling follows inhailing.  It is an eruption of praise. The same is true when the body is gathered and we remember.recount.rehearse.  That praise is not only appropriate because of all the listed blessings, but also because the Giver is with us, Incarnate.  It is the remembrance that offers proper perspective to all remembrances.  It is the Gift that encompasses all gifts including the very spirit of giving itself.
 
            For Thyself, best Gift Divine! To our world so freely given
            For that great, great love of Thine, peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
            Lord of all to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!
 
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving recounting memories of blessings, life, regeneration, renewal, and relationship.  Please know that as our family gathers and recounts our blessings, I will be giving special thanks for you.

Giving thanks and praise,
Paul

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