The worship of worship

What…you may ask? I’ll explain.

When I was perusing the SGN message board this morning, I came across a topic about where the old hymns have gone in the church. Apparently, it was brought up over a concern that many have about the phenomenon of contemporary choruses sung in worship at the expense of songs from the hymnals that many of us have been accustomed to singing in church for many years. Predictably, the dispute falls across age and taste lines.

One of my favorite posters there(and a reader of this blog), a Georgia pastor who posts under the name RevTabasco(I identify him by name because I want him to get credit where it is due)had a striking observation about this question, which I will share below…

I see two particular problems with the “worship wars:” Uno - we have made worship about US. It is about what we like and what we prefer, not about Jesus.

Dos - we have started to worship worship. Rather than it being a tool for us to relate to and connect to God, we have begun to make it and the experience of it the end in itself. Worship can and should take place in a variety of places and in a plethora of ways; and at times it may not include music at all.

Right on, Rev! In Fresno in fact, a couple of large churches advertise on billboards in town that they are for people who think church is too “boring and outdated”. It’s the church of today for the mindset of today. Is this a good thing? I think it’s not necessarily a bad thing out of hand…certainly the church must be a shepherd of sorts for the flock…and reaching people and speaking directly to them is certainly a part of that. And in a pluralistic culture such as ours that recognizes that people are not all the same, certainly our churches ought to be mindful of that.

But the good Rev. is especially spot on when he essentially says that a Christian church should be focused on Christ first and foremost…that is, if the word “Christian” is not simply a marketing ruse to bring people into it.

So, then, the priorities in structuring worship ought to center on what glorifies Jesus the most…not necessarily our personal tastes, often the product more of our social conditioning more than a consideration of what would please our Lord most. When it comes to music then, songs for it should be chosen on the basis of how they inspire parishioners to worship, not whether the lyrics are in a book or on the wall of the church.

And their age? I don’t think Jesus cares a whiff about that…if our songs please Him, whether they were written in 1562, 1962, or 2002 shouldn’t matter one bit!

Same with style…that, after all, is probably the most flexible aspect of our music.

And what about music anyway? Granted, it is a part of our worship that I feel is indispensable…but I think God would rather we praise him in a couple of mere words or thoughts than in whole songs that don’t even recognize His soverignty and power.

Kudos to you, Rev….for putting the emphasis in our life and worship where it belongs…on Jesus Christ. Nothing else should matter…regardless of the issue involved!

This crazy world…

Well, I guess it just goes to show folks that sometimes, you just never can tell. Without any obsequious, attention seeking, self-appointed publicity agents, I have already gotten an unexpectedly prolific burst of initial responses to this, my experiment with the blogosphere. The majority of them have been through e-mail rather than here on the site, but I thank those who have taken the time to respond thus far. It is even illuminating to get input from those who just don’t “get it”…I learn a lot from you as well. Thanks!

I WAS going to express a rather controversial opinion on gospel music…and challenge a long-held belief…but I’m not up to typing it tonight, so I’ll save it for another day.

Today, I have had cause to reflect on the general angry tone I see around me in society. Political opponents of our President try to create non-stories about things he is alleged to do, for seemingly no other reason than personal dislike and disgust. It’s one thing to oppose someone philosophically, but the personal tone of the criticism has seemingly taken on a new level of invective that I can’t recall having witnessed in my relatively young life.

In the workplace, deadline and performance pressures cause people there to nearly come unglued over the least little annoyance…that’s one thing I have been guilty of more times than I care to admit. Sometimes people become so jumpy, it’s amazing that any kind of productivity occurs at all. It’s as though one cannot simply relax and ENJOY what they do anymore..and one’s work ought to be enjoyed.

And even in contact over the internet(e-mail, chat rooms, message boards, etc.), things can get a little testy. Since there is no eye contact or physical expression to lend certainty to one’s expressed thoughts, sometimes false conclusions can arise from reading things into what’s said that aren’t necessarily there, but exist solely in the mind of the reader or the conversational partner. Then, of course, the scene repeats itself…feelings get hurt, egos get bruised, and tempers begin to flare.

And for what? Is any of this THAT important that we must be “on the edge” at all times?

Admittedly, a rhetorical question…but one that not enough of us(myself included)stop to consider before letting fly with toxic reactions.

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”(Proverbs 23:7) This oft-quoted Biblical reference is a sobering reminder that far from saying when we lapse into these emotional synapses, “Oh, wait! That’s not me…that’s not what I meant!” that that indeed is what we are at that given moment. Just as many current Democrat party leaders truly resent our President, and just as many of us don’t like our set routines disturbed in the workplace, so many of us fall victim to our base natures when we are triggered by stimuli of our own imagination that cause us to react in ways we are justifiably ashamed of doing.

What do we do then? Look inside…or outside ourselves? While there is a certain amount of merit to being able to look within our natures, and face our true feelings…this is only a partial means of dealing with our endemic problems. “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”(Matthew 11:28) These words attributed to Jesus are the real means to deal with things in life that we seemingly can’t deal with on our own. When Jesus’ disciples abandoned themselves and allowed Jesus to tend to their needs, their needs and wants were met. And though I can’t verify it firsthand, I would imagine that they didn’t feel the need to be stressful and angry about their circumstances, either.

There likely have been as many ways that people have tried to deal with life situations as there have been people…yet, I don’t think any way has been attempted and been proven more effective than abiding in Jesus, the Christ of God.

I don’t know about you, but pragmatic me says don’t knock or buck a system that works…and has for centuries.

State of the blog(I)…

Well…happy birthday to this blog…it’s two weeks old as of tonight!:-)

Time for a progress report…at least I think progress is the right word to use! By and large, this little exercise has been fun for me…and the intial reaction has been largely positive, for which I am most grateful.

Still, there has been some criticism…and if I may, allow me to express myself on that a little bit.

There IS a section for comments on here…presumably for input for any of you that come across this humble little corner. And I would prefer that any comments…positive or negative…be left there for me and other readers to peruse. Drive-by “flame” e-mails written by bitter, uninformed, self-absorbed, self-proclaimed “divas”, long on invective and short on intelligence do neither me nor the readers any good. Readers don’t get to see cogent counter-arguments to what I say, and I certainly don’t grow much from character assassination. So. if you have comments of that nature, either find a mature, civilized means of expressing them….or squeeze on a “Stressball” until you calm down…then, express them here. I want interactivity, but I don’t want this page to resemble “Piper’s Pit”.

And cutesy, cowardly, and cryptic comments made on a message board where it’s thought I might not see them are equally unfortunate and of use to no one, either. To those who would do such things, buck up and show some spine and maturity and express them intelligently over here…where it may be more useful than simply getting things “out of your system”, OK?

And since I’m aware that those who would resort to the above do so largely to fill their immense need for personal attention, let me just add…I’m not Andy Warhol. This is all the attention any of you will ever get over here. Your 15 minutes are now up!

In a more serious vein, I thank all of you who wish me well and who want to contribute your own insights and input to please do so. I already know what I think…I can only learn if I know what you think, too. And if you have any topic suggestions for me, I welcome those as well…for I never meant for this to be solely my corner. And although I might be able to comment credibly on a number of issues, I’m well aware that I have much to learn about a lot of things, and that’s why I need all of you. For “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”(Proverbs 27:17). That verse also applies to women, too.

I do plan to bounce back and forth between gospel music, philosophy, sports, and theology…and a few miscellaneous areas from time to time…as well as spotlight some worthy guest thinkers occasionally. Above all, though, I plan to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in my commentary, and attitude here.

So hop on board…and “inquire” along with me!

One of those days…

Mother always warned me about days like this…

I’m one of those people that likes to know what’s going on with my friends…so that when I think of them, I can take their specific needs to God in prayer. I know He already knows what their needs are anyway(far more than I ever could), but in this way, I feel as though I’m being more conscientious. I know lots of people say that in a disingenuous manner, but that is the way I honestly feel, and down through the years, I think I have been the kind of friend to people that God wants me to be, more often than not.

Last night, I felt led to phone a very good friend of mine who has been dealing with a serious situation in her family. One of her parents is struggling with a very serious illness…and I thought I would communicate my concern for her one-on-one, so that she could hear that someone was out there, thinking of and praying for her. At least that was the idea…

My intentions were as pure as they could be…I honestly felt led to convey concern and support. One thing I do NOT understand is people who have notions like mine, and consequently claim that God told them to do what they did. Sure, I felt that the spirit of God was the force planting the desire to call my friend, and express my support…but He didn’t MAKE me call her. That much was MY idea…a legitimate expression of my love and care of this friend, but my move nonetheless.

So I made the call, and quickly qualified it by saying that I didn’t have a lot to say, and whatever I did say would likely sound rather stupid…then, I proceeded to prove that.

I happened to mention a close friend who had unsuccesssfully dealt with the same health situation years earlier, and tried to convey that I had confidence in her to deal with her situation, despite the odds. At this point, perhaps I should have called time out, and looked in the book of Job to see what would happen next.

For like Job, my friend is one who loves God very much, and does her best to serve Him in her daily walk, despite these health challenges she is dealing with. And she does NOT need to have obvious information relayed to her by a well-meaning but slightly misguided soul such as I.

The conversation seemed to go well, and I saw no signs of danger in her reaction to what I said to her. But sometimes, it takes time for the surprise to register…and once it does, woe be unto the unfortunate but well-meaning purveyor of assurance and comfort.

Sure enough, after a few hours, I checked ny e-mail…and discovered her anger had burst forth in an angry missive to me. What stayed with her was not my overall message of hope and comfort, but the unfortunate things I had said in trying to convey my alleged “understanding” of her situation. My heart dropped into my stomach when I read her message of hurt and anger. Where did I go wrong?

The Bible tells in the story of Job, a upright man of God going through tremendous suffering, about three friends of Job that approach him in his time of agony and grief, and attempt to console and comfort him in the midst of it. I’m sure they meant well too, but in their rather clumsy attempts to explain Job’s plight to him, they only managed to frustrate and anger Job. For Job knew where he stood before God, and if not for his agony, would have been quite amused at the vain attempts by his well-meaning friends at their attempts to help HIM, when it was THEY who lacked understanding where God was concerned.

One thing I know, and that is how little I know. Even though I’ve been blessed by God with an above-average mind, that is no guarantee that I’ll always use it to its’ fullest potential. In fact, as I grow older, the more I realize how truly little I know…and how much I need to learn. Last night’s attempt at friendship was another valuable lesson learned in what really matters most in life.

And life hurts sometimes, that much I’ve learned. And sometimes our best attempts at doing good and honorable things end in pain…why? That’s something I won’t learn completely until I come face-to-face with the One who made me. I’m afraid there are some questions in this life that don’t have quick, fast-food, microwave answers…despite the phenomenon of people like Dr. Phil.

And with that realization, perhaps I now have more understanding than I even thought I did of the situation my friend is going through. God does have odd ways of working through situations at times, doesn’t He?

I’m still learning…and licking my wounds as I do so.

Please say a prayer for my friend…she deserves our REAL support.

Whither…the Imperials?

Since this is supposed to be a gospel music-based blog, I suppose it behooves me to comment occasionally on current events relating to the “business” of it.

One hot discussion topic currently is the controversy regarding the name “Imperials”…a name made famous in gospel music by a group that rose quickly to the top of the gospel quartet world in the 1960s, then moved into a more contemporary vein in the 1970s, becoming a force in that part of gospel music by the 1980s, and remaining there before “retiring” at the end of the 20th century.

The controversy centers on which of THREE groups using the name at this time, all with connections to the group described above, have the “right” to use the name.

The original group was retired by original member and bass singer Armond Morales, who seemed content to finally get off the road after over four decades and retire from singing. After a couple of years, some talented youngsters, one of whom was Armond’s son Jason, wanted to form a new group and revive the name. After some negotiation with Armond, who still owned the name and all the rights to products connected to it(logos, recordings, etc.), all of that was sold to the youngsters, and presumably, a “new” Imperials era was underway, with the blessing of the lone remaining original member with any connection to the group.

However, the “new” Imperials, for one reason or another, have not caught on as their predecessors did. And restlessness began to develop among other members of the old group, who seemed to want to use their past glory to help support themselves in their advancing years.

I’m not absolutely sure of the sequence of events here, but I believe that first it was ex-group manager and pianist Joe Moscheo, along with ex-group singers Terry Blackwood and Sherman Andrus(whose spinoff group Andrus, Blackwood and Company has almost been forgotten by fans of Christian music), who wanted to form a “classic Imperials” group and work some dates, trading on the recognition they got while with the group during their most popular era.

Then Morales wanted to get ex-group tenor Jim Murray and a couple of others to form another “classic Imperials” group to do mission work based in Hawaii, so he got a hold of the “new” Imperials and asked permission to use the name in that capacity. Permission was granted, and soon the “fun” began.

Morales then got former Imperial David Will to join him, Murray, and someone named Rick Evans(your guess is as good as mine where HE fits in in Imperials’ history), and THEN decided he wanted to base his group in Nashville and work the “circuit”…which caused some alarm to members of the “new” Imperials.

To further muddy things, Blackwood’s and Moscheo’s group also has intentions of working the circuit, and have already started a website staking their claim to not only be the real “classic Imperials”, but the Imperials who worked with Elvis Presley before the Stamps Quartet got that gig permanently.

OK, see what’s going on now? Granted, Moscheo, Blackwood, and Andrus WERE with the group when they worked with Presley, but it’s hard to swallow that as a rationale for calling their group the “classic Imperials”. First, the Presley years were not even the Imperials’ most popular period, lasting for just under three years. Second, Andrus was only in the group for five years, which would hardly make him a group “mainstay”. That and the fact that there are out and out misrepresentations on their website(Moscheo was called the group’s bass singer as well as manager), and at the risk of sounding incredibly cynical, it seems likely that this whole thing is three guys who were in a big group at one time, who need work, and are “gravytraining” off their old glory. And they’ve never talked to the “real” Imperials, so to speak.


As for Morales’ group, at least they consulted with the owners of the group’s name…and between Morales, Murray, and Will, their service with the Imperials dwarfs that of the Blackwood group. But their fourth man is someone named Rick Evans…all together now….WHO???? Rick may be a great singer, but unless he is the second coming of Jake Hess, his being in the group cheapens the concept of them being any kind of “classic Imperials”(not unlike how “classic Coke” cheapened the Coca-Cola brand name). And what made Morales decide to want to turn around and compete with his successors for audience(and his own son, to boot)?

Stay tuned for the “rest” of the story…this should be interesting. If it shows anything, it shows us that regardless of all the talk of “ministry” in connection with Christian music groups, it’s still the music business…with all that comes with it.

Brothers in stroke…

I have an idea how Dave Theis feels.

Of course, I really don’t KNOW how he feels, but I have an idea.

Who is Dave Theis?

He is a gospel singer from Central PA…a member of a trio known as Brothers in Grace. B.I.G. is not a “big name” group, but a group of dedicated weekend warriors devoted to communicating the gospel message in song.

A little over a week ago, Dave was rehearsing with his group when he suffered a stroke. I was told that once he arrived at the hospital, there he suffered another one. Having gone through that experience just over four years ago myself(thankfully only once in my case), I know the shock that a presumably healthy person can go through when something outside one’s control hits like lightning, and leaves a permanent impression on its’ victim.

I was told about Dave’s strokes by a very good friend of mine who was called on to fill in for Dave that weekend in his absence. All went well for B.I.G. in Dave’s absence…my friend is a renowned and experienced singer, and after the weekend was over, my friend, knowing what I went through four years ago, asked me if I would send Dave an e-mail of encouragement. Despite the fact that I don’t even know Dave except for what my friend told me about him, I knew right then what I needed to do.

I dashed off a quick e-mail to Dave, telling him that I knew how anxious he must feel, and that he must not allow his setback to demoralize or deter him from his mission in life. There will be times when he might feel helpless about not being able to do everything that he may have taken for granted before, and times where he’ll feel so frustrated at his station in life, he’ll want to punch or break something…yet he mus be patient and trust the One Who made him to help him cope with his sudden infirmities…and let his fate rest in God’s hands.

This was the tough lesson I had to learn….thank God I was not afflicted in the same way Dave is. My friend visited Dave in the hospital today, and told me Dave was in good spirits despite his right side being afflicted for the time being.

My motor functions were spared from harm. All that was affected was my speech…which is better than what most go through. Unfortunately for me, I’ve been making my living through talking for almost 20 years, and it was(and still is)somewhat traumatic for me to suddenly have to let go of a lot of the duties I’d been doing for all that time. Even though I had ostensibly given my life to Christ, I was still deriving much of my self-worth from the work I did, and God used my stroke to help draw me closer to Him…so that I would be forced to rely on Him alone, the way He’s always wanted me to.

In that time, God has shown me(and still IS showing me)that I am NOT my work…that He gives us precisely what we need to do what we must do in our lives. In my case, yes, my speech was affected, but my verbal abilities were not, nor was my memory…nor any other bodily function. I could still express myself well through writing, so He enabled me to have the opportunity to write about something I loved…gospel music…and share what I loved with the rest of the world through the internet. I am still learning…I’ll never stop learning…but I’m still able to use what God’s given me for the edification of His kingdom here on earth.

So what has that to do with Dave? Well, I suspect that God still has great tasks for Dave to do…and based on the early returns on Dave’s condition, if Dave keeps his eyes on the prize, and trusts God to take him where he is and use him further from there, Dave will continue to be an inspiring “brother in grace” for those he comes in contact with.

As my speech has recovered to the point that I’m still ableto host one radio show still each week, so Dave may also be restored to a point where he can continue to sing of the message of Christ to others, regardless of what degree of mobility he may have remaining.

Strokes are NOT a good thing to have…but God can take any event in a person’s life, such as sickness or grief or some other apparent setback, and make that person one with Him, as we are all made to be. I look forward to the eventual happy ending in Dave’s story…and in hearing how God’s kingdom on earth was built up because Dave Theis refused to allow his infirmity to become a permanent setback….but instead, carried on to victory in Jesus.

Please join me in prayer for Dave Theis…and don’t forget, the best is yet to come!

Brothers in stroke…

I have an idea how Dave Theis feels.
Of course, I really don’t KNOW how he feels, but I have an idea.
Who is Dave Theis?
He is a gospel singer from Central PA…a member of a trio known as Brothers in Grace. B.I.G. is not a “big name” group, but a group of dedicated weekend warriors devoted […]

What do we really need to know?

Yeah, a little ironic title there…especially with my tag line.

But you’ll see what I mean if you read on.

This is only my second entry…and I’ve been thinking what to put in here next after my initial entry. I’m still trying to determine what kind of blog this is going to be…and when you don’t have a clear plan, you can easily become immobilized before you really do anything.

Enough of that…time to get to today’s topic.

Thanks to the internet, we can know more things about this or that than we could have ever imagined, say, 20 years ago. Are we smarter? Not really…we just know more bits of information.

Back when I first became a gospel music fan, it was a real coup for me to know the ages and a few biographical facts about my favorite singers and groups. If I knew, for example, that London Parris’ birthdate was May 25, 1931…and that he started singing professionally in 1955, and first became popular with the Rebels before moving on to the Blackwood Brothers and then to the Apostles, I felt like I really KNEW him. And then, if I found out he was born in Alexander, NC and was married to Yvonne, it was impossible to be in the same room with me…my head would be so huge and my chest would be sticking out so far.

Now, one can go to websites and search engines to find out all kinds of information we had little or no access to in years past. And if one should spend any time on blogs or message boards, one can find out group personnel changes almost right after they happen…or know about upcoming recording dates or contract signings. We can even find out why a certain group didn’t appear at a certain event…and why. But does that make us any more informed than generations before us? Are we really smarter fans today…or are we falling prey to the tendency of all societies to consume to our hearts content if it’s available to us?

What inspired this particular train of thought is the circulation on certain gospel sites and/or blogs of Joyce Martin’s MySpace.com profile. Now, most gospel fans probably were very aware of Joyce’s work with the Martins, and on solo projects…and considered her a fine singer with a heart for the Lord. I have no reason to believe this impression is inaccurate even after this week.

For those not familiar with Joyce’s MySpace.com page, her profile there might cause the casual reader to think of her as one more lonely divorcee on the rebound with an inclination to have a good time and(gasp!)dance once in a while. The profile is suggestive of the personal ads so prevalent not only on the internet but in the “older” media, like newspapers or magazines. What are we to make of this revelation?

For many gospel music fans, it may appear off-putting at first glance…as though Joyce was a “woman of the world”…heaven forbid. But if one stops to think for a moment, one might get other ideas.

Joyce is 38 and unmarried, fresh off a difficult divorce(there’s no such thing as an “easy” one)..and the thoughts and interests she expressed in her profile are not that much different than anyone else in her situation. This is not to say that what is expressed is what God wants for her(I’m not God, and I have a hard enough time figuring out what He wants for me, let alone a 38-year old female gospel singer who I don’t even know…), just to say that most people aren’t that different from Joyce.

And why is Joyce subject to greater scrutiny than the rest of us? Because she’s a “celebrity”? Says who? Says a lot of gospel fans, that’s who. Because she can sing a song about Jesus better than most of us…and is recognized for that, she somehow loses the right that the rest of us have to struggle with her humanity in privacy?

But, John, you say…she posted it online…where anyone could see it…that’s how much she cares about privacy. And that’s a good point, but consider…was Joyce expecting all her fans to read and discuss it, or was she posting it for the benefit of people who were already friends she trusted, or potential friends she hoped to meet?

I think(and you’ll agree, if you’re honest)that she was intending that MySpace.com profile to be read by the latter in this case. But because it’s “out there”, and gospel fans today are no different than I was when I was a new fan, such people are going to find it. And because it is endemic for us to talk about things like that to the people we know, a lot of people end up “knowing” this stuff. But are we smarter people? Do we “know” Joyce Martin better than we did before?

I think that if we really stop to think about it, we must come to the conclusion that we don’t really know much more about the person, Joyce Martin, than we did before..but we know a lot more about ourselves…deep down.

What do we really need to know?

Yeah, a little ironic title there…especially with my tag line.
But you’ll see what I mean if you read on.
This is only my second entry…and I’ve been thinking what to put in here next after my initial entry. I’m still trying to determine what kind of blog this is going to be…and when you don’t have […]

Well, here I am!

This is my initial post in which I hope will be an enjoyable activity for me, as well as for those who drop by to read from time to time. I don’t know how regularly I’ll post, but I’ll try my best to be as consistent as possible.

Unlike “real life”, Ill try to post only when I have something important to say that I think people will be interested in reading. As far as comments are concerned…I invite them…good, bad, or anything in-between…just keep them clean and reasonably free of any unnecessary invective. Thanks in advance.

I don’t even know what to expect from my own blog…this will be a learning experience for all of us. And as such, I’m looking forward to it. I don’t have any particular subjects I plan to emphasize above any others…whatever I feel like expressing myself on that day, that’s what my subject will be. I WILL take requests if I deem it appropriate to do so.

For now, welcome to my world…more later when I have more to say.

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