Wednesday Words - Angels I Have Heard

Angels I Have Heard
I was down and on my front porch,
I said, "God are you still there?
Well, I need to know you better...
I guess this is a prayer."

And I swear that in the silence
I could hear the Savior say,
"If you seek me you will find me;
If you look, I'll show the way."

And I'm sure that there were angels-
Angels in the sky,
Angels I could hear on high.

I was bruised and I was battered;
I was tryin' to serve the Lord-
Tryin' to live by faith in Jesus,
But I was dyin' by the sword.

On the road to Minneapolis,
I said, "Jesus tell me why?"
I could feel Him in my sorrow,
I was sure He heard my cry.

And I knew that there were angels-
Angels in the sky,
Angels I could hear on high.

Peace in every earthly test.
Good will! On you God's favor rests.

When my weary overtakes me,
When the dark of night descends,
When I'm lonely as a shepherd
In the hills of Bethlehem.

I think back and I remember
Another night alone out there
When a great light filled the heavens,
Shouts of glory in the air.

Yes, I think about those angels,
Angels in the sky,
Angels I have heard on high.

From the If I Close My Eyes album, words & music by Dave Burkum (1995).

Tuesday Tome - That Distant Land

My introduction to the writing of Wendell Berry began about five years ago when I started reading his poetry. Last year I began reading his his fiction and have become an ardent admirer.

First, I read his novel, Jayber Crow, the life story of the barber in Port William "told in his own words." I loved the book so much that I felt sad the day I finished it. I wanted a few more chapters. I wanted to know more about the people, times, and places in and around Port William (a farming community Berry has imagined into the hills and history of Kentucky). I can't tell you how excited I was to discover he had written a whole collection of Port William books! I'm now taking a slow but steady journey through them all. I'll be taking my sweet time and savoring every page of the trip.

Last week I spent ninety of the most enjoyable minutes I've had in recent weeks reading That Distant Land, a collection of Port William short stories. The story I read was "Pray without Ceasing." It recounts the sad events surrounding the murder of the narrator's great-grandfather, Ben Feltner. The story is less about murder than about the human condition. In the end it's a testament of the power grace has to turn tragedy toward humility, healing, thankfulness, and maturity.

If you're interested in joining me in reading the books of Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow and That Distant Land are two good places to start. I'd recommend reading "Pray without Ceasing" (from That Distant Land) as a helpful introduction. It's short enough to be a quick read, but long enough to give you a real sense of Berry's depth and genius.

Monday Music - Christmas Music for Kids

My wife, Cheri, runs a licensed childcare center in our home. Since I'm usually working out of my home in the mornings, I get to hear her interact with the kids and lead them in special activities. Every day they have something she calls Circle Time. It usually involves at least a little bit of singing.

This month she's been passing out the rhythm instruments and having the kids sing and play along to with "There Was a Little Baby" from the Raffi Christmas Album. The kids really love it and they sing their hearts out.

Raffi Cavoukian is a very interesting guy, and I sort of consider him to be the musical Mr. Rogers. He really respects children and has a calm, sweet, and relational tone in all of his music. He's also very non-commercial. If you're looking for a delightful and "sing-alongable" Christmas CD for your kids, you can't do any better than this one.

Sunday Supplication - Third Sunday of Advent

O Lord, move in our hearts with your great might. Work in our lives with your power. Through your boundless grace and mercy, deliver us from the sins that entangle and destroy us.

Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ Jesus. Help us, as your people, to extend that same forgiveness to any and all who have sinned against us. Help your Church to be a community of grace. Make each local expression of your Church, in every place it exists on earth, to have a redemptive and healing impact on the world around it.

O God, thank you for the forgiveness and life we have through Jesus. You have promised that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. May all who seek you find you, O God. Help us to recognize Christ as King. Give us the willingness and the wisdom to make room for his saving and shaping work in our lives.

It is in his Name that we pray all these things. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Snow Woes

Friday Family - Cold Foot Boogie

My sons, Page and Jack, perform and write together as The Cactus Blossoms. Here is a fun little tune I really enjoy. When I hear the line in the lyric--"The ice all melts when the music plays, I grab my gal and we join the craze"-- I always smile because it's so unlikely that I would ever write a line like that myself. Anybody who knows me well knows that I'm much more likely to grab my guitar and join the band in order to avoid the craze. But if there was ever a song that made we wish I could dance, this is it.




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Thursday Thinking - Communication Tools

Making a PowerPoint presentation has become a normal part of my weekly sermon preparation. This was something new for me when I began my ministry at Valley Christian Church in 2007. At first it seemed like an extraneous burden and it felt like more work than it was worth. With time, however, I've come to value PowerPoint as a helpful tool.

Working to make good PowerPoint presentations has actually helped me write better sermons. Learning to use PowerPoint effectively has made me a better communicator by helping me speak without notes, move around the stage, and look directly into the eyes of my audience.

All that said, there may be some other creative alternatives to PowerPoint that I have yet to consider. The TED Talks video below, sent to me by my good friend Rob Miller, opens up a whole new world of possibilities for how I might enhance the delivery of my sermons. Watch it and you'll be amazed, and I think it would be pretty amazing to preach a sermon this way.

Dancing as an alternative to PowerPoint is a bold and fantastic idea, but there's honestly no way I could manage it on a weekly basis. On the other hand, if Rob and a few others from my congregation are ready to put on their dancing tights, I'm more than willing to give it a shot every once in a while.

Wednesday Words - In the Bleak Midwinter

The days are growing shorter, temperatures are diving, snowflakes are falling, and spirits are failing among those who struggle through the bleak days of winter. I have dear friends who have to deal with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I may have a touch of it myself.

Personally, I'd be fine if I could just retreat during the dark days from winter solstice through February. Winter isn't the problem. The problem is trying to pretend that winter days are the same as summer days. They're not. And I'm not the same in the winter as I am in the summer. I applaud and even envy those who are able to feel and act the same through all the seasons, but that has always been a challenge for me. I honestly wouldn't mind winter if I could just follow my natural inclination, which is to hibernate, hide, read, rest, stare at the fire, and keep a mug of something hot to drink nearby.

Alas, life and family and calling require me to do more than that. I give it my best shot. Sometimes, however, the ubiquitous holly-jolly-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year songs annoy me as they seem to encourage a sort of seasonal denial. I guess that's why I find it to be a welcome relief to hear the stark and honest words of "In the Bleak Midwinter." It's lovely little Christmas poem written by Christina Rossetti in the mid-nineteenth century. Sure, winter and life have their bleak moments, but Christmas still calls the heart to hope. Rossetti reminds me that even the poor in spirit can be blessed as they consider the Kingdom of Heaven.

In the Bleak Midwinter
By Christina Rossetti

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

______________________________________

Shawn Colvin sings a wonderful version of this poem on her Holiday Songs and Lullabies album.

CLICK HERE to see and hear a beautiful arrangement with choristers and congregants at Gloucester Cathedral.

Tome Tuesday - A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is one of the most popular stories of the Christmas Season. Movies, plays, musicals, animations, even Muppets--this story has probably been told and retold in more ways that just about anything besides the Bible. And just as the Bible is one of the most purchased and least read books in the world, Dickens' A Christmas Carol, though a well-known story, has not been read as a book as often and as widely as it deserves to be.

That's too bad, because it is a truly beautifully written novella. It doesn't take long to read because it's only just over a hundred pages. If you have a Nook or a Kindle, you can probably get it for free, and a paperback is probably available for $5 or less. I'd recommend reading a real book with real pages by lamplight near a cozy fireplace with a cup of tea close at hand.

If you have never read it, I'd encourage you to do so. I think you'll discover there is more to this old story than you may have expected.

Music Monday - Nat King Cole

One of the classic Christmas records in my collection is Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song (Capitol - 1963). Most of the album was originally released under the title, The Magic of Christmas (Capitol - 1960) which was arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael.

Earlier, in 1946, the Nat King Cole Trio had recorded and released "The Christmas Song" (Mel Tormé) as a holiday single. Then in 1961 Cole re-recorded the song in stereophonic with a full orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Finally, this new version of "The Christmas Song" was added to the tracks from The Magic of Christmas (1960) and released as a new record entitled The Christmas Song (1963).

I love this collection for several reasons. First, Nat King Cole is simply one of the greatest singers of his era and listening to his voice is constant delight. Secondly, the collection is decidedly more sacred than secular in content–there is more Jesus than Santa in this line-up of songs. And last, but not least, the arrangements are by Ralph Carmichael. Carmichael was one of the important influences in my own early years as a musician. I was influenced by many of the well-known singer songwriters of the 60s and 70s, but it was the music and arrangements of Ralph Carmichael that made me want to become an arranger and learn orchestration.

For most people, The Christmas Song is a classic Nat King Cole album, but for me, it's actually more of a Ralph Carmichael album featuring Nat King Cole as the lead singer. Either way you spin it, it's a terrific record for kids from 1 to 92.

Sunday Supplication - Second Sunday of Advent

Merciful God, we thank you for every voice you’ve sent into our world to preach repentance and proclaim the way of salvation. Give us contrite hearts and help us to turn away from sin. And give us open and receptive hearts that joyfully welcome the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Help us in this Advent season to honor Jesus in thought, word, and deed. Help us to follow him and to walk in the light as he is in the light. We confess our sins, trusting that you are faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness. Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ Jesus. Make us able and ready to graciously forgive those who have sinned against us.

O God, restore and renew us today. And make our lives a testimony of your power to restore and renew us. Help us to live by faith. And make our lives shining demonstrations of your promise to save and restore.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Bikers Stunt

Ever feel like you just don't fit in?

Friday Family - Beansmith Coffee

This week I spent a few days in the Omaha area. I visited my parents and took a prospective student from Valley Christian Church for a campus visit at Nebraska Christian College. It was also my first time to visit NCC since it moved from Norfolk to Omaha.

Yesterday, before heading back home, I stopped by Beansmith Coffee where my brother, Jason, is the roast master. My nephew, Graham, does the brilliant art designs for the Beansmith coffee bags.

Beansmith has some really delicious coffee blends and you can order them online. I've ordered online on the afternoon of one day and had the coffee delivered to my home in the Twin Cities the very next morning.

Thursday Thinking - Good to Doubt

Peter Enns has posted an abridged version of a lecture he presented at Asuza Pacific University in November of 2010. I think he shares some important insights that will be very helpful to anyone wrestling with belief and reason.

What follows is an excerpt from that lecture. Click Here to read the whole thing.

The Benefit of Doubt

Doubting one’s faith in God is a very tough place to be. Faith in God is what keeps it all together when you are facing one of life’s many challenges.

Sometimes things happen in our lives—it may be one big catastrophe or a line of smaller things that pile up—and you start having a lot of doubts. At first, when you have those disruptive thoughts, you try to push them to the side, hoping they’ll just go away, before God notices.

They don’t and he doesn’t.

So you feel your faith in God slipping away—and it is unsettling, disorienting, and frightening to watch that happen. You doubt that God cares, that he is listening; you doubt that he is even aware of who you are—that he even exists.

In such a state of doubt about God, you feel like there is clearly something very wrong with you.

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