Listen to the Music!

It seems to me that in a society’s popular music there are several threads:
**songs that glorify rebellion against the norms and mores of society **songs that are love-songs about inter-personal relationships
**songs that are just written to entertain or make money (remember when there were no messages in the songs - just fun!! “Simon Says”, “The Name Game”
**songs that address issues/problems, either in society or in people’s lives.

Much of today's music is not what Christians need to feed their minds on, but adults need to be educated about what their children/teens are listening to. And if you’ll listen, you’ll experience a whole range of emotions:
**there will be some pleasant surprise as you find some of it isn’t as bad as you thought;
**there will be some nostalgia as you hear remakes of songs you listened to growing up;
**and there will be some shock as you discover some of it is worse than you thought.

Having said that, I have been interested for several years in what the music of the day says about our culture and the moral standards of our culture. And I have been interested to see that periodically the current prophets are crying for meaning and purpose in life, and the issues they bring up can be best addressed by going to the Scriptures for real answers.

During the next few weeks we are going to take some recent songs and see how the Bible addresses what the culture needs. In other words, let's take the music of our culture and use it as an opportunity to share the Truth of God's Word! We need to be able to communicate with this generation where they are living - answer the questions they are asking. I usually call this series "Listen to the Music", but you can call it "God on Your IPOD or mp3 player"!

Some of the songs on the "play list":
"Battlefield"
"The Climb"
"You Found Me"
"If Today Was Your Last Day"

Please email me any suggestions! See you Sunday at 11:00 a.m. at Open Door Community Church!

Thanksgiving doesn't have to be over!

Yes, I know this post might have been more timely last month, but "better late than never!"
This year my family and I have put together what we have called "An Alphabet of Thanksgiving". We went through the alphabet, finding at least one "thanksgiving" for each letter. Some of the letters were challenging, but it was a very meaningful activity.
The reason for posting this today is that, even though it's Christmas, and in a few hours we'll be thinking "Happy New Year", Thanksgiving should be a way of life, not just one day!
I invite you and your family to make your own "Alphabet of Thanksgiving" as 2009 comes to a close.
And, to get a jump on everyone else, "Happy New Year!"

Merry Christmas!

My prayer for each of you is that the God of Peace will be with you. So many people are facing significant challenges as 2009 comes to a close - but God's Son is with us. He is "Emmanuel, God with us". In the midst of the holiday rush, please try to find even a few minutes to sit and experience His peace.

Pray - and wash your hands!

Whereever you're reading this, you've probably heard of the "swine flu", or H1N1. In addition to the "regular" flu, now we've got to be prepared for this new strain. Sunday at Open Door I suggested we pray for God's protection - many of our regular attendees work "out in the public", and are at risk for this infection.
After service, Donna (my wife), who works at the Health Department, said, "I tried to get your attention. We need to pray, but we also need to wash our hands!"
And she's right. Prayer is important, but God expects us to use the intelligence He gave us! So follow the guidelines: wash your hands OFTEN; sneeze/cough into your arm; don't put others at risk if you have flu-like symptoms.
This is another example of the synergy between God and us. God will do what only HE can, but He does expect us to do our part! So - pray and wash your hands!!

Happy Birthday, USA!

It's now the evening of July 4. Hopefully you have spent some time today reflecting on the blessings of being in the USA. If you have family or friends living in other countries, you probably don't need reminding of this!

On another note: I read somewhere that you shouldn't start a blog if you weren't going to post several times a week. Well, I obviously have failed at that! However, it seems to me that if I can post at least as often as some people go to church, it's all good! :)

Happy Fourth!

Happy 35th Anniversary!

Donna and I celebrated our 35th Wedding Anniversary June 11 at one of our favorite places - the beach! The pictures are on the left hand side of this blog - I'm trying to figure out how to move them to this particular post, but, so far, no success with that!

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?"

That's the question the Lord asked Abraham in Gen. 18:14. The context is God's clarification to Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son. It's interesting that both Abraham (Gen. 17:17) and Sarah (Gen. 18:12) laughed at this news. In response to Sarah's laughter, God asked the question - I call it "The question I need to ask every day."

I discovered that the Hebrew word translated "hard" in Gen. 18:14 is translated other places "wondrous" or "wondrous works." I suggest you get a concordance and do a topical study on what the Bible says about God's wondrous works.

What "wondrous" things has God done for you in the past few months? It would benefit you to list them - and thank God for them!

What "wondrous" thing do you need God to do for you this week? Ask! And feel free to drop me an email and I'll be honored to join you in prayer.