Comments for It's Day By Day

Comment on Basic Rules For Worship Leaders by coker

coker — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:15:51 +0000

Chris, thank you for your honest comments.

I’m sure we all have likes and dislikes in music. You say I dislike certain styles of music, but it is obvious that organ music is something you could live without. Thomas Cranmer and others were wrong to deny God’s people of instrumental music in worship services, which is not born of evil, but is rooted in the human soul’s perpetual reach toward the blessings of Heaven. Little David was the “sweet singer of Israel” to the soft strains of his harp, not the thunder of drums, screaming guitars, and wild yells of musicians. The great Mozart called the organ “The king of instruments,” and Wikipedia observes of the organ, “Due to its ability to simultaneously provide a musical foundation below the vocal register, support in the vocal register, and increased brightness above the vocal register, the organ is ideally suited to accompany human voices, whether a congregation, a choir or a cantor or soloist.” Besides, contrary to what many think, a major survey shows that by far the most popular instruments of worship in 90% of the churches is still the piano and organ! All others fall short, but the lowest are the guitar, the bass, and the drums!

Your comment leads me to think you did not carefully read my article. You are a worship leader, and yet you take issue with basic fundamentals of it that have been its cardinal marks for many centuries! I am not familiar with the musicians you named, but I am familiar with most of those who wrote the songs that have blessed God’s people for all of those same centuries. Yes, there are different ideas, as you say, and maybe they are not wrong, but why would you risk the souls of hungry people with a flash in the pan when you cannot do better than what has perpetually worked for more than a thousand years? Do you really believe you can outdo what God already has going? Please think about that.

You say of your worship leadership, “People say I do it well.” That’s good. But I caution you: Do they say that because your talent for it has their eyes on yourself more than the Lord? As I point out in my article, the worship leader’s goal should be transparency. There is a difference between worship and praise. Who is being worshiped and who is being praised, is the question.

I also caution you on your view of reaching people with the Gospel “In ways they will recognize and understand,” meaning, as a worship leader, the kind of music you choose with which to do it. But I warn you: That is not your job! Yours is to get the people in a worshiping state of mind, soul, and spirit toward God, then step out of the way and let the minister “Reach the people with the Gospel in ways they will recognize and understand.” That, Chris, goes far beyond the goal and calling of a worship leader. Yours is to rivet their attention on the Lord, fade out of the way, and let the minister take advantage of their awe of God. Being a nobody in the lineup skins pride alive, and that’s why being a worship leader is no piece of cake. There is nothing new about the Gospel itself. It is still the same old story of lost humanity, a suffering Savior to rescue them, a Heaven to win, a Hell to shun, the future coming of Christ, and Judgment day. If that were not true, all Scripture would go out of date with the birth of every new generation who thinks they can do it better. They can’t. That’s why even in the Apostle John’s day, the churches were admonished to go back and do their first works over again. If your worship leadership then hands your accomplishment into the hands of a minister who does not agree with that cardinal truth, perhaps you are spinning your wheels.

Finally, you say you “Feel called by God to this ministry.” That is a very worthy calling, and greatly needed. I advise you to educate yourself in it’s traditional usage, and be humble and willing before God to make the changes he asks of you, even if it means giving up your guitar for the purpose of leading worship. I am an accomplished guitarist myself, and I know what that means. My article was not the result of an odd whim, so please read it with fresh eyes, and use it to humbly lead your people into a state of worshiping God with complete abandon. After all, that is exactly what we will all be doing in Heaven, or else we won’t be there.

Comment on Basic Rules For Worship Leaders by Chris Robinson

Chris Robinson — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:42:55 +0000

I find this a little odd. I lead worship and people tell me I do it well. Also I really feel called by God to this ministry. I play the guitar, sing modern as well as traditional worship music. I do not consider the songs of Matt Redman, Brian Deorkson, Robin Mark etc. etc. to be watered down Christian lyrics. I have heard complaints written centuries ago about the evils of the church organ. Please try and understand that like Thomas Cranmer who put the prayers into contemporary (for him) language and the decision to print the Bible in english (and any other language) the idea is to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ in ways they will recognise and understand.
New songs can be learnt by a congregation (just not to many at a time).
I think the author of this piece simply doesn’t like certain styles of music. This is no reason to state that they are wrong.
There may not be a better idea but there are different ones. Different does not equal wrong.

Comment on Basic Rules For Women In Marriage by Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:21:52 +0000

Ephesians 5 and the first part of chapter 6 flow as follows: relationship with God, relationship with spouse, relationship with children. Eph. 5:25 says that a husband should love his wife as Jesus loves the Church and gave himself for it. Vs 28 says men should love their wives as they love themselves, as does vs. 33. I do not disagree that the children’s safety and well being should be first and foremost. But this is a completely different extreme than when dad wants to watch the game, the kids want to watch Spiderman, and mom is holding the clicker… Another thought to add is that your children are your “right now” while you spouse is your “forever”. Invest wisely.

For the most part, I want to say that this is one of the best short descriptions I’ve ever read on the relationship between husband and wife! I Peter 3:7 tells husbands to dwell with them according to knowledge. You’ve done a brilliant job of describing the responsibility of both spouses to achieve this goal. I wish every Christian couple would read this and put it into practice.

Thank you for taking your time to explain.

Comment on OTTO by Louisa

Louisa — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 05:12:22 +0000

Your article was excellent and erudite.

Comment on Words That Are Good, Speeches That Are Fair by Jimmy

Jimmy — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 04:29:51 +0000

What a joy to find smoneoe else who thinks this way.

Comment on Divorce and separation by Trinette

Trinette — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 05:18:59 +0000

Dear Daddy,
I finally sat down and read all of your blog. Wow, like you said it’s involved and you have to really give it your attention to get it! It’s a brain twister, that’s for sure! It’s good though, and you leave out no detail! You cover all those touchy bases that no one else will touch with a ten foot pole! There’s a lot of people walking around in darkness, because they ignore “GOD’S” truth! NOT an opinion, but “THE TRUTH”! Like you said, everything we judge in life, HAS to start with Gods HOLINESS! If we don’t use that for our measure, then we’re in the habit of making our own rules, and that’s very dangerous! You did a great job covering what can be a messy subject. I also loooooooooooooooooooooooved the picture at the end!
Love, Nette

Comment on How Christian Guys Should Pursue Girls by dave

dave — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 07:02:51 +0000

awesome advice!

Comment on Christians, Bullets, Cheeks, And Irony by Moises C. Martinez

Moises C. Martinez — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 13:38:26 +0000

This is great.
Today I was reading the Spanish version of Our Daily bread, which in Spanish is “ Nuestro Pan Diario.” I Read about the testimony of Mitsuo Fuchida. I am from the Caribbean and I always like the history about the United States, especially the one of Pearl Harbor, which I have considered a cowardly surprise attack by the Japanese Forces (although I. really like the Japanese culture, tradition and discipline.) It made me search, looking for information about The warrior, Mitsuo Fuchida. It shocked me deeply to know he become a Christian. It makes me feel such Joy to know that God is merciful and his love has the power to change the human heart. I also felt Joy in knowing that another warrior from the USA has joined by faith in Jesus Name.

Your web Site is a Blessing .

Feel free to send me any update of your pages.
Thanks.

Comment on What Christian Girls Should Seek In Men For Marriage by Aaryn

Aaryn — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 02:21:24 +0000

Great stuff grandpa! Love it!

Comment on Basic Rules For Women In Marriage by DA

DA — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:36:20 +0000

Rodger, Thank you for your interest. It seems you did not read carefully my article nor my reply to Danielle. To understand and follow the logic coming from the Divine arrangement of "one flesh" and the product of "one flesh" (the offspring), there is far more involved than you are allowing. God's mandate to men and women in even being "one flesh" is the responsibility that goes with it. Accountability is an absolute must! Follow the logic: You see, their "one flesh" produces an extension of their "one flesh" called children, which is quite literally their own flesh. (I dare say your own parents have probably referred to you as "My own flesh and blood."). Once that extension comes into existence because of their union, they dare not ignore the extension of their own flesh which God charged them with! To fix on one another at the expense of the charge which God Himself put in their hands, is an offense to Him! There is no problem with the "one flesh" arrangement so long as the man and woman are mutually faithful to God in their cooperation toward their responsibility. The problem arises if either the man or the woman refuses to do their part in the arrangement. If you truly believe that in such cases it is right to ignore the children and put your failing spouse first, and if you fall into such an unfortunate situation, and should your children lose their souls because you put your failing spouse ahead of them, you will be in tremendous trouble on Judgment Day. Those innocent souls are your first charge, not a husband or wife who knows right from wrong, yet chooses to do the wrong. Remember, God's day of reckoning is not for families, but individuals, one at a time. You will not stand there as a husband and wife, but as a single, responsible soul before your Creator. Again, as the article points out, until the offspring are born, the husband and wife must put one another first to prevent a lopsided marriage. Then, after the offspring leave the nest and make a life of their own with a mate ("They two shall be one flesh"), the husband and wife must revert back to putting one another first. As to your point that the modern divorce rate is high, it is not high because husbands and wives have failed to put one another first, but because they are failing to put God first in their marriage. Sadly, many youth of our society are quite barbaric because too often moms and dads are putting their own selfish ambitions ahead of caring for their children. Perhaps you don't realize that such children can contribute greatly to the divorce rate. But I'm not worried as to whether you understand this or not. If you truly love your offspring and the situation I described arises, I have no doubt your conscience will automatically drive you to putting your precious, innocent children first. Ask any loving mother. They simply cannot help themselves!