It is fitting that emotion is so deep in the nativity story. Mary’s life was at stake. Joseph’s honor was at stake. The Magi’s reputation was at stake. Would Simeon and Anna actually see the Lord before they died or was their vision nothing more than an undigested bit of beef akin to what Ebenezer Scrooge surmised?
This election has left people scared, scarred and emotionally exhausted. There are people waking up today feeling as though they just lost their country. People who used to be friends now find themselves blocked from each other on social media. This election has been rough on us all.
Over the past two days I have been exploring the current trends, biblical paradigm and application of those paradigms to current worship. Today we turn our attention to cultural applications of the Biblical presentation of music and hopefully create an arena of grace in Christian circles about worship styles.
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Yesterday we considered the overarching arguments that persist in conversations concerning worship music. If you haven’t read Part 1, I encourage you to read it first. Since I have never seen a blog talk about the biblical approach to worship music in the Scripture in the same critique of modern worship, let’s take a moment to look. Take special notice of how biblical worship is different or similar to what people currently feel worship music should be.
I love the sitcom, “Everybody Loves Raymond.” In one of my favorite episodes there is a conversation about which brother, Raymond or Robert, moved their father’s records by the hot water heater which resulted in the records melting. It was believed that Raymond did it but Robert kept the secret for several decades that he was the one who actually moved the records.
Recently I was honored to sit down with a pastor and church board and one of the topics of conversation had to do with taking a look at the community around the church. Something that jumped out at the men around the table was that the number of single moms was higher than the national average. The board rightly asked, “What is being done for them? What can we do to minister to these single moms?”
