2025 January news-letter article

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;

I want Thee forever to ransom my soul; break down every idol, cast out every foe; now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.  Boy, what a prayer!  I do love singing songs that are direct prayers to God.  I enjoy songs of high praise, declaring who God is.  I enjoy songs that lift my heart, and get me excited about Jesus.  I enjoy songs that tell about the depth and breadth of our sin, and that “His Mercy is More”!  Songs get me excited; some cause me to tap my toe.  Rodney Ashburn gets a kick out of me stomping my foot really hard in some songs; maybe it can be felt all the way in the third row of the Choir’s loft.  Songs can cause our souls to be flooded with passion.

I like secular songs too.  Growing up in the band, we played lots of 1970s rock and roll songs; it resulted in some unnecessary bonding with my parents!  My favorite songs are the ones you sing when you are sad.  There are tons of non-Christian songs that can soothe a hurting soul; there is even a whole category of “break up songs”.  Songs like “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” and “Rock Of Ages, Cleft for Me” and “It Is Well with My Soul” are helpful to me.  They bring comfort to me when my soul simply needs to cry out to God.  They remind me that He is in control, He is constant and unwavering, and He loves me more than I deserve.

The evening of February 16, we hosted our local Ministerial Association’s quarterly community-wide service.  During that service, we sang seven congregational songs.  Three of them, were hymns from our hymnal; one of those was “so old it’s new” to some people and the other two were common in hymnals across denominational lines.  Two of the seven songs used an accompaniment track through our audio system; one was a medley of 30-year-old songs, while “Goodness of God” was just written in 2019.  The two remaining songs had Ms. Leigh playing on the piano, but are too new to be in the hymnal; one is commonly known across denominational lines; the other I had to introduce, because I assumed that most churches wouldn’t know it yet.  In the most recent meeting of our Ministerial Association, we discussed the eclectic mix of songs in that worship service.  We talked about Ms. Leigh’s excellent accompaniment, we liked our use of technology, but most importantly, we talked about how old stuff and new stuff can all help us lift our hearts to God.

That’s our goal every Sunday.  Whether you like the current song or not, I hope you’ll like the next one.  There are some weak lyrics out there; and I am careful to make sure all of our songs are theologically sound, but the tune and the style are secondary to me.  Our goal is to lift our hearts to God, and we aim to have our music facilitate that as much as possible.

When our Choir prays on Wednesday evenings, we often pray for those of you sitting in the pews, listening to our efforts.  Our prayer is that you are not just passively listening to others sing.  Our prayer is that your heart is stirred, and that you are active participants in worship, whether you are singing or not.  “I can’t sing well” you might say.  Save it!  Do you get a note or two wrong; did you mess up the rhythm?  Who cares!?!  The only audience we perform for, is an audience of One.  Was there joy in your voice as you lift high the name of Jesus?  Were you excited to declare profound biblical truth out loud?  Did you throw your head back and lift your hands up?  Did you stand in stunned silence, in awe and wonder at who He is?  Are these outward expressions a reflection of a heart that has been given to God in praise?  That’s what matters!

Aren’t you thankful for the gift of music and what it does for your soul?  It helps us express our joy, or pain.  It assists us when we just need to cry out to God.  It makes us happy; it comforts us in times of grief.  Just instrumental music is beautiful, but the songs we sing, cause us to lift our voices directly to God.  They allow us to declare to one another who He is and what He does.  As thankful as I am for the gift of music, I am all the more thankful for the truths worth declaring: in word and in deed and in song!

I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause; I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame.  I’d father be true to His holy name
than to be a king of a vast domain, or be held in sin’s dread sway.
I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.
--A.J.