Skip to main content

Easter Concert 2019


Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51: 10-12)


            Christ is Risen!
                He is risen indeed!
                Hallelujah!
        That’s how we’re supposed to respond. Easter should be a thousand times more joyous to us than Christmas, and ten thousand times more exciting than Mardi Gras. And as usual, as I contemplate what to say on this wonderful, glorious, joyous, awesome, victorious birthday of all Christians, resurrection celebration in honor of our risen Lord and Savior, both God and man, Jesus Christ!
                I’m reading a pair of very similar books about how we express and experience our love for God. I know people who are better at mixing it up than I am. Some people go somewhere to watch the sunrise. Generally speaking, I’d rather think than feel, but these books are making me think that next year, and even to the extent that I can manage it in the next twenty-four hours, I need to try other avenues of adoration. There are nine from which we may choose, or even mix and match: 
Activism: Loving God through confrontation with evil. Especially on Easter, we should celebrate His victory
Ascetism: Loving God through solitude and simplicity – setting aside the weekend as a silent retreat spent in Scripture and meditation. 
Caregiving: Loving God through serving others
Contemplation: Loving God through adoration
Enthusiasm: Loving God through mystery and celebration
Intellectualism: Loving God through the mind
Naturalism: Loving God through experiencing Him outdoors
Sensate: Loving God through the senses 
Traditionalism: Loving God through ritual and symbol
                Of course, it wouldn’t hurt any of us to plan vacations into other worship worlds. With that in mind, here’s my Easter concert…a step into either the sensate or the enthusiastic worship worlds. May it restore to you the joy of your salvation.      

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more