Now Thank We All Our God

Martin Rinkart was a pastor in the city of Eilenberg, Saxony during the 30 years war (1618-1648). A walled city, Eilenberg served as a haven for refugees trying to escape the horrors of war. Severely attacked at least 3 times during the war, it also suffered famine and pestilence because of the war. At times Rinkart was the only pastor in the city. During the pestilence of 1637 he conducted about 4500 burial services, including that of his wife. From the midst of such horrendous conditions came one of the most victorious hymns of our faith … most often sung only once a year. Catherine Winkworth crafted the most commonly used English translation:

Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom His world rejoices;
Who, from our mothers’ arms,
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ill,
In this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given,
The Son and Him who reigns
With them in highest heaven,
The one eternal God,
Whom earth and heav’n adore;
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be evermore.

This story both shames and encourages me. In a situation that would easily have driven me to despair, Rinkart's faith shone brightly. I gotta stop whining.

That’s enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.

I Dare You to Read This with an Open Mind

Challenging article for churches striving to maintain "relevance" in a rapidly changing and increasingly diverse cultural casserole. I dare you to read it with an open mind.

http://www.mygazines.com/issue/4076/64

That's enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.

The Star-Spangled Banner

In 1979 my high school concert choir toured Mexico, singing in schools and competing in a choral festival. One school began their assembly by singing the Mexican national anthem, proudly and with gusto, to a recording on the PA system. Then they played our national anthem for us to sing … all four stanzas, and we knew only the first. On Veterans Day I wonder how many you know.

1.
O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

2.
On the shore, dimly seen thro’ the mist of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream
’Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

3.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

4.
Oh! thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation,
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God Is Our Trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

If I could remember more about the War of 1812 the meaning of the third stanza might be clearer to me. The fourth stanza reminds us why we honor and respect our veterans. Happy Veterans Day, and thanks for your service.

That’s enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.

Worship Renewal ≠ Musical Style

I came through college and seminary in the 1980s … what some refer to as the heyday of the “church growth movement.” Polls were conducted and books were published to show frustrated leaders how to reach the un-churched and increase the numbers. One of the things that came out of the church growth movement was the idea of “worship renewal,” which during that era mainly meant making radical changes in the style of music used in order to get more people in the door. Many babies got thrown out with the bathwater in an attempt get on the church-growth bandwagon.

That’s not to say that there wasn’t a need for renewal in our worship practices. The church is in constant need of renewal because we who make up the church are in constant need of renewal. The problem with “worship renewal” in the 1980s was that far too much attention was focused on a change in musical style as the cure-all for a lack of spiritual depth and numerical growth. Church musicians were either given credit for this growth or were blamed for its absence. Here’s an interesting fact, though: according to Sally Morgenthaler, a 1996 study by the North American Society for Church Growth showed that after over a decade of the “worship renewal” music style change experiment, no county in the US had a greater percentage of churched people than it had 10 years earlier.

So what do we make of this 20+ years later? Graham Kendrick wrote this:

Our culture is addicted to the new and novel in a way that our fore-fathers could not possibly have imagined. The propaganda machinery of consumerism has trained us to switch from fad to fad, flick from channel to channel, even jump from church to church, in search of something new or better, or something that is more “me” or “us,” or cooler or more traditional, or “deeper,” or that the kids will like so that they don’t complain so much about having to get out of bed on Sunday morning.

Music is woven inextricably into this culture of choice and personal gratification, and when we arrive in church our taste antennae simply continue to function – we know what we like, and that is what we tend to want.

So let’s get it clear straight away, worship renewal is not about renewing our practices for the sake of newness, or to attract more people, satisfy popular taste, or compete with the other churches in town in coolness or spirituality. Let all things be done for edification, for building up the body of Christ as a dwelling place for God.

Worship renewal is first of all the renewal of people, transformed from within by the power of the Holy Spirit.

That’s enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.