It's funny how God in His Providence will camp out (so to speak) on an issue in my life.

Upon reading this morning in I Sam. 28, i came across that story of Saul visiting the Witch of Endor, and the parallels regarding yesterday's post on idolatry and God's warning, pleading and chastising were striking.

Add to that last night's lengthy conversation with a brother about this subject and others related to it, and even a dull sort such as myself can get a clue that God is saying something.

Apart from Christ i can do nothing. The vine and the branches in John 15 are familiar to many.

The paradox of weakness and strength and how they play out Biblically and in the Christian Life confound me, and i sense God driving home the point that His strength requires my weakness. And in the midst of this, Eph. 6 calls us into the battle with a very real Enemy who hates us fiercely. We enter the battle humanly week, yet move through it in His strength. Furthermore, in the midst of weakness, He calls us more than conquerors.

And so a powerful mystery. He has something so much better than the Witch of Endor _ John 10:10.

More thoughts on spiritual warfare and Eph. 6.

i was thinking more about Miles Christi today and realized the battle that rages fiercely inside me is one of constantly checking what's in my heart and the idols i am running after. So often throughout scripture God is warning, pleading or chastising His people regarding idols in the lands where they travel as aliens. And so, the warnings, pleadings and chastising are also for me, a weary traveler surrounded by idols big and small; obvious and subtle.

The battle for my heart and mind is clearly tied to idolatry, and The Enemy's constant call to forsake my true King and Lord rings on and on.

i am taking shelter today in Ps. 115.

It is comforting to hear The Word and know how well it knows me because its Author is intimately acquainted with my ways. And He is not fooled by the ways i might try to cover my idolatry. He always sees the real me and calls me more and more to be authentic. i think of the line sung by Karen, lead singer for Over The Rhine when she sings: There is a Me you would not recognize, call it a shadow of myself.

By His Grace, He sees all and loves anyway. This, alone, is true comfort and allows for healing. And my growth in Grace allows me to be more and more authentic with everyone.

Esse Quam Videri

It is good to have Francis Mooney back after a brief hiatus. He hits many great themes on his page today, and i highly recommend them.

i too often listen to Dr. James Montgomery Boice teach, and caught him this morning. The words of Eph. 6 regarding the armor of God have been on my mind quite a bit lately, and the term Miles Christi _ new to me since visiting xavier+_ is lodged in my thinking.

i was thinking this morning that the church seems to actually avoid discussing or teaching on the subject of spiritual warfare, waging battle and all that goes with that in the struggle which is the Christian Life.

Dr. Boice's words this morning were _ as usual _ simple and direct, and to the heart.

Miles Christi indeed.

Style, Part II

i was thinking about kyriosity's comments on my previous post concerning style and worship, and it seemed the more i thought about it the more i should just post a follow up.

i greatly appreciate her comments regarding charity and her frustrations at her church _ i have the same frustrations. moreover, i want to be charitable in my local body, but also here at this page, so i hope i have been.

i have learned a great deal through my frustrations at my church regarding styles of worship and other issues which i will not discuss right now. i think God does something powerful in getting me, and it seems kyriosity as well, to look at my heart and allow him to speak to whatever is rumbling around down there regarding the issues of style and worship.

i feel conflicted and don't always know where the line is between being charitable in proper measure, and when that charity needs to be replaced by a more "prophetic" aspect of helping others wake up to the deadness and telling it plainly as it is. too often we are fed a line about "making a joyful noise" from brothers and sisters who are simply excusing their own mediocrity. i love my brothers and sisters, but they are still mediocre.

but it is not always clear to me how or what to say, or if i just need to keep my mouth shut at times.

on kyriosity's question as to whether form is totally negotiable, and her example of heavy metal or gangsta rap, i say it really depends. those two forms are objectionable, it seems to me, because of the content. i'm not a big fan of either form, but if a rapper wants to put the words of the Apostles' Creed in one of his songs, and is doing so with a heart of worship towards God, then i don't see the problem.

it may seem strange to some of us because we've not heard it done before, but, again, let's look at the heart.

Style

i was visiting kyriosity yesterday and saw the post about styles of worship at church and the ongoing debate _ which seems to run throughout time _ about types of worship music and how we should think about them.

i had started responding to the post when i realized i had much more to say about the situation, and a post of my own was really in order. at kyriosity, she mentions the false dichotomy of old music styles = good and new music styles = bad. i thought the question of using guitars and drums in worship services would have been settled by now, but alas, it seems to rage with a new intensity _ especially after i heard a woman on a local Christian radio station promoting her new book about how the only kind of music not influenced by the Devil was music with no percussion in it.

i love a good hymn. i also love a good rockin' praise tune. furthermore, there are plenty of hymns which are not particularly good musically, or are lyrically uninteresting (at least in some hymnals i have seen); and there are plenty of medicore praise tunes. But what's of even more interest is the fact that the tune for A Mighty Fortress was taken from a pub song in Germany. It's just a cultural form.

there is nothing inherently more spiritual about singing a hymn with a pipe organ and choir (which i love as much as anybody) as opposed to singing a song, the lyrics of which glorify God, performed by a rock band. Remember what Jesus said to the religious leaders of his day. he called them hypocrites; he said they washed the outside of the cup, but inside they were whitewashed tombs.

Jesus has always been driving to the heart, just read scripture. it seems to me the church at large has just baptized its own, personal preferences on this matter. the same can be said in reverse, however. younger generations who insist that hymns are dead and want to annihilate more traditional elements in preference to their desire to have very energetic praise music are as guilty as their counterparts.

Jesus told the woman at the well, and all of us, that those who worship must worship in Spirit and in Truth John 4:24.

The form is negotiable.

I appreciate with new flavor the beauty of Rest, and the necessity of Sabbath.

After a week away, to focus on the truly important things in life, i really am thankful. i came across a quote by Aristotle which really struck me.

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.

The full moon and the silent, majestic flight of the Blue Heron; the pounding surf of stormy seas meeting a shoreline; the orange glow of twilight at the river's edge; the touch of a loved one's hand without a word spoken . . .

The list goes on forever, because God made it to be so; and He made us to be so. i needed a week to get back to reality, and God provided.

He is truly marvelous and so his Creation speaks of The Marvelous, as Aristotle noted.

by the way . . .

I did notice no comments on the lengthy poem i left for reading during my absence. Was it too long? Was it too esoteric? Was it just BAD?

Ahh . . . vacation.

What a great time it was to leave the cube behind and exchange flourescent for natural light. After spending some time on the beach with my family, and seeing the beach spend a lot of its time all over my two kids, i thought about the following verses in Ps. 139:17-18. The part where the psalmist talks about the preciousness of God's thoughts toward him and how they outnumber the sand got me thinking on the humorous and serious levels.

We had sand everywhere, and the very thought of trying to count the grains of sand in my car, nevermind on the beach itself is preposterous. And the reality is that God is so present and committed to caring for us that His thoughts outnumber the grains of sand.

What a marvelous thought.