December 01, 2006
Treading Water
I appreciate Fox Television cancelling their scheduled interview with O. J. Simpson. It’s refreshing that, at least in this particular situation, the media listened to public opinion and responded. Whether it’s with elected officials, the media, or even with church leaders, there’s a certain level of frustration when people feel they’re not being heard. I believe that the hymn vs. praise chorus controversy continues to be one of those frustrations. In our church the rumbling in the ranks of membership over contemporary music has not gone away, it’s just been submerged. Rather than ‘getting on board’ and embracing the new style of worship service, many folks continue to tread water while waiting for a life vest or a raft. The good news is that people may be water logged, but they haven’t yet drowned.
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Gail;
----People too often view Satan as a smoking red monster who is ready to impale you on his trident like a marshmellow and toast you over the nearest fire. Although maybe that is where Satan's heart is, in actuality, his motions are much more subtle. We are told this in the Adam and Eve story. His foundation for the capture and destruction of your soul is nothing more complicated than bringing you to the mentality of self-orientation. This is the dividing line between Satan and God, hate and love, indifference and sympathy.
----The leaders at your church are certain that their ways of contemporary culture are right. But many at your church have not been convinced in their own hearts about your leaders' ways. And the Bible prescribes neither traditional nor contemporary culture. Yet, without regard to these brethren of theirs or the Bible, they demand their own ways of contemporary church culture.
----It makes me shudder to realize the self-orientation of such actions. They are clearly going beyond what is written to teach their own ideas amongst a group of people whom those ideas divide. That is frightening.
----Whenever this error is pointed out to them, they quickly retort that they serve God, not man. But John does not agree. The theme of his first letter is that you can not love God without loving you brother. Nor does Jesus agree. He pointed out that you are not serving Him unless you are serving your brother. Nor does Paul agree. He wrote to the Philippians that they should look to the interests of each other, and to the Romans he wrote that they should please each other, and to the Galatians he wrote that they should do good to all men - especially to those of the family of God. Yet your leaders continually reject all calls to acknowledge these brethren who were hurt by the insistance upon contemporary culture. If there is one scripture that pounds at my heart, over and over, more than any other, it is, "Let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good." Rom 12:9
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