Jump Start # 1765

Psalms 30:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

  It was off the orchestra the other evening for my wife and I. She loves classical music and I love being with her. On this occasion it was a performance of Debussy, Mozart and a feature of Brahms. It was great. We have seats in the sixth row from the center which allows us to really see the musicians up closer and personal. My wife and I have very different reactions to a night of the orchestra. She truly understands the music. She hears themes and can understand what the composer was trying to reveal. For me, it’s more the observations that I usually point out to her between pieces. Things such as, I wonder why some violins are shinny and others are not. I wonder why some are dark wood and others light. I noticed the guest conductor the other evening never had a music stand or the score in front of him. He had memorized all three pieces and was conducting without looking at any music. We have never seen that before. Impressive. We sit close enough that I can watch the eyes of the musicians. There is a lot of eye movement going on. They will look at their music. They will look at the conductor. I noticed the first chair viola was looking at the first chair cello player, who in turn would look at the concertmaster, the first chair violin. Like a quarterback, looking over the defense before the ball was hiked, these musicians were playing as a team.

I noticed something else the other evening. It happened twice during the final piece. It was an intense part, and all the musicians were playing fast. They all looked serious, a few even had wrinkled foreheads. You could tell that they were really concentrating and giving it their all. But right there, in the midst of all of this, a young viola player, smiled. He smiled while they were playing. He did it later on. That caught my eye. Everyone else was so serious looking, almost frowning, because of the intensity. But here was a young musician who actually was enjoying the moment. He was happy to be there and he was enjoyed what he was playing. I hadn’t seen that before in all the performances that we have been to. I’ll be watching for it now.

That happy musician made me think of our verse today. “Delight yourself in the Lord…” I wonder if we ever do the same? I wonder if we are so intense in our walk with the Lord, wanting to do what is right, wanting to obey God, not wanting to mess up, that we fail to enjoy what we are doing. I’ve heard folks say repeatedly, “It’s hard being a Christian.” And I hear about all the struggles, the difficulties and hardships, that we may have forgotten to enjoy our walk with the Lord.

I wonder if we preachers enjoy our sermons. Certainly we work hard on them. We pour hours into research, finding the best words and trying to find ways to teach and make things stick with the audience, but while we are preaching, do we ever smile? Do we listen, as the young musician did?

The same could be said of our song leaders. They do a great job. Choosing the right song, practicing it, getting everyone started and keeping the tempo. Do you enjoy it? My youngest is like that musician at the concert the other night. When my youngest leads singing, he rarely looks at the song book, he just looks at the audience and smiles. He’s the smilest song leader that I know.

Enjoy what we are doing. Delight in the Lord. In Hebrews, the leaders are to watch over our souls with joy. That’s forgotten these days. Troubles in the rank, complaints, issues here, problems there, and the work of leading God’s people is endured. It’s long. It’s hard. It must be done. But rarely do we hear one saying, “It’s joyful.” “It’s a delight.” “I like leading God’s people.” Maybe more would be leaders today, if more of our leaders smiled now and then. It’s  like the Presidency. Have you seen the latest pictures of our current president? It happens to nearly every president. By the time they finish their term, they look old. They have aged so much. Their hair has changed color. Wrinkles have appeared. The toll of the office has changed the way that they look. I think some see that same thing with leading God’s people. So, many steer clear of it. Happy elders. Smiling elders. Wouldn’t that lift the spirits of everyone and change the atmosphere of the place. Maybe more would want to lead if they saw smiles.

But it’s not just the leaders, our minds take us to Paul’s words to the Philippians, where numerous times they are told to “rejoice in the Lord.” Delight in God. Smile. Some folks shuffle into the church house like they are walking into the funeral home. Maybe the world does that to us. Maybe work is tearing us up on the inside. Maybe home life is tough. But when folks leave that same way, something’s not right. We ought to have a smile on our face and a spring in our step. We’ve been with the people of God. We have just worshiped the Lord and studied His amazing book. Equipped, challenged, reminded, built up, hearts filled with courage and faith, those smiles ought to come back to us.

Happy folks. That ought to be us. Sure there is negative things to take that smile off. The world is running from God. Things are tough in many congregations. While some are exploding in growth and hope, others are falling apart. Terrorism. Atheism. Materialism. There are always “isms” to frighten and concern us. But God is greater than all of those isms. God is able. God loves us and it is to Him that we are marching everyday.

The music sounds wonderful. But occasionally, we need to not only hear it as we play it, but we need to enjoy it. A young musician, playing his heart out, surrounded by stuffy older musicians, smiled. He was on stage and playing a wonderful piece. There was much to be happy about.

Give it a try today. Smile at work. Some will probably notice and say, “What are you smiling about?” Your answer, “I’m just happy today.” Someone will certainly shoot back, “It’s Monday. I’m never happy on Monday.”  So sad.  This is the day that the Lord has made.

I’ve noticed something about smiles. When someone smiles at you, you tend to smile back. It just works that way. I found myself smiling at a young musician who was giving it his all.

Delight in the Lord.

Roger

Jump Start # 647

Psalms 30:4  Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy  name.

God is good. He’s good to all of us, even if we do not realize that. He is worthy to be praised, honored, followed and obeyed. There are many ways to praise God and it is something that ought to be done everyday. Now, having said all that, I love Sundays. I write this on a Monday morning. Many groan because it means back to work and when school is in, it’s back to school. For me, that’s not the problem. It’s that it’s not Sunday. I wish every day was Sunday.

Sunday is different. Our schedule is different on Sunday. We get together as a church and we worship. We see each other. We are with each other. That’s special. We learn. We connect. We praise. We thrive on the spiritual level for more than a moment or two. Sunday is about God. Sunday is awesome!

As Sunday ended yesterday, I had this thought. I wonder how many people world wide had spent the day praising God. Some in little rural church buildings that are a hundred years old, others in huge new buildings, with a massive crowd, with all the latest techo stuff. How many voices, world wide sang to God yesterday? How many heads bowed as hearts reached out to God? Not just in this state, nor this country, but villagers in Nigeria, those meeting in secret in China, in India, or some of our Jump Start readers in South Africa or Norway? Different voices, different needs, different concerns, but one faith, one love and one devotion. I wonder how many sermons were preached yesterday? Old faithful preachers who have been doing this for more than fifty years, yet still preaching with all the passion that they can. Sermons that taught Jesus. Sermons that reminded about the one true doctrine of Christ. Sermons that answered questions. Sermons that challenged us to work in the kingdom. Sermons that called us to our great responsibility before us. Sermons that gave us hope. Sermons taught by young men who are just starting out. I wonder what the Lord thought yesterday when we witnessed His people world wide, remembering that precious death as they took communion? His people remembered. His people thanked Him for that. His people were touched by that incredible sacrifice.

It is so easy to see Sunday only through our eyes and through the lens of the congregation we attend. It’s much more than that. I have been to some small places. It’s hard. I preached for a church in Nebraska one week. There were only 7 people in that church. I preached at another place where there were only 4 people. Small. Hanging on. Hoping for more. Yet even then, they are part of something huge—the kingdom of God.

God is so worthy of all that we can give Him. Sunday is so special. I  think about that passage found in Romans and also Philippians where every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. Every. Not most. Not nearly all, but every. Didn’t happen yesterday. Some had the chance to praise God but they didn’t. Those that did, sure benefited. Worship helps. It has a way of bringing out the important stuff and getting our order in order.

Yesterday was special. Did you sense that? I hope so. Did it  make a difference to you? I hope so. There’s nothing boring about worship if you think about God. The good thing about all this is that if the Lord allows it, we’ll get to do this again in just a few more days. It’s not a once in a life time event. It’s not something that happens every once in a while. Sunday’s coming and I’m already thinking about it!

Hope you are too!

Roger

Jump Start # 481 

Psalms 30:4 Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name.

  This week is Thanksgiving. I want to devote our Jump Starts this week to the theme of thankfulness. For our Jump Start readers, there will be no Jump Start on Thursday.

  Give thanks. Often in a group of people we hit the safe topics when listing things we are thankful for, such as: this country, our family, our health. We ought to be thankful for those things, they are huge. Ask someone who doesn’t have those. Thankfulness can be shallow if we are not careful and it can be based on the physical aspect of life too much.

  I have found in the Scriptures three aspects of forgiveness that is important.

  First, it needs to be expressed to the giver. Remember the story of the ten lepers? Only one turned back to Jesus and thanked Him. Were the others NOT thankful? No. I’m sure they were. I don’t think one of them thought, “Bummer, I’m healed. Now I have to go back to work.” No, not at all. They were thankful, but they didn’t express it to Jesus. God wants you to be thankful. We are to sing with thankfulness and our prayers need to be sprinkled with thanksgiving to God. Say it. That is important.

  Second, thankfulness changes a person. They become responsible and appreciative of the gift given to them. They care for what they have and it makes them realize without God they would not have these things. Thankfulness has a way of keeping us humble. The less a person is thankful the more they will be filled with pride. The thankful person realizes how he is gifted by God.

  Third, being thankful opens your eyes to many, many other ways your life has been blessed and you may not have realized it. We start thanking God for people He has put in our lives. We thank God for talent, not just in ourselves, but in others. We thank God for great leadership in the church. We thank God for those who are not afraid to take risks and make Biblical adjustments to help a congregation get stronger and better. Thankfulness has a way of melting envy and jealousy. Instead of wishing you had what others do, you become thankful that they have those talents and that you can benefit from them. A gifted song leader, a talented Bible class teacher, a passionate preacher, a caring shepherd, those with the heart of a servant, those that are dependable and loyal. The thankful heart has a way of seeing those things and realizes what a joy it is to be surrounded with such great people.

  It is interesting how many times thankfulness and singing are connected in the Bible. Thankfulness tends to make one joyful which in turn just naturally wants to be cheerful and singing. Maybe the world doesn’t sing much anymore because it fails to be thankful.

  Here is Roger’s short list of thanks:

1. for a congregation that loves to hear me preach

2. For young people that decide to follow Jesus

3. For older Christians who have stayed on the path

4. For all my deacons who make things work and want to give the best to God

5. For a church that pays me more than I deserve

6. For spiritual friends who allow us to empty our hearts with each other

7. For an incredible group of shepherds who love the Lord more than anything else

8. For the gift of preaching and writing. I’m not really sure how all this came about, but I do see God’s hand in it.

9. For the amazing Bible—fascinating, deep and soul stirring

10. For Jesus—for His love, compassion and forgiveness. I hate to think where I would be without that today.

  How about you? Got a short list? It does good to make one and then to thank God as you read over it.

Roger