Music or Mania?

I can’t read music, but I enjoy listening to it. Accomplished musicians and singers can make the mind peaceful and the heart joyful. Such music offered to the Lord in worship must surely honor Him, bless the congregation, and help to prepare hearts to receive a biblical message. My taste for music likely differs greatly from that of a teenager, whether the “teenager” is 15 or 35. I haven’t been able to accept rock music as an appropriate worship style.  Frankly, I think someone needs to tell the rockers they don’t have to yell like hockey fans and beat their guitars and drums to death for God to hear them. I may be hard of hearing, but God hears even the faintest prayer and whispered praise.

 If I want to do aerobics, I can join an aerobics class at a gym. If I want to hear rock music, I can go to a rock concert. I just don’t want aerobics and rock to mix at church as so-called worship.

You can file these thoughts under “Personal Opinion,” but before doing so, please read John 4:24 and Colossians 3:16 again.

A Blazing Sunrise

Gloria took a picture of the sunrise yesterday. It was blazing orange, and our Bronco flag and Fat Albert (similar to a blue spruce) formed a perfect foreground.

Psalm 72:17 reminds us that God’s name will endure forever. “His name shall continue as long as the sun.” Governments may restrict the public display of God’s name and whatever is associated with it, but His name will far outlast every government. The second part of Psalm 72:17 fast-forwards to the millennial reign of the Son of God, and assures us that “all men shall be blessed in him, and all nations shall call him blessed.” That glorious future reign begins when “the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings” (Malachi 4:2).

Next time you catch a glimpse of a spectacular sunrise, with or without a camera, reflect on the name of the One who created the sun, and encourage yourself with the knowledge that someday the Sun of Righteousness will return to rule Planet Earth.