So yesterday I had the opportunity to lead worship at St. James’ Church in Broughton in the morning and then at St. Andrew’s Church in Blackley in the evening. It never ceases to amaze me how God chooses to have encounters with me through my service of him. It’s always very challenging selecting songs with the vicars Henry and Ian because often times the songs, whether hymns or contemporary worship songs are sung to different tunes, use different word phrasings, or have different lyrics here in England than I might have learned them in the States. Sometimes even the most basic songs have subtle differences that cause everyone to have a bit of a laugh. Yesterday at St. James I figured out while leading the song “Give Me Oil in My Lamp” that the lyrics and phrasings of the song were different from what I was familiar with. So, I had to learn and adjust on the fly. After the song I pointed out the differences and everyone had a good laugh. The joke is always that Americans have to take a good thing from the English whether songs, words, products etc. and change and/or ruin them.
In the evening at St. Andrews I had a similar experience while leading the song “Be Thou My Vision.” Although the tune was the same (which was a huge blessing) many of the lyrics where different, including an additional verse I’d never heard before. However, God used this experience to silence me, as I had to just stop singing. I continued to play as the congregation took the lead and God ministered to me in that moment, in my silence he chose to speak. God’s timing is rarely our timing so the challenge is to be open and available to hear his gentle whispers.
Incidentally, I have loads of thoughts bouncing around my head after recently finishing “Velvet Elvis” by Rob Bell for the 4th or 5th time. I will be leading a few sessions on it with our team next week. I’ve also been reading Rob Bell’s latest book called “Sex God” which has a lot of great thoughts in it as well. Chapter 4 of “Sex God” is entitled “Leather, Whips, and Fruit.” This chapter is about lust and temptation, exploring the idea that lust and temptation come from a failure to trust in God’s goodness. One of the central ideas of this chapter is that lust promises what it can’t deliver. Rob Bell writes:
This is why gratitude is so central to the life God made us for. Until we can center ourselves on what we do have, on what God has given us, on the life we do get to live, we’ll constantly be looking for another life. That is why the word remember occurs again and again in the bible. God commands his people to remember who they are, where they’ve been, what they’ve seen, what’s been done for them. If we stop remembering, we may forget. And that’s when the trouble comes. Rob Bell “Sex God” p 74
In chapters 105-107 of Psalms David reminds Israel where they have come from and where God has brought them. He closes this passage of Scripture saying:
Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord. Psalm 107:43 (NLT).
This message of gratitude is what God spoke to me in my encounter with him last night. I challenge you to daily take time and pray/make a gratitude list to our faithful and loving God. When we stop remembering, we begin to fail to trust in God’s goodness, and yes, that is when the trouble will come.
Search for the Lord and for his strength, and keep on searching. Think of the wonderful works he has done . . . Psalm 105:4-5a (NLT)
With a heart of gratitude,
Chad
