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PASTOR'S CORNER
Natural Church Development - Part Trey
 Not
long ago someone in our congregation commented, “The
Contemporary Service is not the
only
thing we’re doing.” They are right! When we speak of the
Contemporary Service (which we often do, which was part
of the speaker’s point) it is not to imply that the new
service is the only service we have or that it is more
important than other services/ministries we currently
provide. It is to say that the Contemporary Service is
the newest service and has certainly struck a spiritual
nerve in our community—TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
As the Church Health Team (CHT) begins to meet and do
its work, one of the objectives the CHT will have is to
evaluate the Contemporary Service (and all other
services/ministries at Paintsville First UMC) in the
context of our overall vision and mission. We will seek
to evaluate the effectiveness of everything we do in
light of how well it moves us toward our goals.
Since church health cannot be separated from spiritual
health, I want to share here an article I came across in
Chrisma
(May 2008, p. 131) magazine just a couple of days ago.
The article reminded me of what we’re doing in the
Contemporary Service and I have highlighted one
particular paragraph with
italics,
bold print,
and underlining:
“Digging Deeper in GOD’s Word: Insights to Enrich Your
Personal Bible Study”
by John Chasteen
“Don’t be drunk with wine because that will ruin you
life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves,
and making music to the Lord in your hearts.”—(Ephesians
5:18-19,
The New Living Translation)
“This Scripture is one of many that indicates music is
important to God. The Old and the New Testaments contain
more than 200 references to music, and Israel’s history
abounds with conclusive evidence that God’s people have
always had a song to sing.
“In various places, the Bible records that all of heaven
celebrates with singing and indicates that God Himself
is moved by it and possibly joins in. It also states
that angels were created with musical abilities (see
Ezek. 28:13).
Clearly, God delights in music and song.
“Music has the power to stir emotion, easily evoking a
tear or a smile. It can shape our values or erode them."
Whether we like it or not, music and lyrics are able to
produce life or death in the hearer.
“It is important to understand that music and song go
much deeper than the natural ear; they affect us to the
core of our beings. We actually become a byproduct of
the music we embrace. Since that is so, we need to
carefully screen the music we allow into our lives."
Music is associated with many of the major moves of God
recorded in Scripture. Here are just a few examples:
•
During creation, the stars sang and the angels of God
shouted for joy (see Job 38:4-7).
•
During the Exodus, Miriam and the women sang for joy
(see Ex. 15:1-20).
•
When the children of Israel marched around Jericho, the
walls collapsed as Israel sounded trumpets and shouted
(see Josh. 6:10-20).
•
King David’s reign introduced 24-hour music (see 1 Chr.
25:1).
•
Trumpets and singing were the order of the day at the
dedication of Solomon’s temple (see 2 Chr. 5:11-14).
“Many believers contend that the link between music and
revival is a strong argument that each move of God is
accompanied by a fresh sound from heaven. If this is
true, it means that if you want to be on the cutting
edge of what God is doing, you must sing the songs He is
currently releasing."
[Emphasis added.]
“So what role is music playing in your life? Are you
tuning in to the new sounds being released on the earth
today? It might be beneficial for each of us to revisit
our personal attitude toward music and song. Become
intentional in using music properly—it could change your
life.”
--John Chasteen
is the assistant dean of Southwestern Christian
University Graduate School in Bethany, Oklahoma.
He writes a weekly blog at
heycoachjohn.com.
“Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in
your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach
and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And
whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of
the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him
to God the Father”
(Colossians 3:16-17,
New Living Translation).
Shalom,
Don
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Paintsville First United Methodist Church - Paintsville
Ky.
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