A Thousand Words

A picture is worth a thousand words. I’m not sure whether that is Shakespeare or someone much older than the Bard, but if in our mind’s eye we can catch an illustration to attach meaning to the words we hear, then we really begin to grasp the concept.

Take baptism for instance. Many people of the world would see this action as a ritual practiced by the very religious. But baptism is a graphic picture of what has already happened. In undergoing the ordinance of baptism, a believer is visually shouting that they believe the Jesus Christ died for their sins, was buried, and then rose again to provide life. The picture also depicts the joining up of the believer with Jesus—now being dead to sin, buried with Him, and raised to walk in a new life with Jesus. That’s a significant picture—worth a thousand words.

Another super picture of spiritual life and walking with Jesus is the one provided by adoption. We were not born into the family of God. Sure, He created us. And He loves us. But in order for us to be fully and truly His, He had to identify us, choose us, and pay an exorbitant price for our adoption.

In the process of adoption, prospective parents make a determined decision to welcome someone into their family. They identify a child in need, choose them, and then pay a long, arduous, and even sacrificial price to make that child fully and truly their own. In many respects, our adopted children are tied more strongly to us than had they been born into the family.

God offers this picture of adoption to us to help us realize how important our eternity is to Him, how desperate He is to make us His own, and to what extravagant lengths (even to the dying on a cross) He is willing to go to finalize our adoption into His family.

Have you accepted God’s gift of adoption? Have you thanked Him for adopting you? Have you shown it through the picture of baptism?

“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”  — Galatians 3:26

 

Weekly Hymn-Sing: #12* Come, Thou Almighty King

Words by Anonymous

(Also included in the Broadman Hymnal, 1940 ed., Broadman Press, Nashville – #4 Baptist Hymnal, 1975 ed. Convention Press, Nashville – #2, 1991 ed. Convention Press, Nashville – #247, 2008 ed. LifeWay,  Nashville – #336; Inspiring Hymns, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1968 – #21; Voice of Praise, Broadman Press, Nashville, 1947 – #124; Favorite Hymns of Praise, Tabernacle Publishing Co., Chicago, 1967 – #4; The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration, Word, Waco, 1986 – #267; The Celebration Hymnal, Word/Integrity, Waco, 1997 – #8; The Kids Hymnal, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody MA, 2007 – #30.)

This hymn, although the author is unknown, has been a popular song of praise throughout many decades. While some attribute the poem to Charles Wesley (and the timing of its appearance in collections of hymns would fit), the great hymn writer never claimed it as his own.

The Hymn

1.      Come, thou almighty King,
            help us thy name to sing,
            help us to praise!
            Father all glorious,
            o'er all victorious,
            come and reign over us, Ancient of Days!
2.      Come, thou incarnate Word,
            gird on thy mighty sword,
            our prayer attend!
            Come, and thy people bless,
            and give thy word success,
            Spirit of holiness, on us descend!
3.      Come, holy Comforter,
            thy sacred witness bear
            in this glad hour.
            Thou who almighty art,
            now rule in every heart,
            and ne'er from us depart, Spirit of power!
4.      To thee, great One in Three,
            eternal praises be,
            hence, evermore.
            Thy sovereign majesty
            may we in glory see,
            and to eternity love and adore!

(Hymn words accessed at Hymnsite)

Scriptural Connection

According to the collectors of hymns there are a couple of options from the Psalms to connect with this hymn. Some of the modern editors would turn us to Psalm 95 – extolling the greatness of God (specifically verse 3). The editors of in the Baptist tradition which is my own background opt for Psalm 24 – with a focus on verse 10 which draws attention to both the sovereignty and the glory of God. “Who is the King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.”

While the hymn does highlight the power and glory of God Almighty, and either of these connections would be appropriate, I believe the hymn goes beyond this. It is an invocation—an invitation for the One who is mightier than all, above all, and before all, into a communion with the body of worshipers.

What does it mean?

This week’s hymn moves beyond the simple praise songs we have been seeing, and literally invites the presence of Almighty God to do more than accept the praises of His people – the Church. It is an invitation for Him to actually direct that praise so that it will be a proper praise.

This hymn again reminds us that while God is One and one God, He is Trinity. When we worship Him we worship all that He is – King, Savior, and Comforter. Some of the difficulty could be found in phrases such as “our prayer attend” which actually is another invitation for God to listen to our prayers. Not just to listen to them by to be present in them. Some versions of this hymn substitute the phrase “Spirit of Holiness on us descend” (stanza 2) with “’stablish Thy righteousness Savior and Friend” (see Lutheran Hymnal online) which is more awkward for modern readers. In either case the worshiper again invites the Spirit of God to join in union with the spirit of the worshiper—and thus increasing the worshiper’s righteousness or holiness.

One of the reasons that I see this hymn as being included so often in the collections of hymns used by churches in a variety of traditions is that it is a hymn which draws the attention of the body gathered to the presence of the King of Kings, and calls those present to invoke—or invite—Him to be not only present with them, but present and influential in their lives and worship. It is timeless in its call to worship.

*Hymn numbers for this series’ titles are from the Baptist Hymnal, 1956 edition, Nashville, Convention Press.

 

Weekly Hymn-Sing: #7 Let All on Earth Their Voices Raise

Words by Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

Personal note: of the hymnals that I have on the shelf, this hymn is unique to the 1956 edition of the Baptist Hymnal. This does not diminish the power of a hymn; it just illustrates the struggle that editors encounter when choosing which worship songs to include when dealing with a limited number of pages. One thing that will attest to the strength of this hymn is the author—Isaac Watts wrote a number of hymns and a cursory glance at the “Author/Composer” index included in many (not all) hymnals shows that the writer is not neglected by any means among the great songs of faith written over the years.

The Hymn

1. Let all on earth their voices raise,
   To sing the great Jehovah’s praise,
   And bless His holy name:
   His glory let the people know,
   His wonders to the nations show,
   His saving grace proclaim.
2. He framed the globe; He built the sky;
   He made the shining worlds on high,
   And reigns in glory there:
   His beams are majesty and light;
   His beauties, how divinely bright!
   His dwelling place, how fair!
3. Come, the great day, the glorious hour,
   When earth shall feel His saving power,
   All nations fear His name;
   Then shall the race of men confess
   The beauty of His holiness,
   His saving grace proclaim.

(In our study hymnal, each stanza includes a repetition of the last line—most likely a musical adjustment for tune adaptation when singing. I have accessed the lyrics above from the on-line SDA Hymnal.)

Here is another variation I found on-line (note the variety in the lyric as well as the extra verse—I am not sure which is the more accurate rendering of Watts’ original lyric.

1. Let all the earth their voices raise
   To sing the choicest psalm of praise,
   To sing and bless Jehovah’s Name:
   His glory let the heathens know,
   His wonders to the nations show,
   And all His saving works proclaim.
2. The heathens know Thy glory, Lord,
   The wond’ring nations read Thy Word,
   In Britain is Jehovah known:
   Our worship shall no more be paid
   To gods which mortal hands have made;
   Our Maker is our God alone.
3. He framed the globe, He built the sky,
   He made the shining worlds on high,
   And reigns complete in glory there:
   His beams are majesty and light;
   His beauties, how divinely bright!
   His temple, how divinely fair!
4. Come the great day, the glorious hour,
   When earth shall feel His saving power,
   And barb’rous nations fear His Name;
   Then shall the race of man confess
   The beauty of His holiness,
   And in His courts His grace proclaim. (this version accessed at Any Lyrics.)

Scriptural Connection

One on-line hymn site suggests Psalm 96 as a scriptural connection and I would concur that the Psalmist’s desire to call all of creation into praise of God fits nicely with Watts’ goal in this hymn.

What does it mean?

Part of the great beauty of this hymn is the inversion of word order. Phrases like “His glory let the people know” may sound a bit different to the ear, but the emphasis moved from the people to the glory is evident here.

The writer makes a point to include as many of God’s attributes that deserve our adoration—the beams that shine out from Him are majesty and light (He is the embodiment of royalty and light) and the beauty of God is not just bright, but divinely so.

The language may sound archaic, but the call to worship echoes over the centuries—Let us all (all of the earth—mankind, the animal kingdom, and all of Nature itself) lift our voices in praise to the Almighty God.

*Hymn numbers for this series’ titles are from the Baptist Hymnal, 1956 edition, Nashville, Convention Press.

 

What’s in a Name?

I’ve been Southern Baptist all my life. There, I’ve said it. I grew up in the home of a Southern Baptist preacher (then started one just like it). I’ve served in Southern Baptist churches my whole adult life. I’ve been a music director, a youth minister, a “minister of youth/music”, an associate pastor (with responsibilities for youth and education with the possibility of music), a bi-vocational pastor, an interim minister of missions, a career missionary, and am now serving as the pastor of a nice rural/village-type church (which is Southern Baptist even though we’re not in the South). These churches have been located in a variety of states–Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois (with a few years overseas). I’ve preached in churches from all those states mentioned, plus Wyoming and Arkansas thrown in–and they’ve all been Southern Baptist churches.

In all this Southern Baptist experience, I’ve learned something about our convention–we can do some pretty stupid things. There, I’ve said that, too! Over the past year we have been locked in a knock-down, drag-out fight over whether or not we should change the name. (I’ve even tossed in my two-cents’ worth–which is probably an inflated price. You can read it here.) Most of our church members don’t really care one way or another, “it doesn’t affect us” is the prevailing thought. For a number of months a special task force (the Baptist word is Committee) has been studying whether it would be a positive thing for our convention to re-dub herself with some name less regional or baptist sounding than our traditional “Southern Baptist Convention” (which is, btw, a denomination that has been working to build itself a good name after a rocky start over 150 years ago, and I think we’ve done pretty good as cases go) or leave well enough alone. The preliminary soundings of what the committee will suggest at the SBC annual meeting this summer gets us to a new high (or is it low?) in stupidity. All the time, effort, and resources have been spent with the following conclusion–The official name will remain Southern Baptist Convention, but churches will have permission (if the vote goes right) to call themselves “Great Commission Baptists” if they are afraid they will be offensive to their geographical region by being a part of something that is Southern. (Reminds me of when Kentucky Fried Chicken tried to re-invent itself by going by its initials-KFC-and everybody knew that they were still eating FRIED CHICKEN–which may or may not have originated in the Bluegrass State.)

If you missed it, we’ve spent all this energy to do nothing–and we’re allowing ourselves to vote on it!

That said, with apologies to the Bard, I’d like to present a few altered lines from a famous speech in a play:

(New Church Start somewhere outside of the deep South):

O SBC, SBC! wherefore art thou Southern?
Deny thy region and refuse thy roots;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my CP dollars,
And I’ll no longer be a Community Church.

‘Tis but thy region that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Baptist.
What’s Baptist? it is nor FMB*, nor HMB,
Nor Sunday School Board, nor Annuity Board, nor any other part
Belonging to a church. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a denomination
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So SBC would, were he not SBC call’d,
Retain that dear doctrine which he owes
Without that title. SBC, doff thy Southern Baptism,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Have a great day–whoever you are!

[*All name changes have been ignored for the purpose of this post.]

 

New Group Blog Promises MissioMind

Several years ago a group of young(ish) Southern Baptist pastors/leaders got together to use the new(ish) technology of the blogosphere to voice concerns about the SBC. Certainly they were able to raise the bar on how Christ followers think about affecting our world. That project took some twists and turns that made it become, well, “ish”.

So they moved on, stepping back from the political fray that is the SBC but keeping a presence in the blogosphere. Some of these guys I know personally, and others have become my friends through the electronic medium. All of them have forced me to think about my faith and the practice of it. And now it’s time for their collective missional voice to try to challenge our thinking once again.

I for one will be trying to keep up, and you can too by clicking over to MissioScapes.com. I will not guarantee that you will always agree with what is proposed there. I will not guarantee that you will even want to read what they have to say. I will promise you that you will be forced to think about what you believe. And maybe you’ll be challenged to grow.

 

Leaving It Better

Joe Ball at Despising None is urging Baptists to take a long look at how we act. I think this one is worth your time (it won’t take much).

HT: Art Rogers

 

Consuming Conviction

Here’s a list of things that people say they are committed to:

Ø      Family

Ø      God

Ø      Country

Ø      Love

Ø      Friendship

 

Here’s another list—things that I’ve observed that people are really committed to:

Ø      Sports (you choose which one)

Ø      Sports teams

Ø      Clothes

Ø      Food

Ø      Self

Ø      Self

Ø      Self

Ø      Self

 

I see a pattern here. Do you? What makes me think that people aren’t really committed to those things that they claim to hold their commitment? Simply put it boils down to time, finances, and conversation.

When we are really committed to our families, we spend our time with our spouses, with our children. Face it, husband, does your wife know that you love her? That you’re committed to her? Does she know that you put her ahead of everyone, everything, else? Do your children see you as their protector and guide or as the legs and feet beneath the newspaper? I speak to the husbands and fathers here because that is the direction that I must approach this issue from, but the questions can easily be addressed to women readers here. Does your husband feel like you would have no other one? I know that my blushing bride likes movies starring Tommy Lee Jones (she has this thing about older men), but if there ever came a choice between the movie star and the man at home, I have nothing to fear from Tommy Lee.

When we are really committed to the things of God, our finances reflect it. When we look at our expenditures, do we bring more into God’s storehouse (that is, the church), or do we amass clothing, electronics, games, or entertainments that have nothing to do with God?

What is it that we talk about? The weather? The world series? The latest fashion?

What consumes our time, our money, our discussions? All too often, I see people (preachers in particular) wasting time talking about politics. Not just any politics, but the political side of church. We strain at gnats when horseflies are contaminating our soup. Interestingly enough, leaders and preachers in my own SBC continue to be caught up in argumentation and debate over what we believe. Since revisions and re-edits were made that changed our faith statement (Baptist Faith & Message) in 2000, the document has not been allowed to say what it’s supposed to say—things that we as Southern Baptists believe. First one side of the politicos in the convention, and then the other want to use the document as not a statement of faith but a manifesto to be endorsed and worshiped by all who would call themselves Southern Baptist. The difficulty with this is that whenever one side wants it, the other side wants to interpret what it means (and vice versa). It amounts to the same kinds of discussions as are reported about early theologians who were more interested in determining the number of angels who could dance on the head of a pin than they were in sharing the gospel.

Others are consumed with talking about American Idol, or the latest craze in fashion or politics, or the price of tea in China.

So what are we consumed with? What do we spend our time on? What do we spend our money on? What do we let dominate our conversation? Discover that and we discover what it is that holds our commitment.

 

SBC-Bound

I hope that doesn’t look like I’m bound by or bound to the SBC, but that (as intended) we are en route to the SBC. My goals are to spend time with my blushing bride, touch base with some old friends, assess some of the intricacies of the convention (be a part), but not get caught up in the politicking that has been corrupting our convention over the years.

One of the reasons for attending this particular year is that we can leave our older children with my folks and trek to San Antonio (we haven’t really visited there in 6 years). We also will get to visit with some of our colleagues from the former Soviet Union since that is the focus for the year at the IMB.

 I’ll try to keep some posts up, but am not worrying over that too much.

 

Fun for Me

I’m getting ready to go on a trip. One of my church members and I will be attending the IMB Volunteer Summit Central & Eastern Europe in Apex, North Carolina. Our hope is that this two-day event will help us determine some ways that our little Midwestern church can get involved in partnering with on-going mission work on the other side of the world. This is a double good trip for me because I’ll get to visit for a minute or two with some of my former colleagues from the mission field.

Ya’ll have a good time while I’m gone now, ya’ hear. (The summit will be at Salem Baptist Church–click on the logo to see their site.)