Most of you know my life's passion is worship ministry and I'm so blessed to be able to use my gifts in a way that puts a roof over our heads & clothes on our backs (and much more, obviously).
But I also love, in a very different way, being a church administrator.
Today I drained the baptistry and refilled it. It's fun to work with water that washes the sins of the world away.
After refilling, I was in the process of adding chlorine when I had an experience slightly similar to that of Former President Bill Clinton. He did not inhale, apparently, but I did today over the bucket of chlorine granules.
I'm fairly sure after that inhalation experience I'll never have pneumonia, and I'll never get lung cancer. I think the insides of my lungs are now pearly white and hospital-sterile. I hope the strong pungent breath-taking odor also whitened my macchiato-stained teeth as it made its way down.
I just feel clean all over and now everything I touch is also instantly santized. (I did not use gloves, but will next time.) I hope when I pick up Faithy tonight when I get home, that I don't bleach out her clothes with my fingertips.
Now, back to worship, the new Shane & Shane CD is out...It's called "Pages" and I'm getting to know it. "We Love you, Jesus" is very powerful and musically interesting. There's a cool song about Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego also, a story for which I wish there were more songs, since it's so many people's favorite O.T. story (mine & Jaime's for sure.) It's called "Burn us up." I love their guitar work and tight duet vocals. But you just have to enjoy the good and skip over a few tracks on all of the CDs, if you ask me. They are rarely in the middle of my musical-taste palette. They're either knocking them out of the park, or should be getting kicked out of a park.
Regardless, I recommend it. I bought mine off www.independentbands.com and they always have low pricing.
Have a great weekend everyone! Walk with Jesus every moment. He's right beside, inside you. How humbling and reassuring and powerful to know.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Reply from Christian Chronicle
Earlier in the week I posted about my frustration with a full-page ad appearing in the current issue of Christian Chronicle.
I shared my frustration with Bobby Ross, editor of the paper. We had a good email exchange that was followed by a good telephone conversation.
To sum it up, the board of Christian Chronicle was already slated to review their policy on "adver-torials" at the October 2007 board meeting. The ad I questioned was not the first one to raise the ire of subscribers. Bobby said they receive numerous complaints throughout the year from people at various places on the long continuum of people in churches of Christ. It seems no one likes advertising or advertorials that bespeak ideas foreign to their own theology.
I like the paper, and I'll continue taking it. In this issue, there's a solid article covering Graham Kervin's mission team in Olomouc, CR...and there are always newsy tidbits of what's going on in other churches across the world. So the good being done by the paper far outweighs the few negative advertorials, to be sure.
And I'm learning to frame my frustration with this a cappella vs. instrumental issue. I'm learning that if I want our movement to move past it (which means many things...remaining happily a cappella as a matter of choice not doctrine, or integrating instruments in a meaningful and encouraging way that never drowns out the voices) , then maybe I should set an example, and do just that...move on.
From time to time, people will assert views such as the ad in the current issue. Or someone may start a discussion about which version is scripturally sound, KJV, NIV or RSV. Or someone may question whether we should use 8 song leaders or one song leader. It's my responsibility as a follower of Christ to expend my energies on issues Christ was passionate about, and to kindly smile and move away from debates and arguments about such things.
I shared my frustration with Bobby Ross, editor of the paper. We had a good email exchange that was followed by a good telephone conversation.
To sum it up, the board of Christian Chronicle was already slated to review their policy on "adver-torials" at the October 2007 board meeting. The ad I questioned was not the first one to raise the ire of subscribers. Bobby said they receive numerous complaints throughout the year from people at various places on the long continuum of people in churches of Christ. It seems no one likes advertising or advertorials that bespeak ideas foreign to their own theology.
I like the paper, and I'll continue taking it. In this issue, there's a solid article covering Graham Kervin's mission team in Olomouc, CR...and there are always newsy tidbits of what's going on in other churches across the world. So the good being done by the paper far outweighs the few negative advertorials, to be sure.
And I'm learning to frame my frustration with this a cappella vs. instrumental issue. I'm learning that if I want our movement to move past it (which means many things...remaining happily a cappella as a matter of choice not doctrine, or integrating instruments in a meaningful and encouraging way that never drowns out the voices) , then maybe I should set an example, and do just that...move on.
From time to time, people will assert views such as the ad in the current issue. Or someone may start a discussion about which version is scripturally sound, KJV, NIV or RSV. Or someone may question whether we should use 8 song leaders or one song leader. It's my responsibility as a follower of Christ to expend my energies on issues Christ was passionate about, and to kindly smile and move away from debates and arguments about such things.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
More, More About Boz
Hey, please also read my other post from today on this subject...
After ranting about Boz, I remembered that in the videos, when the children are praying to God at night in their joint bedroom with their parents, a CROSS is prominently displayed. So while they do not pray in Jesus' Name, nor mention Him at all, they do display the cross.
And when I further questioned Exclaim Entertainment about their stance, they assured me Jesus would be mentioned in the upcoming Christmas release "It's a Wowee Bozowee Christmas!" As I told Kelli B, they should be congratulated for being bold enough to mention Christ at Christmastime. Oh, the risk involved! They ALSO told me they would consider mentioning him in future releases.
The co-creator of Boz was also a co-creator of the big purple dinosaur "Barney". He has taught values and 1-2-3's for years without any mention of Jesus and I never once protested him. I think it's the marketing aspect of Boz that gets me...Family Christian and churches and other Christian bookstores. Barney never claimed to be a theologian. But Boz is appearing in all Christian circles without mentioning him at all...I'm not asking for "the sermon on the mount", simply a reference to "As Jesus taught us, we should seek to serve one another first..." at mealtimes or something.
Thanks for listening.
In JESUS' Name,
Amen.
After ranting about Boz, I remembered that in the videos, when the children are praying to God at night in their joint bedroom with their parents, a CROSS is prominently displayed. So while they do not pray in Jesus' Name, nor mention Him at all, they do display the cross.
And when I further questioned Exclaim Entertainment about their stance, they assured me Jesus would be mentioned in the upcoming Christmas release "It's a Wowee Bozowee Christmas!" As I told Kelli B, they should be congratulated for being bold enough to mention Christ at Christmastime. Oh, the risk involved! They ALSO told me they would consider mentioning him in future releases.
The co-creator of Boz was also a co-creator of the big purple dinosaur "Barney". He has taught values and 1-2-3's for years without any mention of Jesus and I never once protested him. I think it's the marketing aspect of Boz that gets me...Family Christian and churches and other Christian bookstores. Barney never claimed to be a theologian. But Boz is appearing in all Christian circles without mentioning him at all...I'm not asking for "the sermon on the mount", simply a reference to "As Jesus taught us, we should seek to serve one another first..." at mealtimes or something.
Thanks for listening.
In JESUS' Name,
Amen.
Boz doesn't want to mention Jesus / Christian Chronicle reply
This may only be relevant to parents of toddlers/preschoolers, but I am curious to others' feedback as well.
About a year ago, on a flight from Dallas back to Washington, I met a man who worked for Exclaim Entertainment...we chatted, and when he learned I had a toddler, he gave me a promotional DVD of "Boz the Bear" and told me all about it.
I was done with my 3 oz of coke & 4 pretzels, so we chatted quite a bit. It sounded like a great new alternative for teaching my little one basic colors, shapes, numbers, and also about values & faith. (Teaching faith to Faith will strengthen my faith, I'm sure. I just had to say that.)
Well, since then we've purchased 2 DVDs of Boz the Bear (I know, wow!) and Faithy has fallen in love with him. He's a large green Bear who lives next door to the Baxter family, and they have all kinds of fun in their little Utopia, while learning about numbers, letters and values. The songs are quite catchy actually, and I find myself singing them around the house.
3 days ago, however, my infatuation with Boz the Bear came to a sudden halt. I turned to Jaime and asked, "Honey, I don't ever hear Boz mention JESUS...he talks about God's love, but does he ever mention JESUS?" She paused, reflected, and flatly said, "No, he sure doesn't." We were both caught off guard, and I was incensed.
BOZ DOESN'T MENTION JESUS!
It is impossible to talk about God's love and exclude Jesus. It's impossible to teach values and faith without Jesus. I thought, certainly I have overlooked it.
I wrote to the company at their Dallas headquarters.
Sure enough, I got a standard reply from them, stating that they are trying to build bridges with parents, and hopefully at some point later the parents can flesh out what God's love means as they teach their kids. They strategically avoid the name of Jesus to reach a broader market and not offend people.
I am so angry at that reply I can't even think straight. I am still trying to figure out what to do about it, I sure will write people at Exclaim Entertainment who are higher up than the first person who answered my mail. But what do you do about someone who won't mention Jesus' name, but still wants to talk about God? All of their videos are sold at Family Christian (see the CHRIST in the name) and Boz is doing a summer tour of churches in the Christian faith. But he won't mention Christ on screen.
That is wrong, very wrong. He's marketed to Christians like me who are lapping up the product, and only after we've purchased can we determine that Boz won't have anything to do with Jesus.
Thoughts?
Tomorrow or Thursday, I'll post about Bobby Ross' reply to my post yesterday. It really helped me out, and I know it definitely grew my perspective on things.
Please keep praying for Baby Bennett http://www.prayingforbennett.blogspot.com/
And my wife's blog is better http://www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com/
About a year ago, on a flight from Dallas back to Washington, I met a man who worked for Exclaim Entertainment...we chatted, and when he learned I had a toddler, he gave me a promotional DVD of "Boz the Bear" and told me all about it.
I was done with my 3 oz of coke & 4 pretzels, so we chatted quite a bit. It sounded like a great new alternative for teaching my little one basic colors, shapes, numbers, and also about values & faith. (Teaching faith to Faith will strengthen my faith, I'm sure. I just had to say that.)
Well, since then we've purchased 2 DVDs of Boz the Bear (I know, wow!) and Faithy has fallen in love with him. He's a large green Bear who lives next door to the Baxter family, and they have all kinds of fun in their little Utopia, while learning about numbers, letters and values. The songs are quite catchy actually, and I find myself singing them around the house.
3 days ago, however, my infatuation with Boz the Bear came to a sudden halt. I turned to Jaime and asked, "Honey, I don't ever hear Boz mention JESUS...he talks about God's love, but does he ever mention JESUS?" She paused, reflected, and flatly said, "No, he sure doesn't." We were both caught off guard, and I was incensed.
BOZ DOESN'T MENTION JESUS!
It is impossible to talk about God's love and exclude Jesus. It's impossible to teach values and faith without Jesus. I thought, certainly I have overlooked it.
I wrote to the company at their Dallas headquarters.
Sure enough, I got a standard reply from them, stating that they are trying to build bridges with parents, and hopefully at some point later the parents can flesh out what God's love means as they teach their kids. They strategically avoid the name of Jesus to reach a broader market and not offend people.
I am so angry at that reply I can't even think straight. I am still trying to figure out what to do about it, I sure will write people at Exclaim Entertainment who are higher up than the first person who answered my mail. But what do you do about someone who won't mention Jesus' name, but still wants to talk about God? All of their videos are sold at Family Christian (see the CHRIST in the name) and Boz is doing a summer tour of churches in the Christian faith. But he won't mention Christ on screen.
That is wrong, very wrong. He's marketed to Christians like me who are lapping up the product, and only after we've purchased can we determine that Boz won't have anything to do with Jesus.
Thoughts?
Tomorrow or Thursday, I'll post about Bobby Ross' reply to my post yesterday. It really helped me out, and I know it definitely grew my perspective on things.
Please keep praying for Baby Bennett http://www.prayingforbennett.blogspot.com/
And my wife's blog is better http://www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com/
Monday, August 27, 2007
Thoughts and Bad Reaction to ad in Christian Chronicle
Here's a funny saying David shared with us yesterday..."When I was growing up, we couldn't even afford to pay attention." I thought that was hilarious. You may have heard it before, but I never have. That was good.
David's message yesterday entitled "Crossing Over" (yes, from John 5:24) was very convicting and encouraging. Go to http://www.nccoc.org/ to listen if you need a boost. Toward the end of the sermon, he used a seires of contrasts to make his point...with his permission I reprint them here:
This eternal life now can be yours...
"not because you are good, but because God is good.
not because you went to church, but because Jesus went to the cross.
not because you came out of your old habits, but because Jesus came out of the tomb.
not because you shed your irreligious ways, but because Jesus shed his blood."
What a great reminder. Thank you David!
And for those of you who read the Christian Chronicle, if your reaction to the full-page ad on page 10 is anything like mine (sheer revulsion), then I encourage you to let the editor know. Bobby Ross is the editor, he's a great guy; he & his wife did a story on Fairfax in 2005 and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. But I just hate that they have to run ads like this...
Ok, if you don't have the paper in front of you, go to http://www.foracappella.org/ and just get a taste of it. Then email bobby.ross@christianchronicle.org and ask him to consider NOT running ads that are completely irrelevant and off-point to our mission in the kingdom of God. If they had merely encouraged people to sing without instruments and appreciate the joyful sound of voices singing together, then fine...but they present a cappella format as "the scriptural plan for the church", and I wholeheartedly disagree with that conclusion.
David's message yesterday entitled "Crossing Over" (yes, from John 5:24) was very convicting and encouraging. Go to http://www.nccoc.org/ to listen if you need a boost. Toward the end of the sermon, he used a seires of contrasts to make his point...with his permission I reprint them here:
This eternal life now can be yours...
"not because you are good, but because God is good.
not because you went to church, but because Jesus went to the cross.
not because you came out of your old habits, but because Jesus came out of the tomb.
not because you shed your irreligious ways, but because Jesus shed his blood."
What a great reminder. Thank you David!
And for those of you who read the Christian Chronicle, if your reaction to the full-page ad on page 10 is anything like mine (sheer revulsion), then I encourage you to let the editor know. Bobby Ross is the editor, he's a great guy; he & his wife did a story on Fairfax in 2005 and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. But I just hate that they have to run ads like this...
Ok, if you don't have the paper in front of you, go to http://www.foracappella.org/ and just get a taste of it. Then email bobby.ross@christianchronicle.org and ask him to consider NOT running ads that are completely irrelevant and off-point to our mission in the kingdom of God. If they had merely encouraged people to sing without instruments and appreciate the joyful sound of voices singing together, then fine...but they present a cappella format as "the scriptural plan for the church", and I wholeheartedly disagree with that conclusion.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
This Weekend
Keep praying for Baby Bennett...
www.prayingforBennett.blogspot.com
I'm looking forward to Sunday...I think the entire song line-up is solid, but there are 2 songs I'm particularly excited about:
We Delight
Beautiful One
We're singing the Zoe arrangements on both songs www.zoegroup.org Wow, am I ever thankful for their resourceful ministry.
At rehearsal last night, the team sounded great on these...tons of energy, excitement, and just plain ole good singin'.
Of course, we're also singing the classic "Be Thou My Vision"... undoubtedly one of my favorite hymns. Great musical movement, great harmonies (hard to find a good arrangement though...we're using a Hallal arrangement with some added verses), and superb prayerful lyrics.
Thanks to God for all of the rain earlier this week...I'll be mowing this weekend which I always enjoy. Really I do. Especially now that I have a riding lawnmower, I'm beyond cool.
Ok, that's all the non-important forgettable stuff I can think of...have a great weekend everyone!
www.prayingforBennett.blogspot.com
I'm looking forward to Sunday...I think the entire song line-up is solid, but there are 2 songs I'm particularly excited about:
We Delight
Beautiful One
We're singing the Zoe arrangements on both songs www.zoegroup.org Wow, am I ever thankful for their resourceful ministry.
At rehearsal last night, the team sounded great on these...tons of energy, excitement, and just plain ole good singin'.
Of course, we're also singing the classic "Be Thou My Vision"... undoubtedly one of my favorite hymns. Great musical movement, great harmonies (hard to find a good arrangement though...we're using a Hallal arrangement with some added verses), and superb prayerful lyrics.
Thanks to God for all of the rain earlier this week...I'll be mowing this weekend which I always enjoy. Really I do. Especially now that I have a riding lawnmower, I'm beyond cool.
Ok, that's all the non-important forgettable stuff I can think of...have a great weekend everyone!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Prayers for Baby Bennett
My friends' Travis & Kelly had a precious baby boy named Bennett yesterday morning. He is currently in NICU for fever and possibly acidosis. I solicit your fervent prayers for him and his family as they go through this difficult time.
Here is a blog that contains updates & other info:
www.prayingforbennett.blogspot.com
Here is a blog that contains updates & other info:
www.prayingforbennett.blogspot.com
Monday, August 13, 2007
Heat Wave & New Worship Artist
We had a great trip to Charlottesville, VA for my cousin Stuart Burkhalter's (his last name is Eli's middle name) wedding. It was hot, but a great weekend. Stuart's new wife's family threw quite a party for a reception. The band was great, and in addition to enjoying a dance with each other, Jaime & I enjoyed dancing with Faithy as well. She loves music & dancing, so she was right at home. Seeing her enjoy herself is an incredible blessing I didn't know to anticipate as a father. I also got to play golf with my brother and my nephews who all live in Dallas. Those fun times always fly by... (Thanks Bennett for the coaching...and thank you God that the lightning didn't start until the 18th hole.)
Now back home in Indy, we're experiencing the city's 3rd worst heat wave on record. We've had the longest number of consecutive days at 90 degrees or higher in years, and the end is 5 days away at best. Oh well, I grew up in Memphis, lived for 13 years in Dallas, so this is no prob for me. But I keep thinking, THIS IS WHY I moved north of the Mason Dixon line...to get away from this weather. :)
Thanks to the "contemporary Christian" channel on our cable TV, I am discovering several new Christian artists. You must check out http://www.vickybeeching.com/ She is an up & coming new worship leader. Her song "The Wonder of the Cross" from her latest CD "Painting the Invisible" will be sung in churches everywhere really soon. Great song, great sentiment, powerful hook in the chorus. I can't wait to teach it to the NC praise team. She's a Starbucks fan as well, so it's no surprise that she writes good worship songs. ;) (I learned that from her blog...) There are actually several songs on this CD that I'd like to teach, so just stay tuned. It's not often that I listen to a song over & over, but when it happens, it's such a blessing. The Psalms talk over & over about singing a new song to the Lord, and I'm always discovering reasons why...one is that new music encourages us singers soooo much! I mean, I love "Just As I Am" which was the invitation song at Jaime's grandma's church service which we attended last night in Anderson, IN...but I love love love new expressions of praise as well.
I always put this, but it's true...my wife's blog is better (except for the fact that my picture is there right now...) www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com
Now back home in Indy, we're experiencing the city's 3rd worst heat wave on record. We've had the longest number of consecutive days at 90 degrees or higher in years, and the end is 5 days away at best. Oh well, I grew up in Memphis, lived for 13 years in Dallas, so this is no prob for me. But I keep thinking, THIS IS WHY I moved north of the Mason Dixon line...to get away from this weather. :)
Thanks to the "contemporary Christian" channel on our cable TV, I am discovering several new Christian artists. You must check out http://www.vickybeeching.com/ She is an up & coming new worship leader. Her song "The Wonder of the Cross" from her latest CD "Painting the Invisible" will be sung in churches everywhere really soon. Great song, great sentiment, powerful hook in the chorus. I can't wait to teach it to the NC praise team. She's a Starbucks fan as well, so it's no surprise that she writes good worship songs. ;) (I learned that from her blog...) There are actually several songs on this CD that I'd like to teach, so just stay tuned. It's not often that I listen to a song over & over, but when it happens, it's such a blessing. The Psalms talk over & over about singing a new song to the Lord, and I'm always discovering reasons why...one is that new music encourages us singers soooo much! I mean, I love "Just As I Am" which was the invitation song at Jaime's grandma's church service which we attended last night in Anderson, IN...but I love love love new expressions of praise as well.
I always put this, but it's true...my wife's blog is better (except for the fact that my picture is there right now...) www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Headed Back to Virginia
We're headed back to Virginia tomorrow, we just can't take it anymore.
KIDDING
We love our new Indy home & church & etc., but we're headed down to Charlottesville, VA for my cousin's wedding. It will be a great family time, and road trips with 2 kids under 2 are always a joy.
Seriously, we are looking forward to it. Once the kids doze off, (yeah right) Jaime and I have great talks as the van rolls down the highway.
Well, I said I would post about the "woman at the well" and Jesus, and their discussion in John 4. Our senior minister is continuing his series and will be teaching from this passage over the next 2 Sundays. It was just such a profound realization to see that Jesus revealed his best and greatest teaching on worship to this woman who he shouldn't have been talking to in the 1st place! (culturally) We don't even know her name! Isn't that so true of what worship should result in...we discover who Jesus is, and we forget about who we are completely. But there again, that's the irony...Jesus told the lady things about herself that even she had tried to forget...so he affirmed her, he didn't crush and treat her like a no-name...
Wow, God is completely awesome and His grace is unbelievable.
How can I keep from singing? (Thank you Chris Tomlin for your update of that song.)
KIDDING
We love our new Indy home & church & etc., but we're headed down to Charlottesville, VA for my cousin's wedding. It will be a great family time, and road trips with 2 kids under 2 are always a joy.
Seriously, we are looking forward to it. Once the kids doze off, (yeah right) Jaime and I have great talks as the van rolls down the highway.
Well, I said I would post about the "woman at the well" and Jesus, and their discussion in John 4. Our senior minister is continuing his series and will be teaching from this passage over the next 2 Sundays. It was just such a profound realization to see that Jesus revealed his best and greatest teaching on worship to this woman who he shouldn't have been talking to in the 1st place! (culturally) We don't even know her name! Isn't that so true of what worship should result in...we discover who Jesus is, and we forget about who we are completely. But there again, that's the irony...Jesus told the lady things about herself that even she had tried to forget...so he affirmed her, he didn't crush and treat her like a no-name...
Wow, God is completely awesome and His grace is unbelievable.
How can I keep from singing? (Thank you Chris Tomlin for your update of that song.)
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