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roadsign
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Joined: 2005/5/2
Posts: 3777


 Re: the theology of "teeth"

I ordered some spirituals (choral arrangements) and the choir had a blast last night singing through them. They got a charge out of the spritual, “Let me Fly” – especially this verse:


Meet that hypocrite on the street,
First thing he’ll do is to show his teeth,
Next thing he’ll do is to tell a lie,
And the best thing to do is to pass him by.



This does not look like polished theology. But, boy is it sharp! And it is applicable.

Everyday I encounter those who have been soured to church because of hypocrisy. Perhaps they never learned how to escape its deadly fangs. Maybe they never learned to see the “teeth” or recognize the “lie”. And maybe they never learned to follow the advice in this song: “to pass him by.”

So, how can we apply this “cute” song:

Well – first we need to learn to recognize the hypocrite. You can tell that you are meeting one when you suddenly feel smaller, when he (or she) seems to posture himself in a way that makes him dominant over you – better, more righteous. You feel like a lesser Christian. Oh, sure she may be an important person, maybe even likable, and certainly she sounds like she knows a lot about the Christian life and the Bible. But, careful, there may be a subtle LIE. It’s called “works doctrine”. How do you know: You feel a pressure to try harder, to be gooder. You may feel condemned because you just don’t measure up. You may get the impression that you are less acceptable to God because you are not as good as she.

Watch out for those teeth! Watch out for those who assert themselves over you though power-plays, clever words - it’s nothing but growling - like a bear.

Watch out for the lie! And pass him by, before you get snagged! Don't even try to reason with him (or her). You just find yourself entrapped in a confusing web. You'll never win the argument. Pass him by! Quick!

“Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.

He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. Eph 2:7-10 The Message

Diane



(Ginnyrose, I'll get to your post yet. Great stuff there!)


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Diane

 2008/5/2 10:12Profile
roadsign
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Joined: 2005/5/2
Posts: 3777


 Re: the "Creation" - creatively

Thank you, Ginnyrose for the words for the “Creation”. I see possibilities.

Quote:
You just might have to improvise


That’s the fun of it all: we use what we have, not what we wish we had! I have a harpist, violins, trumpet, xylophone, pipe organ, bongos ………Ohh.. am “hearing” it already. (I would wish to delete the “God was lonely” line)


Quote:
And Diane, if you were to come anywheres near close to what these fellows did with this poem, those Presbyterians might for sure have an heart attack! LOL


Thanks for the warning! We try hard not to rock the boat too much, though the choir is a bit of a “rebel group” in itself. I mean that they don’t mind clapping their hands and singing contemporary songs.


Quote:
Diane, do you very often sing acapella?


We do at each rehearsal - to improve our choral sound - when we are in a room and can stand in a circle. However, the tiered loft and high ceilings make it hard for the choir members to hear each other well, so I support the choir instrumentally on Sunday. I’d love to get that architecture changed, but if that were to happen, there would be heart attacks for sure.

Quote:
I do have more to share but have to run now...


Go for it!


Quote:
Electrical storms as displayed by lightening, thunder, torrents of rain …… man is utterly helpless to do anything about it ...


The storm on that night caused flooding which contaminated the water in a nearby town. People died, and many were sick. Some still suffer side effects. If you want to know what brought world attention to our little corner of the world just google: Walkerton water crisis.


”Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked. Psalm 77:18

Diane


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Diane

 2008/5/2 16:37Profile
ginnyrose
Member



Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 Re:

Diane,
I emailed my BIL about "Creation" and it was as I was beginning to suspect: they took this poem and improvised!

My other ideas...;-)

When I attended Bible School in the 60's and sang in the choir, we used music compiled/written by Homer Rodheaver: "Rodheaver Chorus Collection". Ever heard of him? He was Evangelist Billy Sunday's song leader....from what I read about Sunday he was a flamboyant speaker and it appears his song leader had a flair for the dramatic...but no matter, we loved his music. This collection has a lot of beautiful songs. I do not know whether it is still available...might have to check eBay or some other used book store or www.bookfinder.com

The old music lyrics was not repetitious as most of the modern stuff is. The modern stuff is similar to "See Dick Run, see Dick run fast, run fast, Dick can run, can run, can run fast." - has just about as much inspiration as this sentence, IMO!

Are you familiar with the song "Our God, He is Alive" by A.W. Dicus? One time we were at a camp meeting and time was spent in singspiration. We sang this song, and lady! the roof just about flew off! I stood between two bass singers (one was my husband) and they really let it rip - I could not even hear myself sing! LOL I just stood there, looked up at them and they just grinned...

There is another song "Ain't Got Time to Die". Ever heard of it? This requires a strong bass singer to carry the lead in certain parts. The West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir from BC sings this one on "Songs of Earth, Echoes of Heaven". Anyhow, I purchased this CD just for this song!

This is all I have for now...have fun!

Blessings,
ginnyrose


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Sandra Miller

 2008/5/2 21:00Profile
ginnyrose
Member



Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 Re: The ministry of Music

As I was thinking about this thread, my mind went back to how God used music to calm my grief-stricken soul after our daughter died. We had prayed for her healing, she was anointed with oil but God said "No." and took her. Now he had the task to bring comfort to me and this is one way he did it.

It happened one evening in church service when we were having an hymn sing. This is when all we do is sing, people giving out selections from our hymnbook. During this service, a peace, a calmness engulfed me... after I became aware what had happened because of the singing, a new idea came to me and I told my DH about it and he agreed to it.

The idea: a cousin of mine had given us a gift of money and we decided to put it back for something real special in memory of our daughter....did not know what form it would take, but we saved it for that occasion. Now we decided to use the money and buy six "Zion Praises" hymn books, then invite people over some Sunday evenings when we had no worship service and we would sing! This is what we did! We invited people, being careful who we invited, working to get a good mix of voices so the singing would go well. All of us -six couples - would sit around the dining room table and each would select a song to be sung. After an hour of singing, we would eat some finger foods I had prepared forehand. The fellowship that ensued was so very edifying, uplifting. This entire process ministered deep into my soul, bring much needed comfort, peace and joy. Actually, words fail to describe what it did to me and that should not really be a surprise because God's ways are far above ours.

Yes, the messages of the songs would come back to minister to me in moments of reflection, serious thoughts....music should not be taken loosely or lightly; should also reflect the beauty of sound that comes from God

Just thought I would share how song has ministered to me doing some of my deepest needs...and I would guess there would be many other testimonies to this effect.

Blessings,
ginnyrose






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Sandra Miller

 2008/5/2 23:51Profile





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