Jesus is Lord of All !!!!!
Christian music soothes my soul. The love language of Christian music brings me into the presence of God as I bask in His glory. Whether I am feeling happy, joyful, sad or anger, Christian music frees my spirit to worship God. We read in Psalm 95, “Come, let’s shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let’s march into his presence singing praises lifting the rafters with our hymns.” [Ps 95:1—The Message] Again we read in Psalm 96, “Sing God a brand new song! Earth and everyone in it, sing! Sing to God, worship God!” [Psalm 96:1—The Message]
Yes, Christian music can soothe the soul but it also can challenge and motivate us. One of my favorite Christian bands is a group from Canada called, Downhere. They have been together since 1999. I love their music and I especially like the lyrics to their songs. There are two singer/song writers in the group, Marc Martel and Jason Germain. They write lyrics which inspire and also challenge me. They have a passion for Christ’s church. One song, written by Marc Martel, I find particularly challenging and profound regarding the church. Its called Stir. The words are:
You belong here, everyone's invited
You can’t fail here, 'cause we can't fail united
It's safe to be yourself here
And it's time to go beyond here
We’ve got life to give,
So why don’t we do what we we’re saved for
Come along, why don’t we stir?
You know you and I could do so much more together
We are the new at heart, so why don’t we stir? Oh stir
We are strong here, but weakness is for certain
To show our love here, we share each other's burdens
We don't mind, 'cause there is nothing left to fear
And Love divine is calling us out from here...
We are salting, lighting
We refresh like raining
We are love remaining
Come along, why don’t we stir?
Every time I play this song I am challenged to take the words to heart. I hope you are as well as you read through the verses to the song. Let’s take the lyrics and turn them into questions to ask ourselves. Such as: Do visitors feel a sense of invitation at our church? Is everyone invited to our church—do we really want them here, do we feel threatened by them? Can anyone fail here? Do we extend grace to people when they fail and let us down? How united are we as a church? Is it safe for one to be themselves here? Do we feel safe to share who we are on very intimate levels or are we scared and remain like distant acquaintances? Do we really know that God is calling us to go beyond our doors into the community and world? We have so much life to offer folk when we hold out the gospel of Christ to a hurting people. Are we doing this? If not, this is what we are “saved” for. Have we shown our love here by sharing one another’s burdens? Are we salt? Are we refreshing? Are we love remaining? Do we know we are called to stir things up for Jesus in our world?
These are hard questions to ask. But I believe this is the perfect time in the life of our church to ask these questions and reflect seriously on them. So... how did you answer the above questions? Have we arrived? Are we doing okay? Do we need more work to do in some areas? What can we do to bring about these improvements?
The church of Jesus Christ is called to be different than any other organization in our society. If we are not different and simply mirror secular organizations, we have failed. We are to bring the powerful waves of the gospel and stir the waters of indifference so that the church cannot be ignored but rather ignite the passion of Christ in our communities.
Come along, why don’t we stir? Pastor Glen
[Stir—from the CD, Wide-Eyed and Mystified [2006] written by Marc Martel and Jason Germain. Centricity Records. For more information on Downhere go to http://www.downhere.com/home]
