Monday Morning Music Ministry

8-24-26

This is the time of year when children, and parents, are getting ready for “back to school” prep and good-byes. Elementary school, home schooling curricula, college, and various send-offs to trade schools and military deployments.

Perhaps parents share similar emotions to their kids’. Oh, the jokes are that parents feel relief to see the kids leave home so they might savor some peace and quiet. And it is a cliché that children can’t wait to leave home, whether for summer camp or college.

Regarding parents’ feelings, which are much closer to my present state of dignified decrepitude, I have shared a song by Suzy Bogguss before, and to which I listen every year around this time. It is called “Letting Go,” and relates a parent’s point of view when the family’s daughter prepares to leave for college:

She’ll take the painting in the hallway,
The one she did in junior high.
And that old lamp up in the attic,
She’ll need some light to study by.

Mother sits down at the table,
So many things she’d like to do:
Spend more time out in the garden,
She can get those books read too.

She’s had 18 years
To get ready for this day.
She should be past the tears;
She cries some, anyway.

Oh, letting go – There’s nothing in her way now.
There’s room enough to fly.
And even though she’s spent her whole life waiting,
It’s never easy letting go…

Confession time: I came across this song (written by Suzy’s husband Doug Crider and her drummer Matt Rollings) about the time my eldest was preparing for her freshman year… at a college about half an hour away. Yet it was traumatic for me. And I still shed a tear when I hear it (and watch the music video Suzy produced), despite the fact that my youngest child finished college some 25 years ago.

That is to say, the emotions are the same. Or they should be, when family relationships, generational bonds, parent-child connections, familial ties are concerned. Neither geographical distance nor passage of time should weaken, much less cancel, these precious relations.

Things happen, of course, in families. There are common warnings these days about toxic topics at Thanksgiving dinners (if families still gather, that is): you know – “avoid religion, politics, Trump…” Sometimes an obscure misunderstanding can cause a daughter to cut off all communication with her father despite his crying himself to sleep many nights, and grandchildren deprived of knowing him. Sometimes a child is “too busy” with a career and lets her parents become strangers, perhaps until it is something “too late” to retrieve. Or a hundred other impediments – minor or major, or factors that are deep or evanescent – that can destroy the concept, the reality, of family.

Even contemporary ruptures like ones I have listed cannot dissolve the bonds of affection between parents and children, nor soften the heartaches of separation. We parents are not like birds who push their offspring out of the nest, to fly on their own. Nature’s examples seem cold… but birds are meant to fly; parents are tasked with encouraging their young; life’s cycles are not optional, but imperative.

Yes, the “empty nest” is inevitable. In fact a necessary and vital role for parents to manage. But that fact makes the situation no less tender.

The Bible has much to say – of course – about families and the bonds of responsibilities, heritage, and love between parents and children. Parents make uncountable and often subtle sacrifices for their children; and children absorb uncountable traits and values from their parents. Sometimes “too late” – my father used to paraphrase Mark Twain as often as many Bible verses, that when he was 20 he thought his own father was the dumbest man on earth, and when he was 30 he was surprised to realize how much his father had learned in 10 years.

Back to Scripture:

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. (I Peter 4:8)

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” – which is the first commandment with a promise – “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:1-4)

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. (Psalm 127:3)

Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Colossians 3:13)

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (I John 3:18)

“Letting go” is part of God’s ordained cycle of life, so parents must take satisfaction that their roles are being fulfilled. Life and death are parts of the Great Adventure, and so is nurturing children, and sending them into the world.

But all the same… It’s never easy Letting Go.

Category: Family, Healing, Life

Tagged: Doug Crider, empty nest, Mark Twain, Matt Rollings, Suzy Bogguss

Copyright © 2010 Rick Marschall
Designed by Mark McCorkell
Reworked by Norm Carlevato

Last week’s music video, related to the message titled “Scared Spitless,” was a song called “Not Lukewarm,” and it elicited many comments and questions. The quartet that performed the song comprises handsome black singers sincerely sharing a musical Gospel in tight harmonies.

The group is called Advent World, and I learned that its headquarters is in Dayton, Ohio, despite the vaguely Caribbean accents.

The group, although I had been unaware of it, is popular, and has a catalog of many commercial songs and albums. The repertoire includes traditional hymns and contemporary Christian songs. I confess that seldom have I altered my perception of an artist or musical group so abruptly or quickly as with Advent World, and most of the correspondents to MMMM shared the same reaction.

What we focused on: no problem with Advent World’s theology or Christian witness, at all. But after watching a video, or several, after clicking on their YouTube selections, we notice that their harmonies are somehow too tight; the quartet members’ mouths move in machine-like precision; the facial expressions are uniform; the eyes seldom blink; and so forth. A growing feeling takes hold, that we are watching robots.

… in fact, we are. Sort of. It is called Artificial Intelligence. The website of the “group” describes its chosen mode: “We use digital media to share Christ-centered content with people around the world…. Our songs and visuals are produced through a human-led, AI-assisted creative process. AI assists with voices, music, images, and visual production under human direction.” Again, there should be no misunderstanding that viewers question the faith or commitment of the creators of these productions. But many people think it is somehow creepy. (Or curious why all that technology and those efforts and apparently real voices are employed to substitute for… performances by real people.)

Its name also confused me a bit, and I learned that “Advent” refers to the producers’ affiliation with the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination. Despite some points of heterodoxy, Adventists are regarded as largely mainstream Protestants. Ironically, Advent World does not list its relation to Seventh-Day Adventists. Where did I learn of its relationship? By consulting AI, Artificial Intelligence.

Yes, ironic; or, these days, appropriate. But is it dangerous?

What could be dangerous about AI?

Is it not a portal to greater understanding? Not necessarily: AI accumulates facts and shares knowledge… but is not an automatic dispenser of understanding.

Is it an aid to wisdom? Not necessarily: wisdom requires grounding, morality, and a perception of reality, none of which are imparted by clicks on a keypad.

Can AI be anything but a boon to creativity, social maturity, human progress? Not necessarily: the same promises were made when the internet itself came upon the scene, and more than half the “hits” dredge up bogus claims, political propaganda, and porn. Television was to be a blessing, but even in its early days the FCC Commissioner himself called it a “vast wasteland” and today it consists of mindless programming and seemingly endless commercialism. The “nuclear age” was to humankind’s salvation, and now…

None of these things are bad in themselves. But as Theodore Roosevelt said about the right to vote, “its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” Human nature is inherently evil – “deceitful and sick above all things,” Jeremiah 17:9 – redeemed only by Salvation in Christ; and therefore the greater social latitude given to people, the more dangerous (that word again!) and double-edged advancements like AI can be.

“Dangerous” is bad – AI puts thoughts in our minds and words in our mouths when we unhesitantly rely on it. But “Destructive” is even worse – AI discourages independent thought, research, and creativity. It will spread like a spreading stain.

For any sort of writing, from communication to scholarly papers to persuasion, AI makes us lazy. In politics, it substitutes for debate and the deep dives that vital issues demand of us. In religion, it can make a mockery of Faith – force-feeding matters of doctrine and belief. For those who seek the Truth, it tends to remove the “seeking.” It becomes Artificial Intelligence without the Intelligence – which is like being Godly without the God.

I will relate this to another contemporary term that insults our “intelligence”: Intelligent Design. If there is a design, there must be a designer, and the intelligence of a designer becomes almost irrelevant. That term seems to me “designed” to deny the presence, role, and work of Creator God. Another misuse of the word “Intelligent” to flummox otherwise intelligent people. Yet… many people are persuaded.

One of my favorite Gospel singers, Vestal Goodman, was also a mighty prayer warrior. She began many of her powerful prayers of thanksgiving, “Father God, how You must trust us…” and indeed the Lord does trust us, in many ways. He sends the Holy Spirit to indwell believers, so technically we earn God’s trust as His vessels precisely to the degree we yield ourselves to His Spirit.

That view of God’s trust is not to diminish God’s role, but in humility to acknowledge the source of our wisdom, strength, and spiritual initiatives. Yes, we can view it all, taken together, as intelligence in life.

But God sent the Holy Spirit to impart Real Intelligence. Nothing Artificial. Know the difference.

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Click: I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

8-17-26

My pastor years ago at the Assemblies of God church Christian Life Center outside Philadelphia, David Cawston, used this phrase to technically be polite but also to make an important point. And, perhaps, to wake up members of the congregation who might have been dozing. Or maybe to have some folks check their hearing aids.

Whatever. Sometimes we need the spit scared out of us; and even other euphemisms. And many sins or shortcomings.

Spitting is an odd topic for a spiritual essay, perhaps. But my immediate thoughts, or temptation to think, have been triggered by a spate of videos from Israel. Tourist photos, security cams, and amateur photographers have captured incidents of Israelis spitting on Christians.

They are identifiable by their peyots (sidelocks), kaftans, kipahs, etc. The images online and videos from around the world are of Christian clergy being spat upon; nuns being pushed to the ground and kicked; a statue of Mary having a cigarette pushed into her mouth; a statue of Jesus with His head knocked off; Christian churches being spat upon.

Of the many reasons that people choose to spit, absent chewing tobacco, the flu, and simple bad manners, the common purpose is to indicate disrespect.

One time I was invited to the Manhattan loft of friends, a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist and his wife, Art Editor of a popular magazine, to answer a question that confused them. They are Jewish, and knew that I am a Christian. They had seen advertisements for Christian apparel with messages about Jesus spitting people out. I will spit you out. – Jesus. The passage, and context of the products, appeared serious enough, not irreverent, but seemed to my friends out of sync when attributed to a holy figure, the Son of God. Could I explain this apparent anomaly?

Well, that was an easy one. I was able to direct them to Revelation 3:16 (have you ever noticed how many important verses are in chapter 3s and verse 16s?) – Jesus tells the church in Laodicea, Because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Referring to the quality of people’s faith.

Jesus cannot be the only person who gets frustrated by apathy, indifference, hypocrisy, spiritual laziness, insincerity; or at the other extreme, arrogance, hostility, presumption, prejudice, self-righteousness, and a closed mind. “Lukewarm” specifically was a description of those who avoided reality and did not come face to face with the Gospel. It was to their own detriment to choose to be lukewarm in their faith. And if the Savior of humankind would feel like “spitting such people out of His mouth,” so should we. Such people… and each other; and ourselves, if applicable? No?

Yes, we must pray for the “lost.” Yes, we must lift up situations 70 times 7 times. Yes, pray without ceasing when we can. Is it Biblical to exercise “tough love” (the world’s terminology) in order to break through to some folks? Can we be frustrated when people are determined to avoid the Truth, even regarding their own salvation? – Jesus was frustrated, as we see rather explicitly.

And for other examples of spitting, we need not go far. Jesus was spat upon, and worse, while He was humiliated and tortured before He was condemned by the Jewish holy officials and executed by the Roman authorities. In Deuteronomy, Numbers, Job, and Isiah are examples of spitting as a severe sign of disapproval.

We should be conscious of people who spit on others, or on sacred symbols, as a metaphor for contempt. Perhaps, as increasingly in the news, these are veiled (?) warnings of rejection and violence, even in cultures that make public claims of tolerance.

Why have I been motivated this week to think about the ancient (but not extinct) choice of spitting on others? I wondered the same thing, but, well, these increasing numbers of news stories and images have disturbed me. What in the world is going on in the world?

As I have maintained above, in Jesus’s case His threat to feel like spitting lukewarm “believers” out of His mouth focused more on the deficient quality of their faith, not the people themselves. And as I have addressed, we pray for these people – after all, Jesus ultimately died for their chance at salvation.

So it is better to be a spitee, to coin a phrase, than to be a spitter. Neither condition is ideal in this broken world. Jesus referred to that act, but in a very specific context and justification.

The worst condition? Being lukewarm!

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Click: Not Lukewarm (Full Song)

8-10-26

I call it “Blessed Ambiguity.”

There are some things the Bible does not fully explain. Having been written over several centuries, scribed by many men, in three languages, on three continents – yet confirming itself in thousands of major and minor details, never with a significant contradiction in its 66 component books – we can trust it as God’s inspired Word.

Yet there are points where He left us to wonder. One such point that causes me to wonder “Why mention it in the first place?” is when Jesus was confronted by a bloodthirsty mob of Jews who wanted His opinion on their intention to stone an adulterous woman to death. Scripture tells us that the Savior was calmly writing in the dirt. Huh? Why? And what was He writing? And why even mention this?

My own opinion, and others have different guesses, is that He might have written the numbers 1 to 10… to prepare a reminder to the supposedly religious mob of the 10 Commandments. And “let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” But… that is an opinion.

There are more major points of doctrine – for instance, elements surrounding the Rapture; and when the Tribulation will occur; and many et ceteras – where God could have been clear. But He chooses ambiguity… I believe for three reasons:

• To keep us focused on the more important topics: that is, such questions do not affect our salvation.

• To have us do, in these latter days, what He had the writers of Bible books do before the Apostolic Age – search Scripture, look for antecedents, confirmations, and what God has already decreed on vital topics. After all, that is what Christ and His Church mean to us: “It is finished” is not an open door to engage in everlasting debates.

• To “keep us on our toes” – to be conscious and prayerful about spiritual matters.

Therefore I invite us to think of other “Blessed Ambiguities.” The world and skeptics might see these as “Aha!” moments – flaws in the Bible’s claim to inerrancy, but I see them as God challenging us to prioritize matters that matter in our spiritual lives. Besides, God is God! Trust the ways He presents His truths and His purposes and His will.

• Countless times, a theme of Scripture is presented as “surrender” leads to “victory.” Is this logical? In a spiritual context, this is not a contradiction.

• Similarly, despite examples of God’s people being warriors, e.g., David; the Bible paints many pictures of boldness for the Lord from a posture of… being on our knees. Is this logical? In a spiritual context, this is not a contradiction.

• When it comes to the matter of prayer, approaching our Heavenly Father, the Bible sometimes counsels us to be insistent… but sometimes patient. We often must pray, in other words, about how to pray. Is this logical? In a spiritual context, this is not a contradiction.

• Job, among other heroes of the faith, urgently prayed… and then waited on the Lord. Yet elsewhere we are told to “boldly” approach the Throne of Grace. Is this logical? In a spiritual context, this is not a contradiction.

• God issued Commandments, and uncountable rules for behavior, yet He also invited mankind to “come, let us reason together.” Is this logical? In a spiritual context, this is not a contradiction.

• He is “God Who delivers us,” yet many believers are troubled that He still has us walk through the valley of the shadow of death and enter the fiery furnaces, instead of sparing us the trials. Is that “delivery”? Yes to God, but is this logical to mankind? In a spiritual context, this is not a contradiction.

• There is the basic, and age-old, universal question – Why is there sin in the world? Why does God permit evil? Why do bad things happen to “good” people? People forget God’s sovereignty and the trust we must show. It is a matter of whether this is logical. In a spiritual context, this is not a contradiction.

• Hebrews 11 is called the Hall of Fame of Faith: a list of figures throughout Bible history who are amazing examples of obedience, forbearance, and faith. Yet not one of them realized the goals they adopted and to which God pointed them! Is this logical? In a spiritual context, this is not a contradiction. (This is a list of the faithful, not personal accomplishments: a clear lesson to us of God’s priorities.)

… and so forth. There are many such “blessed contradictions” in this perfect and complete record of God’s will for our lives. Is this logical? In a spiritual context, these are not contradictions!

They are all matters to pray about, however. They all affect our behavior… our obedience… our conduct… our examples to others… our “witness”… our relationship with God… but not our acceptance by Him. Trusting in Christ as His Son, His sacrificial atonement, His victory over death, and His resurrection – those simple (?) matters are not ambiguities!

Is this logical? For God’s sake – and ours – yes..

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Click: God Is God

8-3-26

I am going to share an old song, and its lyrics. Anyway it seems like an old song – 1979, which makes it seem like “Old Testament days” for me, because I am old. It was a Christian radio hit, Oh Buddha by the Imperials.

First, I will share a story that presents a slight intersection of mine with this great song.

When Oh Buddha was a hit on Christian radio, my wife and I attended a revival in Madison Square Garden in New York City. I believe it was R W Schambach, whose ministry I still revere; or Kenneth Copeland, whom I followed at the time. It was very well attended, and protesters were on the sidewalk outside the Garden.

Today, those protesters might be Black Lives Matter types, or feminists, or Muslim extremists; or (very likely in Manhattan at that time) militant Zionists. The small group of protesters rallied against the thrust of the revival inside the Garden. They chanted for Buddha, or Mohammad, or Reverend Sun-Myung Moon (“Universalist Church”), or an Eastern mystic via chants of Hare Krishna, or some arcane gods or “religions” of the time.

It was a modest and quiet demonstration. But the emerging crowd of revival-goers circled ‘round them and were not exactly arrogant… but however were confrontational. Someone started singing the contemporary radio hit, and scores joined in:

Well, old Buddha was a man And I’m sure that he meant well, But I pray for his disciples Lest they wind up in hell.

And I’m sure that old Mohammed Thought he knew the way, But it won’t be Hare Krishna We stand before on Judgment Day.

This was, as I said, a hit song in the Christian community of the day. Do you know it? Me, I see nothing wrong with its theology – for, despite its novelty-category aspects, it speaks Biblical truth, and Christ’s hard message. If we care about the souls of others, it is a doctrine we should follow. Peoples’ salvation is at stake.

The song was recorded by the Imperials, one of the legendary quartets of Christian music. It was founded by the great Jake Hess, whom I was privileged to know, when he left the Statesmen Quartet; and through the years its personnel included giants like Henry Slaughter, Gary McSpadden, Armond Morales, Jim Murray, Terry Blackwood, Larry Gatlin, Sherman Andrus, and Russ Taff. For a time the Imperials sang backup for Jimmy Dean and even for Elvis.

But on the evening I recall, the song was not sung as a novelty tune, but to attack. The group of revival attendees was mocking, not ministering. I felt moved to rebuke the crowd singing that song, but not self-righteously. (I mean my putative motivation, not theirs.) Our job as Christians – our duty, our command, in fact – is to persuade others to be strong in their faith… or that we be dedicated to sharing, encouraging acceptance, and fostering the embrace of the Gospel’s saving grace.

Jesus is the incarnation of God among mankind. He was sent to be our stand-in for the punishment we deserve – His plan that by believing in Him and His sufficient sacrifice, and that He rose from death and ascended to return to the Father – and we will therefore spend Eternity in Heaven.

To believe otherwise; that is, to let others believe that their idea of a new home in Glory, to Heaven forever, can be anyone’s random idea… is to consign those people to oblivion. Or to Hell. That is not indifference. It is not dismissive. It ought not to be done in mockery nor even in cruelty. Do you hate someone that much? Is ridicule more important than sympathy, than love?

I don’t hate anybody, So please don’t take me wrong. But there really is a message In this simple song.

You see, there’s only one way, Jesus, If eternal life is your goal And meditation of the mind Won’t save your soul!

As I said, I did not feel self-righteous that day, when rebuking the folks I had spent hours worshiping with. And I have the same impulse now; Christians should. Let us reach out – whenever we can, however we can, as often as we can – to those who don’t know the message of salvation!

And, by the way I plead to us all about this priority: It is not only Buddhists or Hindus or Muslims or Confucians or mystics or agnostics or atheists we should care about. There are friends and neighbors and co-workers – people we know and see and talk to every day; maybe even relatives – who might not fully know the Truth; or have “backslidden” or fallen away. Yes, it is a common condition. Maybe folks who are seated in the next pew from you on Sundays!

Well, you can call yourself a Baptist, And not be born again. A Presbyterian or a Methodist And still die in your sin.

You can even be Pentecostal, Shout and dance and jump a pew! But if you hate your brother You won’t be one of the chosen few.

Because it won’t be a Baptist Who’s sitting on the throne; A Presbyterian or a Methodist Who’s calling us home.

And it won’t be a Pentecostal Who plays that trumpet tune, So let’s all just live for Jesus Because He’s coming back real soon!

Amen!

It won’t be old Buddha Who’s sitting on the throne, And it won’t be old Mohammed Who’s calling us home!

And it won’t be Hare Krishna Who plays that trumpet tune, And we’re going to see the Son, Not Reverend Moon.

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Click: Russ Taff – “Oh Buddha”