Monday Morning Music Ministry

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

7-22-19

Among the memories of the Moon Landing this week are the realizations I have learned through the years that certain words like “moon” have common sounds and spellings in myriad languages and cultures scattered across the globe. “Sun” is another; “mother” and “father” also. What sort of coincidences are these? Pilgrims in ancient days, in small groups or tribes, traversing swaths of land or ocean expanses?

If that were the answer, why were not cultural objects, or tools and utensils, or more words and alphabets, also transplanted? Why only those elemental words? Is it because these are more concepts than mere words? If we ever are to learn the answers to these compelling questions, I think it will have more to do with common physical touchstones, urges, and expressive emotions, than with linguistics or semantics. (For instance, some social scientists think that the “M” sound as in Mama and Mother derives from babies’ physical need for nurture, an expression of hunger.)

In any event, “home” is not only a place but, indeed, a concept. Its name, and of course its essential idea, is common to all people, all classes, all ages. Among nobility and peasantry, in democratic societies and autocracies, the home is sacred. Taken further, the kitchen as the home’s heart is common too.

When we think on these things, we realize more than perhaps we often do, the real distinction between house and home. A house is where we get our bills, a song once said; home is where we live.

The Bible has many verses about home, both literal and figurative references. The same is true of poetry, songs, literature… think about it, every aspect of life. “Homemade,” the best you could want. “Home-going,” a term now in vogue in some churches, instead of a funeral or farewell. “Home town” usually obviates the necessity for an explanation of things honest, pure, accepting.

In college I had a friend, a bit of a strange guy, on the dorm floor; but maybe he was wiser than all of us. One evening we were all talking about our hometowns or neighborhoods where we grew up. And we shared photos, if we had them. Danny pulled out a photo from his wallet – a rather unremarkable snapshot, really, of the side of a house. No distinctive flowers or trees, fancy back yard, or a landscaped front yard and porch. Odd?

Danny explained that the photo was not of his house as we had assumed. It was his neighbor’s house. It was what he would see, looking out his bedroom window. When he woke up; when he went to sleep. That’s what he saw, and carried with him, the neighbor’s house.

“And that reminds me of home,” he said.

Yes. Of course. So logical we seldom think that way.

What reminds you of home? Your parent’s address; where you grew up? One of multiples places you have lived? A location in the “old country”? We need (anyway, I know that I need!) to think a little more – a lot more – of what God means by home.

When we “go home” at the end of life’s journeys – life’s troubles and trails, as we often confront them, or interact with people who do – we have opportunity to contemplate. I have a friend with three small girls whose husband, a pastor, recently died of cancer; another friend watching a neighbor’s husband dying day by day before their eyes… We can all supply et ceteras.

We can think in these moments about the Bible’s reassurance about home; about God “calling us home.” When you think about it, home is not somewhere strange and alien you go to for the first time. A home is something to which you return… that comfortable place that is waiting, in fact prepared, for you.

We can know we are on our way home, and it does not have to be not a strange journey, but a warm reunion.

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Click: Going Home

5-7-18

I don’t care so much about ages of rocks. What’s more important to me is the Rock of Ages.

So said William Jennings Bryan (or perhaps it was Matthew Harrison Brady) in a famous confrontation over points of the Creation / Evolution debate. The Rock of Ages, familiar in the eponymous old hymn of 250 years ago, refers both to the smitten rock of Moses and the broken body of Jesus, both “cleft” for us and our protection.

Turning around the phrase “age of rocks” is another double-meaning, suggesting the pursuit of scientific, even beneficial, discoveries should not blind us to life’s priorities.

Evolution is not our agenda here, no matter how it would turn out. Priorities are.

Godly people, Christians, the spiritually inclined, usually live out their faith by service. Service and sacrifice; good works; dedication; charity and charitable work; missions work; good deeds. I can personally attest that after a conversion experience – in fact, usually especially after a born-again or life-changing transformation – we are filled with zeal.

We want to know God. We hunger and thirst for the Word. We pray, sometimes as the Bible says, virtually “without ceasing.” And, as night follows day, we want to serve Him. How many of the faithful for 2000 years have done everything from be dedicated to personal piety, profoundly, to abandon lifestyles and become missionaries or serve the sick or poor… or join holy orders, preaching and teaching, sometimes taking vows of silence or poverty… or, like holy sponges, study, study, study, the scriptures.

Since I asked “how many,” I will answer truthfully: we cannot know. There have been uncountable such believers, transformed by the power of the Holy Ghost. Thank God for them, recruits and foot-soldiers in the army of the Lord.

I do not suggest these people – most of whom, frankly, I regard with jealousy – are misguided. Not at all, but as I have yielded to these impulses through the years, responding in myriad ways, I can also identify with what sounds at first like “knowing God and making Him known,” a motto of many churches. Not bad, I want to suggest… but not the best response.

I must quickly explain my distinction! Citing the recognition of the “Rock of Ages” as being our refuge; and remembering that Abraham Lincoln said in response to wartime prayers, “We should not be so concerned that God is on our side, but that we are on His side,” I believe we get warmer about proper priorities.

Knowing God… desiring that we feel good about Jesus… and urging others to want to know and feel better about God… must not be our top priority. Those are good impulses, but not entirely His. Wanting to feel better about God might be a cloud-parting revelation to some people. And… inspires us, certainly, to do good deeds.

Yes, there are “fruits” of our changed lives. But pleasing God – feeling better about Him – should not take precedence over the corollary. That is, the impulses of our Holy Spirit indwelling can be parallel, not either / or.

My point is that when we know Jesus, it is not as important that we feel good about God. It is more important – essential, really – that GOD feels good about US.

In the end (literally, the End Times) he will not look so much at our deeds. Yes, we are told He may declare, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And we do tasks and works: after all, He has a calling on every believer’s life.

But a miracle-working God can do deeds independent of us; and does. He does not need us, really… except as His Plan is worked through us. And remember that the Bible reminds us to be humble – and remember priorities! – when we are told that our deeds, our “righteousness,” are like dirty rags in His sight. He is holy.

What impresses God, so to speak, is not our acts so much as our hearts. Jesus did not come in service of committees and ministries and campaigns.

He came for us.

Individuals. God sees our hearts… knows our hearts. THAT truth might make us tremble at times. But is no less truthful. God wants to feel good about our hearts and is not automatically blinded by “works.”

Listen: “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Yes! The natural response of believers will be to serve, and that is 100 per cent proper. And we desire to know Him and please Him.

But never lose sight of God’s priority – that He cares more about knowing you than anything you can do or say. How about your heart? Is it right with God?

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Click: Search Me

11-22-12

“Have a seat!” “Help yourself!” “What would you like to drink?” “Feel free to have a second helping!” Every society through history has constructed grand halls for meetings, and decorated lavish living rooms for entertaining, but common to every culture – indeed to every family – is the dining table, even the kitchen table, for conviviality. It is where we bond, relate, and confirm friendships.

Shared meals have always been the signs of sincere respect between host and guest. It is said that sleepers never lie, and perhaps that is so. But it would seem as likely that hearty hosts and welcome guests, over a prepared meal, cannot stay suspicious or hostile for long. “Ess, ess, mein kind!” “Mangia!” “Bon appétit!” “Guten apetit!” “Buono apetito!” – all the world’s invitations to the table are first marinated in friendship.

If these practice,s and customs, are parts of humanity’s DNA, then it is no surprise that we find the recipe, so to speak, in God Holy Word. Many essential points of doctrine, teaching, and examples are related to food, to dining, to hospitality, to eating, to sharing.

The Lord could have couched His warnings and conditions in the Garden in any terms, but it was eating, of the tree of knowledge amid so many other offerings, where humankind met its first test. Of all the challenges to the Hebrew children, wandering the desert for 40 years, sustenance was the most obvious – but the Lord miraculously provided manna. Jesus’ first recorded miracle was at a wedding feast, turning water into wine. A later, celebrated miracle was feeding five thousand from a few loaves and fishes. Where did Christ take leave of His disciples and ordain the possibility of receiving Him as an indwelling presence? The “Last Supper.”

And so forth. This is not a Bible Bee – these are only a few of the many examples God has used to confirm the spiritual significance of nourishment, beyond physical requirements of eating.

When we think of the imagery of a feast prepared for us in Heaven, we can recall these examples and others, ranging from the celebratory feast prepared for the prodigal son, to the signification of the Host – “Take, eat; this My body, given for you.” But we would starve ourselves, so to speak, if we do not fully appreciate the table prepared for us over yonder, in Heaven.

God does not have a simple table setting, or a mere meal, waiting for us. It will indeed be a banquet table. A buffet table is how I see it. To visit various cultures again, think of a smorgasbord, a tapas menu, a dim sum experience, a churrascaria offering. Unimaginable varieties of surprises and blessings.

In fact, we would even more starve ourselves, spiritually speaking, if we restrict the visions of a blessed banquet table to Heaven, where indeed it awaits us. But we should remember that Jesus is the Bread of Life. We have communion now. The Lord does not just promise a spiritual feast sometime later: He IS a spiritual feast. Christians can behold the buffet – there is salvation, here is healing, there is forgiveness, here is comfort, there is wisdom. All prepared for us, sweet to our taste, nourishing to our souls.

Have a seat! Help yourself!

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A video clip of a moving performance of the classic Ira Stanphill gospel song associated with Gov. Jimmie Davis and many other singers, “Suppertime.” Here it is sung by the beloved Southern Gospel singer George Younce, surrounded by friends. George was undergoing dialysis at the time, and this was his last public performance.

Click: Suppertime