All posts in category Bible

Doxology & Theology Review

I just finished reading a new book edited by Matt Boswell titled Doxology & Theology: How the Gospel Forms the Worship Leader. Throughout my life I’ve read a number of books on how to be a biblical worship leader, and have regularly felt like I have a good grasp on what the Bible says about leading worship, but this book stretched me in some very good ways and in some ways that were very uncomfortable for me.

This book was written by a number of different worship leaders from many different churches across the country (interestingly, they all seem to be from larger churches). In the first couple chapters I thought it was going to be just like a number of other books I’ve read on worship, but then I got to the third chapter, “The Worship Leader and Scripture” and realized this book was much more personal than the ones I’ve read before. In the introduction to this chapter, Michael Bleeker writes, “Our churches are filled with uninformed worshippers.” From here on out in the book I was forced to deal with many of my faults in my leading the worship through music at my local church. As soon as I got to the third chapter I thought, “well this will be the highlight of the book for me,” but then I would read the next chapter and think the same thing!

The most difficult chapter for me to read was ‘The Worship Leader and Justice,’ by Aaron Ivey. Social justice has become something of a hot topic in America and is something I personally have struggled doing. How do I pursue social justice when I live in a primarily white smaller city in Wyoming? I know the command in Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” How can I become involved in this justice that God requires of me? I’m going to be working through the implications of this chapter for a while.

For anyone that is involved in the leading of worship through music at a church, this book is a very helpful resource for personal growth and reflection. I would add it to your library and read through it with your senior pastor to help you become a stronger Christian and better equipped worship leader.

“Love Jesus. And don’t be afraid to show people that you love Him. It will help them love Him more.”

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by mikethestrand on May 24, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Church, Life, Music, Theology
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 24, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/24/doxology-theology-review/

A Gracious Theologian?

One thing I’ve discovered about myself in recent years is that as I learn new things, I’m convinced I’m an expert on them before I truly understand everything I’ve learned. I read a really good article today titled ‘Fourteen Characteristics of Theological Legalism.‘ Michael Patton, a professor at Dallas Seminary wrote:

Theological legalism is nothing new (and such is certainly not limited to the world of theology). Think of the Pharisees who, according to Christ, strained out gnats and swallowed camels (Matt. 23:24). To the theological legalist, there is no such thing as gnats. Christ spoke of the weightier things of the Law (Matt. 23:23). To the doctrinal legalist, all issues are of equal weight. Paul spoke of things of “first importance” (1 Cor. 15:3); to those who are theological Pharisees, everything comes in first place, there is rarely, if ever, a second.

He then goes on to list 14 ways that show someone who is a theological legalist, and finally, says,

If you love theology, please be the first to put on the attitude of humility. When someone speaks about you in this regard, don’t have your goal to for others to think you are smart or right, but humble and meek. When others talk about your personality with regard to theological discourse, would they say you are arrogant and legalistic, or gracious and meek? This does not mean we sacrifice our passions or beliefs, it just means we temper ourselves for the sake of the Gospel. The truth is too important for us to lose our witness due to theological legalism.

I’ve seen this in my own life, as well as the lives of many of my friends. In college, I discovered that I was reformed, and was convinced only those who were reformed were true believers. Then I discovered I was a Calvinist and was convinced anyone who didn’t hold to the “TULIP” was either uniformed, unintelligent or not a true believer. Yes, we should be a people who are studying the things of God (i.e. theology) but may that knowledge be used to build up others in the body. As I’ve come to know many people who are far smarter and learned than I am, I am continually amazed by their humility and graciousness. These men who are some of the experts in their field took time to stop and talk to me and ask about the ministries I’m involved in, yet I often have trouble “lowering” myself to talk to someone who is an Arminian. What is my problem? I hope and pray that as I continue to grow in my understanding of God, that I am a humble and gracious theologian, one who not only intellectually knows God, but who lives out the things I know so that I may grow to be more like Christ in my everyday life.

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by mikethestrand on May 23, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 23, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/23/a-gracious-theologian/

Why Do I Go to Church?

Everyone’s heard the statistics, a majority of the students in our churches will end up abandoning the church once they leave the home (18-20) and then somehow stumble back into the church in their 30s, seemingly without missing anything the church has done. I know many people who view church as not much more than a club for them to be members at, and it looks good to the people around you to go to church. Unfortunately, this is a profound misunderstanding of the church! So why do I, as a 24 year old single male go to church, besides the fact that it’s my job?

  • I really enjoy going to church. I don’t know of any other place where I can interact with people ranging in age from infants to late 80s. Most of these people aren’t those that I would generally choose to spend a great deal of time with, but because of Christ in both of our lives, we have Him in common! It’s a joy to get down on a knee and hear about a 2 year olds new bike helmet, and then turn the corner and get a hug from an 80 year old woman who told me she was praying for me this week.
  • We, as a congregation, reflect God’s purpose for his people. I’m reading ‘Doxology & Theology‘ which says, “Through the work of worship we “become something corporate.” We become the body of Christ, we become the bride of the King” (125). This flies in stark contrast to our individualistic American society where we are so focused on ourselves that we have trouble seeing anyone else around us.
  • I’m going to be spending eternity with Christ’s bride, the church. I need to learn how to love the people in my church who are different from me, because, as was just said, we together make up the body of Christ. I need to spend time with those I don’t always see eye to eye with in order to grow in my areas of weakness.
  • Last, but most certainly not least, is because the Bible commands me to go to church. Hebrews 10:25 says, “do not neglect meeting together, as is the habit of some.” This verse could have been written to many people today! We are commanded to meet together because together we make of the body of Christ.

For me, going to church has never been an option, and I haven’t always gone joyfully, but through God’s grace, I’ve learned to enjoy the imperfect church we have on earth. Why do you go to church? What are some of the excuses you’ve heard for why people have given up on the church?

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by mikethestrand on May 20, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 20, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/20/why-do-i-go-to-church/

Awful At Being In Awe

Hebrews 12 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. It starts off with such a beautiful picture of those who have gone before us and points everything to Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith.” But then the passage goes on to talk about entering in to the presence of God and ends by saying, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” This fire brings to my mind a couple occurrences of fire in the Old Testament. First, a fire that led the people of Israel through the wilderness (Exodus 13:21), and secondly a fire that consumed a very wet offering that Elijah gave to God on the top of Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18). How often do we view God as a consuming fire? Perfectly holy and just and apart from a perfect sacrifice unable to have anything to do with sin.

Many people I’ve talked to do not want anything to do with God’s holiness. They insist that God’s love covers over any other attribute he may have, and while it’s true that God is love (1 John 4:8), if that’s the only characteristic we have of God, we have an incomplete and false perception of him. One of the books I’d recommend on this article is ‘The Hole in Our Holiness‘ by Kevin DeYoung. We, generally, are awful at being in awe of God. We too often turn the glory in on ourselves instead of marveling at the incredible creator who cares about the intricacies of our lives. As I once heard Matt Chandler say, you never hear anyone stand in the Grand Canyon and talk about how much they can bench. That would be ridiculous! But we will look at the God who created the universe and try to tell him how much he owes us.

How can you work at being more in awe of God this week? How can you encourage your church to be more in awe of God?

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by mikethestrand on May 17, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Bible, Blog, Life, Theology
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 17, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/17/awful-at-being-in-awe/

What One Thing Do You Have?

Kevin DeYoung wrote a blog today titled ‘If All You Have Is A Hammer.’ He finishes the thought by saying, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” So many times and of so many people in the church this is true of them. They insist that they are the hammer and they view everything through a specific lens. To whom is Kevin referring with this? He says,

What do I have in mind? No one in particular but lots of things in general. The Christian who blames everything on fundamentalism and relates every story to their upbringing where they had to wear long skirts and watch Lawrence Welk. The feminist who sees the oppression of woman in every tweet. The conservative who can only sound the alarm of cultural declension. The Presbyterian who relates everything to the regulative principle. The church critic who sees every weakness as an expression of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. The gospel-loving saint who smells legalism in every exhortation against vice and in every celebration of virtue. The philosopher who has concluded that every problem boils down to epistemology or the one and the many or whatever. The academic who thinks everything that ails the church finds its roots in whatever he wrote for his dissertation. The revisionist who is confident that the church is all out of sorts because of Greek thinking, Constantine, or Old Princeton. The wounded soul who can’t see past his own hurts or makes it her life mission to rage against the machine. The liberal who can’t stop talking about tolerance and dialogue. The Sunday school teacher who finds a reason in every class to beat on Charles Finney. The peacemaker who sees every conflict as a third way waiting to happen.

I know many people who have their one issue that they view the world through instead of through the whole of Scripture. From the people who think we can only sing one genre in church, to the people who still think dancing is a sin, to the people who view everything as an end times prophecy. This is one of the many reasons we need to read through the whole of the Bible regularly. We don’t get to pick and choose the things we make important, God does. Now this doesn’t mean that the things Kevin listed aren’t important, they are! BUT if that’s the only thing you have to talk about and you refuse to look at the other things God is doing through other people you are living life incorrectly. I’ve been reflecting on Philippians the past couple weeks, and think we all could take an example from Christ

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

Philippians 2:4-7

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by mikethestrand on May 16, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 16, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/16/what-one-thing-do-you-have/

Practicing for Heaven

Do you ever practice for anything? I have at least one practice every week for music on Sundays, and usually I have two practices. When I was growing up I practiced basketball for hours on end and my parents forced me to practice piano. These days my practice generally falls into two categories: reading and music. I read so I can grow in my knowledge of God and I practice music because I love it and because it’s part of my job.

Have you ever thought about anything on earth that we are practicing for heaven? My dad wrote a couple pieces recently on music (The Church’s Corporate Singing: Reflecting the Now and the Not-Yet-Ness of the Kingdom, and The Singing Church: Praise, Prayer and Proclamation). I also just recently finished reading ‘Rhythms of Grace‘ by Mike Cosper, a fantastic book I strongly recommend if you think through anything related to worship. Through my dialogue with my dad and reading that book I was reminded that singing songs together today is practicing for what we will one day do in heaven. 1 Corinthians 13, the famous love chapter says, “As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” So many things people on earth put so much stock in today will eventually pass away, and what will remain? God’s love.

Revelation also paints a picture of us singing praises to our God, starting in Revelation 4 with the four creatures and twenty-four elders, continuing in Revelation 15 singing the song of Moses, and finally the great multitude in heaven praising God in Revelation 19. We are a people who sing praises to our God, and we are a people who will be singing praises to God for all eternity. Preaching will someday be done, because we will be in the very presence of God! Teaching will someday cease because God will reveal himself to us! But singing is something we will get to do for all eternity. So do you regularly sing praises to God, or are you too worried about what those around you will think? Do you view singing as a way to practice for heaven?

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by mikethestrand on May 8, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 8, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/08/practicing-for-heaven/

Always Content

One thing that’s been on my mind a lot recently is that I’m turning 25 this year. Now I know in the big scheme of things and compared to many of the people that I spend a good deal of time with, that isn’t very old, but I sure do feel it. “I feel thin, stretched, sort of like butter scraped over too much bread,” in the wise words of Bilbo Baggins. This has led to the beginnings of a quarter-life crisis for me: what am I doing with my life and why? One of my reactions to that is to begin my seminary training, but the other thing I’m learning to do is to always be content. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I know so many people who complain about living in Cheyenne, Wyoming which isn’t the thriving metropolis of a Denver or Minneapolis. Yet as Mark Driscoll says, the boring seems to follow them wherever they live.

I found an article titled ‘40 and Content,’ that gets this exact point. The main thrust of the article is: “Question: Instead of obsessing about changing the world, what if we just gave ourselves to living in glad obedience to Jesus in the trenches of an ordinary life?” That is a great question! In Paul David Tripp’s book ‘What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage‘ he says that life isn’t made up of a number of big choices, but of thousands of daily little choices. Being healthy isn’t one big decision to work out once and be done, but a daily decision to work out and eat healthier. Can you be content with an “ordinary” life lived in complete surrender to God?

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by mikethestrand on May 8, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 8, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/08/always-content/

On Avoiding Christian Scholarship

On an incredibly exciting note for myself, I am planning to begin my seminary education this fall! Cue the obscene amounts of caffeine and late nights. One of the things I struggle with in my pursuit of higher education is how to apply a text to my life and not just allow it to be an academic pursuit. Throughout most of my undergraduate education (pretty much until my final year of school) I was simply trying to get a passing grade in my classes until it suddenly struck me that I need to be applying what I learned to my life! (See Luke 12:48)

I found a very interesting post titled ‘On Avoiding Kierkegaard’s Indictment of Christian Scholarship‘ that is worth reading. Kierkegaard begins by saying,

The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in this world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.

What a scathing review of the academic pursuit of a believer! Yes, it is incredibly convicting to be alone with the New Testament, but because of my academic training and some very godly teachers, I have a proper lens through which to view the Scripture I’m reading. I know so many people who have a wrong interpretation of Scripture that ends up dictating their life (God helps those who help themselves, don’t judge lest you be judged). Without a proper background and training it’s so easy to pick and choose the pieces of the Bible you want to apply.

So I’m going to enter into seminary with a different perspective than I entered my undergrad work: with my eyes wide open to see how God wants to further rule in my life as I attempt to apply Scripture to my life. May He alone get all the glory!

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by mikethestrand on May 8, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 8, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/08/on-avoiding-christian-scholarship/

Preparing Your Hearts and Minds

What do you do to prepare yourself for the gathering of God’s people on Sunday? Do you even take any time to prepare for this special meeting, or are you too concerned with getting there on time with everyone’s clothes on and hair combed?

One of the things I’ve been pondering lately is how I can help people to prepare for Sunday worship. Should we encouraged people to read and ponder the passage that will be preached the next week? Should we give thoughts for people to think about throughout the coming week? And if we do this, how many people would actually put in the effort to read and prepare?

It seems to me that many people assume that the only person who needs to prepare for Sunday’s worship service is the pastor. Yet Luke 8:18 says, “Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” Those in the congregation need to attentively and actively listen.

A blog titled ‘Let the Word of Christ Dwell in You Richly‘ has the following example of this in the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

Bonhoeffer ran an underground seminary for theological students during the oppressive years of Nazi Germany. He was a very intelligent man who possessed immense critical capabilities. But in his homiletics classes as he listened to his students preaching, he always set aside his pencil and listened intently with his Bible open before him – no matter how poor the sermon was.

He believed that the preaching of God’s Word ought to be attended as if he were listening to the very voice of God. That is how I try to listen too – always looking to the text, always engaged, always thinking, always praying.

Jesus has called us to be sure we really hear the Word of God.

How attentively do you listen to the sermons in your church? How do you prepare for the Word to be preached? And if you do not do either of these things, why don’t you?

–For more on how to listen to a sermon, check out this blog.

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by mikethestrand on May 1, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 1, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/01/preparing-your-hearts-and-minds/

Lead the Church and Family

I found a fantastic article today titled, ‘Leading the Church While Leading Your Family.’ I was again reminded how grateful I am for my dad who, although he didn’t always put the family first, he still does his best to put us first. I’m grateful for the example of my dad and pray for the strength to put my family first when I, Lord wiling, have one. One of my favorite things from the article is:

Fourth, little things really do matter. Every night when I would say goodnight to my children, I would usually pray with them and then my last words to them were, “I love you. I will always love you and there is nothing that you can do that will ever make me stop loving you.” (There were times I would have to add, “But don’t push it!”) I did this night after night, year after year, until when I started in they would say with a sigh, “Yeah, I know Dad, and there is nothing that I can do that will ever make you stop loving me.” And I would respond, “And don’t you ever forget it.”

I wanted them to know that what I attempted to do imperfectly was done for them perfectly by God through Christ. I wanted them to know their acceptance and security was not rooted in their grades, awards, achievements, and success as the world defined it. They heard this before solos, piano competitions, spelling bees, basketball and soccer games, final exams, college entrance exams, and every night before bed.

One day I was at a track meet for my youngest daughter. I was screaming loudly as she ran her event when my other daughter called from college in great distress. She was facing a test of monumental importance that would determine the success or failure of her entire degree program, and she felt that she was cracking under the pressure. Four years was resting all on this! I reminded her that she was not sufficient for this, but that her confidence and rest was in Christ. I was eleven hours away. With my fist pumping the air for my youngest who was crossing the finish line in record time, I cried with my other daughter and prayed with her to rest in Christ. Then I said again. “Remember, I love you, I will always love and there is nothing that you can do to ever make me stop loving you.” She knew I would tell her that and just wanted to hear it.

What would your family say about you? For those of you who are single, what about the people in your church and your siblings and parents? Is Christ leading and guiding all your relationships?

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by mikethestrand on April 5, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on April 5, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/04/05/lead-the-church-and-family/

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