The Lord's Prayer – Jesus

It’s a unique message, but do we realize that when we vocalize it? Perhaps we say the words so often that sometimes we do so without giving them much thought. Were the original hearers appreciative of its value when they heard the God-man utter “The Lord’s Prayer”? Jesus was trying to say something that the Apostles and others within earshot would apply in daily life, something that would be genuine before God. Just how important is it really, to pray correctly? After all, it’s just a few words between Him and me, not really involving anyone else. Are there not other significant worship acts that He cares about more? Jesus does mention a couple of others in close proximity to His instruction on prayer, but He seems to say something common in regard to exercising all three of them. What He says should make me reevaluate how visible my worship should be.

Jesus probably was in his early 30s, at least as a human being, when He found Himself before a large crowd seeking to hear what He’d say about life’s meaning.  He addressed many issues during His long talk (according to Matthew’s account, chapters 5-7), but at around the halfway point, He taught them how to pray. There were two other religious customs He likewise told them to re-examine, implying that they had been doing or thinking incorrectly about these things. Giving to the needy and fasting surround Jesus’ discourse on prayer, so contextually He is trying to let them into His mind regarding three pretty common worship practices. At least two of these – giving and praying – are still routinely followed by believers today, and the third (fasting) is a perhaps more exceptional devotional tool for true believers seeking Him in worship. In all three, Jesus says to either do my worshipping in solitude (giving and praying) or make it not easily detectable to others (fasting). ‘Don’t do it this way, do it thus…’ is Jesus opening for each of the three, indicating there must have been lots of so-called religious people who were showboating when they gave, prayed, and fasted. Yet, Jesus recognized that public praying was a fact of religious life, evident in the words He employs in His prayer-teaching (Matthew 6:9-13). He begins with ‘Our Father’, and similarly uses ‘us’  and other plural pronouns in the following few verses, signaling that He understood that praying among crowds, perhaps even very large ones, would be appropriate.  But, keep it short and simple, He says. In a nutshell, He says to enthrone Him and ask only for the basic physical and spiritual necessities. God honors that which is offered in humble submission, each of us realizing his position in relation to one another and before Him.

Not many words, but they are sufficient when one’s heart contains the impulses to do what He motivates me toward. Perhaps that’s one of the unspoken messages of Jesus’ teaching before the crowd. If I say a lot of flowery words on Sunday that others applaud, should I wonder if I’ve hit the mark? Jesus might say ‘yes’, if what I do on Monday turns His stomach, meaning I don’t practice the eloquence I verbalized the previous day. Am I really capable of superbly managing my world, the other people with whom I associate, not to mention my own urges? That’s where my prayer-rubber meets the road, so someone says. Perhaps I shouldn’t say more on Sunday than I can deliver in the following six days. Maybe that’s what Jesus was trying to tell me on that mountainside.        

The only resource used for this song story is the bible (New International Version Study Bible, and accompanying notes/charts, General Editor Kenneth Barker, 1985, Zondervan Corporation.)

I Gave My Life for Thee -- Francis Ridley Havergal

Was it because His body looks horribly scarred? Or was it the blood that’s dripping down His forehead? Instead, was Frances R. Havergal overcome by the look of resignation on His face, His hands bound? The inscription below the painting (see it here) also must have stuck with her that day in Dusseldorf, as she contemplated its import and scratched out the first few words of “I Gave My Life for Thee” while sitting in that mid-19^th Century gallery. She wasn’t the first person to be moved by staring at Christ’s beaten visage, but what she created from that moment is somewhat rare. Read on to see why.

Havergal was no doubt influenced by many factors that 1858 day in Germany as she gazed upon the painting called Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) and composed something special as a result. Not the least of these influences was her father William, a minister and writer and hymnist also, who would have a profound impact on his daughter, including in her development of this hymn. This 22-year old was affected deeply by the painting, and its message got inside of her, particularly the caption that she echoes in the song’s first verse. Yet, the poem she began that day she nearly discarded in the flames of a stove, thinking it was a failure. It’s said the paper was inexplicably saved from the fire, and then found by William who urged Frances to persist in its development. What he saw in it we do not know, but perhaps it was the poetry’s rare quality that makes it so different from most other hymns. Pick any church hymnal, and you’ll notice that most of what we believers sing is from us to Him. Frances Havergal sensed something else, in a different direction entirely as she composed.  Her words have us vocalize Jesus’ words, from Him to us, and then back to Him again. One might deduce that Frances had the Spirit from deep inside her being coaching her efforts that day.  How else might one create something that stands apart from most other music?  

‘Who’s the audience for what I’m singing?’, her words make me wonder. Am I really thinking about the words and their origin? What must it have been like for Jesus to leave His home, endure agonizing torture, die in disgrace, and then offer rescue to the people who killed Him? Those are the four divine sacrifices that Frances must have been mulling over, and her own answers to them. How could I mimic Jesus? As I think about the audience, about Frances’ audience in 1858, I come upon something I don’t often consider as I sing and offer praise. He’s not just above. He’s also inside, urging me, coaxing me, convicting me if necessary. Jesus listened to His insides, and He asks me to do the same. That’s how I can start to imitate Him. Am I listening to what’s coming from inside? Are you?

    

 Information on the song was obtained from the books  “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990, Kregel Publications; “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; and “Then Sings My Soul”, by Robert J. Morgan, 2003, Thomas Nelson, Inc.   

See this site for further biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Ridley_Havergal

Arise, My Love – Eddie Carswell

 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Eddie Carswell is a guy from Georgia, who formed a music group with three friends at a church in Valdosta in 1981. NewSong is its name, and though it has had a lot of turnover in members during the last 30 years, Carswell is still there, seemingly as energized as ever with the group’s objective – spreading the Good News. One of NewSong’s most well-known efforts, “Arise, My Love”, is likewise still going strong. What makes it so popular? What was its composer thinking or feeling that made his creativity so inspired in 1987? Let’s see what may be there below the surface that isn’t well-advertised.

Carswell and one of the other founding members of NewSong, Billy Goodwin (the other two friends that were part of the original four group members were Eddie Middleton and Bobby Apon) say that their group’s formation was a calling. It was a faith that they exercised and handed to God to do with as He saw fit. They felt, and still feel, that this faithful God is doing great things every day. Perhaps that was the attitude (straight from 1 Thessalonians 5:24) that spurred Eddie to write the song in 1987 that remains such a favorite today. Imagine a guy, probably a 20-something?, in 1987 who was exercising his sense that God is potent and dependable. What would he write? Looking at the words that emerged from Carswell’s consciousness, “Arise, My Love” has many words to draw upon from the Bible for its storyline, but he tells us something more.  We know there were soldiers guarding Jesus’ grave, that it had been three days, that a great tremor and an angel accompanied His resurrection, striking these hardened soldiers with terror. What a scene, one that Carswell recalls in his music with a passion to match the Matthewian account of this historic, time-splitting moment. What - or Who - could cause such a moment, except the call of the Father? Every believer knows He must have been responsible for the resurrection, but Carswell puts it into words for us – the Father said “Arise”.  It’s special, and even surreal, that I’m in a position, when I sing this song, of voicing for God the words He called out to His son that day. What a calling it must have been to raise Jesus! 

 Not much more explanation seems necessary to rationalize why “Arise, My Love” remains among NewSong’s most well-known hits. We don’t know what particularly spoke to Eddie as he wrote, but we can surmise that he longs for the resurrection as any Christian does. Carswell, like me or you, can no doubt think of loved ones or himself being called home. The album that NewSong produced in 1987 -- it’s entitled ‘Say Yes!’ -- may say something about what Carswell and his bandmates were feeling then too. The resurrection is a fist-pumping, ‘yes!’ moment. It’s one in which we’ll all recall what the writer meant, really, when he wrote to the Thessalonians. It’s what the Nike commercials tell us. God will ‘just do it’.   

Biographic information on the composer and the group New Song at these sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NewSong

http://www.newsongonline.com/home.php

 http://christianmusic.about.com/od/interviewsmz/p/prnewsong.htm

http://www.cbanews.org/article.php?id=933

The Lord Is In His Holy Temple -- God

Habakkuk, William Kirkpatrick, and God. What do these people have in common? One being is timeless, another one lived some 2,600 years ago, and another is a relative babe compared to the other two (he lived in the 19th and early 20th Centuries). Yet, they all knew the words “The Lord Is In His Holy Temple”, a song that is one of the more unique compositions among Christian songs. Oh, the words seem pretty familiar, exhorting the audience (fellow Christians) to hold Him in reverence (perhaps as Solomon and the Israelites did, see the picture). But, who wrote the words? It might surprise you, as the exploration of the song did for me.

William Kirkpatrick wrote the music for the song in 1900, and the words first appeared in the prophet Habakkuk’s brief volume (Habakkuk 2:20) that was written in probably the 7th Century B.C (the 600s), but the words are not composed by the prophet. Instead, they are God’s. Habakkuk is sharing his angst with the Lord over injustice in the southern kingdom, and then his shock over God’s solution – sending Babylonia to punish the nation. The context of God’s song verse (2:20) is His discourse about idol worship’s futility, versus the True God. What has brought God to this point? Judah had survived the foreign invader longer than its northern neighbor, Israel, but by 605 B.C. (the approximate time of Habakkuk’s conversation with God) the Lord had seen enough. Idolatry, among other evils, permeated the nation. Habakkuk and his contemporary prophet Jeremiah could both see the approach of destruction. It came after decades of descent, telling us God was indeed patient with disobedience. Though resolute in His punishment on the people, He was not without compassion, for Babylonia would eventually be vanquished. ‘I am still GOD’, He seems to be saying with this verse. A nation will walk away from me, will be punished by evil invaders, and will be restored again – and I, the great I AM, am still here. Where have your idols gotten you?

Had God grown tired of Judah’s national waffle? Unlike Israel, which had a spate of evil kings for all of its 200 years (around 933 – 722 B.C.), Judah had been washed back and forth as bad and good kings reigned throughout its 350-year existence (933-586 B.C), first snubbing Him, then re-embracing Him. How would a volatile relationship like this work if it were person-to-person? I think it’s called divorce, usually, for most people who want stability and fidelity will tolerate nothing less. Think of it on God’s level, who regards time in eons, if you can. ‘Either choose me, or leave me’, He must have thought . And, this wasn’t the first era like this. Remember the 300 years of judges (roughly 1400 – 1100 B.C.) ? Can you hear Him saying ‘What else do I need to do to convince them? If they could just see things the way I do! ‘ Can you see the wheels turning in His head, later ? ‘Hey, what if I could get them to see me?’ I’m in heaven, my holy temple. Would it work if I visited them there, and became like them…? Hey, Jesus, I have an idea….’

See the following link for information about William Kirkpatrick: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/k/i/r/kirkpatrick_wj.htm

In Remembrance – Ragan Courtney and Buryl Red

I’m a signpost. I hope that I’m a good one for God, and as I offer this scoop, I’m a double-signpost, one who’s pointing to a fellow signpost named Ragan Courtney, who in turn is engaged in pointing us to the Holy One. He offers this scoop in his own words below, telling us how he came to write the words in the song “In Remembrance”, and also how he felt when he heard the music that Buryl Red composed, bonding with his words and making this poignant melody. Its beauty and its viewpoint suggest to the worshipper that God is speaking to us – and that makes its message impossible to ignore. This song was written for the musical "Celebrate Life!" The Baptist Sunday School Board had asked me and Buryl Red to write yet another musical cantata to reinforce some particular catichemisic ideas for young people. It was not something that I found particularly exciting, so I put it off as I was busy with my life in the theater in New York City. A musical that I had written and acted in on Broadway had just closed and I had to face the fact that I had failed at my life's dream. In a deep scene of failure and depression, I went to an island in the Caribbean to try and recoup some sense of self esteem. I became deeper and deeper depressed, and in despair tried to take my own life. In the attempt, I was powerfully reminded that God loved me even as a failure. I turned from brokenness and found that Christ was there for me. In this renewal I began writing the book and lyrics to "Celebrate Life!" In the euphoric high of a new beginning, I understood the powerful words of the title that the Baptist had given me as a new musical work; but, suddenly, it was full of possibilities and I wrote it very quickly. If I had missed the gospel most of my life, perhaps others had done the same thing. I need to tell them that life in Christ is a celebration. I remember writing "In Remembrance" so quickly that I thought that it could not be a very good lyric. It poured out of my pen effortlessly. A couple of months later after I heard the music that Buryl had set to my words, I was stunned at its beauty. I really had no idea. Now years later it is in many hymnals and I hear from people all around the world who have used this song to aid them in worship. "Open your heart and let your brother in" the lyric says. That is what I did thirty-nine years ago and I am still celebrating! Ragan Courtney Thanks to Ragan! Your authentic story makes God’s movement in the song you and Buryl wrote very special and memorable. It’s great to remember that Jesus gave His life, and saved yours so He could touch you to write this song for all of us. What a great God! The text of Ragan Courtney’s story is from an e:mail he shared with me on 6/21/2010. http://www.sanctuaryaustin.com/about.html

(site of the Sanctuary Church where the Courtneys minister) http://www.worldinprayer.org/class/Blessings.pdf

( the song is part of the musical ‘Celebrate Life’)

Be Still and Know -- Anonymous

I cannot say I’ve ever met someone with a messianic complex, have you? Oh, lots of individuals think pretty highly of themselves, and maybe even some could be classified as true nutburgers that really believer in some warped way that they are a divine gift to the rest of us. But really, what would it be like to hear the following sincere words that go something like this? ‘I’m the Lord God, and you can be certain of this, so you’d better listen to me if you want me to help you’. No sane person would claim the copyright on this statement. Only the true God Himself could author words like that, and back them up with action. Perhaps that’s why this song “Be Still and Know” has no acknowledged composer by name.


Although the song “Be Still and Know” has no earthly individual composer that is known, its inspiration can be traced with some specificity. The words that match the song’s title may be from one of the Psalms – Psalm 46:10. Commentators and editors of the Bible indicate that some professional worshippers, Korahites, may have been the originators of the words written in that Psalm, and therefore the composers of at least some of the words that we sing. Korahites were not just any worshippers, but as the name suggests they were descendents of Korah, the great-grandson of Levi. He was a privileged servant in tabernacle worship, but in his conceit and jealousy for more, he rebelled against Moses (Numbers 16). And so, God had him swallowed up in the earth, along with scores of others, because of his impudence. Do you think generations later, the oral history of Korah’s demise was remembered by his descendents? Check out the other words in Psalm 46, and God spells out the context of ‘being still’ before Him. There’s turmoil on earth, fighting that God terminates (v. 9) so that the creation will be silent and in awe of Him. I have thought of “Be Still and Know” as a tender, soft prompting by God, but thinking of Korah, I wonder if this isn’t instead a warning that his grandkids and great-grandkids want me to heed. The words of a 2nd verse of “Be Still and Know” -- that the Lord strengthens us – may have derived from the ages in which God promises healing (Exodus 15:26). Which one of us doesn’t need this promise, either physically or spiritually? Perhaps this original pledge to Moses’ people for deliverance from Egypt is the same one that prophets (Isaiah 41:10 or Zechariah 10:6) picked up later and echoed for worshippers.

There’s a hope ringing in these words for us who feel beaten. If not now on earth, then later, I hear Him say. Does worship really connect me with Him, one might legitimately ask? If I pay attention to the words, it seems the intended audience of most of the songs I sing are either others around me or God Himself – both very appropriate, as I edify others or offer my praise directly to Him. “Be Still and Know” is most unusual, because the singer is actually God, who’s using my voice to vocalize His message directly into my being. I become His audience. Someone might say ‘all worship songs are from God’ if a composer allows the Spirit to work in their creation. True. I don’t have to be retold that truth in“Be Still and Know” – I just listen.

Information on Psalm 46 and other Bible verses from which part of the song “Be Still and Know” may have sprung was obtained from study notes in the NIV Study Bible, copyright 1985 by the Zondervan Corporation, general editor Kenneth Barker and associate editors Donald Burdick, John Stek, Walter Wessel, and Ronald Youngblood.