Even More Steel

Food for Thought

I know some will disagree with me and probably some who will get mad at me but I really think Christians often time get caught up in the wrong battles. I love what a pastor in Portland named Rick McKinley said in an article forwarded to me. He said, "Christians get all bent out of shape over the fact that someone didn't say 'Merry Christmas' when I walked into the store. But why are we expecting the store to tell our story? That's just ridiculous."

I could not agree more. I realize there is a cultural war going on and there are times when the church and Christians should stand up for what’s right. Saying we are only here to win people to Jesus sounds good but Jesus stood for things and we should as well. We are to be salt and light Christians. But making a huge deal over the secular word not saying Merry Christmas is not the battle we need to worry about. After all, while Christmas (December 25) is not wrong and can be used to point people to Jesus it is a manmade holiday not a biblical thing.

McKinley goes on to talk about how the Christian battle should be to encourage believers to stop making it about shopping, going into debt and getting overly caught up in the consumerism part of Christmas. He supports a movement that focuses on something called Advent Conspiracy which would make an interesting discussion in a different post sometime in the future.

Songs We Sing (12.13.2009)

We occasionally get asked what this or that song was after services. So, I thought I'd provide a small service to CCJ'ers and the general lurkers out there. I'll list each song and give you the original artist and/or songwriter and a few details. If you'd like to purchase the original song, I suggest using iTunes or Amazon's MP3 Store.

For the services of December 13, 2009, we sang:

Awesome Is The Lord Most High
Written by Cary Pierce, Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Jon Abel, 2006. This song appears on the Chris Tomlin album "See The Morning." More and more CCJ'ers are paying attention to the chorus. :-)

Little Drummer Boy
Written by Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone, 1941. This is, of course, not a true story. It does, however, give us a story of something we should strive for - to bring Jesus what we have whatever our circumstances. Our talents have been given to us by God, we should give them back to Him.

O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Written by Phillips Brooks, 1867. Music by Lewis Redner, 1868.

I Celebrate The Day
Written by Matt Thiessen, 2003. I love this new song about a fresh look at Christ's birth. Get it free for a limited time here.

What Child Is This?
Written by William C. Dix, 1865. Music: "Greensleeves," 16th Century English melody.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Author unknown (i.e. this one is VERY old - like 12th Century old). Get Narrow Path's version via the iTunes Store. First service folks ... we really messed this one up today. :-(

Church of Steel (Day 2)

This is a thing of beauty. :-)

Look, Up In The Sky ...

Look what started going up today. It's like it's actually happening or something.

;-)

I Celebrate The Day

We are singing this song at the end of the sermon "The Story of Christmas: The Promise of Jesus" this Sunday at CCJ. It's unfamiliar to most, I would guess, so this is a bit of a primer for you. Great words to this song.

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You've touched my life
Because here is where You're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare the things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

Songs We Sing (12.06.2009)

We occasionally get asked what this or that song was after services. So, I thought I'd provide a small service to CCJ'ers and the general lurkers out there. I'll list each song and give you the original artist and/or songwriter and a few details. If you'd like to purchase the original song, I suggest using iTunes or Amazon's MP3 Store.

For the services of December 6, 2009, we sang:

All Bow Down
Written by Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, 2004. From Tomlin's album "Arriving." We've added a wee bit more, uh, funk, to this one.

The Glory Of Your Name
Written by Christy Nockels, Nathan Nockels, 2004. This song can be found on Watermark's album "The Purest Place." (mp3 here). I love the words to this one.

CCJ Christmas Medley (Kings/Faithful/Hark)
"We Three Kings" written by John H. Hopkins Jr., 1857. "O Come All Ye Faithful" written by John Wade, 1743. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" written by Charles Wesley, 1739. I love kicking off the Christmas season with this one (as you get three songs in one and about 4 different styles of music as well). Hope you enjoyed this one. We had a blast practicing it the other night. Laughter all around. :-)

Here I Am To Worship
Written by Tim Hughes, 2000. From Tim Hughes' album "Here I Am To Worship." (mp3 here).

Mission's Flame
Written by Matt Redman, 2004. From Redman's album "Facedown." (mp3 here). This is a song I wish I could write. Such great words.

Here Is Love
Written by William Rees, sometime in the mid- to late-1800s. Music by Robert Lowry, 1876.Arrangement by Ex Nihilo and Narrow Path (we put our own spin on an arrangement by Mars Hill Church - Seattle - band Ex Nihilo). Their version is available here. It is pretty similar to ours (but more inde rock instead of our power-pop/modern rock approach).

No Fear

I find all kinds of good stuff at my friend Jared's blog. He has a great one today about us often having the spirit of fear.

A snippet:
What are we afraid of now?

- That liberals will take God out of America. (As if that was possible.)

- That Democrats will pass bad laws.

- That stores will say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."

There's a lot more, and most of them are of the culture war variety. Politics and social concerns. You may think these are all valid issues, and some of them are, but the way they grip the evangelical's attention and the way they drive him and her into anxiety, preoccupation, anger, obsession are all evidences of the spirit of fear.

The difference maker is this: Is God sovereign or not? Is Jesus risen and now sitting on the throne or not? If so: Relax.

Go read the whole thing here.

Random Thoughts

--- Boy them Saints are good

---- Boy them Browns are bad

---- As Jeremy Patton says, “The game is not over until the Colts are ahead”

---- Am I the only one who thinks if no crimes were committed that Tiger Wood’s family life is none of my business?

---- I can’t believe its December already

---- Happy Birthday to Kyley Wood

---- I am excited for a family trip Friday and Saturday

That’s all