“Remember” is found in our pew Bible 159 times, whereas “Grace” is found only 116. Maybe “remember” is in there more because remembering instances of God’s grace in the past help prepare us to receive God’s grace now and in the future.
I thought of this the other night at Music in the Park. Norville Dollar invited a lady from the audience to come up and sing a song. I didn’t catch the lady’s name, but she was an entertainer herself and did a good job singing the old Patti Page song, “Tennessee Waltz.”
What was the first song you remember singing? One of the first one I remember singing as a child was “Tennessee Waltz.” I sang along with Patti Page on the radio. A couple of years later I liked another of her songs even better, “How Much is That Doggie in the Window.”
Patti Page was the “Singing Rage” in the 1950s. Even when music changed in the sixties and seventies and eighties she kept on singing.
Five or so years ago I was recording a church ad at a radio station in Albuquerque. As I was walking out, I held the door open for a lady who was coming in the station. I didn’t think anything about it until a few minutes later when I tuned in to that same radio station on my way back to the church. I had held the door open for Patti Page!
She was doing a concert in the Santa Fe area, and the station asked her to drop by for an interview. She was in her late seventies at the time. If I had “remembered” to look at the programming log on the studio wall, I would have known she was coming in and could have thanked her for the “Waltz.” I might have even asked her if she had any free tickets to her concert. -DJ
Monday, August 29, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Pastor's Column August 21, 2011
There is a sort of question that goes, “If you had the ability to live your life again, would you choose the life you’re living now?” People who ask this question tend to follow up with, “If not, then why are you living your present life? Change, do something about it.”
Such a question and follow-up are not Christian in origin. To “do something about it” implies that that we can change simply by the exertion of willpower to a different life. Sure, we can change some things, but many we can’t. We can’t change a chronic illness, we can’t change the immediate effects of the recession, and we shouldn’t break those commitments by which others rely on us. Plus life happens. No sooner might one get to the point of liking his/her life than circumstances change yet again.
Perhaps a better question is, “If you had the ability to live your life again, would you make the same choices that you are making now?” And the follow-up, “Why are you making the choices you’re making now?” And a follow-up to that, “Are there choices that you could make differently?”
Joshua confronts his idolatrous people with a choice that they can make and one that makes a big difference. “Choose this day whom you will serve…As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24: 14,15) -DJ
Such a question and follow-up are not Christian in origin. To “do something about it” implies that that we can change simply by the exertion of willpower to a different life. Sure, we can change some things, but many we can’t. We can’t change a chronic illness, we can’t change the immediate effects of the recession, and we shouldn’t break those commitments by which others rely on us. Plus life happens. No sooner might one get to the point of liking his/her life than circumstances change yet again.
Perhaps a better question is, “If you had the ability to live your life again, would you make the same choices that you are making now?” And the follow-up, “Why are you making the choices you’re making now?” And a follow-up to that, “Are there choices that you could make differently?”
Joshua confronts his idolatrous people with a choice that they can make and one that makes a big difference. “Choose this day whom you will serve…As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24: 14,15) -DJ
Monday, August 15, 2011
Pastor’s Column. August 14, 2011
Our goal at GPC is to be the best followers of Jesus that we can, thus, a reminder. Jesus had three groups of followers. One we talk about all the time, the Twelve. The Twelve were with him day and night for three years. They witnessed what he did and were the original beneficiaries of all he taught.
There was a second group the Bible calls “the crowd,” people who by and large didn’t get it. At times Jesus was besieged by crowds of people, hundreds even thousands of people, as was the case along the shore of Lake Galilee when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. But many of these people came out to see miracles or hear only what they wanted to hear. Jesus eventually disappointed many of them and they left, which is still the case today. If Jesus doesn’t do what some people expect him to do, they quit.
The third group of disciples were men and women and children who could not be with Jesus all the time as were the Twelve. From Jesus’ point of view, there simply wasn’t room around the campfire. Twelve were as many as he could live with at such an intimate level. And from the view of this third bunch of disciples, they couldn’t leave their families and work and be with Jesus constantly. Still, they didn’t fall away. They were drawn to him and his message, and so at times they would gather to hear his teachings and witness his healings and be of whatever service to him they could. -DJ
There was a second group the Bible calls “the crowd,” people who by and large didn’t get it. At times Jesus was besieged by crowds of people, hundreds even thousands of people, as was the case along the shore of Lake Galilee when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. But many of these people came out to see miracles or hear only what they wanted to hear. Jesus eventually disappointed many of them and they left, which is still the case today. If Jesus doesn’t do what some people expect him to do, they quit.
The third group of disciples were men and women and children who could not be with Jesus all the time as were the Twelve. From Jesus’ point of view, there simply wasn’t room around the campfire. Twelve were as many as he could live with at such an intimate level. And from the view of this third bunch of disciples, they couldn’t leave their families and work and be with Jesus constantly. Still, they didn’t fall away. They were drawn to him and his message, and so at times they would gather to hear his teachings and witness his healings and be of whatever service to him they could. -DJ
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Pastor's Column Aug. 7, 2011
In St. Louis, 1879, Jordan Lambert and Dr. Joseph Lawrence began marketing an all-purpose antiseptic solution called Listerine. They obtained permission from British surgeon Joseph Lister, who had developed the notion that germs spread infection and carbolic acid could kill them, to name the product after him. At first it was sold as a surgical antiseptic, also useful for cleaning floors, as an after-shave and for curing conditions ranging from dandruff to gonorrhea. In 1885, Lawrence sold out to the new Lambert Pharmacal Co. Jordan Lambert continued and later began selling a milder form of Listerine to dentists and as an oral antiseptic.
Jordan died at age 38 in 1889, his wife died three months later. They left five boys and one girl. One son, Albert Bond “Doc” Lambert became infatuated with flying. In 1926, he rounded up some pals to help their buddy Slim Lindbergh buy an airplane to fly the Atlantic in 1927. One son, Jerry, went to Princeton and blew through what would be $15.9 million in today’s dollars. Deeply in debt, he went back to St. Louis in 1908 to work at the company’s firm.
In 1922 Jerry Lambert learned that the medical term for bad breath was halitosis. That gave him an idea. He would turn halitosis into a national scourge for which Listerine was the cure. Money began pouring in. Jerry took Lambert Pharmacal public in 1928, retired at 42, and got out of the stock market before the crash of 1929.
Today’s sermon has to do with “The Dishonest Manager,” Luke 16: 1-10. We don’t know what the manager did that initially led to his boss firing him, but was it any worse than creating “a national scourge” out of halitosis? Probably was. Still, there was a time when Jerry Lambert would be called dishonest. Today he’s regarded as a marketing genius. Which one do you think it is ? -DJ
Jordan died at age 38 in 1889, his wife died three months later. They left five boys and one girl. One son, Albert Bond “Doc” Lambert became infatuated with flying. In 1926, he rounded up some pals to help their buddy Slim Lindbergh buy an airplane to fly the Atlantic in 1927. One son, Jerry, went to Princeton and blew through what would be $15.9 million in today’s dollars. Deeply in debt, he went back to St. Louis in 1908 to work at the company’s firm.
In 1922 Jerry Lambert learned that the medical term for bad breath was halitosis. That gave him an idea. He would turn halitosis into a national scourge for which Listerine was the cure. Money began pouring in. Jerry took Lambert Pharmacal public in 1928, retired at 42, and got out of the stock market before the crash of 1929.
Today’s sermon has to do with “The Dishonest Manager,” Luke 16: 1-10. We don’t know what the manager did that initially led to his boss firing him, but was it any worse than creating “a national scourge” out of halitosis? Probably was. Still, there was a time when Jerry Lambert would be called dishonest. Today he’s regarded as a marketing genius. Which one do you think it is ? -DJ
Monday, August 1, 2011
Pastor's Column July 31, 2011
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Version of the Bible. Most mainline Christians use a different version – the NRSV or the NIV, say – but the KJV has been the version upon which every President of the US has placed his right hand upon being sworn into office.
The King James Version has given us phrases we use even today: Eat , drink, and be merry, Lk. 12:19…the apple of his eye, Deut. 32: 10… an eye for an eye, Mt. 5: 38… it came to pass, Gen. 38:27…fight the good fight, 1 Tim. 6: 12… fell flat on his face, Num 22: 31… the fullness of time, Gal. 4:4… can a leopard change his spots, Jer. 13: 23… am I my brother’s keeper, Gen. 4:9
Other phrases and sentences from the KJV that have formed out thinking include: God’s care for us, “The Lord is my shepherd,” Ps. 23:1… Freedom from slavery, “Let my people go!” Exod. 5:1… a life wasted in worries over unimportant things, “vanity of vanities,” Eccles. 1:2…a self-righteous person, “holier than thou,” Is. 65:5… work that you adore, “a labor of love,” 1 Thess. 1:3…a metaphor for Christ-like influence, “the salt of the earth,” Mt. 5:13… a metaphor against in-fighting, “A house divided against itself shall not stand,” Mt. 12:25… Our relationship to truth, “We see through a glass darkly,” 1 Cor. 13:12… what we say when a politician’s dirty secrets are revealed, “How are the mighty fallen,” 2 Sam. 1:27… a really close call, “With the skin of my teeth,” Job 19:20.
Published in 1611, the KJV was the most popular Bible in the world from ca. 1670 to 1985, more than 300 years. – DJ (thanks to Jon Sweeney, Christian Century, July 12, 2011)
The King James Version has given us phrases we use even today: Eat , drink, and be merry, Lk. 12:19…the apple of his eye, Deut. 32: 10… an eye for an eye, Mt. 5: 38… it came to pass, Gen. 38:27…fight the good fight, 1 Tim. 6: 12… fell flat on his face, Num 22: 31… the fullness of time, Gal. 4:4… can a leopard change his spots, Jer. 13: 23… am I my brother’s keeper, Gen. 4:9
Other phrases and sentences from the KJV that have formed out thinking include: God’s care for us, “The Lord is my shepherd,” Ps. 23:1… Freedom from slavery, “Let my people go!” Exod. 5:1… a life wasted in worries over unimportant things, “vanity of vanities,” Eccles. 1:2…a self-righteous person, “holier than thou,” Is. 65:5… work that you adore, “a labor of love,” 1 Thess. 1:3…a metaphor for Christ-like influence, “the salt of the earth,” Mt. 5:13… a metaphor against in-fighting, “A house divided against itself shall not stand,” Mt. 12:25… Our relationship to truth, “We see through a glass darkly,” 1 Cor. 13:12… what we say when a politician’s dirty secrets are revealed, “How are the mighty fallen,” 2 Sam. 1:27… a really close call, “With the skin of my teeth,” Job 19:20.
Published in 1611, the KJV was the most popular Bible in the world from ca. 1670 to 1985, more than 300 years. – DJ (thanks to Jon Sweeney, Christian Century, July 12, 2011)
PASTOR’S COLUMN July 24, 2011
Today we’re singing “How Great Thou Art,” which has been one of my favorites for a long time. I remember as a young boy attending a week of revival services at First Baptist Church in Roswell. I remember it because not only was there a guest preacher but a guest music director. And the guest music director said, “There’s a new hymn I came across recently. I want to teach it to you.” The hymn was “How Great Thou Art.” We sang it all week, which excited everyone. It was the first time a bunch of Baptists sang another hymn as often as they sang “Just As I Am.”
If you look on p. 698, you will find #4 -How Great Thou Art - by the name Stuart Hine. Gustav Boburg, a Swede, wrote a poem called “O Store Gud” (literally “O Great God”) in 1885. Stuart Hine (1899-1989) was born in England but spent much of his early adult life as a missionary to the Western Ukraine of Russia. He translated and arranged the English words of this poem to the Swedish folk song to which the song was traditionally sung. He did this in 1953.
The Billy Graham Crusade is largely responsible for introducing this hymn to America, where it has experienced great popularity. But repeatedly “How Great Thou Art” has also been voted the most popular hymn of Great Britain.
Kenneth Osbeck, an American hymnologist, once said, “This great hymn teaches three essential truths: the greatness of God’s creation, the greatness of Christ’s redemption, and the greatness of our future inheritance.” -DJ
If you look on p. 698, you will find #4 -How Great Thou Art - by the name Stuart Hine. Gustav Boburg, a Swede, wrote a poem called “O Store Gud” (literally “O Great God”) in 1885. Stuart Hine (1899-1989) was born in England but spent much of his early adult life as a missionary to the Western Ukraine of Russia. He translated and arranged the English words of this poem to the Swedish folk song to which the song was traditionally sung. He did this in 1953.
The Billy Graham Crusade is largely responsible for introducing this hymn to America, where it has experienced great popularity. But repeatedly “How Great Thou Art” has also been voted the most popular hymn of Great Britain.
Kenneth Osbeck, an American hymnologist, once said, “This great hymn teaches three essential truths: the greatness of God’s creation, the greatness of Christ’s redemption, and the greatness of our future inheritance.” -DJ
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