Mercy Said No

Tonight while I was driving home from work I began thinking about how sinful I am and about all the times that I really screwed up just today. At the same time I began singing a song my youth chior is learning, Mercy Said No. This was nothing unusual because I've always got a song on my lips, even when I'm having a bad day you might find me humming a song out of the hymn book or chior book.

This particular day, as I was singing along in the privacy of my car, I really started thinking about the words. Actually, it was probably God pointing them out to me, because that is something He would do. ♪  "Mercy said no, I'm not gonna let you go. I'm not gonna let you slip away, you don't have to be a fraid. . . sin will never take control . . ." I started thinking about how much I deserve to be let go. God should just say, "That's enough. If you want to be that way I'll let you live misserably in your selfishness." But instead He promised to never leave me nor forsake me. He promised to be right by my side chastising me when I do wrong and trying to direct me in the right way. He'll be right there to give me the love that I need, grace that I couldn't live without . . . and his enduring mercy.

♪ "Thank you Jesus, mercy said no!" ♪

Bible Study on Music

When I went to camp last July God put impressed upon my heart to do a Bible study with my family, so I put this together and really enjoyed the time I spent with God alowing Him to teach me. It was amazing how easily it came and how well the scriptures fit together. Some scriptures God gave me through my daily Bible reading when I wasn't even looking for verses. I thought I would post it on my blog for anyone else to read. Just rememeber, it's writen in a study type so it may be different than my usual articles. Also take into consideration that it is also written to my family, whose convictions I am familiar with.

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I think all of us agree that God doesn’t want us to listen to worldly music like rock –n- roll, rap, country, and such. But could any of us show a scripture as to why we believe that? A few weeks ago I would have had a hard time doing that. So the purpose of this study isn’t just to go over why we believe it’s wrong to listen to worldly music, but mostly to go over scriptures that give us this belief. All of our convictions should come from the word of God, not just what we think is logically or theoretically correct. We can defend our belief based on our thoughts all day long, but it is much easier to convince other Christians this is right if we have scriptures to show them.

The first scripture I want to look at is Eph 5: 18-20. "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;" I think it’s safe to say that country, rock, and rap music doesn’t fit in this verse because none of those are spiritual songs. In verse 18 Paul is talking about not being drunk with wine, but I believe the last part of the verse “but be filled with the Spirit” can be applied to all Christians regardless if they use to drink or not. (As well, there are also scriptures in Romans 8 that talk about walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh.) We see in the next verse that to be filled with the Spirit we should speak to ourselves in psalms and hymn and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our heart to the Lord. Notice that this verse doesn’t say just on Sundays, or just when you’re at church. We should always seek to be filled with the spirit, which means we should always be singing to ourselves with spiritual songs. By listening to worldly music we are walking after the flesh because if feels good, but it doesn’t make the spirit stronger. If you feed the flesh once, it’s easier to feed it again, and before we know it we will be pleasing the flesh so much that our spirit will be weak.

Verse 20 talks more about this. "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;" One of the ways we can give thanks always is to sing spiritual songs. Most of the worldly music doesn’t give thanks to God, but rather focuses on our self. Either on our broken heart, our lost boyfriend/girlfriend, or late night parties. None of that gives thanks to God.

Next I want to look at Proverbs 14:9. "Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour." There’s not much I want to say about this verse. Most of the worldly songs make sin seem okay. They talk about having affairs, getting drunk, and doing what feels good, which is fulfilling the flesh. Some worldly music also uses cuss words, which shows they have no fear of God. That’s another reason why we shouldn’t listen to that music because fools make a mock of sin.

Last week I was reading in Deu chapter 31. It was Moses’ last days on earth so God was giving Moses his last instructions that he was to carry out before he died. God reminded Moses of all that he had done for them: how he brought them out of Egypt, made the Red sea to part, and how he brought them into the land which he promised them. God said in verse 19, "Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel." Music is a great tool to help us remember things. Do you remember in Sunday school or Bible camp how we would learn Bible verses to tunes? God was using that same method to make the Israelites remember God’s faithfulness. On the flip side, do we want to constantly be reminded of the things of the world? Even if the song may seem harmless, we need to ask our self is it something that we want to fill our mind with instead of filling our mind with the things of God.

Psalms 40:3 "And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD." This reminds me of 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Notice it says old things are passed away. When we get saved or when we dedicate our life to the LORD we should put away old things, everything that bound our heart to the world, or is able to sway us, remind us of the old days, we should leave that and replace it with the things of God. Along with this thought goes 1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." We should ask our self, “Can I sing this song to the glory of God?” and if the answer is “no” then we shouldn’t be listening to it.

Now let’s look at1 Thessalonians 5:23. "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." We are the temple of God according to I Corinthians 6:19. We should try to keep our whole spirit, soul and body pure and clean, not even spotted by the world. I always try to picture Jesus sitting right there next to me. And I think, “Does Jesus want to listen to this music? Does Jesus want to watch this movie? Does Jesus want to go to this place?” Because he sees everything we do and listens to everything we let go into our ears.

When I was studying for this I found this quote by Susanna Wesley that I thought was very good. John Wesley was the one who founded the Methodist Movement along with his brother Charles Wesley. (Back in those days I’ve been told the Methodist believed the Bible more and really wasn’t very different from Baptist, but that’s just what I’ve been told.) When John Wesley was in college he wrote a letter to his Mother asking her to give him a clear description of sin. She wrote:” Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures [which means to darken] your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.” {Susanna Wesley, mother of John Wesley}

Someone else said, “It doesn’t matter what something is rated, or how popular it is, or how seemingly innocent it appears. If it hardens your heart toward God, if it obscures your awareness of the ugliness of sin and the holiness of God, if it takes the edge off your spiritual hunger, then it’s sin.” The more worldly music you listen to the more apt you are to think that, “Oh, it’s not too bad. “ and then you’ll be listening to music that is just a little bit worse. And then you’ll think, “Well, that movie isn’t that sinful, and it’s just a short bad part.” And because you are feeding your mind with “innocent” music written by worldly people, sin doesn’t look as ugly anymore and God isn’t quite as precious.

Along with that I think of Hebrews 12:1. "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." It’s not always easy to keep our eyes on God, especially when we live in a very sinful world. So we need to stop listening to things that take our eyes off God. And that applies to everything in our life. For example, ever since I came back from camp I’ve stopped reading all the news headlines on Yahoo and Inbox while I’m on the internet because some of the news wasn’t very clean and even if it was, it’s all worldly. It may not be a sin to everyone to read the news headlines, but it was something that got my mind off of God, so I stopped looking at it. So even if the song is harmless, like the oldies that talk about romance and blue suede shoes, it still isn’t healthy to listen to it because it gets us thinking about things that don’t really matter. With as hard as it is at times to keep our focus on God, we should try everything to keep our minds on Serving Christ. And one of the ways we can do that is by listening to Christian music that reminds us of how good God is and everything he’s done for us.

The last verse I want to read is in Philippians 4:8. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." And that sums it up perfectly!

The Desire of an Eight Year Old

Since I have been in the piano playing mood lately I thought I would share my story with y'all of how I got started. Just for the record: I like to play the piano more than I like to sing! If it came down to it, I would much rather play the piano in front of a large crowd then sing a solo in front of a small one.

It all started when I was eight years old. I distinctly remember hearing my pastor's wife sing, "Sweet Holy Spirit" while she played the piano. I also remember that she was the only one in the church who could play the piano for herself to sing. Everyone else used a tape. (That was before CD's came out!) Mama said that I went to her and daddy and told them that I wanted to learn how to play the piano so that I could sing in church. My parents realized that this could be a passing whim, so they didn't act upon it right away, but told me to pray about it. I obviously didn't give up because soon my parents were looking for a piano!

They came across a lady who wanted to sell her daughter's piano since she had moved out and never came back for it. The lady wouldn't give my parents a price but told them to "take it home, get it tuned, and see what you think." Meanwhile I was spending the night at a friend's house I had no idea that a piano was being moved in to our living room! Then next morning at church mama told me there was a surprise waiting for me at home . . . even some of our church family knew about it because I still remember Bro. Kelly telling me that "You're really going to like your surprise!" The suspense was eating me up! On the way home I told them that I was going to go to my room and close my eyes so that they could just put it in my lap. I was clueless!

When I walked in the front door of our house and saw the piano sitting against the wall I was happy to the point of tears! I couldn't believe I had my own piano!

Soon I started taking lessons from a preacher's wife, I was 9 years old by this time. I loved learning and some people said I learned fast, especially when it came to hymns!

When I was 11 years old the piano player in our small church left to go to another church leaving me to be the only piano player. I only knew 4 hymns, but that was a lot better than singing without music, so we sang those songs until I learned new ones . . . which was pretty fast. Within a year I had learned over 100 songs and was even playing for the youth chior! It was starting to become very evident that God had a speacial plan for me. A plan that involved the piano and singing.

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I am still amazed at how God used a small desire that he placed in my heart while I was eight years old to do such a work in my life. I am a very shy person and at first glance many would be surpized to hear how often I have to get in front of people to play the piano and sing. Being active in music has helped my self confidence that otherwise may not even exsist had it not been for the piano. When I feel like giving in to my embarassment and quit playing the piano in church God always reminds me that this talent belongs to God and I have no right to quit.

Over the years God has opened up many doors for me and my brothers and sisters to sing and play the piano in church and nusing homes. Sometime I love it, other times I come just short of vowing to never set hands on the piano again! But overall I have a passion for music that will always stay with me. Some day I hope to give piano lessons (besides me brother and sisters who I already teach) so that I can share my love to play the piano for God with others. Who knows, maybe someday I will be an inspiration to a little child which may be the beginning of a life lived for the glory of God through the piano. That would be the most wonderful accomplishment of all!

A Love For Singing

My memories of singing in a youth choir goes back to as far as I can remember anything. Mama has told me many times about the first time I probably sang in the choir when I was only 3 or 4. She said I decided I wanted to get up there with the other kids to sing. After I got in front of the whole church everyone started to smile at "little Jennifer" and I imagine they were all saying "Awww! How cute!" I was so embarrassed that I pulled my dress up over my face not realizing I was showing my undergarments and stomach! As you can imagine, the "Aww!"s turned to laughter! Fortunately, that didn't stop me from singing!

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But the memories I always go back to are of the days we sang with Mrs. Carol. She and her family loved to sing and they did a pretty good job at it too. She always seemed to enjoy teaching us and chose fun songs that had a great message. Her husband, Bro. Timmy, would sometimes jump in on the choir practice and give us some advise . . . and a few threats! I'll never forget the time he told us that if we didn't smile while we were singing he was going to call on us to testify. That scared me to the point that I smiled bigger than anyone else in the whole youth group! But he didn't just leave us with that, he told us how important it was for us to smile and that if we smiled our singing would sound so much better.

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From then on I've always sang with a smile. I did it then because Bro. Timmy told me too, but now I do it because I love to sing! I've learned that it's not important that kids learn the different parts or they sound perfect. All God asks for is a joyful noise, not necessarily a perfect one.

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Now Bro. Timmy and Mrs. Carol are gone and I haven't found a youth choir that I enjoy as much as that one. But we are still singing. The love they placed in my heart (and hopefully my siblings') will last for a long time - hopefully forever.

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Recently God has shown me that it is now my responsibility to not just teach other children how to sing, but to give them a love to sing. This doesn't mean that I'm going to start a youth choir next week or even in the coming months, but some day God may give the the opportunity to do so. I've already started with my siblings, and I may be unconsciously planning seeds in other's hearts now by simply showing them how much I like to sing to my God.

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Through this God showed me that God doesn't always require you to serve him in a way that will take you out of your comfort zone. He gives us talents for a reason. My talent lies within making joyful noises to the LORD so I hope I can use it for Him in many ways!

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"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands! Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing." Psalms 100:1-2

I Love My Choir!

When I was turning 16 I was allowed to join the adult choir at our rather large church. Our choir usually has about 50-60 people on a full Sunday. From the first day I sang up in the choir loft I just LOVED it! I remember being amazed at how big the church looked from the choir loft and how neat it was to be able to look out at everyone while I sang.

Now, even though I have been in the choir a long time, I still love it! About a month ago I was able to share this experience with my younger sister Bethany who is 13. Now we are both able to enjoy singing and laugh about some of the things that happen during choir practice together.

Two weeks ago I really started noticing how great our choir is! Not just because of how we sound, or the song arrangements we sing, but because some of the people who sing are really singing to bring honor and glory to God. And our director . . . I believe he is the best choir leader our church could ever want!

Lately God has been showing up for our practice. One Sunday after we sang "Watch and See" we got into a long discussion about how important it is that we sing with all our heart so that the world can see God through us. We totally quit singing and just talked and praised the Lord for 25 minutes! While one man spoke of God's goodness a tear fell out of his eye. I don't think that happens in many churches. But our song leader knows that sounding perfect is not the most important thing. He has his eyes on the right goal: to shape our choir into an instrument that will honor and glorify God and in result, bring others closer to the Savior.

That is my choir, and I am proud to be a part of it!

God Knows The Desires of Our Heart

Isn't it so neat how God knows the desire of our heart even when we don't tell him? Recently I've been thinking back to the time that I spent with a great piano player who has been blind since birth, yet still plays the piano wonderfully! He really understands music. He is the one who encouraged and inspired me to play by ear. He showed me how to listen to a CD and copy what I heard.

Lately when I thought about him I found myself really wishing that I could meet someone that could help me like that again, but I never prayed about it. Recently missionaries Rodger and Cherie Mullins with Hope For The World and other ministries in Albania, came to our church to share what God has been doing through them. Mrs. Cherie is a great piano player! I had the opportunity to stand by the piano while she played and watch her fingers flow over the keys and bring forth a beautiful melody like some have never heard before. I played for her as well . . . an experience that made me feel like I was a beginner! She gave me some very good advice as well as her own piano CD called Stylings In Ivory.

After being inspired by this Christian lady I announced to my family that I was going to be a great piano player like Mrs. Cherie one day. The next day I listened to her CD over and over and tried to improve my own playing. Then I told my family that it will be a few years before I become a great piano player . . . it is not going to happen over night! : ) I think the greatest challenge will be in patience. It seems like it will take so long to accomplish what I have in my mind.

But I am not giving up! I took Mrs. Cherie's advice and looked for a CD by Anthony Burger. I watched a few samples from CD's on his web site and was really impressed. Now you know someone is a great piano player when you feel like clapping after you watch a sample video of his performance! I was unable to upload the video but you can see it here.

I ordered the CD called The Best of Anthony Burger Homecoming from Amazon. I can't wait to get it! Until then, I will listen to the Mrs. Cherie's CD and practice my scales and chords over and over and over and over . . .

God is so good to give me my desire even though I never asked him to!!! Thank you Lord!