Wednesday Wisdom - Getting Boosted

 

I got my COVID Vaccine booster shot yesterday. And I don't feel good.

Originally I received the Moderna vaccine last March and April. Both times I felt half-sick and sluggish for several hours later but by the next day I was back to normal. Today I still feel some soreness achy-ness but nothing some ibuprofen can't handle. I did a decent 20 minute cardio Pre-Core workout yesterday too - so some of this is undoubtedly due to my body complaining of the exercise after a holiday week of laziness.

What experts have said about what I'm experiencing is that it's pretty normal and that it is my immune system adapting to prep and fight the COVID strain. 

Clearly, I'm pro-vaccine in a time where strangely, our society that has made medical health a political issue. "You can't tell me what I do with my body" scream people who are predominantly anti-abortion. Masks and life-saving medicine are eschewed for personal freedom. I think that is a gravely mistaken position to hold. 

This is a personal choice, but it is not only a personally choice. Even if you don't feel the serious effects of this virus, even if you are healthy and trust in 'natural immunity' - this isn't just about you. This is about the people you can infect who don't have immune systems as strong as yours. This is about the people who contract it from the people you infect who are also a-symptomatic. 

Theologically, this is about "loving your neighbor". I wish I would have understood and communicated this earlier as the pandemic was just settling in. Wearing a mask and getting vaxxed is a way to love others by drastically reducing the chances of getting them sick. Despite what our American mindset has told us, our individual rights are not supreme. We have responsibilities to others - God even calls us to dramatically love others (Matt. 5:43-48, John 13:34-35).

I thought about trying to link to all of the relevant peer-reviewed medical research to supplement my points. I thought about offering you up the clear preponderance of evidence that my above statements are factually true. That information is out there and has been out there for awhile now, and if it hasn't convinced you and this post has triggered you, you have my sympathies.

In my mind, a night of semi-sore sleep and a day-and-a-half of feeling a tad below average is a small price to pay for inoculating myself against this deadly virus and protecting others from contracting it from me. That's what it comes down to. 

Music Mondays + Sermon Snippets

Yesterday was unique in the sense that Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday. 

Naturally, this pastor chose to prepare a topical sermon on love. I eschewed the theme of romantic love, though I believe Scripture has much to say on that topic. I decided instead to focus on God's love for us. 

The verses of Ephesians 3:17-19 had come to mind early in my preparation process, especially the part where Paul prays that we "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ...".

Have you ever thought about how wide God's love is? How long it stretches? How high it reaches? How deep it goes?

I tried to answer those questions in the message and, in doing so, many great songs kept popping up into my head. 

This one in particular stood out above the rest and I ended up quoting it in my conclusion. 

It is such a great song that pays proper tribute to the amazing love of God towards us. I am always captured by the lyrics of the second verse which state:

Could we with ink the ocean fill

And were the skies of parchment made

Were every stalk on earth a quill

And every man a scribe by trade

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry

Nor could the scroll contain the whole

Though stretched from sky to sky

Some songs begin with their most powerful and profound statements. This one waits until the second verse to use incredible imagery to capture the limitless nature of God's love for us.

The love of God - it shall forevermore endure, the saints and angels song!

Home Worship - 5/3/20

Sermon

This week's message can be accessed on our FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/Milford-First-Brethren-Church-106750154192984/
Or through our website here: https://www.milfordfirstbrethren.org/live.html (video will post by Sunday afternoon)

Study Guide Questions

After - or even as - you listen to the sermon, try digging deeper into the text by working through these questions:

1. Who are some examples, from the Bible and elsewhere, of people who blessed their persecutors (12:14)?
2. Who are some examples of people of "low position" whom you can reach out to (12:16)?
3. Why does Paul tell us not to get even in 12:19?
4. Why should we submit to our government (13:1-2)?
5. What example does he give of how we can do this (13:6-7)? What are other ways you can think of?

I'd highly recommend reading this post by Pastor Jordan Muck with summarizes well the biblical foundation for how we ought to interact with our governing powers.

I would also encourage you to become familiar with the life stories of Paul Schneider, Franz Jagerstatter, and Dietrich Bonhoffer. 

Highly recommended viewing - A Hidden Life which tells the story of Mr. Jagerstatter.

Worship Songs

Devotional Guide

Monday - Romans 12:14-13:7

Tuesday - Daniel 6

Wednesday - Acts 4

Thursday - Matthew 5:38-42

Friday - Matthew 17:24-27

Saturday - 1 Peter 2:11-25

Home Worship - 4/26/20

Here's this week's Worship Supplement to go along with our message in Romans 11.

Sermon

This week's message can be accessed on our FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/Milford-First-Brethren-Church-106750154192984/
Or through our website here: https://www.milfordfirstbrethren.org/live.html (video will post by Sunday afternoon)

Study Guide Questions

After - or even as - you listen to the sermon, try digging deeper into the text by working through these questions:

1. What three words are used to describe our sacrifice of ourselves to God in 12:1?
   
2. What might it look like to be transformed by the renewing of our minds? What things could we do to renew our minds?
   
3. What metaphor does Paul give to encourage us to think of ourselves with "sober judgment" - 12:4-5? How does that relate to our giftedness in 12:6-8?
   
4. What command ties 12:9-13 and 13:8-10 together?
   
5. Why is remaining dedicated to God so crucial according to 13:11-14?

Worship Songs

Devotional Guide

Monday - Romans 12:1-13

Tuesday - Romans 13:8-14

Wednesday - 1 Corinthians 12:1-13

Thursday 1 Corinthians 12:14-31

Friday - 1 Corinthians 13

Saturday - 1 Thessalonians 5

Music Mondays: God or Girlfriend?

There is a built-in tension with Christian music. It seeks to express all the facets of our relationship with our Creator - a relationship based on love and intimacy that is very much true, genuine, and amazing. But depending on how it is expressed, it can easily venture into sappy love-song stuff. 

I'm certainly not the first to point this out, but often times CCM can turn out a product that is eerily similar to secular songs that croon superficially about romance. And every once in awhile, the opposite can be true - a surface-level love song can seem to be speaking of the spiritual. 

So for the next few weeks, I'm going to feature some songs that I've always been confused or conflicted by - songs that teeter on the edge of young-love-sappiness instead of theological wonder.

But to start things off, I want to zig instead of zag. Here are a couple songs from my college days-era that go the opposite direction. These are pop music hits that hint at something deeper if you think real hard.

"Hanging by a Moment" - Lifehouse

A band that has Christian roots, it struck it big with this their first single. It feels like the first hundred times I heard it, I only heard the "love song" part of it. And then when you think of their roots, the rest of their catalog that seems to have spiritual overtones, and then realize the chorus goes: 

Now I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

Huh. Makes you wonder...

For the record, the lead singer keeps it ambiguous as well.

"Everywhere" - Michelle Branch

Another single from the early 2000's that launched a career, "Everywhere" was part of Branch's album The Spirit Room. By her own admission, this is a straightforward love song, but Christian detectives all over the U.S. bought into a deeper meaning. And it's easy to see why: 

'Cause you're everywhere to me
And when I close my eyes, it's you I see
You're everything I know that makes me believe
I'm not alone
I'm not alone

[Verse 2]
I recognize the way you make me feel
It's hard to think that you might not be real
I sense it now, the water's getting deep
I try to wash the pain away from me
Away from me

I'm an authorial-intent kind of guy, not a reader-response interpreter. I embrace the meaning as intended by the author. Sometimes it's easy to cheat and re-interpret a song based on what I feel, know, or have experienced. Probably not much harm in doing that with something like this.

Music Mondays

Yesterday, we were challenged with James' words at the end of chapter 1,

²⁷ Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

James is continuing the long-running biblical theme of caring for the most vulnerable around us (Ex. 22:22, Isaiah 1:16-17, Acts 6:1-6, etc). 

There are plenty of modern day examples and ways of application of this principle. But one that fits our "Music Monday" theme is one of my favorite artists of all time, Johnny Cash.

His entire persona, appearance, and career turned into a service on behalf of the overlooked. He captured this in his song "The Man in Black".

So often, music is an escape or simple entertainment. Cash stops us from overindulging in that ambivalence.  He reminds us of the need to live out our "pure and undefiled" faith.

 

Music Mondays

Since I'm a big NEEDTOBREATHE fan, I'm morally obligated to share their latest single. But beyond obligation, this one's a cool song, featuring an accompanying "that's who that is" artist.

Andra Day was featured in the Apple Christmas ad from 2015 with Stevie Wonder that made everyone get all the feels. She's cut out a nice career for herself and the collaboration here is excellent. 
This is a song for those battling and persevering, for those who are realizing "change don't come without a fallout."

Music Mondays

I've had a whirlwind summer filled with opportunities that have taken me out of my regular routine for the past 5 weeks. But we made it through and enjoyed almost all of it. Unfortunately, my blog and Music Mondays have suffered.

In the midst of this busyness, we started a new sermon series on the "One Another" commands of Scripture. If we are going to be the kind of church God wants Milford First Brethren to be, then we should be sure to embody these commands.

At one point, I remember asking myself, "what song would reflect the theme of 'One Another'?" 

Well, one of my favorite songs of all time came to mind pretty quickly.

While the original is an all-time classic, who's to say this more recent version isn't better?  The video is certainly superior and I think the addition Mary J. Blige is inspired.

Music Mondays

The Beatles lied to us. Love is not all you need.

Ok, they weren't intentionally deceiving us, given that they wrote their famous hit "All You Need is Love" for a TV special promoting world peace and harmony. 

But how many people have taken that line and adopted it as a romantic philosophy, no-questions-asked?

On this blog, I typically highlight songs worth considering. This week, I decided to go negative given that "Love" has become such an American idol, it's hard to choose just one pop song that illustrates our cultural worship of romance.

I've begun a sermon series that works through many of these "American Idols" and we kicked things off assessing the dangers of making love an idol. Specifically we looked at an episode in life of Jacob that effectively illustrates all the pitfalls of treating love like a god.

Love is a crucial part of the Christian life and a natural part of the human experience. But to pursue satisfaction from it is a fool's errand.

Music Mondays

Admittedly most of my Music Monday features have centered around Christian music, especially praise and worship. Today I'm going another direction based on the news that has dominated the headlines this morning. 

Last night, music icon David Bowie died of cancer. 

I can't claim to be a huge Bowie guy, but even as a casual pop music fan, I knew enough of his work to understand how influential he was and is. In fact, one of my favorite songs of all time was a collaboration he did with Queen. 

Before I insert the video, check out the final verse (Bowie is credited with authoring most of the lyrics):

That's profound, even Christlike you could argue. The whole song offers a perspective on life and love that most songs completely ignore and fail to understand. I don't want to overdo it here and act like these musicians were something they were not. But I'm the kind of musical connoisseur that appreciates biblical values wherever they are expressed and found. Plus, this is just really good music.

 

Music Mondays

With two parents who were passionate and skilled musically, my childhood was filled with songs and the radio being constantly played. 

A lot of those songs have stuck with me. One came to mind with our passage in 1 John. It is shorter than I remember, but this is the exact version that plays in my head when I think of these verses. I guess I have Maranatha Kids! to thank for it. 

It is short but sweet - and definitely to the point of an important command for all Christians.

Music Mondays

1 John features three main themes about God. 

• He is Light - 1:1-3:10
• He is Love - 3:11-5:5
• He is Life - 5:6-21

Our sermon series started into the second of those themes this past Sunday.

One of the key points the apostle John makes is that godly love must be demonstrated:

¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

  As dc Talk put it so succinctly, 'luv is a verb'.  

Music Mondays

It is freezing cold outside right now in Northern Indiana and we got our first legitimate snow overnight - and are expecting more this evening.

It's times like this I like to daydream about summer, laying out at the beach while soaking in the hot sun. I like to imagine swimming, although as a guy in my 30's I don't do it with the same enthusiasm as when I was a kid. What I do find enjoyable these days is swimming in the ocean or Lake Michigan when the wind and/or boats are creating waves and choppy seas.

This summer I had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines on a missions trip. I documented the trip on this blog and detailed how we used basketball to share the gospel. One afternoon, when we had some free time, we visited a beach near Subic Bay. It was a super-humid day, as most are. I remember the water was warm and it also happened to be fairly windy so the waves were pretty good size. 

A couple times as we were jumping into the waves, I would rise up out of the water to get my bearings and get knocked over by another one I didn't see coming. A couple times it almost knocked the wind out of me, but it was a lot of fun.

What does that have to do with music? 

Well, shortly after returning home, I heard this song and it took me back to that day on the beach and getting momentarily bowled over by the water. And as this song pictures God's love unrelentingly coming at us, I thought about how God's love should affect my soul with the same force that those waves affected my body. 

There is more to this special song as it exalts God and His love and then expresses how that strengthens us and gives us courage. I'm pretty sure any time I hear this song I'll think of the Philippines and likewise any time I get crushed by a wave, I'll think of this song.

One final note: if I'm ever unmoved by the lyrics "You are for us, You are not against us" - if that doesn't wreck my spirit at it's core - I will know I have some serious issues with my heart. What a truth: that we undeserving people have been graciously made His.