An Unhealthy Attachment

February 25, 2012

Lately on this blog I’ve been going through and highlighting thoughts on personal worship from the book Worship On Earth As It Is In Heaven: Exploring Worship as a Spiritual Discipline.  It’s been a very healthy call to really make worship beyond just a Sunday event that I attend, and discover what the pattern of a worshiper should look like beyond the community worship we experience Sunday by Sunday.  Honestly, we expect a lot from the church worship gathering.  We need it to be this refugee of holy peace, and an escape from the noise of everyday life; we expect to commune our hearts together and to hear the intimate voice of God, and it needs to all happens within the confines of a specifically allotted one hour time.  However, a worshiper lives a life of devotion beyond Sunday morning.  And this book thus far has challenged us to make worship a priority, and to schedule a regular routine of it in our lives.

This leads us to another challenge: surrender.  We need to let go of the idols that compete for our time and attention.  Idolatry is often easily dismissed as an antiquated image.  In our minds we imagine some ancient tribal people group dancing ecstatically around a fire, late at night, bowing down to some carved wooden face, or other kind of statue.  In the Bible we think of the golden calf, or of asherah poles, and idols like the baals of the ancient Canaanites.  We don’t participate in any overt ritual action like that and so we think idolatry is not an issue for us.  But idolatry as theologian A.W. Towzer said is simply “worship directed in any direction but God’s, which is the epitome of blasphemy.”

Worship is anything that is more important to you than God.  It can take the form of many things, whether possessions, relationships, a job, a social cause.  It can really be anything.  I actually have this picture in my mind of the character Linus from the cartoon Peanuts.  He’s a very mature, articulate, and well adjusted young kid, but for some reason he’s very attached to his blanket.  It causes him great anxiety to part with it.  It goes everywhere with him.   That’s kind of how we attach ourselves to idols, and it is an unhealthy kind of attachment.  Idols can be the things that set us off emotionally, that give us a sense of peace and security, and cause us great anxiety when they are taken away.

The thing is, as Christians, holding on to an idol is an insult to God.  In the first two of the Ten Commandments God says we are to have nothing above him, nor are we to worship anything else.  Exodus 20:3-5 says: “You shall have no other gods before me.“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.   You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”  (NIV).   God tells us very clearly there is no room in our lives for anything above him.

And neither can anything replace the satisfaction of placing God first in our lives.  Only God can make our future secure and guide us to true lasting satisfaction.  The Psalmist understands this when he says:

You make known to me the path of life;
   you will fill me with joy in your presence,
   with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
 Psalm 16:9-11 (NIV)

And so worship in our personal lives needs to be expressed in full devotion to God.  We need to be careful to live our lives free of idolatry, and to spend our time enjoying the presence of our God.  If there is anything that hinders us or tempts us away from Christ, we need to examine ourselves, and flee from it.   This will continue to transform us as a congregation when we come together to worship.

Lorn Gieck

Associate Pastor of Music & Arts
lorncornerstone@sasktel.net

The Gift (Christmas Eve 2011)

For those of you who missed the Christmas Eve Candlelight service, or for those who just wanted to see it again, here is the encore of The Gift.  This video presentation was part of our Candlelight service, and involved many artists, and musicians in telling the story of one boys search for the true meaning of Christmas.  There is also an accompanying book available, which was handed out at the end of the Christmas Eve service.  If you would like one please contact the church office and we’ll set one aside for you.

The Gift from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

There is also an audio only version as well, which can be downloaded by clicking on the link below.

The Gift (.mp3)

Spiritual (and Musical) Discipline – Winter 2012 Music Schedule

I think it’s no surprise to anyone at this point that I am a firm believer in practice.  Rehearsal is extremely important and I am of the opinion that there is never enough time for me to sit at an instrument and enjoy the motion and mind space of making music.  The hours can pass quickly as I lose myself playing around with songs, exercises, scales, drills; I really relish every opportunity I get to improve my skills.  Practicing by myself, or practicing with a group, it’s all something I honestly love.

Of course I wasn’t always that way.  I took piano at the insistence of my parents, and as a young boy practicing was not the highest on my list of priorities.  Time used to move painfully slow as I did my best to fill that half hour with productive bits of music.  Often I’d just stare at the clock convinced that it was unmoving.  As I got older things improved, but even then I could procrastinate with the best, and put off important concepts that I really needed to know.

My darkest hour was when I was in Grade 6 Royal Conservatory Piano.  I wasn’t particularly thrilled with scales and so I put off learning my C# minor scale.  Next week always seemed to be the best time to get started learning it.  The problem was that I procrastinated so long that I was a week away from my piano exam and had still not got around to learning it.  So I tried to learn it furiously as the clock started ticking away (Just for future record, you can’t really cram for piano exams.  You either know it or you don’t).  This led me to the next step of rationalization.  They may not ask me to play it.  Of the several scales I’m supposed to learn, they surely wouldn’t ask for that one.

And so at week’s end I am ushered into my exam.  When it came to the technique section of the exam they asked me to play only one scale; one randomly chosen from a list of five or six.  Can you guess which one they asked for?  C# minor.  And yes, it was an atrocious, messy, non-musical assault, on that poor examiners ear.  When the time came, when it really mattered, I wasn’t prepared.

Now of course, this is a partial encouragement to all of us to continue to practice and rehearse, and to do it well.  Music is a daily discipline that needs to be developed carefully through the coordination of our minds with our instruments.  But I also want us to understand that what we do is not just music, its worship leadership.  And that requires another kind of daily discipline.

I’ve been reading a book by Rory Noland entitled Worship on Earth as it is in Heaven and in the second chapter he talks about worship being beyond a Sunday morning experience.  Worship needs to be a daily habit.

We see an amazing example of this in the life of Daniel.  Daniel is an exiled child from Israel who is bold about God when it really matters.  By the providence of God, and strength of character Daniel becomes an important leader in Babylon.  This made a lot of other powerful men jealous and they looked for a way to get rid of him.  So they convinced the King to pass a law against praying to any other man or God other than the king.  Verse 6:10 of the book of Daniel shows us his response:

 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. (NIV)

So when it really matters, we find that Daniel is well prepared to face what is coming his way.  He has been already in the daily practice of prayer and worship.  Every day without fail he would get down on his knees.  It wasn’t something he fit in when he could.  He prioritized it three times a day regardless of schedule.  And so when Daniel is arrested and thrown to his death at the mouths of hungry lions, God sustains him, and vindicates him.

Just as much as I want us to have a culture of musical excellence, and a commitment to practice and rehearsal, I hope also we cultivate and grow in our pattern of daily worship.  We can’t neglect worship in our lives all week, and then expect to be relevant in worship on Sunday.  Worship really does matter.  In Daniel’s case it was this witness that led the king to acknowledge Daniel’s God as the one true God.  Out of this came a formal declaration to the world that everyone should honour and reverence God.

Maybe this is why we lack influence in our society.  Cornerstone’s vision is to change our world.  I read from scripture that worship is an important part of this.  However, we need to worship like Daniel.  It has to be a daily pattern of our lives, not just a tacked on religious duty at the end of the week.  Let us follow the model of Daniel, and others like him in scripture.  When we make worship a daily priority, we won’t be caught off guard when it really matters.

Just for the record, I can play C# minor now without a problem, and I practice it regularly.  You can test me sometime if you want.

 Lorn Gieck
Associate Pastor of Music & Arts

click here for the Winter 2012 Music Schedule (.pdf)

 

 

Worship on Earth as it is In Heaven

I do my best to keep up with current ideas and struggles on the significance and meaning of worship.  There are a lot of great worship theologians and worship leaders doing great things to approach the worship of the church both intentionally and thoughtfully.  I’ve read several books by an experienced church musician named Rory Noland, but his recent book takes a unique approach, and presents to the church a unique challenge.  The book is entitled Worship on Earth as it is in Heaven and in it he approaches the subject in a very personal way, exploring worship as a personal discipline.

As such it’s not a method book about how to make a better worship program.  Rather, it speaks to how should I, or any individual believer, take seriously the spiritual practice of worship in our lives, and what are some ways in which we should put this into practice?  So I’m going to use this and the next few upcoming blog posts to share some observations from his book about the formation of worship in an individual’s life.

The book is divided into two sections, and the first half treats personal or private worship, while the second tackles group, or congregational worship (such as the Sunday morning church gathering).  He encourages us to look to King David as our model for private worship.  And his first observation about the private life of David’s worship is that he made time with God a priority.

David understood that worship was important, and he made it a priority in how he ordered his life and the life of Israel.  He appointed singers and instrumentalists and organized worship.  He brought the Ark to Jerusalem, and made plans to build the temple.  Never was there a king that not only in word, but also in practice, made the praise and glory of God a priority.

Psalms gives some examples of David’s call to worship the one true living God:  “You who fear the Lord, praise him!  All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel” (Psalm 22:23);  “Praise the Lord!  Praise the name of the Lord, give praise, O servants of the Lord”  (Psalm 135:1); “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!”  (Psalm 150:6).

We see this focused energy in David’s life and a strong identification of himself with the worship of God.  It motivated him, and gave direction to his life, and influenced all he did.  As Rory Noland observes: “You can always discern your priorities, for better or for worse, by what angers you or stirs you, what frustrates you and what excites you.  Honouring God was the utmost priority for David.”

David’s priority in His life was God, and so worshiping, bringing praise, honour and glory to God, were at the top of his list.  I think it’s good for us to take a look at our priorities, and examine what is important to us.  We are destined to join all the saints in worshiping God for eternity.  Its significant to think about the connection of that eternal reality to our present life and witness.

Next time we’ll talk about making worship a habit.

Lorn Gieck
Associate Pastor of Music & Arts

 

Missions in the “Earlier” Church Video Series

Missions in the 1980′s – Devoted to Being Taught

Missions in the 1970′s – Devoted to Helping

Missions in the 1960′s - Devoted to the Mission

Not Enough Bread

I was talking with one of our keys leaders in the Music & Arts Department the other day.  We were putting our heads together as to how to make things better in our ministry area.  What we want to know is: how do we improve the music that is produced by the creative people in our church?  I have to say that this doesn’t come out of anything being broken.  Things are very positive, and we look at what God has given us in our church in terms of talent and creative energy with eyes to a bright future.  There is a lot of possibility.  And so with this in mind our leader stepped up and made this observation: that the way to improve music in our church, is to make it not about music.

Sounds very counter-intuitive right?  Shouldn’t we put more effort into music?  Then I thought about Mark chapter 8, and what Jesus thought about bread.

Let me explain.  Jesus feeds 4000 people at the beginning of Mark chapter 8.  He demonstrates compassion for this crowd of people that had gathered around him, yet the disciples seem a little stuck on what to do.  This is a little bizarre because just a few chapters back (ch 6) Jesus just miraculously fed 5000.  The disciples seem to have completely forgotten that, or for some reason thought it was a onetime bit of luck.  Undeterred Jesus performs a miracle with the few loaves they had with them and everyone gets to go home fed.

After this miracle Jesus and his disciples get into a boat, to cross to the other side of the lake, and the disciples get into a panic once again about bread.  They had only brought one loaf with them.  So Jesus finding another opportunity to teach says to them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod” (vs 15).  This really confuses them, and they think Jesus is upset with them for not planning ahead and bringing enough bread.  You can almost hear Jesus sigh.  They really don’t understand.  So Jesus responds in the next few verses:

 “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ¹⁸ ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? ¹⁹ When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?”

   “Twelve,” they said.

 ²⁰ “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

   “Seven,” they said.

 ²¹ “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.
(Mark 8 17-21 NLT)

 What Jesus is trying to explain to them is that, for him, bread is easy.  He just feed 5000 people, and then another 4000.  Bread is no big deal to Jesus.  He can pull it literally out of nowhere.  And so the disciples should understand that bread is the least of their worries.  What they need to understand is who they follow, and what that means.  The yeast of the Pharisees and Herod is Jesus challenging the religious and political establishment of that time.  There is always temptation to do what the world wants, or expects.

As the chapter continues we see that the eyes of the disciples are opened and they see Jesus for who he is: the Messiah, King, and Sovereign Lord.  And Jesus then asks them to take up their cross and follow him.  They are challenged to understand that being a follower of Jesus is much more than a simple adjustment to life.  Following Jesus requires a life that puts away our ambitions, and our agendas, for a life of devoted service to Him.

And so to make music better at Cornerstone church, we need to acknowledge, that like bread, music is easy for God.  He can pull music out of nowhere and multiply songs, equipment, technique and skill. What’s more important to Jesus is that in our music we live a life that puts away our ambitions, and our agendas, for a life of devoted service to Him.

I’m very thankful for the Music & Arts ministry here at Cornerstone Church.  We have some of the best volunteers, who feel called to use their creative gifts to serve the body of believers here at the church.  They faithfully rehearse, they get up early on Sundays, they work with their equipment, and they work with each other.  But more so than our devotion to the programs, and the music, I pray that we become a team of people that start with our whole hearted devotion to Christ.  Out of that will come true worship, and we will find our way to better music.

Lorn Gieck
Associate Pastor of Music & Arts

CD Review – Stuart Townend, The Journey

Every once in a while it’s nice to hear something really different.  I listen to a lot of music, and in most genre’s it’s quite rare to have your expectations be so pleasantly blown away.  This is the case with Stuart Townend’s new release The Journey.  I listen to a lot of worship music, and there is a very typical modern rock style that our sacred congregational songs are being written in today.  Stuart Townend as a writer has added some great songs to that modern worship song book (In Christ Alone and How Deep the Father’s Love are standards).  But his sound on his latest album is anything but typical.  It’s best to describe it as a folk/celtic kind of mix, but with a bit more on the rock edge.  Think of the Canadian Band Great Big Sea and you’ve get the idea.

So musically it’s a great big breath of fresh air, but lyrically there’s a lot to recommend as well.  He tends to use music to teach doctrine and Biblical ideas.  It makes the songs quite wordy, but oh what words!  The first two songs tackle some complex theological ideas like the meaning of Christ and the concept of living by faith.  Another Highlight is the song Vagabonds, which gives an overview of the Kingdom of God using the Biblical imagery of the feast.  The song Simple Living in quite a straightforward way tells the story of Jesus and the rich young man, and the widow’s mite, and then explains the application (a sermon in a song – amazing!)

If you’re looking for something a little different in the music department, then check out this album.  If you’re into solid Biblical teaching, and enjoy the idea of music being used as a vehicle for doctrine, then take a listen.  At the very least, Stuart Townend challenges my view of what a good worship song should be, and makes me think that we can write songs for the church that are musically relevant, in a contemporary style, and can also be the vehicle for teaching the truths of scripture.

Pastor Lorn Gieck

 

By Faith, Fall Music Schedule

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  (Hebrews 11:1 ESV)

I’ve been thinking of late a bit more about this concept of faith.  We all have various hopes, expectations, and things that we’d like to see happen, but what is Faith?  As we get into the fall and another season of life and ministry begins, we have plans, schedules and goals that we would like to come to fruition.  But faith is so much more than just the hope that what we plan will come to pass.  And maybe that’s the key difference.  Hope can simply be about our agenda and what we’d like to see happen.  Faith is much more about the kingdom considerations of following Jesus, and allowing the unseen work of the Holy Spirit to reboot our agenda.  By faith we have both the power and the will to do the work of the kingdom when the world is violently opposed to it.  As creative artists, worshipers, and musicians, it is faith that should set our agenda.  We practice and rehearse and “hope” we have a good worship service.  This means that we sing in tune, we play the right notes, and no other glaring train wrecks happen.

Let’s exchange that for the Biblical idea of faith.  Faith looks beyond the visible elements and has an expectation that God is at work when the church gathers.  When we encounter God in his revelation and have the opportunity to respond in obedience, then things change.  Let’s in faith pray for our church and that our hearts will soften, and that we lead a movement to live out mercy and compassion to each other in the church, to our city, and to our world.  Let’s in faith pray that holy living becomes a priority, and that we will confront long standing sin in our lives.  Let’s in faith pray that God will heal us of lukewarm faith, and exchange it for a bright witness of the gospel to everyone we meet.  These are the impossible things of faith.  But as the writer of Hebrews says, faith is connected to assurance.  By faith we know and believe that God’s work will be victorious.  Our life’s glory is to follow Christ into that victory.

Pastor Lorn Gieck

click to download a copy of the Fall 2011 Music Schedule September- December(.pdf)

A Faith Story

 

Abraham’s life was full of challenges of faith.  More often than not he had a hard time trusting God.  This never once changed the assurance of God’s promise to him, that he would become the father of many, and through him all the people of the earth would be blessed.   This painting depicts a scene from Genesis 18.  These three men bring news to Abraham that his wife Sarah will have a son within the year.  Sarah laughs at the thought, but they are quick to remind her that nothing is too difficult for God.

Read Genesis 18:1-15 and examine your doubts.  Ask yourself if there are areas in your life that you think are too hard for God.  Pray to grow in faith.

The Future of Jazz

Let’s start with a joke.  It’s a lame one, but a standard one used to poke fun between musicians of different styles.

Question:  “What’s the difference between a rock musician and a jazz musician?”

Punchline:  “A rock musician plays three chords to thousands of people, and a jazz musician plays thousands of chords to three people.”

I’ve been getting more interested in Jazz music in the last few years, starting to get to know the history of the art form, who the movers and shakers were that pushed the envelope and developed it into what we know today.  I’ve been learning of the traditional giants such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong.  I’ve been checking out the Bop era with Dave Brubeck, Coltrane and Miles Davis.  I’ve also been listening to the expansion of Jazz, through artists like Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. It’s all really great stuff.

Just recently I got my hands on a jazz music documentary.  Whereas most inquiries on the subject of Jazz dig back into the history, and into the great traditions that have been handed down, this documentary took a very different angle.  This documentary was about Jazz music today, and who the current artists are and what they are trying to say with their music.  What I found interesting, as they unfolded the narrative in various interviews of these artists, was the determination and drive that they had to find meaning in the music they are making.  They looked back on their Jazz roots, and instead of finding giants that can’t ever be topped, they find inspirations to become just as great.  There was optimism and a confidence (that honestly bordered on the arrogant) that the future for their music is very bright.  These are artists with something to say, and nothing is going to stop them from saying it.

Needless to say I found this all very inspiring.  When I look at the world around me, and my ability to engage with it, I want to have this kind of optimism.  And for us as followers of Jesus, it’s not just optimism, it’s about faith.  This is what I think the writer of Hebrews was trying to get at.  In Hebrews 11 we’re given this great overview of the tradition handed down by the patriarchs of Israel, and there’s this survey of all these heroes of faith.  And the end of this mighty list kicks off into Chapter 12:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne. (Hebrews 12:1,2 NLT)

You get this picture of someone looking forward with faith.  It’s important to understand that the book of Hebrews was written to encourage a group of people grappling with what it means to take faith that has been handed down through history, and live it with strength and vitality in their present day.  And the author isn’t even for a moment considering going backwards.  It’s about running full on forward.  And we should also remember that the situation wasn’t easy.  There were so many reasons to turn back to the safety of religious tradition or settle into the anonymity of secular life.   Life can be so much easier when you give people what they want.  But no, the choice here is to keep focused on Jesus.  Jesus is the model who with purpose walked forward, into the world announcing God’s kingdom, and in his death showed just how significantly things had changed with God’s message of freedom for the captives.

After watching a documentary like that I immediately go to the piano and practice, and I love every minute.  I desire to be challenged and to grow in my skills as a musicians, and exposure to models like that pushes me on.  Yet this journey into jazz music is so far beyond inspiration and my modest musical ambitions.    I hope, or rather I want to have a deepening faith, that extends into my practice of living.  Christ is my daily focus, Christ is my model.  He came to change the world for the better, and now has left the commission on my life.  Nothing should stop me from pursuing that with my heart, soul, mind and strength.

Pastor Lorn

 

Worship and Confession

Psalm 15

Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbours
or speak evil of their friends.
Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honour the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.

When the people of Israel came to worship, they were well aware of the fact that they were not a sinless people.  Even the most devout realized that God’s holy and righteous nature was so far beyond their ability to attain.  And so that meant that somewhere they had to deal with their failures.  Psalm 15 is one of the ways in which the priests would remind the people of their need of God’s grace.  Traditionally titled “a liturgy at the gate”, the priest would list the conditions required of those wanting to enter into worship.  The unasked questioned behind this psalm being, “who can ever claim to live this perfectly?”  The purpose of this list then is to break down self-righteousness, and the illusion that we are doing pretty good on our own.  Instead it draws attention to the little, everyday offenses and helps to bring out the reality that there is a profound need for humble repentance.

As a church this summer we’ve planned to delve into Nehemiah, and this past Sunday in Chapter 1 we find Nehemiah falling on his knees and confessing his sin and the sin of his people.  Nehemiah is a long way from the source of the problem.  You could justifiably say that he really had no responsibility at all.  Yet before God realized that he too could not ignore what was going on around him.  By implication we must look at Saskatoon and see the social, moral, ethical, and spiritual breakdowns in our city.  As worshipers of the one true God, and as the hands and feet of Jesus we must acknowledge somewhere that we may not be living up to what God want us of.  As Psalm 15 points out, we need to be a repentant people as well.

This is a fundamental and I believe transformational concept for us in our worship.  God in his lavish generosity of grace towards us will also motivate in us a joyful and generous spirit as we live an active life involved in our community.  Allen P. Ross in his book Recalling the Hope of Glory says it like this:

Worshippers who were spiritually motivated
would be in the sanctuary at times other than
those prescribed by law – it was their life.
They so enjoyed living in communion with
God that they would go to the temple anytime
they could to offer their freewill offerings and
in the process provide food for the poor and
the needy who would be there (Lev. 7:15-16).
When separated from the sanctuary, they
felt a genuine loss (Ps 42:1-1; 63:1-8)…

I wonder if this spirit of generosity is missing in our hearts today.  Is the worship of God our very life, or is it a law and a ritual in which we meet the minimum requirements?  Do we enjoy giving to help others, or do we instead focus on what we’ll lack as a result.  Do we even acknowledge that there is room in our lives for the orphan, the widow, or the foreigner, and do we make efforts to build community and communion?  The confession of our sin is beyond the things we’ve done wrong.  We also have to acknowledge that the omission of doing the right thing, when we are instructed in the Bible to do so, that is sin.  True worship in the Bible is never associated with the services and programs of the religion.  It is always connected to the life lived day to day.  In fact, there is no separation between religion and daily life in the Bible.  Every moment is an opportunity to live a spiritual life.  This is what brings life and meaning to the worship gatherings of the church.  So let us rebuild the social, moral, ethical and spiritual breakdowns in Saskatoon.  And that just might mean we have to look at Psalm 15 and at ourselves first.

I’ll close with this final scripture from Hebrews 13:15,16 -

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

Lorn Gieck
Music & Arts

 

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