I find it very interesting what just a few grains of salt can do to the taste of an apple...... unfortunately I found out.
Saw Peter Popoff on the TV at the Ft McCoy gym this morning. He's like that grain of salt on my apple.
"You are God's child" seems to be a phrase people like to hear.
Again it's been a while since I've blogged here but it has been busy. Many things have happened between January and now, well maybe just that things have piled up and I've had to take a break from here to connect with the rest of life.
I'm looking forward to this summer with the church youth group mostly because they always seem to have fun. I haven't had fun for quite some time but I'm trying.
One thing I do enjoy though is USAR Annual Training! I return from here though and have a hard time explaining what happened. It's either going real fast or unbelievably slow. The combination must act like a mind numbing potion that washes everything out.
We are C2 (command and control) for PRET Camp which is a two week physical fitness camp assisting soldiers in passing their Army Physical Fitness Test. It's a difficult two weeks. The meals are calorie conscious and the exercise is 3 times a day. The attitudes have been positive from the participants and that has really helped the camp run well. I walk the PT (physical training) field watching and encouraging as I am able. I walk the running course often with different troops. My specific "job" though is Chaplain and therefore I hold Chapel Service and Bible Studies throughout the two weeks. I enjoy the group I serve with, especially because of their support of my religious support to the troops. So.... the combination of those I work with and this being AT and......the constant reminder that I really truly am not your grandpa's preacher.....I am holding a 3 part series in my services..... "Why God Loves Rock and Roll!"
Not a typical theme for most but I've had a better turnout for this than most of my other services. It comes my thoughts about how far God's love and grace can ultimately reach. Obviously, it can reach through eternity to our hearts wherever we may be.
The God of my life, as I told those in attendance, is not afraid of Led Zeppelin or Metallica or any other band. I believe it's consistent with His character to use some good old Rock and Roll to reveal Himself. Tomorrow night we will look at a good Southern Rock band, The Atlanta Rhythm Section.
So, these tunes are rough.... and at times crude. Similarly our hearts are rough and at times crude. Too rough for God to care? Too crude for Jesus to go to the cross for us? And hopefully we open our eyes to the very fact that our rough and crude and sinful hearts is exactly why Jesus took the cross for us!
A young soldier renewed my hope for humanity in some ways. I asked, "Why do we like this music? - Why do we like some more than others?" And he said it's because it connects with how we feel! Now, I've sat in on so many counseling sessions they can't be counted. Have you ever heard the phrase.... "How does that make you feel?" and the answer generally starts.... "I don't know". And so we work at finding the emotions that describe how we feel. The doctors and counselors and teachers will have those cool charts with little faces that frown or smile and we are to point out the one that resembles our feelings! Just seems for me to be much easier to have a chart of music from which to choose! On the long list of music I think I would scan it quickly and point to "One" or "Hate Me" or even "Train, Train".
The music we listen to seems to identify, even to small detail the raw emotion of love, hate, jealousy, anger hope and all the other God given emotions we hold. From that point, the point of identifying our emotional position, we look to God's word to find the answer. The music does not teach us our ethics or morals or values. They simply put words to how we feel. Turning then to the Word of God we can more easily identify the promises and hope and care and concern our God has for us.
Compare "Broken" with how we feel when separated from the ones we love. Contrast "Broken" with God's ever present love and grace. I have called these concepts "Anti-thematic". Human (horizontal) description of our ills compared to God's compassion for humanity (vertical).
God loves rock and roll because it can extend His reach into the hearts of those who may never listen to His words of hope.
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