****TO BE USED OF GOD

Years ago, as a plastering contractor, I had a unique tool that I favored above all the others. It was my finishing trowel. When it was new, it was just like any other trowel but it got better with age. Through years of use, the once squared sides had worn down until the front was considerably narrower than the back.  

The rough unfinished wooden handle had been worn to a polished, bone-like finish from rubbing against my gloved hand and the edge was honed razor-sharp from use.

The old-timers used to tell me how their trowels would "sing" on the hard plastered walls. I never knew what that meant until my own trowel became well worn and I could hear the distinct ringing sound of a fine tool against the hardening plaster surfaces.

I loved that trowel. One day, I set my tools on the ground while I moved my mortarboard. When I turned back, I found that a large tractor had run over my tools.

My trowel was broken into pieces. The handle was split into fractions, the shaft was snapped off and the steel blade was cracked and popped off its rivets. My favorite tool was useless junk.

I knelt down and carefully gathered up all the broken pieces. I carried them back to my truck and gently placed them in my toolbox. After a few sad moments of mournful silence, I picked up another trowel and returned to finish my work.

I learned a few things that day about tools in the hands of the Master Craftsman.  God is at work in this world and nothing can thwart His purposes. In Matt. 16:18, Jesus said, “I will build My Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” 

That verse is clear; Jesus affirms that the Church is HIS and HE is the builder and protector. 

In Eph. 2:10 we learn that “…we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works…”

The subject, here, is the Church and God is the Designer, Creator, and the Master Craftsman. He uses His people to do His work. If we become useless or unavailable, He will still finish His work according to His plan.  

This is important to remember lest we "think more highly of ourselves than we ought." None of us is indispensable in God’s work and He is not dependent on any one of us, in particular, to get the job done. We are only His tools. And like a Master craftsman, God has special tools for specific jobs. In verses 6-7, Paul explains, that, for God to make the gentiles part of that “building,” he, Paul was “made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effectual working of His power.”

So, the Craftsman has the right to decide which tools to use and how He uses them.

Have you ever deliberately ruined a perfectly good tool for a reason?  I have. There was a time that I needed a special tool for a particular, one -time, purpose. There was nothing suitable for the job except the shank of a good trowel so I broke off the blade to create the custom tool I needed to complete the job.

Sometimes God takes a perfectly good tool and destroys it for His purpose. And people will ask, “How could a loving God do that?” Fanny Crosby comes to mind. Had she not been made blind, she might never have had the spiritual sight that inspired her great hymns of Faith.

God knows precisely what tools He needs to accomplish His purpose. There is a similar example in Scripture- “…as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, 'Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, ‘Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.' ” Jn. 9:1-3

Some tools, like my trowel, get better when they are “broken in.” In God’s hand, we become honed and polished, through trials and hardships in our lives, to make us useful and favored tools of His choice.  In Eph. 2:22-3:1 Paul introduces himself as a prisoner for “this cause…” 

What cause was that? God was building His Church and, in His sovereign plan, He needed His servant to be imprisoned.

Tools can do nothing apart from the skill and ability of the craftsman and a skilled craftsman can accomplish very fine work with just mediocre tools. God is sovereign and all-powerful. He will accomplish His work completely and with excellence and He does it with imperfect tools.

Elijah was a prophet of God. His story reminds me of my trowel. Through his many years of service, he had been honed and polished to the point that he was a favored tool of choice in God’s hands. And I can imagine how Elijah must have been “singing” the praises of God as he personally experienced God’s mighty work through him.

But the time came when Elijah became unusable. When he looked around at his circumstances, he began to lose faith, he became fearful, and he ran away to hide. God came looking for him and demonstrated His power and provision but Elijah was still fearful.  It was like that tractor driver had run over him. Elijah had become unusable.

So God picked up another tool, Elisha, to complete His work.  Did God still love Elijah? Of course, He did and He swept him up in a whirlwind and carried him off to Heaven in a chariot of fire.

Remember, God is the Master craftsman and He has many tools at His disposal. Should we become unusable, He may lovingly take us up and carry us home.

Now, that brings me to an important point for our local congregations. About 60 years ago, my church family was devastated.  We had lost our pastor, our pianist, our choir director, and a couple deacons and Sunday school teachers all within a few short weeks.

I was fearful and uncertain about our future. I asked a long-time member, a godly elderly woman, “What is going to happen to our church?” 

She was quick with a comforting answer.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” she said, “This is God’s church and He is at work to accomplish His will for our good and His glory.” 

She was right; in just a few months God had raised up new people to serve in our church.

My question to that woman came back to me recently when we announced our move away from our church. Someone asked me,  “What are we going to do without you and your family?” 

And I had the answer – “This is God’s church. He is in control and He will raise up people to continue His work.”

Our responsibility is to be ready, available, and willing, to be useful tools in the Hands of the Master. And whenever we feel like we are not good enough, smart enough, or skilled enough to be of any use to God, we should think again about this passage in 1 Cor. 1:27-29;  "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."

Did you catch that?  NO ONE can boast; God gets all the glory.

The great hymn, TO BE USED OF GOD, was written by Audrey Meier and it expresses her desire “to sing, to speak, to pray, to lead, or TO BE USED  by God” in whatever capacity He deems fit. 

And that should be the desire of every Christian.

****LOVE LIFTED ME

The hymn, LOVE LIFTED ME was written and published in 1912. James Rowe wrote the lyrics and his friend, Howard Smith composed the melody.

Rowe’s daughter recalled how they had worked together.  “I can see them now, my father striding back and forth humming a bar or two, and Howard playing it and then jotting it down.  The two huddled together, working line by line, bar by bar.  Howard’s hands were severely twisted with arthritis, yet he still managed to play the piano.”

The hymn is based on two biblical accounts. The first is in Matt. 8.  While Jesus was asleep in the boat, His disciples were terrified by a fierce storm.  They woke Him and appealed to Him for help.  Jesus rebuked the wind and raging sea and, at His command, everything was calm.

The second account is in Matt.14.  The disciples were out on the sea when they saw Jesus was walking toward them on the water.  When He came near, He commanded Peter to join Him.  Peter got out and walked toward Jesus but when he looked down at the water, he became frightened and began to sink.  He cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and lifted him out of the water and asked, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

 

When they got into the boat, the wind suddenly stopped. And all those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying, “Surely, You are the Son of God!”

There is a simple Gospel message in this hymn.

The first verse describes our redemption.  In our natural condition, as lost sinners, we were in imminent danger and in need of a Savior to rescue us.

Verse two describes our new life.  Only in Christ can we live, serve, and praise, Him.

The third verse is evangelistic.  It is a warning to others and a plea for them to look up and trust Jesus Christ, the only One who can save them.

The refrain declares our testimony; "When nothing else could help, LOVE LIFTED ME."

**********************
Some are critical of this hymn only because the upbeat tempo seems unfit for the seriousness of the lyrics.  I really like this slower, more worshipful rendition by the Gaithers.

****MY RELIGION'S NOT OLD-FASHIONED

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There is an old country-western Gospel song that has been on my mind for a couple years. It was one of my mother’s favorites and I sang along with it on her record player when I was a child. 

For those of you who don’t know, records were what we used in the "old days" before eight tracks, which came before cassettes. Actually, records even pre-dated vinyl LPs (long play albums). They were made from slate.  Slate records were heavy, rigid, and fragile. They would shatter into pieces if dropped. Here’s a little record riddle for you; how many grooves are on a record? (Answer, Two; one on each side.)

These days when it seems that everyone is trying to dumb down or repackage Christianity to make it more attractive or relevant to a modern, enlightened, me-centered culture, it is comforting to know that there is nothing new under the Sun. This song was popular over a half-century ago and, apparently, they struggled then with the same slippery slope of liberalism and creeping modernism that is prevalent in Christianity today.

This song addresses the subject of TRUTH.  “What is Truth?  

That is an academic question that has been argued since creation when the serpent tempted Eve in the garden of Eden.  It comes up often in academic philosophy discussions.  After hours of debate, all the ignorant pinheads usually conclude that truth is fluid and relative; what is TRUTH for you, they say, may not be TRUTH for me.  And now, we are observing that in the classrooms of our children who are told that 2 plus 2 does not necessarily equal 4.

That kind of ignorant attitude recently surfaced in political media, when Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said to President Trump, “I reject your facts.”

That’s nonsense!  Facts are facts; if they’re not true, they’re not facts.  And the answer to the question, “What is Truth?” is simple; Truth is that which is true.

The song, MY RELIGION'S NOT OLD-FASHIONED, was written by Stuart Hamblen and made popular by Hank Snow.  OK, so it's not one that I would normally select for use in church but there are several things I like about it.  

First- unlike a lot of "praise team instrumentalists," the singers knew how to play the guitar.

Second- you can hear the lyrics over the instruments and understand them without an interpreter.

Third- The melody is technically easy and recognizable (probably because there really is a melody).

Fourth- The lyrics are wholesome.

Fifth and most importantly- I like the song for its doctrinal soundness and its solid, conservative message about the immutable nature of TRUTH.

“All Truth is God’s Truth.”  And, the truth never changes because God is Truth and He never changes.  Jesus claimed that attribute to Himself when He said, “I am the Truth.” 

The songwriter begins by declaring that there is only one real religion.  That’s because there is only One true God and only one true way to salvation.  And God revealed that way through His Son, Jesus Christ who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

The song goes on with a warning; we must be careful discerners of truth because there are many false teachers and prophets.  They stand behind pulpits, twist scripture, and speak beautiful words.  They will tell us that God didn’t really mean what the Bible tells us.  Those false preachers are snakes just like that serpent in the Garden and they will lead their followers to destruction.

Lots of people try to fit God into their own molds and practice religions that make them feel good.  But the One and Only True, Unchanging God has ordained an unchanging Gospel that still saves sinners today the same way He saved sinners in the past; by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.   

 
You can hear it as originally recorded by Stuart Hamblen, on this video clip. I have reprinted the lyrics below:

MY RELIGION'S NOT OLD FASHIONED

There is but one real religion that redeems the sinners soul.

It's as timeless as the ages and it never will grow old.

My Lord gave the key to Thomas, "I'm the Way, the Truth, the Life,"

And that Way has never changed since He spoke the Words that night.

In this world of wild confusion, we are often led astray,

When we hear the words 'old fashioned' as men speak of God today.

My Lord doesn't deal in fashion, He's more timeless than the seas

And His Words still hold the power as they did in Galilee.

Some are prone to take the Bible and dilute the Words of Christ.

They admit He came here one time but He'll never make it twice.

Be not tempted by those "prophets" - He said such men would arise;

There is darkness in their teaching but there's life in Jesus Christ.

chorus

My religion's not old-fashioned but it's real genuine.

Two and two make four today as it did in my Lord's time.

Modern days don't make a difference you can't alter truth or time.

My religion's not old-fashioned but it's real genuine.

****Come, Christians, Join To Sing

In the past few years, I have researched and written over 200 weekly hymn stories and commentaries. And I have been surprised to learn that a fair number of the hymns we sing were originally written for children.

COME CHRISTIANS, JOIN TO SING is one of them.

It was written in 1843 and was originally titled, “Come, Children, Join To Sing.”

The author, Pastor Christian Henry Bateman, published it along with several of his other children’s hymns, in a songbook called, Sacred Melodies for Children.

To be fair, the hymn didn’t originate with Bateman; it was a reworking of an 1836 hymn with the same music and meter, and similar lyrics written by William Hickson.

The hymn was very popular in Scotland and sold over 6 million copies. When Bateman discovered that adults also enjoyed singing it, he changed the word, Children, to Christians, to make it more universally functional.

The song is an invitation to sing praises to God; an act that is referenced about 60 times in the book of Psalms.

In Psalm 47, God’s people are called to: “Sing praises, sing praises to God! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding” (Ps. 47:6-7).

In the new testament, the Apostle, Paul, wrote to the Church instructing them to “Sing and make music in your heart for the Lord, always giving thanks.” (Eph.5:19-20)

The word, "Alleluia" (or Hallelujah) means “praise the Lord.”  The word, "amen," means assuredly or truly.  Those words, coupled together, are repeated at the end of each phrase, to remind and instruct the children (and all of us) to “Praise the Lord in Truth.”  

****ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH

"And there were, in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night."

"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid."

The shepherds were gripped with extreme fear. But why?   After all, what is so scary about a few beautiful young angels?

Well, there is no scriptural indication that angels are beautiful, feminine beings like we see portrayed in most media.  In every biblical mention of them, they either had masculine names or there was no indication of gender. In fact, there is nothing in scripture that even suggests that there are male and female angels. 

Angels are terrifying creatures, especially when they appear in large numbers. The common reaction to angels in Scripture is fear; probably not because of their physical appearance, but because, when they come, they usually bring God’s judgment and justice. 

What we do know is that they are God’s messengers and when this one appeared to the shepherds, the glory of God lit up the sky with a bright light.  And if that were not frightful enough, “suddenly, the heavens opened and there was with the angel a mighty army of the heavenly host.” 

But on this night, "the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

They were not there to wage war or bring judgment; they came to announce the birth of the Savior. 

We know very little about the hymn, ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH. We don't know who wrote it but experts believe that it was probably written in the first century. 

Like several other Christmas hymns, the lyrics suggest that the angels were singing. But scripture doesn’t tell us that. It simply says that they were “praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” 

So, is it wrong to presume that they sang?  I think it's not unreasonable. From a literal point of view, the word, sing, is sometimes used as a synonym for “tell” or “profess” or “proclaim.” But the question is, did the angels sing songs of praise in harmonic chorus? 

God told Job that, at the time of creation, “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:4, 7).

The Hebrew writer of that text used a literary form called poetic parallelism, in which “the sons of God” and “the morning stars” most likely refer to the same things; they were angels.

Also, in the fifth chapter of the Revelation, we are told that four “living creatures” (elsewhere called cherubim) accompany the saints in heaven when they sing praises to God.

Luke wrote that these angels, who appeared that night, were “praising God and saying..." The Greek word for saying can also mean, to sing praises.

In other words, the verse could be translated to say, “There was…a multitude of the heavenly host singing praises to God, declaring, ‘Glory to God in the highest’…”

We don’t know if the angels were singing that night but we do know that they were praising God. And we know, from Paul’s letters to the churches at Ephesus and Colossae, that God wants us to “SPEAK, TEACH, and ADMONISH ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace and making melody in our hearts to the Lord.”

Twice in his pastoral epistles, Paul tells us to "speak to ourselves in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs", so I think it is reasonable to presume that the Angels also sing praises to God.

****HOW DEEP THE FATHER'S LOVE FOR US

Stuart Townend is an English Christian composer who has written several modern worship songs.

In 2005, Cross Rhythms Magazine described Townend as "one of the most significant songwriters in the whole international Christian music field.”

Townend has been disturbed by the modern worship music movement that, he says, is characterized by its attempts to create an emotional “experience.”  He believes that emotion is an important part of worship, but it becomes problematic when the experience becomes the primary focus.

In a commentary posted on Crosswalk.com, A Christian website, they wrote, "the uniqueness of Townend’s writing lies partly in its lyrical content. There is both a theological depth and poetic expression that some say is rare in today’s worship writing."

Townend explained in an interview, “The danger, now, is that when we are so focused on the experience, our worship can become self-seeking and self-serving.  When all our songs are about how we feel and what we need, we’re missing the point. There is a wonderful, omnipotent God who deserves our highest praise, and how we feel about it is, in many ways, irrelevant!  I want to encourage the expression of joy, passion, and adoration, but I want those to be the by-product of focusing on God – I don’t want them to become the subject matter.  I’m trying to write songs that refer to us as little as possible, and to Him as much as possible!”

Many people are surprised to learn that Townend’s God-centered hymns are contemporary because they sound more like classic hymns than modern praise songs.

On his own webpage, Townend noted that he had been meditating about what it cost the Father to give up His beloved Son to such a torturous death on the cross.  And then he was convicted by his own part in that horrible event.  That’s when he penned the line, “It was my sin that nailed Him there.”  That was the beginning of the hymn, HOW DEEP THE FATHER’S LOVE.”

The hymn’s three simple verses express the basics of our Christian faith.  Verse one causes us to consider the greatness and the depth of our Father’s love expressed in His giving His only Son.  So, we celebrate His birth.  But then verse two directs our attention to Calvary.  Christ suffered and died on the cross for our sin.

 

The last verse of the hymn reminds us of our helpless condition; there is nothing good enough in us to merit God’s forgiveness; we need a Savior.  So, the song ends with these great words of assurance, “But this I know with all my heart: His wounds have paid my ransom.”

****TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS

TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, was written by Helen Lemmel but the real story is about two remarkable women who had much in common; they were contemporaries; both with artistic talents that merged to create one of the most loved spiritual songs of the 19^th century.  But they had never met.

In 1875, at the age of 12, Helen’s family emigrated to the United States.  She was a gifted musician, songwriter, and singer.

In 1907, at the age of 43, she went to Germany, for four years of intensive vocal training, where she met and married her husband. They moved back to the United States in 1911 and she continued singing in the Gospel music circuits.  Eventually, she became the vocal music teacher at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.

But then tragedy struck.  She developed an affliction that resulted in blindness. Her husband couldn’t cope with the thought of a blind wife, so he abandoned her.  She had nowhere to turn but to wholly trust in the Lord.

She retired from Moody and moved to Seattle, where she continued to write poems and set them to music. In complete blindness, she would pick out the notes on a small keyboard and call on friends to record her melodies before she forgot them.

 

Whenever her friends asked how she was, her frequent reply was, “I am fine in the things that count.”  She continued to write until she died at the age of 97 years.  In all, she authored about 500 hymns.

So, what about the other woman?  How did two women who never met, collaborate in the writing of this hymn?

In 1901, Lilias Trotter set off for a time alone With God.  As a result of her meditation that day, she authored a devotional pamphlet titled, “Focused.”

About twenty years later, one of her friends found the pamphlet and read it to her. Helen was impacted by one sentence: “Turn full your soul’s vision to Jesus, and look and look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him.” 

Those words seemed to repeat over and over in her mind during the following days.  That was her inspiration to write both music and text for the song “TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS.” 

In 1926, Lilias Trotter, revised her original booklet, combined it with Helen Lemmel’s text and music, and published it with the new title, “Focussed:  A Story & A Song.”

(On a side note, I find the similarities between Helen Lemmel and Fanny Crosby to be interesting.  Both ladies were very prolific hymn writers and, being totally blind, both used the imagery of looking at and seeing their Savior through the eyes of faith.)