Amen to Myself

Messages from All Directions

As we wrapped up a meeting with our communication team this morning, I was reminded by a new acquaintance from Pocatello Idaho that God uses peeps from all over his Kingdom to speak to us. Apparently someone on this team has been reading this Blog and mentioned that I hadn't posted in a very long time.  I'll admit that it's been so long that I had forgot I had a Blog at all!  Lord, help me!  In my journey over the last 12 months many things have changed and I've grown in lots of directions, but one truth remains unchanged and that is that our Father in Heaven is always communicating with us, always listening and always speaking.  Unlike this Blog, which has not been dependable, God created us to have an ongoing conversation with Him, we call it prayer... and in His dependable way I think He just calls it RELATIONSHIP ;)  But either way, He's always ready to take our call.

Last weekend I had the honor of substitute teaching for our founding Pastor, Dr. John Jackson, as he was teaching on the other side of the Sierras at BaySide Church at Granite Bay.  It's not just an honor to be asked by my Pastor to teach here at LifePoint Church, but an honor to be entrusted by God to deliver a message to His people.  To allow Him to communicate through us is one of the best parts about being a Christ Follower and I have a whole new respect for those who do this for multiple services, in front of hundreds of humans. So I took the liberty of posting the teaching here in the hope that it encourages anyone who has ever grappled with God and said "no" to what feels bigger than yourself or avoided the "dangerous" things that God calls us to do. This was my first run at teaching on a weekend...  If my Mom would use the Internet, I know she'd be proud ;)

9-27-09 Mark Marsella, 40 Days of Prayer Pt 3 from Mark Marsella on Vimeo.

The Bible: Through the eyes of a child...

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that.

 

Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did.

 

Then God made the world.

 

He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.

 

Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden.

 

Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.

 

Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.

 

Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.

 

One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.

 

After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a sonnamed Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.

 

Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of  Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.

 

God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments.

 

These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff.

 

Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.

 

One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.

 

After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise,but that doesn't sound very wise to me.

 

After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets.

 

One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.

 

After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in   Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')

 

During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Democrats.

 

Jesus also had twelve opossums.

 

The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.

 

Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.

 

But the Democrats and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.

 

Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again.

 

He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

Is There a Right Key for Corporate Worship?

Okay enough sarcasm and "sinicism" - I want to focus on some of the right ways to lead others in worship.  Here are some thoughts from Bob Kauflin, author of the book Worship Matters:

There’s a wide variety of opinions when it comes to what’s an “appropriate” key for congregational singing. My basic approach is to keep songs from a low A to a high D, but there are certainly exceptions and other aspects to consider. The strongest range for the congregation seems to be between G and D. That’s where a lot of up tempo choruses end up (Blessed Be Your Name, for example). Here are some thoughts I hope are helpful, in no particular order.

Listen
How do you know if you’re singing songs in keys that are too high? If the men in your church regularly switch to a lower octave, if people look like they’re straining trying to hit the notes, or if half the congregation drops out at the chorus, you should probably think about dropping the key. Your key is too low if it’s difficult to hear the congregation on the lower parts of the song. Of course, most of us have members in the congregation who will gladly let us know if the songs are too high or too low.

Tempo
Slower songs with a narrow range (less than an octave) can work fine in lower keys because they don’t require as much energy. So “Here I am to Worship” (range of a 5th) could be done in C, D, or E. On the other hand, uptempo songs naturally require more energy and people can often belt out the higher notes without a problem.

Range
The widest range a song will go is usually an octave and a fifth, the same range as The Star Spangled Banner. In those cases, I opt for a range of G to D or A to E. Shout to the Lord is an octave and a fourth, so A is a good key, although it can also be done in Bb. The hymn Jesus Paid it All has the range of an octave, but Kristian Stanfill’s version makes it an octave and a 4th. So I do that in A or Bb. It can be done in C, but the bridge briefly hits an F.

Repetition
If much of the melody stays within a certain range, I’ll factor that into the decision. So if a song has a chorus that stays up around a D, I often drop the key of the song a step, as long as it doesn’t make it too low in other parts. So I typically do Beautiful One by Tim Hughes in the key of C. Hark! the Herald Angels Sing has a range of a 9th, but the chorus hits the high note six times. So I’d generally choose the key of F over G, making the high note a D.

Modulation
For hymns or hymn-like songs, it’s also possible to modulate on the last verse or two. That way people are only singing the highest notes for a brief time, usually when their hearts are full of faith and it’s easier to sing higher. So we start “In Christ Alone,” which has a range of an octave and a 4th, in D, then modulate to E between the second and third verses. That makes the top note an E, but we only sing it 2 or 3 times.

Serving the Church
Finally, I have to choose, I want to sing songs in keys that are comfortable for the congregation, not me. Ideally, we haven’t gathered simply to listen to my voice, but to each other’s. I want the energy to come from the congregation, not me. That doesn’t mean I can’t do a solo in a key that works for me. But when we’re singing together, I want to serve the congregation. If I’m more comfortable in a higher range, I can always add harmony or vocal fills in strategic places.

While churches can genuinely worship God with songs that are too high or too low, the right keys can help people express their faith-filled praise in ways that are effective, encouraging, and enjoyable.