Ten years ago today, our friends the Brubachers were here visiting from Canada. Their family came down to help with music at our missionary conference, and also to do some worship music training with the church in Jesús María.
Here you can see at least two of the family, along with some of the musicians of the church, leading worship on Sunday morning, October 2015. Lee is on guitar and Cheryl on keyboard. Just click the image for a larger version.
As usual, there has been a lot going on over the last little while! One thing that’s been fun – well, more than one thing – have been related to music.
The piano/keyboard class has (finally) started up again, with at least six students. Most of them are already involved in the worship music ministry at the church.
I’ve had to refresh my own memory as I go – it’s been a while since I’ve taught the course! But the students have survived two classes so far, with seven to go. We’re having a class every couple of weeks or so, so it will take a while to finish. But I’ve got them memorizing their seven notes now. 🙂
I’ve also been enjoying leading the worship music Bible study again. Actually, it’s one of two that I’ve done before – the more general one. (The other one was specifically for keyboardists.) There’s always something new to learn as we go deeper into the Word of God to see how we can better lead people to worship through music.
And then, of course, are the regular music practices that we have, which are also fun. It’s been a bit of a challenge having less time to practice before the service, because we only rent the hall for a certain amount of time. But we usually practise during the week as well.
It’s amazing to see how this group has grown over the past few years, and it’s been great to spend a little more time with them over the past little while!
Earlier this week Shari and I were at a meeting with the leaders of the church and their wives. One of the challenges, probably in any church, is that we see needs of people in the congregation, and we see how the Word of God can meet those needs, and yet often people – I should say we – don’t take the time to learn from God’s Word.
Maybe this is a habit of skipping the Sunday service. Maybe it’s not prioritizing a Bible study that would do us good. Maybe it’s a lack of regular Bible reading.
And of course there’s a variety of reasons that this happens. Sometimes it’s just a lack of understanding of the importance of hearing from the Lord. Sometimes it’s family pressure, or financial pressure, or a lack of organization. We all have our reasons.
I shared with everyone something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately – oddly enough, a medical case study published in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine in 2019.
So, there was a boy of 14 who went to the doctor complaining that he was tired. The doctor did some tests and found that his vitamin B12 (cobalamin) levels were low. So he was given injections. Knowing that he was a “fussy eater”, the doctor also gave him some diet advice. And things seemed better.
But then he found that his vision was getting worse. After another couple of years, at the age of 17, he went to another specialist. More tests were done, and it was found that he still had issues with vitamin B12. After more tests, it was discovered that it wasn’t just B12, but several other micronutrients as well.
He was prescribed some supplements, but he was now legally blind. His vision may never return.
So what happened? Well, since he had been a boy, he had been very picky about his food. He ended up living on processed meats, white bread, chips and french fries.
As you can see, this didn’t cause major problems at first, and he was content with his food (a great relief for Dad and Mom no doubt). A small and common problem turned up – fatigue – which was easily solved with some vitamin injections. But then something else turned up – genetic? disease? And then another problem. And gradually the problems became very serious.
Because, after all, your body doesn’t need regular huge amounts of micronutrients. That’s why they’re called “micro”. You just need a wee bit of this and that over time. And so it can take a long time to notice that there’s a problem.
The same can be true of our spiritual lives. And I think there are two common causes:
Someone can eat all the time and still be malnourished – as was the case with this teen. If you go to your local church service, and the songs tell you that God loves you (a great truth!) but not much else. If you listen to sermons and learn that you should love others (a great truth!), and not much else. You read the Bible and gain a few facts, and that’s all. Your prayer life is limited to “God bless so-and-so” and “help so-and-so feel better”.
And soon, during the worship music time, you realize you’re always just thinking about the same few things (booooooring). And you’re listening to the same things in the sermons. And when hard times come – or when good times come! – you lack the spiritual treasures that you could be drawing from God’s Word in your heart (Psalm 119:11; Luke 6:45). You can’t handle the hard times, or truly rejoice in the good!
Sometimes these are the reasons we’re shallow, bored, and ill-equipped.
And yet God has given us so many treasures – spinach, beef, strawberries, walnuts … I mean, prayer, 66 books in the Bible, thousands of years of songs from the community of believers, a local church with all kinds of different people, various teachers – we have such treasure!
But are we enjoying the feast before us?
We miss a service. We don’t spend time with other believers for a while. We forget to pray. We hear the same few dozen worship songs. And everything goes on as it did before. The sky doesn’t fall. We don’t feel like we’re further away from God. Maybe we even feel more content. For a while.
But eventually we come to understand a little of what we’re missing. We feel a little weak in the battle. We don’t understand when we do read the Bible. We can’t see the real challenges before us, or the real blessings given to us. And a week of panic Bible study or a counselling session with the pastor may not be a lasting solution.
So I should ask – today – this week – am I getting my micronutrients?
Our worship service on the 12th of February was kind of cool – because all three of us were involved! Yes, it happens sometimes.
Shari was leading the kids’ teaching time, with a lesson about Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27:1-46; Romans 9:13). Nathanael grabbed his trusty ukulele and helped with the worship music. And I led the service.
We’re keeping busy, but there are a lot of other people working hard too! We’re still trying to get the “shade” just right, with some new mesh tarps. This Sunday will be attempt #3, but things are improving each week. It’s partly a matter of making things easier to set up, and partly a matter of covering what needs to be covered.
Last Sunday we had another practical problem, however – we ran out of chairs. Two men rushed out to get some stools so that everyone could sit down under our nice shade.
So… I’ll be buying some more this week. However, finding a place to store them all is becoming a problem. Good problems, but problems.
As God continues to work in our local church, the world, the flesh and the devil attack. So we would appreciate your prayers for people in our church who are struggling with health issues, family problems, and bereavement. It’s a challenging time.
We’re also looking forward to starting up a couple of Bible studies – a general one starting this Friday, and in the near future a new study for the women. Please do pray that people will come and that God’s Word will be applied to their hearts.
Thanks for your prayers!
It’s amazing the things that go through your mind when you’re leading music in a church service.
Is that speaker working now? Maybe we need to replace the cord. Are the musicians together? What in the world is that kid over there doing? How did that dog get in here?
… and hopefully you’re actually singing to the Lord, and thinking about the message of the songs!
This past Sunday our theme was grace. It’s surprising that we don’t sing more songs with this theme, but we did squeeze in some oldies on Sunday such as Amazing Grace, I Know Whom I Have Believed, and Wonderful Grace of Jesus (one of the first songs Shari and I learned in Spanish, actually).
The way I was facing I could see the door to the property, and I noticed that a woman (that I didn’t recognize) was standing there. The logical thing to do would be to catch the eye of the woman who owns the property, but the speaker was blocking my view of her. I made a couple of lame attempts to catch someone else’s eye, but I was in the middle of a song and it just wasn’t happening.
When the song (and actually the music set) was done, I was relieved to see that someone was already back there talking to her.
It wasn’t until after the service that I found out that she wanted to talk to me. Well, not me specifically, but “the pastor”.
She was long gone by then, so I never spoke to her, but from what I ascertained she wanted to talk to someone because she was concerned about her son, who was suicidal.
Out of the three countries in North America, if I recall correctly, Mexico has had the lowest suicide rate. But it’s been rising, even before last year. No doubt, as in all three countries, it’s been rising more quickly over the past few months.
And so this young man (who you could pray for) represents so many others!
This woman was invited to come back next Sunday, but unfortunately we don’t know who she is or where she’s from. But we are talking about getting a sign up so that people know we’re there every Sunday, and that they’re welcome. (Yes, rather basic, I realize – but remember, we still think of this location in some ways as “temporary” because we can’t meet in the place we were renting a year ago.)
We are thankful for our Lord Jesus Christ. “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:2) That is the hope that so many need!
I am reminded of this again as I prepare for the second part of our biblical anthropology series this Sunday. The gospel is so precious. Please pray that we would share it freely.
A while ago I read an article about songs that had been commonly sung in churches during the COVID-19 lockdown. So I wondered – what are our “lockdown songs”?
As it turns out, we don’t have many. Apparently we sing a lot of variety! There was, in fact, only one song we had sung more than twice.
And I think that we’re probably planning our music more based on the Bible text we’re meditating on that day. Either in Daniel, or in one of the Psalms.
But hey – in case you’re interested, here are some of the most common ones. If I know an English version, I have the English title – otherwise it’s just a translation of the Spanish.
I especially associated that first one with Daniel, which is why it made the list.
But the one that we’ve sung most of all is a brand new song, written in 2020, based on Psalm 46 – Dios con Nosotros (God with Us). I’m going to post a rough translation of the words for you, and then if you like you can watch the video. The song is by Gerson Arvelo.
Very appropriate in times of COVID-19, confusion, and even earthquake (yes, we had an earthquake today – we’re all fine).
Our refuge in trouble
Is Jesus Christ, the Victor
Even in storms and tempest
Christ gives us His perfect peace
Though the mountains be moved into the sea
God will always be with us.
If fear dominates everywhere
And there is confusion in the nations
His voice is heard as a roar
That brings comfort in grief.
We trust Him until the end
God will always be with us.
The Lord has done glorious works
By His righteousness and His love
We give glory and honour to the King
Who never fails and is always faithful.
We will sing to Him for eternity
God will always be with us.