Practical art

Most churches with their own building (and some without) will have at least heard of Easyworship, and possibly have it, or an equivalent method for dynamically generating worship lyrics to play on a screen for Sunday services.

Whatever version we have – i don’t think it’s the latest – it’s pretty useful. Husband is a worship leader, so I usually worm my way into messing with the layout. But one thing I have found is that the background interface is a bit difficult to use, involving some 200+ images and a very small scrolling selection that returns to the top whenever when you click something. Another concern is that many of the default images are either fairly generic (lots of mountains, clouds, waves and sunsets) or make the text illegible. The latter is usually due to one or more of the following: extreme contrast, overly interesting subject matter, or dappled colouring that, to an elderly eye, apparently imitates text.

I think I would like to find the folder and replace the 200+ images with maybe 20 or 30 really useful backgrounds – no extreme contrast, no overly interesting subject matter, and no dappled colouring that imitates text. I hope that my idea is not too focused on the art, and that I will actually be helping out the worship team where they really need it.

In the meantime, no worship for me in May. Apparently, I’ll be in Sunday School…

#ChristosKurios means :iconchristoskurios: They are a new Christian group focused on God’s Kingship and the cross of Christ. They have reformed roots but are open to all Bible-centred deviants.

soli Deo gloria
syndicated at chongsworship.com

Suffering

Our church is currently going through a series on the theology of suffering (and, of course, the sovereignty of God). These lyrics from the sovereign grace CD Come Weary Saints, by Mark Altrogge, come to mind.

Shall I take from Your hand Your blessings
Yet not welcome any pain?
Shall I thank You for days of sunshine,
Yet grumble in days of rain?
Shall I love You in times of plenty,
Then leave You in days of drought?
Shall I trust when I reap a harvest,
But when winter winds blow, then doubt?

CHORUS
Oh let Your will be done in me!
In Your love I will abide,
Oh I long for nothing else as long
As You are glorified!

Are You good only when I prosper,
And true only when IÂ’m filled?
Are You King only when IÂ’m carefree,
And God only when IÂ’m well?
You are good when IÂ’m poor and needy,
You are true when IÂ’m parched and dry,
You still reign in the deepest valley,
YouÂ’re still God in the darkest night!

BRIDGE
So quiet my restless heart, quiet my restless heart
Quiet my restless heart in You

Perhaps most poignant to me in suffering is a church sister, one of my closer friends, whom I think I mentioned before. Her very young daughter has a life-threatening heart condition, and the medical experts on her case a couple of weeks ago have finally said there is nothing more they can do. Can you watch your child die? Can you bury your own child, who is so vibrant and unique? What did she do to deserve this? God, why are we suffering?

While He creates calamity (Isaiah 45:7) and rains on both the righteous and unrighteous (Matt 5:45), our holy, just, merciful, patient, infinitely loving God does not author sin and suffering. We recall that He also allowed His own Son, whom He loved, to die. He was sinless and therefore least deserving of suffering, but Christ received the greatest suffering of all. So why injustice? Why must my child die? Because of God’s purposes, which are higher than ours. In His loving, perfect, compassionate wisdom, He allowed it. Oh, God, you are a wonderful, glorious, mysterious God.

One day all tears will be wiped away, imperfect made perfect, death reversed, and You will be glorified as much as You finally deserve. Til then, we seek Your glory with every stumbling breath we breathe, our continual sins covered by Your blood, and even in the depths of our suffering, we know that You are still God, and You are still good.

That thing they call christianity

Christians often say they are “saved.” By this they define their “christianness.” I remember the  Revival Hymn video. At one point Leonard Ravenhill asks:”If I was to ask you tonight if you were saved? Do you say, ‘Yes, I am saved.’ When? ‘Oh so and so preached, I got baptised and…’ Are you saved? What …