Beautiful Music - Twice in the Same Day

Wow! - what a wonderful Lord we have. Twice in the same day he has spoken to me.

Right after I finished my last post, I hurriedly got ready to go to chapel at my school. The Tennessee Baptist Choral was going to be the chapel service. This has been on my calendar for a long time so I have been looking forward to it.

These are things that I learned during the worship.

• We are never alone! The service began with the men quietly singing we are not alone as they entered the sanctuary. We were surrounded by these words. It is like God to wrap us in his presence just like the choir wrapped us in sound. We need to hear those words right now during these very difficult days.
  
• The men in the choir have all given their lives to serve our God. There were old ones - I saw my very first children's choir leader - and young ones - students that have just recently graduated - and ones in the middle like my current minister of music. It was wonderful to see all these faithful ones. I want to be like that, a faithful one who serves my God all my life.
  
• They sang a song that reminded me of the old Baptist tradition of revivals. We don't have them too much any more and some times for some very good reasons. They were not always perfect, but it made be think about my childhood. I thank my wonderful parents for making church a part of my life from my earliest memory. They never made me go to church, we just went, all of us, all the time. It was great fun. I always loved it. You see they didn't go because they had to either, they went because they wanted to. And they gave that to me. They gave me a discipline of being in the Lord's house on a regular basis. So now I go and I love it and it is not ever something that I think about doing. I go and I meet my Lord there and he gives me wonderful gifts. I pray that I have given my children the same thing and they will give the same thing to their children - when they have them. Thank you Lord for parents who taught me about you through everything they did and not just what they said.
• Thank you for the pure joy that I saw in the faces of the choir and in Mary McDonald, the accompanist. It was just fun. There is only one way that we can have that kind of joy - it is your gift. Thank you for the pure joy that you gave me to today.
• Thank you for the reminder that, as my friend Stan says, "In the end it is simple - God wins." Thank you for the hope that one day you will call us home, that You will reign in victory forever.

Amen