"Opening Acts"

 

“Opening Acts”

 

In boxing and wrestling venues there are usually preliminary bouts preceding what’s billed as “The Main Event”. In basketball tournaments a “consolation game” is played before the top two teams meet for the championship. And in the entertainment field an “opening act” often performs before the headliner takes the stage. In each case lesser known people prepare the audience for who or what they really came to see. Years ago Karen. Kristie and I attended a concert in which the noted Christian musician Carmen was featured. The “opening act” was a Christian country and western women’s trio that was well received and enjoyable but it’s likely that few present that night (including yours truly) remember the group’s or individuals’ names.

Worship and praise through music, prayer and meditation is part of experiencing God’s presence when His people gather. An anonymous psalmist writes, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker….” (Psalm 95:6). Paul reminds his readers and us today to “…sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16). And Hebrews 13:15 admonishes us to “…continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise….” But at times we’re prone to see these practices as the “opening act” before the “main event” of the preaching and teaching of God’s truth as revealed through His Word. To my shame, it took many years for my pastoral mind to realize that music, prayer and giving were more than preliminaries to the message—all these factors and more make up what we know as worship, which I see as our giving adoration to God because of who He is. And only He is worthy of it (“You shall have no other gods before me,”—Exodus 20:3, emphasis added).

Our worship here on earth, flawed as it is because we as flawed people are rendering it, is but preparation, or an “opening act”, to our heavenly worship. In the magnificent scene detailing worship in Heaven (remember human terms are inadequate to describe this divine spectacle) the Apostle John writes, “…I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever!’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen’, and the elders fell down and worshiped.” (Revelation 5:13-14). Through our faith in Christ we’ll participate in this eternal, perfect worship—let’s prepare ourselves now for what’s to come.

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan

"Channels"

 

“Channels”

 

One of the many waterways in and around New York City is the East River. It runs 16 miles from Long Island Sound to New York Bay between Manhattan and Queens. But it’s misnamed—it’s actually a channel, not a river. A river has a source from a higher elevation and flows by gravity into a bigger body of water while a channel connects two larger bodies. The English Channel between England and France is probably the most familiar to us. It’s about 350 miles long and 21 to 150 miles wide, flows from the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean and is the world’s busiest shipping area. And as a Metropolitan New York native I’m familiar with the Ambrose Channel, the main water artery of the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Channels are natural but human ingenuity has constructed waterways which have made shipping more efficient and far less expensive: canals. In 1825 the Erie Canal in New York was opened connecting the Great Lakes with the Hudson River and is credited with making America’s westward expansion more feasible. In 1869 the Suez Canal between the Red and Mediterranean Seas was completed, cutting 5500 miles from the journey around Cape Agulhas, Africa’s southernmost point. With the building of the Panama Canal in 1914, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the voyage from New York to San Francisco was reduced by 8000 miles. History would have been much different without these water routes and the trade they made possible,

Around 1900 the hymn “Channels Only” appeared. The circumstances of its composition are uncertain (including who actually wrote it) but it describes God’s people as channels through whom the message of Christ flows to those who need to hear it. The first two verses and chorus tell us how God equips us for this task:

“How I praise Thee, precious Savior, That Thy love laid hold of me;

Thou has saved and cleansed and filled me That I might Thy channel be.

Emptied that Thou shouldest fill me, A clean vessel in Thy hand;

With no power but as Thou givest Graciously with each command.

Channels only, blessed Master, But with all Thy wondrous power

Flowing through us, Thou canst use us Every day and every hour.”

To be God’s channel I must “…be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18); “…be a vessel for honor, sanctified (i.e. set apart) and useful for the Master….” (2 Timothy 2:21, NKJV) and “…give (myself) to God…When (I) think of what he has done for (me), is this too much to ask?” (Romans 12:1, NLT). Will I let anything “dam up” the channel of His truth flowing through me to a needy world?

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan

"Wilderness Wanderings"

 

“Wilderness Wanderings”

 

In Jude 3 our Lord’s brother says, “…Although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith….” I thought of this statement this morning (April 7) because until yesterday I’d planned to address a different topic but God seemed to have been saying, “Not now!” for a couple of days. Then at breakfast today Karen shared when as our church’s Worship Leader she seemed empty and dry even to the point of feeling hypocritical in leading the congregation into God’s presence. But a sense of commitment motivated her to continue on and soon the passion returned. She also read me a devotional by Rick Warren which confirmed that her struggle wasn’t abnormal in our service for Christ. Maybe you’ve had a similar experience—I know I have.

When we hear of wilderness wanderings chances are that our first thought is of Israel’s journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Shortly after leaving their captors the people were at the shore of the Red Sea with the Egyptian army in hot pursuit. Moses heard the cries of fear and said, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.” (Exodus 14:13, NKJV, emphasis added). But soon God told him, “Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” (Exodus 14:15, NKJV, emphasis added). And He made a path through the sea, the people arrived on its east side and the enemy soldiers drowned when the waters returned to normal. And for the next 40 years the nation stopped and started as God led and provided for them.

Thankfully our wilderness wanderings are far, far shorter than Israel’s. But we rejoice that, now as well as then, “…God is faithful….” (1 Corinthians 10:13) and “…will guide (us) always….” (Isaiah 58:11). David said, “The steps of a good (person) are ordered by the Lord….” (Psalm 37:23, NKJV) but, as I’ve noted previously, it’s also true that “The stops of a good (person) are ordered by the Lord….” (McMillan adaptation). In other words, there’s a time to stand still and a time to go forward as we endure those dry times. Job certainly had his share of such troubles but by faith he responded, “…(God) knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10). And so will you and I!

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan

 

"Wisdom Teams"

 

“Wisdom Teams”

 

This year Karen and I are joining our church family in reading Capture the Moment, a 365 day devotional guide written by Houston Pastor Gregg Matte. These articles have been relevant to everyday life and prompted discussions in our after breakfasts times together. For most of our married life we’ve used Our Daily Bread to start our day and it’s been amazing—really a God thing—how often the two resources dovetail to emphasize what we need for that day.

“Ironically” Matte’s thought for April 1 (April Fools’ Day) is entitled “Getting Wisdom”. In it he describes setting up “wisdom teams” in churches he’s led made up of godly individuals to whom he looked for counsel. Such partnerships have been referred to as “accountability groups” in the circles in which I’ve been involved. The older I get the more I see the need for this resource in my life.

God has given me wise friends since my high school days who told me what I needed to hear but often didn’t want to (“…Faithful are the wounds of a friend.”—Proverbs 27:6). Most of these have been for a season but two are still among my closest confidants: one from Christian camp days as a teen and another from seminary. And for almost six decades there have been church leadership teams, pastors’ fellowships and small groups which have served as “wisdom teams” to provide counsel, guidance, different perspectives and other supportive actions to enrich my life and ministry. Without their input I shudder to think of the mistakes (and sins) that would have put me in bad places.

But there’s one person who’s stuck with me through thick and thin for almost 53 years: Karen. To my shame, sorrow and detriment I’ve often failed to appreciate her godly wisdom and regretted the less than positive outcomes when I didn’t heed it in church and family life. Solomon states, “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.” (Proverbs 18:22). (He may have written this late in his life after trying to sort out the “input” of his 700 wives!) And near the end of the book we’re told, “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.” (Proverbs 31:10). To both these statements I say a hearty “Amen!” and ask for God’s and Karen’s forgiveness for the many times I’ve failed to recognize the treasure He’s given me. I pray I’ll listen to my “wisdom team of one” that together we might profit in our walk with our Lord.

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan