Where’s Your Head?
We are about 6 weeks from autumn, so not quite at the headless horseman stage. Yet it is applicable any time of the year:
This is an excerpt taken From Edie Melson and The Write Connection: It deals with feelings and the heart and how the feelings don’t have to be connected to truth. We are about 6 weeks from autumn, so not quite at the headless horseman stage. Yet it is applicable any time of the year:
The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9
Now that fall is fully upon us, everywhere we look evidence of the season jumps out at us. The trees have donned their colorful best and pumpkins are sprouting grins on every front porch. Halloween candy is littering the aisles at the grocery store and kiddos are planning costumes. Along with this, some classics have also come back to haunt us—from It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
It’s that classic book by Washington Irving which has caught my mind’s eye this year—or more specifically a character within the book. As I was watching a rerun of Disney’s version, I was struck by how I resemble the Headless Horseman when it comes to faith.
The truth is, sustaining faith is based on facts NOT feelings. And when I follow what feels right, I lose touch with the head of my faith.
End of Edie’s excerpt.
Keeping in touch with our head. What a subject. How do we keep a firm grasp on Christ (our head) and His will for us? How easy is it to be marching along thinking we’re working with the Master only to find we’ve left Him behind and he’s nowhere in the picture?
Daily reading our Bible is a start, daily prayer, and daily study all are part and parcel of keeping in touch.
Don’t study just to prove yourself right. Many Bible scholars have come to a different knowledge through their years of study. Thomas and Alexander Campbell come to my mind but several other Bible preachers living on the east coast at the same time as the Campbells changed their understanding through study as well.
There are quite a few things people have come to accept that are not scriptural. I’ve had a few people who, after visiting our congregation offered to help us get a piano for our services.
While this is generous of them it isn’t necessary, nor do we want to add a musical instrument to our worship service. The scriptures in Ephesians says: 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
So that is what we are commanded to do, not to pound on the keys, drums, or whatever, but to sing and make melody in our hearts.
We can no more use a musical instrument to worship God than follow His command and add an instrument to pray: Ephesians 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
The interesting thing is many denominations don’t know their own history on this matter. Any number of major beginners of denominations as well as John Wesley of the Methodist denomination, Charles Spurgeon of the Baptist denomination, all rejected the idea of instruments in worship. I believe it was Spurgeon who said, I have no problem with a piano in the church building as long as it is neither seen nor heard.
Musical instruments are one place the scriptures differ from many denominations. It confuses my mind when I try to understand why? Why do we humans believe we can or even should try to change what God has said?
A common jest amongst my family members is, Why didn’t God create woman first? Answer? He didn’t want advice.
We all laugh at that because it’s so accurate. One of my favorite sayings is, I think we should do it this way, or why don’t we do it that way?
But God doesn’t need my advice—or anyone else’s advice for that matter.
We would all do much better if we remember that tidbit. God doesn’t need our advice, and in the words of a recent song, let it go (and let God handle it).
Psalms 86:
11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
