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I admit to being
contemporary-worship-music challenged. Still, it does have a way of getting
into the rhythms and feel of modern music, and it automatically ushers one
into singing it, or at least tapping one's foot to the beat. Yet both the
tunes and words can be—how can we put this charitably?—uh, less than
admirable. But it is here to stay and we hymn fanboys need to practice the
classic virtue of forbearance.
That being said, there
is still much to be said. For instance, it's good to recall a little history:
check out "How a 17-year-old girl
changed the way we worship God."
In Internet years, "What Can Miserable
Christians Sing?" is ancient, about seven years old. But the
case for using the biblical Psalms in worship—including the Psalms of
lament—still pertains.
I suspect the worship
music wars will not cease until we all find ourselves before the throne of
God singing . . . hymns.
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I'm a modern news reader: that is, I'm
inundated with bad news every hour of every day. It's even worse as a
journalist because my job requires me to read more news than I frankly care
about. So most bad news does not move me, I'm sorry to say. This is a profession
that excels at hardening the heart.
But some stories break through, such as the radical Islamic
group Boko Haram kidnapping over 200 Nigerian girls in order to sell them as
brides to local militants. It's a complicated story, which is why I like journalistic primers
like this that can guide me in how to act and pray.
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On the
good news front, most readers are not aware that we're making huge strides in
eliminating global poverty. I noted such in "The Best Ways to Fight
Poverty—Really" a couple of years ago. Recently the Barna
Group did a series of infographics and
illustrations that make the same point.
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Okay, maybe ugly churches are more bad
news than funny news. Then again, if you can view "The Ugliest Churches in the
World" with some ironic distance, a few of your gasps may
turn into chuckles. Jesus promised that the gates of hades would not prevail
against the church, but it appears that some church architects might.
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Until next week, grace and peace, |
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