So, my progress through this book is only to chapter 3. Still, I am aided by some of its insights. In particular, the thought that thanksgiving is a natural lead-in to praise. The necessity of thanksgiving in the Christian life was born down on me through a study of Romans, in which in one of the earlier chapters thanklessness is mentioned as one of the characteristics of the ungodly. I have a lot to be thankful for, and this book reminded me to do it. McMinn notes that thanks is often for the physical, for the this-worldy things that the Lord provides. Praise would perhaps be for the intangible, theoretical, principle-wise things. We'll see - I haven't arrived at that point in the progression yet.
So what are your thoughts on the book, on worship, on music? I'm curious to know. We don't all just get to sit around and talk about these things, so I thought a blog might meet that need.
KMM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
There are several things that the Lord has been using from this book to convict me. The first is from Chapter 2, pg. 23 - "when we enter into the church sanctuary for corporate worship, seldom are we properly focused." With the demands of getting 3 kids ready for church as well as all our "things" necessary to teach the youth, there are many opportunities for Satan to distract us/me from my intended purpose - to teach, praise and learn about the Lord. We'll hit the train, or one will wake up sick - all opportunities to distract and shift our focus. From Ch. 3, pg. 40 - "we thank the Lord for what He has done and will do; we praise Him for who He is and who He will always be." I often thank the Lord for the things He has done or provided, especially for our family, but I don't often enough thank Him simply for who He is. My prayers of thanksgiving can still be all about me. I need to focus more on the Lord. As for Chapter 4 - The subtitle "Satan is resisted and rebuked by praise" was not something I had ever been taught or had thought about. That was very interesting to me. Also from this chapter, pg. 49, I absolutely LOVE the quote from Corrie ten Boom: "Keep your eyes on the world and you'll be distressed. Keep your eyes on yourself and you'll be depressed. Keep your eyes on Jesus and you'll be at rest." WIth all the drama in the news - economy, health care, swine flu, etc. - it's easy to again, take my eyes off the Lord and be distracted by the troubles of this world. Keeping my eyes on the Lord puts all the other stuff in proper perspective. For me, this is easier said than done. I will constantly have to battle my worries, fears, etc. Focusing on the Lord will require me to take every thought captive. To close, I've started chapter 5 but am not ready to comment as of yet.
ReplyDeleteThanks for starting the blog! This was a new experience for me.
Catherine
Cathy, thanks for this post! I love that quote on p. 49, too. And my eyes have very much been on the political scene, economy, etc. Not that I shouldn't look there, but I think I've begun to despair because I wasn't looking at it through the lens of who God is and Who created the world.
ReplyDelete