Ridgecrest Music Week 2011 Day Three

What was supposed to be a lighter day turned out to be quite a full day.  I began the morning with another course from Levon Gray, who was the instructor for the multi-generational worship course the day before.  The topic this morning was on keys for building your worship ministry.  This was a good reminder course of sorts for me, as the topics dealt with issues related to building personal relationships with people in your ministry and paying special attention to special events and needs among your membership.  It also gave reminders about the importance of a growing spiritual life for ministers, as this will in turn be a model for those that follow you. The second course of the day was another from Randy Vader, who reminded us that the same God who creates glaciers and volcanoes is at work in and around us today.  


The reading sessions this afternoon were sadly unfruitful.  There were just a few good pieces in them today, one of them was a pull-out anthem from last year's "Joy Has Dawned" and the other a very pretty and unique version of "Silent Night."


Perhaps one of my favorite things to do during music week is to try to have some quiet time in the prayer garden and send some focused time with God, and I was able to do that today.  Since our Pastor had led us in a chapter in Colossians last Sunday, I felt compelled to do a little more study there this afternoon.  A passage that stood out to me was in the first chapter:

9 For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven't stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing [to Him], bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints' inheritance in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.

This passage reminded me, particularly in v. 10 about our daily walk with the Lord, and how everything we do should seek to please the Lord.  The HCSB Bible reference the word "walk" as meaning something just a bit deeper than just simply a journey.  It seemed to indicate that walk was "a way of life" or "behavior."  So, we should behave in a worthy manner and seek to make our faith an observable part of our lives, more than just a few kind deeds - a way of life.   This passage also reminded me of the exhortations in a recent choir anthem we did called "Order My Steps," where we proclaim "I want to walk worthy, Lord, My calling to fulfill..."   I was also reminded in Chapter 3 to:

5 Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, God's wrath comes on the disobedient, 7 and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. 8 But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.

Many of these things we are to "put to death" seem quite obvious, but others, such as "malice" and "anger" tend to sneak up on us and we are swimming in them before we know it.  Paul tells us to either "put them to death" or "put them away" in this translation.  Either presents a good imagery for when these issues crop up...and they will.  


It has become a new tradition during music week that Wednesday afternoons have a little more free time, and the Wednesday evening event is a little more "simpler."  However, we got a real treat tonight with the premiere of the new movie from Sherwood Baptist Church, who brought us "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof."  It was called "Courageous" and will open in theaters in September.  The movie was aimed at parents, specifically fathers, and dealt with several issues related to parenting responsibility and personal integrity.  Two thumbs up from me.  Perhaps the best one from these folks yet.  The acting and production quality was much better than with their other movies, and the character development was much improved too.  It is a heavy, emotional film that packs a punch.  We were worried about how Ginny and Nathan would handle a two hour movie aimed at adults, but they both did surprisingly well this evening and allowed Sharon and I to enjoy it.