Braggin'

It's generally considered bad taste to brag. I saw a photo holder at one of the big discount stores the other day. It said, "I can't help it that I am so much prettier to look at than you." Tacky!

Yesterday I bragged on our church. And what I said is true. I'll try to say it again. Cheryl said I said it better at 9 than I did at 10:30. I said something like this.

I need to brag on you all. I've been at Hilldale for 6 or 7 weeks now. I've noticed that we do a great job singing lots of kinds of music. Not every church can say that! We can sing songs that are hot off the contemporary Christian radio stations and old hymns that grandma used to sing, 1970s hits by the Gaithers and 2007 hits by Chris Tomlin.

The really nice thing about this is that as we sing so many kinds of songs we are doing exactly what we should be doing. As each of us sings songs that aren't our favorite style, but are instead the favorite style of our grandchildren or grandparents, we are considering others as more important than ourselves. Phillipians 2:3
We are also living out the truth that worship isn't about us and meeting our needs, but it about God and worhipping Him.

There's a whole lot more that could be said about this, but let me just say, "Thanks." I'm looking forward to great times of worship together in the months to come.

Sunday's Music

I don't think I've blogged all week. I've been working on finding new music so we can get some new musical groups started. Check back here next week to read about the Studentz Praize ensemble, Wind and fire - our new instrumental ensemble and some exciting news about the Kids Choral Connection.

For today, I just want to remind you about Sunday's music. The choir will sing "Come, Thou Almighty King" by Mike Harlan. The congregation will be singing "God Is Good all the Time" and "You Are My King" and right now I don't remember what else.

If you're in choir, I'll be looking for you Sunday. If you've just happened by here and you live near Clarksville, TN I'd love to see you in the congregation this week. OUr services are at 9:00 and 10:30. Click here to go to Hilldale's home page. http://www.hilldale.org

Sunday's Music

In case you want to warm up before Sunday morning, here are the songs we'll be singing with the congregation.
Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord
Holy, Holy, Holy
I Will Call upon the Lord
Victory Song
Victory in Jesus

Our choir anthem will be - I Am Blessed

See you Sunday!

Addition and Multiplication

Wow! We had 31 altos in choir tonight! 31! Even though we had fewer singers in the other sections, we had a wonderful sound and a total of 66 sounting me and Michelle. I can hardly wait for our congregation to hear I Am Blessed this Sunday morning. What a great song!

If you had to miss rehearsal tonight but you have practiced I Am Blessed with us in the past few weeks, go ahead and sing with us Sunday morning. See you then!

So if you take 31 altos and add a good amount of tenors, basses and sopranos, one fine pianist and a pretty good director, add in the work of the Holy Spirit and you get more than a simple 66 number of singers. God multiplies our voices and works in us and through us and the end result brings honor and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ. and that's the whole point. The blessing we recieve from singing is secondary to Him receiving our praise.

Didn't mean to start preaching. Just wanted you to know what a great rehearsal we had and what a great number of singers too. See you Sunday.

As the Deer

"As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after Thee." A beautiful text taken from the Psalms. I hope that is the depth of your longing for our Lord Jesus Christ.

I always have this beautiful pastoral scene in my mind as I think about that song - a lovely doe and her fawn at dawn, drinking from a beautiful stream, the sun's rays streak through the morning mist, the cardinals are singing their songs and the smell of honeysuckle hangs in the morning air - something you'd love to see when you look out your back window.

Well... today I am not picturing deer as something I want around Bear Hollow. The pastoral scene has been replaced by something very ugly. Sticks! My hostas were just starting to open up. I have a thirty or forty foot row of hostas and elephant ears along the wall by my creek. Those mean old deer have chomped off almost every single hosta bud. Oooooooo! Now there's just sticks where there used to be flower buds.

There are only two or three flowers that survived the deer snack-attack.

I still love the song, and the Psalm (Ps 42:1 ), but I may yell at the next deer I see in my backyard.

If you have that desire - that longing - to know the Lord in a deeper, more personal way, spend time both in personal, private time reading your Bible and praying and in corporate times of worship.

If you want to take pictures of deer snacking on hostas don't bring them over to Bear Hollow!

Sunday's Music (Aug. 5)

Days of Elijah
Choir anthem - Because We Believe
I Will Call upon the Lord
You Are Holy
Shine on Us
and more!

Woohoooo! We had 62 people in choir Wednesday night. I hope to see you all Sunday!

God Loves Choirs

I know you think I'm just saying that 'cause this is our Worship Ministry/Music blog and I'm supposed to say things like that... but it's really true! God loves choirs. Here's how I know.
You see a choir first when the Morning Stars sang at creation Job 38:7. (I'm sure there was singing in heaven before that.) The singers in the temple were full-time employees paid like the priests with the tithes and offerings of the people. How cool is that? And of course there is singing going on now around the Lamb's throne where someday we will join in the singing.

In the mean time, what we do here week by week on Sundays is just a great preview of what is to come. For those of you who sing in our choir - THANK YOU! To those just passing through reading blogs - find a choir and join in.

"But I can't sing", you may say. Then sing with the congregation during worship. Those in the pews are our biggest choir. (and there's safety in numbers!) God loves to hear you sing. Just remember Ps 98:4 "Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise."

I'll be looking for you Sunday. Let's make a joyful noise together!