Understanding and accepting some of the cultural themes expressed in our hymns and spirituals?

I don't dare think I can understand the cultural divides to some of the spiritual concepts expressed in our hymns and spiritual songs!

I know that scripture says that John saw a multitude that was diverse and varied, in worship to God. I sometimes wonder at the blindness that we harbor in our prejudiced hearts about God and about our brethren. I see my own tendency to accuse my brethren of hardness of heart as I sing some of the Eurocentric Hymns and cry at some of the blindness as I sing the Spirituals. Once in a while I find divergence in thought and the unity of the Spirit growing in our Christian Hymnity.

Hold to His Hand, God's unchanging hand. Song about personal responsibility to hang onto Jesus, no matter come what may.

How very often we are arguing about the semantics of a biblical truth, instead of embracing the truth it declares and living it out.

some cultures emphasize the embracing of learning and thinking about your "'ligion". some culture discourage personal thought altogether in lieu of living it out. I call this the Pragmatic, versus the Intellectual. Some argue you can't live it until you think it. Others respond thinking about it ain't living it.

As I was worshipping, I felt the Holy Spirit underline one of my special needs in both of these hymns and spiritual songs. One song says it

3 Covet not this world’s vain riches That so rapidly decay. Seek to gain the heav’nly treasures. They will never pass away. [Refrain]

the other song said it another way

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise Thou mine Inheritance, now and always Thou and Thou only, first in my heart High…

Either way, I am convicted. Stop Coveting, I am not sure that I heed them not. I am sure that I am not completed in learning not to covet.

Especially in this season of the earth Christmas time, I could argue the Irish people were bragging about their ability to not heed to riches.{jealousy on my part} maybe they really have. The Blacks are reproving themselves and exhorting not to enter the covetous realm.

Either way, my accusation of the vehicle of reproof can keep me from the doing. Or I can humble myself and STOP COVETING. I receive the reproof from the Holy Spirit in "Negro Spiritual" and in Irish!

Though the Trials of life may surround like a cloud?

There's a peace in my heart that the world never gave, A peace it cannot take away; Tho' the trials of life may surround like a cloud, I've a peace that has come there to stay! Refrain: Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine; Constantly abiding, rapture divine; He never leaves me lonely, whispers, O so kind: "I will never leave thee," Jesus is mine. All the world seemed to sing of a Saviour and King, When peace sweetly came to my heart; Troubles all fled away and my night turned to day, Blessed Jesus, how glorious Thou art! This treasure I have in a temple of clay, While here on His footstool I roam: But He's coming to take me some glorious day, Over there to my heavenly home!

Jesus' light cuts through the darkness of trials, etc.I really don't like thinking about my trials, but it is when my peace is shaken that I realize the depth of the salvation which is purchased for me by my Savior and King. It is when the children say they are stranded here or there Between here and where they are, that my salvation is called into question in my own mind. Who do you trust? the devil asks. I trust Jesus, I say. But I am so used to trusting my care of my children that letting go of being able to bail them out of situations is so hard. That is most often the cloud that erases my vision of God's working in my life. This Hymn, this morning helped me work through the residual unbelief that this storm carried into my life. Each storm carries a level of unbelief to be overcome and worked through to see Jesus.

Righteousness Exalts a Nation?

esus Changes us personally and culturally, when invited to participate in our processes. Lion of Judah! Savior and Ruler of all! When I look at Tolkien’s observations of our culture and our racial culture, which I call Eurocentric Christianity: it seems he has a maternal sense of the ailments of our time and perspectives. We missed this and that truth in scripture. We emphasize this truth to the complete ambiguity of all the other commands of God. where is the rounding of our infected perspective that will truly help us to progress. He said we keep reaching lower and lower into the mire of muck to create new concepts in Christendom. We come up with freaks of scientific expressions of humanity that have very little resemblance to humanity in their behaviors. They have a warfare to fight and we if we would keep our souls in tact, must war against those creations of our own hands and wrestle them into compliance to Christ. This is true of the Sons of Ham as much as the Sons of Japheth. But we haven’t studied our pagan tendencies and our Christian consistencies. We seem to think in Ham that if we are children of the slaves our souls are “in Tact” {Young Gifted and Black). We must fight the good fight in our education as well as those for whom the bells toll{tongue in cheek}. God lends mothers who are devoted and praying a discerning eye and ear and God lends to teachers who are discerning and praying a hand at living our culture and raising our culture to a greater level of conformity to Christ. It is not just about what we do in Church to worship God. It is about our labors whether they are wood, hay or stubble and whether our trust is truly in Christ or is it in our cultural perspective about Christ. I love the Jonah Movie Veggietales, but I find the imbalance of our perspective expressed. Are all Blacks angels in the belly of the whale, singing our culture to Glory? I don’t think so. I think that God is trying us with one issue of our culture especially. If you cannot spend yourself as people have spent themselves for the sake of slavery on that issue of killing the unborn, perhaps you’ll not get a second chance for your soul or for your culture. IS there always a second chance? God give grace and mercy, but surely He has lines of demarkation that we mustn’t cross. When we stand and defend the killing of the unborns we are standing against Him. “Those who hate Him love death” Give us Grace Dear Lord, to steer our society from the precipice of death and give us a guidance toward life. Amen

Were you there?

Jesus is the center of redemptive history!

Are we Christocentric Christians?

I have always thought myself a Christocentric Christian. I have always valued my redemption purchased by the shed blood of Christ as my greatest possession. Does that mean I am a Christocentric Christian?

Recently, however my concentration on the New Testament has given me a confessional perspective, walking circumspectly. I am lamenting the many days that I have identified with good men and exalted their testimony above the redemption bought for me in Christ. It is a point that might seem small, but it really isn't. All of scripture and all of the examples of scripture are meant to lead us to the superiority of the only true salvation. Jesus is the example for imitation. I was a "doctrinal centric" Christian, and I don't think that is a bad thing. I have searched my thoughts, with the light of scripture for inconsistencies in my behavior to my faith and used these finds to confess my sins and bring my behavior and thought into captivity to Christ, with much varying degrees of success in these endeavors. Some areas of my life go into the wash of the Word and seem to come out with the same stains upon them. Some of the successes have lead me to a greater sinfulness of sedentary self sufficiency, which is nearly damnable and needs a greater cleansing.

Who will relieve me from the body of this death? I know that Christ has cleansed us from the weight of the law and the sins which so easily beset us. But, it doesn't seem to work for me. Recently, these struggles of political sort, seem designed to promote a season of self-justification. That is a dangerous and insidious spiritual cancer that cannot be cleansed with the usual applications of the Word. It is a season of basking in the light of the perfection of Christ more than ever before. He is my only substitute before the throne of Grace. None of the righteous men who have gone before have paid the price for my sins. Nor have they given example of right behavior in the light of the sin of self-righteousness. God give grace to stand in this evil day, please!

What Language Shall I Borrow?

O Sacred Head Now Wounded

How can I thank the dearest friend of mine for salvation?

Jesus paid it all for us to believe and make it all the way to the end of our lives believing Him. It seems perilous sometimes. Poverty, prosperity, health and sickness all seem conspired to trip us in our confession of Christ. In special times we tend to lean on self. In hard times we tend to blame God, but I never meditated on the importance of the borrowed language of thankfulness.

In my family, much emphasis was placed on people having clear articulation. Also, great accolades of verbal praise were heaped upon those who spoke "the Queen's English" {on the Jamaican side of the family especially}

From whom are we borrowing our language of thankfulness?

Many who articulate clearly and concisely use sparing words to lavish praise. Many of mean language remain very verbose in their gratitude. Written language of English seems retained for the Theologians to give praise in clarity to God.

We owe Him all!

We owe Him the language of our hearts. We owe Him the language of our lips. And we owe Him the passing on of the language of praise to an upcoming generation! Lest, we become mute and language become hellbound. I fear we already are on that path.

Levels of Confusion in the Soul?

Watching the Babies

I see the relationship between a community and their children. God gives us a trust in their hearts. We either shepherd them toward truth and right or we let them to themselves. As we give them consistent examples of well-meaning direction, they learn to trust and to follow righteousness...God blesses our efforts and solidifies our efforts in exalting our nation or degrading it.

Sometimes we think it is our responsibility to help the children by showing them the double standards and duplicity of life. That is not the job of parents and caretakers, that is the job of the devil and he will show himself to them erelong. When we prayerfully take the hand of God and work with him to mold children's thinking and imaginations it is a greater responsibility and has greater consequences than any other work that we do. The storms of life and the storms that come from the sea are nothing compared to the randomness of children who are left to themselves. Peace be still and the storm listens to God. Yet we let these children churn and whirl out of control and think nothing of letting them gain habits of destruction and anger that they will never be able to recover from. When we learn to heed our parents in being quiet, when our very souls seem to be upset and quaking, God can teach us to submit that same control to His Spirit. We submit, like the storm to the voice of God. He tells us, when to wail and when and where to place our anger and upsetment. God can use that. He doesn't miss. He always hits his targets. We are practicing so that we can be accurately and rightly used by Him in our quiet and in our loudnesses! God redeem and exalt our culture from the randomness of self directed children. Give us direction through your Spirit!