World Musician J@son_C@rter & Be Still My Soul

I just got back from the monthly meeting that la Fonderie organizes for artists and people in creative professions who are believers. We had 20ish people tonight and it was a good combination of some long-term faithfuls, as well as some first timers.

While standing in the food line, I greeted one of the newcomers. He said his name was Lucas. I recognized his last name as well, but not his face. It turns out that he attended 3 of the Mission Radicale conferences in Normandy that I heavily invested in the organization of. He's now in his mid-20s, is married to a Norwegian woman, lives in Paris, and has trained as a graphic designer. It was very encouraging to hear how the conferences and that he's grown in his faith. That itself was worth the price of this evening for me in order to hear of the difference that these conferences made.

Tonight's guest artist was J@son_C@rter, a world musician who plays the guitar harp. I had never seen or heard of that instrument until tonight. It has a beautiful sound and Jason plays it amazingly well.

My favorite of his pieces is titled "Finlandia"was one written in Finland by John Sibelius in 1894. This was during the Russian occupation of Finland. It was seen by the Finnish as a revolutionary & national song. C@rter commented that the T@lib@n don't allow any music, as they are aware that it can be revolutionary.

His version of the song can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqx3O99Lix0&feature=PlayList&p=013F40397EB7DACC&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=57

I recognized the tune, as it was used for the well known hymn "Be Still My Soul." On the web site http://www.gospelpiano.com/articles/hymn-stories-17-be-still-my-soul.htm
I found the following information (in orange) about this hymn.

" Be Still, My Soul" is a hymn originally written in German during the latter half of the 17th century. This period of time marked by a revival that broke out across Germany. Lutherans as this time were practicing Pietism. This doctrine was composed of religious devotion, ethical purity, and charitable activity. The newest hymn at these revival meeting was "Be Still, My Soul."

Three different composers worked to create "Be Still, My Soul." A woman involved in the Pietism Movement, Katharina von Schlegel wrote the lyrics. A century later, Jane Borthwick, a Scottish-born composer, translated the hymn into English. The last contributor was Jean Sibelius, Finland's finest composer. The music from "Finlandia" is used as the tune for this hymn. God used three people with three different languages to give us this wonderful example of Christian patience.

Be Still, My Soul

Be still, my soul--
The Lord is on thy side!
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide.
In ev'ry change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul--
Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul! thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul! the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul! the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul! when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

"Be Still, My Soul" was the favorite hymn of the Olympic athlete Eric Liddell. He became famous in 1924 for not competing on the Sabbath. He became a missionary in China and in World War II was captured. He taught this song to fellow prisoners at the compound where he was held. Eventually he died in the prison camp of a brain tumor.

Out of Balance

Yesterday I heard a great sermon by our pastor. Actually, I found the whole service to be good. We've only been at this church since Easter, although I've known of it for a number of years. The Sunday morning format could be labelled "traditional" in style and reminds me of the Presbyterian church that I was raised in. The music is largely hymns and accompanied by a piano & organ. Some of the words are very old, but with tunes that are jazzed up a little. But I wouldn't call the style "comtemporary," at least as how "contemporary" is used to define music styles anywhere from 1960 to early 2000. However, some of the music has some gospel style to it. I've been part of a number of churches during the last 25 years that I really enjoyed the newer worship songs of people like Graham Kendrick, Matt Redman, Brian Doerksen, Chris Tomlin, Darlene Tscheche (sp), etc., as well as some Francophone groups like Flamme and EXO. But I'm ok again being in churches that aren't singing the newest songs that are out there.

I'm not bothered by written & sung creeds, as I grew up saying the Apostles Creed and the Lord's Prayer every Sunday morning. I liked that part of the Anglican style when we were part of St. Michael's in the 1990s.

Anyway, yesterday's readings from Psalm 116 and Romans 14:4-9 went well together. I like how Psalm 116 talks about blessings of the children of the children of people who are faithful to God, as I've lived that personally. This psalm also talks about how the deaths of Christ followers are precious to God. For example, I and my children are the beneficiaries of the faithful & steady walk of my mother. She wasn't fancy or glitzy, but her mind and life were very solidly rooted in the Scriptures.

Pastor Gilles sermon was about our need to be "Son-centered." He referred the the Copernican revolution when it was discovered that the earth revolved around the sun, rather than the sun around the earth. He mentioned the Oedipus complex around age 3 when a child needs to learn that the world doesn't revolve around his/her needs. Throughout all the stages of life, a person needs to be reminded of this.

Likewise, throughout our lifetime, we need to be reminded this as well. Before coming to faith in Christ, we need to realize through the insight of the Holy Spirit that we need to revolve around God. But even after conversion, we still need to remember that the Christian life isn't primarily about havng my needs or desires met. Many Christians today forget this and still are primarily focused around themselves. We practically are living for ourselves, rather than for Christ. Unfortunately, many churches are like this as well.

I like how our new church is focusing on outreach this year, principally to our neighbors and people around us (rather than a mass outreach). Gilles asked the question if we are shining to those around us. That is something that we need to be thinking about.

If we're not focusing on Christ and how to shine for Him, then we're out of balance.

World peace day (September 21)

I learned just a few hours ago that September 21 was declared World Peace Day. It's a day where people and nations are to desist from fighting in order to focus that time, energy & expense on activities & projects that generate peace & well being of people & intercultural cooperation & saving lives. I saw an interesting video on the web site www.peaceoneday.org.

One challenge to individuals was not to wait for governments to do this, but to take personal initiative in creating peace where we live.

I must admit that we live in a time where peace seems quite contradictory to the current reality. I just finished watching a TV documentary on an extremist movement known for its cruelty. It seems a long way off from the time when the lion will lay with the lamb and God's shalom reigns on the earth.

Jesus exhorted His disciples to be wise like serpents and harmless like doves. How we need His wisdom to live this out in a multicultural & pluralistic city like Paris. Certainly being part of impacting our neighborhood will be bringing peace to it through our presence, words, and actions. May the peace of Christ rule in our hearts...and impact all aspects of our lives.

Time, birthday parties, English classes, etc.

On Sunday morning, we heard a sermon on "time" and the importance of living in the present (rather than in the past or in the future). One of the texts was Hebrews 13:8, which talks about God being the same yesterday, today, and in the future.

Later on Sunday, we celebrated of elder daughter's 6th birthday (which was actually the previous day). Besides our 3 kids, there were 13 other children, plus 4 other adults who helped. As our daughter is in a new school, a lot of her guests were from her previous school of the past 3 years. They all seemed to enjoy seeing each other again. We did the party around a Strawberry Shortcake (in French, Charlotte au Fraise) theme party. Besides seeing the kids again, we also enjoyed getting back in contact with some of their parents.

It struck me that in another decade, we should be celebrating her sweet 16 party. This is a good reminder to enjoy each day with my wife & children.

My wife plans on starting an English club on Wednesday & Saturday mornings for children. We have a good amount of interest already.

Tonight (Monday) our older 2 children began swim classes. It was nice to see some of the other kids & their parents after a summer away. Some of them are interested in the English club too.

Freddy Mercury, George Michael

We've been back in Paris for a couple of days now. It's been a busy time of trying to unpack, sort mail (& handle urgent ones), restock our groceries, organize our stuff, and get adjusted to the 6 hour time change.

This morning we attended a worship service at church. After having been in 9 different churches the last 9 Sundays in the U.S., it was an adjustment to be back. We missed the great kids programs that many U.S. churches have. I enjoyed a sermon on John 15 and Galatians 5 that talked about bearing fruit, as well as the leaves and branches that need to be pruned in order to be fruitful. I may blog on this another time. But it was a good sermon to come back to as we start this next season of ministry here.

Tonight on TV, my wife and I watched a concert by Queen, followed by a documentary on the career of George Michael.

I was amazed at Freddy Mercury's capacity to motivate crowds through his vocal talent, creative lyrics, and charismatic stage presence. It was sad to think of him dying of AIDS at such a young age, as he was so gifted.

I reminisced about the 70s and 80s while watching the George Michael documentary. The group WHAM has some of my favorite tunes of that period. Since going single, he has had much musical success, along with ups and downs in his personal life. He's dealt with the death of several loved ones.

I feel a little depressed now in thinking about where these 2 artists are at now. It's a good reminder of why I'm here focusing on ministry to artists. Great artists have the capacity to exercise great influence. This can be used for great good or great harm. They can produce good fruit or bad fruit through their art, as well as through their influence.

I hope that this next season of ministry somehow helps some artists to follow Jesus better (or even to start following him), as well as produces good fruit in their different artistic domains and spheres of influence.

Fishing

Yesterday we left Paul & Jessica's house in the Downriver Area of Michigan for Oakland County. Before arriving at Loren & Margaret's home, we spent a delightful afternoon with my long-time friends Darren & Donna. They live on Cass Lake.

They took us on their pontoon boat, which was very relaxing. Our son asked about fishing and they happened to have a rod and tackle box in the boat. After little success, Darren then have the boat go at a very slow speed, which is called "trolling."

Soon afterward, our son felt a tug on the rod. He had a caught a small mouth bass and was very happy.

Our elder daughter tried fishing as well. She caught a bluegill.

Hopefully this successful fishing is a precursor to this next term in France.

Life & Death

Yesterday I attended the visitation, then the funeral of a friend named Jerry. He passed away early Wed. morning just after midnight. This happened to also be his birthday and he was in his upper 70s. I actually know his wife Nancy better, as she has been a huge spiritual encourager of our work. They have financially supported our work for a number of years now. We happen to be in the area, so I wanted to be there to pay tribute to him, as well as support Nancy.

It was interesting getting to know Jerry better through the words of his wife, son, and granddaughter. This was the first funeral type of service I've been to since our stillborn daughter's this past November and first adult funeral since my mother's in November 2007. I learned that Jerry was well connected in the community and had lots of longtime friends. He loved to golf and camp with his friends & family. He worked as a bricklayer. He and Nancy were high school sweethearts and had been married 60 years. He was admired by his children and grandchildren. He was a committed follower of Christ and served in many different capacities in a number of different churches. He worked as a volunteer probation officer.

Nancy mentioned that she had learned many new things about her husband in the course of the 2 days of visitation. It was a reminder that there is often much more that we don't know about our family & friends than what we know. Only God knows each one of us in all our different facets.

Those who live well have visitations & funerals like the one yesterday. Jerry's body looked very peaceful lying in the casket while others were talking about him. He's now with Jesus and hopefully was greeted by Jessica and my mom.