My 119:11 Project, Pt. 1

I mentioned in a post last week my plan to memorize the book of Psalms, in their entirety, over the next three years (fifty psalms a year), as one of my spiritual goals for 2012 and beyond (I set goals each year in five categories--professional, spiritual, physical, financial, and marriage/family--as well as in increments of one-year, two-year, five-year, and lifetime periods). Anyway, as I said in that earlier post, I also plan to update the readers of this blog every so often on how I'm doing, and how God is using the psalms in my life. So I thought I'd start right away.

The following is my typed-from-memory recitation of Psalm 1, from the New Living Translation, the first of my fifty psalms to memorize this year:

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the Law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.

They are like trees planted by the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither
and they prosper in all they do.

But not the wicked.
They are like worthless chaff,
scattered by the wind.
They will be condemned at the time of judgment.
Sinners will have no place among the godly.
For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,
but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

I know it's a bare beginning, but it has been a joy--not ironically at all--to steep my mind in that psalm in recent days, reciting it in the car and in my prayer chair, meditating on it day and night, so to speak! I'm thoroughly looking forward to more and more blessings and benefits as I hide God's Word in my heart (Psalm 119:11) with a new memorized psalm each week over the course of the next three years.

The Well (Why Are So Many Still Thirsty?)

Mark Hall's book, The Well, is a fine exploration of the "holes" many people substitute for "The Well" that is Jesus Christ, as he revealed himself to the Samaritan woman at the well. Unremittingly interesting, Mark (with coauthor Tim Luke) has a knack for storytelling, whether his subject is biblical or contemporary. He touches on such "holes" as "the hole of control," "the hole of talent," "the hole of entitlement," and others. He writes with self-effacing wit, charm, and vulnerability.

Though I listened to the audiobook, I'm told discussion questions are included at the back of the book for group use. I can envision some great discussions on each of these empty "holes" in a group setting.

Mark Hall is the lead singer and songwriter for Casting Crowns, and the book corresponds to the Casting Crowns CD, Come to the Well, released just a couple months ago.

Preaching with Flow

Jacob Myers, adjunct preaching instructor at Candler School of Theology and Columbia Theological Seminary, suggests a musical approach to preaching:

What if we employed music to enhance the flow of our preaching?

Flow is everywhere; and yet, it often goes unnoticed. It pervades the wired world in which we live--show me a coffee shop that doesn't employ an eclectic array of dulcet tracks to facilitate conversation or leisurely study. Hospital waiting rooms, pubs, carnivals, department stores, even elevators, employ music to regulate the flow of life there, to encourage a certain kind of experience.

Read the rest here.

Red Like Blood

Joe Coffey and Bob Bevington's book, Red Like Blood (Confrontations with Grace), was not what I expected. I'm not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it. And I'm glad.

It is a sometimes-gritty, always vulnerable, depiction of the Gospel, the story of God's grace as shown through the lives and experience of two men, the authors, as well as many others whose stories they tell in compelling fashion. The honesty and frankness of the book may offend some readers at times, but it shouldn't. The content is always to-the-point, and helpful in getting the message across to the reader.

One of my favorite parts of the book was in chapter twelve, where the authors talk about "the pleasure spectrum." They write:

When God created human beings he gave us a wide range of things that were intended for our pleasure. We have the capacity to get pleasure from viewing a sunset on a cloudless day. We can get goose bumps from listening to the beauty of music. Don't even get me started on taste and touch. Just today I held a bag of freshly ground coffee up close to my face and closed my eyes and inhaled like my life depended on it. The spectrum is very, very wide.

But something interesting happens as we get older...

You'll have to read the book to get the full benefit of that insight. But take my word for it: it's worth it.

The book has spawned a dynamic website, referred to late in the book, as a place to continue the experience.

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(Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher, for review purposes. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”)

Church of the Week: Queen of Peace, Millville, OH

I had the opportunity this past weekend to attend Mass at Queen of Peace Church in Millville, just a few miles from my home, with my brother-in-law.

The lovely Robin and I have passed this church (and school) countless times over the past 15 years or so, and yet I had never been inside the church, let alone attended worship there.

The sanctuary was nearly full for the 4:30 p.m. Saturday Mass. I hear that most Queen of Peace services are well attended. I liked the warmth and beauty of the worship space. The service was well-lit and well-amplified. A small choir (7 or 8 voices?) led the singing, accompanied by the organ.

Queen of Peace dates to 1941 as a parish church. The church seems to be very well-supported by its members (Father Jeff even thanked the congregation for their generous Christmas offerings!). The four-page weekly bulletin reflects a full schedule and a busy membership.

Queen of Peace is located at 2550 Millville Avenue just east of downtown metropolitan Millville, and a few miles west of Hamilton.

Thoughts on a New Year

It’s that time of year again. I love the process of reviewing last year and looking forward to the next, some of which I have been sharing on this blog. As Samuel Logan Brengle wrote,

It seems impossible that a year could have passed so swiftly, and yet the return of this day assures me that once more the earth has run her wondrous race through lanes of light, and vast voids of space, and deep abysses of the night, amid the silent pomp and splendor of star-strewn heavens, completing another of her ceaseless cycles around the sun, ending another year and bringing us to this day.

When I was a little boy on the sun-bathed prairies of southern Illinois, a year seemed interminable. It moved forward on leaden feet, but now the years pass me like the flash of sunlit bubbles on wind-tossed waves, as though they must hasten and lose themselves in that eternity when time shall be no more. And yet what an unspeakable gift of God is a year! Who can compute its value or estimate its worth? We give and receive our little gifts and rejoice, but how paltry they are compared to God’s gift of a year of days!

He has given me one more year, and I praise Him. It has been a good year. He has crowded it with mercies. He has crowned it with blessings. He has kept me from sin. He has not permitted me to fall. He has not let my enemy triumph over me. He has directed my paths, He has ordered my steps. He has given success to my labors. He has kept my heart and mind in peace, and in loving-kindness has opened to me the gates of another year, through which I enter with trust, and yet with trembling. I do not fear that I shall fall, though I know I must watch and pray lest I fall; but I trust unfalteringly that my watchful Keeper—my Good Shepherd—who has guarded me with such sleepless care through these many years, will hold me up (from Resurrection Life and Power, chapter 10).

Well said. Happy New Year.