Can the classic hymns still speak to us today?

I grew up going to church and singing the hymns that were in hymnals published in the 1940s and 50’s. Hymns that were written decades earlier than that. Many of the hymns we sang so often 50 years ago, and I’ve been singing them ever since, that I can sing along without missing too many of the words.  But often that’s all the hymns mean to me: Words. I like hymns, but the language of so many of them is confusing.

                And when language is confusing, the beauty of the hymn gets lost. It’s easy to decide that we prefer praise songs, or contemporary music, something that speaks to us where we are today.

                Fortunately a new devotional is available to help us experience 18^th and 19^th century hymns in the 21^st century. Classic Hymns,(B&H Publishing, 2017)  edited by Lore Ferguson Wilbert, is part of the “Read and Reflect with the Classics" series.

                The premise is simple. Pick a hymn, include the lyrics, assign the reading of a passage of Scripture (on which the hymn is based, or to which it pertains), ask some questions about the passage, then bring it forward to today, by asking several questions for personal reflections, and offer a prayer.  A simple devotional exercise that allows you to spend time with God, and learn about the classic hymns.

                I’m familiar with over half of the hymns chosen for this book, there are some I would have omitted because I question the theology behind them (even though God's people have been singing them for years), and there are, of course, some personal favorites that I might have included.

                I was provided a copy of this book by LIFEWAY/B&H publishers in exchange for the review.

4/5

Transformation Through Singing

Sing: How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, and Church (2017, B&H Publishing) by Keith and Kristyn Getty offers some great answers to the questions surrounding why we sing in church. In my case it’s more a matter of making a joyful noise to the Lord rather than anything that vaguely resembles song, but God calls us to give it our best shot, and who am I to argue with God?

                My voice may not entertain anyone, it might not invite people into a time of reverent worship, but theologically speaking, taking our cues from the Bible, God's people should sing, and we should sing wholeheartedly. We should sing in church, and in our homes, alone, with our family, and yes, even in public, when the public is the congregation at your local church. Singing is a part of worship, and as God's children we should be all about worshiping Him.

                The Getty’s explain why we should sing, where and with whom we should sing, and invite us to sing. They thoughtfully provide a few ‘bonus tracks’ also for pastors worship leaders, songwriters, musicians and other creative types.

                An enjoyable book, geared towards any worshipper.  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for my review.

5/5

Great Answer to an uncomfortable question: Is Your Dad a Pirate?

Children are naturally inquisitive, and they usually don’t have filters, so when they see something or someone who looks different, they tend to ask questions—much to the chagrin of their parents. And when you’re young and it’s your parent who is the recipient of stares and questions, it might be embarrassing.

                Sadly, for many years we’ve been a nation at war, and war has casualties. Not all of them come home in body bags. Some have prosthetic limbs, or hooks where there should be a hand. Others lose the use of an eye, and for long periods of time have to wear an eyepatch. 

                Bad enough for the service member who for the rest of his life will have to deal with the price of war, and horrible for that man, or woman’s, young children.

                And then along comes this wonderful book by Tara McClary Reeves Is Your Dad a Pirate? (2017, Mascot Books), with its marvelous illustrations by Daniel Fernandez.  Dad has come home from war, wounded, and bearing the marks of those wounds.  With his eyepatch and a hook at the end of his arm, he might be mistaken for a modern day Captain Hook. No wonder all the kids who see him point, stare and often ask: Is your Dad a pirate?

                And Reeves puts a twist on the story, as she gives the man’s daughter the perfect answer: No he’s not a pirate, he’s a hero.

                Such a difficult subject for anyone to understand, much less a small child, but this book may just help a lot of embarrassed parents of inquisitive children, not to mention the children of today’s real heroes.

My friends at ICON media provided me with a copy of this book to review AND an extra copy of this book as a giveaway.   If you’re local and interested… first to request it gets it.

5/5

Learning to Bounce Back

Lately there have been a lot of storms. Serious storms that cause a lot of damage and cause issues that we never want to face.  And the constant is that somehow people need to get over things, even when it seems that ‘getting over’ the storm will never be possible. And for some people, stuck in a rut from which they see no possible escape, that might be the case. But fortunately, that’s not the norm.  Aaron Früh, in his book BOUNCE: Learning to Thrive through Loss, Tragedy and Heartache (BakerBooks, 2017), dispels the myth that we can’t thrive despite the storms.

And as Früh points out in this book, we were meant to get over things, to bounce back, regardless of how impossible that might seem at the time. He offers some tips, simple ones actually, that can have a major impact. (think about Naaman who didn’t want to bathe in the river to cure his leprosy because that was such a simple solution…it took a servant to say like ‘why not try? If the prophet Elisha had asked you to do something big, you would have done it.’ (See 2 Kings, 5:1-13))

Aaron lists four things that get in the way of our bouncing back, and expounds on them: self-pity, disappointment, Resentment toward God, and Indecisiveness. But there’s more to our inability to bounce back, than just that: all too often we don’t know where to start the path to healing, and so there are some helpful hints there too. (and the biggest one for me is CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE!)

I received a copy of this book from BakerBooks in exchanged for my review.

4/5

watch this clip from GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

The True Story About Winnie-the-Pooh! GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN OPENS IN THEATERS THIS WEEK AND NEXT!  The story  takes us to post-war England and the lives of the Milne family.  A.A. Milne, an author and veteran of The Great War suffering from PTSD becomes inspired by his son to create characters that we all know and love today.

watch this

I was able to pre-screen the movie, and was just blown away.  And my friends at Grace Hill Media have offered to let me do a give away...all you Pooh fans, get ready!


I reviewed it on the blog

Goodbye Christopher Robin, in theaters Oct 13th

Who doesn’t love Winnie the Pooh? Wait, that was a rhetorical question, because I’m sure that somewhere there is a crusty curmudgeon who doesn’t. Poor soul. But what most people don’t understand is the way the beloved bear made his way into the hearts of so many people around the world. And would you believe that, in part, World War I is responsible? And class struggles, and unhealthy family dynamics? And PTSD?

Would you believe that the happiness that Christopher Robin and Pooh brought to the world created so much unhappiness for the Milne family?

 Grab your jar of honey and prepare to be entertained by Fox Searchlight Pictures new release Goodbye Christopher Robin”, but be aware, Eeyore’s sadness is very present throughout this film.

A press release states:

GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN gives a rare glimpse into the relationship between beloved children's author A. A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) and his son Christopher Robin (Will Tilston), whose toys inspired the magical world of Winnie-the-Pooh.  Along with his mother Daphne (Margot Robbie), and his nanny Olive (Kelly Macdonald), Christopher Robin and his family are swept up in the international success of the books; the enchanting tales bringing hope and comfort to England after the First World War.   But with the eyes of the world on Christopher Robin, what will the cost be to the family?

I was allowed to pre-screen the movie (It releases OCT 13^th) and was amazed by the complexity of the story line. It’s fairly simple at first glance:  Upper class ‘shallow’ meets WWI; some people change but others don’t. Men go to war, and return different. PTSD is an ugly companion that disrupts families, and gradually the close relationship between mother and child deteriorates while circumstances lead to an improved relationship between a happy child and his distant father. Thankfully there is a Nanny to be the constant in the little boy’s life.   Out of the father/son relationship comes a book, from that book comes success and fame. From that success comes a breaking of the recently restored relationship. The War to end all wars is followed by another war, with all the pain and sorrow that war brings.

            Goodbye Christopher Robin opens with shots of beautiful country landscapes, and the hedonistic lifestyle of England’s upper class. And then the War starts. Well-known playwright A.A. Milne goes off to war, and returns a changed man. PTSD at its worst. He has been successful, but war changes him. Instead of writing plays for sheer entertainment value, he now wants to write about the horrors of war. He wants answers to the question, “Why do we have wars if nothing changes as a result of the war?” He wants a sense of purpose. Needs a sense of purpose.

            Not-so-understanding wife Daphne, who seems to have been more inconvenienced by the war, than bothered by it, doesn’t see things as her husband does. She, as many of us seem to do, becomes oblivious to evil. As Daphne comments, “Writing against war is like writing against Wednesdays. Wednesdays are a part of life; if you don’t like Wednesday stay in bed, but it’s still Wednesday, and if today’s not Wednesday, Wednesday is coming.”

            Milne wants to write about war, the horrors of war, what it does to nations and to souls, and he answers the question, “Who wants to read about war?” in a very succinct way: “anyone who doesn’t want it to happen again.”

            We all have expectations and hopes, and many of them are false. We look to the wrong things to make us happy, and are surprised when we’re not any happier than we were before.

            And the film is full of teaching moments…things like how PTSD affects the whole family, or a lesson on the restorative power of looking at truth and the world through the eyes of a child. And how success can be overwhelming, and just like other things that are supposed to bring happiness, it can often bring heartbreak. And of course the fact that we all need to feel loved.

            There were some quotes I thought might fit in this review, but taken out of the context of the film, they are nowhere near as powerful as they otherwise are. So you’ll just have to watch the film to glean this snippets of wisdom.  

            This story is a wonderful reminder of how plans sometimes backfire, and success can tear things apart. It’s a story of the aftermath of war, a picture of broken and restored relationships, and a call to learn to love others as they want or need to be loved, not necessarily as we think they should want to be loved.

Thanks to my friends at Grace Hill Media for the opportunity to screen this film.

watch the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxCEXQr1X7g&authuser=0 , and be sure to see the film in theaters when it releases soon.

thoughts on "The Sacred Slow"

            I’m generally in a rush to get somewhere, or to get something done, and at the same time I’m trying to learn to rest and relax in God's presence, to experience Sabbath rest.  I know that fast and furious is okay in an emergency, but every day and everything shouldn’t be an emergency. So we’re back to slow, and once again I agreed to read and blog about a book based on the title.

            And the title is intriguing, The Sacred Slow: A holy Departure from Fast Faith (by Alicia Britt Chole, W Publishing Group, 2017) sounded like it would be just what I needed to help me ease back into a gentler pace, a more sustainable pace, a pace that would help me better connect with God.

            Unfortunately, the book doesn’t work for me. The chapters are short, and as a devotional that’s probably a good thing, but I had trouble staying focused on even a few short pages.  I wanted something that would slow me down, give me time to talk with God, time to be still in his presence, and besides I don’t do well at journaling, so the ‘exercises’ at the end of each chapter, seemed like one more thing I needed to hurry to get done.

            Additionally some of the exercises seemed more like something one would be asked to do as a part of their therapy, rather than time with God.

            I imagine that my opinion of this book is based more on my personality and style than it is the book itself, and there are probably any number of people who would be able to bask in God's presence through these exercises---I’m just not one of them.

I received a copy of this book from HandleBar in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.  

3/5