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The Ministry of Hymns
I grew up in a small town in East Texas attending a church of a mainline denomination. Although I was there almost every Sunday and tried my best to listen, I never heard the Gospel and never heard expository preaching. I did not learn very many Bible stories despite regular Sunday School attendance. But God was teaching me on Sundays anyway… My mother sang in the choir (and was a world class alto) and I sat alone on the end of the second row where my mother could keep an eye on me from her perch in the choir loft. That was my usual seat until I was old enough…
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Spiritually Bipolar
Here’s another confession. I’m bi-polar when it comes to my spiritual life. On the one hand I can be very self-condemning: I’m a rotten worthless sinner who can’t do anything right. I wrote a song once called Failure the lyrics to which expressed how I often feel: I confess that I’m a failure This sober truth, it haunts my life Decisions made that were unwise I’ve messed up my own, and others’ lives Too many times… Yes, I beat myself up a lot. And, yes, I know Jesus loves me, but I have often asked, “But does He like me?” I fail time and time and time and time and…