Welcome
to Tuesday and our January 20th edition of Tuesday's Musical Notes.
The place where we can come together and explore our favorite
passions...music, The Message, and ministry. If these 3 things don't
happen to be areas to which you don't have passion, I can promise that
there will be something in today's notes, that will stir you...well, at
least stir the nostalgic part of you...well, at least if you are a
certain age demographic your nostalgia might be stirred, otherwise, it's
a good musical history lesson. While you're here you might even check out the archives...they are here
Recent
terrorist events have reminded us of the preciousness of life.
Politicians want us to believe that they have our backs, and are doing
everything they can to protect us. Leaders throughout history have
tried to maintain a similar message as they allocate resources and
assets to maximize effectiveness to protect or negate the impact of
natural or man made disaster. Unfortunately, things occur that are
outside anyone's control. The cause of these things occasionally are
man made, look at Paris this week, New York City 13 years ago, or Pearl
Harbor 74 years ago. Other times things occur in nature to cause
disaster to befall mankind. (As a disclaimer, Tuesday's Musical Notes
does not believe that mankind can control nature, we are only to be
stewards and do the best we can with the God given resources we have,
therefore we do not subscribe to the theories that surround global
warming. Perhaps when 75% of the country isn't experiencing one of the
coldest winter's on record we might walk down that path, but not
today...) If you study history for very long, you soon realize that
floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and famine are a
part of what we face as residents of planet earth. We cannot control
these things, however, when the uncontrollable occurs, mankind tends to
step up and do things that are within their control...in other
words..."there comes a time, when we heed a certain call", and now we
take you to a recording studio on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles,
California, 30 years ago tomorrow...
A
dream by singer Harry Belefonte, a newly formed charity organization
called United Support of Artists for Africa (USA for Africa), a song
written by superstars Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, and an
assembly of some of the best known names in 80's entertainment would
come together to make a recording that would impact the world. It was
an effort to relieve an incredible famine in Africa. It was an effort
that would raise over $63 million in relief effort for Africa and the
hungry world wide. In case your memory is a little foggy or you're
wondering "who in the world are these people?", here is a list from the
Wikipedia listing of the contributors to the single with an estimated
global sales of 20 million, making it the 5th best selling single of all
time:
Amazing
that this diverse group, with millions of combined record sales, could
see the plight of folks half way around the world and come together to
make an impact. The idea would follow Band-Aid's efforts, (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Do They Know It's Christmas Time")
and would assist the hungry not only in Africa, but domestically as
well. This would begin a movement of "crusades" by musical artists that
benefit social issues on a world wide scale. "We Are The World" would
serve as the inspiration for the mega world wide concert "Live Aid",
improved exposure for UNICEF, Farm Aid, and then come full circle when
the song was rerecorded in
2010 by an updated group of artists who called themselves Artists For
Haiti, to provide support and financial assistance for the survivors of
the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the island nation of Haiti..."it's
true we make a brighter day, just you and me..."
"We Are The World" 25 for Haiti from 2010
Artists for this effort (source: Wikipedia)
These
artists are to be applauded for their efforts. Again, it goes to show
what like minded people can do to benefit folks they don't know when
they pool their talents and resources together. In both efforts, the
artists donated money as well as their vocal stylings to the relief
efforts.
Their
is an organization that is much larger than USA for Africa, Band Aid,
or Artists for Haiti. It is called the church. Your relationship to
this organization is most likely predicated by what you believe about
its most sacred document, the Bible. More on the Bible and its role in
the world in a later notes, today we want to explore the church.
Approximately,
2 Billion people make up the membership roles of churches world wide.
What are those 2 billion members supposed to be doing? What was God's
intention for creating the church? According to Paul:
"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." Ephesians 3:10-12.
That seems pretty simple. Tell the
whole world that Jesus is God, that He came in a form we could
understand (our own), died to bridge the gap between our unholiness and
God's holiness, and is now alive with God being a mediator for us as we
live in a fallen (unrighteous) world.
What
could happen to our world if all of the 2 billion members of God's
church would become passionate about achieving "His intent"? I fear
that far too many times the words that I am known by have been, "I'm a
member at _______ church" instead of "I'm a part of the bride of Jesus,
can I tell you what that means?". Imagine if the 2 billion people who
are on church roles, consistently participated and actively engaged in
the ministries of the churches to which they belong. I'm told the
average church has an attendance of 50% of its membership. Less than
that participate in small groups or Sunday School.
We
just entered 2015. If you are active in your church, pause and
evaluate if there are possibilities for service that you have yet to
explore. What is God calling you to? If you have been inconsistent as a
church member, today is the day for you to start the habit of actively
participating, engaging, and being discipled at a church of your
choosing. If you aren't a follower of Jesus, today is the day that can
change. Find a Bible, read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John. Then explore the Book of Romans. Open your mind, heart, and soul
to what God will say to you through His Word. Then find a group of
folks who you can share this new life. Discipleship does not occur in a
vacuum. We need each other. Together we can accomplish more for God's
kingdom than we could ever hope to achieve on our own.
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy |
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Tuesday's Musical Notes - "We Are The World" (USA For Africa)
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