One more thing...

Just a random shoutout to the boys of AGO (brothers!! :) ) for Tues night worship. Tonight was especially cool because it was all hymns. I don't think I've been to worship that was all hymns in a really long time, so it was really refreshing. Several times, I found myself quit singing--just saying the words of the song as I listened to everyone else lifting their voices to the Lord. Seriously, these hymns are such beautiful poetry and they capture some of the most amazing truths about God. Just saying those words out loud felt so powerful....I dunno...I mean, I for sure love worship with a full band, real contemporary, but there is something really magical about those old hymns. Pop songs go out of style eventually, but the words to I Surrender All will always be poignant. I know that the church has an up and down history, but some of these songwriters really hit the nail on the head.

On a similar note (how this is actually related will eventually make sense...read on....), I'm starting to understand why we do congregational readings in the Presbyterian church. At first, I was weirded out by it--then it seemed ok, even nice, to read passages from the Bible out loud with the rest of the church body. But it's taken me this long to understand why we read random statements, confessions, prayers and such of old dead guys I hardly know about. Because some of these dead guys really knew their stuff--their prayers are beautiful. Not that we should glorify their words, but often their words are glorifying to the Lord. And, frankly, sometimes I forget how to really pray. It often goes something like this: "Uhh...thanks God for this day. And for my friends...and my family who love me...um...please be with (fill in the blank with random people whose requests I'm reading off my prayer list). I pray that you would help me...(another fill in the blank)." Really boring. And it kind of misses the memo. Like...God is huge. No really...and I forget that sometimes which is really dumb. But these prayers that we sometimes read at church provide such great reminders of how to praise God in all his attributes and glory...how to really be thankful for what he has done in my life. I still don't like the awkward monotone way that everyone repeats what's on the screen...but I love the words we are repeating. The same goes for old hymns. Yeah, the style is a bit outdated...and I've never been a huge fan of a full-fledged choir...but the words. The words speak volumes. I'm not the most articulate person...and I often find myself at a loss of what to say when I pray and when I try to worship the Lord. I don't know how to praise him properly, but these songs seem to nail it.

So if you're reading this and you haven't listened to any hymns lately, look some up...and really meditate on the words. My favorites are Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, and It is Well. Basically...God rocks.

Fight on.