Simple Things

Do you ever find yourself singing a particular song during the day?  Maybe it’s just the chorus or a single line that seems to be indelibly stuck in your mind.  I realized the other morning as I was getting out of bed, that I many times will sing simple praise songs… especially if I am fighting discouragement, needing a solution for a particular problem or just… believe it or not… if I am in a good mood!

Most times, my simple praise songs are the choruses that we sang during our years in Children’s ministry… you know… the ones we literally sang hundreds of times in the four different churches where we worked directly with the kids.  Some of the songs are old favorites that have been around for years, but the vast majority of them are songs that either Piper or I wrote.  We always enjoyed writing original songs that best fit the flavor and interests of the particular church and the kids who attended the Children’s ministry at that time.  

We learned early on that just because you may like a national curriculum, that parts of it might not be a good fit for the kids in your city or part of the country.  So, you pick and choose and modify as necessary. (or write your own like I did many times!)  I often wondered if people knew how much time a good Children’s or Youth minister puts in, behind the scenes, before and after a Sunday or mid-week service?  I once figured out that I was actually making less than six dollars an hour at one of the churches we served in.  But, when you are called and love what you do, the money doesn’t really matter!  For Piper and I, there was nothing more full-filling than seeing your Children’s or Youth group participants holding their hands up, while they are totally lost in the Spirit, worshipping the Lord while singing those simple praise songs in worship.

Mark 10:15 tells us, “Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." (MSG)  So, while those simple praise songs I find myself singing… a lot of the time… may not be as sophisticated or deep or theological as many of the worship songs we adults normally sing on Sunday mornings, I believe the sincerity of the heart brings them directly to the throne room of God.

I vividly remember Piper and I watching the PTL Club late one night after I had gotten home from work in the early 1980’s, when Jim and Tammy were interviewing an older, well-known country singer.  His was a very sad story and you could tell by the worn look on his face that he had lived a hard life.  But then he pulled up his guitar and began to play the simple children’s song that we probably all learned as a child singing, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so” and the tears flowed freely down his cheeks.  I’m pretty sure that they came down Piper’s and mine as well while we watched and listened.

That man’s sincerity and the love in his eyes changed me that night.  I learned to never take ANY song sung about and to our Savior lightly, for you NEVER know the change it may incur in someone.  The gentleman explained when he finished the song, that in the lowest time in his life, he suddenly began to sing that song that he learned as a child in Sunday School and it brought him to his knees and back to Christ… for good!

So, I enjoy singing those simple choruses.  I sometimes even do the silly hand motions while I sing them!  They’re fun, they take my mind off of whatever may be bothering me… and they make me laugh!  (I’m not too sure what the neighbors think… but oh Well…  Maybe it will force them to come over and ask what I’m doing… or then again…to stay far away from me… Hummmm…hadn’t thought of that perspective!)

Have a great new week and I encourage you to sing some praise songs to God when times are rough or when times are good… then let His blessing flow to and through you unto others!   Oh yea… let me know what your neighbors say... while you’re expecting God’s best through glorifying Him in praiseful song.