Learning About Worship

Maybe I'm a little too critical, but I kind of have a lot of opinions on worship songs. A friend of mine actually wrote a blog post this week on how he chooses what songs to lead during a worship service that states a lot of my own views way better than I could. This same friend is also an incredibly gifted writer of worship songs. (I'm actually blessed to know at least 3 people that write some of the best worship songs I've ever heard, but it's possible that I'm a little biased.) One song Casey wrote that we get to sing a lot at my church that I just can't stop listening to these days is called "The Privilege of Knowing the King" and I thought I'd write a little about why I love it so much. (If you want to hear it for yourself, you can listen to a live version of it here.)

Oh, how great is the privilege of

Those found with only His righteousness

He is enough for them, and they are content

He is all they will ever need

His blood washed over their depravity

Now they're clean

Oh, the privilege of knowing the King

That's verse one. This song is already packed with theological goodness! I think right away part of the reason I love this song so much is that this privilege is something that is so easy to forget. The fact that we even get to KNOW the King of the universe is unbelievable and we take it for granted, but then the song unpacks even more about our privileges that we forget as well. To be found with nothing but His righteousness is more than we could ever ask for. This is a righteousness we could never earn in a billion lifetimes, but He's given His to us and that should be enough for us. His blood cleanses our depravity.

Oh, how sweet His forgiveness for

Those bound and broken because of sin

His grace is enough for them, where freedom begins

He is all they will ever need

His love bought pardon for the weak

And set them free

Oh, the privilege of knowing the King

Verse two. Not only do we have His righteousness, but we've been given forgiveness. On the days when we don't feel like we've been screwing things up too badly, we take this for granted. But when we remember what we truly are without Christ - that we are bound and broken because of sin, yet He has, in love, bought our pardon and set us free - then His forgiveness truly is sweet and we remember that He is all we will ever need.

Great is the privilege of knowing the One

Who forever will reign by His goodness and love (3x)

He was broken and bruised for me and for you

Jesus!

This is the bridge and it gets me every time. One of my worship song pet peeves is when we repeat something that isn't the most important theological point of the song, but this one definitely is. We have to constantly remind our hearts of who Jesus is and what He's done for us. He is the King who will reign forever in goodness and love, and despite our totally not deserving it, He chose to be broken and bruised for us and we get to be with Him forever. That idea is absolutely worth repeating.

Oh, how firm through the ages are

Those crowned with life by the Father's hands

His Word is enough for them to endure til the end

He is all we will ever need

His life, our only hope and plea

Eternally

Oh, the privilege of knowing the King

The final verse. I love the reminder that this privilege isn't just ours now, but it is ours for eternity. If we know this King, if we place our only hope and plea in His life, His Word will help us endure til the end and we will be with Him eternally. What?! It truly is a privilege to know Him, and I hate that I take it for granted often, but I love that this song helps me remember not to.

What I've Read So Far

In my last post, I talked about my summer goals. One of my main ones was to read 5 classics, and another was to finally finish reading John Adams. That's a lot of reading, so I've been working hard and I've already got three books crossed off my list!

First up was Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. I've been wanting to read some Verne for awhile and I'd heard this was a great one to start with. I loved it! If you're wanting to read a classic, but are intimidated by classics, this is a good place to go. It's a fun adventure story with mishaps and misunderstandings and twists and turns and a race to a deadline. The two main characters are delightful. I was genuinely excited to see what would happen.

Next I decided to go for an American book and read Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. This one was honestly a little disappointing. I had seen it on a lot of lists of the best books ever and read some things about how it changed the genre of historical fiction, and these are some of the reasons I picked it. I also liked the idea of the time period - America right before WWI starts. One thing I didn't realize until I started reading it was that it was written in the 1970s and there really isn't much I like about that decade, including literature it seems. I never really connected with any of the characters and it was just a really different story from what I expected. The historical part of the historical fiction was neat though. Houdini, Ford, and other famous figures were also characters in the novel and that was interesting, but not interesting enough to save the book for me. I wouldn't recommend it.

After that I decided to completely switch time periods and genres and decided it was time to read The Once and Future King by T.H. White. I haven't read a lot of Arthurian legend before and this one was really fun. The first part is what the Disney movie The Sword in the Stone is based on. Whereas older epics like Morte D'Arthur describe a lot of what happened in the life of Arthur, this story delves into why things happened and how all the characters felt about it. It was written during and after WWII in England, and the narrator uses much of Arthur's struggles to comment on the nature of war and civilization in our own time. So despite it being the classic tale of Arthur, Merlyn, Lancelot, Guenever, and other knights that many of us already know, there was also a lot of new and interesting detail in it that I really enjoyed.

So now I'm taking a short break from the classics to read more of John Adams. I have about 350 pages left of that, so I'm going to read at least 100 pages and then read another classic. I'm also going to be watching some classic movies soon, so I'll post about those here too!

What I'll Do This Summer

A number of years ago, my friend Jen and I decided to make a list of summer goals. It didn't start out as anything too intense. If I remember correctly, 2 of the goals were to watch the Back to the Future trilogy all in a row and to watch Sister Act 1 and 2. But we also included goals about books to read and new things to try - ways to keep our summer from being too lazy with no direction. Some of our other friends joined us and this has been one of our most fun traditions. Right around the time that my college students are finishing classes, Jen is finishing her grad school classes, and our teacher friends are getting out for the summer, we all start posting our summer goals. I always get so excited to see what my friends are committing to for the summer and what fun things they have planned that I can join them in! Jen has already posted her list on her blog, so I thought I'd post mine here and I'll write occasional updates over the summer on how things are going. Here we go!

1. Go swing dancing with Allison at least once, preferably more often - There was a period of my life where I went swing dancing 3 times a week, and I definitely miss it! Allison has been going consistently and I want to join her. I'm looking forward to getting a group of friends together because it's always more fun with a lot of people.

2. Eat only mexican food for a week - So you know how you love a food so much that you say you could eat it every day? We were talking about it in Belize and I decided I should test it. I don't eat breakfast, so I actually think this'll be really easy. And delicious!

3. Scat Jazz Lounge Black Dog night at least once - Long ago there was a place called the Black Dog and they had a free jazz jam every Sunday night. It was glorious. I recently learned that Scat has started hosting it again and I have GOT to go. Who's in? Great music, great friends, maybe we can use the swing dancing from goal #1!

4. Read at least 5 classics I've never read before - I always want to make sure I'm well-read, and I feel like I've been focusing too much on contemporary lit lately, so it's time for some classics. I spent a long time coming up with my 5  - Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin, Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, and The Once and Future King by T.H. White. If I finish these, I have a backup list ready to go.

5. Hang out with Elle, Alyssa, and Bailey - Every time we see each other at parties we talk about how we want to hang out and then it never happens. Well ladies, now it's on the list, so it's happening. Get excited!

6. Finish reading John Adams by David McCullough - Years ago I decided I wanted to read a bio on every president to learn more American history and study for Jeopardy. I read one on Washington and stalled out. Last year I got about halfway through this and then got distracted by other things. I've got to get past president #2.

7. Make salsa - I freaking love salsa and I want to make my own. It'll be fun to try different recipes and find a good one.

8. Blog once a week - In January, Jen talked me into starting this blog. I've written on here 8 times. I figure if I blog at least once a week over the summer, I'll get in the habit and be better about it in the future.

9. Watch 5 classic movies I've never seen - I haven't chosen these yet. I'll look at lists of Best Picture winners and best movies of all times and find some that I've been meaning to watch but just haven't made it to yet. I love old movies!

10. Have 6 friends pick favorite movies I've never seen and watch them - I did this a few years ago and it was really fun! I've asked Jane, Kate, Callie, Josh, Will, and Kevin to pick movies. It's kind of a hard process because I've seen a lot of movies that people suggest at first, but it's fun to find ones I haven't seen! I'll update later when they've all picked movies for me.

11. Update pictures in frames in my room - I have a lot of pictures from the last few years I've been meaning to print and a lot of frames to put them in. I want to finally do that this summer.

12. Memorize the presidents in order - This was a goal last summer and I don't think I even worked on it a little. It's something I think I need to know if I want to be on Jeopardy someday, so I want to work on it.

13. Eat at 5 Ft. Worth restaurants I've never tried before - I love FW and one of my favorite things about it is all the unique restaurants we have. There are lots I've never been to, so I want to try some new ones.

14. Visit music class with Caitlin, Stacey, and Chavon - I won't be babysitting this summer, so I can finally go! I've heard some great stories about this class and I can't wait to see their little boys interacting with each other!

Do you have summer goals? What are they?