FOR GOD ALONE: Responding to God's Word

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.” (Psalm 95:7b-9)

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.” (Hebrews 3:7-9)

This weekend, our church, Central Bearden is hosting one of my favorite singer/songwriters, Ken Medema. Ken is, without question, a poet-musician, a term I reserve for very few artists I have known through the years. (Cynthia Clawson, by the way, is another.) This will be the third or fourth time Central has welcomed Ken (and his wonderful associate, Bev Vander Molen), and my sixth or seventh since I first hosted him while serving Tallowood Baptist in Houston.

I first ‘met’ Ken in the mid-seventies through his music. My (media) missionary-Dad, John Magyar, worked with Medema at the Radio and TV Commission in Ft. Worth, one of those once-upon-a-time entities the Southern Baptist Convention owned and operated for the sole purpose of doing Great Commission work. (You do not have to ask me if I miss those days!)

Ken’s first album was recorded live at Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco, Texas in 1975, and was called PEOPLE OF THE SON. This clever collection of cantos … placed Ken’s honest style before thousands, and I, for one, have never gotten over it - in a good way, of course! The album, by the way, includes Ken’s “And This Is Love,” a song that should be resurrected and taught all over again, especially in 2018!

“And this is love, and this is love, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You have heard it said: love your friends and hate your enemies. And yet I say to you love your enemies too.” (Medema, citing the words of Jesus as recorded in John 15:13)

One of Ken Medema’s best known songs, “Moses,” was included in this live concert and, thus, the recording, which Kurt Kaiser produced. I suppose evangelical church musicians like me have taught and led student choirs to sing this song as many times as any other song - because it’s just that good! (For example, by the time I arrived at the first church I served post-Southwestern, Twelfth Street Baptist in Gadsden, Alabama, in 1985, my predecessors, Lynn Madden and David Prevost, had already introduced and led the Chapel Choir to sing this song, and, my, how they loved to sing it!)

At the conclusion of “Moses” as recorded on PEOPLE OF THE SON, Ken segues into a song of decision of sorts, which, by the way, is not given a name on the recording. The text of this song which Ken sings so compellingly, asks the question:

“Do you know what it means, Moses? Do you know what I’m trying to say, Moses? The rod of Moses became the rod of God! With the rod of God - strike the rock and the water will come! With the rod of God, part the waters of the sea! With the rod of God you can strike old Pharaoh dead! With the rod of God - you can set the people free!”

Then, the poignant segue:

“What do you hold in your hand this day? To whom or to what are you bound? Are you willing to give it to God right now? Give it up. Let it go. Throw it down!”

I suppose I have sung this passage to Ken’s wooing melody - thousands of times in my life. Yes, thousands. I have sung these words after reading the Bible in my study or my office; I have sung these words in my car, or while walking on a pathway or sidewalk, or down an aisle in the grocery store. I have sung them as I have recommitted myself to God again and again.

These words of rededication are not uncommon to the music/worship pastor in the evangelical tradition who, like myself and countless friends and colleagues in churches around the globe have led congregations to sing songs of response (or invitation) at the conclusion of corporate worship most every Lord’s Day. These gospel songs have titles such as: I Surrender All; Jesus Paid It All; I Hear Thy Welcome; Christ Is Enough; I Have Decided to Follow Jesus; Cornerstone; Just As I Am; etc., etc., etc. 

“Come, let us reason together, that’s what God says.” (Medema)

“Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me. 

Come home, come home! Ye who are weary, come home.” (Thompson)

“There’s room at the cross for you … 

tho’ millions have come, there’s still room for one.

There’s room at the cross for you.” (Stanfill)

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face.” (Lemmel)

Evangelicals are known for many things - some good, and some not-so-good. One of our firm convictions is believing and trusting in the word of God as his divine revelation of himself to humanity. (Sola Scriptura) In many congregations, words and phrases are recited following the reading of God’s word, the Bible. Words like: The word of God for the people of God; or, the word of the Lord (to which the congregation responds: thanks be to God); or, a passage of scripture like the one we recited at Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA): 

“All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.” “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:6b; 8)

As much as I love making music each Lord’s Day with God’s people and to God’s glory, my favorite moment in corporate worship has been and remains when I sit down following the first half of worship, open my Bible, and join others gathered in God’s house to listen to God’s servant faithfully and thoughtfully proclaim God’s word. It has been and remains a joy to listen and respond to each proclaimer with whom I have served through the years: Granberry, Allen, Stark, Murphy, Searcy, Clayton, Page, Vestal, O’Brien, Brooks, Swindoll, Bachmann, and Bibb. I love the word of God, and thank God for each one of these servants!

I believe with all of my heart and with every fiber of my being that, when God’s word is faithfully proclaimed, every soul within earshot is called to respond to God’s voice and call, for such is no small part of worshipping God in Spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24)

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah.”

“What do you hold in your hand this day? To what or to whom are you bound? 

Are you willing to give it to God right now? Give it up. Let it go. Throw it down.”

Thank you, Ken!

Soli Deo Gloria

© 2018 Paul R. Magyar, D.M.A.