"DON'T BE A MEANIE, BUY A WEINIE"

Tommy ( I used to know his last name) sold hot dogs at St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Louis Cardinals Spring Training ball park. Al Lang Field it was called.

A wonderful man with a wonderful sense of humor. An elderly Black Man, I don't think he would have referred to himself as African American. Why? Gosh, I'm not sure he ever saw color on anyone. And I know he loved his country and would not want to emphasize any differnces or boundaries.

A diabetic, a disease which took his life all too soon, he made many people laugh and forget their problems for awhile at the ballgame. "Ice cold hot dogs for sale," he'd yell out in that loud voice that would carry all over the park. He'd laugh. He'd sing.

Blessed wth a beautiful voice, Tommy would sing. He sold hot dogs, but he was an entertainer. "East Side, West Side, All Around the Town," was one of his favorites. Along with "God, Bless America," and of course "Take Me out to the Ballgame." But my favorite was "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," and when I spotted this picture, I thought of Tommy.

Oh, I didn't know him well. You know, that's not right. I did know him well. He just didn't know me by name. Twice a year for seven or eight years doesn't allow much time or opportunity for a relationship to develop. But I had observed him and saw the love he openly displayed for the Lord. He didn't hide his light under a basket.

I'd love to hear him sing again. And I'm sure I will. I'll just have to wait awhile. Then I can listen to Tommy for as long as I like.

LEAF HIM ALONE

Why the leaves, I don't know. But the horns are a dead giveaway. So I say, "Leaf him alone".

Scripture tells us in 2 Cor. 5:17 "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away." The best thing about that is that Satan no more has dominion in our lives. Sure, we'll still sin because we're still human. But we're forgiven for our past, present, and future sins because of the death of Jesus on the cross. We don't go out to sin intentionally because we know we'll be forgiven. We don't want to, we don't have the desire to follow the ways of Satan. That's in the past.

But the evil one is sly. He evidently loves a good challenge. He seems to try harder to bring down evangelical leaders, preachers, other leaders in churches. He never rests.

We have to vow that while "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23), we will "keep on keeping on" as former pastor J. R. Janese would say. Or "press on" as former SBC Pastor Greg would say. Or as Jesus Himself said during his 40 days in the desert, "Get thee behind me Satan".

NOW IS THE TIME TO WORSHIP

Want alzo lief God de wereld gehad, dat Hij zijn eniggeboren Zoon gegeven heeft, opdat een ieder, die in Hem gelooft, niet verloren ga, maar eeuwig leven hebbe.

That's Dutch. It's the most famous verse in scripture. It's the first verse perhaps many memorized. It's been translated into more than 1, 100 languages according to the Gideons International, founded in 1898.

That verse in itself, if a person never knew another one from the Holy Bible, is enough to worship the Lord. It sums up the gospel. It sums up the message to a lost world.

Oh there's so much more. Everytime I read scripture I find something new. Something I overlooked. Or something God withheld from me the first, second, or ninety time through. But in a nutshell John 3:16 is the key.

RETURN IS BETTER THAN REVENGE

They never made this movie. They changed the title to Return of the Jedi. I never read or heard why. I'm glad they did.

We hear enough about revenge in the world today anyway(s). And revenge is so temporary even if we feel we have achieved it. If we are honest with ourselves, we know we never achieved it. It doesn't work that way.

This year, the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals (I love that sound) went to Detroit to play the American League Champs in an inter-league series. The Cardinals beat the favored Tigers 4 games to 1 in the 2006 World Series, so journalists and announcers were talking about the revenge factor in the series. The Tigers swept all three games. But you know what? They didn't win the 2007 World Series by doing it. And even if both teams make it to the World Series again this season, it wouldn't be revenge for the Tigers to win it. God made it that way. He's the only one to enact revenge, and He can do it right.

For us to try is a natural human reaction. For us to forgive and move on is not. Lots of things that aren't easy are worth it. Let's try to please the Father and leave revenge up to Him.

GLORY DAYS

If you read my other blog, On The QT, you know I'm in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, this week. When yesterday morning's temp reached 35 degree, it represented about an 80 degree difference from what I'm used to. And it reminded me of Jerusalem.

Not the temperature, but the variety. Just below Calvary lies Skull Hill. Just below, or adjacent to these, is the Garden and the Tomb where many say Jesus lay, and of course, rose. Others cite the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as the place where Jesus was buried. And if they're right, well, the Garden is still a spectacular spot.

When we visited the Garden last April, 26 of us, mostly from our church, friend Jeff Wilkinson and I had the same thought at just about the same time. You see, in the Garden were a variety of groups from different nationalities. As we were taking communion, you could hear singing by a few other groups. Jeff said, "This is what Heaven's going to be like. All God's people, different in how they look and speak, praising Him."

"That's just what I was thinking," I shared.

And that's what I thought of when I first saw the Tetons. God's magnificent creation. From the saguaros of the Southwest to the mountain tops, still covered with snow, in the Wild West of Wyoming. Different kinds of beauty that God has created. How can one walk on the beach of an ocean and not think of the Maker? Or see a sunrise over Papago Park? Or a multi-colored, multi-formed sunset? They are there for us to enjoy. They illustrate God's glory. And magnificence.

"THE TREES IN THE FIELDS WILL CLAP"

Another theory I have about current church music is based on the MTV high school loyalty and visiting other churches. Read on, faithful reader(s) to see how these fit together.

John Cruiser was a great Athletic Director at the high school. He was the first full time AD with no teaching load. But he had a load having to attend the various activities and games for a growing athletic department featuring both boys and girls sports. He is also responsible for beginning my announcing career which spanned 35 seasons in varsity football, basketball, and baseball. But that's a sidebar.

A guy who would have made a terrific athletic coach, W. F. Beckmeyer, known simply as Beck, was MTV's Music Dept. head for many years. While not writing the high school loyalty, he arranged it musically into one of the best around. It was original, catchy, and revered by many over the years. In the early 80's, one could see AD Cruiser on the gym floor of the varsity games clapping to the tune. I don't know if he knew the words, didn't want to sing, didn't like to sing but wanted to show respect, but he simply clapped to the beat. Others followed suit. Soon, students didn't know the words to the loyalty any longer, but they could clap it.

When I was less mature as a Christian and we were on vacation, that's what we did--vacate the church. We simply didn't choose to attend. What a mistake! When we're on vacation now, even a cruise, we seek a church or will lead the service as we did in South America in January. We have had some great experiences attending churches in Jerusalem, Australia, Boca Raton, etc. If it's Sunday, you'll find us skipping no more church if at all possible. What we have noticed at some, certainly not all churches we visit is that there's usually clapping. Sometimes in the place of singing, sometimes along with singing. Our son's church in MTV and our daughter's current church in San Diego probably do both as well as any. Many though drown out the words with the clapping.

So my final thoughts on church music are not to let the clapping take the place of the words as in the high school loyalty. My rule would be if you're going to clap, you must sing, too. Otherwise, please keep your hands to yourself.

THERE'S ENOUGH BLAME TO GO AROUND

There usually is you know. So what does this old picture of Lucille Ball have to do with a Christian blog? Well, you see it's all about music in churches today.

The two camps are Traditional Hymns versus Praise Songs. It is a very serious debate, causing long time members to leave their home churches because of the selection of music in the worship service. In addition, it has caused numerous churches to hold two services on Sunday morning to please churchgoers' preference in music.

You might think I'd prefer the traditional. You're right, for the most part. But I love some of the praise songs and have my car radio set on KLOV and other stations promoting the newer Christian music artists. For Father's Day I received a Mercy Me CD featuring "I Can Only Imagine", simply one of the greatest songs ever. So I guess I'm more of a blend type guy, because I really like how our 200 men in BSF sound when singing the traditional hymns.

While not blessed with the greatest singing voices, my wife and I sing every Sunday in church regardless of the type of music. We're about praising God and making a joyful noise. Certainly we have our preferences, but the music is all good, so why the hassle?

And now we get to Lucille Ball. She was of my generation; actually prior to my generation. A generation that never had praise songs. She's still popular in syndication, along with a bevy of others. Classics, do wop, the 60's, all are still very popular and played in malls and other places as an almost mood music type thing. While the Top Forty was important, at least popular, in my generation, it's non-existent for today's listeners. So my theory is that younger listeners want something that was their own. They turned to gospel, or Christian music. Amy Grant, Casting Crowns, et. al., sprung up and were highly successful. Finally, the generation after me had a voice. And it's a great voice. Unfortunately, it's also divisive.

Praise song artists are booming. So much in fact that I'm afraid that it's hurting its audience by over producing. What I mean is, in order to stay current, worship leaders present/teach new songs during worship services to an overly saturated audience. And that may be where part of the problem is. We like repetition whether in praise songs or hymns. The younger ones want new material and tire of repetition.

There are no answers here, just opinions based on hypothesis, offered to smooth the rift. Tomorrow I'll have yet another theory about church music. But for now, please pray about how you can support your music program at church, keeping God at the center of worship.