The Testimony of Philip P. Bliss, Hymnwriter and Song Leader

A couple weeks ago, our church choir did a concert that shared the story of the life of Philip P. Bliss, a 19th-century hymnwriter, song leader, and "chorister" [choir director] from Chicago.  Although he died at the young age of 38, he write many hymns and songs, and is best known for "It Is Well With My Soul," written after his four young children perished in a shipwreck.

Our church's choir director found the excerpt below and, at my request, shared it with me.  I lifted it from this website.  You can also find it here (Chapter 4).  It originally comes from a contemporary pastor's recollection of Bliss.

Please notice that Bliss believed church music to be integral to the worship, and that, contrary to ideas widespread today, those who participated needed to be singing for their God's glory, not for their own; not for their own recognition, but for His. 

Few pastors, I am persuaded, are privileged to have in their choristers such gifted, sympathizing, efficient helpers. Too often, it is to be feared, the pulpit and the choir gallery are out of harmony as to the ends proposed, or the methods by which the ends agreed on shall be sought; and the cases are not few, nor hard to find, where in the handling of choir-leaders and those who abet them, the Lord's house is turned into a concert hall, the service of song made largely a device for filling and renting pews, and the minister compelled to sandwich his part in between performances that suggest anything but the worship of God or the salvation of men. Sometimes, indeed, he has to come to his duties in the pulpit after the world and the flesh and the devil have, through the fingers and lips of an unconverted organist and choir-leader, set things moving to their liking, and then turn the service over to them after the sermon, to be finished up as they elect. Doubtless the devil likes that way of conducting Sabbath services. If he can only get people's heads full of waltzes and operas and sonatas and what-not else, before the preaching comes, and then have a chance to follow it up with a march or an aria of his own selection, the preacher's thirty minutes of Gospel will not damage his interests. Little wonder that preaching in such circumstances saves few souls. It is like expecting harvest with the enemy invited to go before the toiler, sowing tares, and to follow him gathering up and snatching away the seed.

To those who knew anything of P.P. Bliss, it will not be needful to say that he had no sympathy with any such idea of the music of the sanctuary. He shared to the fullest extent my feeling, that the disposition to make the song and service of God's house showy and entertaining was an abomination in God's sight. He held, as I did, that all music in connection with worship, whether by instrument or voice, should be consecrated and worshipful. In his conception, he who led at the organ should be one to come to the keys fresh from his closet, one who should pray, as his hands swept over the manuals, that the power of God might, through him, constrain the people's hearts to worship in spirit and in truth. So he believed that all who led in the service of song should sing with grace in their hearts; that the music should be strictly spiritual music - not selections made on grounds of taste, high musical character, but selections aimed at honoring God, exalting Jesus Christ, magnifying His Gospel - music, in a word, that God's Spirit could wholly own and use to comfort, strengthen, and inspire God's people, and lead unsaved souls to Christ. Accordingly, the highest devotional character marked all his selections, all his rehearsals, all his leadership in the Lord's house. It was his invariable custom to open his rehearsals by prayer. He often invited me to lead in that service, and to address the choir on the subject of the singing adapted to worship; and few weeks passed without his impressing the spiritual idea as the all-controlling one, and one never to be forgotten by those who were to lead the praises of the congregation.

As Mr. Bliss stood in the choir gallery, partly facing the singers, during his leadership, there was exactly in front of him, in the eastern window of the transept a large crimson cross. Many times during rehearsals he would point thither, saying, "I am glad we have the cross always before us. Let us forget everything else when we sing. Let us seek to have the people lose sight of us, of our efforts, our skill, and think only of Him who died thereon, and of the peace, comfort. strength, joy He gives them that trust him." It is not strange that, with such a chorister in charge, all solicitude about anthems and voluntaries vanished from the preacher's mind. Whatever the selection, I knew it would be full of worship alike in the sentiment and the rendering, would prepare the way for the Word of God; and when the sermon was ended, no matter what the final thought, whether admonition, encouragement or appeal, I always felt sure that the choirister's heart was one with mine, perfect confidence that the impression sought to be produced would be deepened.

On the Folly of Sports Betting

Disclaimer:  I do not bet on sports events of any kind, nor would I encourage anyone to do so.  This post simply gives my observations.

Last night, in college football, Ohio State traveled to Northwestern and, after trailing for much of the game, came from behind to win, 40-30.  But it was the way the game ended that drew my attention.  Ohio State had scored a go-ahead touchdown with 5:22 remaining in the fourth quarter to take a 34-30 lead.  On Northwestern's ensuing possession, they turned it over on downs.  Ohio State killed most of the remaining time on the clock before facing fourth down and punting.  Northwestern had 21 seconds remaining and eighty-four yards to travel.

Northwestern was then sacked for a nine-yard loss on first down, moving them back to the seven yard line.  After stopping the clock with just a few seconds left, a short pass was thrown, followed by some slopping lateraling, a fumble, and a group of OSU players falling on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.  (No PAT was attempted, since time had expired.)

Being a math-oriented, statistics-enjoying kind of person, I looked up the betting line for the game.  Ohio State was, depending on the bookies chosen, about a 6.5-to-7-point favorite.  By scoring the goofy last-play touchdown, all of those who took OSU to cover the spread were suddenly very, very happy.  Those who took the opposite play were probably either horrified or dejected. 

What struck me as interesting was that at no time during the game, except at the end of the final play, was Ohio State ever ahead by more than four points.  And for that matter, Ohio State never came close to taking a bigger lead than four points, particularly in the fourth quarter.

I do not mean to imply any betting-related shenanigans here regarding the conduct of the game.  My point is this:  Betting is taking a risk that could easily—and unexpectedly—cost you money.  To gamble one's money on sports is to be a poor steward of it.  Even what appears to be a "sure thing" can suddenly turn out to be a deep and unsettling loss.  Steer clear of the temptations to wager.

In related news, that touchdown cost Nevada sports books $3-4 million.

We Meet the Governors

That was really fun.

Today, Gov. Nikki Haley came to Greenville, SC, to announce her intent to run for a second term as the governor of SC.  She has done a great job so far, leading the state to one of the best economies in the nation and demonstrating how to govern from a conservative, fiscally prudent standpoint.  And what she says, she does.

To help her make this announcement, Senator Tim Scott served as the emcee for this event.  He did a great job firing up the crowd and defining what it is conservatives should be doing.

Three of the nation's best GOP governors then came to the stage and spoke about Gov. Haley and the fine job she has done.  First was Texas governor Rick Perry:

He was followed by Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal:

And finally, the governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker:

Each of the governors stayed for various periods of time to mingle with the crowd, and my family got to meet all four of them.  Governor Jindal stayed the longest, and impressed me with his talkative nature (which, admittedly, is an asset in his line of work) and the sincere enjoyment he seemed to take in meeting total strangers.  He spent more than two minutes with my own children, having a wide-ranging conversation that I caught on video: 

 (still haven't figured out how to make this work...)

I hope you listen carefully to what he said to the kids.  I found it satisfying that he encouraged my kids to read their Bibles, even though there was no obvious evidence that we were Christians (in other words, we had not explicitly said so).  I hope you enjoy the video, and if you get a chance to vote for Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, Rick Perry, or Nikki Haley in the future, please consider doing so.

Why $50,000 Wouldn't Change My Life

So many people think that a sizable sum of money would change their lives.  Perhaps it would, or perhaps only for a time.  But after some contemplating, I came to the conclusion that if I suddenly came into possession of an extra $50,000, it wouldn't change my life all that much.

Why?  Because of what I would do with it.  Here's the summary.

Tithe:  I would give at least $5,000 to my church.  Balance: $45,000.

Retirement Savings:  There are two major reasons why it would be wise to maximize the amount of this part of the windfall.  First, to mitigate the tax consequences of my sudden jump in income.  Second, because it is the wise thing to do.  Ideally, I would like to retire before I die.

Since my wife and I are still well short of the age of 50, we can each put a maximum of $5,000 into an IRA, and we would do so.  Furthermore, I would immediately, and for the rest of the calendar year, sharply increase the amount I put into my 401(k) at work, compensating for a smaller paycheck by drawing from the windfall.  Depending on the time of year, I could possibly see $15,000 moved into tax-sheltered retirement savings.  Balance:  $30,000.

[Note: Some of you might be wondering whether my wife and I would use traditional or Roth IRAs; conceivably, we could each open a different kind.  I don't know.  I would consult people more knowledgable than myself.  The suddenly-higher marginal tax rate for the windfall year would make me lean toward a traditional IRA, but further research would be required.]

Taxes:  The amount of the $50,000 subject to income tax (both state and federal) would be diminished by the tithe, the amount going to the 401(k), and the amount going into traditional IRAs.  Even if it dropped all the way to $30,000, I would plan about $10,000 for taxes.  Balance:  $20,000.

Big-ticket Items:  Most likely, the balance would be going toward one or more big-ticket items.  A new car.  A remodeled kitchen or bathroom.  A hot tub on the patio (in my dreams).  A daughter's wedding.  Consequently, most of the remaining $20,000 would be put into savings until such time as it is needed.

Anything Else?  Sure.  We'd probably take a week's family vacation somewhere we would really like to go.  And a celebratory dinner at Olive Garden.  I might get a new suit.  But really...not much else.  To fritter the final $20,000 on a miscellaneous wishlist of not-really-needed items would be wasteful.

And I certainly wouldn't quit my day job.