"Have an eye to God in every word you sing." – John Wesley

Good morning. I am going to steer away from political stuff today. The wife did say she thought yesterday's blog was a wee bit strong. It was not my intention to offend anyone because we all need to seek God's help in coming to our individual opinion about matters that impact our lives and the lives of our families. We cannot escape the fact that our governmental authorities do impact our lives. Oh well, as is so often said, "It is what it is." How in the world are you doing on this fine day, Thursday, February 5, 2026? It's a good day to pause, look up, and give God thanks for how He provides. He does deserve it whether we give it to Him or not. Many years ago I was in choir practice and a young lady raised her hand. She asked the music leader to give his insight into the meaning of the song we were working on. She said while it had a catchy tune, she didn't find it to be biblical or praiseworthy. Yikes! She was talking about the lyrics or words. The director responded with a bunch of explanations based on metaphors and possibilities, but, he did admit the song was very unclear in terms of communicating biblical truth. That was an act of bravery on the part of that young lady but it did point out how important it is that our worship be very much grounded in biblical truth. Period. This is why I particularly like Bible passages set to music. I prefer them. I do. I really do. I'm not saying a testimonial song is wrong, but, if we want to get as close to true worship as we can, then I believe the Bible to be the runaway best source. If any of the lyrics fall short of reflecting truth supported by God's revelation of Himself, in the Book He has given to us, I think it should be considered suspect. At the same time, I mark myself as an old fuddy-duddy when it comes to matters like this. I hear the voices. But, Brother Al, if we don't sing modern songs with modern lyrics we will not reach the next generation. Really? I guess that means if we present the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, God is in someway limited. Sorry. I'm not buying that. Not one iota. God always works when His truth is proclaimed. In teaching, preaching, singing, or in personal devotion. He does. He really does. That's the way I see it. Now you know.

 

When I worked in the corporate world and for a number of years I had the privilege of being an entry level executive, many of the folks in that world functioned based on what I will call workplace games. If I played games I didn't know that I did. Some in that world thought I was an excellent game player. In other words, if you let your yes be yes and your no be no, someone will think there's something more to it. I will confess how this, from my vantage point, was quite humorous. Me, not playing any games but being thought of as a master at playing games. Ha! It reminds me of that Peter Sellers movie, 'Being There', where he played a simple minded gardener whose only education had come from watching TV. He was thrust into the world of high level geopolitical players and his one liners where interpreted as being profound. They thought him to be a genius when he was barely able to function. That's how I viewed the way I was viewed. I was actually given a book about workplace political game playing and the Sr. Executive who gave it to me said, "I am giving this to you, not because you need it, because you could have written it." Don't you find that hilarious? You might not but I would betcha my Paw Paw Mac who gave me many of my common sense sayings, he would laugh out loud. Maybe. He didn't do that very often. Okay. My point? Do right. Keep doing right. Even if your effort is misunderstood, keep doing right. Maybe you will be awarded a master game player trophy. Maybe not. Honor God, let Him take care of the results. Amen.