Worship is good for your brain

My wife has just finished reading a book called Change your brain – change your life by a psychiatrist called Dr Amen (a fitting name don’t you think?) She has been sharing some of her discoveries with me. Amen attributes different psychological challenges to either the over or under-activity of various systems in the brain.

I was particularly interested in the symptoms indicative of an over-active Deep Limbic system. They seemed to fit me. One sentence in particular resonated strongly: When the Limbic system is over-active, one negative thought follows another. Amen calls these negative thoughts ANTS which stands for automatic negative thoughts. Some days, I end up crawling with ANTS. For example, I might notice that someone is gazing out of the window whilst I am preaching. Now, I am not talking about the usual sleepers and window gazers. No, I mean somebody that I respect. So I think, “it’s probably because he doesn’t agree with me”. If I do not take that thought captive and dispute it, one thought leads to another, and I will end the day wondering when I should go back to engineering!

My parents occasionally remind me of an event that took place when I was a toddler. I would often (the story goes) take my potty into the garden so as to introduce an element of beauty to an otherwise ugly necessity. However, on one occasion, I disturbed a nest of Matabele ants and ended up screaming from the rose garden, “ants bite, ants bite!” And they do! This is where Amen’s advice comes in useful. Since an over-active Limbic system leads to problems, he suggests various ways to calm it down. One way is to cultivate positive bonding.

Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with worship, the topic I introduced last week. Well my wife made the observation that singing-worship is a way of bonding with God. Nothing else knits your heart to God’s in quite the same, profound way that worship and prayer do. I had a bad “ANT attack” on Saturday night, but the intimacy I experienced in worship on Sunday morning supplied the ANT-killer.

Prayer and praise put us in a place where we can receive the power we need to glorify God in tough circumstances. I wouldn’t be surprised if calming the Limbic system is part of the process. Psalm 22 records a period of intense struggle and persecution for David. In fact, his sufferings were so severe that they provided a fore-shadow of the ones Christ experienced. But notice how the psalm oscillates between complaint and praise or between doubt and faith. Eventually, however, from verse 22 on, the psalm ends on a long triumphant note of praise to God. Whether you are suffering from ANTS, something more concrete or a mixture of both (which is usually the case), praise and prayer will bring you through victorious. Paul and Silas were beside themselves with pain and discomfort as they sat with their legs forced cruelly apart in the stocks, trying to keep their shredded backs off the ground. Yet midnight found them “praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25). They could afford to do nothing else. And look at how God brought them through.

May I encourage you, therefore, to fumigate your own ANT infestations with a good dose of worship? Medicate your suffering with praise! And you needn’t wait till Sunday either. Switch on a CD player or pick up a guitar, but whatever you do, start praising God.

Reflections on Worship

Last Sunday found me seated with twenty teenagers ranging from thirteen to fifteen – what a privilege! As time went on, we got to talking about communal singing in church. Why is it, we wondered, that Christians spend so much time singing to God? I mean, just how often do we have to tell God that we love Him or that He is super-dee-dooperdy special? Surely He already knows?

One of the kids thought it had something to do with being thankful. The idea, she admitted, came from a short homily delivered at the supper table by her mom about the virtue of being thankful and expressing gratitude – especially, it  would seem, to one’s parents (now there’s a thought!) She was beginning to suspect that, among other things, her parents needed to be thanked from time to time. For some reason it seemed to cheer them up. At that point, there was some sage head-nodding. Then we wondered whether God needed anything from us, like thanks and praise. What do you think? Does God need your praise?

There is a hymn of praise recorded at the end of Romans 12. It is Paul’s response to what he has just written about the sovereignty of God. In the song, Paul asks the question, “Who has ever given to God that God should repay him (11:35)” Who indeed? This is a rhetorical question; the answer is clearly: nobody! God does not need your praise. And it is a miserable parody of true worship when we think that our singing will place God under obligation to us. So why do we sing so much? Before I write about the reasons we came up with, take time to answer the question yourself. You may well discover other sound Biblical reasons. Our thoughts are by no means comprehensive. In fact, we may pursue this subject further next week.

To begin, I have found four psalmists that give the same reason for praising God: the fact that He is “worthy of praise” (18, 48, 96 & 145). We praise God simply because He is praiseworthy. If somebody saved you from drowning, would you not declare the praises of his courage and strength? Should not the invalid commend the mercy and competence of her nurse? The inventor of a cure for cancer would be forgiven for boasting about the merits of his treatment. God is infinitely praiseworthy because of who He is and what He has done. So it is fitting to sing about the perfection of God’s character and the splendour of His works.

Paul moves on from his hymn in chapter 11 to talk about the worship of God. He says: “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship”. True worship has always involved cost and a sacrifice. King David said, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (2 Sam 24:24). David offered oxen as a costly sacrifice, but Paul calls you to offer YOURSELF as the sacrifice.

Now the sacrificial offering is less valuable than the person or cause for which it is sacrificed. So when you sing to God, you remind yourself that you are less important than Him. And isn’t that one of our biggest failings? We conduct our lives as though God is of little account. How often do you sacrifice the cause of God for the sake of your own? It should never happen. Instead, your singing-worship should become an overflow of your life-worship, declaring in music and movement that it is infinitely more desirable and satisfying to worship God than to worship yourself or anything else.

So we sing to God because He is worthy of praise, and we do it to celebrate God’s importance, reminding one another that when we sacrifice ourselves for the cause of God, then we are truly worshipping Him the only source of life.

Cheers for now - Ian

Doing What Doesn't Come Naturally

Obedience doesn’t get much good press these days. Apart from The Dog Whisperer on BBC Entertainment, most films and books celebrate disobedience and eulogise those that break the rules. Admittedly, those that set the rules are often portrayed as draconian, inept or bad. But why is it that those who break the rules are almost always cast as the “goodies” and those in authority are usually the “baddies”? I’m beginning to think that our generation has a problem with submission to authority. And part of the reason why I suspect this is that I feel uncomfortable having raised the issue!

In fact, I see signs of discomfort wherever I look. For example, many parents struggle to require obedience from their children. Why is that? Is there something wrong or illegitimate with being in authority over someone else? But not only are people uncomfortable with being in authority, they battle to accept authority too. Woe betide the school that punishes a child in such a way as to inconvenience his mother! I have been told of parents that refuse to allow their children to do community service for a legitimate infringement of school rules because it simply doesn’t fit with their lift run.

Even the church has found a way to make obedience seem unfashionable by branding it as legalism. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating obedience to a set of rules for the sake of earning one’s salvation or to make one person feel superior to another, which is the true definition of legalism. But what I am advocating is the fruit of salvation. Salvation is by faith, but its fruit is obedience. Disobedience goes with the old person, obedience with the new. Paul devotes an entire section to this subject in his letter to the Romans (Chapter 6). And the Apostle John says: “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands” (1 John 2:3). In fact, even Jesus was in submission to authority and said, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38).

Last week, we reflected on the similarities between rain and God’s word (Isaiah 55). The purpose of rain is to bring abundant life to the earth, and it doesn’t return to the clouds without having achieved that purpose. In the same way, the Word of God is the life-blood of our relationship with Him, always facilitating God’s purposes for our lives. But the Word will only have its effect on us if we listen and obey.

So may 2011 be a year when you saturate yourself in the reading and study of God’s word. Obey what you learn. And do not forget that Jesus was God’s Word in the flesh. You have the Spirit of Jesus in you today – listen to Him; obey Him.  Pray to Jesus every day: “Lord, I want you to be my teacher today – I am ready to obey; may your kingdom come; not my will but yours be done”. Then whether you are reading the Bible, or praying, or driving, or working, Jesus – the Word of God – will be teaching you, making you fruitful and working God’s purposes for your life.

Cheers for now - Ian

Transformed in 2011?

I have always been fascinated by the water cycle. It is appealing to imagine that the drop of water in the glass next to my computer might at one time have glistened on a spider’s web in a Saharan sunrise, or it may (just as easily) have been frozen to the whiskers of a polar bear. The terrestrial water system is a closed one, so it contains a fixed quantity of water that changes its location and form in an endless distribution of life. Evaporation and transpiration purify water, puffing it as vapour into the atmosphere where it condenses as clouds that wring themselves out for the sake of life on earth.

And just think of the life that water supports and produces in the various stages of its cycle. For example, almost 70% percent of your body is water. With a physique like mine, you would think that my body is 70% muscle. But no, respected scientists tell me otherwise. Well, so much for our bodies. Let us turn our thoughts now to plants. If you sow a single mealie seed, water and sunlight will help it to produce hundreds of seeds – enough to eat and to plant again next season. God’s gift of water is the life-blood of a creation that is irrepressibly generous and vivacious.

Perhaps it is no surprise then that God uses the water cycle to teach us something about His Word. In Isaiah 55, the Prophet writes that just as rain waters the earth producing a harvest before it returns to the sky, so God’s word produces abundant life and fruit before returning to Him (v10, 11).

However, as humans, we have a problem. We tend to think that our thoughts and ways of doing things are better than God’s (v7). Yet our thoughts and ways become wicked and evil when we ignore God (v7). Further, we “spend money on what is not bread, and [our] labour on what does not satisfy” (v2). Excluding God does not yield life, it harvests death. That is why the Prophet’s voice cries out just as piercingly today as it did 2600 years ago:

⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD , and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

                God has granted you a stay of execution, a few precious years when “he may be found”. But your earthly life is suffering from an unquenchable haemorrhage. And once you have died, it will be too late! So do not squander your life on what is not bread, sweating vital seconds on what does not satisfy. Turn to The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Live in relationship with Jesus. Follow His commands. Ask Him what needs to change this year. With Jesus’ help, joy and peace and fruitfulness will characterise your life, declaring the praises of His infinite renown.

And then, as you face the start of a new year...

¹² You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. ¹³ Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed. 

Tsunami of the Soul

I am sitting here wondering whether to risk lifting the veil on some private struggles. Warning: if you are of a nervous disposition, to proceed may not be advisable. Possibly the same applies to me! I am afraid that those who never question their abilities or worth will read this with mild amazement or at worst look down on me. Further, I wonder just how much self-disclosure is appropriate on a public platform like this...

Ah well, here goes anyway. I had a tsunami of the soul last week. I have been known to suffer them from time to time. Ask Gail, she will tell you. A tsunami is defined in the dictionary as a series of long, high sea waves caused by a seismic movement in the ocean floor. That describes what I am talking about perfectly. The seismic instability of my soul stemmed from a deep belief that I did not measure up and was of little worth. Do not ask me where the belief came from; I do not know. Having said that, although I do not know EXACTLY where the belief came from, I do know that such deception is a cancer of the fallen world we live in.

Now I can hear people saying: But it isn’t true, Ian. You aren’t useless, and everyone is created by God with intrinsic worth. Do not get me wrong. For about three and a half years I have known the root cause of the problem. I knew what I was supposed to believe, but deep down, I did not believe it. So I have always been good at bluffing. Act as if you believe it, and maybe the belief will come. In fact, by acting competent, I have become competent. But I have always taken as few risks as possible in order to avoid failure, for failure would prove what I suspected deep down: the fact that I WAS a failure.

But nobody can avoid failure forever, which brings me to last week’s one, and it’s resulting Tsunami. It wasn’t a particularly spectacular failure, just one that confirmed once again my deep belief that I did not measure up. When one’s worth is hanging on success, failure feels like the end of the world. It brings long, high waves of self-derision: I’m useless; I hate who I am; I wish I were someone else; I can’t keep up this bluffing; I hate being such a needy person; will I ever feel comfortable in my own skin? Last week’s tsunami was fairly typical of many that I have experienced over the years. It left me hopeless and aching.

However, life goes on. The weekend was hectic. Gail and I went to Chengeta Safari Lodge to take a wedding. It was a good experience even though Gail was struggling with a chest infection and coughed nonstop, and I got violently sick from food poisoning (I think). I slept most of Sunday.

Then yesterday, when I was able to take stock of last week’s meltdown, an amazing thing happened! I looked back on the tsunami and thought: all those things I said about myself – they were so pointless and ineffectual. For once, rather than shame, I felt the futility of trying to mend things by bludgeoning myself with lies about my unworthiness. Hang on a moment. Had I just said “lies about my unworthiness”?  Did that mean I had come to believe I was worth something? Yes, it did!

Since last week, some colour has started seeping into the gloomiest recesses of my heart. For the first time, it seems I am REALLY starting to believe the truth about myself. I have not arrived. There will be struggles ahead. But for the first time, I feel like there is real hope.

Famous Last Words

Famous last words can be telling. You should google “famous last words” the next time you feel in the mood for some light entertainment... or not! Some vary from the unfortunate – “they couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist....aaaargh” (spoken by General John Sedgewick, a Union Commander who was shot during the US Civil War) – to the surprising – “I am not the least afraid to die” (Charles Darwin) – to the downright ineffective – “Let’s cool it brothers...” (Malcolm X talking to his assassins, 3 men who shot him 16 times).

                In preparing for Christmas a few days ago, I read the account of Jesus’ birth in Luke’s gospel. I was inspired by the words of the old man Simeon who had been waiting for the rescue of Israel and found it in a strange place – the arms of a teenager from Nazareth. Simeon took Jesus, and cradling Him, he praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation...” (Luke 2:29). These would make pretty cool famous last words. They are a testimony to the reliability of God’s rescue plan. Though his death was close, Simeon was at peace because the Spirit had assured him of eternal life through the tiny baby he dandled on his knees.

                Simeon is described by Luke as a person who was both righteous and devout (v25). He obeyed God’s code of conduct; he had great respect and reverence for God, and so he ordered his life accordingly. This was a man who structured his life AROUND God rather than trying to fit God into the gaps. God was not a “clip-on” to Simeon’s life. Consequently, Simeon’s life declared the supreme value of YHWH. But his death would declare the supreme value of Christ.

                The story goes that when Karl Marx was about to die, his housekeeper urged him to tell her his last words so that she could record them for posterity. He snapped at her, “go on, get out – last words are for fools that haven’t said enough!” I think Marx was only partly right. Yes, I want my entire life to declare the supreme value of Christ. But, by God’s grace, I also want to have a final say through my dying. I hope that both my living and my dying will point others to Jesus the great rescuer.

Road Markings

Here's something I wrote for one of my kids. I hope it speaks to you...

This morning, I got to thinking about the dotted markings that are painted on roads to mark the lanes. These markings are about a meter long. They stretch out ahead to the horizon and beyond, and they just keep rolling past the car as you drive along. There are road markings all the way from our house in Harare to Uncle Brian’s house in Ballito. And they don’t stop there. Think about the length of one road marking compared to the distance from Harare to Ballito. One meter compared to 1,700,000 meters.

Well, when we compare our earthly lives to eternity, it’s like comparing one road marking to all the ones between here and Ballito. Believe it or not, life is short! And the way we live on earth has an effect on the way we spend eternity. We will receive rewards in heaven for the way in which we live on earth. Treats on earth – clothes, cars and stuff – will last for a few years (often less!). Rewards in heaven will last for ever! Jesus is far more valuable than anything else, and that’s why we love Him and others on earth. That’s why we are obedient and do the work that He has prepared for us to do. Then we will enjoy an awesome reward in heaven.

Remember this whenever you see road markings! Here’s a poem I wrote for you:

Dashed on curving asphalt

Without halt or pause

On shouldered mountain pass

Through grassed and wind-swept places,

Dotted traces of the passing miles

Farm and city streaming past

In a vast and endless flow

Of speed and movement.

Cars and buses overtaking

Are we making up the time

We lost from chaos and disorder

 When we sweated at the border?

Are we there yet?

Don’t you know?

There’s still a hundred k’s to go.

These dotted lines in parallel

They stream from some eternal well,

And they won’t stop beyond the bend

When our journey’s met its end

So please take time to pause and think

How life will pass you in a blink

Like flickered markings on the road

That lead to your God-built abode

In heaven where your Father is

For life is short when you compare

A year…threescore and ten

With all eternity and then…?