This Weekend's Service

We’re opening the service this weekend with a song from Israel Houghton called “Say So.” It’s a slow, dramatic ballad (no, not really). Anyway – as the choir has prepared over the past few weeks, we’ve had quite a bit of fun learning the song and preparing for this Sunday.

I received an incredible email from one of my choir members. I asked him/her if I could share and they responded affirmatively. For me, it reaffirms my thought that God is doing something different and amazing in the hearts of His people at Oak Mountain. The two songs that the author of the email are referring to are “Say So” by Israel, and “Do It Lord” by Tommy Walker – both will be sung this weekend.

Begin Email:

I was thinking on the way home from choir last night, why I like songs like “Say So,” and “Do It Lord.” About five years ago I wouldn’t have. I would have declared them emotional fluff, and gone on my way to other things. Now, apart from the fact that maybe, just maybe my heart’s a little less arrogant than it used to be, I think there’s another reason. Growing up, theology, why we believed what we believed, wasn’t really a big deal. We just believed it. . . ’cause we did. But, as I’ve learned (intellectually, freed from emotion) about who God is and gained a fuller picture of grace in the Scriptures, I’ve begun to feel (in my heart, full of emotion) differently about the world I live in and the matters of the Almighty. So, now, when I sing, “I see depression, replaced with joy and gladness,” I actually see people who I know struggle with depression! When I sing “orphans fulling, Lord, your calling on their lives,” I see myself, a spiritual orphan, adopted into God’s family of love and purpose. And when I sing, “Do it, Lord, do it, Lord,” I hear “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” And, when I think about (with a better and fuller understanding now than then) what I’ve been saved from and saved to, and what Christ did on the cross to redeem me, darn right I’m gonna “say so!” What else do I have to “say” about?!

So, everyone may not get it, and the fact that I did doesn’t mean anything super cool about me, but I did want you to know that at least one person is making the strong connection between head and heart on this music, and I’m a pretty tough critic when it comes to music. But, by God’s grace and mercy, I’m becoming a pretty big softy when it comes to talking/singing/teaching/hopefully sharing about my Papa.

Thanks for all you do to teach, lead, and sometimes pull/push us to worship through music and song.