#8-11: Making Melody in Our Hearts
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>
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THE HOPE CHEST HOME SCHOOL NEWS
with Virginia Knowles
#8-11 on August 2, 2005
Making Melody in Our Hearts
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Dear Hope Chest readers,
This is a very special issue, and in a few minutes, youll find out why! I do hope that you will read all the way through it!
In this issue you will find:
* Announcing... Melody Lynn Knowles
* Encouraging Our Children to Worship from the Heart
* Meet Isaac Watts, Hymn Writer
* Sovereign Grace Music
* My Odyssey from Renaissance to Reformation
* Thy Comfortable Word a poem by Amy Carmichael
Blessings,
Virginia Knowles
To subscribe to the Hope Chest, send any message to [email protected]
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Announcing Melody Lynn Knowles
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My heart is steadfast, O God!
I will sing and make melody with all my being!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great above the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Psalm 108:1-4 (ESV)
Announcing the birth of our tenth child, Melody Lynn Knowles!
Parents: Thad and Virginia Knowles
Siblings: Mary, Julia, Rachel, Joanna, Lydia, Andrew, Micah, Naomi, Benjamin
Date: August 2nd, 2005
Time: 6:53 a.m.
Weight: 9 pounds, 3 ounces
Delivered by: Cathy Rudolph at Florida Hospital South in Orlando.
We named our daughter Melody as a reflection of our desire to worship God with a song in our hearts. Her middle name, Lynn (which was my middle name until I married), means waterfall so here is a waterfall & music passage from the Bible, too!
Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me -- a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42:7-8 (NIV)
I'll send more baby details later when I get home from the hospital. One of my daughters is sending this out for me today!
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Encouraging Our Children to Worship from the Heart
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As a Christian mom, its one of my deepest desires to see my children not only be born again into a saving relationship with God, but have a genuine attitude of worship from the heart. Music is such an integral part of our worship experience but we also must remember that even if our children are singing about God, they may not be singing TO him. In Isaiah 29:13, the Lord says, These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Unfortunately, that verse can apply to children as well as to adults. Many children go through the motions of singing a song because everyone else is singing it, but the wandering eyes, fidgety bodies and frowns on their faces let you know that they arent quite catching the spirit of things. On the one hand, we dont want to nag them into mere external behavior, but were sometimes at a loss of how to cheerfully train them to cultivate sincere reverence and gratitude.
With this in mind, Ive compiled a little list of ideas of what we can do at home to make worship more meaningful for the whole family.
* Talk a little each day about who God is and what he has done for us. How does this personally apply to our lives? Often we assume that our children know the Gospel message because they are growing up in our Christian home, but do they really understand it well enough to fully appreciate it? When God convicts you of sin, do you express your gratitude for his mercy in sending you a Savior? When you see a beautiful sunset or rainbow or butterfly, do you express your wonder at the majesty of the Creator? These thoughts set the stage for worship because they put us in tune with the goodness of God.
* Minimize your childrens exposure to entertainment which would undermine a spirit of worship in your home. This might include music, TV shows, video games, books, etc. Do your best to select wholesome, God-honoring resources. Talk with your children about how to choose these wisely. Not even all Christian music is helpful in promoting worship. (Though I dont mind loud, exuberant worship, I personally draw the line when I cant even hear the words being sung, or when the lyrics have little redemptive value.)
* Play worship CDs often. Let your kids dance around creatively to the music.
* Learn Scripture memory songs as a way of hiding Gods word in your hearts. The Hide Em in Your Heart series by Steve Green is excellent. You can even get the videos! Or make up your own little tunes to Scripture verses that you want to learn.
* If you have little ones, teach them some Bible action songs like Father Abraham, Only a Boy Named David, or Rise and Shine where they can get their bodies in motion.
* The Praise Baby videos are a very sweet and simple way to introduce your littlest ones to a life of worship.
http://www.praisebabycollection.com/home.html
* At home during the week, learn the words to the songs you sing at church. If they are from a hymnal, see if you can buy a copy. If your church uses song sheets or lyrics on a screen, see if they can make copies for you. Take the time to explain any unfamiliar words or concepts.
* Make a family song book that you can use during devotional times. (In a separate message next week, I am sending the text to a few dozen hymns.)
* Sing hymns and Christian songs at bedtime. This is a very receptive time, and a great way to send your children off to Sleepyland.
* Sing to bless other people whether it is for friends or relatives, or at a nursing home or other place.
* Learn the stories behind hymns in such books as 101 Hymn Stories by Kenneth Osbeck.
* Get your children involved in a childrens choir at church or in the community. Many of these perform musicals once or twice a year, which gives valuable training in drama skills also. For those who live near Washington, D.C., the National Christian Choir is starting a childrens choir for ages 10-14 in Silver Spring, MD. http://www.nationalchristianchoir.org/childrens_choir/index.html
* Learn songs in a foreign language or in sign language.
* Study what the Scriptures say about worship and music. (I am sending a list of Bible passages about music in a separate message next week.)
Saturday morning, my eight year old son Andrew was humming the tune to Shine, Jesus, Shine. He wanted to sing it, but couldnt remember all the words, so he ran to his bedroom to get a copy of our family song book. We sang several songs together, as he told me which ones he particularly liked. Andrew is one of my children who is not particularly enthusiastic about singing in church, where the children join in for the worship time before going to Sunday School. I asked him why he enjoyed singing at home, but not at church. One of the things he said is that he doesnt like being in large crowds. (He is very much a homebody, and certainly would not enjoy a school classroom on a daily basis!) I shared with him that all the people at church are FAMILY. Because God is our Father, they are our sisters and our brothers. (And he thought he had a lot of sisters and brothers just at home!) He was amazed at this concept! Next I shared a little application with him: since the Lord encourages us to meet together as a church family to worship him, we dont need to be upset to be in a big group of people singing to God. We also talked briefly about what worship and discipleship mean, and then I read to him the following story about Isaac Watts. I am thankful for this teachable moment with Andrew, and pray that God will continue to make me sensitive to the heart-thoughts of each of my children.
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Meet Isaac Watts, Hymn Writer
by Virginia Knowles
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[Note: I wrote this when I was teaching an elementary level co-op class on music history a while back. You can read it to your children!]
Isaac Watts was the oldest of nine children. His father was in prison when Isaac was born in 1674. That is because he was a nonconformist, a Christian wouldnt agree with the official teachings of the Church of England.
Isaac was a very bright child. He had a habit of speaking in rhyme. When his father scolded him for this, he replied, Oh, Father, do some pity take, and I will no more verses make. Isaac learned many languages: Latin at the age of five, Greek at nine, French at eleven and Hebrew at thirteen! Wow!
A rich man offered to send smart Isaac to a good college, but to do this, he would have to join the Church of England. Isaac didnt want to do this, so he went to a nonconformist Christian school instead.
Once, Isaac complained to his father that the hymns in church were boring. His father told him, Then do something about it! That afternoon, he sat down and wrote a hymn which was sung at a church service that same evening! He wrote a new hymn every week for two years! All in all, he wrote over 600 different hymns. We still sing many of them today, such as When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Alas and Did My Savior Bleed?, Am I a Soldier of the Cross?, and Joy the the World.
Isaac Wattss psalms and hymns came to America. Even Benjamin Franklin published them! God used them during the Great Awakening revival in the 1740s. People loved to sing them during the Revolutionary War. One time, some soldiers ran out of the paper they needed for loading powder into their guns. A pastor, Reverend James Caldwell, ran into his church and started tearing the pages out of the hymnals for them to use. He shouted, Give em Watts, boys!
Isaac only grew to be 5 feet tall. He also had a really big head. But no matter what he looked like, people loved him! He had small pox when he was 15 years old, so he was often weak and sick. He didnt think he could keep his job as a pastor, but the people in his church wouldnt let him leave! They just hired an extra pastor to help him so he could stay.
Isaac Watts also wrote poems and songs for children. Here is one of them from his book, Divine and Moral Songs for Children:
How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!
How skillfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labours hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.
In works of labour or of skill,
I would be busy too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.
In books, or work, or healthful play,
Let my first years be passed,
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.
For more information on Isaac Watts, check out these links:
http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biorpwatts.html
http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps027.shtml
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Sovereign Grace Music
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I would like to heartily recommend music projects produced by Sovereign Grace Ministries, formerly known as PDI. Many of you already sing these worship songs in church, and appreciate the sound doctrine in the lyrics written by such notables as Bob Kauflin, Mark Altrogge and Steve and Vikki Cook.
Here are links for some of my favorite CDs you can listen to samples, read the lyrics, and even download lead, chord and transparency sheets for congregational singing!
Songs for the Cross Centered Life
http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/music/projects/crosssongs/
(This CD is based on C.J. Mahaneys book The Cross Centered Life.)
All We Long to See
http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/music/worship/allwelongtosee.html
(On this page, you can also find links to audio interviews with Steve & Vikki Cook, Mark Altrogge and other contributors to this album.)
King of Grace
http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/music/worship/kingofgrace.html
This includes the song "Join All the Glorious Names" by Isaac Watts, with alternate lyrics by Bob Kauflin
Awesome God a worship CD for and by kids
http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/music/projects/awesomegod/
Sea la Gloria Solo a Ti a Spanish worship CD
http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/music/projects/sealagloria/sealagloria.html
(Julia and I were listening to this CD in Marys car the other day, and it took her a few minutes to realize that the lyrics were in Spanish she was already so familiar with them from her trip to Bolivia that she understood them!)
Sovereign Grace songwriters Bob Kauflin, Mark Altrogge, Steve & Vikki Cook
http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/music/oursongwriters.html
On the non-musical side of things, for those who enjoyed the excerpt of Girl Talk a few issues back, here is the link for the Girl Talk blog by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters: http://www.girltalk.blogs.com/
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My Odyssey from Renaissance to Reformation
by Virginia Knowles
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When I was about seven years old, living in a suburb of San Francisco, my parents made a really wise decision: they pulled the plug on our TV! We were addicted to sit-coms and needed to use our time more productively. For the next several years, we had the opportunity to develop creatively and intellectually without as much distraction. Mom and Dad took us to concerts, plays, Renaissance Fairs, art and history museums, ethnic restaurants, and many other cultural places. We often went camping in the Sequoia National Park and Yosemite. We grew blackberries, corn and tangerines in the backyard, and pansies, golden poppies and plums in the front yard. We could go to a bookstore and buy anything we wanted. We took art, music and drama classes in the community. I cant count how many musical instruments we had in the house. My brother John played the trumpet, trombone, piano, synthesizer, organ, and other instruments, while Barb specialized in the cello. They were active in band and orchestra, so there was always a great high school musical to attend! They were much more self-disciplined than I was, but I did take piano lessons for several years, and later added the mountain dulcimer and guitar to my repertoire. We also attended music theory, history and performance classes at a local conservatory for quite some time. Yes, we were quite a Renaissance family when it came to the arts and book knowledge. However, for all the blessing this was, I remained deep in the spiritual Dark Ages for these preteen years in the mid 1970s. God was missing from all of our pursuits!
You see, historically speaking, the Renaissance in southern Europe was largely a rebirth of classical, humanistic knowledge. The Reformation in northern Europe, on the other hand, was saturated in Scripture and a total reliance on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. I already had the Renaissance in my life. It wasnt enough. I needed a personal Reformation, a total rebirth and reshaping from the inside out. Then came July 1976. I had just finished 7th grade and mocked the crazy Christians who tried to witness to me. Yet in his mercy, the Lord reached down and saved me when I certainly wasnt looking for him. Thus started a spiritual odyssey that not only gave me citizenship into Gods kingdom, but transformed my approach to creativity, the arts, and learning in general.
In Spring 1977, we moved from San Francisco to Baltimore. In my new chorus class at school, I sat next to a sweet girl named Anne Rittler, who invited me to Timonium Presbyterian Church. Her parents were so faithful to drive me there for Sunday services and youth meetings. It was here that I began a season of intense Bible study, fell in love with Christian literature, learned countless hymns and Christian folk songs, sang in the youth choir, went to a James Ward concert, and was sent on my first overseas summer mission trip. After a mere year and half, our family moved to northern Virginia. In this new chapter of life, I blossomed even more creatively in the faith. Inspired by the Saturday Night Alive praise and worship services sponsored by two local churches, as well as Keith Green and 2nd Chapter of Acts concerts, I started writing my own Christian songs and setting psalms to music. My oil painting took on inspirational themes such as Christs sacrifice, prayer, and entering into Gods presence. I devoured Christian books and magazines, and decided to go to business school so that someday I could own a Christian bookstore. When I picked up my pen or sat at the computer to write, it was to encourage my fellow believers and to witness to those who didnt yet know the Savior.
As God graciously brought this Reformation to each facet of my life, learning and the arts became a means to not only worship my Creator (who made each of us in his creative image) but to reach out with a redemptive mission and a message. This is what I also try to do as I home school my children. I dont want to just expose them to the best in art, music, literature, and so forth though these are very good things. I want to aim for spiritual transformation to encourage them to seek God wholeheartedly and to use their gifts for the Kingdom rather than for themselves. We have a long way to go in this area; I must continually set myself to fresh resolve. This is also my prayer as I write each Hope Chest issue or book -- that whatever I say will bring honor and glory to him who gave me each gift.
Talk About It: How has God worked to draw forth creativity in your life? How can you use his gifts for his glory?
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Thy Comfortable Word
by Amy Carmichael
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Lover of souls, Thee have I heard,
Thee will I sing, for sing I must,
Thy good and comfortable word
Hath raised my spirit from the dust.
In dusty ways my feet had strayed,
And foolish fears laid hold on me,
Until what time I was afraid,
I suddenly remembered Thee.
Remembering Thee, I straight forgot,
What otherwhile had troubled me;
It was as if it all were not,
I only was aware of Thee.
Of Thee, of Thee alone, aware,
I rested me, I held me still,
The blessed thought of Thee, most Fair,
Dispelled the brooding sense of ill.
And quietness about me fell,
And Thou didst speak: my spirit heard;
I worshipped and rejoiced; for well
I knew Thy comfortable word.
Whoso hath known that comforting,
The inward touch that maketh whole,
How can he ever choose but sing
To Thee, O Lover of his soul.
Amy Carmichael was a missionary to India in the 1800s. Her main ministry was rescuing children from immoral duties in the Hindu temples, and then raising them in the Christian faith at Dohnavur Fellowship. The children often sang songs of praise to God throughout the day this was a key part of their upbringing! Amy did not have an easy life. After a painful injury, she spent her latter decades as an invalid. These experiences enabled her to write straight from the heart of God to comfort those who faced trials and difficulties, and to challenge them to rise up to the call of God on their lives no matter what.
I had already planned to use this poem for this issue of the Hope Chest, but one recent morning I was feeling very low and anxious. I remembered Thy Comfortable Word and sent Rachel to my bedroom to get Amy Carmichaels little book, Toward Jerusalem, off my shelf. I read it the poem to myself a few times, and felt much better as I rested me and held me still and then headed to the Word for even more comfort:
You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. Psalm 30:11-12
Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I stay close to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:7-8
Talk About It: Do you ever make a conscious choice to sing when you are NOT feeling particularly cheerful? How can you encourage someone else in the Word? Have you ever written a poem about your spiritual life?
Here are some web links to find out more about Amy Carmichael:
http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps132.shtml
http://www.intouch.org/myintouch/mighty/portraits/amy_carmichael_213673.html
http://www.heroesofhistory.com/page49.html
I hope you have enjoyed this issue on "Making Melody in Our Hearts"! I would love to hear your feedback. What has been most helpful to you?
In His Sovereign Grace,
Virginia Knowles
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