Posted on by PaulHartC

If I Were a Butterfly

Verse 1
If I were a butterfly,
I’d thank you Lord for giving me wings.
If I were a robin in a tree,
I’d thank you Lord that I could sing.
If I were a fish in the sea,
I’d wiggle my tail and I’d giggle with glee.
But I just thank you Father for making me, me.

Chorus
For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile.
You gave me Jesus and you made me your child.
And I just thank you Father for making me, me.

I always loved albums like Psalty or GT and the Halo Express. When I was a kid, I nearly wore out my cassette tapes likening to them, learning the songs, and enjoying the silly little stories that tired the music together. Now, more than twenty years later, I have a one-year-old daughter and one of my favorite things for us to do, whether we are sitting around on the floor playing with her toys or having a snack at the table, is turn on those same old songs and sing along, hoping that her smile means she will one day love these songs too.

I’m sure at some point I’ll bring up a song or two that I skip for one reason or another, but as an introduction to late 80’s/early 90’s children’s worship music, I picked one of my old favorites.

If I Were a Butterfly is a simple melody with fun, engaging lyrics. With the verses detailing various animals, it is easy to see a room full of kids moving around, physically engaging and more deeply ingraining the song into their minds and hearts. This being said, is there really enough content here, aside from a few silly truisms, to warrant an entire blog post? Absolutely!

And remember, this is a song for children. Sure, you could get deeply theological and argue that the lyrics invoke God’s placing humanity above the animals, giving them only the most simplistic things but making people His children. The statement is true, but the song doesn’t say that. In scripture reading terms, we call that eisegesis or reading your own theology into the text. Plus, it isn’t necessarily a prudent message for pre-teens, at least not in that format.

No, the meaning is much simpler, and it is something that many Christian adults still haven’t figured out to this day. God loves all of His creatures, and all of creation echoes to us God’s glory. And as much as we see beauty in everything around us, as much as we might wish we could fly like the butterflies or sing like the birds, or maybe have some of the skills that other people around us have, God still made each of us who we are for a reason. He gave us life and a reason to have joy. He sought after us when we had turned away and welcomed us back with opened arms. We were all individually crafted by Him for His glory, and there is no greater purpose in heaven or on earth than that.

So, when you are feeling discouraged about who you are, or who you are not, stop yourself and thank your heavenly father for making you, you.

SDG,

Paul Hart Cochran

Posted on by PaulHartC

All In All

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
I’m seeking You like a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I’d be a fool
You are my all in all

Refrain:

Jesus, Lamb of God
Holy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Holy is Your name

In writing on my journey through Hymns and looking for the amazing truths found within Christian music, it would be neglectful at best for me to ignore the whole of modern worship music. This genre is fairly dominant in the Church today, and it is just as important to delve into them, perhaps more so, because of the number of worshippers they reach. Here is the thing: I’m a bit of a music snob. My training is in classical music, singing in church choirs and pulling out the hymnal every chance I get. Modern worship music is not something I relate to well. So, as I endeavor to broaden my own horizons, bear with my fumblings and call me out if I am unfair to these works written with love, by God’s children, for His glory.

All In All is a song I can’t remember hearing for the first time, it just seems to have always been there. That could be because it was published when I was three, but that goes to show how quickly it spread, being adopted by churches as an anthem for adults and children alike. The song is fairly straight forward with a refrain that is a tad generic and repetitive (sorry, but it is), however, there is an incredible message here which may slip by unnoticed.

The phrase “all in all” is one that we might use on occasion, but with such flippancy that it may have lost much of its meaning in our minds. It is very similar to the emphatic Hebrew paradigm. Think of the praises “king of kings,” “holy of holies,” or “song of songs.” The doubling of the word adds a great amount of emphasis: it isn’t just any song; it is the greatest song among all songs. The Holy place isn’t just kind of holy; it is the holiest place on earth, filled with the very presence of God.

When we read “all in all,” we ought to hear more than just “God is pretty much everything we need. “All in all” is everything, literally every single thing you could ever possibly need. The verses of the song illustrate this well. God is a jewel we would be foolish to stop seeking. He quenches us when we are in need. He takes away our sin and shameful lives. What more could we possibly require?

Maybe that is why I struggle with the refrain. The verses are jam packed with glorious metaphors, but often they are rushed through to get to the refrain which seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the song. Perhaps if it read, “Jesus, lamb of God, name above all names,” or “provider of all things,” or even more simply, “you’re my everything.” Then we could see more clearly the glorious message of the verses pour over into the refrain which would then sink deeper into the hearts of the singers.

Nevertheless, the message of this song is true and can benefit the Church at all ages. God provides us with everything we will ever need. We would be complete fools to think we could do better for ourselves. He is the great and steadfast provider, our all in all.

SDG,

-Paul Hart Cochran

Posted on by PaulHartC

Pros & Cons: More Precious Than Silver

Verse 1

Lord, You are more precious than silver;
Lord, You are more costly than gold;
Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds;
And nothing I desire compares with You.

Preface

I’d like to start a new occasional look at some shorter hymns and choruses which I don’t feel have enough to fully take on as a blog. Instead, I’d like to look at them through a Pros and Cons list to try and determine if they are worth bringing to the service or if they ought to hang out in hymnals.

Pros & Cons: More Precious Than Silver

Pro: The melody of this hymn is sweet and short, lilting gently but meaningfully for only about sixteen measures. For quick incidental music to emphasize a point in the service, it works well.

Con: In doing a little research into the hymn, I only just discovered that there are more words than just the first verse. I’ve known the hymn for almost twenty years, but never in a printed hymnal have I seen more than the first verse. That being said, a single verse in such a short chorus could get old really fast.

Pro: The theology of the song is good enough. The idea that God is greater than even the most valuable possessions we could have on earth is well established with the examples used. I struggle a little more with the ambiguity of the final stanza, but I believe the heart is there, even if the words are a bit shaky.

Con: The words, though true, just seem dated and schmaltzy. Calling God precious and beautiful is not saying a whole lot and it feels like fluff. Then you repeat the words because the worship pastor wants to sing this chorus three or four times, and each go around it just loses meaning.

Verdict: Use Sparingly
While fairly harmless, this chorus lacks any kind of teeth. It says very little and tires quickly. I think it could be very poignant in certain situations, such as a response to teaching on stewardship. Overall, though, I think I’ll stick to singing it as a lullaby and hope that I don’t have to be exhausted by it in the pews any time soon.

Posted on by PaulHartC

Make Us Instruments of Your Peace

Chorus:
Lord, Make us instruments of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let your love increase
Lord, make us instruments of your peace,
Walls of pride and prejudice shall cease
When we are your instruments of peace.

Recently, we sang this simple chorus as a response to communion. Even though we didn’t sing any of the verses, the words of the chorus were enough to make me think, and unfortunately laugh out of irony.

You see, the American church is not often good as the instrument of peace. We tend to have two extremes: Accommodating or Contemptuous. The accommodating churches give up what they believe so that everyone will like them and feel comfortable. The contemptuous use what they believe to make others feel inferior because of what they do, believe, or who they are.

The problem with either point of view is that neither promotes peace. Contemptuousness is aggressive and tends to breed big controversies, and ultimately produces bigoted congregations unwilling to be the humble servants that Christ had modeled for them. Accommodation, on the other hand, is passive but just as severe, but instead of being outwardly explosive, it is a gradual poison which eats away at a church making them a community which lacks any recognizable faith.

In this song we see first a call to be made instruments of God’s peace. Instruments are not passive, but active tools used for a purpose. The other lines of the song ask for love in place of hatred, and pride ad prejudice to be gone. These things cannot be done if we are against the people we are trying to help, or even if we are against one another.

God wants us to balance these two aspects of being servants. We must be opening and welcoming to everyone. Period. Christ’s model is that of love toward even the most despised outcast. At the same time, God has given us standards and guides on how to live as one of His children. We cannot give up on these to make life easier or to avoid conflict.

Many people won’t like the cost of taking up our cross, but our job is not to force it on their backs. We are only instruments of God’s peace, spreading His love to all those who will accept it.

SDG,

-Paul Hart Cochran