Brown's Daily Word 11-17-09

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the sunny days He has given us here in New York. The month of November has been mild and beautiful. We have been reading from Laureen's blog, that the temperature in Thailand has been in the upper nineties with 85%of humidity. Janice had flown to Florida to spend few days with her dear friend, whose husband was gunned down one and one half years ago by an illegal immigrant. Jeremy took Micah and Simeon to New Hampshire for hiking and roughing it in a lodge. They all are back in Boston now. Laureen and her team will be back in Los Angeles this coming Sunday where they are scheduled to present two concerts in Los Angeles area before heading home for Thanksgiving. Thank you for praying for them.
Our family loves Christian music. Our daughters got introduced Christian music at a very early age. Alice told me that one of her desires was to marry a preacher and sing in the choir. (More specifically, she had a strong inkling that she would marry a preacher). She has been singing in the choir most our married lives. She has started listening Christmas music and has started decorating for Christmas. Praise the Lord for the way He puts a new song in our hearts. Only Biblical Faith talks about singing to the Lord a new song. Most other religions chant. They have no songs.
Psalm 105:1-4 proclaims: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. SING to him, SING praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.”
One of the most famous singers in Scripture was a shepherd boy named David. He grew up to be the King of Israel and is still celebrated as the “Man After God’s Own Heart”. He could sing and he could play a harp, and all of his music glorified God and rejoiced in His blessings. David was a man after God’s own heart, and he cemented his relationship to God through his singing and playing music. Singing was the way David declared his joy in God. He sang because he had a song.
Back in 1998, researchers found that music stimulates the auditory nerves and creates brain messages that ripple through the body, influencing muscle tone equilibrium and joint flexibility. The human heartbeat is especially attuned to sound. As music changes in tempo and volume, it acts as a natural pacemaker. Our breathing slows down or speeds up along with the music.
A study at Michigan State University found that just 15 minutes of listening to music increases levels of immune chemicals that are vital to protect us against disease. The release of cortisol (the “stress hormone”) dropped by up to 25%.
In addition, they found that music has a direct effect on the function of the brain. It can slow down and equalize brain waves to create a meditative state or it can energize brain waves, quickening the thinking process and enhancing creativity
(Don Campbell, founder of Institute for Music, Health and Education “Bottom Line –Tomorrow” Sept 1998 p. 9) Scientists have been amazed to find that music is able to help heal the body.
• Burn victims, encouraged to sing while having their dressing changed, experienced less pain.
• Cancer patients who listened to - and practiced with - musical instruments, saw their levels of stress hormones drop and their immune systems get stronger.
Professor Richard Fratianne observed: "By helping patients relax, music eases pain and may even speed recovery," (Peter Jaret Reader’s Digest 9/01)
Carol Lee one of the saints of the church has undergone 18 surgeries up to this day. She experienced the H1N1 flu following a recent surgery. She had a stroke not too long ago, and a result of of her stroke was that she could not talk. Her doctor told her to sing. She began sing hymns and praise songs. The Lord brought her out of the debilitating effects of her stroke. She and her husband Bud faithfully attend worship and sing praises to Jesus. Carol told the church not to be afraid of H1N1 flu. Do not be afraid of any disease. The Lord gives us the victory.
So, just on a physical level, music has the power to sooth the savage beast of our lives. On a spiritual level songs can do even more than that for us because Christian music has words, and those words focus on God’s power and love. That is one of the reasons that Paul told the church at Ephesus: “SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs…” (Ephesians 5:19)
Focus on the words of those songs, because the words we sing on Sunday morning lift us up… they don’t drag us down.
On the other hand, if you listen to the popular music of our day you’ll find a vast number of songs that communicate:
Hopelessness
Immorality
Anger and rage
Selfishness and self-centeredness

The University of Pittsburgh did a study a few years ago where they examined 279 of the top songs on the radio in 2005. They ONLY looked at references to drugs and alcohol but what they found is instructive:
• Gangster rapsters – spoke favorably of these items in 80% of their songs
• Country music had 37% of its music praising the wonders of alcohol.
• Rhythm and Blues followed with 20%
• Rock had 14% of its songs praising drugs and alcohol
• And Pop music had 7%
(University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine published in the “Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine”)
And these are just the references in popular music praising drugs and alcohol.
The scholars of this study didn’t examine the songs that told of sexual immorality, vengeance, and greed. And they didn’t consider the vast number of songs that were filled with hopelessness and despair.
Most of the songs that are popular on radio don’t lift people up. They drag people down and encourage lifestyles and attitudes that rob them of joy. In contrast the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs tell us about a God that loves us and cares what happens to us. They lift us up and give a reason to have joy in our lives. Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs have the power to transform us, and the power to give us joy in a world that is often difficult and harsh. In fact, they have even more power than that.
In Acts 16 we are told of the time Paul and Silas were arrested for preaching the Gospel. They were beaten, chained, and locked in a jail cell where their feet were fastened in stocks. HOW did they respond to this? How did Paul and Silas react to the injustice of their punishment? The pain of their beatings? The terror of a jail cell that they shared with vermin and rats? The uncertainty of what their future held? What did they do about their situation? They sang.
Acts 16:25 tells us that “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.” (Acts 16:26) Their singing did not create the earthquake. No… their God did that.
But when they sang, they declared their faith in a faithful God who could do mighty deeds like that. Their singing was like a faucet that they turned on and opened up the pipeline of God’s power.
A man named Jack Hinton was on a short-term mission’s trip to the island of Tobago. He was leading worship at a leper colony there and there was time for one more song, so he asked if anyone had a request. A woman who had been facing away from the pulpit turned around. “It was the most hideous face I had ever seen,” Hinton said. “The woman’s nose and ears were entirely gone. The disease had destroyed her lips as well. She lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked, ‘Can we sing Count Your Many Blessings?’”
Overcome with emotion, Hinton left the service. He was followed by another team member who said, “Jack, I guess you’ll never be able to sing that song again.” “Yes I will,” he replied, “but I’ll never sing the same way.”

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Sing,
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MJ4VqfCRZI