I had never been very interested in playing a musical instrument before then. But my two brothers both could play the piano, and I wanted to be able to play something too. I had given up on piano lessons years ago, and frankly wasn't interested in working that hard to learn to play.
There was a cheap K-Mart guitar that my parents had bought years ago sitting in the den . I have no idea why they bought it, since no one ever showed any interest in learning to play.
I found a chord chart in the back of a "Christian Choruses" songbook. I quickly learned the basic chords on that basic chart and was soon strumming along with songs on the radio.
I imagined myself being a rock and roll star some day, basking in the adoration of my fans. I pictured myself playing hot licks and making my guitar scream. I waited for my facial hair to develop to the point where I could grow a ZZ Top beard.
I never quite reached the guitar hero status of my dreams. What I did do was learn to play well enough to find personal joy in making music and to lead church groups in worship.
I also found that I had joined a new social circle of Christian guitar players and music leaders.
Most of these guys were into constantly learning new chords, especially the bar chords that move up and down the neck of the guitar. I tried to play these, but they were too hard. Might as well be playing piano if I'm going to have to work that hard at it.
So I became the master of finding easy work-arounds to play songs that included the tougher chords. Ever since I settled into my make-do attitude about the guitar, I've always been the guy who can play chords well enough to lead worship, but not the guy who gets the crowd excited just to watch him play.
I also found that I had joined a new social circle of Christian guitar players and music leaders.
Most of these guys were into constantly learning new chords, especially the bar chords that move up and down the neck of the guitar. I tried to play these, but they were too hard. Might as well be playing piano if I'm going to have to work that hard at it.
So I became the master of finding easy work-arounds to play songs that included the tougher chords. Ever since I settled into my make-do attitude about the guitar, I've always been the guy who can play chords well enough to lead worship, but not the guy who gets the crowd excited just to watch him play.
And that's fine with me. I'm fully aware that I just don't want to put in the time and effort to learn to play better. With practice, I've gotten pretty good at what I am able to do. And that's good enough for most smaller group worship situations.
I'm comfortable with not being a guitar hero and just being accomplished enough to use the guitar for the ministries I do. The ladies in the prison chapel are quite pleased that I show up and play the guitar well enough for them to sing their favorite worship songs each week. My mastery of most of the chords in the first five frets enables us all to praise God.
My experiences teaching prisoners from the Word has taught me a similar lesson about reading, studying, and meditating on the Word.
While I'm a bible college graduate and have decades of experience in the exegesis of scripture, many of these incarcerated women are mostly unfamiliar with the Bible, have little or no education or literacy, and don't have any idea what the word exegesis means. And they don't need to.
After spending most of my life teaching college students and middle class church members to study and dive deep into biblical interpretation, I learned quickly that I needed a different approach in the prison.
As I thought about what these ladies need, it occurred to me that most of the people in the Bible stories had a low level of literacy. Very few of them had access to an actual copy of the Bible. Even if they did, they didn't have all 66 books like we do. David, a man after God's own heart, who wrote eloquently in Psalm 119 of his love for the scriptures, had only the pentateuch and perhaps Joshua, Judges, and Ruth.
In fact, throughout most of the history of the Christian Church, believers have not had easy access to personal copies of the scriptures, nor did many of them have a level of literacy to read and interpret for themselves. They relied largely on the priests and teachers and preachers to read and explain the scriptures to them.
What mattered for them, and for my incarcerated flock, is spending time meditating on what they do have available and allowing it to transform and inform them. That's one reason why I use the term meditation more than study or reading or exegesis. Meditation is about internalizing the Word and letting it transform them into the type of person who is equipped for the works God has in store for them.
Just the other day Marie, one of the ladies in our prison chapel, told me, "I read my Bible all the time, whenever I don't have to be doing something else. I don't understand a lot of what I read, but I read it anyway."
If more people, regardless their education level, would do the same, they would be blessed just like Marie. Soak it up as much as you can, even the parts you don;'t fully understand. Let the Word of God dwell in you richly.
And then do what Marie does. She lets the Word change her and lets it move her out into her world to be the living and breathing Word to the people around her who don't know God or His Word.
Not everyone is called to be a scholar-hero. Everyone is called to be a worker after God''s own heart.
I'm comfortable with not being a guitar hero and just being accomplished enough to use the guitar for the ministries I do. The ladies in the prison chapel are quite pleased that I show up and play the guitar well enough for them to sing their favorite worship songs each week. My mastery of most of the chords in the first five frets enables us all to praise God.
My experiences teaching prisoners from the Word has taught me a similar lesson about reading, studying, and meditating on the Word.
While I'm a bible college graduate and have decades of experience in the exegesis of scripture, many of these incarcerated women are mostly unfamiliar with the Bible, have little or no education or literacy, and don't have any idea what the word exegesis means. And they don't need to.
After spending most of my life teaching college students and middle class church members to study and dive deep into biblical interpretation, I learned quickly that I needed a different approach in the prison.
As I thought about what these ladies need, it occurred to me that most of the people in the Bible stories had a low level of literacy. Very few of them had access to an actual copy of the Bible. Even if they did, they didn't have all 66 books like we do. David, a man after God's own heart, who wrote eloquently in Psalm 119 of his love for the scriptures, had only the pentateuch and perhaps Joshua, Judges, and Ruth.
In fact, throughout most of the history of the Christian Church, believers have not had easy access to personal copies of the scriptures, nor did many of them have a level of literacy to read and interpret for themselves. They relied largely on the priests and teachers and preachers to read and explain the scriptures to them.
What mattered for them, and for my incarcerated flock, is spending time meditating on what they do have available and allowing it to transform and inform them. That's one reason why I use the term meditation more than study or reading or exegesis. Meditation is about internalizing the Word and letting it transform them into the type of person who is equipped for the works God has in store for them.
Just the other day Marie, one of the ladies in our prison chapel, told me, "I read my Bible all the time, whenever I don't have to be doing something else. I don't understand a lot of what I read, but I read it anyway."
If more people, regardless their education level, would do the same, they would be blessed just like Marie. Soak it up as much as you can, even the parts you don;'t fully understand. Let the Word of God dwell in you richly.
And then do what Marie does. She lets the Word change her and lets it move her out into her world to be the living and breathing Word to the people around her who don't know God or His Word.
Not everyone is called to be a scholar-hero. Everyone is called to be a worker after God''s own heart.
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