Mark Robins Music

Mind the gaps...

2011-12-03T16:02:00.000Z

I only write these when I have a moment of inspiration and, as you can see, they don't come about that frequently!

So, I went to see "Arthur Christmas" and fell asleep in the middle. But, that aside, the scene that struck me was when the elves are left in the mothersleigh after Santa has left the room and they are all standing there, hundreds of them, in silence, staring blankly, just waiting for something to happen, not knowing what to do. From somewhere within me came the thought, "They look like a congregation..." - now, please DON'T get me wrong here, of course they don't look like a congregation!! But why did I think this? Well, I've mulled it over and I think I've nailed it. They looked like a congregation can look in the gaps between the words being up on the screen. Think about it? We have, for years, been teaching each other that we should do what the person on the stage does, sing what they sing, no more and no less. I confess I have tended to do the same when I'm in the congregation: sing the words when they're up and when they're not, wait for the next lot of words to go up when I will know what to do again.

I think it's time to mind the gaps. The gaps give us opportunity to express something beyond that which is being served up to us, but, this requires something extra from us as participants in the gathering in which we find ourselves. Ooh, it's sounding slightly Church 2.0, isn't it (see Vicky Beeching's blog here)? I know we have sections when we have a bit of free singing, but what if our expected this to be the norm? That this flow was the interplay between that which is provided and that which is brought by you and me? Imagine!

We, as Brits, can be quite a reserved bunch. In the States I've seen a much more vociferous approach to these times when we are together, both in the sung worship times and in the message. Shouts of encouragement for whoever is preaching seemed common - how would we react if someone shouted out mid preach, "That's a GOOD word, preach it!!"? A time of embarrassed shuffling would quickly be upon us, I suggest!

So, I'm not exhorting us to become all American in nature, but I do think it's time to mind the gaps and see what we can bring to loosen ourselves up a bit more in our expression to Him in our sung/musical times of worship. Some simply need permission to express what's in them a bit more. Sure, it'd be a bit different to start with, but over time we'd get used to it and it would become more natural and we could, much more, all be part of the "band".

What do you think?

All around us...

2011-04-26T15:59:00.000+01:00

Sin is so embedded in our surroundings that we can tend not to notice. I play a little game from time to time called "What if there was no sin?" and pondered it again yesterday as I queued for tickets for the Saints v. Hartlepool game. (God told me to start supporting the Saints.)

Firstly, I'm going to buy a ticket which is proof of my payment. Proof because I might lie and get in for free. I get to the front of the queue and see the ticket seller on the other side of a window and we communicate via the microphone and speaker system installed. This level of protection is necessary for their safety, presumably. I use my bank card to pay. This is a sophisticated piece of plastic that should mean that my transaction is secure on the one hand, and shows I am whom I say I am on the other. I've failed to sign the back of my card as I have not found a single pen that writes on it so I need to show my driving license as well to prove my signature is indeed mine.

The cards are passed via a sliding drawer that prevents me grabbing the ticket seller's hand and, well, doing what I don't know. I sign and duly receive our tickets and my receipt. Another proof of payment. Now, the tickets are pretty special too, designed to be difficult to forge with lots of colour printing and a couple of hologram type metallic logos. There are tear off strips so that the ticket cannot be re-used after entering the ground. When we do enter later just before 3pm the said strip is removed by the guy on the entrance (oh, after my manbag has been searched...) and he pushes a button to allow the military grade full height turnstile to move and let me in. Phew!

Then we go and watch a game where one of the players' main objectives is to mis-lead the officials into giving favourable but incorrect decisions. When they don't, they get verbally abused.

It's a funny old game.

The game of "What if there was no sin?" helps me to see just how desperate is our need of Jesus. We can forget, especially on a sunny day when your team wins again(!), that this place is in a real mess and that is why He had to come and lay down His life once and for all.

"And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."

The church in Laodicea...

2011-03-28T17:35:00.001+01:00

This came to mind last night and unless I blog it I'll be running it around in my head endlessly.

In Revelation 3:14-18 we find the well known passage about lukewarmness:

¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see."

I remember reading somewhere that this was best interpreted in relation to the geography of the place and, specifically, its water supply. Whilst very well placed for trade, Laodicea was not established near an adequate water supply and water had to be piped in ten or so miles from Colossae which had an abundant cold water supply. By the time the water arrived it was lukewarm. About six miles away was Hierapolis which boasted hot springs but, similarly, by the time the water arrived it, too, was lukewarm.

The point here, is that both hot and cold water had a usefulness not present in lukewarm water. The cold was used for drinking and gardening, and the hot for washing etc. Lukewarm water was good for nothing.

Verse 15 contains the phrase, "I wish you were either one or the other!" Does Jesus wish that we were atheists rather than in-between?* That's what it looks like on first reading and seems to be the majority interpretation when researched. But, the explanation with respect to the water supply makes more sense to me.

The warning against lukewarmness remains in either case, but the subsidiary point about better to be atheist than lukewarm is open to debate, given the geographical information above.

The inclusion of the eye salve reference also backs this up as Laodicea was not only a centre of trade and banking (and special black wool) but also famed for its medicine. This salve was reported to cure certain types of eye disease and was world famous. It would seem odd to directly refer to the salve as it was in Laodicea and not be referencing the water temperature in the same way.

There, thanks.

*An argument re it being better to be atheistic than lukewarm goes that there is more hope in this case than the middle ground. I'm not convinced...

It's been a while...

2011-02-22T15:20:00.001Z

Well, so much for blogging every Monday! Anyway, I feel the urge again :-)

I've been in Wales, on and off, for 6 weeks with Roy and Melanie Fields of Run With Fire Ministries. I first hooked up with Roy in 2008 when he came over from the States for a UK Tour. This was planned to last 2 weeks and actually lasted 2 months as requests came in from churches once Roy was here.

Over the last 3 years we've continued to meet up and play together. I keep an eye on his itinerary and when something jumps out at me I just go, and we do it all again! (My wife is an amazing, Godly, understanding woman. I direct the reader to Proverbs 31:10-31.) So, I've been to the States a few times, across Scandinavia, to Zimbabwe and, just now, Wales.

What an awesome (in its proper sense, not like a cheeseburger...) time! What was scheduled for 4 nights in Cardiff became 6 weeks based in the City Temple but also travelling out to other churches in the area, again, as requests came in. So great to see God moving upon hungry people across the South of Wales night after night after night!

Currently Roy and Mel are preparing to go to Australia and New Zealand before returning to Wales in May for season 2, this time we will be based in Swansea City Temple.

One of the wonderful things, for me, has been to see how people respond to the songs on, "The broken". You sit at home and strum and write something, which is all well and good, but unless that song helps people connect with Him, for me there's not much point doing it in the first place. That's why I write songs, for corporate and personal worship; for the Holy Spirit to touch people. I've been so encouraged! I see people "getting" a song, being touched by God, and inside I'm going, "YESSS!!!" Go Holy Spirit!! Seriously, if this album had been received with just a shrug I'd have been left wondering how I'd got it so, so wrong, spent all that money, wasted all that time... But when my wife and I decided that I should, indeed, go to Nashville and record, we believed we were doing that which God wanted us to do. And it was SCARY!! It still IS!!

Often, God asks us to take a step before we know where our foot will land, before there is any sign of the necessary provision, when those around you are saying that what you are doing is foolish at best, or just plain wrong at worst. That is when you have to really know your heart. That is when we have to decide whether it's "my" idea or God's idea. And the toughest thing about these times? Your decisions can only be judged, ultimately, by their fruit, which comes afterwards...

I believe Wimber said that FAITH is spelt R-I-S-K?? Indeed it is!

Worship Central for the Regions...

2010-11-18T17:25:00.001Z

Last Wednesday Worship Central came to Central Hall to kick off their 2010 Tour. As always, it was a huge pleasure to have Tim, Al and the team with us and it was a great night! I'm one of the ten Regional Coordinators for Worship Central - if you were there you'll have seen Tim introduce me to everyone. Now, here's the plan - to arrange three dates for 2011 when we will gather locally those who are involved in the provision of musical worship in our churches. This could be you, or you know the person or persons in your church who do this. We will come together to worship, pray, share the highs and the lows; to fellowship together on our journeys.

Right now we are largely doing our own thing in our own places - what I can see is us becoming ever more one church and Worship Central has a part to play in this as a naturally ecumenical platform. Very exciting!

So, if you are involved in the musical worship side of things in your church or CU (or something I've left out) and want to be involved in this vision for the Southern Region then drop me a line in the comment slot below, or email me to say hello.

One thing I've found is that I can't do this alone, it'll be a team effort.

Just imagine (closes eyes, gets dreamy look on face...), from across the Region worship leaders are gathering under the Worship Central banner to glorify Jesus with one voice, to Encounter God, Equip the worshipper and Empower the local church!

Awesome!

The name game...

2010-11-04T16:43:00.001Z

Rammed!

I'm trying to work out in my head what the Christian celebrity thing is all about. I mean, we can fit around a thousand people into Central Hall and we regularly do - but only when "famous" Christians come visiting. Be it Worship Central, Soul Survivor, Jesus Culture, Rob Bell we are sold out - the photo is the recent Jesus Culture meeting. We come to see Tim, Al, Nikki, Ben, Mike, Kim, Rob...so is this a good thing? A bad thing? Or just a thing? To what extent do we need a name to get us to attend a meeting? I reckon, on the one hand, some of it is that we know what we're going to get. On the other hand, we'll have come a little bit closer to the stars of the show. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm as vulnerable to this as anyone else but I'm trying to examine this within me and ask myself, "Mark, why are you impressed with people you deem to be "famous"?"

With celebrity the international zeitgeist, we see a reflection of this in the church and this is tricky stuff to work out! It's not about what the famous think about themselves, it's much more about what we think about them. Do we have a built in need to imagine the stars as different to us? Somehow better? Holier? Set apart? I think we do. Otherwise they're just the same as us and what we want is not someone like us but...a hero! Oh, that would be...Jesus! Hmm, are we in danger of looking to the Christian famous to provide what only Jesus can?

I have an album that I'd like to be uber successful. I believe that God has put stuff into those songs that will bless people, that He will speak through these songs to anyone who takes the time to listen. But, my dark heart (Jer 17:9) also wants to be worshipped. So I can easily catch myself thinking that I'd like to be as well known as such and such, to have as many Twitter followers as so and so, to be as respected etc., etc...

So, I guess that the challenge is to do what we believe God is asking us to do, as well as we can, and stay as unaffected by the zeitgeist as is possible.

It's going on anyway...

2010-10-17T19:49:00.000+01:00

Been thinking more and more about the fact that God is doing what He'll do anyway. I mean, our church meeting this morning - we were coming together to key in with what is already going on in the spiritual all the time. I think, sometimes, we can believe we're beginning or ending something when, in fact, it's going on all the time, unceasingly and, for a moment, we join in. We spend too much time waiting for God to move when He's already moving and waiting for us to engage - we must be proactive, not passive. We must plug ourselves in and choose to do so. He has made Himself available! We must be expectant, not only on a Sunday when we come together for our corporate expression, but each and every day, because He is on the move continually. How often do we say, "Come!", when He's already here?

I don't tend to do this - for example, the school pick up is not my most expectant time, just something that needs to be done, but what if I habituated myself to looking for what He's doing? Hmm, what could happen then?

However...

2010-10-14T14:31:00.002+01:00

Now, don't get too attached to this blog as I may well use Wordpress instead - but I just broke it. Hmm. This new keyboard is much better, though. Praps it was the new keyboard...

Nice new blog!

2010-10-14T10:00:00.000+01:00

Time for a new blog for Mark Robins Music!
Here I'll post stuff about what I'm up to and what I'm thinking as things occurr.
Anyway, just now I'm working out how this works before I start telling the story of how the album came to be...first thing, actually, is the swap this keyboard for another one as the space key doesn't work very well since I bought thecheapestoneIcouldfindintheshop...