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Music is a funny thing.  Last night I found myself listening to Pavoratti, Josh Groban and various other classical types.  Then this morning I jumped in the car and listened to Fee.  Right now as I write I’m listening to Damien Rice.  There is a massive spectrum of music that my moods will guide me through.  I turn to different music at different times.

In the world of worship we encounter the same sort of thing.  We see many different flavors of worship presented to the world around us.  At times it feels to me like the style of worship rather than the quality or attitude is the most necessary credential when looking for a church home.  The spectrum of worship is so diverse!  The question is have we pushed it to far?

In Genesis 3:5 we see Moses in the presence of God and this is what God requires of him, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”  Moses was in the presence of God and he needed to prepare himself to be in that position.  He was instructed to remove his filthy sandals.

Do you think that it is the spectrum of musical styles that would be problematic for God or the ways in which we approach him through those styles.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

~Peter

There has been so much going on in my head lately… some of which includes, sinus congestion, others of which include Auto Tune, Leadership, the Church, Kanye West, and tons of other stuff…  Unfortunately I just haven’t had the time to get anything down on paper.  They keep escaping me.

I feel like my mind is a restless wanderer lately…

What things/ideas/circumstances make your mind go in a million directions?

I’d love to know.

~Peter

I remember as a child wanting a dog.  I always wanted a dog.  But we lived in New York City, and I don’t blame my parents, I wouldn’t have gotten me a dog either if I was them!  Seriously, walking it in the city, and all that stuff… Come on… that’s a no brainer.  But when we moved, I knew that there was a dog coming our way.  See, we moved to the burbs, of Philly.  With a fenced in back yard and a pool and all, we were set for a dog.  

My parents loved me.  They loved me a lot.  But they still didn’t get me a dog until I was 12.  I waited.  12 whole, long years.  That was not fun.  But I waited.

What was the hardest thing that you have ever had to wait for?  What do you think about while you are waiting?                  

Let me give you a hint, the hardest thing that I’ve had to wait for has not been the dog…  What about you?   

~peter

I came home from work today, and Tiffany suggested that I take Noah outside to play.  So, I did.  We had a great time.  He really wanted to throw the frisbee.  It is unbelievable how far that dude can throw a frisbee. 

He is a champion!  It made me think of the times when my dad and I would throw frisbee or play catch or wiffle ball, or whatever it was.  But, I loved it.  Both then, and now.  

My little son is old enough to throw a frisbee back at me!  HOW CRAZY IS THAT?  I AM ANCIENT.  You should put me in a museum.  I am feeling old right now.  

To top it off, we were looking at book bags online for him as he is going to be headed off to the big scary world of preschool this year!  I could be buying my son a book bag, like to actually use!  What planet am I on, and what happened to me being young?  

Do you feel old?  When do you think you will feel old?  What is old?

~Mr. Gowesky  (Cause you only call old people Mr.)

Today I was teaching in our college aged young adults class, Encounters.  I have been teaching this summer in that class using Rob Bell’s Nooma video series.  Today we are on video #6, Kickball.  (Click here to watch a brief clip from the video)  In this video we came across several deep theological questions.  At least I felt like we did.  One question we came across was, is God a good God?  At God’s very core, is He good?  We also touched on the idea of total depravity, meaning that you and I don’t do any good, anything that we do that is good is from God.

Well, I was particularly struck with the whole question of is God a good God?  Now, let me clarify and say absolutely I believe that God, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham Issac and Jacob, the God who created the universe and the contents within is absolutely a good God.  Here’s the dilemma: I don’t always think that everything He chooses to do is good.  Maybe it would be better to say that I don’t always like what God chooses to do.  I’ll even take it a step further and admit that sometimes it makes me angry.

Does this make God inherently good or bad??? I mean, because we don’t like what God chooses to do, does that make God a bad/angry/evil/unjust God?  These and others are the types of questions that people outside of the church ask.  How do we respond to those types of questions?

I absolutely hate the fact that my Dad has a form of Alzheimer’s.  That drives me crazy, and disturbs me to no end.  I can’t see what God is doing through this.  I don’t have the answers.

However, I also can’t say that God is an evil God because He didn’t run His agenda by me before He set things into motion.  Jeremiah 29:11-14 has always been a verse that I have turned to when things get crazy.  Today was the first time that I have read the Message Paraphrase version of it.  It goes like this:

“I know what I am doing.  I have it all planned out- plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.  When you call on Me, when you come and pray to Me, I’ll listen.  When you come looking for Me, you’ll find Me.  Yes, when you get serious about finding Me, and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.”

God knows what He is doing.  Yes God doesn’t always give us the things that we want.  In fact I am glad that God doesn’t do that.  I can remember a time when I was little asking my parents for a toy at Andy’s store at the north end of LBI.  My dad told me no that I couldn’t get it.  I was really upset by that.  I was annoyed, and maybe even a little angry.  Now what I wanted was some cheap plastic toy gun that shot suction cup darts.  It is the kind of toy that any self respecting adult knows is going to break in about 5 minutes.   So, the obvious answer would be to say “No, do yourself a favor and save your money.”  But I couldn’t wrap my mind around it as a kid.  I also didn’t believe that it was going to break.

So, here’s the deal, I am sure that it is like that sometimes with God.  I can’t understand God’s mind.  Just in the same way that as a little kid I couldn’t understand my dad saying no to the toy gun.

I am so glad that God doesn’t give me what I deserve.  I am so glad that God gives me good gifts.  (James 1:17, Luke 11:11-13)

What do you think?  Continue the conversation…

~Peter

So, it’s been about 3 months since I’ve started blogging.  I always wonder who is reading this stuff?  I wonder how did they find this site?  Why do they keep coming back… that type of stuff.  I always wonder about you.  So in the spirit of answering the question which is plaguing my soul, please tell me a little about yourself.  Here’s some of my other questions…(to help you get started)

So, of you all who are out there reading this, I wonder, how many of you have a blog?  I wonder, have I ever read it?  If not, I would like to.  So, here’s the instructions.  If you read The Salt Lick, and you have a blog, please let me know the name of your blog.

Part two…  If you don’t currently have a blog, What would you name your blog if you had one, and what would you blog about?

Fill me in!

~Peter