February 9, 2000
CYBERCOLUMN:
Watch what you sing for
___"I'm sitting here under the old oak tree, listening to the sounds of the day. Birds, at least the few left over from this mild Texas winter, sing. Winds whistle. And in the distance at the Nubbiní Ridge Baptist Church, I hear music, not the "Sound of Music," mind you, but organ music like you'd expect to hear from an old white-frame church.
___Organ music. Somehow it causes me to remember my all-time favorite organist. Back in the late '80s when oil went bust in Texas, I arrived on the scene as pastor of a church notfar from Nubbiní Ridge. As a pastor, I was as green as a tree just sprouting. I had been pastor for six months when the church was going bust like the oil in Texas. In the midst of bust, it was the blessing of my favorite organist, Ruth, who encouraged me.
JOHN DUNCAN
___My heart was like a dry river bed, parched and cracked and yearning for waters of life. And I'm sure the church thought it had gotten a dry hole (that feeling churches get when they dig deep for a pastor like drillers plunging for oil only to realize once they reach the bottom of the hole that the oil well is dry). I never will forget the Sunday that Ruth said, "Good sermon today!"
___Now, "Good sermon today!" may not seem like a big deal to you, but it came after several other folk decided I might not make it as a preacher or pastor. They even told me so. One wise guy even suggested I might not make it in the ministry. After those windswept days of storm clouds and clatter, it was good to hear Ruth's gentle whisper of "Good sermon today!" Everybody needs a little encouragement.
___Ruth's claim to fame, though, ignites my soul with laughter every time I recall Ruth the encourager and her dancing fingers on ivory keys that rang out the splendor of her beloved organ.
___It was a low-key Sunday night when not much happened. The music fizzled. The sermon fell flat. The invitation hailed no excitement. We closed with an old Gene Bartlett revival song that became our prayer for the week to come: "Set My Soul Afire."
___Suddenly, fizzle turned to sizzle. A forgotten sermon turned to an unforgettable memory. And invitations turned to exclamations: "Oh my!"
___Lo and behold, the organ caught on fire right smack-dab in the middle of "Set My Soul Afire, Lord"! I could only imagine Job's messenger had showed up to give our church a doomsday word: "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you" (Job 1:16).
___Fortunately, no doomsayer showed up. The minister of music put out the small fire. And our church has not been the same since. Maybe the fire woke us up. Maybe saint Ruth's encouragement lifted us up. Surely God's holy fire blazed hope in the heart in hapless days.
___So allow me to give a little advice: Thank the Lord for the Ruth in your life. Encouragement is the one thing everybody needs, so light fires of encouragement in your church. Put a fire extinguisher by the organ--just in case! And next time you sing "Set My Soul Afire," move close to the door--and fast, because you might just get what you sing for!
___John D. Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury and a writer for numerous magazines and journals.
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