Songs of Life

His shrunken frame and age-diminished voice were almost lost at the front of our large church auditorium. He had been a medical intern at a small hospital in Arnhem when Hitler's war machine rolled through the Netherlands and set up a puppet Nazi government. Radios were destroyed to prevent BBC "propaganda" from demoralizing folks who needed nothing other than German "truth."   But among the clutter of equipment in one surgical suite, someone had managed to hide a short wave set. At 5 p.m. each Sunday afternoon the doctors and nurses gathered secretively and tuned softly the worship service of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields on the edge of London. My friend could not remember a single sermon heard in those covert assemblies, but one thing he never forgot. At the close of each broadcast swelled the choral power of Henry Lyte's magnificent melody, "Abide with Me."   "In the distance we could hear the guns," the old doctor whispered, "and the cupboards of medical supplies rattled with falling bombs. We huddled together, standing close to the single speaker, weeping as we were transported for a few moments into the congregation in London, and with it to the very throne of God."   "This," he said, as we turned our own hymnbooks to the song, "is how we survived those dark and awful hours." And so we sang with him: Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide! The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide! When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, O, Thou who changest not, abide with me!   I think of him often when my students walk into class with buds in their ears linked to phones. "What are you listening to?" I ask them, and they tell me of the latest hits and greatest groups and hottest tunes and newest metal. I love music, and I share their passions, often playing videos of recent songs for classroom discussions.   But in the noisy archives of all the wonderful melodies I've loved and sung with pounding intensity or heart-throbbing intimacy, I wonder, sometimes, what music actually changes my life, or places me in the company of those who need to enter another realm in order to remember what this one is truly all about. What are you listening to?   The greatest music, of course, is the melody of creation, echoing the timeless beauty of its Creator. And those who sing that song best have learned the lyrics from Jesus, the one who sang life itself into being and taught us the song of salvation.   CLC is training people who can sing these songs well, and who then can teach them to others. Partner with us so that the choir of grand music can swell in your neighbor, and in others as well--particularly those places that have too long heard only the discord and dissonance of evil. It is time for the music to begin again.   Church Leadership Center works in partnership with pastors, churches, and other ministry groups to prepare congregational leaders for advanced levels of service. We do this by means of assessment interviews and reports; personalized training plans, classes, and certification so that participants are able to increase their effectiveness in all areas of church life. Click here for more information. To view videos about Commissioned Pastors and those who support them, click here. To read previous blogs, click here.   Special thanks to Dr. Wayne Brouwer for writing the above article. He is CLC's theological editor, professor at Hope College, and adjunct professor at Western Theological Seminary.