God – Page 11 – Ben Clapton

Christian Music Sucks! (well, some of it)

April 11, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Music

Image via Wikipedia

I was thinking the other day. Liesl tells me that it’s never a good idea. But I was thinking that there’s a lot of really bad music out there, and a lot of it is Christian music. Take this video for an example:

Take a real good listen to those lyrics. “He is like a Mounty, he always gets his man, and he’ll zap you anyway he can. Zap!” I’m sorry Sonseed, but you really can’t get much more cheesy than that.

See, that’s the problem with bad Christian music – they try to write a “Christian” song, and it ends up being cheesy, kitschy and just plain wrong. However, there is hope. There is a multitude of musicians out there, who are Christians, who write fantastic music that is up there with “secular” music.

Take for example this little band. They’ve got some great songs, and are really deep in faith.

U2 are fairly well-known as being a very spiritual group, with Bono having a deep Christian faith, but also an understanding that to get his message out to the world, it can’t be shoved down people’s throats, but coming through every facet of their music and lives.

Naturally 7, if you’re not aware, are a band that only use their voice. Liesl and I saw them opening for Michael Bublé, and were amazed. Their version of Can you feel it in the Air tonight is amazing.

And they write their own songs too, like Bless this House.

And remember, every sound they make is made with the human voice. And they’re Christian too – they’re headlining at Easterfest 2011, a massive Christian festival being held in Toowomba.

For something a bit heavier, why not try Underoath? This Christian metal band have played at the big heavy rock/metal festivals such as Soundwave, and are not shy in hiding their faith at those events either.

One of my favourite bands at the moment is New Empire. They’re currently touring with Good Charlotte, opening for them. It’s very much a pop-rock sound, but if you didn’t know they were Christian, it would sound very much like any other band out there.

And there’s heaps more out there too. Everything from Metal to A capella. Ska to Soulful, it’s all there, and it’s all brilliant. All you need to do is go searching for it.

Evangelism for those uncomfortable with it

April 4, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith

There are many dirty words around. Often referred to by the first letter, there’s one word that Anglicans don’t like: The E word. Evangelism. Coming from an Anglican background, it’s something that I’ve never been comfortable with. the thought of going out there and telling someone why they should be a Christian is something that fills me with dread. Unfortunately for me, as I want to become an officer of the Salvation Army, this is something that I am going to have to get over. Continue reading “Evangelism for those uncomfortable with it” →

Let your light shine

March 21, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith, Life

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV)

Have you been to the country recently? Just recently, I headed down to Margaret River for a weekend away. We were driving, and there were no lights anywhere. We looked up and saw the stars. Having escaped the light pollution that cities normally give, we could see all these stars lighting up the sky. It was really amazing. Continue reading “Let your light shine” →

Sunrise, Sunset

March 15, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith, Life

Do you like sunrises, or sunsets? As a West Australian, it’s hard not to love sunsets. We get incredible sunsets here in Perth, which I think is in part caused by living on the west coast of a country, with no land between us and the horizon. In summer it is brilliant, because the sun goes down so late, that you can get home from work, drive out to the beach and have a walk along as the sun goes down. It’s incredibly humbling, to stand there in front of something so massive, so beautiful. It’s a brilliant reminder of God’s handiwork, his creativity, his brilliance.

But, as the Perth sunrise is often no-where near as spectacular as the Perth sunset, I kind of regard sunrises as very special moments. I remember one from when I was a teenager. My family was on holidays in Albany, and as I was up early – and it was still dark – I thought I’d walk out to a special lookout, where I could see the sun rise over water. I have no recollection of it being incredibly beautiful, or stunning, but that moment, that space, has stuck in my memory, and most likely will for some time to come.

I have often heard people describe sunsets and sunrises as “thin places” – where the gap between heaven and earth becomes very thin, and we can see some of the glory of God’s kingdom. I would not doubt this for a second.

What’s in a name?

March 2, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Names have always been very important, especially in Biblical times. Whenever you read of a child being born, it almost always describes the meaning of that name. In this story, there is no meaning placed on the name John, but we read that it was given to Zachariah when the angel of the Lord visited him. Behindthename.com lists the meaning as “YAHWEH is Gracious”

My Name, Benjamin, comes from the bible as well, the youngest son of Jacob. My name means “son of the south” or “Son of the right hand” – the right hand being the position of power next to the father. I don’t know if that meaning puts any meaning to my life, but there are many people who name children names based on their meaning.

What does your name mean, and does it reflect your life?

You are invited

February 28, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith, Life

For many are invited, but few are chosen.

Matthew 22:14

Jesus shows in this parable (Parable of the Wedding Banquet, Matthew 22:1-14) the sorts of people who will get into heaven.

Then he said to his servants, “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.”

Matthew 22:8-9

God invited the pharisees, but they weren’t willing to listen. So he invited everyone. But once invited, there are certain responsibilities. In the banquet, the one who didn’t put on the wedding clothes got the boot. Likewise, when we become followers of Jesus, we need to put on the clothes of Christ.

You’ve been invited to Christ’s banquet… What are you going to wear?

The discarded Capstone

February 27, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith, Life

He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.

Matthew 21:44 (NIV)

I’d never heard this verse before, but it really stood out today for me. Just before this, Jesus has quoted Psalm 118:22-23 and told the parable of the tenants. It’s obvious in the parable that the land owner is God, and the son is Jesus. Likewise the stone that the builders rejected is Jesus. He has become the cornerstone that is marvellous in our eyes.

The contrast in verse 44 stood out to me. “He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces” When you fall at the foot of the cross, when you come to Jesus, he will break you into pieces. He will break down the wall that we have constructed, and he will start to work in our lives through the broken pieces.

“But he on whom it falls will be crushed.” Jesus is warning the chief priests and the Pharisees that the only way to God is through him. Whoever doesn’t come to God through Jesus will be crushed by the cornerstone when Judgement comes.

So what do we do by knowing this? We go to the cross, allow ourselves to be broken and allow Jesus to build our lives into one that will produce fruit for the kingdom of heaven.

But the Lord was not in the Earthquake

February 24, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith, Life

Cover of "Where Is God When It Hurts?" — Cover of Where Is God When It Hurts?

I wasn’t going to write about the New Zealand Earthquake, because quite honestly I didn’t think that I had anything to offer. There were plenty of things that I could write about this terrible tragedy, but should I use such a tragedy to get views on my website? It just didn’t seem quite right.

However, I noticed in my RSS feeds a couple of posts with a similar theme. Transforming Mission titled theirs “Where is God when it hurts? Where is God in the Suffering?” and the Wondering Pilgrim entitled his post “The “why?” question rises again”

So while I don’t want to address the earthquake itself, I want to look at a couple of pieces of scripture that come to mind. First from 1 Kings 19.

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

1 Kings 19:11-12 (NIV)

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)

Two thoughts relating to these passages. Firstly, the passage from 1 Kings. God was not in the great and powerful wind, nor the earthquake or the fire. After all of that came a gentle whisper – and the Lord was in the gentle whisper. When you think about what has happened in Oceania in the past few weeks, we have had floods, fire, cyclones and earthquakes. All disasters. All things that we wouldn’t wish on our enemies. But after all of these, what comes? Growth, renewal, revitalisation, rebuilding. Sometimes, you need to go through the pain to get to the point of growth. After the disasters, God is there. That is evidenced by the multitudes of Christians (and non-Christians, I must point out) making themselves available to help out. Whether that’s serving the emergency services workers food and drink when they’re working, or whether it’s donating proceeds of Op Shop sales, or holding retiring offerings as donations to relief funds, God is there in the recovery.

As for the passage from Isaiah, God’s ways are different from ours. We can pray for things to change, and we should be encouraged to do so. However, we should not be disappointed when our prayers seemingly go unanswered. Our ways are not God’s ways. God’s ways are higher than our ways. As my officer put it, The deepest, most insightful, most brilliant of our thoughts is foolishness to the Lord, and the Lord’s most foolish thoughts are still far beyond our understanding. I believe that God’s heart would have broken over the lives lost in these recent disasters. Could he have stopped the earthquake? Absolutely. He is the one who created the world. However, as I share a thought from my dad, The Lord is the one who put this world in motion. He is the one who created the world. He created the laws of nature. If he was to come and stop an earthquake, or a flood, or a cyclone, he would be saying that the laws that he put in place we not perfect, as he is perfect. It would make everything that our world is based upon based on a lie. Whether this thought is how it works or not, I don’t know. And I’ll probably never know. However, it is through this thought that I can make peace with God when I get angry that prayers go unanswered. He knows what he’s doing. He has my life in his hands, and I will trust him completely. Though it may be painful, though it may be beyond comprehension, I will trust in him, and pray to him, and praise him whatever the outcome.

What makes a worship song great?

February 10, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith, Life, Music

I’ve recently been asked to lead the Youth Band at my church, and it’s got me thinking about songs. There are some songs that we sing in worship that absolutely touch the soul, while there are others that are neither here nor there.

For example, take a look at Amazing Grace. What an amazing song, a powerful testimony for everyone. Yet its composition is incredibly simple.

Where as the song “Yours Forever” by Hillsong is a rocking song musically – but do the lyrics move you?

As I choose songs for the Youth Band to learn, I’ll hopefully be able to choose a mixture of songs that are moving in both music and lyrics.

What is your favourite worship song, and why?

Postaday2011 links

Measure up? (felicityshiro.wordpress.com)
What is a teacher? (thereandbackagainalaska.wordpress.com)
Two college degrees? Sorry, still no book contract for you and your friends (prettyroadpress.wordpress.com)
Noah’s Conversation With God (werenotfunny.wordpress.com)

I’d give anything for a pancake

February 9, 2011December 22, 2012 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

Had an interesting experience in devotions today. We had an Ash Wednesday service. The minister who was leading devotions was certain that Ash Wednesday was today. It isn’t. He went round afterwards to let everyone know that he’d made a mistake and Ash Wednesday is actually a month away.

But it was interesting anyway, because I was able to start thinking about Lent. Lent is the time before Easter when you fast – you give up something. The idea is whenever you would normally have that thing, you think about God instead. In recent years, there has been a push from many people to say that Lent isn’t just about giving things up, but you can also take up something – for example, a bible study, or a spiritual discipline such as daily meditation, or a personal daily devotion.

Last year, I gave up coffee. It was tough (Liesl didn’t think that I could do it), but I managed to get through it, and that first coffee on Easter Sunday was just beautiful. This year, however, I’m thinking I’ll take up something instead. I’m thinking that I’ll try to get through as much of the bible as I can. This has been a goal of mine for a while, but I often get derailed. I’m not certain where I’m up to, but I know that there’s a bookmark in my bible of where I was. I think that for the 40 days of Lent, I’ll try to put an hour or two each day into reading my bible. Hopefully I’ll get through the Old testament, and make some headway into the new testament. I’ve heard it takes 72 hours to speak the bible. 2 hours a day for 40 days, I could most certainly finish it.

One of the great things about Lent is the way it starts. March 8 is Shrove Tuesday, which is colloquially known as Pancake Tuesday. It’s on Shrove Tuesday that you would get rid of everything that you were fasting of – which traditionally is Flour and Eggs. Best way to get rid of Flour and Eggs? Make Pancakes!

I remember heading to a party at my friends a few years ago where he’d made a Pancake Cake – chocolate pancakes, layered with alcoholic sauce (such as Kahlua, Bailey’s and other tasty liqueurs). It was so rich, most people could only have the tiniest of slices. But it was such a fun way to spend Shrove Tuesday.

The Uniting Church have caught onto this idea, and run Pancake Day as a fundraising event. They encourage churches, businesses, schools and individuals to hold a pancake day event where people can buy pancakes, with money raised heading to support local programs supported by Uniting Church organisations. It doesn’t matter where you are – you can have a Pancake Day event. Take a look at this video to see how the money raised is used: