Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the Lord. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind.”
But Moses said, “You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the Lord our God. Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the Lord our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the Lord.”

• Exodus 10:24-26

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
    the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

• Psalm 29:3-5

Throughout my writing week, I have many posts that are planned.  The others are simply what is on my mind at the time.  You know, that stuff that really inspires me.  I might have read a book recently.  I might have seen a stupid television commercial, or someone might have cut me off in traffic and then I notice their “Honk if you love Jesus” bumper sticker.  When that last one happens, those bad drivers must think a lot of people love Jesus.  I am sure a lot of people honk, but at their bad driving.

Sometimes I get home and I cannot wait to start writing.  But it is quite possible that the voice within me that stirred my interest is speaking from a different spot in my journey of faith compared to where you are in your walk of faith.

I recently saw an episode of the Gaither Homecoming Hour and this special one was hosted by Mark Lowry and the subject was the music of Bill and Gloria Gaither.  They talked about how He Touched Me was their first big hit even though they had sold several songs with moderate success before that and also about fifty songs that never amounted to much.  Their message was for new song writers to keep going.  If God was leading you, the good song would come.

But then Mark asked if Bill had ever written a dud.  The scene then switched to a Homecoming Gathering where the question had been asked.  Bill spoke about how he and Gloria had gone to hear a travelling evangelist.  The preacher had spoken from the book of Exodus and throughout the plagues, Pharoah wanted to compromise with Moses and Moses stood firm.  The words that finally touched Bill’s heart were “There’s not a hoof shall be left behind!”

Bill could not wait to get home and write a song about compromise.  And this is the result.

Sometimes, King David is right, and God’s voice booms like thunder.  Other times, God’s voice whispers.  Sometimes, it is something in between, but God’s voice sometimes is meant for a few people while other times God’s voice is meant for the masses.

My point is that if you lay a few messages out there that one group of people do not like, it does not mean that another group of people won’t like it.  It may be just the thing that they need.

Of course, we must be careful that it is God’s voice.  What we write should be consistent with Scripture.

But if you ever get inspired to write about how we must not compromise when God wants us to only accept the entire thing, Bill Gaither already has a song for that.

“The Lord Jehovah is reigning, and Him alone I’ll serve.”

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.