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Christine Olding

Are you one of those people with a variety of seemingly conflicting interests? Do you love to dance but also love math? Or perhaps you love animals, but also love building things and playing the trumpet. Do you have a pastor’s heart with a love for fishing and business? Maybe you want to be a doctor but also love singing. The God who created the universe also created you, and you are not boring! The incredible variety in creation was not just reserved for rainforests, oceans and the stars in the sky, but was displayed most perfectly in you.

Most of us, when we were children, displayed a variety of interests and talents. We could ride bikes, draw, or speak, and write well. Maybe we loved counting, building and measuring things. Or maybe we spent our time quietly and deeply thinking and feeling, observing and learning. Whatever the giftings and interests we have revealed God’s gifts to us. Part of who He created us to be and a sign of how much He was invested in creating us. Like an expensive car, God created each of us with all sorts of beautiful additions!

Now fast forward to school, or better yet the end of high school. Now you are expected to choose. Out of all the interests your heavenly Father gave you, you need to pick one and invest in that one, become that identity. And you get bonus points and respect if it will make you a lot of money. Highschool is 30 years ago for me and I can still feel the pressure of feeling like I needed to choose what I would be investing the majority of my time and money into at 18. I was told by , school, parents and well-meaning people in my life that I simply could not invest in all my interests and talents. That I should pick one, preferably the one that made the most money, then make my other talents hobbies. That would set me up for the most financial success and security, while not sacrificing who I was too much. But I basically had too many interests, so I had to choose which I would be.
Can anyone relate to this? Didi God make a mistake? Should our heavenly Father have just given us one or two interests, making sure of course that they were financially viable ones? Then we could fit with the system. 
No, of course not. God didn’t look at you and say, “Oops, I gave them too many interests, now they will have to ignore most of them and pick one.” And God certainly didn’t evaluate how He made us based on whether or not we could be financially secure. , He may have made us financially savvy, but I guarantee you in wasn’t for your own security. He wants to be that Himself.
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Matthew 6:19-21 
“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”


So what do we do with the display of God’s variety inside each of us? Well to start with, God didn’t make a mistake. He displayed His variety and creativity in His creation and also in us. He wants us to celebrate that variety. He has a plan, and He has His timing and purpose. So ask Him a very important question. 
“What do you want me to invest into now?”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:


The Father didn’t create you with too many interests and talents. But neither did He expect you to play Wack-a-Mole trying to hit them all at the same time. God will weave them together in His perfect timing. All you need to do is ask Him what He wants you to invest in to now. Then relax, knowing the rest of your interests will get attention and be invested into as long as you keep following the Father’s plan for your life, and let His voice be the only voice that guides you.
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Letting the Father weave the beautiful variety of your giftings in the tapestry He has planned for you is one of the most exciting and faith-building journeys I can recommend. He’s got you!

Christine Olding

​Have you ever struggled with the everpopular question, what do you want to do with your life? The pressure to make a decision, to pick something, anything. Somehow, we are miraculously expected to know what we are going to do with our life by the time we leave high school. Then we can choose a post-secondary activity like college, an apprenticeship, university, something that shows we have decided what we are going to do, how we are going to live, make money, pay for housing, food, possibly prepare for a family and be responsible financially.

Whew.... STRESS

But where is God in this? Is He one of the voices wanting us to pick a direction? Is He asking us to decide what we are going to be in our lives so we are set up for financial security? Anyone who has gone to Bible college, ministry school or even Sunday school can blurt out some version of the answer here.

31. So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32. For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:31-33


What an awesome promise! … So where is God when we are making plans and decisions? I am well known for asking people “If you had a million dollars, and were not worried about money, what do you think God would want you to be doing?” I ask it this way because it is sadly sometimes easier to picture ourselves without money worries if we have a fat bank account, than if we picture ourselves trusting God. Only without worry and stress can we sit in peace with our Father and ask Him, "What would you have me do?” God never planned us to go it alone without Him, struggling to make sure we had enough money by ourselves; He wants to partner with us, as a loving Father. 

“'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. '”
​                                                                                                                                                                                                              — Jeremiah 29:11. 

Only when financial security is replaced with Father-based security can we really hear the answer to our question, “Who did you make me to be? And what do you want me to be doing now?” And trust that if we do put Him first, ahead of our money fears and the pressure to look responsible in the world’s eyes, He will provide what we need as we partner with Him. 

Have we slipped into letting our desire for financial security be louder than the Father’s voice? Have we believed the Enemy’s lies that say that if we put God first in everything we won’t have enough? That giving God our direction and choices isn’t practical in our lives, that God doesn’t realize we have bills to pay? This is actually the complete opposite of what Jesus is saying in Matthew!

The trap of pursuing security in finances is you constantly have to chase it and manage it to feel any security at all. As soon as you stop chasing it and putting it first the security leaves you.
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Whereas the Father is the one doing the chasing, running after you with an offer of security, partnership and identity. He will never stop offering that security, He will always be there to partner with you if you choose His family.  He already knows who He created you to be and He can’t wait to talk with you about. You don’t have to create yourself!

Christine Olding

​I love Christmas… the tree, my family, the carols, the lights, the hand-painted nativity my mother made me, the weekly reminders of advent… I love it all. So please understand I was raised leaving cookies for Santa, hanging stockings by a fire, and looking for Jesus in the nativity on Christmas morning because our Jesus never showed up in our family nativity scene until Christmas morning. I love this season and will continue to love it. 

But this year, for me, the jingle, the sparkle, the nutcrackers and gingerbread men, while wonderful, are simply not holding the same joy for me. I love them all, but I am too aware of the pain and confusion around me in people’s hearts to enter into the glitter and cinnamon with the same level of satisfaction. It feels like this presentation of Christmas is missing the mark this year more than ever, as if the world is offering a glittery and scented bandaid to a hurting population. And it just doesn’t cut it. In fact if we aren’t careful we can end up doing more damage by offering a cinnamon and candy cane remedy to hearts that desperately need healing and love. 

We need Jesus first. 

I truly hope this does not sound critical towards the wonderful season of Christmas with its trimming and many expressions of joy. But right now unless these expressions of Christmas point us towards the only source of love that will actually heal our hearts, we will find ourselves missing the only remedy which will actually bring us the joy, love and healing we are looking for. 

And that remedy is the gift of a bridge to perfect Love and companionship. Jesus earned our respect by living a human life with a poor family, racially discriminated against, in a brutal, physically violent culture. He lived through trauma like ours, abandonment like ours, and loss and rejection like ours. So we would know He understands. He did this all for the sake of offering us a gift companionship and a family that will never leave us or forsake us. 

And that family is God the Father’s family. Jesus’s birth is called a gift for a reason. It isn’t by accident Jesus called God Father. The choice Jesus made to become one of us and live like us was an enormous gift of a bridge to unfailing Love and companionship, the chance to become more than God’s creation but to become sons and daughters of the Father. It’s an invitation and chance to enter into God’s family as a son or daughter, an opportunity to have close access to unfailing Love, and the opportunity of a healthy and safe relationship with a Heavenly Father who dearly loves us.

Now that is a Christmas meaning that I can sing about this year and a message that will honour the hurting and confused hearts around me. 

And yes, of course  I will make my gingerbread this weekend, and decorate my tree, not because they are the gift of Christmas, but because they will remind me of the gift I am celebrating. 

Blessings,
Christine

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Rob Reid
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In part one and two of this series, I outlined some of my past experiences while making a living and embracing the secular music culture. I also detailed some of the various adjustments that I needed to make after being born again. In this last part of the trilogy, I would like to address a couple of personal concerns I have observed along the way, as Jody and I have been ministering in different churches over the past 23 years. 

Having been raised in the slippery slope of secular music, it is difficult for me to hear worship minstrels say things like, “We had a great show last night at such and such a church,” or, “We’ve got a gig next Sunday morning.” This is the language of the world. I believe we should have an entirely different desire and focus. 

We are called to worship the one true God with our whole being. The best musicians in every field are those who allow their hearts to express their inner affection through their music, and passionately express the love they have. It is awesome that we, as children of God, have the opportunity and privilege of pouring out our love and adoration for our beautiful and loving Father. Worship is a time to draw near to God with our deepest hearts, and not a time to draw attention to ourselves regarding our gifts. 

I don’t believe it is healthy for us to look to worldly musicians as examples to glean from. We are blessed to have so many great godly musicians that we can learn from today. When we inappropriately look up to a particular person, they may become a type of teacher or mentor. YouTube is an excellent resource for both good and bad influences. We can inadvertently start to imitate the people we are watching on the internet. Jesus said, “A student is not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher” (Luke 6:40). Sometimes we get more than we bargained for when we set our eyes upon a prize. Many great worldly musicians have very serious relational issues, and many struggle with depression and addictions, among other things. 
We are born again, and we are a royal priesthood. We are the children of God. Music was created by our Heavenly Father, and the majority of people on earth have a special love for it. I believe that we should be discerning, regarding the distinction between worldly music and music dedicated to God. James says, “Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). Jesus said, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:16). Billy Graham was quoted in 2016 as saying, “This cosmos has its own entertainment and diversions that so permeate the atmosphere that it makes the way of the cross seem antiquated and irrelevant. In much of the entertainment media fostered by the cosmos, the name of God is profaned, sex is glamorized, and high, ethical living and Christian moral standards are laughed at.” 

I know that many may disagree with my viewpoint on this distinction of worldly and godly music. I’ve had passionate discussions with Christians who vehemently oppose this concept. I've been told more than once that music is ‘amoral,’ which means it is neither moral nor immoral. Let’s agree to disagree on this issue. In my experience, all forms of music have an effect on us regardless of the lyrics. There is a vibration in the sound that has the power and capability to stimulate and awaken pure or impure motivations and desires. 

God desires us to be holy, the definition of which means, “devoted entirely to God or to the work of God.” That’s us! We are called to be holy. Here are some synonyms of holy: blessed, consecrated, hallowed, sacred, sanctified. We are the ‘called out’ Levites who are expected to consecrate our hearts and hands in order to be ready to worship Him in spirit and in truth. This reminds me of a song by Mercy Me, written by Chris Tomlin called “Give Us Clean Hands.” 

“We bow our hearts, we bend our knees
O Spirit, come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things
O Lord, we cast down our idols
So give us clean hands, give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another” 

O, Minstrel of Worship, I hope that you are still excited to be part of this high calling of God? 

Psalm 24:3-5 says:
“Who may climb the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
Only those whose hands and hearts are pure,
who do not worship idols
and never tell lies.
They will receive the LORD’s blessing
and have a right relationship with God, their saviour.”

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Rob Reid

​I grew up loving music and I started singing at five years old, when my older brother taught me how to sing the latest songs on CHUM radio. I had no idea that music would become such a deep passion! It also, at times, became an obsession for me.  

I always wanted to be on the stage since seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, and eventually, it became a reality. The “stage” is lit up so the performers can be seen by the audience. Ultimately, the reason I wanted to be on the stage was to receive a sense of love. I was seeking a deeper sense of value and worth. 

I finally surrendered and got saved at 46 years old. I slowly started to understand that the platform in the church was much different than the stage I had become so familiar with. The stage is designed so the performers can be seen and, at times, adored by the audience. The platform is designed to praise and worship the audience of “One.” The Lord is meant to be the focus, and the church members become a group of worshipers. Only the Lord is worthy to be worshiped and adored. We are designed to worship, but we are not designed to be worshiped. 

Everything had to be realigned for me as I slowly transitioned from the stage to the platform. It was no longer a show but a service. I was no longer the one who was being worshiped, but I was used to usher people into the presence of the only One who is worthy to be worshiped. 

Often in church situations, when someone has a prominent worship gift, they are quickly fast tracked onto the platform. The modern church culture depends on good preaching, good worship and snappy video and lighting effects. When a new member comes into the church with any of these much-needed gifts, he or she is often swiftly lifted up. This is very dangerous, as this is exactly what happened to Jody and me. When this happens, our dormant pride has a very good chance of reviving itself and beginning its destructive, declining tactics! This declining fall happened to us once or twice in our journey! The old patterns of self-importance began to resurface. 

In the secular music business, it is vastly preferable that we try as much as we can to sound exactly like the original recordings. It is sad to see a very similar trend in the church world. If our hearts are sold out for Him, then our musical style preference should take a back seat to our open hearts releasing our praise to Him. Sometimes I hear musicians warming up to a familiar "secular" song on the church platform. I personally wonder why? Perhaps some people have not experienced the effect that some of these songs can negatively have on some listeners? 

The church platform should be a place of holiness. I believe we are called to holiness.  We are called and honoured to worship the Lord. God is worthy to be honoured with all of our hearts, in Spirit and in Truth. 


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