“The devil, the originator of sorrowful anxieties and restless troubles, flees before the sound of music almost as much as before the Word of God… Music is a gift and grace of God, not an invention of men. Thus it drives out the devil and makes people cheerful. Then one forgets all wrath, impurity, and other devices.” — Martin Luther

I have found that it brings great peace and joy to our home any time we make sure there is some kind of music playing in the background. It doesn’t matter which genre happens to be on – and don’t doubt that it changes many times throughout the day. But I’m consistently amazed at how much it seems to “brighten” the mood of our home when the silence is regulated by a nice melodic backdrop (or soundtrack, if you will).

Like most people, I’ve always enjoyed music to one degree or another—though I’ve always been a bit of a technophile and geek and preferred the new digital technologies blended with the old. For instance, I’d love to be able to rip an old LP to a WAV file, convert it to a large MP3 and play it on an amp powered by vacuum tubes hooked to some good speakers. Heck, I’m the guy who used to record hours of FM radio stations on video tape for the higher fidelity, then sync an audio tape to record the section I wanted, and play that section of the video tape while recording to the audio tape, culminating in a custom music tape. But only in the last decade has music been more accessible to anyone at almost all times, regardless of budget or location. As a matter of fact, I’d say it can arguably be said that we’ve gone through a bit of a musical renaissance recently.

Artists are freer of the constraints of music companies and producers than ever before. Distribution has become so easy and quick it’s ridiculous. Storage possibilities are relatively infinite. Listening options? The number of choices is dizzying.

Case in point: Pandora. Initially, I wasn’t sold on it. But once I learned how to train a station to my liking, wow. I can’t believe how many times I find myself loving stations I’ve created. It took a little bit of time, but it was so worth it. (And I found it took more time just because it took longer and longer to find songs I didn’t like so that I could “dislike” them to remove them from the station.)

Now, I’m fully aware of the limitations of Pandora. Let’s say you’re like me and you just love all the songs you listen to on a particular channel you’ve created. But if you’re in the mood for a particular song, you’re out of luck. You need to wait for that song to come back randomly into the rotation again. And once it’s over, you can’t go back and listen again. (This assumes you haven’t purchased and downloaded the MP3 of it yet – MP3s being another fantastic technological advancement.)

Enter Grooveshark. Wow. You want music? You got it! I’ve begun going through my Pandora “like” list for different channels and re-creating them on Grooveshark. You can rip your own music and put it on Grooveshark if it’s not available and you can listen to others’ ripped and uploaded music, creating custom lists, which you can manipulate just as if it were iTunes on your home computer. I’ve already purchased many MP3s which I would not have known about or been interested in if I hadn’t have had the chance to listen to them via Grooveshark.

Martin Luther understood how important music is. It’s simply one of the best gifts we could have ever been given by God. And listening to it consistently in my home on little speakers using our iPhones or iPods elevates the mood wherever it echoes.

I wanted to pass this along because I believe, especially when times are hard like they are now, it is vital that we make use of such plain and uplifting gifts to help us avoid the pitfalls of despair and weak faith. Music is healing, causes joy and contentment, and brings peace. If you don’t make use of such freely available technology now, I highly recommend that you start.

As an example, I will make one of my Grooveshark sets available below – a jazz set I’ve been building based on my “Dave Brubeck” channel on Pandora. I’m hoping that I can use these technologies to also fire up some great stuff for the holidays. (In case of emergency, just get some external powered speakers for your computer and crank’em up!)

I’m going to make a recommendation just in case there are some of you out there who do not yet know about this wonderful FREE app for your mobile device. If you’ve ever searched for a decent Bible app for your phone or mobile device, you probably already have at least heard of YouVersion, which is made available very generously by the folks over at LifeChurch.tv.

I downloaded the app for my iPhone very soon after its initial release years ago and have loved it ever since. But YouVersion just keeps making it better. After making some of the most popular and common translations available in audio format, I’ve found that, without having to hunt for a set of CDs to rip or MP3s to download, I can actually listen to the entirety of Scripture as I drive using the YouVersion app. Today as I was listening to Isaiah, I decided I had to drop an entry here about it.

I’m sure many (if not most) of you already know about the app generally speaking, and may already have it installed on your mobile device. But if you’re like me and are a long time user or are even relatively new to it, you may not be aware of some of the features and haven’t been taking advantage of it as much as you could. I highly recommend you go pick up the free app and create a free account on the YouVersion.com website so that you can download your favorite translations directly to your device. As of today, the versions in English which are available in audio which are most likely to appeal to you are: ESV, NASB, KJV, NIV, and NLT*. There are a few others, but they’re a little more obscure. (Personally, I prefer ESV when listening to the spoken version.)

Oh, and if you don’t speak English or it is not your first language, they probably have a translation for you, too! (Though I can’t vouch for the audio option for non-English versions.)

Seriously. Go get the YouVersion Bible app. If you’re at all like me, you could use some brushing up on your Scripture. Getting the time to actually read Scripture is becoming more and more of a luxury. But drive time? That I have.

I am SO thankful that LifeChurch.tv has made this resource available, at the best price possible, in such a way that it is as useful as it is attractive. I also have to thank the owners of the rights of the translations for allowing the text and audio to be made available via the YouVersion app. Too many companies tend to be fairly protective of the content to which they own the rights, so I always love being able to give shout-outs to those which have been so generous.

*I should note that it appears that the audio versions of these translations DO NOT download directly to your device along with the text. This means that in order to listen to the audio version you will need some sort of network connection, even if you’ve already downloaded the text version locally to your device.

This past February marks my 30th year as a Christian and my 21st year as a Lutheran Christian. Reflecting on the years gone by, I was struck by something that I had noted in the past, but had not really meditated on until recently: the stability and longevity engendered by the Lutheran doctrine and way of life.

Maybe other mainline traditions experience something similar, but during my sojourn in American Evangelicalism it was something entirely foreign. My friends, acquaintances, and I would change churches or denominations on a semi-regular basis. Even those who were loyal to a particular denomination or movement often changed congregations within their respective church bodies. It was part of the deal, always fine-tuning your theology or ecclesiology, or just plain finding a pastor that you liked or who could preach better than your present pastor.

I always felt that my ‘spiritual walk’ was missing some key ingredient that would make me complete or give me peace. To that end I listened to dozens of radio and TV preachers, hoping to find what was lacking. I sometimes would attend a couple different churches trying to cobble together some type of coherent spirituality. It all seemed so transitory and unrooted. It was a miserable existence.

Elsewhere on this blog I have recounted my conversion to Lutheran Christianity, so I won’t recap it here.

However, soon after my confirmation I started to notice some interesting and impressive things. I learned of pastors who were fourth- and fifth-generation pastors in our denomination. While most people I knew were struggling to raise their kids in the faith, here were multiple generations in the ministry. In any congregation over forty or fifty years old, often times several generations of particular families would have been members of the congregation and have died and been buried by the pastors of that congregation. I also noticed a rock solid generational stability in many of the families that I had never seen in my own family nor in any of the congregations I had belonged to in the past.

In 2009 I transferred my membership to a local Lutheran congregation after we had moved. Thinking about it, I realized that I had been a member of my previous congregation for seventeen years, and the only reason I was transferring was because we moved 55 miles away and could no longer commute. At one time in my past that kind of longevity would have been very unlike me.

So what is my point? Will becoming a Lutheran Christian solve all your problems and make your kids believers or pastors? Will you automatically shed all your baggage and drama and become settled and at peace? The truthful answer is “No.” No church is perfect.

But, Lutheran spirituality lends itself well to such things and cultivates peace and stability over the long haul. It is a theology that you can build a stable and sane life upon, and that gives itself to being passed on to your children. It equips you well for life by telling the truth about our condition and our existence as both sinners and saints, and teaches us that we serve God through our vocations, not some drummed up ‘Christian service’ or ‘church work.’ It shows us the freedom we have in Christ, so we don’t have to keep up the super-spiritual façades, and can be who we really are.

In my case, I no longer have a pervading and unfocused sense of guilt that used to hang over me like a cloud. My church attendance and devotions are because I really want to, not because I have to. The tools I have at my disposal, the Word, the Lord’s Supper, confession and absolution, solid liturgical worship, and the Catechism (both Large and Small) keep me rooted in the Word and my baptism in a way that has been deeply satisfying, and has helped me mature. I belong here and these are my people. I will be buried in Lutheran dirt.

I use the word ‘mundane’ in the title, not because I think Lutheranism is boring in that sense, but because it is an ordinary, every day kind of thing—something that builds stability and can keep you going for the long run. It can be easily grasped by a child, yet an advanced theologian will never finish plumbing its depths.

Every Christian at some point stakes out a doctrinal position and makes a stand living out that particular spiritual path. The Apostle Paul says in I Cor. 14:5 “Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.” I have become convinced of the Lutheran way. This blog and NRP are our way of sharing what we have found. Below are some resources that are helpful if you are unfamiliar with this path.

The Spirituality of the Cross by Gene Veith

Lutheranism 101

Luther’s Small Catechism

The Lutheran Confessions

Book of Concord Pocket Edition

The Lutheran Catechetical Society recently filmed and produced a three DVD set of the Higher Things youth conference Coram Deo.

Taken from the LCS site:

‘CORAM DEO? What exactly does “Coram Deo” mean? Well, its Latin for “before God,” as in His presence, under His reign, etc. Think a bit about living Coram Deo, before God. What does it mean that you live Coram Deo? Under the Law, life before God is terrifying. It is living under His judgment and wrath. But under the Gospel, life before God is beautiful, a restoration of what God intended when He made Man in the beginning.

This 3-disc DVD set includes the following…

– Four plenary sessions (2 each) – Rev. William Cwirla (President, Higher Things) and Rev. Brent Kuhlman (Board of Directors, Higher Things)

– Daily Sermons:

Rev. William Cwirla

Rev. Michael Kumm

Rev. George Borghardt (Conference Executive, Higher Things)

Rev. Brent Kuhlman

Rev. Marcus Zill (Christ on Campus Executive, Higher Things)

Rev. William Weedon (Chaplain, CORAM DEO)

Rev. Mark Buetow (Media Executive, Higher Things)

– Opening Divine Service

– 12 hymns (audio)

– Breakaway Sessions:

Dating, Relationships, and THAT (Rev. George Borghardt)

Talking to Your Non-Lutheran Friends about Jesus (Rev. Mark Buetow)

Mormonism Exposed! (Rev. Brent Kuhlman)

Feminist, Fundamentalist, or…? (Ms. Sandra Ostapowich, Conference & Retreat Coordinator, Higher Things)

-3 DVDs, approx. 8.5 hrs.’

We here at NRP are big fans of Higher Things, and these DVDs promise to be something special. You can purchase them from the Lutheran Catechetical Society here. (Scroll to the bottom of the page.)