Warning: this post is not about submarines or lean manufacturing. While there is some historical information buried in it, that is not the sole focus of the post. If talking about faith and beliefs triggers you, please return to your other favorite spots for the day.
Can I get an Amen?
Quiet day today. Debbie is resting. She finally got caught by the Covid bug so we are in a stand down recovery mode. She was a dutiful citizen and got three shots but we are finding out that the sneaky little monster can outwit even the best of modern medical intentions.
Needless to say, we did not go to church today. But we did do our daily devotions which includes prayer, a reading from the Upper Room and the scriptures that come along with the daily read. It’s a habit we started a while ago and I find that the day goes better when things follow that path.
I was thinking a lot about a conversation I had with a young friend last night. We worked together at a small church for a few years and had developed a good friendship. He is growing in his faith and was one of the members of the congregation that really seemed to get the messages I was presenting. He is also an incredibly talented musician and provided the music for the services.
After Easter, several members of the leadership team made it clear that my time there was over. I am a gospel preacher with very conservative leanings. I never interjected politics into my messages, but I did talk a lot about what the scripture says about following God’s path. One of the leaders is a hard left party official from another party and stopped coming when I would preach. We also found out that she was working to turn others away for me being there. All things considered, I just felt it was time to move on.
During my time there (over two years not counting Covid shutdown) my musician friend and I worked closely to make sure the music matched the message. I also asked him to add the word Amen to the hymns. We used two different Presbyterian hymn books and in many cases, the word Amen was eliminated some time ago. That follows the pattern set by the Methodist church which led the way in purging Amen from their hymns.
I grew up in a church where the Amen was part of nearly every hymn.
The word itself has a lot of unique meanings.
The Cambridge Dictionary has one of the best definitions and it captures my beliefs. When Amen is said or sung at the end of a prayer or a religious song it expresses agreement with what has been said. Simple. Elegant. A beautiful word that allows you to further commit to what you just said or sang.
Amen is a word of Biblical Hebrew origin. The word originated in the Hebrew Scriptures, as a confirmatory response; it is found in Deuteronomy as a confirmatory response made by the people. Moreover, in the Books of Chronicles (16:36), it is indicated that around 1000 BC, the word was used in its religious sense, with the people responding “Amen” upon hearing the blessing.
Amen is used 78 times in the Bible. (Some scholars say more, some less)
Amen as a Confirmatory response.
When you say the word Amen, you confirm what you just prayed or sang. You are committed to the actions or beliefs that you just said or sang. It should never be taken lightly even though too many people do.
In 1989, the Methodist led the charge to remove the Amen based on their interpretation of the writings of Erik Routley in Church Music and the Christian Faith (Carol Stream, IL: Hope Publishing Co., 1978), whose essay on the liturgical use of “Amen” is included in its entirety in The Hymns of The United Methodist Hymnal (Diana Sanchez, Volume Editor; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989, pp. 269-271).
Deconstruction
Alisa Childers, author of “Another Gospel?” describes deconstruction in this way:
“Deconstruction is the process of going through everything you’ve ever believed about God and Jesus—the Bible, Christianity, all of the doctrines, all of the history—everything you thought about it, and you’re sort of rethinking everything.”
In other words, we destroy all of the creeds, words, bible verses we disagree with and the very fruit of the spirit that makes us Christian.
From 1989 until now, the main line churches have continued their slide into obscurity. There is still a lot of legacy money and large buildings. But more and more those buildings are empty shells. The once proud Methodist church is facing a crisis of schism because of its internal fundamental differences. It is no longer a church of God, it is a church of progressive theology versus traditional theology.
https://um-insight.net/topics/umc_schism/
Amen
The loss of the word Amen means that you no longer have to commit. Not that most would know that. Theology is only taught in seminary now and even then what you get form too many seminaries is watered down feel good messages diluted with man inspired progressivism. Social justice is the driving need. I recently heard a major church leader say that systemic racism was the biggest problem facing his denomination.
No sir. The hundreds of empty pews and the lack of enough pastors to carry forth God’s word is the biggest problem facing your denomination. Your attempts to be too much like the world are your greatest failings.
Can I get an Amen?
So, what’s the point of this blog post? Well, I’m purging a bit. I hate having to leave work undone, but I am at the age where I know when the dark forces have aligned to a point where no amount of work will make a difference.
My young friend wanted some advice. Since I have been gone, the old forces have decided to purge their memories of me. The first thing to go was the use of the Amen at the end of the hymns. He was directed to stop using it in his playing. And it really bothered him since we had talked about why it was significant to the worship.
Now I can’t say if the word itself was offensive or just that I brought it back. A true progressive would want it purged to show enlightenment. My denomination is also filled with feminists that wanted at one point to add a-woman every time you say A-men. You know, the whole paternalism thing. God the Father. Jesus Christ His Son.
My young friend wanted to know if he should move on. I told him that he needed to be where he could spiritually grow. Only he can answer that question. Several others that were in the same place have already left. He is young enough and talented enough that another church filled with the spirit and solid scriptural teaching would be thrilled to have him. But one thing I asked him: please don’t give up on God. Please find a home that will help you to grow and serve.
I realize I have violated one of the cardinal rules of blogging.
Again. Not only have I done political things but now I have touched the third rail of religion.
Very sorry.
In a few weeks, I will be back to blogging about submarines, history, the Navy and other things. But this was on my mind.
God bless you and I pray you find the peace that passes understanding in your life. Amen.
1 Chronicles 16:36
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting.
Then all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.
Preacher Bob
theleansubmariner 
Amen 🙏
Sent from my iPhone
Thanks. I really needed that this morning.
Well and clearly said. I’ve heard “May it be so” as well. What a call for recommitment, though. Thanks for all you do, Mister Mac (or Pastor Bob – same thing, I think).
My pastor’s text today: John 13:34 “I give you a new commandment – to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (NET) Amen, and amen.
Thanks for the thought. I have never been ordained as a Pastor… in my life I made several starts to achieve it and stopped short. Preacher is an older title that really reflects about twenty-six years of giving messages in a number of smaller churches. John 13:34 is needed today
Mac
Amen and amen.
I came up in the E&R (AKA The Church of Prussia) which while a bit confused between Luther and Calvin pretty much had their heads on straight. Then they merged into the UCC, and now make the Methodists look conservative. I escaped to the Lutheran church, unfortunately, the branch that grew from the Scandanavian church, and now it’s going that way. The Missouri Synod is likely my future, but 35 or so miles is quite a drive to go to church, so for now, I’m essentially unchurched.
Preach it, Brother, Kyrie Eliason!
Always great to hear from you my friend. So much change and so little time left.
Mac
Amen!
Debby!
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A heartfelt AMEN!!!! It seems there is so much “modernizing” and “updating” that really are nothing more than ways to dilute our Christian beliefs and attempt to remove all meaning. Yes. Amen and amen!
Amen
Sent from my iPhone Ron Bycroft
Well said my friend!
Isaiah 41:10
Amen and thank you.
If I may, I can relate a submarine story to your “Amen” article. I was at sea on the USS Guardfish September 1st 1983. Coincidentally, that was the day that Russia shot down a South Korean Air Lines commercial jet. We had no knowledge of those events that day, but it may have been a factor in what happened to us in more local west coast waters. We were conducting a Torpex. For those unfamiliar with the term, we shoot exercise torpedoes which have all the brains of a “warshot” torpedo but are non-explosive and float rather than sink after they shut down. This is so that they can be recovered and reused. There is a small Navy vessel called (go figure) a Torpedo Retriever that is tasked with hauling these exercise torpedoes out of the water and bringing them home.
There also happened to be a Russian fishing Trawler in the vicinity (as most people know they aren’t there to fish), and it was making some VERY aggressive maneuvers to try to cut off the Retriever and get the torpedo for themselves. There is some debatable points as to if this would be considered theft or legal salvage… but in any case, this was not something our Commanding Officer was willing to let happen, and gave the order to make tube two ready in all respects (which contained a real exploding warshot fish). You could hear the cheers billowing up from the torpedo room as the Torpedomen thought they were going to get to do the job they had been trained to do.
The mood in the Control Room was much more somber… in fact, you could hear a pin drop. As the battle stations Geographic Plotter it was my job to “back up” the fire control system with a hand drawn picture of the situation (where we were, where the target was, where each was headed, how fast each was going, etc.). We used different colored pencils to represent different things, but we always used red to lay out the torpedo track when fired. I noticed that the tip of the red pencil was broken, and I tried to be as quiet as possible with the mechanical sharpener, but it sounded like a cement mixer in the quiet room. All eyes went to me, and all I could do is shrug my shoulders and keep grinding.
To make a long story short, the Retriever was in fact able to recover the torpedo, and we did not have to shoot our weapon in anger. As we secured from battle stations it was still very quiet. As I was putting all the Geo Plot equipment away I looked at that red pencil for a long time, and then I did the only thing that seemed appropriate to me. I put the point of that sharped red pencil on the edge of the plotting table and snapped the point off. The Skipper heard that, looked at me, then looked at the pencil, then looked back at me again. He knew EXACTLY what I was thinking and said “Amen”.
I can not think of a better description of the word.
ICFTBMT1(SS) Maxey, USN (retired)
Amen and Amen!
Amen!