Our Summer Leadership Intern & his thoughts!

This is not usually the time of month I post my blog but we have something new and exciting here at GBC.  We have a leadership intern here for the summer named Peter Lewis. Peter is part of the GBC family who is studying at Bible College and is considering a calling to music ministry. He has some thoughts to share on music and worship so I'd like to make this forum available to him. So with no further adieu, here's Peter!

Peter's Blog: Creation to Salvation
This past year, I was on a travelling worship band with my college. The band ended off the year with a tour to Alberta where we went around to different churches to lead worship, do worship workshops, and play games with youth groups. Although this trip was enjoyable, it was, as you can imagine, mentally draining. So, we took one day off to visit Jasper National Park; one of the countries most beautiful places. Seeing the mountains up close for the first time with the deep turquoise coloured lakes surrounding them made my heart sing God’s praise. God created the universe in all of its beauty and put humanity on this planet for our good and, despite our continual rebellion, he continues to hold the world together for our good.
This is grace.

Just recently, a close friend of mine from school told me about a lesser-known Christian musician, Drakeford. Despite having a similar name to a well known secular artist, Drakeford has encouraged me through much of his music. The song Creation to Salvation still gives me shivers when I listen to it. Drakeford intended for it to be spoken work poetry but added music to it and turned it into a song. It starts by describing creation and its perfection and contrasts that by describing the hopelessness that resulted from the fall. “In a world of desperation and trial and tribulation and disorientation… this is what it’s like when we live in separation from God”

The second verse dives into the feelings of guilt. Guilt can be good, but it can also be bad. Good guilt leads to repentance and is from God. Evidently, bad guilt is from Satan and he poisons us with it to encourage us to run from God. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says “godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation but worldly grief produces death.” No one would be saved without guilt! It is the first step to salvation; recognizing our sin. God gives it to us as a loving Father corrects His son or daughter; so that we would repent and stop doing what harms ourselves, others, and ultimately God Himself. “Worldly grief” it the lie that God can never forgive us. It is the lie that something is wrong when it is not. This does lead to death because it does not lead to Christ.

Once we are saved, once we see our sin as sin and trust in Christ alone to pay for it, then we can have a full assurance that we are forgiven. Any guilt that makes us, as Drakeford puts it “run from the voice of the Lord, scared that He’ll release all the wrath that was stored for the sons and daughters of hell, Satan and all of his angels that fell” is from Satan. Nothing can change that, even our disobedience of God.
This is grace.

“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)
I would encourage you to listen to the song and read through the lyrics.