Something Old Something New By Brandon L. Smith

I had a wonderful time through the Christmas holidays traveling and visiting with family.  The 
gifts for my two year old daughter were abundant from her grandparents.  It was wonderful to see her face light up after opening her presents with great anticipation.  As the time with family came to an end my wife and I stumbled upon a book.  When I say stumble upon I really mean my father-in-law suggested that we take a look at his new purchase.  It was a historical book charting the existence of a small town in central Texas.  The name of the town was San Saba.  We quickly became intrigued by this find and began to turn the pages of history.  We found a page dedicated to a man named James Reavis, my wife's grandfather.  It astounded us that he had accomplished so much.  With every line we read our amazement grew as a story unfolded of a man's past detailed in a history book.  We found out that he was appointed judge and started a police force just to name a couple of accomplishments.  Our minds became filled of a past we could only read and dream about. 

Not 24 hours later on the last leg of our trip we stopped to stay the night at my parents house.  My mother brought to the table what seemed to be an old photo album.  She opened it's contents to me and I saw a young man who had many of the same features my father had.  It was not my father though. This man was my grandfather.  His name was Forrest Smith.  The album shared the history of his time in the air force during World War II.  Close up pictures of Queen Mary, Princess Elizabeth, and Clark Gable caused my mind to wonder about the possibilities of what it was like to stand in the presence of such noble and famous people.  

You might be wondering how this story of my Christmas travels might be of help to you as a worship leader or pastor.  Well, it's all in the history.  Things that are old have reason to their existence.  If we will take the time to understand them we might find them useful in birthing creativity.  This is where the "something new" comes into play.  Our set times of worship through out the week can have a great impact if we will remember our songs of old.  They will be new to many that have never heard them and a friendly reminders to those that cherish them.  We may have to polish them up a bit musically or leave them just the way they were initially created.  Either way they can spark something new in us as we worship our King.  I'll leave you this quote from Winston Churchill to kick start your new year.

"The farther backward you look, the further forward you are likely to see."

Have a happy New Year.