From the Home Place

September 18, 2025

To follow up on yesterday’s post “They Danced!” we need to consider some of the elements of a good dance. First, there must be good music that is comfortable to dance to. Once again, today’s Country Music seems to be lacking in both categories, but is definitely short on danceability. Most of today’s artists need to sit down and listen to county music of the 70’s & 80’s. That was when writers wrote music that they knew someone would be dancing to, so they wrote music that fulfilled that goal. It would appear that today’s writers have a different goal, to influence minds with an agenda and to just plain make money.

Sadly, that is also the goal of so much preaching today – to influence minds with an agenda and to just plain make money. Oh, for sure, there are some really good preachers out there, but because of the human desire to be entertained, there are plenty of preachers planting poor seed on rocky ground with the sole intent of making money and tickling people’s ears. Remember, we are closing nearly 300 churches per month in America, sadly some of them need to be.

Well, back to dancing. First, we need danceable music, to which I would suggest the Bible. Read the Psalms and the Song of Solomon. Ecclesiastes would also add plenty of good music for the soul. Then we need a dance partner. As we discussed yesterday, as Christians, our dance partner needs to be the Holy Spirit. He leads; we follow, in step with the music.

But before any of that comes together, we need faith/trust. As I have stated before, I started dancing shortly after I learned to walk, or close to that. In our household, when us boys went to a dance, we were expected to dance with every lady at the dance, both young and old. When asking a young girl to dance they would often comment, “I don’t know how,” to which I would respond, “Come on, I’ll teach you.” A blessing I still enjoy today is to teach the younger gals how to dance. You see, the best way to teach an inexperienced lady to dance is to help them feel the music, and then to ask them “Now, trust me.”

At that point we take off, facing one another, with her back in the direction we are going around the dance floor. It’s amazing how quickly an inexperienced young lady will soon pick up the key to following, and trusting, her dance partner when she can’t see where she is going!

Have you ever felt like there was a time when the Holy Spirit was pushing you backwards across the dance floor? I certainly have. Yet the same result flows out of that relationship as well, following with trust. Let’s hit the pause button for a moment here: our human nature is to be in charge at all times. Yet, the Spirit of God is asking us to “trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.” Man, you talk about good music!

So now that we have good music (the Bible), a trustworthy dance partner (the Holy Spirit), and have learned to trust Him, the only thing left is to have a nice visit while we are dancing. You see, especially for young dancers, conversation keeps them from trying to lead. Yet for all dances to be enjoyable, there has to be good conversation, and that is a two-way street. We need to listen as much, or perhaps even more than we talk.

The same with the Holy Spirit, don’t forget to give Him time to speak as well. It seems that in our hurry-up American culture, when we talk with someone, we spend our time talking at them instead of with them. This statement would appear to be especially true when we are talking to God. During your personal times of prayer, may I encourage you to listen as much as you talk. After all, God has really important things to communicate to us as well!

Well, here we are dancing away the evening. Laughing and getting to know the people around us. Besides all of that, dancing is a great form of exercise. It sure beats sitting in front of the idiot box all evening and then wondering why my joints are getting stiff and my body is gaining weight.

So there you have it. Grab your Bible and go dance with the Holy Spirit! But remember, you have to trust Him, listen to Him and follow Him for the dance to be really enjoyable. No leading!

Enjoying the dance with you, Neal