One of the many issues the journey of a disciple of Christ has to wrestle with is the matter of preeminence vs. predominance. I have pondered this often. Colossians 1:18 says “that in ALL things He might have the preeminence.” (caps are mine!) It seems that we often settle for just getting to predominance, and being satisfied there. What’s the big deal between preeminence and predominance, you say? The difference is HUGE! (caps are mine!) If you think about it, predominance is anything more than 50%. If the scales are even and you place anything on one side or the other, you end up with one side being predominant. So, does Colossians 1 say that in all things that Christ should be 51%…and that’s OK? No, it says preeminence. Preeminence means absolutely nothing else above or ahead of Christ in our lives. 95% might be an “A” in the classroom, but it’s still only a good version of predominance…not preeminence. I don’t know if I’ll ever make it to preeminence, but as a disciple, that’s the goal!

Jubal, have you read Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart? That’ll give you some goals toward living out a life of preeminence!

Who and Why Jubal?

In the Bible, Jubal is mentioned just once. Genesis 4:21 (NIV) says: “His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes.” God chose Jubal to introduce music into the world and name him in the Bible…somewhere around the 4th generation of mankind’s recorded history. Pretty cool!

“Jubal House Publications” and “Jubal’s Jottings” are musical resources for worship and a series of blog posts about music and worship topics. At the end of each post, I like toaddress Jubal directly and muse a bit, wondering what Jubal might have thought about a piece of music or the discussed topic.

Jubal House Publications (JubalHouse.com) is designed to be a new created set of music in various styles. Along with the music, resources for the contextualization of the music is included for the benefit of those who lead and perform the music. 

In many of the Jubal’s Jottings posts, I sometimes express a somewhat strong opinion about one thing or another. Those opinions are always balanced out with grace, though that may not always be apparent in the post itself. I’ve had decades of experience with varied forms of musical worship. My care and concern is for both the leaders and the congregants, and my desire is to be pleasing to God in the process.

So, Jubal, I hope the music that is created and thoughts expressed bring your name from Genesis 4 into the 21st century…and honor your early artistic efforts! Thanks for starting it all!