God Plans (Trust and Obey) (song)

Note: Here's another old favourite from the archives. Just like one of my favourite hymns says, "Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey."

The Bible says that we are worth much more than the birds that are sold for a penny- we’re worth much more than a flock of seagulls even! So if God thinks of us and takes care of us (Luke 11)- why would we not just simply trust Him and obey Him? Don’t run away- trust and obey!

God Plans (Trust and Obey)
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(parody of “I Ran (So Far Away)” by A Flock of Seagulls) (copyright by Nathan Ludwick 6/9/2013)
(Genesis 1-3, Numbers 13-14, Jonah 1-4, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalms 33, Proverbs 19:21, Proverbs 16:33, Proverbs 16:25, Proverbs 16:1-3, Proverbs 16:9, Jeremiah 29:11, John 14:1, John 14:23)

I walk alone- Genesis dude
I never thought I’d meet a girl like you
Eve’s the girl I choose
We got ensnared by serpent’s lies
Opened our eyes and realized we’re nude
Heard God striding through

And we scrammed- we panicked and hid away
God just asked- He asked where we were- Hey!
We couldn’t get away

A cloud appears above our heads
And fire by night- both guiding our whole crew
Guides us to subdue
The Lord’s behooving- in Numbers read
The Lord says what is real is Canaan’s through
The Lord will conquer, dudes!

But we ran! We ran from God’s plan- Hey!
Promised Land- we’re banned ‘cause we didn’t obey!
40 year desert stay!

Received command to preach (to) this place
“You go to Nineveh now”- I refused
A big fish stopped my coup
Spat out on land to try again
Been floating in fish three days (and) nights- I’m through
God’s will will come through

When I ran, I ran so far away
I should have just done what’s right- obey!

When God plans, His plans come true always
So don’t run- just go trust and obey!
(Trust and obey!)

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Will You Believe and Ask Him? (song)

Note: Another favourite from the archives. One of my magic references in the song- "The Magician", a short-lived action/adventure show that utilized magic as a means of stopping the bad guys and starred Bill Bixby, recently finally got a DVD release! :-) And that deeper magic of Aslan is finally set to come back to theaters in the near future with things moving along nicely with "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair" movie! We must believe in (deeper) magic! Of course, it's always timely to consider Christ and His claims and what we will do with His offer of salvation. As 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, now is the day of salvation!
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This recounts a specific incident in The Bible. It’s about a certain magician who came face to face with the most powerful magic he’d ever seen. And when he got a lovin’ spoonful of that magic, he just had to have it at any price. But what he didn’t realize was that if you just believe and ask, this magic is totally free! (And yes- bonus points for catching the various magic references I just had to make- especially the one at the end! For Narnia- and The Lion of Judah!) 

“Will You Believe and Ask Him?” 
(parody of “Do You Believe in Magic?” by The Lovin’ Spoonful) 
(copyright by Nathan Ludwick 4/24/2010) 
(Acts 2:38, Acts 8:4-25) 

“Will you believe and ask Him right into your heart?” 
Now then Simon believed that sorcerer upstart 
And his magic- well, it used to be groovy 
Acts 8 reveals Simon’s like an old time news reel 
Philip tells him ‘bout The Master- how He’ll free your soul 
But it’s like Simon now felt a learner in a brave new world 

Yeah, Houdini’s magic- don’t bother to choose 
Earvin Johnson’s Lakers; Orlando and crew 
Bibxy’s “Magician”- or then Merlin beguiles 
They can’t buy off the faith no matter how hard they try 
The peeps start talking- Simon’s not The Divine 
Now they got Christ, so they get baptized 

Then they receive The Spirit- Pete and John laying 
Their hands on them wowing Simon- “Are you selling?” 
“And maybe, if the money is right” 
Well, Pete cuts him off now, stating, “You ain’t right” 
“Your sins- renounce them, baby, then you’ll see” 
“How the magic’s in The Spirit and The Spirit’s in me” 

Yeah, Will you believe and ask Him? 
Yeah, believe in the passion of God’s own Son 
Believe in the power of Resurrection 
Believe deeper magic that can set you free 
Ohh, talking ‘bout Aslan 

Do you believe in Aslan? (Do you believe like I believe?)[background vocal] 
Will you receive Redeemer? (Do you believe like I believe?)[background vocal] 
Will you believe and ask Him? (Do you believe like I believe?)[background vocal] 
(Fade) 
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A Dusting of Stargazing

I'm a bit late for All Saints' Day, but I had been thinking on this earlier and thought it fit well. Evolutionary theory says that we are stardust- that we are literally made of the atoms of exploding stars through the Big Bang and evolution. I've seen this explained in movies where it's made to sound all cosmic and romantic because the sense of eternity that we associate with stars, which can last for so many ages. It's like a touch of The Divine, you could say. And The Bible says that's halfway right. The Divine has made us with eternity in our hearts. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) We are made to be eternal beings. We are made of dust alright- but it's dust from the ground, not the stars. (Genesis 2 explains that God made Adam from the dust of the ground and then made Eve from one of his ribs.) The Bible mentions this a couple of times. Psalms 103:14, in detailing the depth of God's compassion, explains that He remembers how we are formed, that we are but dust. From ashes to ashes and from dust to dust- we are made from the dust and to the dust we will return. (Genesis 3:19 and Ecclesiastes 3:20)
Another passage talks about this, but I think it's one that gets buried in the midst of a super famous chapter about the Resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:35-49
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”;[a] the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall[b] also bear the image of the man of heaven.

The evolutionary theory ascribes a divine composition to our bodies without acknowledging The Divine Being Who "infused us with holy". (To briefly quote Chris Rice's "The Final Move") It is true in that sense that we are made of the Bright Morning Star of Heaven (Revelation 22:16). He made us in His image. He is the only reason we can take wonder at our bodies and our creation. The glory is reflected in us the created but it reflects back to The Creator! When we marvel at the beauty of the moon's shimmering brightness at night, in one sense we are marveling at the moon, but ultimately we're marveling at the source of the moon's light- the sun. In the same way, when we marvel at humanity because we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalms 139:13-14), we are really marvelling at the source of our wonderfully made bodies- The Son.
Psalms 8 asks God, "What is man that You care for him?" We are but dust, yet God made us a little lower than the angels. In our search for wonder and meaning in that wonder, we must wonder as we wander about the wonder around us and within us and it should lead us to the One Whose Name is Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God.
And when we realize we are not as strong as we think we are (that's a Rich Mullins reference), we can acknowledge our need for The God Who created the cosmos and everything in it. He's the only One Who can bring new life to dying stars and planets. He Himself came from Heaven to die to pay for all sins. And because the Eternal One of Heaven rose, we know we will also rise in Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:14) Our faith in Him assures us of our place with Him. And then we become complete in Him- our frail forms of dust from the ground are transformed into Morning Stardust instead as we take our place beside The Ancient of Days in the heavens- in Heaven- forever. :-)
Praise God for His amazing love that fills us with wonder every time. Romans 5:8 is forever wondrous to me- Jesus, You are the Wonder and Mystery I seek to behold. May I ever be captivated by Your awesomeness too great for words.