Message in The Bible (song)

Just like the Coast Guard rescues stranded castaways from a desert island after finding their message in a bottle and just like the police come in to save the day and stop the bad guys- The Lord has come to our rescue to bring us salvation. He gave us a message in The Bible through the years that prophesied of His plan of salvation- all the way back to the Garden. From the first moment that man fell into sin, God was there with His rescue plan- just see Genesis 3:15- the seed of the woman will come and crush the serpent's head. But even before that-even before sin ever came into the world- God already had The Lamb slain- before the foundation of the world! (Revelation 13:8)
      Ultimately, Easter is when the plan was fulfilled- when Jesus came and died on the cross and rose again to pay for all sins. And this is really what we celebrate at Christmas- the promise fulfilled when Jesus came to be born to a virgin, laid in a manger in a stable, worshipped by shepherds and angels and grow up as the perfect Son of God. The Prince of Peace salvation brings- let loving hearts enthrone Him. And He has brought us peace with God- and He will one day come again and bring peace on earth permanently when He reigns supreme and ultimately takes us to Heaven. Merry Christmas and Happy Easter. :-)


"Message in The Bible"
(parody of "Message in a Bottle" by The Police; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 12/13/2014)
(Luke 1-2, Matthew 1-2, Mark 1:1, John 1:1-18, John 1:29, John 3:16, Isaiah 9:2, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6, Romans 10:9, Galatians 4:4, Acts 4:12, Genesis 3:15, Revelation 13:8, John 20:30-31, 1 John 5:13)

Just a captive, hey- in a land (of) darkness deep, oh
So Father shone The Way- a glowing light so great, oh
So go read this- Isaiah 9:2, yeah
Rescue me, oh Lord- I call on You, Messiah!

I'll send an S.O.S. to The Lord
I sent my S.O.S. to The Lord
I know that Yahweh hears me
I hope He comes soon- Lord's Christ
God told (me) He comes ere I die
Simeon's what I'm called, yeah
Luke 2 in The Bible, yeah

In time's fullness sending forth God's Son
In 3:15 Genesis- right from the start
The virgin conceives Immanuel
Lamb will save our lives but
Lamb was slain before start
Christ slain before the start of the world
It's in 13:8 Rev. in The Word
God wrote down so many signs
Recorded by prophets through time
Foretold so we would believe

Message in The Bible, yeah
(The) Message in The Bible, yeah
20:31 [three one] John wrote, yeah

On Christmas morning (The) Word became flesh and blood
1:14 John's Gospel- watched glory of The Lord
Means we're not alone- Thou didst leave Thy throne
John 3:16- God just gave His kid for our souls
God sent His S-o-n to the world
God sent His S-o-n to the world
I know that no one else saves
I know salvation comes by
Our hope in God's Son for Life
Romans 10:9 Paul told (how)
All sins have been paid (in) full, yeah
Message in The Bible, yeah
Christmas- birth of our Hope, yeah

Sending out J-E-S-U-S
Sending down J-E-S-U-S
Sending out J-E-S-U-S
Sending down J-E-S-U-S
Sending out J-E-S-U-S
Sending down J-E-S-U-S
(repeat many times)

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The Facts of Life and What to Do with Them (song)

Just a quick one here- I wrote this one pretty quickly for fun one day- and it's based on some of my favorite Bible verses. And yes- these are the facts of life that Christ taught us. :-)

"The Facts of Life and What to Do With Them"
(parody of "The Facts of Life" theme song by Alan Thicke, Gloria Loring and Al Burton; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 11/18/2014)
(1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 and John 14:6)

You take the good, discard the bad- You test 'em both and there you have- 1 Thess. 5: 21 line....
In next line we're taught avoid evil- We're growing-
now we know about the facts of life (from) the Word of Christ.
Well, the world always schemes- so be living up to His creed.
And suddenly, you're finding out the facts of life are all about Truth (all about Truth)- Truth! (All about Truth!)
We've only got One Way, Truth, Life- I've determined He's Jesus Christ! (Learning from 14 John) Learning the Word of Christ (Learning the Word of Christ) and learning the facts of Life!

Do Not Harden Your Heart (song)

After just posting a piece talking about music that honors God, I thought it would be appropriate to follow up with music that I surely hope honors God. That is always my intention in all my writings and everything in life, of course- it's at the heart of all I strive to do. And as God instructs us in the Old and New Testaments, we must not let our hearts harden, but rather keep them softened and pliable towards The Lord. When we start compromising and allowing sin into our lives, we make it easier and easier for our hearts to harden to what we know is right and wrong. As God said a number of times in The Bible, we must not let ourselves turn either to the right or the left- not even a quarter of the way to either direction- but instead stay steady on the straight and narrow path God has called us to walk. And this walk is not a walk in the park and not a flash in the pan. Sometimes it feels like it moves like The Flash though- but it's gonna pan out in the end because it's Christ who is working in and through us. (Galatians 2:20) Let's keep our eyes fixed on Him and our hearts softened to His voice as He leads us on.

"Do Not Harden Your Heart"
(parody of "Harden My Heart" by Quarterflash; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 10/31/2014)
(Exodus 17:1-7, Numbers 11, Numbers 14, Numbers 16, Numbers 20, Deuteronomy 9, Deuteronomy 15:7, Psalms 95, Hebrews 3-4, 1 Samuel 6:6, Psalms 81:7, Psalms 106:32-33, Habakkuk 2:4, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11:1-6)

Whining for some water
Exodus 17
At Meribah and
Massah- we're in sin
We're testing The Lord
And quarreling too, you guys
Drawing from a rock a stream
Moe hit the rock and it flowed (ohh ohh)
Saw the sign from God but ohh!
Ohh-ohh-ohh!

I'm gonna harden my heart
I'm gonna wallow in fears
I'm gonna spurn and grieve God here

All of our gripes-
We've been faithless with disdain
We've been walking by our feelings
(But) the righteous live by faith
Our leader Moses
Keeps bringing God appeals
Drawing from a rock a stream
In Numbers 20 also ohh-ohh
But this time, Moe lost his cool

Again, we hardened our hearts
Moe didn't follow God here
He lost his turn at Canaan there

(Instrumental Interlude)

Quarreling- our recurring theme
The desert tried our souls
And that's why God let us know
Ohh-ohh-ohh

So do not harden your heart
You need to swallow your pride
So go and turn to Psalms 95

Don't go and harden your heart
You need to swallow your pride
Don't go and harden your heart
You need to swallow your pride
Harken your heart
And choose to follow God right
Hebrews 3 and 4
Harken your heart
And let God soften your heart
If today His voice you hear
Then do not harden your heart
And don't get swallowed like Korah
Harken your heart
And choose to follow God near
Ohh-ohh-ohh
But do not harden your heart
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What Music Honors God?

[Note: Another addition from the archives on a topic that still continues to be a hot topic of contention for some churches and Christians at times. And I'm a big fan of music in general and so I wanted to repost this one particularly. I may do a follow-up piece at some point about Christian music in general and some of my thoughts on that. Enjoy and rock (or Gregorian chant) on- for Jesus! :-)]

Okay- whoa! I ran across this video on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LQTP6Ad5Og&mode=related&search=
(Now to be fair, this is a 10 minute video that's edited down from a 45 minute sermon- so apparently all the Scriptural references are somewhere in those other 35 minutes...)
But this was interesting to watch.  I  have experienced many styles of worship at churches, especially considering the church I grew up going to (good old Chaguanas Evangelical Bible Church in Trinidad [http://cebctt.com/])- the one I was at for most of my teen years (http://web.archive.org/web/20070502183429/http://www.pelionbaptist.com/)- and the "megachurch" Newspring (www.newspring.cc) that I went to for a while and my current church, which offers a blend of classic and contemporary styles. (www.brushycreek.org)
I don't agree with the views in the video- because I think it's most important that your heart is truly worshipping Jesus and I don't think He really cares what kind of music you're playing- (and you know He must be God if He can stand country music and actually enjoy it when it's praising Him! )
Yeah, I'm definitely NOT God.  I can stand country music when it's praising God- but enjoy it? ....I don't think so! (lol- I've learned to put up with it a little more over the years- still one of my least favorite styles of music, but there are a few country songs that I like.)
I recently read through a book at the library called "Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement".  Very interesting read- written by a guy who was into secular rock music, led worship at a church that did a lot of contemporary Christian music- and is now at a very traditional church that only uses traditional music- i.e. hymns.
http://www.amazon.com/Left-Contemporary-Christian-Music-Movement/dp/0852345178/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6198925-3183029?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174948872&sr=8-1
Anyway, I guess this is to say that I've been to both ends of the spectrum to some degree.  I've been at churches that stick closely to traditional hymns (and by the way- "And Can It Be?" by Charles Wesley still rocks my socks off! :-))  and my current church likes to use more recent worship music (like that great song that goes "And I know that You're alive- You came to fix my broken life- And I will sing to glorify- Your Holy Name- Jesus Christ!" :-))
And I wanted to be fair and listen to the author's points.  And the author of the book at least, does have some valid points.  He does bring out 1 Thessalonians 5:22 "Avoid every kind of evil." - Absolutely! We should definitely do this because we should do everything in The Bible.  Of course, if you read the verse right before that it says this - "Test everything. Hold on to the good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
I guess I grew up as a kid singing hymns in church, along with worship choruses (like Rich Mullins' "Awesome God", "What a Mighty God We Serve", "Seek Ye First", and lots of others you probably don't know for geographic reasons ...)
Of course, as a kid we also sang the hymns A LOT faster than the way they're sung in some of the churches I've been to in the USA. 
What I don't get is where these guys see that The Bible ever says rock and roll is evil?  I've yet to find that verse.  (And not to brag, but I have read them all at least twice- working on the third go round now....)
Who decided what was God's style of music? 
I think the heart of worship is WAY more important to God than the style of music.  This is the same reason God doesn't care if you sing like a nightingale or crow like a...well, crow.  The important thing is not so much how pretty your voice sounds- but how pretty your heart looks.  If you're truly worshipping God, I really don't think He cares beans about what style of music you're using.  I mean, this is the God who created like a gazillion kinds of bugs!  He made people different shades of skin.  I mean, the same style of music (yes, even that beloved country-rap ) does get boring after a while.  So I don't personally have any problem with different styles of music- as long as it's truly worshipping God.  The lyrics really make the song for me- not the music (though having good fun music you can rock out to is cool too)
Now keep in mind that I fully believe you can sing "How Great Thou Art" every single Sunday and God would never get tired of it.  I never get tired of singing it- it ROCKS!!!  Because God ROCKS!!!!!
But there's nothing wrong with playing blue's licks!  As Larry Norman put it "Why should the devil have all the good music?"
I can also sing "What's In a Name?" by Petra and totally rock out to it- and it definitely praises Jesus- Name above all names!
    I think we do need to not be a stumbling block to our brothers and sisters (1 Corinthians 10:32- "Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God")- but at the same time Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 9:22 "To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."
And then there's the Psalms.
"Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp." (Psalms 149:3)
"Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness. Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and the lyre, praise Him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord."  (Psalms 150)
Note that "Praise Him" is the most frequently repeated phrase here.  That's the most important thing. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ- with the Gregorian chants, with the pipe organs, with the baby grand piano, with the acoustic guitar, with the electric guitar, with the harp, with the drums, with the violin, with the flute, with the trumpet, with the tambourine, with your own dancing- and most importantly with your life!  Praise God with everything you've got! 
If hymns are reaching people and bringing them to salvation in Christ- AWESOME!  If Gregorian chants are reaching people and bringing them to salvation in Christ-AWESOME! If rock and roll is reaching people and bringing them to Christ-AWESOME!
Because ultimately it really doesn't matter what music you use or if you use any at all.  The Holy Spirit is what draws people to Jesus and brings them to salvation.  Not the music, the pews, carpet, pastor's preaching or anything else.  Just the Holy Spirit.  We get the awesome privilege of being His tools to witness for Him - and when we just share the Good News that Jesus Christ loves you to death- (literally on His part- but don't worry- He rose again! Talk about a love that really reaches from beyond the grave! ) then that's all that matters.  The Holy Spirit uses us and helps us get the right words out and brings people to salvation.  And we see that everything is about God- and we are used by Him for His purposes if we're open to Him.
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Edom's Seed and Israel's Seed (song)

Sometimes little things can give wings to much bigger things- and that can be true both for the negative and the positive. It may be a wonder to us to think of how two brothers could drift so far apart, but yet this is what The Lord prophesied would happen for the nations of Edom and Israel, which of course were founded by Esau and Jacob, respectively. And though Esau and Jacob (AKA Israel) eventually reconciled, their nations continued to be at odds- and a long-standing feud eventually came to a head in the shortest book of the Old Testament- the book of Obadiah. He was a prophet whom God sent to preach to the people of Edom about the evil way they had treated their brother nation of Israel. Edom was condemned to be destroyed for its haughtiness and evil treatment of Israel and ultimate rebellion against God. And God would restore Israel to its land and its things. And as He would later inspire Paul to write about, we must rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. And in everything, as much as it's possible and as much as it's up to us, we should live in peace with everyone. There is a powerful message of love for all people throughout The Bible, of course, and especially for our own brother- let's strive to live at peace with everyone and live together in love and perfect harmony (only possible through the perfection of Jesus living in us, of course)- just like the multiple colors of the fall leaves live together in peace and just like ebony and ivory live together in harmony side by side on the piano keyboard- just like the Master Tuner who plays out His perfect symphony through all His instruments as He choreographs and arranges.

"Edom's Seed and Israel's Seed"
(parody of "Ebony and Ivory" by Paul McCartney [featuring Stevie Wonder]; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 11/10/2014)
(Malachi 1:1-5, Genesis 25, Psalms 133, Psalms 137, Genesis 33, Galatians 3:28, Romans 12 [particularly verses 9-21], Obadiah [all 21 verses, but particularly 1:1-5, 1:10-14, and 1:15-21])

Edom's seed and Israel's seed
Share together a turbulent history
25 in Genesis- predicts
The Lord- old serves young!

Esau and bro
Their peoples were estranged- Seir and Zion opposed
The old feud began with Isaac's sons
Esau spurned his gift- Jacob stole it from his brother
The blessing and birthright
Then ran for his life

Eventually- Gen. 33
Bros together and forgiven- harmony!
Such a sight- Psalms 133:1
Oh, Lord- Shine on me!

[(With) Everyone- if it's up to me
(I'm) living in perfect harmony
(like) Ebony (and) Ivory, ooh]

Esau's folks
Those people had disdain for Jacob's, you know
They just stood while Bab-(mmm)-ylonians
Attacked their kin- Edom laughed- they'll get comeuppance
Edom's beat- (it's) prophesied
Obadiah 1:5

Edom thinks so pridefully
"Who can ever bring me down- or (bring) harm to me?"
Gliding high like an eagle you soar
The Lord brings down thee

None survive when house (of) Esau- he's burned
Your own returned deeds!

Everything's all rosy
Israel's returning home, you see
There will be Zion peeps
Escaping (from) burning- (and) it's holy
All hunky and dory
Written in Obadiah- read!

Elohim's Word- He keeps
Giving Israel back land and things
Edom- we learn from thee
Commiserate with those who weep
Romans 12:16 read
Living in Christ in harmony
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Endure A Little While Longer

(NOTE: Another entry from the archives, as I mentioned in the last post. I hope to have some new writings on various topics coming soon. :-) I hope this blesses and encourages you.)

(Revelation 2:3, Mark 13:13, 2 Timothy 2:12)

I just ran out into the cold winter weather to get the rest of my things in from the car with no jacket on. Of course, I've done brief sprints into the cold with shorts, T-shirt and sandals before. I was just thinking how it's funny that I'm willing to do silly and even foolhardy things at times when I know whatever discomfort I feel won't be long and I know the end result is worth it. It's harder... to remember that sometimes in the spiritual life, but the comparison is still true. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to serve The Lord with gladness and endure hardships as good soldiers of The Lord Jesus Christ. And though the trials seems long and arduous and even unbearable or impossible at times, we know that it won't be that long overall and the end result (the strengthening of our faith, as James 1 talks about) will be worth it. Of course, we also have the promise of the ultimate destination at the end- as Philippians 1:6 says (along with numerous others), God will present us perfect in Christ Jesus one day in Heaven! The One who is coming will come and will not delay- He will come in just a very little while. (Now whether that little while is a matter of minutes or a matter of millennia, we don't know and can't say- but regardless of whether The Lord returns in our lifetime or not)- the righteous one will live by faith. And God's not pleased with us if we shrink back- since that leads to destruction- but we're not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved! Hallelujah and Maranatha! Our light and momentary struggles are not worth comparing with the Glory that will be revealed in us. (Christ in us! And of course, He is the Hope of Glory! And The King of Glory! The One alone worthy of all glory, honor and praise! Praise The Lord!) So while the world might call us silly, stupid and foolhardy- we will gladly bear the title of fools for Christ because the foolishness of the cross is the power of salvation for us who believe and the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom! And through it all, Jesus is right there with us every step of the narrow way and never leaves us! And The Holy Spirit lives in us, guiding and teaching us. God Himself is going to get us home to God! In a little while we'll be with The Father forever... Until then, we must journey on on this unexpected journey to another land beyond what any eye has seen or ear has heard or mind has conceived of goodness God has for us. So don't be discouraged or afraid- be of good cheer, for Christ has overcome the world! Let's keep striving to be awkwardly uncomfortable for Christ a little while longer- the winter will end soon and Christmas will come... Keep walking by faith and not by sight and trust the untame but good Lion of Judah. He will get this fellowship home safely. Fight the good fight, keep the faith, and run the race for the prize!

This passage that I love from "At the Back of the North Wind" by George MacDonald beautifully demonstrates the point I'm trying to get across here. If you haven't read this awesome book from the guy who C.S. Lewis called "his master"- check it out! It's in the public domain, so you can read it for free here! :-)


'He trembled so at the thunder, that his knees failed him, and he sunk down at North Wind’s feet, and clasped her round the column of her ankle. She instantly stooped, lifted him from the roof — up — up into her bosom, and held him there, saying, as if to an inconsolable child —
“Diamond, dear, this will never do.”
“Oh yes, it will,” answered Diamond. “I am all right now — quite comfortable, I assure you, dear North Wind. If you will only let me stay here, I shall be all right indeed.”
“But you will feel the wind here, Diamond.”
“I don’t mind that a bit, so long as I feel your arms through it,” answered Diamond, nestling closer to her grand bosom.
“Brave boy!” returned North Wind, pressing him closer.
“No,” said Diamond, “I don’t see that. It’s not courage at all, so long as I feel you there.”
“But hadn’t you better get into my hair? Then you would not feel the wind; you will here.”
“Ah, but, dear North Wind, you don’t know how nice it is to feel your arms about me. It is a thousand times better to have them and the wind together, than to have only your hair and the back of your neck and no wind at all.”
“But it is surely more comfortable there?”
“Well, perhaps; but I begin to think there are better things than being comfortable.” '

The "Good Ol' Days"

(NOTE:  Okay- just a forewarning for those who mightst darest to readest this collection of words and punctuation marks (hopefully in some semblance of order.) This particular collection of my next two posts is composed from various writings from different time periods and kinda thrown together. It is on a range of topics that I have thought on at different times and as usual, I have a creative output post following. And as always, I trust everything I say and do is seasoned with grace and whether the preaching is in season or out of season that I'm always proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior and God and speaking and living His truth in love. :-)

        So here's a quick catch-you-up catechism for you. (Hopefully it will lead you to proper theology and doctrine, but you probably don't need to use it as such. And I should probably not be using Catholic terms that my Protestant understanding is not as familiar with- lol. But I love my Catholic/Anglican peeps too- they have a lot of cool liturgical practices that I think we can learn a lot from.) Speaking of which, I had kind of an ecumenical experience when I went to an Episcopal church a while back to see Handel's "The Messiah" performed. AWESOME! I don't know if you're supposed to do this at an Episcopal church (but since it is certainly Biblical- Psalms 134:2), I was raising my hands in worship on the Hallelujah Chorus! The LORD God omnipotent reigneth forever! Jesus Christ- The King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Amen! :-) (I was just imagining singing that with billions of others before the glorious throne of the only Holy God for all eternity! One day- one glorious day! :-))

       I've said this before, but it bears repeating. I heard someone on the radio say, "We need Jesus now more than ever." And that's not really true. It implies that there's been a time when we didn't need Jesus as much, and that's not true either. I'm not trying to be a wiseguy about this, but there is an important point here. Sometimes people lament the state of the world today and say things were better back in "the good ol' days". What days were that? The days of war? The days of civil unrest? The days of hatred and murder? The days of disease and natural disaster? The days of dishonesty and theft? The days of sexual immorality? I think it's easy to gloss over history sometimes, particularly our childhood, since we generally weren't paying much attention to the news as kids and so just remember things as being good. (And remember what Ecclesiastes 7:8-10 says about this.) The truth is- things have been bad and are still bad. We are still living in a fallen world that will never be totally fair and right until the day of The Lord Christ! The only "good ol' days" we've had were from Genesis 1-2. It's all been bad since then. We won't have truly "good ol' days" again until Revelation 21-22.
Oh, curse-reversing day of Jesus! He completed the work at Calvary through His death and Resurrection. Through our faith, hope and love in Him we can join Him in His great Kingdom of love and light.