Do you want a world without dishonesty, theft, rape, murder, hatred and prejudice, greed, selfishness, rudeness, laziness, foul language, demeaning words and name calling, sexual immorality, unfaithfulness, alcoholism, lust, unwanted babies, starving people, poverty-stricken folks, unloved least of these, injustice and to sum it all up in one three-letter word- sin?
Well, this world isn't it. And everyone fighting on their own battle to change the world for the better is fighting a losing battle. We can't change the world in our own strength- we don't truly have any. We ourselves are the problem. We all like sheep have gone astray; each of us have turned to our own way and The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (As Isaiah 53:6 says.) We and our entire world are cursed with sin.
There is only one cure and God has provided Him as the verse above says. Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, came and died and rose again so we would never have to face death and separation from God in Hell. When we put all our weight- pin all our hopes and faith on Jesus for salvation- He saves us and leads us so we can follow Him on the straight and narrow path to Heaven.
Thus, why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain? (Psalms 2:1) They don't know it's all for naught.
That perfect world we all want does exist- it's called Heaven! God describes it for us in Revelation 21-22, where there's no more tears, no more death and no more pain. The old has gone- the new has come! :-)
As C.S. Lewis said in "Mere Christianity", "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world." This is precisely the longing that Hebrews talks about in chapters 11 and 13. Thy kingdom come, Lord Jesus! I know You are coming soon but even so- come, Lord Jesus!
In Christ's Kingdom, "after the last tear falls, there is Love, Love, Love, Love...there is Love, Love, Love, Love- there is Love. And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of Love and Love again. We'll see how the tears that have fallen were caught in the hands of the Giver of Love and the Lover of all and we'll look back on these tears as old tales...." ("After The Last Tear Falls" by Andrew Peterson)
That is where we must always have our eternal Hope. And until that Blessed Hope of Glory, Christ Jesus, returns to take His people Home and make all things new- we who know and love Jesus must continue to shine His love upon this dark world, so that the world may see the Light of Life living in us- see our good works- and glorify our Father in Heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16, Philippians 2:14-16, Ephesians 2:8-10)
Jesus has already started making things new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that anyone in Christ is a new creation! The old has gone and the new has come! And the rest of the chapter calls us to be ambassadors for God, urging people to be reconciled to Him through Christ. We as Christ followers must work to extend grace and seek justice to show people a taste of God's Kingdom. The redeeming work has started and one day will be complete. (Philippians 1:6)
Keep shining like stars in a dark world and (to briefly quote Peterson again, "All Things New") hold on to the Promise- the stories are true. My Jesus makes all things new. :-) Praise Him forever!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YTbUhEHOaWs
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Sunday, October 20, 2019
The Power is Yours! (Forgetting What's Behind)
Don't ask, "Why were the old days better than today?" It's not good to ask such things.... (see Ecclesiastes 7:10-18 and chapter 12).... As Acts 17:24-28 tells us, God set men and women in history at exactly when and where He wanted them to be for His purposes.... (which doesn't mean that God won't move you at some point too though ;-))- But part of finding our identity in Jesus as His follower means being happy with who God made us to be- boy or girl, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, African descent, Indian descent, Caucasian, mixed, etc., Spanish, Trinidadian, American, German, Swiss, South African, Ukrainian, Canadian, Argentinan, Brazilian, Peruvian, Eritrean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Australian, Indian, Senegalese, Antarctican, etc.- whatever the social class- whatever other label we put on each other....... God made us above all those things in His image (Genesis 1:26-31). And when we're in Christ, none of those things matter anyway! (Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:1-4, John 13:34-35, Galatians 3:25-29) And as Colossians 3:11 says, "Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all."
We are all infinitely important and infinitely loved by God. (Jeremiah 31:3) And we are all valuable in His kingdom, where the elder learns to serve the younger and the younger cares for the elder- where each thinks of others as better than themselves and each seeks to love each other truly and forgive from the heart...
No, these aren't the "good ol' days"- but as I like to say, the only good ol' days this planet has ever seen were Genesis 1-2. We won't have any more truly good ol' days until Revelation 21-22 come to pass. But Jesus makes the in-between time more abundant when we follow Him, as John 10:10 says. :-) And during our faith journey with Him, He shapes us to be more and more like Him in character and empowers us with spiritual gifts to bring a touch of The Divine to a fallen world so badly needing of redemption. To be sure, the final Redemption culminates with the coming of The Lord- but until then, we're like the Planeteers with our power rings, sent forth to bring God's restoration to the world through our love and good deeds and sharing of the Greatest Love of all shown to us on the cross and in the empty tomb (Romans 5:8). And way better than Captain Planet, and the Avengers who "have a Hulk"- we have Someone Real Who can do something about our situation (Hebrews 11:1-6)- we have a Savior- Jesus Christ- Whom we eagerly await to come back from Heaven! We have The One Who alone bears the title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords! We have The One God Who holds all things together and by Him all things exist!
And as Jesus said in Acts 1:8 (in essence)- The Power is yours! :-) (So use His gifts and be His witness in all the world.)
We are all infinitely important and infinitely loved by God. (Jeremiah 31:3) And we are all valuable in His kingdom, where the elder learns to serve the younger and the younger cares for the elder- where each thinks of others as better than themselves and each seeks to love each other truly and forgive from the heart...
No, these aren't the "good ol' days"- but as I like to say, the only good ol' days this planet has ever seen were Genesis 1-2. We won't have any more truly good ol' days until Revelation 21-22 come to pass. But Jesus makes the in-between time more abundant when we follow Him, as John 10:10 says. :-) And during our faith journey with Him, He shapes us to be more and more like Him in character and empowers us with spiritual gifts to bring a touch of The Divine to a fallen world so badly needing of redemption. To be sure, the final Redemption culminates with the coming of The Lord- but until then, we're like the Planeteers with our power rings, sent forth to bring God's restoration to the world through our love and good deeds and sharing of the Greatest Love of all shown to us on the cross and in the empty tomb (Romans 5:8). And way better than Captain Planet, and the Avengers who "have a Hulk"- we have Someone Real Who can do something about our situation (Hebrews 11:1-6)- we have a Savior- Jesus Christ- Whom we eagerly await to come back from Heaven! We have The One Who alone bears the title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords! We have The One God Who holds all things together and by Him all things exist!
And as Jesus said in Acts 1:8 (in essence)- The Power is yours! :-) (So use His gifts and be His witness in all the world.)
Sunday, October 6, 2019
Artistry, Association and Arresting of Spirits by Love
I have long wanted to write a blog like this....(I still may at some point; here you go ;-))- Billy Smiley of the classic Christian rock band Whiteheart pretty much nailed a lot of what I've wanted to say on the state of Christian music today. This is exactly why I love artists like Larry Norman, Keith Green, Rich Mullins, Mark Heard, Chris Rice and Carolyn Arends, Andrew Peterson and some others-who have been true poets willing to tackle things that don't always make it to the Christian radio playlists.....(and of course, bands like Petra, Stryper, ApologetiX, Supertones, Switchfoot and Relient K- and perhaps a few others)
I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled to hear a Rich Mullins song on a Christian radio station recently- and I LOVE all of his songs, but immediately I was thinking, "I bet they're going to play 'Awesome God'." And, of course, I was right. (And I LOVE that song, mind you.) But it would be great to hear even more of his songs that ponder deep questions- like one of my favorites from his last album, "Hard to Get"- an incredible song, but not one that would fit in the worship category- and not one I would expect to hear on Christian radio. (And by the way, don't get me wrong on this either- I also LOVE Christian radio- I am very glad for those it reaches with the Gospel of Jesus. I do enjoy listening to the Christian stations fairly often- but I honestly listen more for sermons now than I do for music.) I have my CDs and tapes for that- and a fairly wide range of Christian and very select secular artists.....
A lot of what this blog says resonated with me. Every now and then I imagine if Jesus had actually commanded us to do what we tend to do with Christian music now- "And thou shalt create music and entertainment for thyselves to sound as like unto the world so that thou mayest be not of the world and not even really in it either. Shelter thyselves from the masses with these creations, lest thou be forced to connect with the unbelievers in an authentic manner and thereby allow them to see a real love and hope in you. Preach My Gospel at them with the cold distance of uncaring and thereby fulfill thy sacred duties as a watchman who need not be concerned with the affairs of this world."
The Jesus I know doesn't have problems mingling with the sinners and saints and helping both realize they're not nearly as good or as far gone as they think they are. I'm so glad Jesus loves every single one of us, even the woebegone wretched sinners who don't even realize just how truly sinful they are, but know they need help- and the hypocritical, self-righteous jerks who every now and then might have a true moment of clarity to realize they're never good enough- yes, He loves us all. And all of us are both at times. All of us need Jesus. "Freely you have received; freely give." (Matthew 10:8)
And remember that if we are going to be like Jesus, the One who freely gave His life to pay for all sins and rise again- and give salvation to those who put faith in Him- we must associate with those He associated with on earth. And that's everyone. He loved the tax collectors and sinners- and the Pharisees. He spoke The Truth in Love to them all.
"The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at Him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by all her children. One of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him, and He went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that He was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed His feet and anointed them with the ointment." (Luke 7:34-38)
Jesus loves the sinners and the saints and reaches out to both- and calls both to repent and follow Him. The sinner repenting of his sin and the saint repenting of his righteousness. We are both the sinner and the saint- we must repent of our sin and our righteousness. We have no righteousness of our own- even that which we think is good of our own accord is but filthy rags before the holy God. (Isaiah 64:6)
Be honest with God and with others- and humbly associate with all and love all- because Jesus does. (Philippians 2:1-13)
https://m.facebook.com/notes/the-union-of-sinners-and-saints/the-musings-of-an-artist-and-producer-in-todays-music-culture/1050469308334288/?ref=bookmarks&__tn__=HH
(*Also- let me shout to Tim Keller and "The Prodigal God" once more- SUCH a great book!)
(*This also seems to be a great post to point you to this song by T-Bone called "Name Droppin' " where he names a lot of great Christian artists of various genres. The music video is great too, with cameos from John Schlitt of Petra, Geoff Moore and others.
https://youtu.be/0TeDvPOl9UA )
(*One other favourite I wanted to mention. This amazing song by Andrew Peterson and largely written by Gloria Gaither is another great tribute to so many artists who have inspired me in my walk with Christ
Thank God for poets I have known!
"To All The Poets" by Andrew Peterson
https://youtu.be/uF3dEdXzFxw )
I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled to hear a Rich Mullins song on a Christian radio station recently- and I LOVE all of his songs, but immediately I was thinking, "I bet they're going to play 'Awesome God'." And, of course, I was right. (And I LOVE that song, mind you.) But it would be great to hear even more of his songs that ponder deep questions- like one of my favorites from his last album, "Hard to Get"- an incredible song, but not one that would fit in the worship category- and not one I would expect to hear on Christian radio. (And by the way, don't get me wrong on this either- I also LOVE Christian radio- I am very glad for those it reaches with the Gospel of Jesus. I do enjoy listening to the Christian stations fairly often- but I honestly listen more for sermons now than I do for music.) I have my CDs and tapes for that- and a fairly wide range of Christian and very select secular artists.....
A lot of what this blog says resonated with me. Every now and then I imagine if Jesus had actually commanded us to do what we tend to do with Christian music now- "And thou shalt create music and entertainment for thyselves to sound as like unto the world so that thou mayest be not of the world and not even really in it either. Shelter thyselves from the masses with these creations, lest thou be forced to connect with the unbelievers in an authentic manner and thereby allow them to see a real love and hope in you. Preach My Gospel at them with the cold distance of uncaring and thereby fulfill thy sacred duties as a watchman who need not be concerned with the affairs of this world."
The Jesus I know doesn't have problems mingling with the sinners and saints and helping both realize they're not nearly as good or as far gone as they think they are. I'm so glad Jesus loves every single one of us, even the woebegone wretched sinners who don't even realize just how truly sinful they are, but know they need help- and the hypocritical, self-righteous jerks who every now and then might have a true moment of clarity to realize they're never good enough- yes, He loves us all. And all of us are both at times. All of us need Jesus. "Freely you have received; freely give." (Matthew 10:8)
And remember that if we are going to be like Jesus, the One who freely gave His life to pay for all sins and rise again- and give salvation to those who put faith in Him- we must associate with those He associated with on earth. And that's everyone. He loved the tax collectors and sinners- and the Pharisees. He spoke The Truth in Love to them all.
"The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at Him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by all her children. One of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him, and He went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that He was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed His feet and anointed them with the ointment." (Luke 7:34-38)
Jesus loves the sinners and the saints and reaches out to both- and calls both to repent and follow Him. The sinner repenting of his sin and the saint repenting of his righteousness. We are both the sinner and the saint- we must repent of our sin and our righteousness. We have no righteousness of our own- even that which we think is good of our own accord is but filthy rags before the holy God. (Isaiah 64:6)
Be honest with God and with others- and humbly associate with all and love all- because Jesus does. (Philippians 2:1-13)
https://m.facebook.com/notes/the-union-of-sinners-and-saints/the-musings-of-an-artist-and-producer-in-todays-music-culture/1050469308334288/?ref=bookmarks&__tn__=HH
(*Also- let me shout to Tim Keller and "The Prodigal God" once more- SUCH a great book!)
(*This also seems to be a great post to point you to this song by T-Bone called "Name Droppin' " where he names a lot of great Christian artists of various genres. The music video is great too, with cameos from John Schlitt of Petra, Geoff Moore and others.
https://youtu.be/0TeDvPOl9UA )
(*One other favourite I wanted to mention. This amazing song by Andrew Peterson and largely written by Gloria Gaither is another great tribute to so many artists who have inspired me in my walk with Christ
Thank God for poets I have known!
"To All The Poets" by Andrew Peterson
https://youtu.be/uF3dEdXzFxw )
Unrighteous sinfulness and Sinful righteousness
An oft-repeated scene in the New Testament- Jesus is sitting down to dinner with an assorted group of people and He insists on hanging out with those tax collectors and sinners.... The Pharisees and scribes bust in with grumbling asking Jesus and His disciples why they keep doing this. In Luke 5:31-32, Jesus tells us His reasoning- "And Jesus answered them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." (See also what Jesus said in Matthew 21:31)
This is precisely the point Jesus was trying to get across with His parables in Luke 15- The Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin and The Parable of the Lost Son. (Also known as The Parable of the Prodigal Son). That parable would be better called The Parable of the Lost Sons, for both the younger and elder brother were lost and needed Father's forgiveness.
And the Good News is that God our Father offers us absolution absolutely free- before we do anything. He gives us amazing love and grace for free. It's there for the taking. To be sure, the repentance follows afterwards- but it never precedes the accepting of God's hand-out of amazing grace. But the two brothers had two different things to repent of in the parable.
The younger son needs to repent of his unrighteous sinfulness and the elder son needs to repent of his sinful righteousness. (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:10-11, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9-13)
(* I would be extremely remiss if I didn't acknowledge Rev. Tim Keller and his book "The Prodigal God" for informing and inspiring these observations. This post is largely the crux of his book. Do yourself a favour and go read it! :-))
This is precisely the point Jesus was trying to get across with His parables in Luke 15- The Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin and The Parable of the Lost Son. (Also known as The Parable of the Prodigal Son). That parable would be better called The Parable of the Lost Sons, for both the younger and elder brother were lost and needed Father's forgiveness.
And the Good News is that God our Father offers us absolution absolutely free- before we do anything. He gives us amazing love and grace for free. It's there for the taking. To be sure, the repentance follows afterwards- but it never precedes the accepting of God's hand-out of amazing grace. But the two brothers had two different things to repent of in the parable.
The younger son needs to repent of his unrighteous sinfulness and the elder son needs to repent of his sinful righteousness. (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:10-11, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9-13)
(* I would be extremely remiss if I didn't acknowledge Rev. Tim Keller and his book "The Prodigal God" for informing and inspiring these observations. This post is largely the crux of his book. Do yourself a favour and go read it! :-))
Rock of Offense
It's still better to offend people into Heaven than to tolerate them into Hell. (But yes, offend them with The Truth in Love. Ephesians 4:15, 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Revelation 20:15, 1 Peter 2:1-12)
1 John 2:1-2 Jesus' death and Resurrection is the atonement for all the sins of the world. The only way we can avoid Hell and go to Heaven instead is to trust Jesus in faith and follow Him. God loves you and I love you (and that's the way it should be :-))- and because of that, I just want you to know...
"Scandalon" by Michael Card
https://youtu.be/uaVTcVNQxms
1 John 2:1-2 Jesus' death and Resurrection is the atonement for all the sins of the world. The only way we can avoid Hell and go to Heaven instead is to trust Jesus in faith and follow Him. God loves you and I love you (and that's the way it should be :-))- and because of that, I just want you to know...
"Scandalon" by Michael Card
https://youtu.be/uaVTcVNQxms
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