In Big Sky Country (song)

Note: Though I didn't really write anything with a Christmas theme for the blog this year, these next three entries were all written in some ways as gifts for others, so consider them as Christmas presents to remember the Giver of all good gifts Who gave us the very best when He sent Christ that first Christmas to save us all from our sins. Merry Christmas! Praise God for His love. :-)

Life is so very hard. Yes, there are times when it has its moments of joy but it also has so many moments of pain. And while we all face our fair share of it all, there are some people groups who have gotten hit so hard and others often don't even see it or ignore. In a big country, it's easy to ignore the plight of others. This song was written as an encouragement for the beautiful Native American people of Montana especially, as well as those throughout America. I had the blessing and privilege to serve these people in helping host basketball camps during the last two summers and in so doing seek to share the love of Christ with people there. There are a lot of hardships that face the people there, largely stemming from the past misdeeds of history- all of which ultimately comes down to the perniciousness of sin that still pervades the whole world. The state of Montana has one of the highest suicide rates in the country and that number is sadly particularly high among the Native American Indian people. I pray that the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine people may come to know the eternal Hope of Christ. If you are interested in learning more and supporting these people groups there, check out Montana Indian Ministries and the work God is doing through Pastor Bruce Plummer there. Give if you feel led, but most of all- pray for God to move and use His servants there to reach many there in Big Sky Country with Jesus' love.

"In Big Sky Country"
(parody of "In A Big Country" by Big Country; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 8/23/2019)
(Jeremiah 1:5, Jeremiah 31:3, Philippians 1:6, 2 Peter 3:8-9, Romans 6-7, Romans 10:8-13, Psalms 139, John 3:16-17, Joshua 24:14-15, John 10:10, John 14:6, 1 John 4:18-20, Isaiah 43:1-7, Isaiah 42:1-4, 2 Samuel 22:30, Psalms 18:29, Psalms 27:13, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, John 6:44, Luke 19:10, Luke 4:14-21, Song of Songs 8:6-7, 1 Corinthians 13, Isaiah 35, Revelation 5:9)

Wake up screaming? Keep on dreaming!

You always seem to look listless- but what's the reason?
Another promise fallen through
Another season passes- life's cruel
Life's often taken smiles away from everybody's face
And there's real desperation- look!
Leads some to suicide- O child!

In Big Sky Country, drinks take our youth
Like our drug of choice tries to satisfy-
They all lie!

I think the painful truth's for things that really matter
You must persevere when every dream or hope in you shatters
I am expecting to grow flowers in the desert
In Isaiah figuratively
We see Heaven in 35

In Big Sky Country dreams can come true
The Creator's voice fills the mountainside
Stay alive!

In a big valley- we can do this too!
You are loved- rejoice! Scale the mountainside!
(Put) Faith in Christ!

Mistakes, life's hooks- so severe! They don't define you
Because they've happened doesn't mean you've been discarded
Put hope in Him 'cause The Lord conquers demons
Christ died for every sin! Creator Sets Free wants you!
Christ's God- The Way, Life, Truth- rising proved that He's Master
His love casts out fear- through everything there's Hope-
Your life matters! Niya!
I am expecting to grow flowers in the desert
And there flow rivers, streams
And see The Son then bring new life!

In Deuteronomy 30- we choose!
God our Father's voice draws us to His side
Please choose Life! (hashtag)
Assiniboine, Gros Ventre- Peace I pray for you
Christ's own blood ransomed folks from every tribe
Rev. 5:9
In Big Sky Country- dreams made like hoops
Through The Lover's choice find in Christ new life
Stay alive!

(Note: "Big Sky Country" is one of the state nicknames for Montana. "Creator Sets Free" is a term for Jesus used in the First Nations Version translation of The Bible, a translation specifically written with First Nation (Native American) people in mind! :-)
"Niya" is a term used by the Lakota people used to refer to the "life-breath". I am using it here to reflect back to the One who gives us both the first life breath with physical life (Genesis 2:7) and a second life breath with spiritual life when we put faith in Christ. (John 20:22))

This Looks Like a Job for the Son of Man!

Sometimes I feel like Jor-El on Krypton trying to warn the political leaders and other scientists that the planet is about to explode!  Sometimes it feels like, "My joy is gone; grief is upon me, my heart is sick within me." (Jeremiah 8:18)
    I keep trying to share the Word God has given me- the Gospel of Jesus Christ- the Good News that God loves us and even though our sin separates us from Him and condemns us to Hell, He wants to save us from that! That's why Jesus died and rose- to pay for the consequence of all our sins. When we put faith in His completed work for us and follow Him, we have salvation and eternal life! :-)
   Yet so many are still so lost and refuse to see the Lord who could save them and would do so if they'd let Him! (Luke 13:34)
".....I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, 'Violence and destruction!' For the word of The Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, 'I will not mention Him, or speak any more in His Name,' there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot." (Jeremiah 20:7b-9)
   "But The Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten." (Jeremiah 20:11)

"Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" (Jeremiah 9:1)
" ....'Return, faithless Israel, declares The Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares The Lord. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against The Lord your God....." (Jeremiah 3:12-13)
   God longs to save everyone if we'll let Him. We have to admit we haven't obeyed Him and turn to the only One who has perfectly obeyed- Lord God Jesus!
And no matter the response, we must keep declaring this Gospel wherever God sends us.

"But The Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a youth,"; for to all whom I send you, you shall go and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you," declares The Lord." (Jeremiah 1:7-8)

So like Superman continues to fight the never-ending battle, keep fighting the good fight and "never tire of doing what is right." (2 Thessalonians 3:13)
 Some will listen- some won't; that's up to the Holy Spirit. Just as Superman fights for Truth, Justice and the American way- keep fighting for the Truth, Life and the Only Way! He will help you handle whatever action you face in the fray and He will return one day to take those who love Him up, up and away! Until that blessed day, stay strong holding on to the One who's still the Son of Man and Man of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow- the Son of God- and know that The Father holds us firmly in His palms and His plans move forward on course stronger than a locomotive- faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap tall buildings of doubt in a single bound- yet they will all come together in His time and to His plan.
May this brief visit in the Fortress of Solitude give you some respite from the devil's Kryptonite and strengthen you for the race before us. Onward and upward- but always in His strength. This looks like (because it is) a job for the only real Super Man. :-)

Songs to the God of my life

"For You are the God in Whom I take refuge; why have You rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" (Psalms 43:2)
"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God." (Psalms 42:5 and 11)
"O Lord, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before You. Let my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry! For my soul is full of troubles and my life draws near to Sheol." (Psalms 88:1-3)
"But I, O Lord, cry to You; in the morning my prayer comes before You. O Lord, why do You cast my soul away? Why do You hide Your face from me?" (Psalms 88:18)
"Consider the work of God: who can make straight what He has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him." (Ecclesiastes 7:13-14)
I am so glad that The Lord included verses like these in The Bible. There are so many times in life when it might feel like "the darkness is my only friend" (as the end of Psalms 88 says) and that I just am not close to God or I just am not hearing from Him or something. Sometimes I cry out to God and my only answer is the silence of God. Sometimes it feels like He's playing hard to get; of course, I think He and His ways are just plain hard to get. (Isaiah 55:8-9) I'm glad that there is still joy in the journey though- and I do know that in the end, The Lord is always there and never leaves or forsakes me. Instead, He suffers alongside me. I trust in The God Who is not distant- the God Who is always very near- the God Who left His throne to come to earth for me and suffer alongside me. As Moses left the palace of Egypt to suffer alongside his people, so Jesus left His Heavenly throne and palace to suffer alongside His people that He had made who went astray from Him.
"For because He himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted." (Hebrews 2:18)
(See also Hebrews 4:14-16 and all of 11 and 12:1-17 and all of Romans 8.) We have to keep looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In our struggle against sin, we haven't yet resisted to the point of shedding our blood- but He did. Jesus spent the hours leading up to His crucifixion weeping alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, begging God the Father to take the cup from Him if possible- but nevertheless, Thy will be done! His friends couldn't even watch an hour with Him.
And in the horrible suffering Jesus endured- not merely in the physical- but also in the spiritual sense- the moment when He was ripped from the presence of God and felt as utterly cast out as the psalmist in Psalms 88- when He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might be justified- He suffered incredible pain and loss- but He also overcame it. He rose again and defeated sin, death, the devil and hell- so that none of us would ever have to face eternal punishment. He bought us our salvation at an incredibly high price. "So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood. Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His Name." (Hebrews 13:13-15)
For the moments that I feel faint like Relient K, I know that you should never underestimate my Jesus because He will be strong when I am not. And even when I can't feel Him near and I don't think I'm getting any answers and I feel rejected, lonely, in pain and suffering and all alone- I will still trust and know that He's here. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." (Job 13:15)
Three of my favorite songs express this so well in different ways. (I love how all three of these speak of how we share with Jesus- not just in His glory when we are with Him in Heaven- but also in His suffering.) These are not the kind of songs you sing at church for worship, even though I think they sure can be a form of worship. It's a brazen, raw and honest outpouring of the heart to God- something that I think God loves to see and something I strive to do in prayer. I'm glad to know He's always listening and still giving rest to all those who take up His yoke. (Matthew 11:28-30) Whether I always feel it or not, I trust that that verse is true. And I trust that ultimately, our present suffering can't compare with the glory coming!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fIP_bKxjLs
("Joy in the Journey" by Michael Card- one of my favorite theologian songwriters- an encouraging song that acknowledges the weariness that comes in the journey while we are strangers on this earth in the time of our exile. (1 Peter 1:17-19)) "Who belong to eternity stranded in time and weary of struggling with sin."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2STr5qPlIM
("Hard to Get" by Rich Mullins- one of my all-time favorite songwriters period! And one of my Christian heroes. I love how both this song and Michael Card's song speak of the comparisons between our present state and God's state. "You who live in eternity hear the prayers of those of us who live in time." (1 John 5:14)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvytewIxll0
("The Silence of God" by Andrew Peterson- one of my newest favorites. Andrew Peterson is a huge fan of Rich Mullins as well and it's evident from his songs, though he has his own poetic style as well. He's also a fan of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien! This song speaks so well to the aching and hurt that comes with hearing only the silence of God in response to our cries. But it doesn't mean that God doesn't hear us- "And The Man of all Sorrows, He never forgot what sorrow is carried by the hearts that He bought." (Hebrews 12:1-4)