Vine Song (song)

 Confrontations come so often in life and oftentimes they leave us responding in a totally unloving way. We hear someone challenge us on something and we just can't seem to control ourselves. "Them's fighting words!" the refrain goes. We try to flatten the curve of the vicious barbs we let loose, but it's too late after the words are spoken. In James 3, The Bible talks about the vast destruction a small part of the body can bring- the poisonous tongue that sets forests ablaze. Yet the same mouth is praising God one minute and then cursing brothers and sisters the next! That should not be so. What's the cure? Stay in the Vine. He who abides in Jesus and He in them will bear much fruit. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. We have to stay in Christ and lean on Him for strength to have the victory in the battle over not only controlling our tongue but the rest of our bodies as well, so that everything we say and do is for His glory.

"Vine Song" (parody of "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 7/6/2020)
(James 3, John 15:1-17 [particularly verse 5], Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25, Philippians 4:13)

Like a small helm
On the ocean
Sending ships large
Into motion
Like with a single word
Of great things tongue's boasting
Just like (it) only takes one match
To set ablaze forest with poison

Wish all bad things I wouldn't say
Wrecking balls in life- 3 James
God will screen them out if I
Will adhere to His voice through Christ

(Chorus 1)
This is my Vine song
Make branch abide song
Through 15:5 John
Christ's power's turned on
Stay in Christ now 'cause He's strong
I'm weak; my Vine's strong
If He don't see fruit bear, it's to the fire-
(the) rest He leaves
'Cause it thrills God- shows Christ's disciples to be

Pruning buds- God is shaping me
I'm abiding and He abides in me
John 15
Says I'm fruit-bearing (all through Jesus)
There's nothing I do; Jesus my Lord
Does the entire working- I'm anchored
He's in me
Yeah, I'm in Jesus
And all good things I'll get in faith
Seventh verse- abide and pray
In all things, God's glorified
He will steer word choice this time

(Repeat Chorus 1)

And God through Christ strengthens me!
Christ has calmed boats
And His bros, son
When He bid waves,
wind- "Cease motion"
Right now my sinful words
Just break His heart- so then
My might's always badly outmatched
But Christ can make right words flow then

(Chorus 2)
This is Christ's fight, son
Make branch abide, God
Through 15:5 John
Christ's power's turned on
Stay in Christ now 'cause He's strong
I'm weak; my Vine's strong
If He don't see fruit bear, it's to the fire-
(the) rest He leaves
'Cause it thrills God- shows Christ's disciples to be

4:13 Phil.- Go through all when Christ strengthens me.

Sin Man (song)

 What do you get for the God who has everything? What can we ever give Him that didn't first come from His hand? Well, the one thing we can give Him that He won't force is our love and devotion. And all we have to bring Him, even the righteous things we think we've done on our own, are no more than filthy rags in His sight. (Isaiah 64:6) As Jonathan Edwards said, the only thing we bring to our salvation is the sin that made it necessary. And when we give those sins over to Him, His grace forgives us through faith in Christ's death and Resurrection and removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. We're saved by grace and not by works. (Our good works done after we're saved demonstrate our faith though.) God took care of all our sin, man! Praise The Lord for His gift!

"Sin Man"

(Parody of "Tin Man" by America; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 6/24/2020)

(James 1:17, 1 Chronicles 29:14, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:4-7)

(Verse 1)

One in James verse 17- all good things are the gift of God- read it yourself

Chronicles- first book- Dave prays to bless God- 29:14- comes from Himself!

(Chorus 1)

Oh, God never did get nothing but our sins, man

That He didn't, didn't already have

And 'cause Lord Jesus defeated all our evils

On the cross and returned from the dead

His peace believers receive

(Verse 2)

Then in 2 (Two) Corinthians 5 down- it's found

For our sake Christ bore our

Sin and so sinless becomes sin 

so we'd be Christ's righteousness

(Oooh! Oooh!)

(Chorus 2)

Oh, God never did get nothing but our sin, man

That He didn't, didn't already have

And John Edwards said the only thing we're bringing 

To salvation's the sin that we have

Which makes it necessary

(Repeat Verse 2)

(Repeat Chorus 1- with last line changed to:

So please believe in Jesus!)

(Oooh! Oooh!)

Jesus Reinstates Me (song)

 It's amazing how we can go from high to low so easily. We make bold declarations of faith and then soon find ourselves quickly abandoning them. Peter had a moment like that when he was lying and all about knowing Jesus, which he so wished he could take back later. And even though he was three times a traitor, he still repented three times and Jesus reinstated him. Peter went on to become one of the main leaders of the early church. Where sin ran deep, God's love ran deeper. Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

"Jesus Reinstates Me"

(Parody of "Three Times A Lady" by Lionel Richie and performed by The Commodores; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 6/22/2020)

(1 John 4:7-21, 1 Peter 5:1-4, Luke 22:31-34, Luke 22:54-62, John 21:15-19)

Crank out the sign that You've given me

The memories are all in The Bible

And now that it's come true

I'm in tears- the cock crowed

He's turning- Jesus saw me now

(Chorus 1)

I'm once, twice, three times a traitor

And Christ told me!

Yes, I'm once, twice, three times a traitor

Can You love me?

I snubbed You!

Betrayed then by me; my Lord's in pain

Betrayed Lord Christ just as He foretold

By the guy who would give his life away with Him

I'm in grief, bitterly moaning, crying too

(Repeat Chorus 1)

When we ate together

Restorement over fish

"Feed My sheep" three times imparts

"Do you love Me?" "You know I do."

"Follow Me- I'll lead you."

"You're still going to glorify God."

(Chorus 2)

God's love abides in Jesus my Saviour

Lord, I love You!

21 John- three times reinstated

Lord, I love You!

Yes, God's love abides in Jesus my Saviour

I love You!

He loves you!

Isaiah: Mini-Bible (song)

 As the first line in this song says, one book undertakes a gargantuan task in The Bible. Likewise, I undertook a gargantuan task in trying to sort of summarize this book in a short song. Hopefully, this at least gets across some of the highlights. Scholars have called this book a "mini Bible" because it holds a lot of parallels to The Bible, having 66 chapters, just like The Bible has 66 books. Isaiah is by far the most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament, having been quoted 55 times! (You can read about numerous connections here- http://isaiahminibible.com/) Of course, if I was to try to give you a miniature version of The Bible, it would be the Gospel- The Bible is all about the Good News of Jesus. Our sins are like scarlet but He can make them white as snow when we put faith in the One who had all our iniquities laid on Him. It's no wonder Philip used Isaiah 53 to witness to the eunuch as he was already reading it. Even if he hadn't been, Philip probably would have pointed him there as it's one of the clearest pictures in the Old Testament of the sacrifice Christ made to save us- a prophecy made 700 years in advance! Read all about this and so much more in Isaiah- mini-Bible. 

"Isaiah: Mini-Bible"

(Parody of "I Can't Drive 55" by Sammy Hagar; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 6/12/2020)

(Book of Isaiah; particularly 1:17-18, 2:4, chapter 6, 7:14, 9:1-7, 40:1-9, chapter 53, 55:8-11; also Luke 3:1-6 and Luke 4:16-21)

One book undertakes a gargantuan task- hey!

Well, the news is tragic- judgment's passed, yo!

Eyes are blind- won't just perceive the truth

Isaiah prophesied coming judgment of Judah's sin!

Gonna write it up- 1 through 39

OT's same judgment- similar vibe

Grace next 27- NT's vibe

Isaiah- mini-Bible! Oh yeah!

Uh!

So Isaiah is made up of chapters- 66, hey!

Yeah, it's just like books in God's Word

It's gonna blow your mind- all the book's retweets

Look- chapter 40 lines up with Baptist (in) Luke 3

He said good- Good News!

Evangelize- Is. 40:9

Scroll to place Jesus read Isaiah's lines

Luke 4 writes this- there're more times

Isaiah's in The Bible!

Quoted

How many times? 55!

How many times? 55!

How many times with this guy-

Isaiah? 55!

Uh!

Well- some lines to know- you know each part's revered

In Isaiah first part- 18- sin's washed here

Swords beat to make plowshares- verse 2:4 says. Huh!

In chapter 6, read how prophet saw The Lord- hey!

God sends sign (of) Messiah- 7:14 line

Show's Christ's traits- promised Son born in 9

Pay for all sins- 53 find

Isaiah- mini Bible

Oh! Oh! Oh!

God's mind's higher

(Isaiah 55!)

Point will drive

(Isaiah 55!)

(Isaiah 55!)

(Isaiah- mini Bible)

It's in Titus (song)

 Everyone needs someone to help them in this life. No man is an island, as John Donne said. (Though I do still like to think of myself as an island mon, who is dependent on God and others. :-)) Some of the great heroes had sidekicks to help them. The Lone Ranger and Tonto. Batman and Robin. Paul and Silas. Of course, Paul had chosen Titus to help establish the church in Crete. And through the Holy Spirit's inspiration, he wrote a letter to help him with choosing qualified elders to help in the church and to assure sound doctrine was being taught and to be wary of false teachers. He also reminded Cretan believers that some of the top picks on the list of the best ways to live for Christ include living Godly, upright self-controlled lives so that others can see the grace of God through us. If you want help in God's Word in these things, pray and ask Him for help and read this letter- it's in Titus. 

"It's in Titus" 

(Parody of "Kiss on my List" by Hall & Oates; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 5/11/2020)

(The book of Titus; especially Titus 1:2, 1:15, 2:5, 2:10-14 and 3:5-7)

My friend, son of mine I call you 

Paul's true child in common faith

Please don't be deceived; fakes lead some Cretans astray

Appoint elders- you need help; above reproach kinda guys of 1 wife

Bishops/overseers- not given to violence or pride

No greed to be rich, but holy, disciplined

Holds sound doctrine

So they can go show fakes Truth, rebuking them

Their minds' defiled- nothing's pure- to pure, all things pure

Read what Titus, Titus 1:15 prints

You must silence professing hypocrites

The false prophets teach Jewish myths but Jesus never lies!

Because Titus 1:2- it tells us this

From false prophets you keep social distance

Teach what keeps with all sound doctrine- then you'll turn down the lies 

Well, God's grace has come bringing salvation for all the peeps

Live upright and wait up for Christ- gave His all to redeem

Sober minds, steadfastness in older men; In older women, reverence is sought

Train up girls when young to be pure, kind women of God 

To husbands submit and love him and kids

2:5 Titus

If you want to know what the reason is

No one reviles word of Christ when our lives align 

Likewise, young men- goodness is on my list

Teach with soundness- no one can condemn this

Because witness adorns doctrine of Jesus- 2:10 line

So bondservants submit in all Boss says

Pleasing service, not given to arguments

Because goodness is our witness we're reborn now in Christ

Now read Titus 3, babe

Because us kids were just all once foolish

Slaves to passions, malice, disobedience

But when goodness, lovingkindness of Jesus came- verse 5

We're saved because Your gift paid sins- His mercy's rich

Because our righteousness- it can't do this

Washed by Spirit- Grace justifies- we've eternal life!

You can trust this, Titus, on this insist

Because goodness profits Christians- ya dig?

Because foolish rifts, arguments are worthless and divide

Ohh- please come! Nicopolis- my snowbird nest

Zenas- please come!

After the Sufferin' (song)

 No matter who you are or your position in life, you're going to face hard things in life. Life is hard. We all go through our own sets of suffering at times. Whether you're a cashier at Ingles trying to eke out a living to provide for your family and dealing with unruly customers at the outset of a pandemic or you're Bert being constantly frustrated and annoyed by Ernie- the suffering still comes. The Lord sends His rain on the righteous and the wicked. 

Even when it's hump day and you are trying to make it through a tough week at work at a dinky little job, you can take hope in knowing there's a point to the suffering- and an eventual end to it. And God uses it to draw us closer to Him and make us more righteous. And we know that the glory coming will make these sufferings seem light. And while we're in the midst of trying times, we look forward to Christ's coming- and trust Him to help us move forward in this life while we wait for redemption of our bodies and the freedom from corruption coming after the suffering is done.

"After the Sufferin' "

(parody of "After The Lovin' " by Engelbert Humperdinck; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 5/16/2020)

(Hebrews 12:1-17, Romans 8:18-30)

Though sin clings oh so deep- cast it off 'cause of

Witness throng that is close- cast off weights

Run with hope and endure- Eye Founder

And Perfecter of our faith

Endured cross, despised shame all for joy set before Him

My own faith- it just seems to go dry

Haven't struggled so much with sin now to the point my veins bleed- Why?

Spankings chasten me (echo: Spankings chasten me)

As a son disciplined by Love (echo: Son disciplined by Love)

And spanking's telling me (echo: telling me) I'm viewed as God's son (echo: God's son)

Though it stings now we'll reap after the suffering

Oh a bushel of fruit- righteous lives (echo: Oooohh!)

Strengthen up, make paths straight and be healed

With God's grace, no one pass by

Make it so that garden isn't springing a bitter root (echo: Ooohhh!)

Oh, and as for this summary, it's all in 12 Hebrews (echo: Ooohhh!)

So I bring you to read chapter 8 Romans 

Can't brush off like hair these hard times (echo: chapter 8 Romans)

But the glory coming when revealed that it makes suffering light (echo: when revealed, it seems light)

And I know creation is still waiting to be renewed (echo: Ahhh!)

Oh, set free from corruption (echo: free from corruption)

Spirit's adoption too

Yes, bodies' redemption (echo: bodies' redemption)

We're groaning, God, for You

Mmm- after the suffering

I'm waiting, God, for You 

Till We Have Facebooks of Love

 I think it's important sometimes to remind ourselves that social media is not real life. It's more like those Christmas cards you send out with little updates on your family where everything is picture perfect and rosy. We don't usually like to air all the dirty laundry and put the nitty gritty out there. But the funny thing is that this isn't always true. That's one extreme people can go to with maintaining a veneer of peaceful bliss, while hiding away the chaos- and thus not really being honest. (Reference Eleventyseven's song "MySpace" for more on that idea. Yes, the platform is different but the attitudes are the same. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SX2fv2KhMqs)

This harkens back to the social rule of not discussing religion or politics in mixed company. It's meant to avoid arguments but I've never liked that rule. Why can't we challenge ourselves to speak on those topics in mixed groups without losing tempers or friendships? I have seen far too much of both those two possibilities happen in online discussions. I just saw it again today, which prompted me to post this. And it's funny to see how the Pendulum has swung to the other extreme, where people unload everything on you without holding back and feel some sort of security in anonymity on the Internet or just the safety of distance where you don't have to worry about having the guts to something to someone's face and you don't have to worry about getting a black eye. (Not that you should have to worry about that even when in person.)

    It's good to have people with different views in your life just to help you keep open to different points of view and not get locked into your own echo chamber. And that even includes people with ideas you might consider immoral and/or repulsive.

    I'm sorry that to see people terminate their friendship- especially when it seems to be a reaction to finding that they have diametrically opposing views with someone else. And while I can understand trying to avoid negative influences, I don't think the mere fact of having a different opinion should be a reason to cut off a friendship.

    We need to be understanding and loving towards those with whom we disagree. Look for the places where you can agree and affirm their statements and them- and then talk calmly about places where you will have to agree to disagree.

   Loving people in the Name of Jesus and keeping the door open to share The Gospel- and actually sharing the Good News of God's love for all us hellbound sinners proved by Christ's death and Resurrection which provides salvation and entry to Heaven for all who put faith in Him and follow Him- are infinitely more important than winning arguments with them. I firmly believe no one has ever been argued or bullied or belittled into believing in Christ- or into even accepting a different point of view, for that matter. And they're definitely not won over by our stupid, insulting name-calling and memes. Why would God bless sinful methods? It's God's KINDNESS that leads us to repentance! (Yes, I am overemphasizing that here because I think it's a reminder we all need to hear.) It doesn't matter what rude or mean thing someone has said to us- our response is always to love and be kind and pray for them! We need to always be gracious- because God is infinitely gracious to us undeserving, ungrateful people. (Cue one of my favourite newer Apologetix songs- "A Loan For You".

https://youtu.be/7H1J6WbzYXk)

Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. (Just read all of Romans 12, really.) And speak The Truth in Love. (Ephesians 4:15)