My heart is troubled. I first read about the man being held in Afghanistan in Christianity Today a few weeks ago, before the media got a hold of it. I am sure you have caught wind of the situation by now; a man who converted to Christianity was turned in to police by his family. The major concern of the media seemed to be that the Afghani police could lawfully kill him for his conversion.
While it grieves my heart that any Christian, any person at all really, should be killed for his religion; there is of course more sides to this story. At least, I think there are.
One part I never heard mentioned was that the man was given the chance to renounce Christianity in order to live. Obviously, he rejected that opportunity. There is no doubt in my mind that the media had no idea how to handle that kind of information; to many I suspect the idea of living far outweighs a claim of any one religion. I’ll touch on that again later.
The other thing that troubles me is harder to put into words. It seemed to me that the world went into an uproar, particularly the United States. Calls went to the Afghani government in protest, letters were drafted, and the nightly news took up the cause.
But what about the man in the jail cell? He took up his cause too, didn’t he? He became one in a long line of people to stand up for Jesus and refuse let Him go. While the rest of the world was uprising for this man, what was he doing?
I want to stop a think for a moment about people in history who were willing to lay down their lives for the cause of Christ. The first are biblical: Paul, Steven, Peter, the apostles, to name a scant few. Then we have the early Christians, the young woman at Columbine, and more.
I want to make it clear again that I do not wish the man, or anyone to have to die, but what troubles me is that no one seems to understand why he was willing to die. The media was reporting it like it was a case of a hapless, confused man caught in a barbaric country where there is no religious freedom. While I agree Christians in other countries have it far worse that we do, I never once got the feeling that they were supporting Christianity itself. They never understood why he was willing to die.
What’s the point?
Yesterday, the media reported that the Afghani government released their prisoner. He was released on the grounds that he was mentally incompetent to understand his actions. After all of the roaring, this news came in a thirty-second treatment by the newscaster. I got the impression they agreed.
I want so much for people to understand why someone would lay down their life for Jesus. Not strapping on explosives and taking out a neighborhood, but voluntarily subjecting themselves to a solitary, passive death. I want them to meet the Savior that I know. I do not want Jesus to be caught up in politics, or morality, because it is too easy to lose sight of the truth there. I want you to see what I see when I look at my Redeemer.
However, I do not want to use my words. I have gone through some hard times since I have become a Christian, I will not deny that. I have lost some friends and family, although I know that’s temporary. I would rather use the words that Paul wrote in one of his letters of the Bible. Paul spent most of his Christian life imprisoned, or at least more that a man should desire. But he always kept his eyes focused on the One who saved him. I think he says it best. It might help give some insight to our Afghani brother.
“All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort-we get a full measure of that too.
We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us…It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally-not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing.” 2 Corinthians 1.3-5,8-11
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
love hopes
I hope that my relationship with my husband will continue to mature and flourish. I hope that my children will grow into wonderful, God-honoring adults. I hope that I will bring Jesus glory for all my days.
Nice laundry list, isn’t it? I have been thinking about hope lately. See, I have this burning hope to be a writer someday. A full-fledged, published writer that is. I have submitted a body of work to a publisher and I am anxiously awaiting their response. Since they have not sent out the rejection letter, I sit in hope; waiting.
So, I looked up the definition of hope in my handy dictionary. Two meanings: 1. a confident expectation that a desire will be fulfilled. 2. wishful trust
Now I want to think about the relationship between love and hope with you. We have been thinking about love since Valentine’s Day, and I see no reason to stop now. Is there a correlation between the two emotions?
I think we first need to establish what hope is. Using the above definitions, I think it is safe to rule out some ways that we commonly use the word hope. Now, I hope the sun is out on the frozen tundra of a state (Minnesota) here tomorrow, but I will not become hopeless if it is not. I hope that my favorite band will come out with a killer CD, but again, no tears if they do not.
Now, can I hope to become a published author? Well, my actual hope is in God. I know He gave me both the desire and the talent to write, and my hope is that He will continue to use me to write for His honor and glory.
If we take the dictionary and the Bible at their word, we need to use the word hope in its correct context; within relationships. Relationships provide confidence, don’t they? Relationships provide trust; especially wishful trust (I love the sound of that.). And if relationships do not provide those essential ingredients, they are deemed hopeless. Think divorce and estrangement.
Now, I am able to have hope in my husband and my children because I love them. Because they are able to fuel that desire in me. Because I can establish a basis of trust with them that enables me to look forward to our future together.
Now, if I were to remove all hope; if I were to take away all desire, what would be the cause to stick around? Why would I want to be in a relationship with them?
What’s the point here?
I think that people approach Christianity without seeing our hope. Heck, in all honesty I think that sometimes Christians themselves forget hope. We have a relationship with Christ; therefore, we have someone to hope in, and something to hope for.
Let me show you a few examples.
“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” (Psalm 40.31) desire fulfilled
”May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15.13” trust
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11.1) so much trust
Since we know we are not talking about the weather, or the latest CD, we must be talking about the kind of hope that only can be generated by a relationship. But there is something else important to consider. Sometimes, my husband’s thoughts and my thoughts do not align. That does not mean trust is gone and hope becomes despair. Same goes for Jesus. I do not profess to know what He is doing. What I do know is that as time progresses, and as He remains an active part of my life; I am learning to trust Him more and more, despite circumstances. I like to think of it as the wishful trust of a child. My children trust me when we are gaily playing, and when they are grounded in their rooms. As well they should.
One more thing to consider; our hope is not for this life alone. If there is one thing every person on the planet has in common, it is death. The greatest hope for a Christian should be for the next life, not this one. Morbid as it may sound in this world consumed with living longer, I have joyous hope in the life that is still to come after this one is over. I have hope that I will live forever with my brothers and sisters, and more importantly, with my God.
Ponder this-
”Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1.3-4)
It is possible to be born again into a living hope, a living wishful trust that would allow you to have eternal security. A hope that promises no matter what this life looks like; the next one will be a complete showstopper. Because Jesus loves, we have hope.
Think about it.
Nice laundry list, isn’t it? I have been thinking about hope lately. See, I have this burning hope to be a writer someday. A full-fledged, published writer that is. I have submitted a body of work to a publisher and I am anxiously awaiting their response. Since they have not sent out the rejection letter, I sit in hope; waiting.
So, I looked up the definition of hope in my handy dictionary. Two meanings: 1. a confident expectation that a desire will be fulfilled. 2. wishful trust
Now I want to think about the relationship between love and hope with you. We have been thinking about love since Valentine’s Day, and I see no reason to stop now. Is there a correlation between the two emotions?
I think we first need to establish what hope is. Using the above definitions, I think it is safe to rule out some ways that we commonly use the word hope. Now, I hope the sun is out on the frozen tundra of a state (Minnesota) here tomorrow, but I will not become hopeless if it is not. I hope that my favorite band will come out with a killer CD, but again, no tears if they do not.
Now, can I hope to become a published author? Well, my actual hope is in God. I know He gave me both the desire and the talent to write, and my hope is that He will continue to use me to write for His honor and glory.
If we take the dictionary and the Bible at their word, we need to use the word hope in its correct context; within relationships. Relationships provide confidence, don’t they? Relationships provide trust; especially wishful trust (I love the sound of that.). And if relationships do not provide those essential ingredients, they are deemed hopeless. Think divorce and estrangement.
Now, I am able to have hope in my husband and my children because I love them. Because they are able to fuel that desire in me. Because I can establish a basis of trust with them that enables me to look forward to our future together.
Now, if I were to remove all hope; if I were to take away all desire, what would be the cause to stick around? Why would I want to be in a relationship with them?
What’s the point here?
I think that people approach Christianity without seeing our hope. Heck, in all honesty I think that sometimes Christians themselves forget hope. We have a relationship with Christ; therefore, we have someone to hope in, and something to hope for.
Let me show you a few examples.
“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” (Psalm 40.31) desire fulfilled
”May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15.13” trust
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11.1) so much trust
Since we know we are not talking about the weather, or the latest CD, we must be talking about the kind of hope that only can be generated by a relationship. But there is something else important to consider. Sometimes, my husband’s thoughts and my thoughts do not align. That does not mean trust is gone and hope becomes despair. Same goes for Jesus. I do not profess to know what He is doing. What I do know is that as time progresses, and as He remains an active part of my life; I am learning to trust Him more and more, despite circumstances. I like to think of it as the wishful trust of a child. My children trust me when we are gaily playing, and when they are grounded in their rooms. As well they should.
One more thing to consider; our hope is not for this life alone. If there is one thing every person on the planet has in common, it is death. The greatest hope for a Christian should be for the next life, not this one. Morbid as it may sound in this world consumed with living longer, I have joyous hope in the life that is still to come after this one is over. I have hope that I will live forever with my brothers and sisters, and more importantly, with my God.
Ponder this-
”Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1.3-4)
It is possible to be born again into a living hope, a living wishful trust that would allow you to have eternal security. A hope that promises no matter what this life looks like; the next one will be a complete showstopper. Because Jesus loves, we have hope.
Think about it.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Love and Compassion Fatigue
I was listening to the radio the other day when I heard the talk show host use a term I had not heard before. The term was ‘compassion fatigue.’
It is a talk show I listen to occasionally; some of the host’s thoughts and comments intrigue me. I was only half-listening that day however, because the topic of conversation was again turned to Hurricane Katrina.
Please do not misunderstand me. I comprehend the blight surrounding the victims of this disaster. I have contributed some things to the relief effort. However, I cannot seem to escape some sort of daily commentary about this subject. It is constantly a subject on the nightly world news, it is discussed on the radio, and it is everywhere on the internet. And the issues these days always seem to run along the same vein; what is going to be done, what about the people, who is to blame, etc. I see the images of New Orleans as it stands today and because I am in another part of the country far away from the city, I am amazed it still lies in destruction.
So, when the words ‘compassion fatigue’ were uttered, my ears perked up. What was this about? Well, it turns out that because of various reasons, people are starting to burnout. But it’s not burnout. It is seeing too much of a disaster that is too big to fix. And in 2005, there were several gigantic disasters; the tsunami, the hurricanes and the earthquake in the Pakistan region. All of these disasters have caused people to become overwhelmed at the catastrophes that happen to others.
If it stopped there, things would be hard enough to bear. But as sure as there’s
Free will and human nature, there is more. Compassion fatigue is also stemming from a rash of phony charitable websites that sprung up all over the internet. One site is funneling their proceeds into their anti-Semitic hate group.
There are also the disaster victims that figure out a way to abuse the system. They are the ones that applied for and received several debt cards the government was giving away. They are the ones that are causing crime rates in Houston to go up, welfare systems to be taxed, and so on.
Compassion fatigue is what the Dalai Lama calls ‘empathy’ and what I call Needing a Savior with Really Big Shoulders.
The Dali goes on to say, “It is the simple compassion a person experiences when they want to see another person free from suffering.” Empathy is the autonomic human response to the pain of another—and yes it can be physically exhausting when we experience too much stimuli without the spiritual wisdom to understand our experience.”
Interesting thought. Perhaps we have seen too much this past year, and we do not understand why these things happen. Perhaps we also do not know how to truly comfort these people, how to heal their land, how to love their lives back. When Billy Graham and his son Franklin were in the New Orleans area last week, it seemed like their visit touched the people there. The show I watched featured a chaplain that was going door-to-door to visit the people rebuilding. The people’s reactions were positive, at least on camera, and they said that know God is with them.
I think compassion fatigue ultimately has to come to grips with why natural disasters happen. It is easier to deal with disaster when you know that there is a God who is in complete control of all situations.
“’I [God] will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” –Paul in Romans 9.15-16
We cannot do anything to control the disaster itself. We all should consider it priority number one to get to know Jesus. He is the one who will carry the burden of disaster; He will suffer the cost for us if we lean on Him. I can speak with absolute certainty that those words are truth. It is not leaning on an imaginary, invisible person for comfort and support. He is an actual, living God who will love and provide strength throughout struggle.
I think the key here is in knowing God never suffers from compassion fatigue. He is the one to run to when things are too much to bear.
“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
The Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
And His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”
-Isaiah 40.28-31
It is a talk show I listen to occasionally; some of the host’s thoughts and comments intrigue me. I was only half-listening that day however, because the topic of conversation was again turned to Hurricane Katrina.
Please do not misunderstand me. I comprehend the blight surrounding the victims of this disaster. I have contributed some things to the relief effort. However, I cannot seem to escape some sort of daily commentary about this subject. It is constantly a subject on the nightly world news, it is discussed on the radio, and it is everywhere on the internet. And the issues these days always seem to run along the same vein; what is going to be done, what about the people, who is to blame, etc. I see the images of New Orleans as it stands today and because I am in another part of the country far away from the city, I am amazed it still lies in destruction.
So, when the words ‘compassion fatigue’ were uttered, my ears perked up. What was this about? Well, it turns out that because of various reasons, people are starting to burnout. But it’s not burnout. It is seeing too much of a disaster that is too big to fix. And in 2005, there were several gigantic disasters; the tsunami, the hurricanes and the earthquake in the Pakistan region. All of these disasters have caused people to become overwhelmed at the catastrophes that happen to others.
If it stopped there, things would be hard enough to bear. But as sure as there’s
Free will and human nature, there is more. Compassion fatigue is also stemming from a rash of phony charitable websites that sprung up all over the internet. One site is funneling their proceeds into their anti-Semitic hate group.
There are also the disaster victims that figure out a way to abuse the system. They are the ones that applied for and received several debt cards the government was giving away. They are the ones that are causing crime rates in Houston to go up, welfare systems to be taxed, and so on.
Compassion fatigue is what the Dalai Lama calls ‘empathy’ and what I call Needing a Savior with Really Big Shoulders.
The Dali goes on to say, “It is the simple compassion a person experiences when they want to see another person free from suffering.” Empathy is the autonomic human response to the pain of another—and yes it can be physically exhausting when we experience too much stimuli without the spiritual wisdom to understand our experience.”
Interesting thought. Perhaps we have seen too much this past year, and we do not understand why these things happen. Perhaps we also do not know how to truly comfort these people, how to heal their land, how to love their lives back. When Billy Graham and his son Franklin were in the New Orleans area last week, it seemed like their visit touched the people there. The show I watched featured a chaplain that was going door-to-door to visit the people rebuilding. The people’s reactions were positive, at least on camera, and they said that know God is with them.
I think compassion fatigue ultimately has to come to grips with why natural disasters happen. It is easier to deal with disaster when you know that there is a God who is in complete control of all situations.
“’I [God] will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” –Paul in Romans 9.15-16
We cannot do anything to control the disaster itself. We all should consider it priority number one to get to know Jesus. He is the one who will carry the burden of disaster; He will suffer the cost for us if we lean on Him. I can speak with absolute certainty that those words are truth. It is not leaning on an imaginary, invisible person for comfort and support. He is an actual, living God who will love and provide strength throughout struggle.
I think the key here is in knowing God never suffers from compassion fatigue. He is the one to run to when things are too much to bear.
“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
The Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
And His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”
-Isaiah 40.28-31
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
what love is not
Once we figure out what love is, (as if that is possible); we must decide what love is not. I thought it might be easier if we start by defining what love is not by looking at ‘traditional’ love relationships. Then, we can move onto defining the love relationship we can have with our Savior.
So- love is not: judgmental. By the time we love another person, we should be past the point of assessing them based on our set of standards. Love is not of a critical nature. We should not find fault with our loved one’s every action. Most importantly, love cannot be forced; not upon another, or forcing yourself to love someone.
This is just a snapshot of ideas I came up with in the last hour. Books and books have been written about how to love and how not to love. Rather than waste your time reading my regurgitated words, let us see what the Bible says about love. The text I am going to refer you to is a popular one. You can find it at weddings, on nifty plaques you can hang in your home. However, do you really remember what comes after, ‘Love is patient. Love is kind.’? Take a closer look at what comes next.
“Love never gives up. (Love is patient.)
Love cares more for others than for self. (Love is kind.)
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always ‘me first,’
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
(1 Corinthians 13.4-7)
I love this. Do you see how many things love should and shouldn’t do? And how many of them we neglect? In fact, we sometimes find pleasure in doing the opposite. That is especially true when we are focusing on protecting ourselves.
While I could spend hours on each line, I want to focus on just one tonight. ‘Doesn’t force itself on others.’
I inadvertently think about that line quite often. I think about it because I question God why people are allowed to get away with so much. I hear blasphemous music on the radio, I know people say some rather blasphemous words, and they are still standing, prospering even. That is one of my biggest ‘why’ questions.
I think about my life. How awful I was for so long. Wouldn’t life have been easier if Jesus could have taken over my life from the beginning and saved me all the headaches?
But, if I were forced, would I have known it? Would I have cared? Worse yet, would I have loved Him back? I would like to say yes, but I know that I am only trying to justify the easy way out, and thus blame Jesus for my old life.
And so, while in another blog I will reveal that Jesus is certainly not passive; He is nonetheless patient. He is a gentle man when it comes to this love; in love with us from a distance, waiting for us to discover and love Him too. If He forced love upon us, if He demanded our attention that would not be love; it would be slavery and coercion.
Love needs to be something both sides agree on. Jesus already has agreed to love you. You the blasphemer, you the atheist, and of course, you the sinner. He is just waiting for us to discover that we love Him too.
So- love is not: judgmental. By the time we love another person, we should be past the point of assessing them based on our set of standards. Love is not of a critical nature. We should not find fault with our loved one’s every action. Most importantly, love cannot be forced; not upon another, or forcing yourself to love someone.
This is just a snapshot of ideas I came up with in the last hour. Books and books have been written about how to love and how not to love. Rather than waste your time reading my regurgitated words, let us see what the Bible says about love. The text I am going to refer you to is a popular one. You can find it at weddings, on nifty plaques you can hang in your home. However, do you really remember what comes after, ‘Love is patient. Love is kind.’? Take a closer look at what comes next.
“Love never gives up. (Love is patient.)
Love cares more for others than for self. (Love is kind.)
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always ‘me first,’
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
(1 Corinthians 13.4-7)
I love this. Do you see how many things love should and shouldn’t do? And how many of them we neglect? In fact, we sometimes find pleasure in doing the opposite. That is especially true when we are focusing on protecting ourselves.
While I could spend hours on each line, I want to focus on just one tonight. ‘Doesn’t force itself on others.’
I inadvertently think about that line quite often. I think about it because I question God why people are allowed to get away with so much. I hear blasphemous music on the radio, I know people say some rather blasphemous words, and they are still standing, prospering even. That is one of my biggest ‘why’ questions.
I think about my life. How awful I was for so long. Wouldn’t life have been easier if Jesus could have taken over my life from the beginning and saved me all the headaches?
But, if I were forced, would I have known it? Would I have cared? Worse yet, would I have loved Him back? I would like to say yes, but I know that I am only trying to justify the easy way out, and thus blame Jesus for my old life.
And so, while in another blog I will reveal that Jesus is certainly not passive; He is nonetheless patient. He is a gentle man when it comes to this love; in love with us from a distance, waiting for us to discover and love Him too. If He forced love upon us, if He demanded our attention that would not be love; it would be slavery and coercion.
Love needs to be something both sides agree on. Jesus already has agreed to love you. You the blasphemer, you the atheist, and of course, you the sinner. He is just waiting for us to discover that we love Him too.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
this kind of love (part 3)
As I was reflecting on this last blog in the ‘love series,’ I was listening to the radio. It appears that Extremists were threatening to blow the Palestinian Bible Society in the Gaza Strip if they did not leave by February 28. The Bible Society did not leave, and the building was blown up today. While I admire their courage for being there to begin with, the very idea that they stayed with the threat looming over their heads is amazing to me. Their response to the whole bombing things is utterly astonishing. They look forward to God furthering their territory and to planting many churches in the coming year for Christ. Another thing: from their own mouths, “One sign of hope that the staff found was the discovery, among the blackened debris, of a shelf of Bibles and copies of the Jesus film untouched by the fire.”
If that is not a representation of Christ’s love, then I am at a loss. And there are things like that going on all over the world everyday. It is not necessarily on a global scale like that. Some people take a step of faith just telling the people they meet.
But why? What would cause people to take these risks for God? Perhaps there are clues in the Word.
“This is what God does. He gives his best-the sun to warm and the rain to nourish-to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that, if you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that…Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” Jesus in Matthew 5.45-48
I want to share the lyrics of one of my favorite songs. It is by the David Crowder Band if you want to rush out and get a copy. That I would highly recommend. The title of this song, and the CD, is ‘Collide.’
“The breaking makes a sound I never knew could be so beautiful and loud, fury filled and we collide. So courageous until now, fumbling and scared. So afraid You’ll find me out, alone here with my doubt. Here it comes, a beautiful collision is happening now. There seems no end to where You begin and there I am now You and I collide. Something circling inside, spaciously You fly, infinite and wide, like the moon and sky collide. Here it comes now.”
I love this song. You’d need to hear it set to get the full effect; but the idea is there. When I first became the Lord’s, Christian music was uncomfortable to me. It took me months to be brave enough to sing along. The music is so passionate, so vulnerable. It sings of a God who is Great, who is Majestic, who is Love. The reason why singing along made me uncomfortable was because when I sang, it felt like Someone was listening. And I felt like I should mean what I say.
Now that I am so mature (ha-ha), I tend to veer away from Christian music for periods of time. Whenever I do, my soul and spirit start to wither. Seriously, it does. I have come to realize that Christian music are all love songs. It does my heart and soul good to sing these songs because I love Him. Am I great at showing Him my love? No, not really. But that’s okay too, because He’s absolutely perfect at loving me. Now I sing along at the top of my lungs, like a child.
DO YOU HAVE PROOF THAT HE LOVES US?
Why yes I do. Thanks for asking!
“I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done-kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.” Jesus in John 15.9-10
“Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it-there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.” Jesus in Luke 15.4-7
One more.
“By now it was noon. The whole earth became dark, the darkness lasting three hours-a total blackout. The Temple curtain split right down the middle. Jesus called loudly, “Father, I place my life in you hands!” Then He breathed His last.” Luke 23.44-46
Intimate. Rejoicing. Dying for us. This is the kind of love worth pursuing. I can guarantee there’ no love like this you have ever experienced before. Or will again. Think about it.
If that is not a representation of Christ’s love, then I am at a loss. And there are things like that going on all over the world everyday. It is not necessarily on a global scale like that. Some people take a step of faith just telling the people they meet.
But why? What would cause people to take these risks for God? Perhaps there are clues in the Word.
“This is what God does. He gives his best-the sun to warm and the rain to nourish-to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that, if you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that…Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” Jesus in Matthew 5.45-48
I want to share the lyrics of one of my favorite songs. It is by the David Crowder Band if you want to rush out and get a copy. That I would highly recommend. The title of this song, and the CD, is ‘Collide.’
“The breaking makes a sound I never knew could be so beautiful and loud, fury filled and we collide. So courageous until now, fumbling and scared. So afraid You’ll find me out, alone here with my doubt. Here it comes, a beautiful collision is happening now. There seems no end to where You begin and there I am now You and I collide. Something circling inside, spaciously You fly, infinite and wide, like the moon and sky collide. Here it comes now.”
I love this song. You’d need to hear it set to get the full effect; but the idea is there. When I first became the Lord’s, Christian music was uncomfortable to me. It took me months to be brave enough to sing along. The music is so passionate, so vulnerable. It sings of a God who is Great, who is Majestic, who is Love. The reason why singing along made me uncomfortable was because when I sang, it felt like Someone was listening. And I felt like I should mean what I say.
Now that I am so mature (ha-ha), I tend to veer away from Christian music for periods of time. Whenever I do, my soul and spirit start to wither. Seriously, it does. I have come to realize that Christian music are all love songs. It does my heart and soul good to sing these songs because I love Him. Am I great at showing Him my love? No, not really. But that’s okay too, because He’s absolutely perfect at loving me. Now I sing along at the top of my lungs, like a child.
DO YOU HAVE PROOF THAT HE LOVES US?
Why yes I do. Thanks for asking!
“I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done-kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.” Jesus in John 15.9-10
“Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it-there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.” Jesus in Luke 15.4-7
One more.
“By now it was noon. The whole earth became dark, the darkness lasting three hours-a total blackout. The Temple curtain split right down the middle. Jesus called loudly, “Father, I place my life in you hands!” Then He breathed His last.” Luke 23.44-46
Intimate. Rejoicing. Dying for us. This is the kind of love worth pursuing. I can guarantee there’ no love like this you have ever experienced before. Or will again. Think about it.
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