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Category Archives: Musings and Stories

“Asleep in the Light” by Keith Green

30 Mar

“Asleep in the Light” by Keith Green

Do you see?
Do you see?
All the people sinking down?
Don’t you care?
Don’t you care?
Are you gonna let them drown?
How can you be so numb?!
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes,
And pretend the job is done

“oh, bless me, lord!
Bless me, lord!”
You know, it’s all I ever hear!
No one aches,
No one hurts,
No one even sheds one tear
But, he cries,
He weeps,
He bleeds,
And he cares for your needs
And you just lay back,
And keep soaking it in

Oh, can’t you see such sin?!
’cause he brings people to your door,
And you turn them away
As you smile and say,
“god bless you!
Be at peace!”
And all heaven just weep,
’cause Jesus came to your door,
You left him out on the streets

Open up! open up!
And give yourself away
You see the need,
You hear the cries,
So how can you delay?!
God is calling,
And you are the one
But like Jonah, you run
He told you to speak,
But you keep holding it in

Oh, can’t you see such sin?!
The world is sleeping in the dark,
That the church just can’t fight,
’cause it’s asleep in the light!
How can you be so dead?!
When you’ve been so well famed
Jesus rose from the grave,
And you!
You can’t even get out of bed!

Oh, Jesus rose from the dead!
Come on, get out of your bed!
How can you be so numb?!
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes,
And pretend the job is done!
You close your eyes,
And pretend the job is done!
Don’t close your eyes,
Don’t pretend the job is done

Come away! come away!
Come away with me, my love!
Come away from this mess,
Come away with me, my love!
Come away from this mess!
Come away with me, my love!
Come away,
Come away with me my love!

Dear God, I have the honor and privilege of getting to preach tomorrow to a group of people who are very precious. So what is it that you need them to hear?

As I was working through the Presbyterian church’s prescribed liturgy for this Sunday, the Old Testament reading was out of Joshua 5, which I journaled about last Sunday to kick this week off. That’s kind of set the tone for the week. The Promised Land. They had arrived. The men got circumcised and they were expected to start supplying their own food from the land–you turned off the supply of manna. Now it was time to go and take the land.

When they first left Egypt, I would imagine that they didn’t necessarily think through what going back to the Promised Land about which Moses told them would cost them. They might have seen it as their reward for years of slavery. But that wasn’t it. This was just the next chapter for them as a people. It would be hard. They would have to devote themselves to you first. They would have to fight. They would have to struggle. That is how their people would survive and how you would eventually bless the world–through Israel as a nation. As much as their lives were not about “them” while they lived generation after generation in slavery in Egypt, their lives were still not about them. They were about you. They were about your plan.

As I sat down to pray to you this morning, I wanted to clear my head and get focused so I turned to the Christian music on my iPod. I wondered what I should listen to, and I heard a nudging for Keith Green. Eventually, I landed on this song. I think it’s perfect for what I’m talking about in the spirit of taking the Promised Land. “Asleep in the light.” Isn’t that what a lot of us are? Asleep in the light? Isn’t that what I am a lot of the time?

So what will I preach tomorrow? The message is going to be that it’s time to take the land. This particular church has been in limbo through various setbacks for too long. They are now muddled in fear and frustration. They are mired in lethargy. This might sound harsh, but it feels like it’s true. They are too concerned about what is happening within their doors and not concerned enough with what is happening in the neighborhood around them. The message will be, “God has supplied you with manna and he has given you talents, but now it is time to wean yourselves from the manna and start working for your community. It is time to start taking the land. And it starts with personal commitment (see the mass circumcision in Joshua 5:2-8). What will you do to bring commit yourselves to God and bring your talents to the table? What will you do to see that this church advances into the Promised Land and doesn’t flounder in the wilderness? When will you look around and see the world around you dying?

Father, help me to do this well.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 30, 2019 in Hymns and Songs, Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories, Uncategorized

 

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Corruption

22 Mar

No verse.

Dear God, I was talking yesterday with a young woman in her 20s who works with me. She was interviewing me for a college class assignment and she asked me about my attitudes towards the American Dream and the current ability for people to advance. It was an interesting question. Then a friend with whom I talk every week mentioned the recent scandal with the people using their money to get their children access to college. That topic kind of supported the answer I gave to the young woman.

When I was in my 20s, I didn’t really think of people here as being corrupt. I thought that was something that happened more in other countries. But we (the U.S.) have our systems in place that depend on law and order. We have our rules to prevent corruption. No, I thought there was fairness here.

Now, about 25 years later, I’ve seen plenty of corruption, both in person and through the news. Maybe I’ve even participated a little here an there unwittingly. So what does my faith in you tell me to do about this? Do I address it? Do I accept it? I honestly don’t know. As a man who has benefited from White Privilege his whole life, it is pretty easy to ignore it because I have never been at the other end of an unjust legal situation or even a cashier at the grocery store who seemingly treated me rudely because of my skin color. Therefore, I’m not terribly motivated to do anything about it. Where would I even begin to start?

Father, I’m not saying that that is the answer. I’m not saying that you are calling me to ignore corruption. Far from it. But what to do about it is something else entirely. Perhaps my role is to reach out and help those who are close to me who are victims of a corrupt system. I don’t know where you are leading me in this. Please guide my heart and show me in each moment what I should do.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 22, 2019 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Narrowing on Jesus and Widening my Love

21 Mar

No verse.

Dear God, I had a great conversation with some old friends of my wife last night, and one part of my conversation with the husband of the couple has kind of stuck with me this morning. I want to spend some time with you unpacking it a little this morning.

We were talking about loving other people who don’t believe the same things we do (religiously, politically, etc.) and he said (paraphrasing), the more I live the wider and wider my love for others gets and, simultaneously, the narrower and narrower I focus on Jesus. I really liked that, and I can relate. I know I still have a long way to go in loving others and not judging them, but I know I was better yesterday that I was the day before, and I hope I am going to be better today than I was yesterday. The more I focus on you/Jesus/the Holy Spirit (the Trinity), the more I start to see others with your eyes, and your eyes seem to be so merciful and loving. And then the ability to give that love and grace to others brings me a peace that I cannot have when I am judging them.

Father, thank you for sharpening me with some other pieces of iron yesterday. Thank you for sharpening me through my wife, my friends, and really everyone with whom you bring me into contact. Thank you for sharpening me through your scripture and through my prayer time with you. Thank you for caring enough about me to take the time to sharpen me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 21, 2019 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Taking a Tour of the Valley

11 Mar

Emails to God from July 21, 2012

Dear God, one of the benefits of doing a prayer journal is getting to go back and revisit a previous time in my life through more than just my memory. I don’t do it nearly enough, and today’s prayer journal makes me think I should do it more.

In this case, yesterday, I was thinking about the song “Mountain of God” by Third Day and I wondered if I had ever done a journal about it before. It turns out I had. It was July 21, 2012. That date immediately meant something to me. I now know it as the beginning of a five-year valley with my wife and children. I have often thought about that summer and some of the things that happened, including starting counseling with a therapist, and how it set the stage for what was to come.

Of course, at that point, I had no idea what was to come, how hard it would be, or how deep the valley would get. But it’s interesting to see how I expressed my faith in you at the time, and gratifying to be able to look back and see what you have done and what you have taught me. I made a lot of mistakes while I was in that particular valley. I continue to make them. I’m sorry for that. But I am also grateful that, while there were times when I was desperate and in tears, I never felt alone.

Father, I can almost never figure out what you are teaching me in real time, but I can sometimes get a glimpse of it in retrospect. Help me to learn what you need me to learn, understand what you need me to understand, and grow how you need me to grow. Be glorified in me and help me life to count for your glory in the lives of others.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 11, 2019 in Hymns and Songs, Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

What makes something precious?

08 Mar

“It was a different kind of impoverishment for men who had found fellowship in commiseration. Their ‘living thing’ with all its quirks, foibles and peculiarities had become a predictable commodity.”
Fred Smith — “A Living Thing“

 

Dear God, I read Fred Smith’s weekly blog this week, and, as is not unusual, I found something in it that I want to chew on with you for a while. It revolves around this quote I pulled from it and pasted above.

It’s interesting to try and ascribe a rationale for what makes something precious to me. Why do I like what I like, love what I love, and do what I do?

I’ve often wondered what it is about the knowledge that there are two individuals out there who are my children, and that knowledge makes them mean something different to me than anyone else in the world. When they were little and performing on stage, my eye almost never left them. Not because they were that different than the other children (although, of course I thought they were the most talented) but because they were mine. I loved them and I wanted them to see what they had to show the world. I think when it comes down to it, there is something in my brain that triggers and says this person is special to me. They are my child. They are my responsibility. I’m sure you buried that down somewhere deep in me–in all of us. And like the Jaguar owners in Fred’s piece, we get to sit around the Sunday school classes, or workplaces, or dinners with friends and commiserate on how hard parenting is.

There are other things that are precious to me. My wife tops the list. In fact, she is in a special place that even my children don’t quite sit in. I chose her (as she chose me). While my children will always be my children, even if we are out of relationship, my wife and I continue to be married by choice. I’ve had the opportunity to watch her perform on stage as well, and I can say that my eye followed her the whole time too, even though she was pretty much used as a prop on the stage. But what makes her precious? I met her when she was 18 and I was 19. We fell in love (only you know why we had a special chemistry that caused that to happen), but we’ve both changed a lot since then. Staying in love and staying together means rooting for the other, even at our own expense. It means giving the other space to struggle and grow. It means dedication.

I don’t know. I don’t know that I’m really coming up with an answer to my question, “What makes something precious?” When I list the things that are precious to me, my first thoughts go to my wife and children, but then they go to my job and the work you’ve given me to do. They go really to my own life and trying to make sure that, as small and insignificant as it might be in the grand scheme of things, it is used to maximize your will being done and your kingdom coming to earth as it is in heaven. And in the spirit of Fred’s piece about his dad and the Jaguar, I have to admit that the little car I bought a year and a half ago is my most precious material possession. I love that little thing. Not because I get to enjoy it with others. In fact, I enjoy it the most when I am by myself, top down, music loud, and the RPMs between 4,000 and 6,000. But I love that car.

Father, I have a lot of work to do today. Help me to identify what is important to do next. Sometimes it will be the thing that is precious. Sometimes it will be the thing that it hard and not enjoyable. And help me to not put any of those precious things before my love and devotion to you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 

 
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Posted by on March 8, 2019 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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She Used To Be Mine – Sara Bareilles

09 Feb

Jessie
“She Used To Be Mine” by Sara Bareilles

It’s not simple to say
That most days I don’t recognize me
That these shoes and this apron
That place and its patrons
Have taken more than I gave them
It’s not easy to know
I’m not anything like I used be, although it’s true
I was never attention’s sweet center
I still remember that girl

She’s imperfect, but she tries
She is good, but she lies
She is hard on herself
She is broken and won’t ask for help
She is messy, but she’s kind
She is lonely most of the time
She is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie
She is gone, but she used to be mine

It’s not what I asked for
Sometimes life just slips in through a back door
And carves out a person and makes you believe it’s all true
And now I’ve got you
And you’re not what I asked for
If I’m honest, I know I would give it all back
For a chance to start over and rewrite an ending or two
For the girl that I knew

Who’ll be reckless, just enough
Who’ll get hurt, but who learns how to toughen up
When she’s bruised and gets used by a man who can’t love
And then she’ll get stuck
And be scared of the life that’s inside her
Growing stronger each day ’til it finally reminds her
To fight just a little, to bring back the fire in her eyes
That’s been gone, but used to be mine
Used to be mine

She is messy, but she’s kind
She is lonely most of the time
She is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie
She is gone, but she used to be mine

Dear God, it’s been almost 12 years since I first saw the movie Waitress.

Waitress Moviei Poster

As I recall, my wife and I were on a date day where I took a day off and we went to a movie. I don’t think I knew much about the movie before I went to see it, but it turned out to be much more sobering than I expected it to be. The surprising foundational topic is that, ultimately, it’s about domestic violence and a woman who is emotionally and physically abused by her husband and how she ultimately deals with it. I’m not sure I agree with the line in the poster above that it is “This Year’s Most Delicious Romantic Comedy.” It was a surprisingly charming movie given the weightiness of the topic, but I have never thought of it as a comedy.

Fast ten years, and my wife and I were able to see the Broadway musical version that Sara Bareilles wrote.

Waitress Musical Poster

I am a huge Sara Bareilles fan so I was instantly interested, but I was also curious to see how she would turn this movie into a musical. Frankly, there were parts of the musical I liked more than others, but the quintessential anthem of the program was this song, “She Used To Be Mine.”

But before I get into the song, I’m struck by a difference between the tag line on the musical poster vs. the movie poster: “It only takes a taste.” At first, you would think it is referencing the pies that the character makes. But there’s a lot of hidden meaning there. For the main character, Jenna, she has become so beaten down, afraid, and seemingly trapped that she has completely lost her sense of what life used to be, but a couple of things happen throughout the movie and musical to give her a taste of what she use to have and what life can be if she will set her face to the wind and escape.

That brings me to the lyrics. This song is heartrending. I want to look at it one stanza at a time:

It’s not simple to say
That most days I don’t recognize me
That these shoes and this apron
That place and its patrons
Have taken more than I gave them

My wife taught me about poetry’s efficiency of language. One word or phrase can communicate more than thousands of words. That last line about the pie shop and its customers taking more than she intended to give communicates so much about how all of our lives can just slip away if we let them. I’ve been sitting here trying to put my understanding of this into words and I can’t articulate it. The poetry communicates beyond my linguistic ability.

It’s not easy to know
I’m not anything like I used be, although it’s true
I was never attention’s sweet center
I still remember that girl

I love how Ms. Bareilles uses the phrase, “I was never attention’s sweet center.” Lovely imagery there. But the singer is disappointed, hurt, angry…it’s hard to know which word to put with the idea that “it’s not easy to know I’m not anything like I used to be.” I just know we are getting this image of a woman who has been completely broken down and isn’t even starting over at zero. She is behind bars and trapped. In this case, she will ultimately have the ability to get out, but so many don’t.

She’s imperfect, but she tries
She is good, but she lies
She is hard on herself
She is broken and won’t ask for help
She is messy, but she’s kind
She is lonely most of the time
She is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie
She is gone, but she used to be mine

The thought that comes to me as I read this reminds me of my prayer yesterday about 1 John 3. We are all a paradox. Where there is freedom at coming to peace with ourselves is through the acceptance of this paradox, learning to see ourselves through your eyes thanks to the redemptive blood and resurrection of Jesus, and then pressing on further into you.

It’s not what I asked for
Sometimes life just slips in through a back door
And carves out a person and makes you believe it’s all true
And now I’ve got you
And you’re not what I asked for
If I’m honest, I know I would give it all back
For a chance to start over and rewrite an ending or two
For the girl that I knew

This is the part of the song that starts to become story-specific. The combination of her life choices and the crimes committed against her have lead her to where she is. The “now I’ve got you” can refer to both the unwanted pregnancy she is carrying (the baby will only tie her down, keep her trapped in her marriage, and make it harder to leave) and to herself and the person she is that she doesn’t like. She wants to just go back and start over and use the wisdom she has now to make different choices earlier.

This part is probably the most powerful part of the song. I’ve known a lot of people who made choices in middle school and high school, or even college or later, that were foolish. Part of it was through damage that was done to them as they were growing up, but now they are on a path that seems irreversible.

Who’ll be reckless, just enough
Who’ll get hurt, but who learns how to toughen up
When she’s bruised and gets used by a man who can’t love
And then she’ll get stuck
And be scared of the life that’s inside her
Growing stronger each day ’til it finally reminds her
To fight just a little, to bring back the fire in her eyes
That’s been gone, but used to be mine
Used to be mine

The interesting thing about this story (both movie and musical) is how the pregnancy emboldens her and helps her to find her strength. The maternal instinct ignites her “to fight just a little” and “bring[s] back the fire in her eyes.”

I guess I’ll close with this thought. Underage sex trafficking has been hitting my radar a lot lately through different stories I’ve been reading. It’s a bigger problem than anyone realizes, with a study by the University of Texas published two years ago estimating that there are 79,000 underage victims actively being trafficked in Texas alone. I talked to a friend about this yesterday as I asked him about some ideas I have to address the issue in our community. I think of these young girls and boys being victimized. I think of them being trapped and sold. This song is for them too. This is an evil that must be stopped.

Father, I want to end this prayer by pleading for victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse, human trafficking, and all other forms of desperate slavery. Please move powerfully. Move through the church. Move through your people. Move through me. Show me what you want me to do and foil the plans of Satan and all those who promote this evil. Bring them into repentance and bring your healing to their victims as well as to them. This prayer feels inadequate, but you know my heart. Holy Spirit, please pray for this and help to make these prayers what they need to be.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2019 in Hymns and Songs, Musings and Stories

 

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Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups by Ned Bustard

13 Jan

Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups by Ned Bustard

Dear God, I came in this room this morning expecting to continue on with my series on Peter and John when I found the book of an artist I met this weekend. He has taken different pieces of biblical art from various artists (including his own) and compiled them with the stories they portray. I really liked the guy and I had been wanting to pick up his book to check it out.

I just flipped it open, and the page I turned to struck me immediately. The art piece was titled “Isaac Blesses Jacob.” I didn’t even have to read the corresponding verses. I just wanted to dive into the picture, which was done by Wayne Forte. After only a couple of moments, I noticed so much in the picture (I should mention that this image is copyrighted and I hope that my publishing it here isn’t a violation of a copyright by him or Square Halo Books):

2019-01-13 07-49

* The goat skin on Jacob’s arms
* Esau in the background has hair on his arms
* The food is prepared while Esau is still hunting
* Rebekah is looking on, not only approving of the deception, but leading/participating
* Isaac is in bed, weak and gullible

And that’s just with a cursory look. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll bet I could spend some time with this one image and come up with well over 1,000 words on what you might be saying to be about this story through the artists.

I am sorry for underestimating art for so much of my life. My wife helped to expand my horizons a bit, but it was my daughter being involved in theater that really made me appreciate the value of art in human development. And I might think, “Hey, I’m 48. I am already developed.” Well, obviously I’m not. My daughter needed it while she was growing up, but I need it too. You are still teaching me. I’m still growing.

Father, use whatever you need to use to reveal yourself to me. It might be a conversation, a secular song, a thought that passes through my head while I’m in the shower that you don’t want me to forget, or the things you have revealed to others that they can share with me. Put me in a position to hear, see, and understand, and then help me to not miss you in both the sacred and the secular that is around me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 13, 2019 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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Division and Grace

10 Jan

Dear God, I heard/read a couple of things this week that are coming together into a complete thought.

This morning I read Fred Smith’s blog post called “The Great Wave of Schism.” It it he talked about the small cracks that form between us that eventually become breaks. It made me think of something that you taught me years ago. Causing division between people is Satan’s Plan A and he rarely needs a Plan B. It started with him causing division between you and Adam and Eve. It moved on to Cain and Abel and continues to this day. Right now our nation is unbelievably divided and our leadership is not helping. It feels like the trench warfare of WWI. Everyone is dug in. No one will advance and a lot of damage will be done.

Earlier this week I heard a sermon by Andy Stanley about the grace and justice that Jesus brought to the table. Frankly, I think it was the best sermon I’ve ever heard on describing your balance of grace and mercy. While I read Fred’s piece this morning, the thought occurred to me that grace and mercy are your Plan A to combat Satan’s Plan A, and you rarely need a Plan B.

Father, I’m glad you are the one that I serve. I know I fail. I know I can be part of divisions. I know I fail your sense of justice and I fall short of your glory. But your grace restores me to wholeness with you and then that experience enables me to extend grace to others. Help me to be a carrier of your grace into the world today.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 10, 2019 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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“Castle On The Hill” by Ed Sheeran

05 Jan

“Castle On The Hill” by Ed Sheeran

When I was six years old I broke my leg
I was running from my brother and his friends
And tasted the sweet perfume of the
Mountain grass I rolled down
I was younger then
Take me back to when

I found my heart and broke it here
Made friends and lost them through the years
And I’ve not seen the roaring fields in so long
I know I’ve grown
I can’t wait to go home

I’m on my way
Driving at 90 down those
Country lanes
Singing to “Tiny Dancer”
And I miss the way you make me feel, it’s real
We watched the sunset
Over the castle on the hill

Fifteen years old and smoking hand-rolled cigarettes
Running from the law to the backfields
And getting drunk with my friends
Had my first kiss on a Friday night
I don’t reckon I did it right
I was younger then
Take me back to when

We found weekend jobs, when we got paid
We’d buy cheap spirits and drink them straight
Me and my friends have not thrown up in so long
Oh, how we’ve grown
I can’t wait to go home

I’m on my way
Driving at 90 down those
Country lanes
Singing to “Tiny Dancer”
And I miss the way you make me feel, it’s real
We watched the sunset
Over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill

One friend left to sell clothes
One works down by the coast
One had two kids but lives alone
One’s brother overdosed
One’s already on his second wife
One’s just barely getting by
But these people raised me
And I can’t wait to go home.

And I’m on my way
I still remember these old country lanes
When we did not know the answers
And I miss the way you make me feel, it’s real
We watched the sunset
Over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill

Dear God, well, this song is most certainly not scripture, but it taps into an emotion within me that I’d like to explore with you this morning.

I was fortunate to have had a great group of friends, especially my senior year in high school. We would spend all weekend together. My memories are that at least one night of the weekend we would go to someone’s house and stay up most of the night and well into the early hours of the morning laughing, watching movies and playing games. Unlike Ed Sheeran’s depiction in this song, we didn’t drink or smoke, but I think we got the same emotional constructs for ourselves that Ed and his friends got from each other.

High school is an interesting mixture of responsibilities and irresponsibility. For most of us, we have the responsibilities of school, preparing for college, chores around the house and maybe an outside job, but we still don’t have to worry about where our next meal is coming from and how we will pay our rent/house payment (notice I said, “most,” because I know there are tragically too many youth who have to worry about these things). And we have a choice as we are making friends. We can identify our values and then find people who fit those values (I think that’s what I did) or we can identify people with whom we want to be friends and then adopt their values.

In my case, there are little phrases of this song that hit me–well, I just looked back and that won’t work. The whole thing hits me. My parents could only do so much to influence me. They set the standards within which I had to perform (grades, work, chores, college applications, etc.), but, in retrospect, I can say that at one level they had a tremendous influence on who I became (taking me to church), but on another level how little of it had to do with them.

So let’s see how I would lay out his last “where are they now” section:

  • One got married young and had several children. She is a college professor
  • One survived breast cancer
  • One has had several health struggles for her and her husband
  • One is a missionary in Thailand
  • At least a couple have had children with special needs
  • One is gay and has been rejected by some of the group
  • Several are on second marriages (there might even be a third in there somewhere)
  • One lost a son to suicide

As for me, my life has been a surprise to me. I’m happily married for 26 years, but we’ve had our struggles. My career has seen ups and downs. And I’ve seen ups and downs in my relationship with you. I guess one of the reasons this song speaks to me so much is that it takes me back to a part of my mind where I am young, naïve, idealistic, judgmental, ignorantly confident, hormonal, and scared. I think about the exuberance of youth and how, now that I’m older, I can spot it in a young person. I always have two thoughts: 1.) Good for you and 2.) you’ll probably experience pain that will take that away.

One thing I remember telling both my daughter and my son when they were in high school is that they will be surprised at how they drift apart from their friends. At that stage in life, it seems like those friends are your whole world and you’ll never lose what you have, but we all go off and touch different parts of the world you have for us. In Ed Sheeran’s case, he has probably seen more of the world through his career than 99% of the rest of us. But he can’t wait to go home. I’ll admit, the first time I heard this song and the part at the end about where everyone is now, I wondered if it’s awkward for him to go back as such a financial and famous success. Did that change his relationships with them irreparably?

Father, while it’s true that that group my senior year, as well as previous best friends throughout my school years helped to raise me, what I didn’t understand at the time is that, if I stayed in pursuit of you, you would be the one who would continue to raise me, even until this day. You are shaping me and molding me. And you have sometimes used me to encourage one of these friends, and you’ve continued to use them to encourage me. Thank you for how you’ve built me. Thank you for helping me to get something positive, to this very day, from those memories and songs like this. But thank you also that you’ve continued to guide me to new scenes beyond the castle on the hill.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 5, 2019 in Hymns and Songs, Musings and Stories

 

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What if God had done Christmas our way?

24 Dec

Dear God, several years ago, I had a thought. It started with the Christmas story and the shepherds. I wondered what would have happened if, instead of going to the shepherds in the fields with the angel chorus, you had gone to the church leaders or governmental leaders. What if you had gone to the private businessmen who were prominent in the church and announced to them that a savior was born that night? Had I overlooked how strategically important it was that you had chosen shepherds?

Then I started to think about Mary and Joseph, probably living outside of town in a tent or something while they were in Bethlehem for the census. All of a sudden, she goes into labor and has to go to a stable because they can’t find a room to rent for the night in which she can deliver the baby. But did the shepherds know of the pregnant couple visiting Bethlehem? Had they seen Mary and Joseph?

So now my mind was really clicking as I thought about these things. What if? What if? What if?

I suppose it starts with what our human wisdom would have done to bring about the Messiah. What if you had brought the idea to the temple’s leadership and asked them to submit plans for bringing your son into the world. I can see a few options they probably would have put on the table.

  • He should be born to a righteous priest and his wife. They would probably first ask, “Do we have any priests who are descendants of David?” Then the boy should be raised in the church and taught all of the doctrine that had been handed down over the years. He will ultimately become the leader of the church and will evolve into the leader of a great army that will topple Rome and bring about the revival of Israel. Yes, that is how it should happen.
  • He should be born to a prominent family where the father is a descendant of David. Like Samuel, his family will ensure that he is brought to the temple be raised. He will be taught all of the doctrine that had been handed down over the years. He will ultimately become the leader of the church and will evolve into the leader of a great army that will topple Rome and bring about the revival of Israel. Yes, that is how it should happen.
  • Another group would probably questions why he should be born at all. Let him appear among us. God’s Messiah will come to us straight from Heaven. He will ultimately become the leader of the church and will evolve into the leader of a great army that will topple Rome and bring about the revival of Israel. Yes, that is how it should happen.

The ideas would flow for a while and then you would say, “No, no. You don’t understand…

  • If he has an earthly father, he will not have my DNA. You don’t realize this can happen, but his mother will need to be impregnated by the Holy Spirit. He is my son, not yours. Yes, we will be playing a little loosely with the line of David part, but we can get a woman who is married to someone from David’s lineage. That will be close enough. Of course, in order to prove it’s my child, the mother will need to be a virgin until after he is born, but I can do that. No problem.
  • If he is born into a priestly family, he is going to be raised in the box of the religion that you’ve created over the past three thousand years. No, no priests. Maybe we can give him a cousin from a priestly family. That will be close enough.
  • If he is born into a family of wealth, he won’t understand suffering. He will expect privilege. Additionally, a prominent earthly father will feel the pressure to leave him in the church and then I’m right back where I started with him growing up in the box of religion. Also, you don’t realize it, but this kid will spend the first few years of his life on the run. I need a family that is willing to be flexible.”

“No,” you’ll continue, “here’s what I have in mind…

  • First, I’ve known all along what I’m going to do. I just wanted to see what y’all would come up with. When they look back on his time on Earth, some people will look back and think that things were orchestrated intentionally to fulfill the prophecies about him, but the truth is that I’ve been planning this all along and I gave prophets of the past insights into the future so that after it happened, all of you would know that I know exactly what’s going on and what I’m doing.
  • To that end, the first priority is that I need him to be raised by good people. I mean REALLY good people. I need people who love me and will do anything for me. I need people who are willing to do the right thing at any given moment, whether it makes sense or not. I’ve got a guy picked out that you won’t believe. And the woman–well, she’s exactly who I need.
  • On the night he is born, I need a way to affirm his parents and to let people know that this was real. There’s going to have to be an announcement, but I need to pick my audience carefully. What I’m going to do is announce it to the shepherds out in the fields. I can’t have the angels show up singing over the stable and if I send them to the people in town then they might try to take the baby from the parents. If that happens, the plan is dead. But the shepherds will go and find the parents. They will tell them what they saw and it will encourage this sweet young couple that I’m with them.
  • You don’t realize this, but it will be important that he is raised poor. He will see suffering. He will see sickness. He will see prostitution. He will be an immigrant, living in a foreign land for his formative years. He will know what it’s like to be an outsider and have his feelings hurt. He will know what it’s like to know Egyptians and people from other nations and love them. He will know that I’ve sent him to be the Messiah for everyone, not just the Jews.
  • I also need to keep him poor and obscure while he is younger because I’ve got to keep the kings of the time from killing him out of jealousy and fear. I have no intention of taking away the thrones I’ve given them, but they don’t know that. I’m actually sending him to save them too.

“So here’s my plan. I’ve got this couple picked out. You wouldn’t know it to look at them, but they are perfect. I can’t tell you who they are yet because if I do you won’t be able to keep yourselves from messing everything up with your wisdom. They will end up having to move around a lot his first few years because his life will be in danger. In fact, a lot of innocent children are going to die at the hand of a jealous king. I’ve already seen it. But they will be in my arms.

“He is going to grow up and keep a low profile until he is about 30. Then he will take everything he’s learned through the experiences he’s had and the DNA he has as my child and preach truth. It’s going to surprise you. He’s going to tear down some of the things that religion has built over the last 3,000 years. He’s going to reveal my heart for all of mankind to you.

“Now this part is going to surprise you, but he is ultimately going to die. There will be no wars. No armies. No overthrowing of Rome. See, you don’t need a man to lead you to victory. You need a lamb that will be your salvation. In fact, it will be the very church that you wanted to raise him that will kill him. In the end, the Romans won’t want to do it, but the church will insist that they do. It will be the church’s jealousy and insecurity, not Rome’s, that will take his life. But that’s what you need. You just don’t realize it.

“Finally, because he is my son, and because I am God and I am capable of doing so much more than you could ever have imagined for this plan, I am going to raise him from the dead. After this happens, history will completely shift. You’ll be amazed.”

Father, I’m a Gentile, sitting here on this Christmas Eve roughly 2,000 years after you put your plan into action. It worked. I have chills as I type this. You are my God. Thank you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 24, 2018 in Musings and Stories, Uncategorized

 

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