Reflections of a Meager Musician

The Sound of music. Recently I was practicing my viola and the absolute beauty of it just seemed to wash over me. I really feel like that I have taken the past couple of years of being a musician for granted. When God gives you a joy and desire to create music you should hold it dear to your soul. Often times life seems to rush by and you forget the simple things that used to mean so much to you. Music has the ability to love, heal, hurt and forgive. Universally it is used all around the world. I wish that people felt the same way about salvation. This morning in my reading or Know What You Believe (Little), chapter seven laid out the path of salvation so clearly that I wanted to just dash out and find someway to publish it to the whole world! But then I thought, it is published to the world, it's been that way for over 2,000 years. They have access to it, they just have rejected it. So as I go about my day I pray that God will help me to not take for granted my life, my faith or my music and cherish His unfailing provision.

"I came all this way for a reason. Today is the day of salvation. Trust Jesus to save you. Then be sincere as God knows a pretender."
Kirk Cameron

Broken Glass And Why Beauty Matters

 What's the big deal about beauty?

I think that's a question best answered by taking a walk.

Imagine we are on a walk together. We come to a neighborhood that is really beautiful. The houses are big and well taken care of. The yards are mowed. The sidewalks are straight.

We come to a house on the corner lot. It's obviously somebody's pride and joy. It is well decorated. There are window boxes full of flowers in bloom. There is a wreath on the door. We turn and look at the house together, and then we each pick up a rock. Are you likely to throw your rock through the window of this beautiful home in this beautiful neighborhood? Probably not. Me neither.

Now let's stroll down a different street in a very different neighborhood. The sidewalks are cracked and covered with graffiti and litter. Many of the houses look abandoned. The lawns are not mown. The flowers have been choked out by weeds. We come to a house on a corner lot. The porch is sagging. The door is hanging on one hinge. Most of the windows are broken out. We each pick up a rock. Do we throw our rocks toward the windows at this house? Probably. Why not? The rest of the house is already broken.

Criminologists have a theory called the Broken Windows Theory. The basic idea is that if a neighborhood is well kept, it is less likely to attract crime—but allow graffiti to go unchecked, trash to litter sidewalks, and houses to become neglected, and crime will come soon after.

What does this have to do with your beauty?

Many of you are run-down neighborhoods. Your ideas about your beauty and value and worth are, well, broken. And as a result, you attract people who think it's okay to throw stones at your heart. Here's how that might look in your life.

• When it comes to boys, your picker-outer is broken. You are drawn to boys who exhibit bad behavior, don't take their faith seriously, and don't treat you like you're the daughter of the King.
• You have toxic friendships. You hang around with mean girls. Sometimes you are a mean girl. There's always drama going on in your group of friends and to you, that feels normal.
• You hurt yourself. You cut. You starve yourself. You exercise compulsively. No matter how you do it, the bottom line is that you're not treating your body like a temple (1 Cor. 6:19).

You see, when we feel broken, we live in a way that invites others to throw stones at us. We're broken anyway, why does it matter if someone wants to do a little more damage? But a girl who knows who she is according to God's Word and understands that she has value because the God of the universe created her and proclaims His love for her will guard herself against damage. A girl who knows she is beautiful because God has created her fearfully and wonderfully (Psalm 139) guards her beauty as a treasure instead of using it as a weapon to attract the wrong kind of attention.

So it's not just about beauty. It's not just how you feel about yourself. It's about the fact that if you don't choose to believe what God says about you in His Word, it will affect your life—big time.

So let's keep talking about beauty. And let's keep striving to see ourselves as God sees us in order to better guard our hearts against those who would want to do damage. Let's use every conversation about beauty to remind us that we are a well-loved neighborhood. We are beautiful and well cared for and valuable, and when we forget this truth, we invite others to throw stones.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matt. 5:14).

Note: Portions of this blog are taken from Erin's book on true beauty, Graffiti: Learning to See the Art in Ourselves.

Rescue Them

“Normal's dead and buried underneath Ground Zero. I'm just trying to make sense of what's left above ground."

So states Tommy Gavin from the FX drama series Rescue Me.  This intense production follows the fictitious lives of firefighters in the FDNY who were first responders to the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers.  In a nutshell, Tommy Gavin is a courageous and even heroic character who is beset with deeply troubling internal issues.  Not that we all don’t have our own problems that cause difficulty in our path, but Tommy has the majority of us looking pretty stable.

He’s an alcoholic, a womanizer, and carries on a perpetual wrestling match with severe mental and emotional issues. But despite all the baggage, Tommy Gavin saves lives.  There is something within him that triumphs over his selfishness and emboldens him to risk his life to save people in need of rescue.

What “makes sense” to Tommy Gavin is that sometimes folks are in deadly situations, and they need help to survive - so it's his passion and calling to save lives - even in the midst of his self-destructive path in life.

I know we are talking about a conjured up drama with actors and actresses, but Rescue Me makes a strong case for art holding up a huge mirror to real life - especially the life of a Christ follower.

Not that most of us (including me) could make it for one day as a firefighter, but in a very real sense< anyone who has trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation has been rescued, which then automatically makes us rescuers in a spiritual sense:

Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment (Jude 1:23)

Just a little verse tucked away near the end of the Bible…so small in fact that many believers miss one of the most obvious and unmistakable responsibilities with which we have been charged by God Himself.  We are rescuers and we are firefighters, but to our shame, many who claim to follow Jesus Christ are content to sit back and watch the fires burn.

Is this you?  Perhaps you believe you have messed up or are too messed up to be a rescuer?  If so, notice what the Bible verse didn’t say:

If you are living an awesome Christian life, rescue others.

If you are brave enough, rescue others.

If you are confident in sharing the gospel, rescue others.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, please hear this.  The command is to “rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment” no matter what.  The only qualification for this firefighting task is the ability to share the simple message of the gospel - period.  You may be like Tommy Gavin - carrying around addictions and dysfunctions, but take a lesson from his character - when the fires start and lives are threatened; his focus is directed solely on the rescue.

Perhaps even more importantly, there is another parallel in Rescue Me that is worthy of mention.  Tommy Gavin is haunted by the ghosts of the people he couldn’t save. The faces of those he couldn’t snatch from the flames have burned a permanent image into his psyche, because his commitment to his calling in life carries the liability of regretwhen people don’t make it out alive.

And shouldn’t it also with us? Is it possible that we will be haunted with the memories of the peopleGod placed squarely in our life’s journey who were headed for judgment and we sat in the fire station and worried about staying safe and clean?  I know this sounds harsh, but if we refuse to share the gospel and live out THE Cause, aren’t we guilty of failure in our firefighting?  I know at least one person who agrees with this concept:

You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.  I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.  Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.  Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of everyone, for I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God” (Acts 20:20-21; 25-27).

This is the farewell speech that the apostle Paul gave to the people to whom he was called to preach the gospel, and clearly he indicates that if he had failed in this duty, there would be blood on his hands.  Yet because he never hesitated to share the good news about Jesus, he could walk away innocent concerning their destiny.

What if You Die Young?

If I die young bury me in satin,
lay me down on a bed of roses,
sink me in the river at dawn,
send me away with the words of a love song.

                                    —If I Die Young

I’ve often thought that there is much more to be learned at a funeral than a wedding - wouldn’t you agree?  Sure, it’s fun to see our friends and family pledge their everlasting vows to each other, get some free food, then tie soda cans on the back of the couples’ exit vehicle, but…

Funerals have a way of pulling back the curtain of life and exposing us to the reality of death.

And if you’re willing to look inside yourself, that glimpse into the beyond should shake up the little snow scene of your life and give you a new perspective - not a depressing one, rather a hopeful and expectant viewpoint of just how priceless is our time on earth.

That’s the idea behind The Band Perry’s If I Die Young - a song meant to clear out the barrage of trivial thoughts that often deceive us into thinking that we are immortal.

And perhaps we are - at least in the sense thatthe great preacher George Whitfield exclaimed:

“We are immortal until our work on earth is done!”

When you think about it, whether we die young or die old is really not the critical concern of the Christian life.  The unbeliever may deny death, run away from it, or even try to cheat it. For us who have placed our eternal destiny in the nailed scarred hands of Jesus Christ, our mission is clear:

Carpe Diem!

This wonderful Latin expression goes way beyond a simple translation of “seize the day.”  The imagery here is one of “enjoy the day,” or literally “pluck the day when it is ripe.”

Many people take this encouragement as living for our own pleasures and amusements…how sorrowful and self indulgent!  For me, “living is for Christ, and dying is even more gain” (Philippians1:21) - which is why carpe diem for the Christian looks more like this:

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God, while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the jail to its foundations. The doors opened, and the chains fell from all the prisoners.

When the jailer woke up and saw that the doors were open, he thought that the prisoners had escaped. He pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! No one has escaped."

The jailer asked for a torch and went into the jail. He was shaking all over as he knelt down in front of Paul and Silas. After he had led them out of the jail, he asked, "What must I do to be saved?"

They replied, "Have faith in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved! (Acts 16:25-31).

Here are two Christ followers who have just been beaten badly by a hostile crowd and thrown into a dark jail cell.  But rather than bemoan and complain about their situation, they chose to conduct an all-out praise and worship session to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Now THAT is carpe diem!

And what happened as a result?  God broke open the prison doors and gave the disciples a chance to show the jailer that his salvation was worth more than their escape.

And just like Paul and Silas, we can sometimes find ourselves in a prison of emotional distress, disappointing circumstances, and overwhelming schedules.  But guess what? 

You’re alive!  Another day has been granted to you, so sing praises to the One who is keeping your heart beating even at this moment!

And when you do, you’ll feel the free air that the Holy Spirit delivers your way.  Not only that, but you’ll see the opportunities to live out THE Cause as you cross paths with those who desperately need to know the answer to the question: “What must I do to be saved?”

And if I die young, I want my last song to mirror the parting words of the Apostle Paul - the Christ follower who lived out the very definition of seizing his day:

As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.  And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

Carpe Diem!

I AM THE NATION

I was born on July 4, 1776, and the Declaration of Independence is my birth certificate. The bloodlines of the world run in my veins, because I offered freedom to the oppressed. I am the nation!

I am [300 million] living souls and the ghosts of those who have
lived and fought and died for me.

I am Nathan Hale. I stood at Lexington and fired the shot heard around the world.

I am Washington, Jefferson, and Patrick Henry.

Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

I am John Paul Jones, the Green Mountain Boys and Davy Crockett.

I am Lee, Grant, Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Pershing, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton, and Colin Powell.

But just as they did in Philadelphia when they were writing the constitution, sooner or later, you've got to compromise. You've got to start making the compromises that arrive at a consensus and move the country forward.

I remember the Alamo, the Maine, Pearl Harbor and September 11, 2001. When freedom called, I answered and stayed until it was over, over there.

I left my heroic dead in Flanders Fields, the rock of Corregidor, on the bleak slopes of Korea, in the steaming jungle of Vietnam and the desert sands of Kuwait.

I am the Statue of Liberty; the wheat fields of Kansas, the granite hills of Vermont, and Tennessee the Volunteer State.

I am the coalfields of the Virginias and Pennsylvania, the fertile lands of the west, the Golden Gate, Brooklyn Bridge and the Grand Canyon.

I am Independence Hall, the Monitor, the Merrimac and the Challenger.

I am the Liberty Bell that first rang for freedom.

Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.

I sprawl from the Atlantic to the Pacific - three million square miles of land throbbing with industry. I am forest, field, mountain and desert.

I am quiet villages and cities that never sleep. You can look at me and see Ben Franklin walking down the streets of Philadelphia with his bread loaf under his arm.

All who think cannot but see there is a sanction like that of religion which binds us in partnership in the serious work of the world.

You can see the lights of Christmas and hear the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" as the calendar turns.

I am Babe Ruth and the World Series.

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.

I am more than 170,000 schools and colleges and more than 300,000 churches where my people worship God as they choose.

I am a ballot dropped into a box, the roar of a crowd in a stadium, the voice of a choir in a cathedral.

I am an editorial in a newspaper and a letter to Congress.

I am John Glenn and Neil Armstrong and their fellow astronauts who whirl above my head. I am Eli Whitney and Stephen Foster, Tom Edison, Albert Einstein and Billy Graham.

The framers of our Constitution meant we were to have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.

I am Horace Greeley, Will Rogers and the Wright brothers.

The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who... looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space... on the infinite highway of the air.

I am George Washington Carver, Jonas Salk and Martin Luther King Jr.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I am Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Walt Whitman and Thomas Paine.

I love the man that can smile in trouble that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.

Yes, I am the nation and these are the things I am.

I was conceived in freedom and God willing; in freedom I shall spend the rest of my days.

May I always possess the integrity, the courage and the strength to keep myself unshackled, to remain a citadel of freedom and a beacon of hope to the world.

Despair

You don't truly realize how much you love someone until they are gone...and it feels like they have died. You mourn for them. You cry for them. You wish that you had not hurt them. Deep down you will always love them and you know that they will always love you....

By Doing Science...Do We Find God?

Does the evidence uncovered by contemporary scientists point us toward or away from a creator? This question was the central core of the movie “The Case for a Creator”, where Lee Strobel, a profound agnostic, gives an in depth delineation of his intellectual journey to unmask the origin of the universe, after his wife, also an atheist, became a Christian. Throughout the documentary, Mr. Strobel gave explicit reasons for his final supposition that the universe was in fact created for a purpose, and points unequivocally in the direction of intelligent design.
He began with the evidence of cosmology, the study of the origin of the universe. After consulting with many philosophers, Mr. Strobel learned about the Kalam Argument, which states “(1) everything that has a beginning of its existence has a cause of its existence,
(2) the universe has a beginning of its existence, therefore: (3) the universe has a cause of its existence (Bibliography 1).” “The temporal, kalam cosmological argument, dates back to medieval Muslim philosophers such as al-Kindi and al-Ghazali. It has recently been restored to popularity by William Lane Craig (Bibliography 2).” This theory is a step by step deduction for the meaning of the universe; clear and concise, it is realistic and indisputable. Most scientists today believe the universe had to come from something, and many also give a positive response to the Kalam Argument as being a justifiable basis. This obviously points to the existence of a creator because if everything that exists has a cause for its existence, and the earth fits that description, what are we left with? An existing universe with no cause? No, we observe a formed universe that has a purpose for being here and reflects signs of an originator.
The next element Mr. Strobel researched was the evidence of physics. During his study, he learned that every process in the universe is controlled by laws and principles, and that these processes have precise rules that establish how they perform and complete their exclusive responsibilities. An illustration given was that of the force of gravity, which is the reason all matter is held at a certain range. This method also protects our bodies from too much pressure. Another example was that of the Cosmological Constant (spansion speed for space). Einstein used this mathematical constant in his theory of general relativity which explains how far the universe spans, and what keeps it from escalating out of control. Scientists have discovered that this “constant” is fined tuned to 1 part and 1x 1052. This piece of information is incredible because it suggests that precision of this kind could not have happened by arbitrary chance, but that someone had to distinguish what that “invariable” was! Also, if the constant got adjusted even by one part, we would cease to exist! Jay Richards, philosopher, said “If it looks like our universe was fine tuned for complex life, maybe there is a fine tuner...” However, despite these plausible beliefs, evolutionists and agnostics created a counter-belief called The Theory of Multiple Universes. This theory states that at the beginning of time, there was a “generator”, spitting out universes in order to concoct one with the ability to sustain life, and that our universe just happened to be coincidentally formed. But the question that Mr. Strobel and Mr. Richards asked was “Who created the generator?” The generator supposedly had existence, so therefore it had a cause, so for that reason it had to have a designer. Evolutionist scientists do not have an adequate answer to this question and no doubt never will.
But why is all of this evidence relevant in today’s culture? It is helpful to have Mr. Strobel’s and others’ views on the origin of the universe, but why does it matter? As Christians, we know that God shaped the universe because it is what we have been taught in the Bible. Nevertheless, those who are in opposition to the principles of Christianity fail to see the plausibility behind our evidence of intelligent design. When discussing the origin of the universe with a non-believer, one could be faced with the statement “But I believe in God and in Evolution”. One’s response to an assertion like this is adequately presented by Mr. Strobel. He asks, “How could God direct an undirected process? How could God have a purpose and a plan behind a system that has no purpose or plan?” An easy way to end an argument safely and successfully with another person is to ask questions that leave them skeptical of where they stand in their beliefs. For this reason, Christians should continue in their search for God and use it to bring people to salvation and improve the quality of society for God’s supreme glory.
Once again the question is asked, does the evidence uncovered by contemporary scientists point us toward or away from a creator? Mr. Strobel was convinced that it did in fact indicate a designer. He spent over 20 years trying to find the answers to this issue and what he did not realize was that the world around him was shouting the truth! As a child, Mr. Strobel loved science and what he ended up concluding was that the proof of God existed in the things he already knew. Sometimes we take for granted the meaning of the world around us and Mr. Strobel is a perfect example of that. As a conclusion for his documentary Mr. Strobel put all the proofs, beliefs, evidences and hypotheses he found into one ultimate belief. “By doing science, we find God.”

Love

We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.

I climbed up the door and opened the stairs,
Said my pajamas and put on my prayers,
Then I turned off the bed and crawled into the light
All because you kissed me goodnight!

Upside Down

One man awake,
Awakens another.
The second awakens
His next door brother.
The three awake can rouse a town
By turning
the whole place
Upside down

The many awake
Can cause such a fuss
It finally awakens the rest of us.
One man up,
With dawn in his eyes
Surely then
Multiplies

Friends

Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you
in theirs. The ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who
would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.

Psalm 33

1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

4 For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars[a];
he puts the deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.

16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.