A Beautiful Thing

In 1987, I heard Russ Taff interviewed and he made the statement,

"Music has a way of speaking to us like nothing else."

I definitely agree, and my wife and family know I agree by the amount of music that I continue to purchase (though it has declined a little post-kids).

Formerly, I bought music based on whatever was being released in that particular genre. Now, there usually has to be at least 1 or 2 good songs I've heard that I want to keep hearing over and over. And fortunately, music buying has changed over the years. When I was a kid, buying 45s of your favorite songs for a buck was the norm. With the rise of cassette tapes and then the glamor of CD's, buying a single became more costly. Nowadays, I can once again get my favorite song for $0.99 (Itunes, etc.) and then see if I want to plop down additional monies for the whole album (I still call it an album even though its nowhere near being an LP album).

One of the better new releases is the 1st offering from Group 1 Crew. I really enjoyed the first single that came out last winter, "Everybody's Gotta Song to Sing." It's Hip Hop/Rap. I'm usually more of a pop/rock guy with an occasional harder rock beat (no raspy incoherent screaming though). This is fun and lively music. And I thought it deserved a comment as it is one of the few albums both the wife and I have enjoyed (she's had it on autorepeat the past month or so).

Lyrically, its very simple: Love one another, sing a new song, clap and dance around in a circle before the Lord. Its quite infectious and the lyrics fit with the beat nicely. (I mean what would you expect? John Piper lyrics.) Rating each song from 1 to 5 stars, I came up with 3 Five-star, 4 Four-star, 5 Three-star, and 1 Two-Star. Though I can't imagine a second album being better than this, I'd be content if this was their only release.

Besides "Everybody," the other notables are "Forgive Me" and the current single, "Love is a Beautiful Thing" (see the video). And at $7.98 on Amazon.com, that's less than $1 per song (which is closer to buying a LP in the 70s with a price of $6.99). So much for inflation.

Word.

Tame the Volcano

Among the many books I'm currently attempting to read through (outside of my desire each day to be reading the Word) is "Steering through Chaos" by Os Guinness. Dr. Guinness is the co-founder of the Trinity Forum, a leadership academy that works to cultivate networks of leaders whose integrity and vision will help renew culture and promote human freedom and flourishing (I got that from the website). One of their quests is to go beyond intellectual titillation.

In the book, under the context of the question, "are there any ethical standards upon which we can build our lives" or stated differently, "is anything truly right or wrong" Dr. Guinness takes the reader through an expository journey of the seven deadly sins and then the contrasting seven virtues of Jesus' Beatitudes.

I'm currently reading chapter three which looks at Anger versus Meekness. Guinness states,

"Anger becomes a deadly sin when the will is directly responsible for the rise and expression of the emotion."

Let's break that sentence up into manageable bite size portions. First of all, emotions are natural and often occur involuntarily. Being disappointed or upset is not a sin. The dilemma is when our will or our actions manifest themselves in an inordinate manner; when our outrage exceeds love for God or for our neighbor.

1st Example: Several months ago, a good friend gave me understanding of a key event that occurs very early in our Bible--Cain kills his brother Abel (see Uncompromising Yet Gracious). As you might recall, two offerings were brought before the Lord. One accepted (Abel's) and one not accepted (Cain's). Cain is naturally upset and I think in some ways experiencing self-pity -- "this should not be happening to me." And then we see God asking Cain to think and then respond correctly. Cain however basically says, "I don't deserve this. I'm angry and I'm not going to take it." And he kills his brother.

2nd Example: Monday's killings at Virginia Tech signify unchecked or uncontrolled anger.

In both examples, we tend to get caught up in figuring out the "why." With Cain, the text is not clear as to why Cain's offering was not acceptable. However, I think it's clear that Cain knew why it wasn't acceptable by the wording of God's questions to him in verse 6 of Genesis 4. But, our lesson is not in the "why." The lesson is our response when anger occurs.

Now, both of the above examples led to killing. But each of us gets angry every day and while it doesn't lead to killing, it can sometimes lead to something destructive and maybe violent. Lately, I've been trying to teach Tyson, my oldest (he's 11) that throughout life things are going to happen to you and occur that you don't like. You will get upset. The most important thing is to respond correctly when you get angry. So, what does that response look like?

Matthew 5:5, says "Blessed are the meek" and Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacekeepers." (NIV)

Guinness writes,

"Both meekness and peacemaking are rooted in an appreciation of the infinite value of human life."

This sounds like "love." Paul summarizes Jesus' teaching in Romans 13:10, "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law." (NAS)

Another good friend wrote me an email today and in response to the killings at Virginia Tech put forth,

"God is still love."

My response to anger is not simply to love, but first to submit that anger to the One who is Love.

Meek may rhyme with weak, but actually it stands closer to being strong. The lion that lies next to the lamb must have an emotion of dominance towards its neighbor and yet in submission yields love.

Anger will continue to occur. And just like a roaring lion, we need to continually tame it.

As I see it

Today in Sunday School we had some concluding thoughts on Revelation. This is a new class for us. Our second time there and they were wrapping up a study on Revelation. So, they went over a concluding quiz asking questions regarding heaven, like "Will we be married? Will we have memories of our present life? Are animals in heaven? What will we be doing?" In addition, there was also a concern raised that maybe we don't emphasize a longing for heaven in our daily lives.

Throughout these discussions, I kept thinking about "perspective." It seems many conjure up a lot of different ideas about heaven often from a human ideal of "wishful thinking" with an eye on inclusive of all we prefer in our current life. This is comfortable and pleasing to ourselves. The perspective is often one of securing possessions and current interpersonal relationships.

Currently, I've been thinking that the way I live my daily life can be much more content when I'm trusting in God for the unknown rather than working my hardest to ensure my own understanding of any given situation. On one hand, this seems to be my same outlook regarding heaven. While there are references in the Book regarding heaven, more often than not it seems I need to simply trust God that he has my best in mind.

So, do I long for heaven? I believe the correct question is, "Do I emphasize daily what I now have--both today and for all eternity?" Do I remember daily that grace has given me something that I don't deserve? Fellowship with God both today and in the future. A gift I don't understand and yet a gift that changes things for all eternity. So, do I remind myself of this gift in my daily life? Through reading His word, praying, and worship I can be reminded of this incredible relationship that is now mine. And in turn, this would yield a desire to not keep this to myself, but communicate it to others, to at least let them know.

And then, just like the attributes of heaven or the raising of children or my future positions at work, or in sharing my faith, I am deciding to trust God for the fulfillment of all those varied details. Trust in Him for the results. My perspective is not a natural one but a spirit-filled one.

Choo Choo Choo Choo...I think i can.

Sometimes I feel like I'm making life more difficult than it should be. Earlier this year, I wrote out some life goals and broke them down to short and long term. One of the immediate goals was to yearly read through the Bible. I've read through the Bible in a year before, or at least I like to remember that I have. The plan I use has me reading one New Testament portion in the morning and one Old Testament portion in the evening. I think I stayed with the plan about 2 weeks. And before long, I found myself needing to read 10 chapters of Old Testament and then several New Testament chapters to catch up. And then, the inevitable, I'm looking at the schedule and thinking, "wow, am I really a whole book behind?"

I think I know the answer. Keep reading. Don't get bogged down in the 'where I should be' and just keep reading.

However, it could be that maybe there are just too many things racing through my life right now and something I value as important is being squeezed out. That's probably a pretty good assessment. I wonder if I'll do anything with that...