“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.” I John 4:18
When a child is frightened, he needs comfort more than courage, consolation more than logic, and compassion more than proof. He needs the caring arms of a loving adult to be wrapped around him until his fear melts – finding consolation in the presence of someone who cares.
That’s exactly what God does when we are afraid!!! He longs to wrap us in his loving arms. He wants us to know Him intimately as our wonderful, protective Father. The closer we draw to Him, the more we can trust in His perfect love. We can’t really fathom what perfect love means, because our best attempts at understanding God’s flawless love are marred by our sinful nature!
The apostle Paul reminds us that God’s perfect love is indeed difficult to understand as he writes in Ephesians 3:19, “That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depthand height – to know the love of Christ which passes (far surpassing mere) knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (erb now: words such as these in 3:19 able to comprehend with all saints; width, length, depth & height; may be filled with all the fullness of God, plus yesterday’s song “The Love of God,” continually inspire me to greater heights of intimate trust & commitment.
Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your blessing in stone… David Jeremiah Discovery 04/17
Today let His perfect love throw away your fears. As you do, you will feel His loving arms wrapping around you with His comfort, consolation, and compassion.
Fear knocked on the door. Faith answered. No one was there. Anonymous
NEXT UP: Implications from the historic Miami Heat vs. the Los Angeles Lakers winning streaks….
You are an epistle of Christ … written not with ink but by the Spirit of the Living God. II Corinthians 3:3
This may be a far-fetched illustration, but let’s give it a try. According to MSNBC, The British Medical Journal recently reported the case of a 76-year-old woman who visited her doctor complaining of stomach problems. When the scans came back, doctors were amazed to see a long object in her stomach, it was a pen! The woman remembered having put a pen in her mouth 25 years ago. She lost her balance, fell, and swallowed the pen. Her doctor at the time didn’t believe it, and the x-ray equipment of that day didn’t detect it, so nothing was ever done about it.
Now here’s the remarkable thing. When surgeons removed the pen, it still worked. Sometimes we feel we’re like being swallowed up in troubles, trials, pressures, and problems. But our God watches over us as He watched over Jonah in the belly of the whale. Trials produce testings, but from testings come testimonies. We never lose our message. We never run out of ink. Because of Christ, we never lose our ability to write the words: “Great is Thy Faithfulness!” Discovery: Experiencing God’s Word Day by Day. 2012 Feb 24 David Jeremiah.
Think about it. Most of the world around you doesn’t read the Bible. So … God gives the world a living epistle – you! Kay Arthur. As Silver Refined 1997)
And Now For the Rest of His Story while couched in our history… This time from Keith Miller
Last Sunday at our local Mennonite church, we sang the “The Love of God,” a hymn I’ve always enjoyed for its wonderful third verse, with its convoluted syntax.
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
By a weird coincidence, I got an email from my dad the next day, commenting on the origins of the verse. He’d learned about it from my uncle, who goes to church with Jeremy Nafziger, a writer interested in church music. Here are Jeremy’s comments (used with permission):
Frederick Lehman, the author and composer, sounds like he should be a Mennonite, but alas, he was a Nazarene minister. Early in his ministry (around 1900), he heard a preacher end his sermon with lines similar to the third verse of this hymn. The lines had been found scribbled on the wall of an insane asylum after the inmate’s death; Lehman says that “the general opinion was that this inmate had written it in moments of sanity.”
Lehman later used the words, slightly altered, years later as the third stanza of “The Love of God.”
It turns out, however, that the lines from the asylum wall came from a long poem written in Aramaic in the 11th century by a Jewish rabbi in Worms, Germany. (Note—the author was Rabbi Ben Isaac Nehorai, in a poem called “Hadamut,” written in 1050.)
And that may not even be the original—the Koran, written in Arabic four centuries earlier, contains this passage: “And were every tree that is in the earth (made into) pens and the sea (to supply it with ink), with seven more seas to increase it, the words of Allah would not come to an end; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise” (XXXI:27).
And you can go further back than that, to the Gospel of John, to find another similar passage. In the last verse of the book, we read: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
BOTTOM LINE: So in this one hymn, we see the story of ALL God’s children signing the covenant that “shall forevermore endure.”
Keith Miller March 31, 2012. See millerworlds.blogspot.com/2012/03/love-of-god
Even those of us who have tasted the radical saving grace of God find it naturally difficult not to put conditions on grace (e.g., “Don’t take it too far, keep it balanced”). The truth is, however, that a “yes, grace, but” posture is the kind of posture that perpetuates slavery in our lives and in the church. Grace is radically unbalanced. It has no “but.” It’s unconditional, uncontrollable, unpredictable, and undomesticated.
As Doug Wilson put it, “Grace is wild. Grace unsettles everything. Grace overflows the banks. Grace messes up your hair. Grace is not tame…. Unless we are making the devout nervous, we are not preaching grace as we ought.” Graces scares us monumentally in every way because it wrestles control out of our hands. However much we hate of are uncomfortable with law, we are more afraid of grace.
Gerhard Forde, in his wonderful book Justification by Faith: A Matter of Death & Life, says that “the gospel of justification by faith is such a shocker, just an explosion, because it is an absolutely unconditional promise. It is not an ‘if-then’ kind of statement, but a ‘because-therefore’ pronouncement: because Jesus died and rose, your sins are forgiven and you are righteous in the sight of God!”
BOTTOM LINE:
Contrary to what we conclude naturally, the gospel is not too good to be true. It is true! No strings attached. No buts. No conditions. No need for balance. If you’re a Christian, you are right now under the completely sufficient imputed righteousness of Christ. Have you shared this good news today?
May 25 It Is Finished: 365 Days of Good News Tullian Tchividjian
NEXT UP: We’re leaving Thursday 6 AM for Amherst MA for our grandson’s second birthday returning June 10. I’m planning to do a three day post of Tom Rath’s candid & personal examination of the way we invest or steward our physical daily activities in the introduction to one of his books, Eat, Move, Sleep: How Small Choices Make a Big Difference. And, I’m not planning on including any scripture for you budding atheists, agnostics, etc, a trifled annoyed at my persistence. This blog is all purely invitational, you can unsubscribe anytime. Email me directly, if you experience difficulties unsubscribing. Or, on the hand, if you enjoy the venue and know others who may also, share the address. We’re always seeking to lengthen the table, or broaden the porch and the surrounding patio. Time is short. Focus. Blessings everyone.
PS: A few minutes ago, @4:40 AM, dailylightdevotional.org led me to Hebrews 4:11 about resting; I’d be remiss not to include this scripture as it is so appropriate for this post. As is Utmost today titled “Yes-But…! “Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it.” Also, in today’s NIV One Year Bible, the OT details events while King David is exiting the palace for Absalom, the NT details Peter’s thrice denial and Pilate’s lines “What is Truth?” and “What I have written, I have written.”
Go forth today under THE influence!
Hebrews 4:4-16 (MSG)
4. Somewhere it’s written, “God rested the seventh day, having completed his work,”
5. but in this other text he says, “They’ll never be able to sit down and rest.”
6. So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient.
7. God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David’s psalm, centuries later than the original invitation: Today, please listen, don’t turn a deaf ear…
8. And so this is still a live promise. It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.”
9. The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people.
10. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God.
11. So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.
12. God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey.
13. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.
14. Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers.
15. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin.
16. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
A certain Muslim lived on a cottage on a hill. Every week he rode his camel to a little stream, And, every week as the camel stopped to drink, it nosed up the pebbles in order to make a deeper place for drinking. Again and again, the Muslim picked up the bright stones the animal uncovered and took them home with him.
One day a traveler told the Muslim of the easy comfort and riches that certain men in the city enjoyed; the traveler filled the Muslim’s eyes and heart with discontent. So, he sold his cottage and wandered the earth looking for money and such treasures. Finally, he died in rags and poverty, and was buried. The man who bought the cottage found the stones and preserved them.
One day a merchant came to his home and discovered the well-preserved stones were diamonds. The owner of the diamonds immediately became a millionaire. Note, the first man unknowingly possessed great wealth, but being ignorant of it, sold it and traveled the world looking for it. The second owner of the cottage simply made use of what he had.
BOTTOM LINE:
All people have eternal life at their disposal. Some people respond to this treasure like the first man, some like the second.
A few minutes ago dailylightdevotional.org guided me to Hebrews 2:17-18 for a rooted perspective to the above parable. I’ve included Chapter 3. Try KJV or NIV as well. Reflect on the gift to us beyond mere pebbles…
Hebrews 3:1-19 (MSG)
1. So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, 2. faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, 3. but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. 4. Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. 5. Moses did a good job in God’s house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. 6. Christ as Son is in charge of the house. Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we’re the house! 7. That’s why the Holy Spirit says, Today, please listen; 8. don’t turn a deaf ear as in “the bitter uprising,” that time of wilderness testing! 9. Even though they watched me at work for forty years, your ancestors refused to let me do it my way; over and over they tried my patience. 10. And I was provoked, oh, so provoked! I said, “They’ll never keep their minds on God; they refuse to walk down my road.” 11. Exasperated, I vowed, “They’ll never get where they’re going, never be able to sit down and rest.” 12. So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. 13. For as long as it’s still God’s Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. 14. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul. 15. These words keep ringing in our ears: Today, please listen; don’t turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising. 16. For who were the people who turned a deaf ear? Weren’t they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt? 17. And who was God provoked with for forty years? Wasn’t it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness? 18. And when he swore that they’d never get where they were going, wasn’t he talking to the ones who turned a deaf ear? 19. They never got there because they never listened, never believed.
PS: The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that we worship the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to us. Oswald Chambers The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L
NEXT UP: Perhaps GRACE is not so much an “if-then” kind of statement, but rather, a “because-therefore pronouncement & unconditional promise.
I’d simply be remiss after yesterday’s post, not to continue in the vein Pastor Carl so aptly unveiled, perhaps hidden in our hidden underground bunker command centers, when he said something to the effect that God wasn’t as concerned about our actions, as He was about our attitudes that lead to our actions and far beyond.
So, you can understand when I read this this May 26 “Think on These Things” from David Jeremiah’s Destination’s 2013 devotional, how I was now enabled to connect more of the dots from yesterday’s sermon, being more sharply focused by the Philippians 4:8 passage, “Whatever things are true … noble … just … pure … lovely … of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things.”
Albert Einstein once said, “The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” (So true, just consider for example what the largely demonic World Economic Forum, WEF, has accomplished in changing our thinking since their inception, by merely focused humanistic thinking … Erb) Einstein was using the term world in a global sense, but his point of view is often also true in our personal worlds. Our thoughts become attitudes; our attitudes spawn actions, our actionsbraidthemselves into habits; and our habits determine our destiny.
The fastest way to change your world is to change your thinking. Crowd out impure thoughts with Scripture memory. Push aside anxious thoughts with biblical promises. Learn the power of meditating on the Word. Think on God’s Book, which is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. Find ways for you personally to come topside being restored by His LIGHT destroying those underground caverns disrupting any further exposure to filthy or negative mental intake. Be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2), for you cannot change your life without changing your thoughts. For as you develop the “mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:16) the God of peace will be with you.
BOTTOM LINE:
… Is for we Christ Followers, as in baseball, to get across home plate, and bringing as many others as possible. My “closer”analogy has literally gone amuck! “Closers” are skilled at shutting down a potential rally in the ninth inning with the bases loaded to win the game. Actually, my analogy should have centered around RBI’s (runs batted in) or perhaps, “assists!” So regardless, whether it is by His “closers, RBI’s, assists, or clinchers,” wrap your body, mind, and soul today around the arsenal of Truth & Spirit God provides to assure victory from Darkness, and crossing Home Plate! I’ve heard it said the biggest problem we have being His living sacrifice is that it is too easy for us to walk, crawl or roll off the altar, removing ourselves effectively from the Equation For LIFE, that being, living in faithful evangelism…
NEXT UP: A parable of a Muslim man’s uncanny investment in pebbles…
Last Sunday Pastor Carl effectively captured our attention with the children’s SS song This Little Light of Mine and drove home his four points on marriage to insure our marital joy thrives recognizing its: 1.) Source…God’s plan is in His manual (not to be confused with civil unions), 2.) Sanctity (what God has joined let not man…, 3.) Sabotage … forces that damage/destroy bonds, & 4.) Solution … miracle working God, abide within His boundaries, Church community offer hope, get help early on…
Today (May 27) Pastor Carl drew from the Dr Seuss 1940 book Horton Hatches the Egg with its famous line “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, an elephant is faithful 100 percent!” with the Biblical text taken from The Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:33-37 concerning oaths; 33.) Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord all thy oaths,” concluding 37.) “But let your communication be yeah and nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” I am presuming Pastor Carl was suggesting we apply and remember the essence of this text by his PJR triggers of 1.) the Principle Jesus is Referencing not being a commandment, but rather our appeal to God by means of some sacred object; 2.) the Problem Jesus Revealed, we making oaths that we have no intention of keeping; & 3.) the Practice Jesus Recommends, that our being completely honest, truthful, transparent and righteous, is assured not by an oath, but stems from His Spirit residing within and directing us, such as calling off sick when we’re not, or fudging car title sale prices to lower either their, or our tax liabilities, or by telling someone when they request my time, that I already have plans, which are only not to do whatever they have for me…. Oh yes, we are so easily deceived…
Visit the kidronmennonite.com, click on Livestream, then select the desired date, or search Kidron Mennoite on YouTubes for the May 19 & 27th sermons.
Now, I said all the above just as a lead into my conversation with Jim & Doris Miller as Daniel Gerber and I were walking to our cars after SS. Jim informed me of a popular article by A.W. Tozer titled Five Vows to Make and Keep, which he recited to us briefly inferring he’d lived by it since hearing it, picking up on the morning’s sermon. Later Daniel sent me a copy of the Tozer’s Five Vows that I’ve slashed to half size below, but still, 1800 words. If desiring the full-length article, type in this address: /2016/12/five-vows-to-make-and-keep/
Some people object to taking vows, but in the Bible you will find many great men of God directed by covenants, promises, vows, and pledges. The psalmist was not averse to the taking of vows. He said, “Thy vows are upon me, 0 God, I will render my praises unto thee” (Psalm 56:12).
My counsel in this matter is that if you are really concerned about spiritual improvement – the gaining of new power, new life, new joy, and new personal revival within your heart -you will do well to make certain vows and proceed to keep them. if you should fail, go down in humility and repent and start over. But always keep these vows before you. They will help harmonize your heart with the vast powers that flow out and down from the throne where Christ sits at the right hand of God.
A carnal man refuses the discipline of such commitments. He says, “I want to be free. I don’t want to lay any vows upon myself; I don’t believe in it; it is legalism.” Well, let me paint a picture of two men.
One of them will not take vows. He will not accept any responsibility. He wants to be free. And he is free – in a measure – just as a tramp is free. The tramp is free to sit on a park bench by day, sleep on a newspaper by night, get chased out of town on Thursday morning, and find his way up a set of creaky stairs in some flophouse on Thursday night. Such a man is free, but he is also useless. He clutters up the world whose air he breathes.
Let’s look at another man – maybe a president or prime minister or any great man who carries upon himself the weight of government. Such men are not free. But in the sacrifice of their freedom they step up their power. if they insist upon being free, they can be free, just like the tramp. But they choose rather to be bound.
There are many religious tramps in the world who will not be bound by anything. They have turned the grace of God into personal license. But the great souls are the ones who have gone reverently to God with the understanding that in their flesh dwells no good thing. And they knew that without God’s enablement any vows taken would be broken before sundown. Nevertheless, believing in God, reverently they took certain sacred vows. This is the way to spiritual power. There are five vows I have in mind which we do well to make and to keep.
1. DEAL THOROUGHLY WITH SIN
Sin has been driven underground these days and has come up with a new name and face. You may be subjected to this phenomenon in the schools. Sin is being called by various fancy names – anything but what it really is. For example, men don’t get under conviction any more; they get a guilt complex.
Instead of confessing their guilt to God and getting rid of it, they sit on a couch and try and tell a man who ought to know better all about themselves. it comes out after a while that they were deeply disappointed when they were two years old or some such thing. That’s supposed to make them better.
The whole thing is ridiculous, because sin is still the ancient enemy of the soul. it has never changed. We’ve got to deal firmly with sin in our lives. Let’s remember that “the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Righteousness lies at the door of the kingdom of God. The soul that sins, it shall die.
This is not to preach sinless perfection. This is to say that every known sin is to be named, identified, and repudiated and that we must trust God for deliverance from it so that there is no conscious, deliberate sin anywhere in our lives. It is absolutely necessary that we deal thus, because God is a holy God and sin is on the throne of the world.
So don’t call your sins by some other name. if you’re jealous, call it jealousy. If you tend to pity yourself and feel that you are not appreciated, call it what it is – self-pity.
2. NEVER OWN ANYTHING (perhaps better said, OWN YOU!
I do not mean by this that you cannot have things. I mean that you ought to get delivered from the sense of possessing them. This sense of possessing is what hinders us. All babies are born with their fists clenched, and it seems to me it means, “This is mine!” One of the first things they say when they begin to speak, is “mine” in an angry voice. That sense of “This is mine” ‘is a very injurious thing to the spirit. If you can get rid of it so that you have no feeling of possessing anything, there will come a great sense of freedom and liberty into your life.
Now don’t think that you must sell all that you have and give it to charity. No. God will let you have your car and your business, your practice and your position, whatever it may be – provided you understand that it is not yours at all, but His, and all you are doing is just working for Him. You can be restful about it then, because we never need to worry about losing anything that belongs to someone else. If it is yours, you are always looking in your hand to see if it is still there. If it is God’s, you no longer need to worry about it.
3. NEVER DEFEND YOURSELF
We are all born with a desire to defend ourselves. And if you insist upon defending yourself, God will let you do it But if on turn the defense of yourself over to God, He will defend you. He told Moses in Exodus 23: “I will be an enemy unto thine enemies and an adversary to thine adversaries.”
What do we defend? Well, we defend our talents; we defend our service; and particularly, we defend our reputation. Your reputation is what people think you are, and if a story gets out about you, the big temptation is to try to run it down.
4. GUARD YOUR WORDS ABOUT OTHERS
Never pass anything on – about anybody else that will hurt him. “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). The talebearer has no place in God’s favor. if you know something that would hinder or hurt the reputation of one of God’s children, bury it forever. Find a little garden out back – a little spot somewhere – and when somebody comes around with an evil story, take it out and bury it and say, “Here lies in peace the story about my brother.” God will take care of it. “With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.”
if you want God to be good to you, you are going to have to be good to His children. You say, “But that’s not grace.” Well, grace gets you into the kingdom of God. That is unmerited favor. But after you are seated at the Father’s table, He expects to teach you table manners. And He won’t let you eat unless you obey the etiquette of the table. And what is that? The etiquette of the table is that you don’t tell stories about the brother who is sitting at the table with you – no matter what his denomination, or nationality, or background.
5. NEVER ACCEPT ANY GLORY
God is jealous of His glory and He will not give His glory to another. He will not even share His glory with another. It is quite natural, I should say, for people to hope that maybe their Christian service will give them a chance to display their talents. True, they want to serve the Lord. But they also want other people to know they are serving the Lord. They want to have a reputation among the saints. That is very dangerous ground – seeking a reputation among the saints. It’s bad enough to seek a reputation in the world, but it’s worse to seek a reputation among the people of God. Our Lord gave up His reputation, and so must we.
I go along with this. If you are serving the Lord, and yet slyly -perhaps scarcely known to you – you are hoping to get just a little five percent commission, then look out! it will chill the power of God in your spirit. You must determine that you will never take any glory, but see that God gets it all.
BOTTOM LINE:
These vows cut against the old human nature. They introduce the cross into your life, and nobody ever walks back from carrying his cross. When you make these vows, remember, they strike at the heart of your self-life and there is never a place to go back to. And I say, “Woe unto the triflers!”
Now, if you happen to be one of those on whom God has laid His hand for a deeper life, a more powerful life, a fuller life -then I wonder if you would be willing to pray this kind of prayer: –
0 God, glorify Thyself at my expense. Send me the bill – anything, Lord. I set no price. I will not dicker or bargain. Glorify Thyself. I’ll take the consequences.
This kind of praying is simple, but it’s deep and wonderful and powerful. I believe that if you can pray a prayer like that, it will be the ramp from which you can take off into higher heights and bluer skies in the things of the Spirit.
NEXT UP: Time for a break from the intensive! How about encouragement and wisdom from Einstein in less than 300 words?
I and the multitude of his fans and friends, value & treasure John’s unique music & quips flowing from his compelling identity in Christ as His troubadour & Kingdom Warrior Ambassador. Enjoy.
SEIZE THE MOMENT (Pay Attention)
“At the risk of repeating myself (I may have told this story before), I want to retell a story that I thought had to be false, but I’ve checked it out. It’s true. Here’s the story:”
A man stood at the L’Enfant Plaza Metro (subway) entrance in Washington, DC playing his violin. It was a cold January day. He played six classical pieces for about 45 minutes – two Bach pieces, one Massenet and one each from Schurbert and Ponce. It was rush hour, so over a thousand people went through the building on their way to work. After about three minutes after he started playing a middle- aged man heard the music, slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried on to his work. A minute later the violinist received his first dollar tip. A woman tossed the money into his open violin case as she walked by. A few minutes later a man leaned against the wall to listen to him for a minute or two, looked at his watch and walked away.
The one who paid the most attention was a three-year-old boy who stopped to listen while his mother held his hand. Finally, the mother started walking, tugging the boy along. He went with her as he kept turning his head and watching the violinist while being escorted away. This action was repeated several times by other children.
In the 45 minutes that the musician played, six people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money as they continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.17 plus a $20 bill from someone who seemed to recognize him. $52,17 total! When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed. No one applauded. There was no recognition or thanks.
Who was this metro subway musician? His name is Joshua Bell,one of the most acclaimed classical violinists in the world. He was playing a Stradivarius violin, made in 1713, worth several million dollars. Two nights earlier he played the same repertoire to a sold-out theater in Boston to folks who paid more than $100 per seat and he received thunderous applause and appreciation.
Columnist Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post initiated this experiment. Bell wore a baseball cap and played incognito as his performance was videotaped on a hidden camera. They wanted to see how beautiful music would affect people in their daily routine.
Their conclusion: the world is too busy, too preoccupied, too uncurious, or simply disinterested to stop and joy the best that classical music has to offer. One of the finest violinists in the world playing the finest classical music in the world on possibly the finest violin in the world! As the world walked by.
Weingarten won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for his article on this experiment. The Washinton Post posted the video on YouTube and it was entitled: Find Your Way: A Busker’s Documentary. It went viral.
So many take aways! What was learned? Several observations:
If we don’t have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written on one of the best musical instruments ever made, how many other things are we missing?!
If you don’t have a “name,” people don’t expect much. At a Johnny Cash concert in Dover in 1995, I listened politely, though impatiently to the warm up” band. They stopped, Johnny Cash’s band came on stage and at the sound of the first three notes of Bob Wooten’s guitar, the crowd was their feet. The performer had a name. Anticipation was high. I guess we get what we want and expect?
How an artist is introduced is very important. I was once asked by an MC how I would like to introduced. “Do you want my humble intro, or my boastful introduction?” I asked jokingly. “The boastful one!” he demanded. So, I told who all I had been on stage with and where I had performed, etc. and he got up and gave me a flowery (albeit truthfully) introduction. I could feel the anticipation when I got up on stage.
Atmosphere matters. Presentation counts. There is a reason Joshua Bell does not wear a baseball cap and a T shirt when he performs at Carnegie Hall. Maybe it wasn’t totally the commuter’s fault that they missed greatness.
“Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?” The man was speechless. Matt. 22:11
The thief on the cross was just several feet from the Savior and yet he missed him.
Don’t miss the beauty around you. Don’t miss the Savior!
Contact Info: Common Ground Ministries Box 178 Berlin, OH 44610 office 330-674-9862 home 330-674-2274 www.johnschmid.com
I thought because we have several flower beds to work and plant before the showers arrive. At least, that was what I thought until I read the first three verses from dailylightdevotional.org which led me to all of I Cor 2… And last evening after attending and being greatly blessed by the first of Daniel Gerber’s Abiding worship services, all from seeds planted at the Pittsburg youth convention when he was a high school senior. I came home for a late supper and while scanning some new for me but old devotional books, I found this unique one that intensely resonated with my spirit as I’m been researching personal spiritual disciplines, this one titled “Joy in the Morning based on Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” in David Jeremiah’s “Sanctuary: Finding Moments of Refuge in the Presence of God.” 2002 Jan 25 quoting,
“It’s interesting that David follows a pattern of looking at the day that was begun in the creation account in Genesis. He says that weeping comes in the night, but joy comes in the morning. If you remember, when God created the heavens and the earth, He said, “the evening and the morning were the first day” (Genesis 1:5). We think just the opposite, don’t we? We think of a day as the morning followed by the evening.
I think there are wonderful truths embedded in God’s perspective on life. If you will look at your day as the evening and the morning instead of of the morning and the evening, you will begin your day in the evening by meditating on what you need to accomplish the next day, and asking God’s blessing on it. Then He is free to work in your heart and mind as you sleep to prepare for accomplishing those things. When Christ returns, there will be no more weeping. Weeping is ours during the night, but eternal joy is coming in the morning of Christ’s return.”
mle … These italicized words from above will no doubt cause me to evaluate and rethink the way I schedule my life. It appears I’ve been blindsided/broadsided! Perhaps this is why the Jewish Sabbath begins at sunset Friday evening and ends at sunset Saturday evening? Interesting!
Now for the dailylightdevotional.org scriptures before I Corinthians 2:
May 25 MORNING
How great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee! Psa. 31:19
Since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Isa. 64:4
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. I Cor. 2:9, 10
1 Corinthians 2:1-16 (MSG)
1 You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s master stroke, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy.
2 I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.
3 I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—
4 and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God’s Spirit and God’s power did it,
5 which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.
6 We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it’s not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so.
7 God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene.
8 The experts of our day haven’t a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross.
9 That’s why we have this Scripture text: No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, Never so much as imagined anything quite like it— What God has arranged for those who love him.
10 But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you. The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along.
11 Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking,
12 but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us.
13 We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.
14 The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion.
15 Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics.
16 Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit.
Blessings to you and your plans for this ’24 Memorial Day Weekend!
Before I sat down to write this conclusion, I had the opportunity to visit an elderly pastor, formerly an acquaintance, now becoming a dear friend, who is struggling with Parkinson’s. After catching up on the past week, I was explaining the Tony Reinke phone article and just ended up reading it to him, noticing when I began the avoidance motives, he was dozing. With lunch time approaching, I thought it best for me to move on allowing him a quick nap prior lunch saying perhaps we’d continue from there next time.
I mention this encounter for while reading this article again, I was reminded how vulnerable we as Christ Followers are today to the nuances and functional intricacies of this pocket sized idol that has been catapulted virtually into functioning as a living organism with its intrinsic addictive programed capabilities that we lazily elevate above our God endowed gifts diminishing and ultimately mothballing them as we shift our trust from Almighty God to merely one of many latest & greatest new & shiny objects, as we become the proverbial “cooked” frog when initially only seeking its comforting functional warmth.
Note these captivating devices once given free-reign in our daily treadmill of life are soon quietly unobtrusively under-girding our thought processes, and our subsequent actions & decisions, such that we are not even aware of the shift. These phones literally can think, recall, perform, store, capture and transmit data around the world and cloud, either electronically or even by its own voice, and now with AI, to even heal itself and continually diagnose and monitor the state of our health and make its dire or life-saving predictions. The list is endless; and all this occurs without fleshly eyeballs, blood, bone, heart, or brain. Just imagine! Even reproduction is in process, be it 3 D printers or cloning.
Remember how we chuckled as children during SS or Bible School at the foreign god idols during Bible days, being merely wood, stone or cast metal; “whatever were those heathen people thinking”? And then, we were even more judgmental when the children of Israel left the True God and worshipped their neighbor’s gods!
So, what about our situation now? It seems regardless of the date in history, without Christ, our hearts continue to gravitate toward some form of idolatry, be it identity or significance; all of which nudges out our love and adoration for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; be it a spouse, children, work, trinkets, toys, heroes, castles, social media, sexual fulfillment, kingdoms, sports, hobbies, land, humanitarian causes, fame, recognition, unique skills, etc. The list is endless, and we may snicker at the obviousness of those listed, but all that really matters in the end, is that we know without a doubt exactly what is crowding out God and His Righteousness from being front and center in our lives right now!
I’m suggesting by using this simple 9-year-old phone idolatry article that we just ponder, really ponder the significance of that one technological development, and the hundreds of generations of phones since Alexander G Bell in 1844 sent the phrase from Numbers 23:23, originally recorded as spoken from Balam to Balak “What hath God wrought?” by telegraph, the precursor of the telephone.
I remember well having the power line installed along our county road 120 in ’51 so we all had electricity, thanks to the REA, the Rural Electrification Association; a party line rotary dial phone installed in ’55, water piped into our home with a faucet in the hallway in ’56, and indoor plumbing with a kitchen sink and a bathroom in’59, but the TV got skipped until the next generation. All of these developments since the Industrial Revolution were of significance in the doors they opened and the lives they changed, but none quite compare to the impact of phones on us individually spiritually, especially when intertwined with video.
We can’t undo it or ignore it, as my father tried with daylight savings time when it was introduced. Monday thru Saturday night except for Wednesday night prayer meeting, we operated and lived on old time, standard time, not the new, or Daylight time. Both the mailman & the milkman just came an hour early and our few appointments were adjusted. Seems funny now, but I think we did it 2 or 3 summers, being normal duration then.
I also remember well our old Zenith tube radio taller than me then with its AM/short wave bands arriving several years after the electric poles were set, providing Christian radio programming such as “Songs in the Night” from the historic Moody Church, Bill Collins and the Sugarcreek Creek Gang series, Unshackled, and with three short wave bands to cruise, (surfing came later with internet), with programming all the way from Quito Ecuador, one of the few in English, and of course, our government’s Voice of America broadcasting the positive attributes of democracy around planet earth, which interestingly enough now, I have no recollections of content.
Although for some reason, I am reminded of the five words “How the mighty have fallen! It seems I am using those five words more frequently of late when pondering the current trending perspectives being floated out & about, in & around. Perhaps it’s because I just came across that phrase twice in my One Year NIV Bible reading on Wednesday May 22 in I Samuel 1: 19 in David’s lament quoting from verse 17, “David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, and ordered that the men of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the book Jashar): 19.) Your glory O Israel, lies slain on your height. How the mighty have fallen!” True then, true now.
For some weeks my copy of the book “A Church Dismantled: A Kingdom Restored” has been in plain sight on the top of several books, the bottom being my grandfather Gingerich’s very tattered Thompson’s The New Chain Reference Bible. A Church Dismantled was written by another acquaintance afflicted with Parkinsons, Conrad L Kanagy, whom I imagine would also echo these five words today, as he set the stage already in 2007 with his book “Road Signs For the Journey: A Study of Denominational Decline – and the Discovery of Hope in the Spirit’s Dismantling of the Church.” Isn’t that a novel perspective when the chatter today is confusingly more along the lines of “God Save the Queen?”
I mention all the above history only for perspective to awaken us to the lateness of the hour and how we of my generation are being lulled into spiritual oblivion, possibly even to our demise in our quest for “peace and safety” as espoused by our government and culture’s prior standard sources or benchmarks, which are already functionally dismantled, much as Kanagy has ascribed to the Church nearly 20 years ago.
I am very concerned for my generation, for even though we yet possess a knowledge and obedience toward the real and true God, we are fast becoming aware that individually and corporately we must up our game and demonstrate to all those in the cloud around or behind us, how exactly does our faith sometimes visibly sustain us and is witnessed by all those in our sphere of influence pleasantly exuding a NT freshness and an honesty unfortunately seldom intimately observed in & around our spiritually cultivated & anchored communities, let alone, be they ever personally encountered.
Our generation have & are witnessing historically the evolving of these intimate invasions into even how we communicate with God, and soon may have communication curtailed in our spiritual enclaves, or even more broadly, what we can communicate in or through any media at all anywhere.
Now, for those who graduated from high school in the past 20-30 years, their spiritual futures are suspect. Too many have been seriously handicapped being raised in the shadows of a glib shallow cultural institutional Christianity model sub-consciously characterized as authoritarian power based that I’ve been chief of the guilty promoting, “do as I say, & not necessarily as I do,” vividly juxtaposed with the invitational forgiveness love grace and mercy model, pervading & exemplified by Jesus as recorded in the gospels and vividly demonstrated in Acts of the Apostles and the following epistles.
Bottom Line: We are out of time! And our phones are not the problem. We are. More to come. Until then. Read. Pray. Listen. Obey. More perhaps Sun evening. Or not. Blessings on your journey through the these inner disciplines….
Yesterday while seeking additional scriptural perspective from dailylightdevotional.org, I found these inspiring verses from Romans 6:19-23 (MSG)
“I’m using this freedom language because it’s easy to picture. You can readily recall, can’t you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different it is now as you live in God’s freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?
As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn’t have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter.
But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you’re proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!
Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.”
Well said Eugene Peterson! Thank you for your gift of communication.
Since our recent firestorm, I now immediately after waking up offer verbal praise for the morning’s blessings and begin my spiritual devotional routine with two phone apps every morning, the first being dailylightdevotional. org, whose 12-16 selected KJV verses each day acts as a springboard to my phone app of The Message Version (MSG) for clarity and often reading whole chapters to satisfy a perspective thirst. Devotionals and blogs are ok, but personally, I much prefer pure scripture, with no one’s spin, twist, or slant. Dailylight does that superbly well. In fact, the scriptures above are the result of this morning’s dailylight verse from Romans 6:21 KJV “What fruit had ye then in those things where of ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.” Understand why I use MSG frequently?
Next, I tackle My Utmost for His Highest which is emailed me daily after midnight, that sometimes requires me to give it several passes before I’m fully able to grasp its bottom line, which you’d think after at least 20 annual trips thru, I’d be proficient. Truth be told though, I still have 4 or 5 readings I encounter each year, that leave me clueless of their bottom line, but I don’t sweat it, I just close the app and move on, but I do keep threatening to give Dr Jim Miller my clueless list for his explanations, since he gave me my very first copy of Utmost, which is still impacting my life profoundly.
Please understand though, I’m still not ready to proceed to the “layout & watch” maneuver mentioned in Tony Reinke’s phone article Step One. And please hear my heart loud and clear here folks, for I’m compelled to take you on this journey to greater devotional health and vitality for that very reason, so that you know such is permissible, possible, even desirable, and especially so, if you’re just a normal person seeking to grow as His Ambassador, not being a weird blogger or a fanatic who enjoys writing, or are not yet retired with too much time and desire.
Back then Pastor Bill inspired me to read the One Year Bible for 13 years continuously before taking a 6-year vacation, and though it was a step in the right direction, I’m sorry to say, the act was driven more by checking off the box than a desire to personally experience God, but nevertheless, God still honored the effort, even though the motive was suspect, for I was even then, laying up a future foundation.
During that period, I began listening to the Bible, especially the NT on my phone while working in the lab and barns and did the NT at least 20 times thru. In addition, I listened to well over two hundred of our 300 Audible wisdom books, nearly all selected and purchased by Loretta in hopes I’d absorb their truths and be spiritually revitalized. I also read a Kindle version of Martyrs Mirror twice, during my 5-minute interval breaks in milking parlors which has exerted a monumental peaceful influence over me while preparing for the inevitable prophesied tougher times and persecution ahead.
After I’ve satisfied my scriptural thirst from the dailylightdevotional.org verses for however long it takes, as I demonstrated above with the Romans 5 verses, and have read the Utmost reading, I then pray thru my prayer list. That completed, I then briefly consider each name to determine what is my next step with them, whether to visit, call, text, email, and/or, continue praying. Next, I proceed to my prior days unfinished “To Do List” reviewing its priorities and praying for God’s guidance and clarity as I rest in the Spirit in the “lay out and watch” mode of Psalm 5:3.
While contemplating in this restful reflective creative state waiting on God to “stir the waters,” I’m led to begin meshing my “prayer contact to do list” with yesterday’s left over TO DO tasks, into a roughly “practical sequence of events” for today. I find this is an exciting way to live in the moment and momentum of His Divine presence, although it certainly doesn’t always flow that smoothly.
But this is where I am currently with such morning or evening spiritual disciplines, continually refining and retooling, and at the day’s end, we rejoice and give thanks for His continued faithfulness, guidance, and protection. And we do enjoy our days, our spirits being fulfilled witnessing God’s nuances, miracles, & interventions, not forgetting our glorious tranquil sleep while anticipating His ever new opportunities for tomorrow.
NEXT UP:
We’ll attempt to conclude the significance of the Psalm selections and move you toward putting wheels under your “Better Way Forward” replacing this ever-consuming phenomenal phone hijacking we’re experiencing…. but only by the empowering of His Holy Spirit, and whatever else we’ve gleaned while being open, and candidly honest about what works for us, or not, both during and after, our “laying out and watching.”
