Wonder as We Wander

Do you feel wonder at anything in life? A child’s voice, a song, a story, God’s gift of breathe and life…? Do you revel in God’s love as revealed through nature? Do you ever take time to simply dream, imagine, and create? When is the last time you pulled over to appreciate a sunrise/sunset? Can you remember the last time you colored a picture simply to enjoy creating something? Do you ever feel the desire to run through a field, climb a tree, or splash in a puddle? Do you allow yourself to sing out loud, even in the privacy of your shower?

Our God is a God of creation. He has gifted us with a world that literally shouts His name if we take time to hear it. He has gifted us with the ability to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch His gifts. He has given us the ability to dream and create with our own hands.

I know that many of you are already thinking things like…”I don’t have the skills needed to create.” “I don’t have time to waste.” “I’m too old to act ‘foolish.’ What if someone sees me?” To these excuses, I would urge you to make time, forget your age, and create without worrying whether your creation is perfect. Slow down, relax, play, and create. I think you will experience God when you do.

The Message of the Song Service

   I was wondering aloud Sunday with a friend about whether people in the congregation saw the progression that I saw when I put songs in a certain order. There's nothing super spiritual here and it might not even be interesting to anyone but myself, but one of the things I try to do every week is try to make sure that the songs fit the message and each other. I also try to put them in an order that progresses both musically and lyrically. For instance, this past Sunday we had a guest speaker so I wasn't able to plan the music service to compliment the message like I would on a normal week. So I spent time trying to put music together that would work well together and have a message together.
   We used the following songs, Come Thou Fount Come Thou King, Forever Reign, Crown Him with Many Crowns, and Jesus Draw Me Close. I pictured the progression like this...With the first song, we prayerfully admit our own tendency to wander and our utter need for God. Within the first song we ask for God to be present with us in this place. Then we move to the second song which recognizes God as the one who is all that we cannot be with Him. We claim the right to run into His arms as His children and we promise to seek Him and Him alone. Crown Him with Many recognizes the greatness and worthiness of our heavenly Father. We see Him as the Lord of all we see and even that which we don't see. Finally, in spite of the great awesomeness of the Lord, we ask Jesus to draw us close to Himself so that the world around us would fade away.
   I often see an arc in the music I choose. Sometimes it is not as strong. Sometimes I find mini arcs between 2 or 3 songs rather than every song for a service. Hopefully you found this look into a music guys head interesting. If not sorry...maybe next time. God Bless

Invasion by Jon Lewis. Review for Booksneeze

   Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. The story of a young man who's world is turned upside down after his parents are killed in a car accident. He learns of the existence of aliens and that they live among us. As he learns more and more, he is thrust into the middle of an invasion that has been brewing for many years, and learns that he might be the key to stopping said invasion.

   The plot for this book was well developed and I enjoyed the concept a lot. I think pre-teen and young adult readers would enjoy this book. For those who enjoy the sci-fi/fantasy genre, this was a solid effort for a Christian publishing house. While there are some good discussion topics in the book (loss of a parent, crushes on girls, etc...) they are not always handled with much thought. Pretty average sentiments expressed without allowing for the characters to grow through the situations. My biggest complaint about the book (and the reason for giving it 4 rather than 5 stars) is that the Christian influence is almost non-existent in this book. Outside of saying that some characters go to church and believe in God, faith in God plays very little into the story. For a book published by Thomas Nelson, I would expect Christianity to play a more prominent role.

   I look forward to the next book in the series, and I hope that Christianity will play a bigger role in the characters lives as they continue to unravel the mysteries that face them.

I received a free e-copy of this book for the purpose of review from Thomas Nelsons book review club booksneeze.com.

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Newspaper Article 4

The Final installment of the newspaper articles. Enjoy...or not...it's up to you.

Week 4: Thankful for What Is to Come…

            By now Thanksgiving is a distant memory for many of us. We are busy putting up the Christmas tree and hanging lights on our houses. Christmas may be the culmination of the “holiday season” but it starts with Thanksgiving. Without true gratitude, how can we ever come before a loving, gracious, and holy God to worship Him? Gratitude for creating us, for loving us despite our sin, and most importantly, for sending His son to die for the forgiveness of our sins. Our holiday season begins with thanks as we look forward to celebrating the coming of the greatest gift of all time, Jesus.

            What or who will you worship this holiday season? We worship those things which we devote our time, money, and talents. What are you focused on? The amazing meals, the beautiful decorations, the family and friends, the gifts, the extra hours you need to work to buy the gifts, etc...? Or are you truly ready to remember the one who came as a baby, lived on this earth in a simple human body, and died for your transgressions so that you wouldn’t have to?

            So often the holiday season is all about turkey, friends, and family at Thanksgiving, and all about Santa, decorations, and gifts at Christmas. If you would like to make this holiday season different, take time each day to remember who it is that has given you everything that you have. Then take time to thank God for sending His son. Many of us know how many shopping days we have left before Christmas, but when was the last time you had a good long talk with God? Worship during the holidays is no different than any other time of the year. In fact it should be easier since we are reminded to be thankful and we celebrate Jesus’ birth.

            My prayer for each of you today is that you will take a deep breath, slow down for a few moments, and remember who is in control. Thank Him for who He is, and for what He has done. If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I would love to introduce you to Him. Give me a call.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.   James 1:17

Newspaper Article 3

It has taken me a few weeks to get this up, but here is my third article I wrote for the newspaper. It got a bit long...oops...

Week Three: Who Are You Living For?

            In I Samuel 6, we see the account of King David returning the Ark of the Covenant to Israel. Though his first attempt ended in failure (due to a lack of regard for the instructions God had given on how to move the Ark), eventually we see David succeed in his task. I love the story of David’s second attempt. This time he follows the correct procedure for moving the Ark. With everything in place, David and the rest of the moving party start down the road. After six paces David calls a halt and orders a bull and a fatted calf to be sacrificed to God. The group continues in this way the entire journey, stopping every six paces to offer sacrifices to God. Not only this, but as they near the city, David is unable to restrain himself. He sheds his robe and begins to dance in worship before God. David’s wife witnesses his public display and despises him in her heart. When he returns to his rooms later that day, she confronts him about what she considers an embarrassing way for the King to behave in front of the common folk. Look at his response to her in verses 21-22:

So David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel; therefore I will celebrate before the LORD. ²² I will be more lightly esteemed than this and will be humble in my own eyes…

          

        David’s response to her accusations of impropriety is that he was acting before God and God alone. Not only that, but he was willing to humble himself even more if needed. I have shared this glimpse of David’s live with you for two reasons. First, you might have taken me up on my challenge from last week to speak up about your love for God in front of your family or friends. If you were met with less than open hearts and minds, you might feel something like David did when Michal reprimanded him. I want to encourage you to remember who you live for. Like David, we live to serve the Lord God in heaven. Even if we feel like we’ve accomplished nothing when we shared our love for God with others, we can remember that God is pleased with us every time we share Him.

            The second reason I want to share this story is to encourage you. Maybe you read my last article and wanted to stand up for your faith but just couldn’t do it – you couldn’t put yourself out there like that. Guess what? You can try again. The first time David went to move the Ark, he failed.  I’m sure he walked away feeling down and discouraged. However, he did not stop thinking about how to get the Ark back. When he was reminded about the Ark, he got up and decided to try again. This time he came with a plan. Maybe you felt inadequate to share your faith with your family yesterday, but don’t let that stop you from planning another opportunity to do so (Christmas is coming you know).  Even David (the man after God’s own heart) felt inadequate and failed occasionally, but he didn’t give up. Give thanks that God allows second chances. Enjoy your leftovers and be encouraged that you can still try again tomorrow if you didn’t make it today.

Review for Seraph Seal

   Interesting book to say the least. An end times novel that seems similar to the Davinci Code in style. Lots of clues to follow to an end destination. Lots of characters and stories and speculation.Enough espionage and natural disasters for anyone.

   In general this was nothing more than interesting. It has too many characters and story-lines to follow. I never truly felt engaged with any of the characters because the book jumped back and forth between the stories so often, and there were so many stories to follow. While I like a good imaginative tale, this one felt like it wanted me to think it was real, or could be real. However, much of it was simply too far-fetched for my tastes. If you like intrigue novels, end times imaginings, or davnici code style stories then you might truly enjoy this book. However, it wasn't my cup of tea. I did not find it inspiring, more just interesting. It has taken me many months to finish reading it.

This review is for a book I was given by Thomas Nelson for the purpose of review.

Newspaper Article 2

The second of four articles being written for the local paper.

Week 2: Thanksgiving and a Tradition of Faith

   I know I said last week that Thanksgiving had to be about more than just Family and Turkey. However, Thanksgiving does tend to center around the family. So how can the family aspect of Thanksgiving lead us to worship? (Praying that your crazy uncle Herbert won’t be able to come to dinner this year doesn’t count.)

   What kind of traditions do you have at your house on Thanksgiving? At mine, we have several…my brother makes the pumpkin pie, I make the chocolate layered dessert, and my sister usually makes a chocolate meringue pie. Don’t ask me how these assignments were made, but they were and now when we all get together, that is the plan. One other tradition we have is that when we gather around the table to eat, we start the meal with a prayer and then go around the table and each person shares something that they are thankful for. I’m sure many of you have a similar tradition.

   My family has lots of traditions during the holidays, but there’s something that I appreciate more than our holiday traditions. My family has passed a tradition of faith in Jesus Christ down to me. My family lived these verses out in our home.  

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

   Like any other tradition, we can choose to not follow our parents lead when it comes to faith in God. I love and appreciate my parents for teaching me the ways of God and helping myself and my siblings come to a point where we chose to follow Christ. Because of the life of faith that they passed down to us, I know that the whole of my family will be in heaven when we die.

   What about you? Was your house like this growing up? Did your parents impress upon you the commandments of God? Did they lead you to love God? If so maybe the simplest act of worship you can offer this year is to thank God first for saving you, second for placing you in a family that loves Him, and third thank your family for being obedient to God’s word.

   Are you growing a house like this for yourself? If not, why not begin? This holiday season, if you love the Lord God, why not share that with your family? We have a day set aside within our year to spend with family and love each other. Why not point our families towards the One who loves unconditionally and who sent His Son to die for each of us? Why not start a tradition of faith for your family? You don’t have to be the oldest in the house to begin a tradition; you simply have to be willing to share the love of Christ with those whom you love. Imagine the blessings you could have to celebrate and be thankful for next year if you spent this year sharing with those closest to you about the One who will “never leave you, nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)