Caroling, Caroling

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I did something I haven’t done in a long, long time. Not since college. Maybe even high school. I went caroling, complete with printed sheets of lyrics and everything. Just like it was back in the late 1900s.

It’s been that long.

Back in the day, we’d all gather together and carpool from place to place with our arsenal of festive seasonal classics. I’m sure we were joyful and triumphant in our attempts to pull off the carols and jingles. We probably came closer to making a joyful noise than anything else. I couldn’t tell if the guy next to me was trying to harmonize or was just really off-key, but it didn’t really matter in the end. A good time was had by all.

Tonight, we started off visiting the house of a deacon who very recently had been fighting for his life. It was heartwarming to see him standing in the doorway, a sort of miracle in itself, with his wife wiping away tears of gratitude as we sang loudly and zestily (if not always in tune or in the same key).

Then we headed over to my pastor’s parent’s to do more yuletide crooning. They’ve both had health issues and have had a rough 2022, but they were both pleased and grateful to see us gathered in their front yard, singing about those herald angels.

The last stop was the next-door neighbor who was a founding member of Brentwood Baptist Church along with her late husband. She lost him around this time last year, and I’m sure she was thankful for the company. Christmas is a beautiful time, but sometimes I forget that it’s not the easiest season if you’re missing a loved one.

I snapped a picture of this forlorn little reindeer in one of the yards. Hopefully, someone got a good snapshot of all of us singing in different keys and sometimes different verses at the same time. The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir we were not.

But I’d do it all again tomorrow night if I could. In fact, I hope this caroling thing becomes another tradition that I can look forward to through the spring, summer and fall.

The Most Reluctant Convert

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I did something that I rarely do these days — I went to an actual movie in an actual movie theater. It’s been a while.

Normally, I like to wait for it to hit streaming services because few films are worth paying the current price of movie tickets. But in this case, I made an exception. I wanted to support a faith-based film from a group that I’ve grown to respect as I’ve gotten to know about them, the Fellowship for Performing Arts, led by one Max McLean.

The film is centered around the story of C. S. Lewis’ 10-year journey from atheism to Christianity. Without giving away too much, the narrative device they use to tell the story is unique and compelling. I feel like Mr. McLean masterfully portrayed the title character and the filming locations gave the production a note of authenticity.

But what captivated me most was the way the movie used Lewis’ own words. I believe a lot of the narrative came directly from his autobiography Surprised by Joy. For once, it’s a faith-based film that actually succeeds at being a good film first, and without being preachy or didactic.

It will make you want to dive deep into the writings of C. S. Lewis, both apologetic and fiction, as well as possibly leading you to check out some of writers who inspired him such as George MacDonald and G. K. Chesterton. I can’t recommend it highly enough for anyone who wants a quality movie about the nuances of faith and intellect.

Do Thou for Me

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“Do Thou for me, O God the Lord,
Do Thou for me.
I need not toil to find the word
That carefully
Unfolds my prayer and offers it,
My God, to Thee.

It is enough that Thou wilt do,
And wilt not tire,
Wilt lead by cloud, all the night through
By light of fire,
Till Thou has perfected in me
Thy heart’s desire.

For my beloved I will not fear,
Love knows to do
For him, for her, from year to year,
As hitherto.
Whom my heart cherishes are dear
To Thy heart too.

O blessèd be the love that bears
The burden now,
The love that frames our very prayers,
Well knowing how
To coin our gold.  O God the Lord,
Do Thou, Do Thou” (Amy Carmichael).

There are times when we simply don’t know how to pray for a circumstance or a loved one. Try as we may, the words will not come.

I think even then God hears the groans and sighs of our petitions and knows what they mean. He hears the deepest desires of our hearts and knows best how to grant them.

Even when we have words, they aren’t always the best ones. Sometimes, we ask without such a limited point of view. Sometimes we ask selfishly. Sometimes we have too small a view of God and ask too little.

In Jan Karon’s Mitford series, Father Tim Kavanaugh always has his go-to prayer, or “the prayer that never fails,” as he calls it. The prayer goes “Thy will be done.”

You can never go wrong with leaving the matter in God’s hands.

A Good Reminder

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If you need a little encouragement, just go to Romans 8, particularly verses 31-39. They’re some of my favorite promises from God in all the Bible. Nothing can or ever will separate me from the love of God in Christ. Nothing can remove me from being His child or from being eternally saved and eternally secure.

The worst that the world can do to me is to hasten my homeward trip to heaven. They can’t destroy me. They can’t defeat me because my God is undefeated and undefeatable (which probably isn’t a word but should be in my opinion).

Let these words soak into your very marrow and read them over and over again to yourself. Say them out loud if that helps. Remember that God’s love is forever for those who are in Christ Jesus:

“So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.

We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us” (Romans 8:31-39).

Wave and Tide

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“On the far reef the breakers recoil in shattered foam,
Yet still the sea behind them urges its forces home;
Its chant of triumph surges through all the thunderous din—
The wave may break in failure, but the tide is sure to win! . . .

The reef is strong and cruel upon its jagged wall.
One wave, a score, a hundred, broken and beaten, fall.
Yet in defeat they conquer, the sea comes flooding in,
Wave upon wave is routed, But, the tide is sure to win!

O mighty sea, thy message in changing spray is cast;
Within God’s plan of progress it matters not at last,
How wide the shores the evil, how strong the reefs of sin—
The wave may be defeated but the tide is sure to win.” (Priscilla Leonard, The Religious Herald 94, no. 3, January 20, 1921).

No matter how hopeless the situation seems right now, the tide is sure to win. God will not be defeated. Those who serve Him will not go down in ultimate defeat but will share in God’s victory at the end. I’m thankful that as in the case of Joseph from Genesis, God is able to turn what was meant for evil and turn it into something good.

If God is able to orchestrate the evil intentions of 11 brothers against one man into the saving of an entire nation, imagine what He can do through the trials of your own life? Can you see in your mind’s eye the look of awe and wonder on your face as you see how God took all those circumstances that seemed dire and made something beautiful out of them?

Trust God even amidst the surging waves and know that eventually and inevitably, the tide is sure to win!

A Permanently Exhausted Pigeon

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I heard a joke once that went something like this: I’m really good in bed. I could sleep for days. I get that.

These days, my ultimate fantasy is to sleep in. That’s it. Nothing racy or exciting. For me, it’s turning off the alarm and rolling back over instead of crawling out at 5 am.

Even as I type these words, I’m yawning. It’s funny how those things that seemed like cruel and unusual punishments as a kid — having to go to bed early, staying inside, going to your room — now almost seem like rewards. At this point in my life, I’d rather be in bed and asleep before 10 than to be downtown somewhere until the wee hours of the morning. That to me sounds like a punishment these days.

I used to be more of a night owl. I confess that I’ve never been an early bird, even with the waking up early. I endure solely because of caffeine.

So I have one more sleep until I get to sleep in? I think I can do that.

More of God’s Will

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“Whatever You may do, I will thank You.
I am ready for all; I accept all.
Let only Your will be done in me…
And I’ll ask for nothing else, my Lord.“

That’s another good prayer for when you have nothing else to bring to God. I know sometimes I don’t know what to ask for. I don’t know the best way to pray for other people. Sometimes, I can barely string together a sentence in prayer. But God knows.

I wish I knew who first prayed this. I’d like to give proper credit. But it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that the best prayer that honors the heart of God most is to pray to God for God’s will to be done without any kind of conditions or provisions.

Lord, may Your will be done. Period.

Not My Will

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“And shall I pray Thee change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
But, no, Lord, no, that never shall be, rather
I pray Thee blend my human will with Thine.

I pray Thee hush the hurrying, eager longing,
I pray Thee soothe the pangs of keen desire—
See in my quiet places, wishes thronging—
Forbid them, Lord, purge, though it be with fire” (Amy Carmichael).

I’m revisiting Shadow of the Almighty, the story of Jim Elliot. This time it’s the audiobook read by Elisabeth. My first impression is that sometimes I think Christianity in the early part of the 20th century seems quite a bit different than today’s version of it. For one thing, people talked a whole lot more about taking up crosses and laying doen lives for the sake of the gospel.

I wonder if all the prosperity and freedom of our present culture hasn’t made for a soft Church. You can go back and read that the Church grew the most when it was persecuted the most. A famous early Christian leader said that the blood of the martyrs watered the seed of the Church, and that’s why it grew the way it did.

But also, there’s something to be said for surrender. It’s one thing to pray “Thy will be done” glibly as part of the Lord’s prayer and not really mean it or think through what you’re praying. But as Elisabeth Elliot famously said, when you pray God’s will be done, you’re also praying that your own will be undone if necessary.

If you want to go beyond comfortable cultural Christianity, you’d do well to read the biographies of the faithful of old, especially missionaries like Jim Elliot, Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, and Darlene Deibler Rose. They did more than talk of sacrifice. They did it. They gave up everything that was comfortable and familiar and took the gospel into places it had not been before.

The scary part of praying God’s will is that you don’t know where God will lead you, but the best part is that God will go with you, whether it’s to the other end of the world or across the street. It’s the prayer that never ever fails.

Refined

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“One day we took the children to see a goldsmith refine gold after the ancient manner of the East. He was sitting beside his little charcoal fire. (‘He shall sit as a refiner’; the gold- or silversmith never leaves his crucible once it is on the fire.) In the red glow lay a common curved roof tile; another tile covered it like a lid. This was the crucible. In it was the medicine made of salt, tamarind fruit and burnt brick dust, and imbedded in it was the gold. The medicine does its appointed work on the gold, ‘then the fire eats it,’ and the goldsmith lifts the gold out with a pair of tongs, lets it cool, rubs it between his fingers, and if not satisfied puts it back again in fresh medicine. This time he blows the fire hotter than it was before, and each time he puts the gold into the crucible, the heat of the fire is increased; ‘it could not bear it so hot at first, but it can bear it now; what would have destroyed it then helps it now.’ ‘How do you know when the gold is purified?’ we asked him, and he answered, ‘When I can see my face in it [the liquid gold in the crucible] then it is pure’ (Amy Carmichael, Gold Cord).

I love the idea that gold is considered pure when the refiner can see his reflection in it. The same goes for me. When my Maker can see His reflection in me, that’s when I know that I have been refined and made pure.

Lord, refine us so that we will faithfully reflect Your image wherever we go. No matter how long it takes or how hot it gets, keep us in the fire until we are purified from anything that hinders Your image in us. Amen.

God’s Will for You

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I think sometimes we overthink God’s will. We make it into some mystical kind of futuristic endeavor where we can never really be certain of what God wants from us. This passage from 1 Thessalonians spells it out in black and white.

  1. Be joyful.
  2. Pray continually.
  3. Give thanks whatever happens.

Not overly complicated, but not necessarily easy. It takes intentionality and discipline to have a constant mindset of prayer and thanksgiving. We naturally default to complaining and anxiety. Or at least I do.

But God’s will is the opposite. God isn’t trying to get us to follow rules for the sake of following rules. His way is the way that leads to joy. His way is the way that leads to real life and real prospering (as in the kind that can’t be measured in dollars and cents).

As always, I point out that God doesn’t say for us to give thanks for everything. We’re not masochists who are happy when our loved ones suffer and die or when crises strike. We give thanks in everything because God is able to work in everything and turn it from bad to good. Case in point: Joseph from the Old Testament.

So that’s it. I’m not saying that this passage is a list of what to follow that guarantees instant victory. But this is an attitude and a mindset to adopt that leads to us better perceiving and obeying the whole will of God in all matters. It’s always a good place to start.

No Danger of Forgetting

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That’s a timely reminder for us as we prepare to enter into the Lord’s Day tomorrow. May we remember we are deeply loved as we worship and adore the One who counts the stars and calls each and every one by name. May tomorrow be the day that the gospel goes forth and many come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. May tomorrow be the day that many will publicly declare their faith and symbolize it through baptism. Speak, Lord, for Your people are listening!

The Real Test

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“The test of sanctification is not our talk about holiness and singing pious hymns; but, what are we like where no one sees us? with those who know us best?” 9Oswald Chambers, Disciples Indeed)

It’s one thing to raise your hands in worship on Sunday, but it’s quite another to raise your hand when God calls you to a difficult assignment or to love an unlovable person. It’s one thing when you know all the Sunday School answers, but quite another when you have to show integrity when no one else is watching.

It’s one thing for you to be super spiritual in a church setting, but then quite another to treat well those who see you and know you best on a daily basis.

The one way to find out how pious and spiritual you really are is to see what you are like in the dark when no one else can see you. I imagine most of us probably aren’t as holy as we’d like others to think we are.

But in that case, remember this. You’ll never outsin the grace of God, and when God sees you, He doesn’t see your sin but your Savior’s perfect righteousness.

Sweaty Season

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I just saw the forecast for the next few days. The high for tomorrow is 96, followed by 97 on Saturday and 98 on Sunday. To quote the famous theologian Paris Hilton, “That’s hot.”

In Tennessee, we have more than four seasons. I believe this season is called the Front Porch of Hell where you step outside and immediately feel like you’ve stepped into an oven — or with the high humidity, into a sauna.

I’m not a huge fan of super hot weather, especially when it’s humid. My sweat glands go into overdrive, so I’m sure the people around me don’t appreciate summer as long as they can stil smell me.

But I keep reminding myself that all this steamy weather will help me to appreciate the cooler temperatures of fall. I will cherish those pumpkin spice beverages. I will once again be ready in my heart for spooky season.

At this point, I’ll take a day or two with low humidity and a good breeze. Just sayin’.