Author: Ragamuffingospelfan

I Wish You Knew

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

One of my favorite artists, Keith Green, has a song entitled “Song to My Parent (I Only Want to See You There),” and I think that expresses my sentiments over so many people I know. If there’s anything I’ve learned from 53 years of being alive and over 45 of those as a child of God, is that having Jesus is so much better than not having Him. My worst days with Jesus are better than my best days without Him.

It’s not about avoiding going to hell, although hell is real. After all, God won’t force anyone to be with Him and He will respect the choices that we have made, even if we choose to be separated from Him. The best part isn’t not being in hell but looking forward to an eternity in heaven with the abundance of joy in this life as well.

There are so many stories and testimonies of people who were hopelessly lost and hopelessly addicted, but Jesus found them and now they are brand new creations. They aren’t improved versions of their old selves. They are something completely new that only God could have dreamed of and made into reality.

It’s amazing when God opens your eyes and you really see everything for the first time. Everything makes more sense. Sure, suffering and pain still exist, but now they have meaning. We still lose people we love, but now we grieve as those who have hope. I’m finally starting to get what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains” (Acts 26:29, NLT).

I’m closing with the song Keith Green wrote for his parents with the hopes of seeing them in heaven one day. He may be gone, but his legacy of music and testimony lives on:

“I need to say these things ’cause I love you so
And I’m sorry you get angry when I say that you just don’t know
That there’s a heaven waiting for you and me
I know it seems every time we talk
I’m only trying to just make you see

But it’s only that I care
I really only want just to see you there

Please try and overlook my, my human side
I know I’m such a bad example, and you know I’m so full of pride
But Jesus isn’t like that, no, He’s perfect all the way
I guess that’s why we need Him
‘Cause by ourselves, there’s just no way

And it’s only that I care
I really, really only just want to see you there
To see you there

Close the doors
They’re just not coming
We sent the invitations out a long, long, long, long time ago
We’re still gonna have a wedding feast
Big enough to beat them all
The greatest people in the world just wouldn’t come
So now we’ll just have to invite the small

And it’s only that I care
I really, really only want just to see you there

Isn’t that Jesus?
Isn’t it Joseph and Mary’s Son?
Well, didn’t He grow up right here?
He played with our children
What? He must be kidding
Thinks He’s a prophet
Well, prophets don’t grow up from little boys
Do they?
From little boys
Do they?”

Planning for the Unplanned

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“yeah, so maybe the day didn’t go quite as planned, because, hey, let’s be real honest here, we aren’t what we would have planned.

But, we can hear it, in all the noise everywhere, the grace of Your whispering Word right here: ‘All that matters? Is that I have loved you at your darkest. All that matters is that you are deeply loved in the midst of your deepest dark.’ Ro.5:8

So, yeah , we sit with that — sit with that for a good, long bit. That binds up the wounds.

The grace in Christ is far greater than the mess in our crisis.

That changes our world tonight…

#HonestPrayers#1000Gifts” (Ann Voskamp).

So what happens when your day doesn’t go as planned? So many of us aren’t where we thought we’d be. So many are unemployed, unmarried, unsure of what the next day will hold. But we can be sure that our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We can be sure that His promises for us are still YES and AMEN. We can know that whatever happens in the next 24 hours, because of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, everything is going to be okay.

I’d rather be in the middle of God’s will than have every single thing go my way and go exactly like I planned it because my plans are based on my very finite perspective while God is seeing the whole picture from start to finish. I trust God’s hand because I trust God’s heart, so I know that even when I can’t see it, He’s working all things together for my good.

Trust in an Unchanging God

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment
“Blessed be your name ever-living God. Our neighbors die; friend after friend departs; few of us have not lost someone dear to us; but you abide the same and there is no end to your years. We come to you. You are as strong to deliver today as you were in our fathers’ time; as true to your promise and as mighty to perform your covenant as when you spoke to Abraham at Mamre (Genesis 18) or worked mightily in the field of Zoan for the children of Israel (Psalm 78:12, 43). You God, are forever strong and mighty. Never can your arm know paralysis, nor can your brow decay. We look up to you with joyful confidence, knowing that you are an inexhaustible fountain of every good thing, and believing that you will supply our need out of the riches of your fullness of glory by Christ Jesus.
Amen” (Charles Spurgeon).

That’s our only hope, folks. Everything else we lean on and depend on will collapse. Every other avenue will lead to a dead end, but God is faithful. Jesus ever lives to intercede for those who belong to Him and God the Father knows how to give good gifts to those who ask. We are secure in the everlasting arms, no matter what.

Remind yourself of that every day, every hour, every minute. Breathe in God’s mercy and breathe out God’s grace because He is as close as your next breath. If all you have are sighs and groans, God knows what they mean. If your only prayer that you can speak in the dead of night is simply to whisper the name Jesus, He will hear and He will come.

My prayer more than ever is for everyone reading these words to know the love of Christ that surpasses all understanding and human wisdom, to find the rest that He promises those who come to Him in faith, and to live in the abundant life that comes to anyone who believes on the name of Jesus. Truly, as I keep hearing lately, He’s where the joy is.

Worship

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“As long as you notice, and have to count, the steps, you are not yet dancing, but only learning to dance. A good shoe is a shoe you don’t notice. Good reading becomes possible when you need not consciously think about eyes, or light, or print, or spelling. The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God” (C S Lewis).

Back in the day, the battle was between hymns and praise choruses or traditional versus contemporary worship styles. After much deliberation, I’ve decided that the answer to the question is yes. I like both. Both can lead us to the throne room of God and both can become a hindrance if we focus on them instead of the God we’re supposed to be singing about.

These days, the production value and musicianship in a lot of churches is top notch, rivaling just about anything you’d see in a concert venue. The only problem with that is that if the Holy Spirit is absent, would anyone notice? Would anyone care?

I’m not saying that artistry is bad in worship music. I’m not against fog machines or stage lights or guitar solos. But that’s not what true worship is. Singing songs is a part of worship but not all of it. It begins with a surrendered heart and a captivated mind. Worship is essentially declaring the great worth of God no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Cleaning toilets can be as worshipful as singing about Jesus in a room of thousands.

I think it comes down to dependence. I think the best way to prepare for worship is to show up hungry for God. Musical worship is the overflow of a life of continual praying without ceasing and giving thanks in all circumstances. It comes from a Romans 12:1 mentality of presenting our very bodies and selves as living sacrifices for God to do whatever He wants with.

The best worship services aren’t the ones where all the songs are first rate or where every singer and musician sings and plays flawlessly. It’s one where God shows up in a way where we couldn’t focus on anything else but seeing Him and hearing from Him and committing to obey Him no matter what. That’s true worship.

All the Crazy Weather

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

Not that long ago, it felt like the Arctic Circle in Middle Tennessee with the lingering ice and snow and single digit temperatures. Today, it felt much warmer, and tomorrow will feel positively like spring. Welcome to the crazy bipolar weather of Tennessee. If you don’t like it, stick around for 24-48 hours and it will change.

I know I wanted to live somewhere with all four seasons, but this is a bit absurd. I wasn’t expecting to get them all in one week. I’m not sure if I should get out my winter coat or my suntan lotion.

Still, I’m thankful for the reminder of God’s faithfulness in every season. Spring, summer, fall, and winter are speak to some aspect of God’s work in the world. There are seasons of green and growth, of abundance and fertility, of decay and change, and of silence and rest. Each one makes the others possible.

Still, I like them in their proper places. Spring needs to stay in its lane and you Northern people need to come get your winter out of our backyard because I think it’s had a little too much to drink, if you know what I mean.

The Real Winners

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

So I watched the Super Bowl (or at least most of it). I low key wanted Seattle to win, but I was not going to be a bit disappointed if New England won. Still, I made it into the 4th quarter when Seattle was up 19-0 and decided that it was basically over, so I went to old school Murder, She Wrote with Angela Lansbury.

Spoiler alert: Seattle won.

My favorite these days isn’t so much when my team wins, which is probably a good thing. My Tennessee Titans haven’t won very many games lately and watching them sometimes is about as fun as a root canal. Actually, the root canal may be more enjoyable.

But I love seeing where former and current players have given their lives to Jesus. I love how they can boast not in any individual statistics or games won or lost, but in the fact that they are known and loved by the God of the universe.

That’s the real victory. I know the cartoon is probably supposed to be mocking heaven, but I’d love to think that’s how I will enter heaven. It will be such a sweet relief and an overwhelming joy. I won’t be able to point to a single thing I’ve done for the reason that I got in, but I can say with the thief on the cross that the Man on the middle cross said I could come.

It’s only by the blood of the Lamb. Because Jesus died for me and took my place on that cross, I can live eternally. Because instead of my own sin I now possess the righteousness of the only One who ever lived a perfect and sinless life, I can come boldly to the throne of God. Because of Jesus, I will one day walk through those pearly gates confidently because my confidence is on the grace that saved me and sustains me.

I can’t imagine what it’s like to hoist that Lombardi trophy and be able to have bragging rights about being the best team in the world for at least the next year. I know that the percentage of people on Super Bowl winning teams has got to be minuscule compared to all those who have played football at any level and are watching from the comfort of their couches.

But I will know the joy of walking victoriously into heaven and that victory will last not just for the next year but all the way into eternity. And that offer goes to anyone who says yes to Jesus.

Unfinished People

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“Unfinished people are dangerous.

Moses wasn’t Moses overnight.

He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Rage took over.
Looked left. Looked right. No witnesses.

So he killed him.
Buried the body in the sand.

Forty years later he’s still running when the bush burns. Still seeing blood on his hands.

“Who am I?” he asks.

God sends him anyway.

Not from murderer to hero.
From murderer to man still being worked on.

Paul didn’t become Paul overnight either.

Stephen preached. Rocks flew. Skulls cracked.
Coats piled at Saul’s feet while he approved.

Years later, after writing half your New Testament, he’s still begging God about a thorn.

God doesn’t say, “You’re finished.”

He says, “My grace is sufficient.”

Your Bible reeks of in-progress redemption.

Exodus doesn’t hide the murder.
Acts doesn’t hide the coats.

KJV. No polish. No PR team.

God will still be working.

You’re not disqualified.
You’re under construction.

Same clay. Same Potter. Same wheel.

Build anyway. Fall anyway. Get up anyway” (The Biblical Man/4 AM on X).

I love that. I don’t think he’s saying that there shouldn’t be consequences to our actions, especially if we break the law and harm others. But nothing we do disqualifies us from God’s grace. Ask Moses. Ask Paul. Ask the thief on the cross. Nothing.

Who you’ve been and who you are don’t necessarily automatically definie who you’ll be. Only God can do that. And God can use the murder and the sin and all the wrong you’ve done and turn it into something positive. He can take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good.

That’s the gospel. Still.

Learning Something New Every Day

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I’ve been listening to The Bible Podcast by Tara-Leigh Cobble on Audible lately. It’s really supposed to supplement a daily reading Bible plan, but since I’ve been reading the Bible on a different plan, I’m basically listening to the segments straight through. It’s been like getting a crash course on the entire Bible in five-minute segments.

One thing I learned blew my mind a bit. It was after Jesus rose from the grave and met the disciples while they were fishing unsuccessfully. He told them to cast the net on the other side, and when they did they caught 153 fish, nearly breaking their net.

Apparently, there are 153 different kinds of fish in the Sea of Galilee, so they caught one of every kind. That harkened back to Jesus telling these disciples that soon they would be fishing for people instead of fish. This was a visual way of telling them that the gospel they preached was to be for everyone.

That means that in heaven there will be people from every single people group, language, skin color, ethnicity, country, and race. When Jesus returns, there will be no more unreached people groups left. Every one will have heard the good news. That means that this mission Jesus gave to us, His church, will not fail.

That should give us greater joy and hope. We can share the good news knowing that it’s never in vain. While not everyone will believe our message every time, we can know that what we preach and teach never returns void. We can labor with the confidence that God is at work mightily through what we do in the strength and power of His Holy Spirit in us.

I love the scene in Revelation when the heavenly throne room is crowded with people from every tongue, tribe, and race. I don’t know if we’ll each be singing in our heart languages and understand each other or if we’ll have a new heavenly vocabulary that we all share. But I do know the song will be the same and the God we sing to will be the same and the eternal praise that comes from joyful lips and hearts will be the same.

“I looked again. I heard a company of Angels around the Throne, the Animals, and the Elders—ten thousand times ten thousand their number, thousand after thousand after thousand in full song:

The slain Lamb is worthy!
Take the power, the wealth, the wisdom, the strength!
Take the honor, the glory, the blessing!

Then I heard every creature in Heaven and earth, in underworld and sea, join in, all voices in all places, singing:

To the One on the Throne! To the Lamb!
The blessing, the honor, the glory, the strength,
For age after age after age.

The Four Animals called out, “Oh, Yes!” The Elders fell to their knees and worshiped” (Revelation 5:11-14, The Message).

Gatekeepers or Grace Givers

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

I think if we’re not careful, we can become gatekeepers of the grace of God. I read recently we judge ourselves by our intentions but others by their actions. In other words, we’re more lenient with ourselves than with others. I see a lot of professing believers posting about how they hope the other person gets karma (which almost always seems to be for somebody other than me).

It’s especially evident when it comes to people we don’t like or with people who think and vote differently than I. It’s almost as if God’s grace exists with exceptions for Donald Trump (or his supporters) and Kamala Harris (and her supporters). We make grace something you have to earn instead of a free gift.

But the truth is that no one is worthy of God’s grace and mercy, but everyone is welcome to it. I’ll say it again because someone out there (maybe me) needs to hear it again: no one is worthy of God’s grace and mercy but everyone is welcome to it.

That means that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. With no exceptions. Anyone who acknowledges their sin and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior, believes in Him by repenting of their sins and turning to His free gift of salvation, and confesses Him before others will be saved.

I think I get judgmental when I forget how it took the same amount of Jesus’ blood to save me as it took to save anyone else in history. It took all of it. I was (and still am) as much in need of the grace of God to save me and sustain me as anyone else who has ever lived.

The gospel means that no one is too lost to be found, too messed up to find grace, or too far gone to be saved. That’s the hope for the world and the message that every believer has to share with anyone who has ears to hear.

An Ode to Dad Jokes

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

“What is the most condescending animal in the forest? A Pan-DUH.”

I just love a good dad joke. They’re great. Typically, they’re clean and not overly complicated. You don’t have to worry about offending anyone (unless you count for them being really dumb as poor taste). It helps if you can make the delivery as corny as possible.

The ultimate goal isn’t necessarily a loud belly laugh. You want the other person to groan or sigh or do an extreme eye roll. You want people to chuckle out of realizing how they could have missed the punchline or better yet, how they could have wasted so much time trying to figure it out.

In these crazy times, people need a little something to make them smile a bit and take their minds off of all the insanity in the headlines and on every social media feed. The good part is that you don’t have to be a world class comedian to tell a dad joke. You just have to have a decent memory and maybe a small amount of comic timing. That’s all. Anyone can tell a dad joke.

And when does a joke turn into a dad joke, you ask? When it’s apparent. Ha. ha. See? You just died a little inside but hopefully smiled a little at the same time.