Happy Birth-Month to Me in 2018

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

giphy

As I’ve said before, February is my birth month. Ordinary, normal people take one day to celebrate their birth, but I have never once been accused of either.

I feel I got a little gipped in the birth month category with February being only 28 days long (or 29 if it happens to be one of those leap years).

I intend to milk my birth for all its worth. After all, I have managed– with much grace and lots of luck– to survive this long. That’s worth throwing a party or two for.

So as usual I will be accepting all forms of payment and gifts and adoration. I will try to do as many spontaneous, fun things as time will allow.

 

Joy Through Obedience

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“The Lord gives his people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to him” (Dwight L. Moody).

I wish I could remember every detail about tonight’s sermon from Michael Boggs at Kairos tonight. Instead of photographic memory, I wish I had phonographic memory, where I could remember every word. Or maybe I could just take notes next time.

The gist of it is that joy is defined as love that expresses itself in obedience.

Obedience is not a popular word in this current time. It’s definitely a non-PC word. We’re taught that we only need to obey our appetites and desires and that no one can tell us what to do or how to do it.

True joy comes from a desire to please God by doing what He says. You heed the words of Jesus and take His yoke upon you only to find that His burden is light and a joy to carry.

Joy involves feelings but it much more than how you feel. It involves happiness but is not dictated by circumstances the way happiness is.

In Nehemiah, it says that the joy of the LORD is your strength. That means that even when my obedience is non-existant and my love has grown cold and my joy is fading that the joy of the Lord will be my strength. Even when I say, “I believe. Lord, help my unbelief,” that in my weakness God’s strength is perfected.

Choose joy. Choose to believe that all that God asks of you is worth whatever the cost, remembering how Jesus endured even the cross for the joy set before Him. Pain and suffering are temporary but true joy is eternal.

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy” (Rabindranath Tagore).

 

 

Obsessed

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

As you probably figured out by now, I’m a bit of a music nerd. I likes me some music.

I never got into the newfangled digital downloaded stuff and I’m not quite hipster enough (or wealthy enough) for vinyl. So I stick with CDs like any good respectable old fogey would.

When it comes to artists or groups that I really like, I tend to become more than a little obsessive. As in I must go and buy their entire catalog as soon as possible.

The latest case is Mary Chapin Carpenter. I love her songwriting and her voice. Her music takes me to a calmer, happier place– even in the middle of rush hour traffic on I-65 South.

I confess I pre-ordered her newest album, Sometimes Just the Sky, slated to be released on March 30. I have no shame in my game. I know there will be quality music playing in my car on that day.

Here’s the link if you want to check it out for yourself:

https://smile.amazon.com/Sometimes-Just-Mary-Chapin-Carpenter/dp/B0794M5M7X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517285377&sr=8-1&keywords=mary+chapin+carpenter

 

 

 

Under Construction

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way the hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself” (CS Lewis, Mere Christianity).

There’s a building under construction in the square in downtown Franklin. I pass by it periodically and it still looks half finished. Lately, it looks as if little to no progress has been made on it.

Yet I know that sometimes the most important parts of construction are the parts that you really can’t see, like wiring and other stuff that probably only other people in building and construction would appreciate.

God is always at work in us, recreating and remolding us into His image. Sometimes, it feels like we look and act the same and there’s little to no difference in us. Maybe in those times God is working on those small but vital parts that will lead to bigger and more noticeable changes down the road.

Take heart. Don’t give up. God has promised to finish the good work He started in you and me. And God is never slow in keeping His promises.

 

Just a Picture of a Cute Kitty

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

It’s late Saturday evening, and I’m done for the day. I stayed up way later than I wanted because I got caught up trying to beat a level in Candy Crush, the most pointless yet most addictive game ever.

So in place of actual wit or thoughtful commentary, here’s a picture of my cat. Enjoy.

And here’s another.

You’re welcome.

Always Open

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

One of my favorite things is the open sign. I know, it sounds weird and a little like “maybe they should make pills for this,” but I have a reason.

The open sign means that I’m welcome inside.

There’s few things more frustrating to me than wanting to go somewhere, buy something, see something, and not be able to get in because the place is closed.

I’ve mentioned it before, but one of my favorite places is an Episcopal church that is open 24/7. I love to go inside and sit in the silence and pray, meditate, or just be still.

I believe that if Heaven has a sign, it’s the open sign.

God’s throne room is always accessible to those who have need or to those who simply want to adore and say thanks.

God will never turn away anyone who seeks Him in faith and repentance though Jesus. Never. He will never shut the door in the face of anyone who earnestly desires salvation.

That’s why I love that neon open sign. It’s a reminder to me of a God who invites me to come before Him boldly at any time and a Heaven where the inscription on the entrance could read “whosoever will,” meaning that God’s salvation is for whoever will trust in Jesus and believe.

The Bible closes with an open invitation:

“The Spirit and the Bride: Come.

And let everyone who hears these words say, ‘Come.’

And let those who thirst come.
All who desire to drink, let them take and drink freely from the water of life” (Revelation 22:17, The Voice).

Why I Love Coffee

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I’m a big fan of coffee for several reasons. A few of these are:

  1. It helps me do the walking and talking and forming coherent sentences thing.
  2. It’s a good source of warmth on a frigid winter’s day.
  3. Coffee is a bean, and beans go in salads, so it’s kinda like drinking a salad every day.
  4. I feel more adult when I drink coffee.
  5. There’s almost nothing like the feeling you get when that first gulp of coffee hits your soul.
  6. Coffee = not sleeping on the job = not getting fired for sleeping on the job =  more money to buy more coffee.

I’m not a coffee purist, one of those people who drink their coffee black as midnight with only the teensiest bit of sugar. I often say that I like my coffee well-disguised with lots of creamer and sugar. In other words, I like it a latte.

I’ve discovered that if I’m forced to drink coffee as is, I do better with a light roast– along the lines of Starbucks’ vanilla blonde roast.

I like the saying that goes something like this: I think 75% of my personality was just coffee. All it takes is that one cup, and all your problems seem a whole lot more solve-able.

I also like tea, but that’s probably best left for another day when I’m less sleepy.

 

Blowing Up Your Prayer Meeting

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

“Imagine that Jesus is calling you today. He extends a second invitation to accept His Father’s love. And maybe you answer, ‘Oh, I know that. It’s old hat.’

And God answers, ‘No, that’s what you don’t know. You don’t know how much I love you. The moment you think you understand is the moment you do not understand. I am God, not man. You tell others about Me – your words are glib. My words are written in the blood of My only Son. The next time you preach about My love with such obnoxious familiarity, I may come and blow your whole prayer meeting apart.

Did you know that every time you tell Me you love Me, I say thank you?’” (Brennan Manning)

If you’ve been around the church long enough and you’ve heard the hymns, choruses, and Bible verses enough, you might just stop really listening to them. You might just stop paying attention to what you’re singing and speaking. It’s all become rote and ritualistic.

From there, it’s not so far to the place where you’re taking God and faith for granted. You quit being amazed by the love of God and come to expect it. Entitlement replaces gratitude, and duty replaces grace.

Maybe God needs to blow up some church services. Maybe God needs to blow up your theology if what you believe becomes more important than how you live it out. Maybe you and I need to go back to when our faith was new and find that love for Jesus that we had at the first.

That’s my prayer for all of us– to be captivated all over again by that relentless tenderness of Jesus and the reckless raging fury that they call the love of God. That’s what will captivate others to know Jesus.