blessing

The Cut-Out Bin

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Back in the day, they had a thing called a cut-out bin. Whenever an album didn’t sell very well, they’d put a notch in it and mark it down significantly in price. Usually, a band would have a super big record and then the next one for whatever reason just didn’t do as well. The point is that you could find some great stuff in the cut-out bin if you didn’t mind a little notch at the top left corner of the album.

Lately, one of my favorite pastimes is to flip through the cheap bins of records. At one place, they have a whole stash of $5 records underneath the regularly priced ones. I’ve been known to flip through every single one in search of the elusive and unique find. More often than not, I see a lot of easy listening music from the 50s and 60s, but once in a proverbial blue moon, I’ll find an old CCM album or a test pressing or something out of the ordinary.

1 Corinthians 1:27-31 says, “Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of ‘the brightest and the best’ among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these ‘nobodies’ to expose the hollow pretensions of the ‘somebodies’? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, ‘If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God'” (1 Corinthians 1:27-31, The Message).

A lot of us were the human equivalent of the cut-out bin. Hardly anyone saw any value in us or thought anything about us was special. More often than not, we were the ones who were ignored and passed over. But God chose those nobodies rather than sticking exclusively to the Fortune 500 club. He chose those no one else wanted because He wanted us.

That gives me hope. That means that all of us that God chose matter. Maybe not to the in-crowd or the fashion police, but we matter to God. And what God thinks about us trumps what anyone else thinks about us. Period. You matter to God because He made You, and He don’t make no junk. Just remember that the next time you feel unworthy and unloved. God loves you. That’s all that matters.

Follow Me

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“When Jesus Christ says ‘Follow Me,’ He never says to where; the consequences must be left entirely to Him. We come in with our ‘buts,’ and ‘supposings,’ and ‘what will happen if I do?’ (cf. Luke 9:5762). We have nothing to do with what will happen if we obey; we have to abandon to God’s call in unconditional surrender and smilingly wash our hands of the consequences” –Oswald Chambers, Not Knowing Whither).

That’s just it. I want guarantees that if I follow, I’ll get the desires of my own heart. It’s true that God did promise that, but maybe not in the way that I’ve always believed or wanted it to be. I think that as I follow in obedience, God changes my wanter (to borrow a phrase from my pastor). In other words, the desires of my heart as a mature believer probably aren’t the same as they were when I first said Yes to Jesus way back when.

I don’t get to set the terms. I don’t get to tell Jesus what the conditions will be before I follow. The famous verse from Paul says that I am not my own. I have been bought with a price. And who am I to haggle percentages and conditions when Jesus paid for me with His very blood on that cross. As in He paid all of His blood, not most or some, but all.

I’m not leaving it completely to blind chance. I know in whom I have believed. I trust the One I have committed to follow. I know His plans are for good and not harm, for prospering and not for evil. I know that I can read a whole history of saints who have surrendered to Christ and not one has ever been worse for it. Not one.

It all goes back to my own stubbornness and pride to think that I know better than God how my life should go. In fact, I’d go so far as to call it arrogance to think that if God doesn’t give me what I want when I want it, He must not know what He’s doing. I’ve learned enough to know that He gives me what I would have asked for had I known what He knows.

And that’s enough for me.

We Remember 25 Years Later

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I can still remember where I was 25 years ago on 9/11/2001. That was the day that everything changed. I recall walking into the church office where I worked at the time and hearing about a plane that had flown into a building. It was so random and no one knew anything yet about who did it or why.

When the second plane hit, I think that’s when just about everyone figured it out. This wasn’t random. This was orchestrated. I spend the rest of the day in shock, feeling numb and disconnected and unable to process the scope of the tragedy that had just unfolded.

Those next few days were horrific as the rescuers combed through the wreckage looking for survivors but finding mostly bodies and debris. I can’t imagine being on the ground seeing what those people were seeing, especially when you consider how many were jumping from the towers because of the intense heat and flames.

Those days were also beautiful. We came together as a nation for the briefest of moments. For one shining moment, we weren’t white or black, male or female, young or old. We were all Americans. There was a spirit of cooperation and compassion that pervaded our way of life. Churches were full the next Sunday as people were seeking answers,

I can’t believe it’s been 25 years. It blows my mind that a significant portion of the population wasn’t even alive in 2001. So many know about the events only from reading about them in textbooks or seeing videos on social media. It’s easy for the next generation to forget and for all the lessons we learned to be forgotten.

That’s why it’s vital that we remember. It’s important that we pass on what we saw and what we learned. Life is precious and fleeting, and only a life that honors God is worth living. So many of those we lost were God-fearing men and women. We may never fully understand the why until heaven, but we can know that God took what was evil and made it into something good.

We can love each other well, never take those people in our lives for granted, and use every opportunity to tell people what’s most important to us — that Jesus still loves and saves sinners like us. We can keep the memories of those lost on 9/11 alive as we continue to remember.

Taking it Back to 1850

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I ran across another hymn that I wish we could bring back. I’m a fan of modern worship, but sometimes I think we miss out by eliminating the old hymns completely. This is one that could possibly use a newer arrangement but the words are still powerful:

“Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see.
O thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need thy presence every passing hour.
What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like thyself my guide and strength can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.

I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless,
ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.

Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me” 1 Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

2 Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see.
O thou who changest not, abide with me.

3 I need thy presence every passing hour.
What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like thyself my guide and strength can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.

4 I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless,
ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.

5 Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me” (Henry Francis Lyte).

Missing Kairos

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Sometimes, I’ll drop by Brentwood Baptist Church on a Tuesday. I’ll slip into Hudson Hall and look around for a moment or two. Usually, the lights are out, so I’ll turn on my phone’s flashlight and wave it back and forth in front of me. Typically, there will be chairs set up similar to when Kairos was still a thing.

I miss Kairos. For those who weren’t a part of the magic, Kairos was a young(ish) adult event that happened every Tuesday from 2004 to 2024. Since then, it has transitioned into something called Rally, which is more of a college ministry centered around small groups and monthly gatherings.

I’m thankful for Rally, but I do miss Kairos. I realize that as Ecclesiastes says, there is a season for everything. Perhaps, Kairos had a season and now it’s over. Maybe it served its purpose for what God intended to do through that particular ministry. I know it was very influential in my own life, as well as the lives of many, many others.

I was blessed to be a part of it for over 18 years, most of which I served as a greeter and prayer counselor. I saw some very talented people come and go through the years. We had some incredible speakers, singers, musicians, and tech people. We had people who were gifted in areas of hospitality and serving. But most of all, God showed up.

Was it a perfect ministry? No. Did we get a few things wrong over the years? Probably. But we tried to be obedient to the calling God has placed on us for such a time as this. The years to come will tell how successful we were. But then again, God never called us to be successful but simply faithful and obedient.

I may be the only one who’ll say this, but I miss Kairos. But there’s not a day that goes by where I’m not thankful that God allowed me to be a small part of it for all those years. I’m blessed.

Singing in Every Season

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“I will sing for joy in God, explode in praise from deep in my soul! He dressed me up in a suit of salvation, he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo and a bride a jeweled tiara. For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers, and as a garden cascades with blossoms, so the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom and puts praise on display before the nations” (Isaiah 61:10-11, The Message).

If you stop and think about it, you have way more reasons to sing from a heart of gratitude than to complain. Just like it takes more muscles to frown than to smile, it takes more effort to see the glass as half empty. Especially when you’re God’s child.

If you’ve truly been born again, how can you not help from singing? How can you not help but be thankful? How can you not see that the blessings far outweigh the bad, more so when you consider the future that awaits every saint.

Besides, there are so many commands and admonitions to sing and to praise all through out the Bible. Note that it does not say that you have to have an operatic voice to sing praises. You don’t even have to be able to carry a tune in a bucket. The Bible says to make a joyful noise, even if you sound like an orchestra of scorched cats and dogs.

Even if singing is absolutely not your thing, you can still express thanksgiving and gratitude toward God in any number of ways. I do think it helps to express your thanks out loud in some way, even if it’s only you in the room. But whatever you do, make sure you err on the side of joy rather than gloom.

Getting Hold of God

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“Whenever the insistence is on the point that God answers prayer, we are off the track. The meaning of prayer is that we get hold of God, not of the answer” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

If I’m not careful, prayer can become like my childhood letterd to Santa. Those typically started off with me stating how I’d been good all year and thus was worthy of all the loot I had coming to me. The specifics of those letters escapes me, but I’m sure that I was like every other kid back in the day who mailed actual letters in envelopes to an address somewhere at the North Pole.

We do the same with God. It’s like, “God, thanks for being God. Here’s what I want from You” and then the list of wants and needs begins. Sometimes, we even have a list of people we’re praying for (which is by no means a bad thing to do).

But prayer isn’t as much getting things from God as it is getting to know God. The more you know God, the more your wants and needs change. By the end, I suspect we’re praying God’s prayers back to Him. That means we’re asking God for what God wants for us and in us. We want the same things He does.

In the mean time, it is perfectly acceptable to come to God in prayer without asking for anything but simply to adore Him and thank Him for who He is. I think the less we’re concerned about getting answers, the more we’ll see God at work because our focus won’t be so narrowly limited to His hand.

The good news is that even if you feel you’ve been doing it all wrong in prayer and treating Him as Cosmic Santa, you can always start over in a sense. You can spend at least part of your prayer time in adoration and thanksgiving before processing to petitions. You can look for opportunities throughout the day to thank God for what He’s doing, even if you can’t always see what that is.

Again, the point as always is to pray. The best way to get better at praying isn’t listening to more sermons or reading more books about prayer but praying — and being around people who pray often and pray well. That has helped me a lot. I still think reading books of prayers is good, like the Book of Common Prayer or The Valley of Vision. But mostly just pray.

One United Choir in Heaven

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“Blessed be God for this. Some of all sorts are saved, some of all colors, ranks, nations, and ages are saved; some of all conditions of education and morals, some of the poorest, and some of the richest are redeemed so that when we all assemble in heaven, though we make a motley throng on earth, we shall constitute a united choir, having all our voices tuned to this one note, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain'” (Charles Spurgeon).

I confess that I’m often distressed by the discord in this country. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like America has never been more divided than it is right now. We’re to the point where we can’t even have rational discussions with those on the opposing side. It’s all about name calling and inflammatory rhetoric.

But that’s now how it is with God’s people. At least that’s not how it should be. But if I read my Bible right, that’s not how it will be. One day, we will be one united choir, singing one song to one Lord and King over all. The older I get the more I long for that day.

There will be no more Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal. There will only be those who have been redeemed and washed in the blood of the Lamb. There will only be those who were lost sinners far from God who have been brought near by God’s grace and are now new creations in Christ Jesus.

I believe there will be people in heaven representing every single people group, even those who are as yet unreached. I believe that every language will be represented in heaven. I’m not sure if we’ll all speak one language in heaven or if we’ll be able to understand each other’s different dialects.

I know it will be glorious not for the golden streets or jewel-encrusted gates or the presence of all the saints who have gone before but because Jesus will be there. The Lamb slain from the foundation will be there still bearing the scars in His hands, feet, and sides. Suddenly, our petty squabbles won’t mean anything anymore because we’ll all be focusing on the King of Kings and Lord of Lord.

Lord, I long for that day more and more. Even now, make us one in You as You are one within the Trinity. Help us to draw outsiders into faith by how we love each other well. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

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I ran across this poem today and thought it was worth sharing. It’s a beautiful picture of the unfailing love of God toward His children. It’s written from God’s perspective, and feels very biblical in the way it describes God’s tender care toward those He has loved and redeemed. I pray these words will sink deep into your soul, and you will know beyond doubting the amazing love of God for you tonight.

“My beloved child,

I AM …Yahweh …
the One who is always with you,
the One who does not leave you.

I am not distant from you.
I have drawn near…
closer than your breath …
closer than your own thoughts.

And I am your Go’el …
your Kinsman-Redeemer.

I am not a stranger who rescues from afar.
I have bound Myself to you as family.

You are not alone in your story.
You never were.

I have taken full responsibility for you.

When something was lost …
I saw it.

Every place where your heart was left unprotected …
every place where fear entered …
every place where love should have held you and did not …

I did not turn away.

I became your Family-Redeemer.
I say to you:
What was lost, I will restore.
Not only what can be seen…
but what was taken deep within you:
your sense of safety …
your tenderness …
your ability to rest in love.

I am restoring these …
gently… patiently … surely.

Where you have felt bound …
by fear,
by anxiety,
by striving.

I do not stand over you in disappointment.

I come close to you.

And I say to you …

I have paid for your freedom.
You do not have to carry this alone.

I am not asking you to free yourself.
For I … Yahweh …
am your Redeemer.

Where your heart has felt alone…
where you have wondered if anyone would truly stay …

Hear Me:

I, Yahweh … am your nearest One.

I do not withdraw from you.
I do not grow weary of your need.

I draw nearer … still.
I hold you … as My own.
I am the One … who restores your future.

Nothing in your story has disqualified you.

I am weaving beauty …
where there was sorrow …
fruitfulness …
where there was loss …
legacy …
where there was fear.

You will not end in lack.
You will end … in fullness.

And I stand for you.

What has wounded you …
matters to Me.

I am not indifferent to your pain.

I am your Defender …
not with harshness,
but with steady, faithful love.

You are safe with Me.
My dear child …
You do not have to strive to be redeemed.
You are not reaching for Me …
I have come for you.
I have always been the One who comes.

So rest …
in Me.

Let your body learn what your spirit is beginning to know:

You are not alone.
You are not unprotected.
You are not forgotten.

You … are Mine.

And I … am your Go’el …

the One who comes close …
the One who takes personal responsibility for you …
the One who restores all that was lost.

Stay with Me, My beloved.

I am here.

I will not leave you.

I never have.

I have loved you …
with an everlasting love …
and you …
are Mine.

Your loving Father,
Almighty God” (Kirk Dearman).

Nearer Home

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O’er the hill the sun is setting,
And the eve is drawing on,
Slowly drops the gentle twilight,
For another day is gone,
Gone for aye, its race is over,
Soon the dark’ning shades will come,
Still ’tis sweet to know at evening,
We are one day nearer home.
Still ’tis sweet to know at evening,
We are one day nearer home.

Nearer home, nearer home,
Oh, ‘tis always sweet to know
We are one day nearer home,
Nearer home; nearer home,
Oh, ‘tis always sweet to know at even,
We are one day nearer home.

Something else I read about Elisabeth Elliott recently said that one of her favorite camp songs growing up was called Nearer Home. It was something she evidently thought about quite a bit as she grew older and started losing her memory due to dementia. This speaks to anyone who is facing their own mortality or the mortality of a loved one. We as believers in Christ are truly getting nearer home each and ever day:

“One day nearer, sings the sailor,
As he glides the waters o’er,
While the light is softly dying,
On his distant native shore,
Thus the Christian, on life’s ocean,
As his lightboat cuts the foam,
In the evening cries with rapture,
I am one day nearer home.
In the evening cries with rapture,
I am one day nearer home.

Nearer home, nearer home,
Oh, ‘tis always sweet to know
We are one day nearer home,
|Nearer home; nearer home,
Oh, ‘tis always sweet to know at even,
We are one day nearer home.

Nearer home, yes, one day nearer,
To our home beyond the sky,
To the green fields and the fountains,
In our Father’s home on high,
For the heav’ns are growing brighter,
And the lamps hang in the dome,
And our hearts are growing lighter,
For we’re one day nearer home.

Nearer home, nearer home,
Oh, ‘tis always sweet to know
We are one day nearer home,
Nearer home; nearer home,
Oh, ‘tis always sweet to know at even,
We are one day nearer home.

Father, be near when my feet
Are slipping o’er the brink,
For it may be I am nearer home,
Nearer now than I think” (Alice Carey).