I have absolutely nothing to add to this. I think it says it all rather perfectly.
Ragamuffin Gospel
Obsessed
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:
Under Construction
“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.
Always Open
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
I’m a big fan of coffee for several reasons. A few of these are:
- It helps me do the walking and talking and forming coherent sentences thing.
- It’s a good source of warmth on a frigid winter’s day.
- Coffee is a bean, and beans go in salads, so it’s kinda like drinking a salad every day.
- I feel more adult when I drink coffee.
- There’s almost nothing like the feeling you get when that first gulp of coffee hits your soul.
- 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
“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.
Exhale Relief
This little reminder showed up on my Facebook memories from 3 years ago. It’s funny how these things remain very much appropriate and needed, no matter how much time goes by or how circumstances change.
Whatever mess I’m in, Jesus will carry me through it. He won’t, as a pastor once said, pick me up and toss me over to the other side of it. He will go through it with me. He will carry me through it.
Some of you needed this. I pray you feel the strong and everlasting arms of Jesus underneath you when you have no more strength to stand. When your faith is weakest, Jesus is still strong enough for the both of you.
Even at 11:04 pm on a Monday night with a full week ahead of you, you really can exhale relief knowing that the God who never slumbers nor sleeps is watching over you.
Camping Out in the Gospels
After several years of reading through the Bible in different translations, I decided to swerve off the well-trodden path and do something a little different. I’m reading through the Gospels in 2018.
I’m using the NIV Harmony of the Gospels, which instead of presenting each Gospel separately, puts parallel passages side by side and puts the story in narrative order. For example, the birth narrative starts with Luke’s introduction, John’s description of Jesus as the eternal Word of God, the genealogies of Jesus, the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth and the conception of John the Baptist, and so forth.
I’m looking forward to rediscovering Jesus, free of all the political baggage that has been placed on Him from both the right and the left, conservatives and liberals alike. I have a feeling that Jesus said something at some point that both sides would deem offensive.
I want to fully embrace Jesus as both 100% man and 100% God (and not 50-50). I want to know Emmanuel, God with us. My plan is to read through the Gospels as many times as I can this year and let Scripture speak for itself.
If you’re interested in the book I’m using, you can pick up a copy here:
Another Exciting Friday Adventure
One of my new favorite events is the Friends of the Library sale at the Brentwood Library that occurs every 4 months or so. Usually, I come away with some incredible finds at bargain prices, all while helping out a worthy cause.
This time, I found the entire series of the BBC classic sitcom Are You Being Served? for $35. I remember it being one of my favorites growing up. It was always on PBS around 10 pm on Saturdays, I think.
That was the highlight of my exciting Friday evening. How crazy can you get, starting off your weekend at the library?
I’ll probably check back on Sunday when everything is 50% off. Do I know how to live or what?
Ragamuffin Thoughts
“When all Christians surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within; when we submit to the saving truth that we reach life only through death, that we come to light only through darkness; when we acknowledge that the grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die, that Jonah must be buried in the whale’s belly, that the alabaster jar of self must be broken if others are to perceive the sweet fragrance of Christ; when we respond to Jesus’s call of ‘Come to me,’ then the limitless power of the Holy Spirit will be unleashed with astonishing force upon the church and the world” (Brennan Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think Like Jesus).
I think what we need is more Christians who are Christlike.
It sounds like a Captain Obvious statement, but so many Christians profess faith and live in such a way that denies that very faith. Your words are meaningless unless you back them up with actions. In other words, faith without good works is dead and useless.
I can say that because too often I’m one of those who say one thing and act another way. Unfortunately, the world is no longer buying our “Do as we say, not as we do” routine any longer.
It isn’t about trying harder or doing better. It’s about surrender. Raising the white flag of “I can’t but You can” and letting that flag fly free.
It’s about dying to your own desires and wishes and ways of doing things so that a new and better life takes root and takes over. That’s nothing less than the power of the resurrected Jesus in you.
That’s my prayer for me and for all of you, that we make a declaration of dependence and bow the knee in surrender once and for all.
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