Acetaminophen & Anti-depressants & Jesus

I'm looking for feedback.

When I have a headache, I take acetaminophen because I don't really like that kind of pain.  When I'm uncomfortably sore from a workout, I might take ibuprofen or aspirin.  I know plenty of folks who live with chronic physical pain and manage it with meds. 

There are also many people who live with chronic psychological maladies.  Not the I-feel-compelled-to-run-around-lighting-buildings-on-fire kind of maladies, but (for example) legitimate depressive tendencies that can be managed by medications.  Oh, and I happen to be one of them.

My opinion has become that since our entire being (body and soul) as humans is corrupted by The Curse, we suffer not only physically but psychologically.  I'm pretty sure that when Jesus saved me, he didn't take away my headaches or my torn biceps tendon.  Makes sense, then, that if believers aren't delivered from physical infirmities (for the most part - but of course I concede that God indeed still heals and delivers in a miraculous sense when He chooses to), that many of us will still suffer from illnesses affecting the mind.  So I make the point that if a person suffers from chronic back pain, they should seek treatment to ease that pain.  Additionally, if a person suffers from legitimate mental depression, they should also seek treatment.  I am effectively lumping both mental and physical ailments in the same category, as far as the necessity of ongoing treatment is concerned.

In this space, I'm not looking for a discussion about misdiagnoses or diagnoses that are handed out too easily and quickly in the case of psychological handicaps.  I don't want to discuss addiction either, although that is a problem for some. Just looking for feedback on the few thoughts I've shared above.

Pain in our body that is not managed can become a handicap and a hindrance.  I contend that the same is true for properly diagnosed psychological illness.

Post Script - I should add that I recommend prayer no matter what the condition...:)

Rejoice & Lament

So many things stirring in my heart this week, yet so difficult to coalesce any two of them into anything that resembles unified thought. There has been death and grieving and failure and discomfort in relationships and hard work and hot weather. Therefore, I resort to music once again to point at something that the Lord is teaching and revealing to me.





Learn this lesson well, my friend 
There’s a time to rejoice and lament 
Every season will find an end 
All will fade and be made new again 

Standing on the rocks of the railroad tracks 
Feet calloused, eyes open, sun beats on my back 
As I gaze upon the unseen winds 
And they are wandering, whispering 
Wisdom that’s eternal 
From the heart to the mind 
To the hand to the journal 
Now the kernel of the seeds in the cleft of the rock 
And it’s watered by the winds 
Having power to unlock and 
Stop the clock of chronological logic 
With its homogenized systems 
That are dead and can’t dodge it 
Being deaf to the voice of the Almighty One 
Spirit illumines the dark like a fire 
Revealing the way that was hidden but is higher 
Now we must travel on the wings 
That will never grow tired 
Of searching the mysteries of God 
I said Father the feathers of my wax wings 
Fall away by the rising of the sun 
And I have descended when I was undone 
And I will ascend when your Spirit comes 
Because what’s been done and overcome 
Cannot be stopped by the power of any human 
Like the number of sand we will stand 
And we will fall, all 
In the face of an eternal call 
But those who call on His name 
In the midst of the pain 
In the guilt and the shame 
And the world full of blame 
And all the bloody stains 
From the unjust gains 
I learned all men suffer the same 
Because we’re wayward sons 
And all our jokes betray 
Our foolish hearts and our selfish ways 
But if we would turn to the Father’s grace 
We would never be the same 
This is an unseen land of a devastated soul 
That’s prepared in contemplative silence 
For the mighty working hand of an unseen Lord 
To come restore this land from its violence 
I said walk another mile 
Stare across the fields of grain 
This is how the prophets train 

Learn this lesson well my friend 
There’s a time to rejoice and lament 
Every season will find an end 
All will fade and be made new again

Carbon Ribs

This week of musical posts is almost over.  I've already posted a John Mark McMillan piece, but this one has hit me like a ton of bricks (or ton of feathers - they're both pretty heavy) the past couple of days.

One of the most poignant stories of compassion in the Bible, and most illustrative of our relationship to our King Jesus is the story of David and Mephibosheth.  I wrote briefly about it here: Me And Mephibosheth.  My soul longs for the day when I'll sit at His table, by His side, as the cripple adopted, cared for and loved by the King.

Beautiful Eulogy

Nope, this isn't fodder for the next funeral you officiate. Hmm...well it could be I suppose. Beautiful Eulogy is a band from Portland that serves up strong messages of God's grace and sovereignty on a hip-hop platter. But don't let that turn you off. Not too long ago, I was an avid anti-fan of anything labeled "rap music", but then I started really listening to artists like Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tedashii, Shai Linne, and now Beautiful Eulogy. Now my playlist is full of such music. I'm digging the style and these guys fill their lyrics with heavy, solid truth.  Heavy and solid like Mjolnir.

The music on Satellite Kite (the name of the album) is so...different...it's refreshing and strangely relaxing.  Oh, and did I mention you can have all of B.E.'s tracks FOR FREE RIGHT HERE???

The video below is "Entitlement". All the tracks are good, but I really like "Anchor" and "Satellite Kite". 

Sins Are Stones

So it looks like it's turning into an All-Music-All-The-Time kind of week around here, so I'm just gonna go with it.  Must be my mood.  Yesterday I listened to Beethoven's Ode To Joy with goosebumps for most of the piece.  I also teared up at least twice.  (???)  Anyway, here's another tune that I have a hard time singing without raw emotion dripping out of my eyes.



Usually it feels a little clunky when somebody lifts a familiar melody and uses it in another song.  U2 did it successfully with THIS SONG, I think.  And John Mark McMillan did a great thing with "Sins Are Stones."

Here's the same song, just live on the front porch with a banjo instead of a hollow body electric guitar with a slide:

Cover Trumps The Original

Merely an opinion, of course, but this cover of "Rolling In the Deep" by Ryan Lerman is brilliant: super delicious guitar action in the verses, nice riff for the chorus, and a funky groove. So, I guess that makes my opinion the correct one. ;)

We Forget To Care...Faint Not

I need to hear this right now at the place I'm at in life.  How about you?



And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not...Galatians 6:9

BTW...You can download several of Jenny & Tyler's songs FOR FREE RIGHT HERE!

Chilling (The scary kind)

Have you seen this?  This confrontation between truth and error made me shiver all over more than any place else. Watch this video, and then you can also click the jump and read a follow up to this situation written by Pastor Scott Rodriguez, the man in the video.




DID YOU CATCH THAT?  The moment he mentioned Christ he was SHUT DOWN.  I mean she slammed that door hard!  And that, right there, ladies and gentlemen, should be our first clue that something is rotten in Denmark...and in this woman's ministry(?).  Run, don't walk, from people like this.  Absolutely chilling.  And did you notice the crowd's reaction?  He was heckled, hissed, booed and accosted for bringing up Christ's atonement and the True Gospel. Hmmmmmm....

Here's the jump to Pastor Scott's story of these events.

What Really Hurts

There are few things that keep me from tending to writing and sharing on this space.  One of those things happened this week.  On Sunday, July 1st, my youngest son (8) began having mild asthma symptoms, most likely due to being around fireworks and all of that acrid, metal-heavy smoke.  By Monday evening we had him in a local ER.  By midnight, he had been admitted to that hospital.  Within just a few hours he was being life-flighted via helicopter to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.  I left by car and arrived 20 minutes before he did and was able to meet him as the flight medics brought him to his room.  Mommy, via a separate ride from the other hospital, arrived soon after.  Time: 5:00 AM, Tuesday morning.

(In the PICU I marvel that even a few short decades ago, our son probably wouldn't have survived this asthma.  In fact, he wouldn't have even survived his first few weeks of life due to his ARPKD.)

It's now Saturday afternoon, July 7th, and my son is still in the hospital. However, it looks as if he'll be coming home tomorrow.  This past week has been a blur, and even while we watched our boy make progress toward health everyday, we could not escape the nagging discomfort of seeing that child in pain and distress.  Children should not be sick.  I hate it.  Like, a lot.

But with all my heart I believe my son is learning things through this illness (and the complications of ARPKD) that I will never understand, but through which the Lord will enrich his life.  I really believe that.  I know and can see already that the Lord speaks to this ornery little boy in ways that are unique to him.  I can't stand that he suffers, but what I'm sure of is that there is a sure, sovereign Hand involved in his life, and in just a little bit of time, these tents we're living in will be fixed up for good.