Resemblance

One of my sons got a haircut the other day, a major one. As in, we can actually see his eyes now! When I saw him for the first time after the haircut, I was actually startled. I couldn't believe how much he looked like me. A younger son has also inherited many of my features, including my darker skin.

Another one of my boys got his driver's license recently and his face is almost an exact replica of my wife's when she was his age. Yet another son looks just like my wife when he is sleeping.

There are many times that I regard our boys with wonder - I marvel at the mystery of these wonderful creations that are half me and half their mother and fully themselves. I see US in THEM. It can almost be too much to wrap my heart and mind around. Times like that, I feel such a bond with them and with my wife. For me, it just emphasizes the love we share and the family bond we have.

My hope and prayer is that my heavenly Father looks upon me and sees a family resemblance. I hope He sees His Son in me. I'm certainly not a perfect child; without a doubt I'm often quite disappointing. In spite of myself, however, I want more than anything to grow up to be like Christ. I'm comforted by the fact that, even though I am riddled with inconsistency and have at points in the past given my "family" a bad name, my Father is patient, I have His DNA, and I am becoming more like Christ as the years go by. Soli Deo gloria.

2 Corinthians 3: 18 "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Longing

This past Sunday our pastor spoke to us about longing: how the longing we have within us are really a yearning for heaven, how mankind has been longing for Eden since our first parents rebelled, how that longing is fulfilled only in Christ and through His resurrection.

No doubt we've all felt this longing - not the craving for a nice greasy cheeseburger and an icy Coke, but a deep, unidentifiable ache for something we can't quite name and certainly can't see. We feel it sometimes when we are in prayer, we sense it in a sunset, we are inexplicably overtaken by it when we are climbing in the mountains. Strangely, I often feel it when I'm travelling on my motorcycle.

A motorcycle journey is exponentially better in all aspects than travelling by automobile. All senses are heightened and the most subtle temperature changes are keenly noticed, and riding in the rain or in the mountains is something that only a biker can understand. Another benefit is the solitude. It's a rare gift to have hours instead of minutes to pray and think and dream (not the sleeping kind . . . ). And all of this experience brings with it a longing. Riding season has returned to my part of the world and I yearn to be on the road once more, to be stirred in my soul toward the intangible.

In 1 Kings, there is a description of life during the reign of Solomon (whose name denotes "completeness" and "peace"): "During Solomon's lifetime [each man] lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree." This is a sublime picture of our heavenly home, where and when the Prince of Peace will rule and His people will "live in safety, and be at ease, without fear of harm." This is the end toward which all our longings point: when we've shed finally and forever our corruption and the Savior reveals a new heaven and new earth liberated from its own bondage to decay. What a day that will be!

The Day That True Love Died

Careful - this song might stir your heart . . .

Guitar Wonder

This tune, "Legacy", by Phil Keaggy is in non-standard tuning (C-G-C-G-C-Eb) and he switches to C major (C-G-C-G-C-E) on the fly. Pretty cool. About halfway through he begins to improvise and use his Jam Man processor to record loop upon loop which he continues to play along with. For me, this would be something like juggling cats, but he makes it look easy. The funky sound heard at 5:25 is generated by a thin piece of plastic that he weaves between the strings above the sound hole. He slides it out at 6:49 and continues on with the original melody. The guitar he is playing is a handmade beauty from Olson Guitars.

Got It Covered

How incredible that our Heavenly Father is in charge of our salvation! I didn't start it, I can't finish it - I must depend wholly and completely upon the Author and Finisher. And how comforting a thought that is!

In 2 Samuel 23, an elderly King David bursts forth in praise to God:

Is not my house right with God?

Has He not made with me an everlasting covenant,

arranged and secured in every part?

Will He not bring to fruition my salvation

and grant me my every desire? (verse 5)

Why did the Lord choose me? I can't imagine why; it must be all of grace! He is incredible and I can't begin to form the words that would be anywhere near fitting to describe the feeling of joy that this knowledge brings.

Living Dangerously

Quite some time ago I created a slide show set to the music of Steve Camp's song "Living Dangerously In The Hands of God" for use during a sermon. It's a powerful song, worth listening to, and Steve's blog is also worth bookmarking and reading regularly: Camp On This

All You Need

People want all sorts of things. People even want things from God. What is that all about anyway? To so many (too many), God is some candy machine or credit card. This is obvious if you watch the right (read: wrong) Christian television shows or attend certain churches where you can learn to have your "best life now" or to accentuate the "positive."

The health and wealth gospel is a wicked, wasting disease that infects the American landscape for the most part. It is so far off the map in regard to true Christianity that it's really not even within the pale of orthodoxy.

How is it that we get so derailed? How does our view of God become so defiled? It must be in large part due to a gross misunderstanding of grace and of Christ.

In 2 Samuel, King David has to flee for his life from his own son Absalom. (See the previous post...) In the rush, crippled Mephibosheth is betrayed and left behind by his steward Ziba (click here for background on Mephibosheth). Upon the death of Absalom and the return of David to his palace and his power, the king's offer to restore Mephibosheth's real estate that was taken by Ziba is refused and these beautiful words are uttered by Mephib: "Let him take everything, now that my lord the king has arrived home safely." Nothing was more important than his king, nor was anything else necessary.

These words of Mephibosheth contain what should be the heart's desire of every believer: My Redeemer lives, I want nothing else but Him!

As Charles Spurgeon once penned, "God's smile and a dungeon are enough for a true heart."

We must adore Christ, and not His blessings; we must seek God's face and not just His hand!