Beautiful Savior

This song by Phil Wickham is hymnlike, yet contemporary, and full of truth.

Wanting To Go Home

Don't you ever ache so much for some intangible thing that you think you might just come undone? Times of longing come into my life when I yearn so much for eternity that I'm not sure how to handle it. Some days there are sublime moments of revelation when peace comes rushing in and I sense that heaven is just around the corner. The Spirit of God gives enticing reminders that the best is yet to come. Sometimes it's as if I'm peering out of a window into the broad expanse of eternity and I hear the music, smell the joy and see the glory of God. For a few precious minutes, I feel that what is lacking in me is filled up and I know our "blessed hope" is real.

I quote from Mark Buchanan's book "Things Unseen":

"Isn't that how you feel much of the time? That what you want the most - and most of the time you're not even sure what this - seems always out of reach? That your most robust laughter rings with the echo of your weeping? That your most joyous homecomings are haunted at he edges by unnameable sorrows? That your victories and breakthroughs are mixed with complaint and doubt? That something's always missing?

"We were not created for earth alone. We were created for eternity."

For me, the longing, the "missing", is simply confirmation that the goal is still ahead - and it is most certainly there. I know that in Christ this promise is mine and my hope is secure. How I long for His appearing!

The Battle of Berezina

In 1812 Napoleon was fleeing Russia after being defeated at the Battle of Krasnoi. The Grande Armee was outnumbered and being hotly pursued when they reached the Berezina River, in present day Belarus.

Bonaparte's plan was to cross the frozen river and continue his flight toward Poland and safety. However, the normally frozen waters (in November) of the Berezina had thawed and Napoleon's army was trapped.

A plan was quickly developed: One of the French Marshals would draw their pursuers away while the engineers went to work constructing a pontoon bridge so the army could cross the river. During the construction, many men succumbed to exhaustion and the freezing water and perished. In spite of these hazards, the work was completed and the French escaped certain destruction.

The call of Jesus to any and all of His disciples is a call to die. This calling to die isn't just for death's sake, it's for the sake of others. The men working on Napoleon's bridge sacrificed their lives building a bridge to safety. Christ's intent for His followers is that they would also give their lives in the work of building bridges so that others would find their way to safety.

Acknowledgements to John MacArthur's book Hard to Believe.

Context of the Cross

Context is everything.

In the Gospels Jesus tells His disciples that unless they "take up their cross" and follow Him, they are not worthy of Him. I often think that when folks consider that phrase, they think of things like the horrible job they endure, the friends who have done them wrong, their tight financial status or perhaps their chronic pain.

Those aren't crosses. That's just life.

A cross is a thing upon which to die.

In his book "Hard To Believe", John MacArthur sets the actual context for Jesus' words with a little history lesson. In A.D. 6, Judas of Galilee led a rebellion against the occupying Roman government. This rebellion which handily trounced by the Roman general Varus. To make an example of Judas and teach the Jews a lesson, Varus had 2,000 Galileans crucified and the crosses were placed along the roadways in Galilee. Each of the condemned was made to carry his own crossbeam to the place of execution.

So, the metaphor Jesus employs becomes much more hard hitting when we realize he spoke these words to a group of Galilean disciples (all but Judas Iscariot were natives of Galilee) who were very well aware of their history. There must have been a moment of astonished silence after Jesus uttered that statement.

He meant they would have to die. Indeed, all of them except John did perish at the hands of persecutors.

We won't all be called to lay down our lives in this fashion, but we should understand the seriousness of the calling we have received. More on this in a day or so . . .

Shadowfeet

A beautiful song and a beautiful video. Besides strong lyrics and lovely melody, the diversity of faces is so refreshing to me and reminds me that God's family is colorful and also beautiful.



Walking, stumbling on these shadowfeet toward home,
a land that I've never seen
I am changing: less and less asleep
Made of different stuff than when i began
and I have sensed it all along,
fast approaching is the day

CHORUS
When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and
mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you

Theres distraction buzzing in my head
saying in the shadows it's easier to stay
but I've heard rumours of true reality
whispers of a well-lit way

You make all things new...4x

CHORUS 2
When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
Every fear and accusation under my feet
when time and space are through
I'll be found in you

Recommended: The Valley of Vision

I just purchased "The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions." So far, the writing is Scripturally rock solid (I don't expect that to change) - edifying to the max. It's going to be outstanding for private reading and encouragement and I think even public prayer. If I'm feeling particularly inspired, some of the writings might make it into song. :) If the book is out of stock at the link above, you can always try Amazon.

Precious Pavement

"The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was [about 25 tons] . . . All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days . . . The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones." From 1 Kings 10

Reading the story of Solomon's wealth is staggering. THAT kind of wealth in THAT day is mind-blowing. It makes me think of all the rocks I used to send zinging into the pasture with my baseball bat: 3,000 years ago in Jerusalem I could have been knocking chunks of silver into the wild blue!

It also makes me think of this incredible metal that men hold dear. From heads of state to thieves to financial markets and even to the set decorators for certain television "ministries", gold is highly prized.

A lot of folks seem to get really excited about the streets of the heavenly city being paved with gold. I have to think it's that way, not to describe how ritzy heaven will be (almost sounds gaudy, no?) but to diminish the importance of the things we tend to value so highly here on earth.

Once the redeemed are in heaven, the stuff people sought after their whole lives is going to be underfoot. The real treasure will be seated on a throne in incomparable glory! God's glory and God's Word are the pinnacle of what is truly valuable.

The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. Psalm 119:72