Behind the Music Stand

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care." (Matthew 10:29 (NIV))      There are three things in this verse that weigh on my mind this week. The first two have to do with the tiny word, "Fall." The Greek word used for "Fall" is Peseitai (πεσεῖται), which the Greeks used in any number of expressions to denote a change in physical location or position from a higher to a lower status—everything from "to fall into a given class," "to fall from power," to "to perish." (1)      First, it is important to note the original languages do not necessarily imply the sparrow dies, although that is one possible interpretation. We are analogous to the sparrow in this passage, and yes, if God cares when even a tiny sparrow dies, we can be sure He mourns when one of us suffers. He sacrificed His Only Son for each of us, proving how much He cares for and values each of us, ...

      The impact of Jesus' death and resurection cannot be over-stated.  In His resurection, He makes a way for us to be redeemed to Him.  For those of us who call Him Lord, He makes us each a new creation.  Moreover, the Bible tells us He breaks the power of sin in our lives ( Romans 6:5-10 ).  Sin's power is death, and until Christ comes again, death is expressed through time.  We all die over time.      So since Christ has undone death itself in His resurrection--since His sacrifice forgives us of all the sins we committed in the past, I propose that Christ holds power over time itself!      The point I'm driving at is that Christ not only makes us new creations, He is making us new in every moment!   Every moment of your life is an opportunity to be transformed!  Every moment of your life is a doorway you can walk through to a whole new existence!  We are ever-changing!  Ever-growing!  Eve...

     I don't know who (else besides me) needs to hear this, but here goes:      Christians should all know the Bible verse, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  That means despite our sins and regardless of whether we even repent or not, Christ died on the cross for all of us, to make a way for us to come into relationship with Him.      But sometimes those if us with chronic depression can get stuck in a viscous whirlpool of self-hatred that can suck us down to the pit of despair.      You may dislike something(s) about yourself--maybe your weight, your looks, your lack of self-discipline/motivation, your lack of ability in some area, or any number of *traits* you may or may not have.  These attributes are just that: traits.  Speaking from experience, they often are not "Sins" in themselves.  They are just the things we don't like about ourselves.      For those of us that have ...

(I wrote this for a friend of mine who has recently lost a spouse, but, as I reach an age where the elders in my life--and even some friends--are starting to pass away, these thoughts are, sadly, more regularly on my mind.  But take heart and read on!)      I don't know anything about the author Jamie Anderson, but he wrote, “Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”  I think he is close to the truth of the matter, but we, as Christians, know that we may not have a passed loved one right here to give our love to, but we can store up all that love for later delivery to our loved ones, when we see them again in Heaven.       How sad would our lives be if we had no one for whom we could grieve--no one who impacted our lives enough tha...

     They expected The Messiah to come as a king.  He came as a pauper.     They expected The Messiah to walk above the sinners.  He ate with the most blatent ones.      They expected The Messiah to be a military conquerer.  He came to bring peace.      They expected His followers to leave Him---still hungry for more.  He fed thousands.     They expected Him to drown.  He walked on water.      They expected him to fail.  He healed the sick, cured the lame, gave sight to the blind, cast out demons, and gave us hope.      Then, they expected Him to die.  He conquered death itself.     We expected He would not love us in our sin.  While we were yet sinners, He died for each one of us.     They expected The Messiah to reign on earth.  He reigns in our hearts.     Everything Jesus did was unexpe...

     I'm still re-tweaking this blog, but I cannot wait any longer to republish it, because the message God brought in my devotions this morning was so personally soothing to a sore spot in my christianity, that I wanted to share it with you, in hopes that it may possibly help someone else      Galatians 2:20 (NASB 2020) says, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."  This verse has always rankled me.  God really wants to erase my personality to turn me into some pale immitation of Himself?  He created infinitely different people just so He could homogenize our personalities into some beige, bland sameness?      It is not so much that "Who we are" dies. It is God's omnipotent creativity that designs each of the many trillions of Artworks we call "Humans" each...