Wading through life

I’m being so blessed by Justin Rizzo’s Found Faithful album right now. It ministers the Word of God so powerfully and with such density. Nearly every word sung is scripture; the presence of God is just all over it.

In a major diversion from my comfort zone of writing very methodically and deliberately, I’m just going to blog my stream of consciousness as I listen to the album, much like someone would blog a political debate with on-the-fly commentary. Only this will be much more edifying.

So, hopefully you’ll be blessed by what the Spirit stirs in me as we fellowship.

“The Lord reigns; He is clothed in majesty… He’s mightier than the thunder, mightier than the waters of the sea. The Lord on high is mighty.” (Ps. 93)

If anyone has witnessed the sheer power of a stormy sea, or even water in general (check out the Grand Canyon!), this is quite the comparison. I was able to see some of Katrina’s damage first hand and it was quite sobering. Isn’t it comforting to know that if He is for us, nothing can be against us?!

“Your glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea…” (Hab. 2:14)

This is our hope. This is what we hang our hat on. Christ is returning and with Him a wave of glory will crash upon the earth like the world has never before witnessed. The early believers were constantly exhorted to not lose hope because of this promise: Jesus is returning and will set everything in order.

“This is reality: You’re coming to reign on the earth. And the increase of your government will know no end.”

I love these lines. We need to constantly remind ourselves of what is true reality. It’s not our faltering economy; it’s not the AIDS epidemic; it’s not poverty and hunger. Yes, these are real problems that require real resources and real attention. But they aren’t our most core reality. What is unseen is more real than what is seen. And reality is that the kingdom of God, which will manifest fully when Christ returns, is already within us and the hope and blessing of His kingdom can be released here and now. Our reality as sons and daughters of the King can override present, temporary circumstances we encounter.

“And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!’” (Rev. 19:6)

I’m so stirred with hope when I read passages like these from the book of Revelation. My love and passion for Revelation continues to grow as I realize what a story of overcoming it is. Jesus reigns! He’s the victor and we are His people! We will not be overcome but we will triumph and join in the celebration of the ages as we the Bride are betrothed to the Lamb. The reality of this still feels distant and a little out of my reach at this point, but the excitement and anticipation of it is there nonetheless.

“I want to be unmovable and unshakeable. So let my roots go down deep. And I will be like a tree planted by streams of living water.” (Ps. 1:3)

I remember New Year’s Day several years ago reading Psalm 1 and being transformed by it as 2 & 3 became my verses for the year. It became probably the most meaningful declaration over my life as I entered a whole new season of growth with the Lord. He’s been so faithful to do His part and birth the reality of these verses in my life as I’ve sought to honor Him and His Word

“As I see the height from which you reign and the depth to which you came. And as I see the height to which you brought me and the depth to which you save. I will praise you. I will love You with all of my heart. And I will thank you forever and ever.”

Profound. If I had just a thread more revelation about what Christ gave up to become the suffering servant and our savior, I’d never live the same.

“I want to be found faithful. I want to be found steady. I want to be found faithful to the end. I want to live before your eyes. I want to stay before your gaze. Just keep me steady.”

My heart’s cry. My longing. I’ve shared with a few people recently that the greatest fear I hold in life is not reaching my full potential in the Lord. In many ways this fear is rooted in pride, because I have the wrong perspective and think it’s mostly on me to walk this out. Thankfully it’s not all on me. It’s all about having our focus set upon Jesus.

“Indwelling spirit; I’m not alone. Indwelling spirit; I’m not my own… You have not left me here alone. But what you’ve done is given me the ability to choose you.”

I simply love this song. It’s wrecking me and is the reason I’ve gotten so hooked on this album.

“Come and strengthen us in righteousness. Come strengthen us with Christ within. Come, conform me, come transform me to the image of You.”

Christ in us, the hope of glory. We’re lost and hopeless without Him. We need him so bad. My heart just breaks for those who struggle to make it each day without Christ and His Holy Spirit at work in their lives. Break me more, Lord! Work in me the ability to will and do according to your purpose. Make me a living testimony of your faithfulness and goodness. Awaken in me more fully that I’ve found the pearl of great price and that you’re worth selling all for!

“If I try and save my life I will lose it but if I lose my life for Your sake I’ll find it in the end. (This is true life.)”

The day of our wedding, I gave Heather a custom engagement photo book that I made. On the cover, I had titled the book “I will waste my life.” Some found the title curious, because it could imply that I thought I was surrendering to a lesser life by marrying her. Though that book wasn’t inspired by this song (it was inspired by a similar Misty Edwards song), I’m finding Rizzo’s “This is True Life” relevant as well. When we willfully give up and lose (or waste) our lives for sake of Christ… that’s when we really experience the good life. Marrying Heather cost me a little (the freedom and autonomy of bachelorhood) but it was a very small surrender for all the goodness I get to experience doing life with her. And so too are the surrenders Christ asks of us. There really are no “sacrifices” when it comes to the Kingdom because it is impossible to out-give God.

“Eternally I’ve been bought with blood. There will never be another sacrifice.”

A good reality to meditate on. Sometimes, we try in vain to add to Christ’s once-and-for-all sacrifice by beating ourselves up over sins, feeling like we should suffer and wallow in our fallenness. But that attitude implies that Christ’s sacrifice wasn’t enough and that he hasn’t truly suffered enough for our sins—that we need to add a little more. And that’s wrong.

“I will not despise the sowing of seeds. For I know in due time, I will see the fruit of my labors for all eternity…  Nothing in this life will every truly satisfy the desires of your heart… See the weight, see the glory of what you’re doing. It is affecting you forever.”

That last stanza has really been going through my head these last few days. Like I said last week, we really, truly will sow what we reap, good and bad. We need to live soberly. As Maximus tells his soldiers in Gladiator: “What we do in life echoes in eternity.”

“I set my eyes on what I can not see. I set my eyes on the eternal. You are my great reward. Forever I will be with You. This momentary light affliction is working me an eternal weight of glory.” (2 Cor. 4)

My late friend Brian embraced these verses from 2 Cor. as he was dying of cancer. As his body was being ravaged by that fierce evil, he embraced eternity. He looked into his hopeful future and saw white shores Gandalf recalls in The Return of the King. Brian looked upon death and saw the victory that Christ had secured over it. Life would go one. He was just passing into a new dimension.

As Maximus says in Gladiator: “Death smiles upon us all. All a man can do is smile back.” It HAS NO VICTORY OVER US! IT HAS NO STING! We need to grow in revelation about death. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pissed Brian, as well as two other friends (Tim and Randy) were taken from us very prematurely. That’s wrong and it was completely from the devil. But still… we don’t have to carry prolonged sorrow over someone passing into the presence of the Lord. My friend Scott told me of a funeral he attended where his wife’s Godmother rebuked people for crying when they should be celebrating someone going to heaven. That might be a little strong, but it makes the point that we all lack revelation on what life is all about. Our life is but a vapor or a mist that disappears in a moment. Eternity is what we need to be living for. God, please work in me this truth! You hold the words of eternal life!

Say you were charged with leading a battalion of troops into battle. Now tell me if these are the kind of soldiers you’d want to be leading: they are convinced enemy forces don’t actually exist, they believe the weapons they are equipped with don’t work and they think the training they’ve received is useless.

It would be a pretty bleak situation. Soldiers like that would be a harm to not only themselves, but to all the others in the battalion. Enemy victory would be almost guaranteed.

Unfortunately, it just so happens God’s battalion of American forces is made up of many such soldiers. It’s sad. Barna reported recently that “Most American Christians Do Not Believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit Exist.”

What!!!!?? Is it any wonder the American church — and as a result, Americans professing to be Christians — struggle to live in the victory made available by Jesus? It is, in fact, a pretty bleak situation. And many Christians are, in fact, a harm to themselves and a harm to those around them.

But it doesn’t have to stay this way. Joel 2:12-14

“Now, therefore,” says the LORD,
“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the LORD your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave a blessing behind Him—
A grain offering and a drink offering
For the LORD your God?

God is always, ALWAYS, poised to respond to a sincere, repentant cry for mercy and forgiveness.

And please, please, please read the Bible. All of it; not just your favorite parts. Genesis to Revelation. (And if you find Revelation intimidating or confusing or scary or irrelevant, ask God to teach you and then read it in faith. It’s The Revelation OF JESUS CHRIST —not A Revelation About the End Times For Those Who Might Be Interested. Anyone who wants to know Jesus in ALL of his glory needs to read and begin understanding Revelation.)

Adoration
by Ian McIntosh

Give it a listen. It just might break you and bring you to tears.

“There is a light that shines within me,
there is a hope that burns inside me.
Deep within my soul, my very existence,
there is a being waiting to be freed.

“A child who knows no fear, pain, or rejection.
There is an emotion all encompassing of
excitement, joyfulness, gladness, and love.

“The creative potential of laughter
and the undeniable power of an infants joy live inside me.
Unmeasurable are my limits for I call You FATHER.
Unimaginable my potential for You have called me son.

“There is someone inside of me, waiting to be unleashed,
whom You embrace, whom I long to be.
There is an all consuming fire,
a light that permeates from my very being.

“You have unlocked me, God.
The doors You open, no man can shut.
I will praise You for all my days, for You are good.

“You have released me, God, with Your love.
You are EVERYTHING.”

Been listening to Project 86 quite often lately when working out. Must say… I’ve missed those guys. I went to probably five or six of their concerts during their early years. But their music has taken a turn for the worse with their last few albums, in my opinion. So, they’ve kinda fallen off my radar.

With all the worship music I listen to, “angry man music” (as I like to call bands such as Linkin Park, POD, Project 86, Blindside, Our Lady Peace…) doesn’t get much airtime any more. But it’s kinda nice to be able to just enjoy this kind of music without having to deal with the negative aggression it tended to generate during my more dysfunctional years.

The song that really stood out to me tonight was Chapter 2:

New day springs light on the burdened, the downcast
My past lingers to define the outcast
I long for the coming of chapter two
To put an end to this cycle of backlash
So I start where the last chapter ended
But the veil has been lifted, my thoughts are sifted
Every wrong is righted
The new song I sing with every breath, breathes sight in

So let your face consume my mind… (x8)
Hair standing on end, it’s sent forth
Is this the end I was always meant for?
I still long for the taste of better days long ago
Long past, so dead to me but yet
Here it is in the palm of my hand to see
As I witness the birth of a new beginning
I sense it breathing, I feel it seething
I see my fear begin fading

Breath on me for my new beginning…

I entered into a new life-chapter this past summer and have been loving the newness I’ve found here. The veil certainly has been lifted, my thoughts are absolutely sifted and His face consumes my mind.

So keep breathing on me, Lord. Keep breathing your Life into my new beginning.

Pastor Scott says that probably once a month.

Pioneering anthropologist Margaret Mead shares the vision… not from a Christian perspective, but from a small-groups-can-do-big-things perspective:

Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Thanks to my boss for directing me to Nickleback’s video for “If Everyone Cared”, which hails world-changers and finishes with Mead’s quote.