Wading through 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.

Sometimes I forget that U2 is the greatest band ever. And then I listen to them and it all makes sense again.