In my exploring I have been happy to discover The David Crowder Band; pretty cool, hard to explain, very creative from electronic to blue grass to weird but cool things they do on their recordings.
And in finding Celtic music for my wife – Bandari album “Summer Dreams” – quite good.
Still working on my book; still doing music; still working and paying bills.
“He really loves us after all.” Chris Rice on Amusing
Surely you have heard the expression: “The righteous right. . .”
(Luke 15:7 ESV) Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
The righteous right.
I heard the expression again on the radio yesterday. Janis Ian, songwriter, performer and practicing lesbian, made the comment concerning some of the hate she experienced from her song “Society’s Child” which is about a white girl and a black boy. She spoke of the hostility vented toward her because of racial prejudice and she identified her haters as the righteous right.
This is so easy to do for at least two reasons.
REASON # 1 TO KICK “THE RIGHTEOUS RIGHT”
This is a great way to deflect guilt or salve your wound. This is a way that many people return insult for insult because of the offense they feel concerning the perceived judgmental behavior of the moralists, aka the righteous right. To the liberal the righteous right are the “them” who are the cause of, if not all, most of the wrong in the world. Small-minded, self-righteous church folk who want to have a hand in everyone’s business. This is akin to blaming the hypocrites for a person not believing in God.
What the unrighteous left often do not realize is that it takes one to blame one. In other words, we, as humans – no difference in regard to moral, immoral or amoral, church or no church, global warming or non-global warming, Democrat or Republican – by default become or already are what we accuse others to be. The critical condemner, the person who indiscriminately places blame and guilt especially on a group of people, can just as easily be found to be a liberal as a conservative, a “it will be a cold day in hell before I set foot in a church” person as a Bob who has Sunday School perfect attendance pins for the last 36 years.
Everyone misses the mark; it just often comes out in different ways.
Our default mode is to be a critical condemner unless we choose otherwise. This is not a Christian or non-Christian trait or issue. It is a human issue, found on both sides, just as unfair and hurtful when spewed out by a liberal lesbian as it is when pounded from a fundamentalist pulpit.
Different person, different setting, same defect, problem. . .same sin.
The person who is not “sick” does not need the doctor, whether right or left, conservative or liberal, black or white or brown, American or European, old or young. . .
(Mark 2:17 NCV) Jesus heard this and said to them, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.”
REASON # 2 TO KICK “THE RIGHTEOUS RIGHT”
The righteous right pretty much deserve it. Yes, I said it out loud. I am tired of the ninety-nine “righteous” people speaking for Jesus Christ. I am tired of the healthy people who don’t need the doctor diagnosing the ills of our world. We are too often critical condemners, moralists promoting our own causes, our own self-centered agendas.
We need more sinners speaking for God. Said that out loud also. We don’t need the ninety-nine who are so found that they were never lost. We don’t need the ones whose lives are so together that they are doing God a favor by being his ambassadors.
We need the sick, desperate, spiritually bankrupt beggar who knows the darkness that Jesus Christ brought him out of and absolutely loves the light of God’s love and forgiveness.
(Luke 7:47 NKJV) “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
We don’t love much because we have been forgiven little, if any.
We need the person who better understands the gap between God and man, the woman or man who has been forgiven of her or his many sins, the person who was dreadfully sin-sick and only lives because of the grace and mercy of God.
If those people were heard, then maybe the expression “the righteous right” would take on new meaning. Maybe a young Janis Ian would not have felt the hate and rejection of the nintey-nine but the love of the one that Jesus found, the one rescued from the scrap heap, the one who had many reasons (read sins forgiven) to love.
How many times do I hear us say “hate the sin but love the sinner,” and I think God must almost puke. Like the man in our congregation who would say that and then turn around and tell a cruel joke about homosexuals. What!? Throw up now!
Making people our adversaries is not God’s plan. Advancing our moral cause against them is not God’s plan.
So where am I? Am I one of the ninety-nine or am I the lost sinner that Christ gave life.
Okay, so I’m a little weird this morning.
Okay, so I’m usually a little weird, but who’s counting. Are we not as Christians supposed to be peculiar.
(1 Peter 2:9 KJV) But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
I am joking, but then finding this verse I thought I would drop it in anyway because it is so powerful as we see the vision that God would have us embrace as his people.
But I miss writing to you, whoever you are. I miss sitting here slumped in my chair staring at a computer screen tapping out my thoughts and sending them out to Neverland.
Except “Neverland” for those of us who receive life from God through Jesus Christ is real and is more and greater than anything our imaginations could come up with.
(Ephesians 3:20 MSG) God can do anything, you know–far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Isn’t reading those words from God like a tonic, an elixir? Slurp. . .Mmmm. . .good. . .
“. . .far more than you [or I] could ever imagine. . .not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”
Ah, I feel better already. I think I will have another swig. Let’s see now. . .what else does God say about his relationship to those who know him?
(Romans 8:31-39 NCV) So what should we say about this?
If God is with us, no one can defeat us. (32) He did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all. So with Jesus, God will surely give us all things.
(33) Who can accuse the people God has chosen?
No one, because God is the One who makes them right.
(34) Who can say God’s people are guilty?
No one, because Christ Jesus died, but he was also raised from the dead, and now he is on God’s right side, begging God for us.
(35) Can anything separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can troubles or problems or sufferings or hunger or nakedness or danger or violent death? (36) As it is written in the Scriptures: “For you we are in danger of death all the time. People think we are worth no more than sheep to be killed.”
(37) But in all these things we have full victory through God who showed his love for us.
(38) Yes, I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, (39) nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Where else can you get your butt kicked and come out on top, always, forever.
Cmon’, Sam, open another bottle, turn the page. This stuff is good.
This summer has been unbelievable, and as is my entire life it seems, mixed with great joy and sadness.
The flooding in our area; the violent storms.
You know that sound when a jet passes overhead or a car speeds by? Zoom, whoosh. . .noise, wind whirling and swirling. In the rear view mirror then miles ahead of us.
Something like that. . .this summer I mean. My life. . .zoom, whoosh, whirl.
Amazing, wonderful things happening and my heart crushed with sadness, all together sometimes.
And then sometimes just numb.
Wonderful ideas for my book that I hurry and write down at work and then too tired or busy to flesh them out when I get home. Life comes to life, and I can’t wait to write it down, but next thing you know I’m down to 1 bar on my energy meter.
Planting beautiful flowers which were like gifts from God himself. Seeing so clearly how our little modest ranch home is God’s blessing to us. He may as well have walked us to the door and given us the keys.
So it seems that life overruns me at times.
Blown away with life, good and bad. And I think I have decided to let God piece things back together as he sees fit.
Ahhh. . .! That feels better. God being God and all. 🙂
Sorry I haven’t done much.
High winds took out our electricity until yesterday.
Hopefully will get back in swing before long.
Been off work for 11 days, in the morning back to my $400,000 Tonka toy.
Kind of looking forward to it.
Glad I have a job to be going back to.
I guess I’m ready to climb up on the giant Cat and load some trucks tomorrow.
(Ephesians 4:14 ESV) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Without intentional effort by default we act like children, not as in cute and adorable, but as in selfish, petty and demanding.
As we read the Bible and see things phrased in this way – “so that we may no longer be” – then we can recognize a default tendency of our humanity. By default we are immature. In this text we see that this means we are unstable in our thinking, back and forth, this sounds good, no maybe this is better, no. . .
We are carried along by various teachings, running to one then another, easily taken in by personalities and schemes set up to deceive us. Someone flatters us, seemingly takes up our cause, is on “our side” in a dispute.
Reels us right in.
Knew just which buttons to push.
After all, in our childishness, we were not interested in the big picture, just what was going to work for me. What would benefit me now? So we are primed to be led along like a child.
In the next verse Paul gives the contrast to acting like little immature Christian brats.
(Ephesians 4:15 ESV) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.
Be honest with each other and grow up.
Eugene Peterson in the Message puts it like this:
(Ephesians 4:15-17 MSG) God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love–like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. (16) He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love. (17) And so I insist–and God backs me up on this–that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd.
No more pursuing every ice cream truck that rolls through our neighborhood, no more empty-headed agreement with whatever seems will make me happy.
Take our lead from Jesus Christ and play the role in each other’s lives we are supposed to.
Help each other live in the reality of the moment and forever, honest mixing of our lives for the sake of Christ.
Here’s another one.
If you use Outlook 2003 or 2007, you don’t want to miss this free add-on.
Search, organize, and much more, so easy. Can’t believe it’s free
Xobni: Email organization, search, and navigation for your Outlook inbox
This is a better link.
I just discovered this site a few weeks ago; can’t believe I haven’t mentioned it yet.
Tremendous help.
