Worshipful Brain-Dumpings

First, a quote:

"How can you live with the terrifying thought that the hurricane has become human, that fire has become flesh, that life itself became life and walked in our midst? Christianity either means that, or it means nothing. It is either the most devastating disclosure of the deepest reality of the world, or it is a sham, a nonsense, a bit of deceitful playacting. Most of us, unable to cope with saying either of those things, condemn ourselves to live in the shallow world in between."
-N.T. Wright

Chew on this. Read it several times. It should be smacking you upside the head, hopefully in a wonderfully challenging way as it has me.

Second, my recent individual worship has led me back to wonderfully rich hymns. The thing I miss most about not ending up in Louisville is Mike Cosper and Sojourn Community Church, what a blessing. That's what makes the opening worship night of TGC so epic.

More importantly, I recommend you download these two worship albums for free:

Page CXVI's hymns sampler, including one of the most beautiful, unique versions of 'Be Thou My Vision.'

And Ascend the Hill's hymns project. Do it, it's free so I almost guarantee you won't regret it.

P.S. get this when it comes out, it will be the most amazing worship CD you've perhaps ever heard. Right now, volume I holds that spot in my book.

How is that love?

'Do we get what we want?...the answer to that is a resounding, affirming, sure and positive yes. Yes, we get what we want.

God is that loving.

If we want isolation, despair, and the right to be our own god, God graciously grants us that option. If we insist on using our God-given power and strength to make the world in our own image, God allows us that freedom; we have the kind of license to that. If we want nothing to do with light, hope, love, grace, and peace, God respects that desire on our part, and we are given a life free from any of those realities. The more we want nothing to do with all God is, the more distance and space are created. If we want nothing to do with love, we are given a reality free from love."
-Rob Bell, Love Wins, 116-117

That sounds awful. That sounds like a parent should be loving by letting their kid run in the middle of the street to fetch a lost ball, with a car barreling down the middle of it. That sounds like loving your best friend by letting them drink poison. That's awful...how is that love?

Is not the love of Christ in the Bible that we don't get what our sinful nature wants? Because of the fall and original sin, we all choose a way of destruction...we all choose hell. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander" (Matthew 15:19, emphasis mine). "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6a, emphasis mine).

Whenever God gives us up to our sinful desires, it's because we've chosen them over Him. And it's not a 'gracious' thing God is doing here (like Bell suggests)...it's horrendous. "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal men and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen" (Romans 1:21-25).

No, God's gracious love is that in Christ, we have salvation! We are set free from our sin...we are set free from what our sinful nature desires and given a new heart. "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). "So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (Romans 8:12-14). "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). etc.

Note: the restoration of Israel in Ezekiel 36:26 is because God wants to preserve His holy name...His holiness! Despite how Israel has sinned by their deeds (read from verse 16 on, or the whole chapter).

Lesson(s) Learned

Sometimes the greatest lessons learned in life come from simple song lyrics. Hence, even the title of this post is a Ray LaMontagne song. Having been on a Lucinda Williams and National tear, here's a sampling of what's been running through my head lately:

"Ada, hold onto yourself by the sleeves, I think everything counts a little more than we think." -The National, Ada

"Everything means everything." -The National, Conversation 16

"I'll try to be more romantic. I want to believe in everything you believe." -The National, Conversation 16

"It takes an ocean not to break." -The National, Terrible Love

"We were blessed by the minister who practiced what he preached. We were blessed by the poor man who said heaven is within reach." -Lucinda Williams, Blessed

"I drove my car in the middle of the night, I just wanted to see you so bad. The road was dark, but the stars were bright, I just wanted to see you so bad." -Lucinda Williams, I Just Wanted to See You so Bad

"You wait in the car on the side of the road, lemme go and stand awhile. I wanna know you're there but I wanna be alone. If only for a minute or two, I wanna see what it feels like to be without you." -Lucinda Williams, Side of the Road

With that, I'm out. Time to go pick up babes at the laundromat.