Pause, and calmly think on that.
Join Nim, this Christmas Eve, in his snowy, wintry tale, as he sweeps you away to a world of gremlin hooligans, giants slumbering, wolves slavering, and one little girl whose faith in good remains. Enjoy as Ola Schubert takes you to another place, a magical place, whimsically crafted and beautifully orchestrated, in Nim’s Vintersaga.
So, the latest intra-Christian controversy to blow up is popular Christian worship act Gungor’s denial of the ‘literal’ reading of scripture, particularly Genesis, the creation account, Adam and Eve, and the Flood. This of course triggering the day before our traditional day of worship when Christians come together to worship God their saviour in spirit and truth. This, of course, all comes on the heels of the Tim Lambesis story who allegedly attempted to hire a hitman to murder his wife. It’s hard to try to move one’s heart towards God when we’re distracted by emotional issues like these. Here’s a few of the articles circulating:
It’s saddening, frustrating, and distracting…
Continue reading “Literally: Sad, Frustrated, Distracted. But Love. Church Heresies Then and Now.”
This Christmas Eve, join Nim as his snowy, wintry tale sweeps you away to a magical world of gremlins, sleeping giants, fearsome wolves, and one little maiden who still believes in good. Settle in as Ola Schubert transports you to Nim’s world, endearingly hand drawn and exquisitely orchestrated, in Nim’s Vintersaga.
Praise the LORD!
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever!
Psalms 106:1
Thank you, Lord, for this past year. I am amazed at Your goodness, your will for me, your blessings to me and opportunities to serve you.
You know I haven’t had the best of days
But I want to stop and thank you anywayCuz every single moment whether sleeping or awake
Is your creation
And what you’ve made is good
I don’t always thank you for the rough days and
The hard times in my life
Even though I should
It’s odd to come to this point in the year and be thinking about O.C. Supertone’s Jury Duty but that’s how I feel about this year, particularly the lyrics referring to being thankful for the “rough days and hard times.” Oddly enough, these feelings aren’t about screw ups, or what we often think of as punishment or God’s discipline, but instead it had to do with positive decisions on my part that are causing anguish for a time with the hope of long term reward. I did this knowingly, but it’s one thing to understand a thing in the mind, it’s another to execute and endure that thing in the flesh over a period of time.
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
Psalms 27:13-14
I will wait and trust in the Lord for his good plans because I know what He has planned for me exceeds my vain dreams and fantasies. I know this first hand.
One thing I have found invaluable this year is reading the scriptures. For the latter half of 2012 I started posting certain verses from my daily reading of the bible to Facebook. The reason I do this is because (1) I know God’s Word is living and active, and (2) I have always had difficulty describing just how brilliant the bible really is. So I decided to let God’s Word speak for itself since God has said it will not return empty. I truly believe the Holy Spirit is working in the hearts of those who hear the Word and there will be results – I don’t have to dress up God’s Word.
Once again I think I’ll close with the words to Blessed Be Your Name as a reminder to myself to give thanks in all things,
Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your nameBlessed Be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your nameBlessed be Your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s ‘all as it should be’
Blessed be Your nameBlessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your nameYou give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name
Selah.
Lower the lights this Christmas Eve, sit back, relax, and immerse yourself in the magical world of Nim in his Winter Tale, Ola Schubert’s loving creation, complemented by an equally mesmerizing soundtrack.
Truly, the light of the Son has shone on each day more wonderfully than the last! These words, penned New Year’s Day 2011 echo back to me from distant memory and remind me of the immediate flood of blessings I have had each day of this year!
Twenty-Eleven began with a running start. In the Fall of 2010 I made a commitment before the Lord, which I am still working through, and hope to do so for the rest of my life. As New Year’s 2011 commenced, my faith, my life, and my hopes were placed in God’s able hands. My commitment was to someone special, my aim to be a blessing to her and her family, my promise before God to remain steadfast to them, my request before God that he bless me so I could be a blessing, and my plea before God to change me – that I would be a better servant to him day by day.
The Lord has answered so many prayers. I am amazed that He hears and not only hears but answers! One of my constant prayers this past year has been that I would be able to see opportunities arising where I could be a blessing, that I would have the courage and confidence to seize those opportunities, and that I would be granted God’s own creativity to create opportunities to be a blessing. God has overflowed me with amazing opportunities and, more surprising still, He has used these opportunities to other ends than I had intended so that I ended up being more incredibly blessed than I would have thought. I am blown away by the way He works. I love His ways!
I have also been learning not simply to hope for good things but to trust God who has planned for our good, if we would only have faith and trust Him and follow Him so that he can carry out in our life something more wonderful than we could ever have dreamed up on our own!
Praise Him, all creatures here below! Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host! The Lord God, “majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders,” this God, His hand has been on my days, His plans for me from everlasting have been revealed day by day and I am laid low that I have gripped so tightly to fantasies when God’s workings are so much better, so surprisingly delightful, so unexpected and joy abounding!
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow!
I don’t know about becoming a Cannonball this past year but the Lord has lifted my head, lead me, and carried me forward. I have continued to read His Word on my phone, now using AcroBible NIV. I have abandoned cable television and, with it, The Light, a cable radio station which broadcasts quality Christian music. I have moved to iTunes, mostly, and have found I can get most of the music I want to find. As I talked about in my New Year’s Eve 2010 post, I have stayed with my “christian” playlist and I find there is truth and wisdom and peace in immersing one’s self completely in things good, and pure, and noble.
This year I have been trying to keep a habit of reading a few key, biblical promises, that I first heard from James MacDonald’s series Always True. Listen to the audio series yourself and I think you’ll experience the same uplifting joy I felt coming to understand God’s intention for our blessing! I would read one promise per day, Monday through Friday, in the hope that I’d never forget God’s love and care for me. This year has taught me fully that God is always watching over us, waiting for us to come back to Him, that He could bless all the more being within His Will.
One of my most feared understandings of God is His sovereign Will to humble anyone He so chooses. I have often prayed that He would humble me before I needed to be humbled. One weekend, in particular, turned into such a humbling for me, but the night lasted only so long and joy came with the morning. I understand better, now, what is being said in the beautiful song, Blessed Be Your Name. God is good!
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
God is so good!
Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your nameBlessed Be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your nameBlessed be Your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s ‘all as it should be’
Blessed be Your nameBlessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your nameYou give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name
Selah.
Continuing my yearly Christmas tradition, I present Ola Schubert’s hand-crafted, beautifully scored vignette, Nim’s Winter Tale. Gather family around this Christmas Eve, lower the lights, and enjoy a brief, magical glimpse of Nim’s wintry world.
Goodbye 2009, hello 2010!
Goodbye 2009, hello 2010!
This year has been a hard yet rewarding, difficult yet enjoyable one. I know I am incredibly blessed. I am rich beyond reason compared to those in poverty. I have toys, food, an apartment of my own, a widescreen, a few computers, a wii, a couple of versions of the bible, and way more, definitely more that I simply forget in all my material wealth.
And I have the most valuable thing there is: Jesus Christ’s atonement for my sin.
A friend asked if I was happy the other day. The kind of question put in that kind of way, the kind of way that you know you can’t weasel out of. I made my best effort at weaseling out, though.
I don’t know what happiness is.
If fleeting moments of enjoyment and the rare moment of true joy throughout the year amidst the hassle of life, if that’s happiness than I guess I have it. So that other pervasive, gnawing, dull pained emptiness, I don’t know how to express that in the light of all that God has blessed me with.
To say that I am unhappy in this sea of blessing is, at best, ungrateful and, at worst, reckless abandonment of humility.
To say I am happy, on the other hand, is making an unsound claim.
So, if you ask me if I’m happy, I don’t know how to honestly answer.
I think I will simply say thank you to my God and saviour and ask him if I can be his servant, as one purchased out of slavery with no means to repay in the slightest.
