Numbers 11

I’ve been following my automatically generated read through the Bible in a year plan, and occasionally, when nothing strikes me to write on my blog, I will likely share with you some thoughts from my daily readings.  For the last couple of days, I’ve been working my way through Numbers, and something struck me today about the contrast betweenNumbers 9 and Numbers 11.

As I was reading about the cloud that covered the tabernacle in Numbers 9, I actually thought, wow that’d make a great blog post.  In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, when the Israelites were in the wilderness, their pace was determined by a cloud that would descend on the tabernacle when they were to stop, and lift when they should start again.  Sometimes, they would stay in one place for a couple of days and sometimes only a night.  The amazing thing is that the Israelites were completely and totally reliant on the Lord.  They were fed by manna and dew.  Their pace was determined by a cloud, and even the decisions about who was and wasn’t to share in the Passover meal were consulted with the Lord first.  One of the biggest lies that we can convince ourselves of is that we are self-reliant and independent.  It is truly by the Grace of our Lord that we live from moment to moment and that we share in the blessings He bestows.  The Israelites were just more obviously dependant on Him.

Then we get to Numbers 11, and the people start whining.  You know, it was really actually better in Egypt, at least there we got to eat meat.  Now all we get is manna, and there’s only so much you can do with manna.  In Egypt we had fish and cucumbers and leeks and garlic (they must have been Veggietales fans).  Why did we leave Egypt again?  It was really better in Egypt…

Sound familiar?  If it doesn’t, then congratulations on being way ahead of me in your spiritual walk.  The Lord has done some serious leading in my life, but all too often, I look back and complain.  As bad as things were, they really weren’t that bad.  Is this maybe one of the ways that sin creeps back into our lives?  We start craving just that little piece of meat, because all we’ve had is manna.  Sure, manna is from the Lord, and is sustaining us, and showing how much He cares about our wellbeing, but the meat tasted so good.  You know, I won’t eat the whole thing, I’ll just have a bite.  Well, maybe a couple of bites….  Eventually, the Lord gave the people what they wanted in the form of a flock of quail, but it was plague ridden.  How cruel you might say!  Was it?  The Lord was providing manna, and when that wasn’t good enough, He warned them about the alternative, and they essentially said death was better than manna (didn’t they remember Egypt).

This makes me appreciate all the more the Grace that Christ shows us daily!  Even when we keep going back for meat, he keeps standing there with the manna and dew saying, “I have here the perfect sustenance.  Eat of the Bread and drink of the Water that I bring you and you will be satisfied!” May we all find our satisfaction in Him!

The deep sigh at the end of a long day...

You know that moment, like at the end of Lord of the Rings, when all the tension relaxes, and you get to just breathe a long deep cleansing sigh.  You know, like at the end of a long day.  This cd is like that for me.  It just seems to be that deep cleansing breath of music.

You probably have never heard of Justin Unger.  He’s a worship leader from Phoenix, AZ, and “To Know You Love Me” is his major label worship release.  And chances are, you still won’t hear about Justin Unger… at least from places like K-Love and AFR, his style just doesn’t fit what is popular radio right now.

Each track on the album is characterized by a smooth sound of piano, electronics, and the vocals of Justin and his wife Falon.  The lyrics stand out as having been given thought, and each song takes you on a journey.  All too often with today’s worship music, the verse/chorus/bridge feel is all too evident.  These songs almost feel like Getty songs in that they start in one place and end somewhere else.

Of the original material on the album, I particularly like, “To Know You Love Me,” “Sing to the King,” and “Make Me This Way.”  Of the bunch, if I could find a way to work it out for congregational worship, I would say “Sing to the King” is the most likely candidate to see a Sunday morning.

The two songs on the album that aren’t originals are “Praise to the Lord the Almighty” and “All Creatures of Our God and King.”  Both arrangements are very good, and add something to the listening enjoyment of each song.

This album is definitely one that would go well on an MP3 player or playlist for something to relax to without shutting off your brain.  Listen to the album here on Rhapsody.  Enjoy!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

Let me deal with the first half first.  We’ve inexplicably lost our mouse.  It really ought to be somewhere, but until we find it, we’re stuck using touch pads.  (that fills the part about mice )

So, Sunday night, I was really fired up about today.  I planned to finally get a good full day in at the office, and had a long list of things to do.  First, I must find my desk, second, Dr. Bob gave me a book by A.W. Tozer on worship I wanted to chew through today (review to come when I’ve finished), and there’s a whole long list of stuff that I want to get started on at work.

My plans were well set, until the 4 am feeding (I think, it might have been the midnight one).  What happened?  I woke up dizzy (well actually, apparently I woke up with vertigo).  So, I drank some juice and had a late snack, fed Isaac and went back to sleep.  I woke up later still dizzy.  Matter of fact, the world has yet to cease spinning (Jodie takes this point to remind me that the world does not in fact revolve around me, and I tell her that apparently it does).  Two meals, a nap and several bottles of water later, I was at the doctor’s office trying to explain to him that I felt dizzy, but no I didn’t have a headache, no earache, etc.  I was actually starting to feel stupid, when he held up a finger and asked me to follow it.  I tried, I really did.  And then he had me stand up, put my arms out in front of me and close my eyes.  I’m actually kind of proud I didn’t fall.  So, after prescribing me some anti-dizziness medicine, he let me know he really would like me to get a “head scan” and we’d see what’s wrong.  Yay, an opportunity to come face to face with my fear of getting stuck in a tube!

Anyway, after my appointment, Jodie’s scheduled appointment, Isaac’s appointment to get a weight check (BTW, after two weeks of nothing, he’s finally starting to gain weight), many feedings, and another attempt at a nap (the meds cause drowsiness), I’ve managed to make it to the end of the day with only one or two things checked off my list.  Looking back on the day though, I did get some extra Bible reading done this afternoon.  Since I was dizzy and couldn’t drive Jodie to the doctor, I got some extra cuddle time with Isaac, and was forced to sit down for a day.

I’m not going to super-spiritualize this, but I do think that sometimes our Father knows when we must be forced to take a break.  Not that that doesn’t stop us from planning our days, but be ready for those plans to change, or even be upended entirely.  Have a blessed day, and hopefully tomorrow I can get that cd review done, and that book read, and that desk cleaned……. 

Christmas Communion

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As a church family, we were blessed yet again by sharing the Lord’s Table this morning at church.  What I thought was perhaps the most moving part was that as we celebrate Christmas, we look forward to Good Friday and Easter.  I always find it interesting that everyone thought that the Messiah was coming to earth to establish His earthly Kingdom.  The Israelites certainly thought so.  They were so ready for a conquering Messiah that they were actively looking for that Messiah to come and lead them in freedom from the oppressive Romans.  They didn’t realize that their true oppression was from sin.  Even Satan’s temptations were directed at Christ establishing his Kingdom.

So when I look at that night in Bethlehem, I can’t help but wonder if the shepherds, wise men, and even Mary and Joseph were excited about the birth for the wrong reasons.  They heard a message about peace on earth, but did they understand what peace it was that Christ was to bring?  Had they connected Isaiah 53 to the baby in the manger?

Here’s what is certain though, when the Father sent His Son, He did so knowing that the cross was the goal of Christ’s time on earth.  When the angels sang about peace on earth, they were singing about the peace that Jesus was to bring between God and man.  That peace was won through the sacrifice of His Body and Blood on the cross, and we must remember that as we celebrate His birth!  As you consider the cross, here is a hymn that we don’t sing nearly enough, but has such a powerful text.

Alas and Did My Savior Bleed?

Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, And did my Sovereign die! Would he devote that sacred head For such a worm as I!

Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree! Amazing pity! grace unknown! And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide, And shut his glories in, When Christ, the mighty Maker, died For man the creature's sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face While his dear cross appears; Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, And melt mine eyes in tears.

But drops of grief can ne'er repay The debt of love I owe; Here, Lord, I give myself away, 'Tis all that I can do.

New Fallen Snow

Have you heard the expression, “the hush of new fallen snow?”  I always forget about it until a morning like today.  When I walked out the door this morning, all was peaceful.  I know that snow acts as a sound absorber, and so the little sounds get sucked up, and you’re left with silence, but knowing the science behind it doesn’t make it any less wonderful.  Sometime after a big snowfall, or even better during a big snowfall, go outside at like 5 am before the cars and bustle of the world have a chance to spoil it, and listen to the silence.  We experience true silence so rarely, you might really enjoy it!

Traditions

Sometimes when I look at what I do, I feel like a surprising amount of my time is dealing with tradition.  Sometimes I’m striving to not break some traditions of the church, or sometimes, I’m striving to break traditions that either aren’t Biblically accurate, or have become idols to the church.  I’m not a big observer of traditions in my personal life.  Matter of fact, I can’t think of many.  The traditions we kept growing up have largely become less relevant as we’ve grown up and started our own families.

The main season where traditions seem to creep in is Christmas.  The joy of starting our family is that Jodie and I are starting our own Christmas traditions.  We’ve talked about some like doing three gifts on Christmas morning, each tied to the wise men and the gifts they brought to Jesus.  Of course, Isaac obviously isn’t ready to open gifts, so that one is a future tradition.

What I wanted to talk about is the Christmas Eve tradition that we’re starting this year.  We had a really nice dinner together to celebrate the year, the blessings of family, and our Savior.  We followed up with singing through the music for the Christmas Eve service that was cancelled this year.  I look forward with great anticipation to the day when Isaac is old enough to sing along, or even one day play the hymns on the piano as his family sings along.  It may sound odd, but I find it difficult to work music into the daily grind here at home.  I wonder if it’s because I spend every day thinking about worship music for the coming Sunday, the following week, and anything larger that I’m working on.  So this is a chance to share the gifts God has given both of us together.

And finally we read the Christmas story from Luke.  I know that all kinds of families out there read “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” but considering that we’re not going to teach Isaac that Santa is real (something about teaching him about a being who supposedly can read thoughts, travel quickly and perform miracles, only to tell him years later that we were actually lying to him about the whole thing seems to set up confusion when we talk about God and Jesus, Who actually are real!), we’d rather focus on why we just spent the last three months celebrating this holiday, Christmas (Jodie starts up the Christmas music in early October).

I hope that you’ve found your special Christmas traditions in your home, and I pray you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

http://www.youtube.com/v/gRdfX7ut8gw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

(Sorry, I couldn't help myself!)

The Angels Worship!

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Luke 2:13-14

I love the scene that Luke paints in his account of the Christmas story. Some shepherds are out in the fields when, suddenly, angels show up. The shepherds respond like everyone else who sees an angel in the Bible responds. They hit the ground with fear (by the way, it’s for this reason, Joseph Smith was either making it up, or he was visited by a former angel, aka, a demon, he says in the book of mormon that an angel showed up, and he had a casual conversation with it!). After a quick explanation of how to find the baby Jesus, the multitude of heavenly hosts bursts into praise! Can you imagine how that might have sounded? Those shepherds got a quick picture of what worship really looks and sounds like.

What I wanted to do really quickly today was take a look at what is was that the angels sang. We’re so used to hearing this (after all we hear it every year when we watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas), that I think the meaning of what they say slips by. Either that or we’ve so politically corrected the angel hosts’ message, that it’s become a justification for the relativism that seems to pervade today’s society. The angels say that God received glory that night, and then they say why God received glory!

What happened that night was one of the most amazing miracles in all of history, along with the Resurrection and Creation. What happened that night was that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God became man; the Father had sent His Son! Why? Because from Adam on, there was emnity between God and man. Despite His revelation to the Israelites, they still consistently failed to draw near to Him. What happened that night was that God began the work of reconciling man to Himself. He predestined that His Son would go to a cross, and pay the price for our sins. He knew that His Son would be despised and rejected, but He still pursued reconciliation. He still desired there to be peace. That is why God receives glory! Because He showed us so much love that night, He showed us what kind of a God He is. He is not the god of Islam that requires perfect obedience, He is not the god of Hindu or Buddhism, or any of the religions that require a lifetime of not quite enough so that in the end he can heap on punishment. No, He is a God who sacrificed so that we might be saved!

When you celebrate Christmas this season, remember the cross, remember what the peace it was that God brought to us that night, and remember Christ our Savior and worship Him! Merry Christmas!

 

http://www.youtube.com/v/DKk9rv2hUfA&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0