Shooting Our Wounded

I recently started reading a book called Grace Is For Sinners and it really has me thinking about how much God is in control of everything and how little control we have. The book focuses on the way the church tends to treat believers who stumble or fall away and how harsh we can be when someone in the church falls into sin. I was reminded of this even more recently when I started doing some research on Katy Perry. As I've told you previously I am a huge music fan and even though I didn't know it I am no stranger to Katy Perry. In 2001 I bought a CD by a 16 year old named Katy Hudson. It was a very good CD, the singer had an amazing voice and the lyrics were not your typical "god or girlfriend" variety but were solidly based on scripture and to this day the song "Trust In Me" is one that pops into my head when I'm struggling with worrying about something. Well it doesn't take long at all to find out that Katy Perry and Katy Hudson are the same person. That's right the same person who wrote "But you said don't worry/for I've healed the blind man/and I've set the captives free/and you said don't worry/for all you gotta do is put your trust in me" in 2001 wrote "I kissed a girl and I liked it/the taste of her cherry chapstick." in 2008. The song was a huge hit and if you have a teen I'd venture to say it's on their iPod somewhere. How does that happen you ask? I dunno, I dunno Katy so I don't know where heart was in 2001 or where it is 2009. I do know that I've read plenty of snarky comments on "christian" websites about how she was never really a believer, or how disappointed her parents must be and those are the mild ones. I do know that the God she sang about in 2001 is the same God in 2009 and his love for her hasn't changed and until Katy is dead there's always hope. Who knows maybe this time is Katy's time to be "sifted like wheat" and 10 years from now she'll be an example to all the believers. But dog piling on the girl just makes us look like some elitist country club that has decided to revoke her membership because she doesn't meet our standards. Does this mean I'm ok with the bigger issues that I Kissed A Girl presents or that I think parents don't have a right to monitor what their kids listen to? Absolutely not, and I think as a parent you should be familiar with what your kids are listening to and watching. I'm just saying that instead of villianizing Katy, try for a minute to see her as Christ does and remember that the same blood he spilled for your bad stuff, he spilled for her bad stuff too.

Prayer Request

My friends the McKenzies have been missionaries in the Middle East and Africa for quite some time now and Steve is faithful to send periodic updates on their work. When I checked my email today there was an update requesting prayer for 2 of their colleagues. I'm not gonna try to reword it I'm just gonna cut and paste and ask that after reading you would take some time to pray as he's requested:

MAJESTY IN MEEKNESS
Special Edition


Please Pray
When one part of your body hurts the whole body feels the burden of pain. Our teammates, Brian & Becky Schrader have endured an incredibly difficult few months. Initially they hoped to be studying French about this time in Quebec but God sovereignly held up the sale of their house while slowly stripping them of possessions and securities. Just days ago they left their home without any of the equity they anticipated. Their testimony of faithfulness throughout all of this allowed God's glory to be seen through some very difficult circumstances.


Just yesterday God blessed Brian and Beck with a very special little girl, Elliana Hope. She was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome. She has no ear canals with a very small upper and lower jaw that is preventing her from breathing on her own. She also has a complete cleft palate. Specialists are currently evaluating how to best help Elliana, especially so she can breath on her own.


Becky has also endured various complications throughout the pregnancy and hemorrhaged after the birth. She has lost 50% of her total blood volume but remains stable without needing blood transfusions up to this point.


I would be amazingly grateful if you would pray for our teammates during this difficult time. Would you be willing to pray for them now before closing this email and make them part of your regular mealtime prayers? This email goes to various countries in different time zones and it would be a blessing to know that God's universal body was interceding for this family throughout the day.


For His Name's Sake,
Stephen McKenzie
www.majestyinmeekness.org

Song Lyric Sunday

Hey mama hey mama lookee what your little babies all have become
Hey mama hey mama don't it ever make you wish you'd been a nun?
Vain and fickle, were we weaned on a pickle?
Is it in our blood?
Rome is burning

Song Lyric Sunday

So, if everything goes as planned a new contest will start the first Sunday in February. My buddy Brian over at Black Dog Coffee will be sponsoring the contest and putting together a nice little prize package for the winner. The rules will be pretty much the same with the exception that I will be turning on comment moderation for the duration of the contest. Keep your eyes peeled for rules and other info in the coming weeks.

Why pluck one string... what good is just one note?
Oh, one string sounds fine, I guess... but we were once 'one notes',
We were lonely wheat quietly ground into grain...
What light and momentary pain!
So why the safe distance, this curious look?
Why tear out single pages when you can throw away the book?
Why pluck one string when you can strum the guitar?

Artist of The Moment - GRITS

My first memories of GRITS are not actually as musicians at all but as dancers. They danced for DC Talk when DCT was opening for Michael W. Smith on his Go West Young Man tour, which was before most of the youth I now teach were even born.

Grits members Coffee and Bone formed one of the first "Christian" rap acts that made music that didn't come across as a cheesy christian version of whatever was being played on mainstream radio at the time. They released their first album "Mental Releases" in 1995 and their latest "Reiterate" was released in September of 2008. In the time between they have release 7 albums of original material and 3 compilation/remix albums. They are one of my all time favorite groups, ranking right up there with artists like Jars Of Clay, Sixpence None The Richer, The Prayer Chain, etc. The first song on the list 'Tennessee Bwoys' is special because it always makes my think of my family in Tennessee and that always brings a smile to my face. Even if you're not a rap fan, give the list a listen and let me know what ya think.

Not nearly as bad as it seemed

So I'm sitting here tonight printing bulletins and trying to finish up my lesson for tomorrow and all I can think about is that as bad as I think my year has been, it has been just as bad and worse from some of my friends. God has driven that point home on at least 3 occasions this past week. I have had rough spots this year, but I have not had to worry about my home being foreclosed on, or my spouse abusing me, my parents divorcing and sticking me in the middle or having a parent in jail for this Christmas and the next several as well or any number of things that friends have confided in me over the past several days. We are 2 days from Christmas and there are reminders everywhere of why we need Christmas, why we have to have it. That this world is sick, dying and going to hell unless it grabs hold of the life preserver that Christmas offers. I am sitting here wondering what I can do to help ease my friends hurt and pain, I mean actual physical things that I can do and I keep coming up with nada. The only thing I know I can do is trust that God, in his wisdom, will turn what the enemy has meant for evil into good and that on that day when I get to ask Him face to face why all this mess has to happen He won't be too upset with the smart aleck accusatory tone in my voice. To my dear friends that are struggling and going through these difficult circumstances, please know that my heart aches for you and that I am, to the best of my ability, constantly in our Father's ear asking for relief on your behalf.

Good Article

I read The Ooze with some regularity because it provides an interesting faith based perspective without the pat answers. I thought I'd share this article. I'd rate it PG for one phrase that's a little rough but definitely is worth taking the time to read.

A slightly different Christmas

So my house is quiet now, everyone else (dogs included) is taking some time to catch a well deserved nap. And in the quiet I am struck by several things this Christmas. First is the fact that it is the first without my mom, and while I certainly miss her I am not sad. My friend Juls suggested that we start a tradition of collecting angel ornaments for the tree in honor of mom and for this year we got an ornament that is simply a pair of angel wings to remind us that our angel is missing from us but celebrating Jesus' birthday with him. I am also struck but just how amazing that babe in the straw was. I was talking with my friend Peter the other day and he said he recently been struck by the total compassion and heart of Jesus. Christmas is such an awesome expression of that. Imagine giving up your warm home and family to go be born in a garage to fix a relationship with people who really didn't give a rat's butt about you. Would you do it? I know I probably wouldn't leave the trailer on Grassdale St. to do it, much less leave heaven. Yet Jesus decided that he loved me, and you, enough to give all that up and fix a relationship that we had messed up. The presents, food, music and all the other things we associate with Christmas are nice, but they should never cause us to lose sight of the reason we celebrate it. Merry Christmas to all of you and may that babe in the straw be born anew in your heart today.

On a side note, please say a prayer this Christmas for my friend Tiffy, she's had a rough one and could use them.

Song Lyric Sunday

Ok, first I'm gonna post a reminder of the basic rules for those of you that have forgotten or may be new to SLS. WHEN the contest starts, there will be a few additional ones.

1. The first person to post Song Title and Artist will be that weeks winner.*

* - in most cases I want the original artist but will take anyone who had some modicum of success with the song and that I can verify recorded it. But just because the garage band up the street plays it doesn't mean it qualifies. Disputed cases will be covered by rule 3

2. No googling (or otherwise searching the internet) for the answers. You folks will have to be on your honor for this one, but I trust ya. Any disputes will be settled by rule 3.
3. In the case of any disputes, the blogmaster (ME) will be make the final decision.

Here's this weeks lyric:

They're singing "Deck The Halls"
But it's not like Christmas at all
Cuz I remember when you were here
And all the fun we had last year

Death's Dark Shadows Put To Flight

Did y'all miss me? It has certainly been an interesting last weeks for me and for that matter and interesting 2008. For the most part it really has not been my best year. For a number of reasons I have really struggled to find even an ounce of the "joy of my salvation." I was chatting with my friend Juls a couple of weeks ago and opining to her about how I was anxious for 2008 to be over and she reminded me to be careful not miss out on what God might do in the last 6 weeks. Well in the past week or so God has really reminded me of what an incredible thing Christmas is. Last weekend we went to 2 Christmas shows that friends were involved in. The folks at Covenant Church did an incredible job putting on Imagine, Christmas and one of the songs we sang was O Come, O Come Emmanuel and during the third verse we sang "Death's dark shadows put to flight" and while I heard the singers and the audience singing it, I also heard it in my heart. I don't know that words can describe it but after the past 2 days I honestly believe that it was God saying to me that this Christmas he was going to put the shadow of death that I have been letting myself live under to flight. And He did that in any number of ways this week but I'd like to share 2 of them. My father-in-law had ask me several weeks ago if I would take him to his dental appointment which was scheduled for yesterday, Friday 12/19. I told him of course I would and that while he was there I would find a coffee shop nearby and work until he was done. Well I found out Thursday night that it was located in the same medical complex that my mom's podiatrist was located. The last time I had been there was January 28, 2009 which was the Monday before she would go into the hospital and not come home again. Mom and I used to have a routine with her appointments where I would drop her off, made sure she got inside and then I would find a nearby coffee shop with wireless access and work until she called that she was done. We would then head back and maybe have lunch or a snack and I would finish out the work day while she read and dozed and we would head home. If I'm honest there was some trepidation about going. But once I got in the car I was completely ok with it. I dropped Steve off and went to the same coffee shop where I used to wait for Mom and the minute I walked in, the owner smiled and said "Hey there, where have you been?" I explained to him that since mom had passed I hadn't been to Hagerstown nearly as much we chatted and caught up and he smiled as he told what a joy his few conversations with Mom had been. Instead of being a day of mourning it turned into a day where I remembered so many wonderful things about my Mother, things that I had lost in the shadows of her dying

Today Muffin and I headed out to get supplies to make Christmas goodies for our friends and I started out with a get in, get it done and get home attitude. Let me tell y'all we went to Wal-Mart on a Saturday and I knew something was up when I got the second parking spot in line folks. While the store was crowded folks were very friendly and we even had funny discussion with a woman about getting recipes online. The cashier, while tired and a little rushed, was friendly and courteous. At another point we were walking through the mall, holding hands and older lady smiles and says "I can tell you're in love." and my reply was "You bet!" We then struck up a conversation with another lady about her late husband and his love for the Dallas Cowboys (Muffin and I were both wearing Cowboys gear.) This afternoon we spent some time with our good friends the Whitacres and thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and time spent with them. God, in his goodness and mercy has definitely put deaths dark shadows to flight this Christmas and I am actually looking forward to celebrating!