The Power of Praise

The line between hope and despair can become transparently thin in certain seasons of our life. It is easy to cross from one worldview to the other, often within the same conversation or even while praying. In fact, without deliberate intention, our minds can drift from faith to fear in seconds. We are, after all, mortal creatures and though as Christians we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us, the question of how much control we give Him is still dependent on our free will.

So what should be our response when we experience those moments of utter darkness and despair? When words fail, our hope has fled and our foundational beliefs laid bare for all to see. What have we built our hope upon? If we have based it on our own abilities and resources then we have built our houses upon sand. This life is not the paradise we long to experience. Heaven is promised but not until we pass from this life.  And by the way, just as goodness cannot always be attributed to God's favor, suffering cannot always be linked directly to our sins. It is the height of foolishness to attribute all of our circumstances to our own decisions. God's thoughts and ways are not my ways and how He chooses to fulfill His will through me is not always something I will understand.

Favorite Christmas Songs

In honor of Christmas trees being displayed in October, here are my Top 10 favorite Christmas songs. Some of these I have loved since childhood, "Christmas Dragnet" for instance, but most of them have found their way into my heart over the last few years. These are the songs that stop me in my tracks and demand my full attention.

1) Amy Grant - Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song) - This song is simply breathtaking in it's ability to transport me back in history.

2) Bing Crosby - Do You Hear What I Hear? - Many different arrangements but this is my favorite of this haunting song.

3) Carpenters - Christmas Song - Has there ever been a purer voice than Karen Carpenter?

4) Emerson, Lake and Palmer - I Believe in Father Christmas - I understand the lyrics and intent of this song, which has been made very clear by its writer, Greg Lake. Greg was so moved by the lack of authenticity in our world, especially during Christmas that he wrote this emotional response to this world's apathy and untruth. Jesus was pretty clear that He would rather we be "hot" or "cold" but He really despised it when we resided in the apathy of the middle ground. That is where we lose our true hope, that is where we have lost our ability to be awed, to be joyful, or moved to anger. When we still have passion, I believe He can still change our hearts.

The Widow's Dilemma

Elisha was the man that had assumed the leadership role of his mentor, Elijah, after he had been called by God to join Him in heaven. After picking up Elijah's mantle, (literally and figuratively) Elisha then begin to do God's work as well as lead the men that had previously been following Elijah. This is where we pick up our story . . .

"Now a wife of one of the prophets appealed to Elisha for help, saying, "Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord. Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants." Elisha asked her what she has in her house and she replies that she has nothing except a small jar of oil. Elisha then tells her to ask her neighbors for as many empty containers as she can get and then after she has collected the containers to go back to her house and close the door, leaving just her and her sons.

Things That Are Already Gone (Or Soon Will Be)

Here are just a few of the things that were common place when I was growing up:

Ties
8-Tracks
Cartoons on Saturday morning only
College Football games on Saturday afternoon only
Movies only viewed in Theaters (No VHS, Digital Copies, Cable TV, etc.) If you wanted to see a movie you had one shot, until . . .
Video rental stores - Which are also no longer around except for that one Blockbuster store in Oregon . . .
Socks - To be very specific, Tube Socks
Hitchhiking
Going outside without sunscreen
Brutal Playground Equipment (I really miss this . . . )
Zero crowds at the Beach - well, at least after Jaws came out in 1975