Musical Ebenezars

Do you know what an Ebenezar is?  It is the name that Samuel gave to a rock that he set up to remember a particular battle that the Israelites won over the Philistines.  It was to remind them in the future of God's work on their behalf in the past.  I have several musical Ebenezers.  As I was going to Alice yesterday, I was listening to a station that plays music that you would hear in doctors' offices.  It isn't Muzak, but close.  They play oldies as instrumentals. Sometimes they play the oldies, if they are easy listening.  B. J. Thomas came on.  It wasn't one of his more popular songs, but it made me want to look him up on the playlist site and then on Youtube.  I found a bunch of songs from one of his first Christian albums.  He was one of the first Christian artists I listened to.  Listening to the songs took me back to a time when I was simply enraptured by the fact that God loved me and forgave me.  I didn't think "pastorally" or "theologically", I just knew that I experienced grace in an incredible way.  Lately, God has reminded me how much I still need grace and how much He wants to give it and how much He has given it. 

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit" – David (Psalm 51:12)

I think that this a good reason for younger generations to be more open and accepting of songs and hymns of older generations. Many are the Ebenezers of their older brothers and sisters.

Friday Night Lights or Light of the World

All I once held dear, built my life upon,

All this world reveres and wars to own;

All I once thought gain I have counted loss,

Spent and worthless now compared to this.

Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You

There is no greater thing.

You're my all, You're the best,

You're my joy, my righteousness,

And I love You Lord.

- Graham Kendrick –

That is radical affection! How does an avid football fan (like me) maintain that type of affection in the middle of football season?

In the Moment

As I was driving to jail yesterday (I'll let you imagine why), my mind was working through my "to do" list for the day and week. Then a thought popped into my head. What was at the end of the list? A microwaved bowl of Chinese noodles (I love those things!)? A little television before bed? The weekend? I find that so much of my day is "working through" to "get to". And I sadly confess, that what I am "getting to" is, too often, not God. It's not bad, but it's not God. When I value God supremely, I don't have to work through duties to get to what I really want. In each moment, I am working with the One I really want.

Comments on Job 5-8

Yesterday I received a call from a friend who lost a spouse less than a year ago. The pain and agony that I heard in his voice gave a new dimension to my reading of Job. Job was tormented in body and soul. Unrelenting grief. Excruciating pain. Blinding confusion. He pours out his broken heart before the Lord and "godly friends" are quick to shush him or correct his theology. Doesn't Job know that the "the righteous don't suffer, they only prosper." Heard that anywhere lately?

Observations from Job 1-4

"What is Satan doing in the presence of God?" I've heard that asked many times. I think the confusion comes from regarding heaven as the eternal state of bliss for the dead, rather than as the "control room" of the universe. Our eternal state is in a renovated world with renovated bodies.

"The sons of God…" in this passage may give us a clue about the identity of the "sons of God who married the daughters of men in Genesis 6.

We can see why Satan is called the "accuser of the brethren" in Revelation 12.

The words of Eliphaz, Job's "friend", could be preached on Sunday morning and receive hearty "Amens," but it reflects Satan's attitude toward Job, rather than God's.

Job 2:12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. ¹³ And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

His friends were doing so well, until they opened their mouths. Sometimes the best thing we can say to a suffering friend is nothing.

Where does my help come from?

Observation: In the Bible, when God's people are faced with an overwhelming problem, they often address Him as the "One who made heaven and earth."

^ESV 2 Kings 19:15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: "O LORD the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.

^ESV Psalm 121:1 A SONG OF ASCENTS.I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? ² My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

^ESV Psalm 124:8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

^ESV Psalm 146:5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, ⁶
who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;

^ESV Acts 4:23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,

Like Hezekiah, in the story above, we have an Adversary who shouts from outside the walls, "Don't think your God is big enough to get you out of this mess!" But another, still, small Voice, whispers, "Your God created the heavens and the earth. Do you really think there is any mess that He cannot deliver you from?"

THE ARRIVAL 2009 Readings for December 24:
Psalm 45,46 (morning) 89:1-29 (evening)
Isaiah 59:15b-21
Galatians 3:23-4:7 (morning) Philippians 2:5-11 (evening)
Matthew 1:18-25