Category Archives: Stuff I Actually Think

Take Me Back

1 Christ is All, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, 5 Songs I am Singing, Stuff I Actually Think, , ,

Ohmygoodness, I L O V E D late 60s/early 70s soul music like the Stylistics and the Four Tops; give me some Marvin or Stevie or even Smokey; but wow-o-wow for the Supremes, the Chi-Lites or Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, mm-mm-mmm.  A Motown Label on an old vinyl in a thrift store still sets me heart to beating fast.

It wasn’t just love songs and radio pop soul music that I loved, though, for since as far back as I can remember, I have loved-loved-LOVED music that brought the Presence of God into the room.

Andrae Crouch.

Oh, yes, Andrae Crouch.  L O V E him.  Wrote about him before HERE.  And HERE. And as far back as HERE.  Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally wanted him for Heaven Fest this year, but breakdown in communication or something?  And he parted ways with the guy we were working through.  Sad!  *sniff, sniff

But he was just the power-and-Presence-of-the-Holy-Spirit music to me in my early teens and on.  Got to see him in person and LIVED on Andrae Crouch: Live at Carnegie Hall and later Live in London.  Had 8-tracks, cassettes and record albums.  My dad loved him, too, so there was always a lot of Andrae in the 70s for us!  This 5 or 6 minute sampler on Amazon.com – ahhhhh.  Just click on number 1 and let-er-play.  And-why can I not play the piano like that?

Ephesus Girl.

I also love the book of Ephesians.  Just always thought: now Paul knew how to communicate with these people.  It mixes the right amount of richly-romantic and mystical Bride-of-Christ imagery with just the right amount of practical here-is-how-it-is-done language.  He speaks of mystery and marriage and a spotless bride and husbands loving their wives like Christ loved the church all that.  Go get ’em, Paul!

Jesus

Sometimes the mystery and magic, though, gets muddied, lost.  Sometimes we have “seen enough to know we have seen too much” and we are dirtied and poisoned and broken and bleeding, just sitting in the yuck-of-life getting hard-hearted because tenderness leaves us too vulnerable.  An innocence stolen, a trust broken, a love damaged.

And then we remember – there is a place where those things were taken into account before I knew I would even have needed them to be.  There is a place. It is where resurrection happened, where Jesus rolled away the stone and darkness and death that had held our hearts.  Jesus had hung on a cross, yes, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.  His blood had  flowed freely to cover the wrongs done to me, the wrongs I have inflicted on others.  He bought my freedom.  He took the keys of death, hell and the grave.  He rose again and it was a done deal.

Jesus set us free and somehow the enemy managed to dupe us and has stolen our freedom and our hearts.  We sigh and say ‘Life….’

Makes me think of Gal. 3.1…O you foolish Galatians…

Or as The Message puts it~

You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough.

How did we get here?

The Ephesians weren’t much better.

Despite the love letter God had given them through Pul the Apostle,  in John’s Revelation, God rebuked them,  He saw their works, knew they hated evil – He could see all that.  But He pointed out that they had fallen so very far, left their ‘first love.’  He didn’t leave them hopeless, though. He reminded them to return to that love, to remember the height from which they had fallen and go back and do the first things again. New life, new love, restoration!  Fresh.  Clean.  Whole and holy.

Sometimes you just need your spiritual innocence restored, don’t you?

As we have walked through Holy Week, I have not been  a bit interested in observing religious dates on given days of the week for the sake of remembrance alone, but I have cried out for a return, a restoration of my heart to flesh.  Transformation.  I am open to God renewing and restoring to me the JOY of my salvation {Search me, O God and know my heart} and I am praying for the resurrection power, that same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead, to give life to my heart. 

Take Me Back

 

Enter Andrae on Easter week.  A song from my way-back-in-the-day past.  Just remembered it.  Started singing it.  “Take me back – to the place where I first received You, where I first believed…” I have been singing this as a prayer all week.

Romans 8.11 Amplified   “And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.”

So, Happy Easter. May Easter (the high holy day of every Jesus follower) 2011 be for you a very holy and set apart day.   And may you be made  new and alive because what Jesus did was enough, more than enough.  And may your heart be softened and trusting again.  Return to your first love. Sing with me and Andrae, if you want. And Danni Belle Hall, “Take me back…”  yeah-let’s go remember the height from which we have fallen.  Back – not to a cross on a hill, but to the open grave of a risen Savior, where we first believed…

newswire: Steve Chavis is the coolest!

3 Celebrations & Festive Events, 9 TV & Movies/Books & Entertainment, Stuff I Actually Think

http://stevechavis.com/ 

   
 
Heaven Fest Gives Away All Ticket Money in 2011

In its 4th year, Festival commits to the poor, the hungry & the exploited

LOVELAND, Colo., April 21, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ — Heaven Fest, the Rocky Mountain region’s massive music and worship festival in its fourth year, will donate ALL TICKET REVENUES this year to organizations that work with the poor, the hungry and the exploited around the world. Heaven Fest, scheduled for Saturday, July 30, 2011 at The Ranch in Loveland, Colo. ( www.larimer.org/theranch), is expecting 35,000 guests. Tickets are now on sale at www.HeavenFest.com for $35 or “WHATEVER YOU THINK IT’S WORTH.” More than 100 artists on eight stages are also committing to participate in this cause.

“In the past we have had the privilege of giving away tens of thousands of dollars to people in need,” said Dave Powers, president of Heaven Fest’s parent organization Worship and the Word Movement. “This year we will build a platform that activates a seven-state region of people to give hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we are inviting our staff, our volunteers and the bands to pitch in as well. Since we are giving every ticket dollar we receive to the poor, the hungry and the exploited, we are DARING everyone to pay whatever they think it’s worth!”

Beneficiary organizations serving the poor, hungry and exploited include Love146.org (fighting child sex slavery), Compassion International ( www.Compassion.com, global child advocates), Gospel for Asia ( www.gospelforasia.org, digging 100 fresh water wells in India), and Convoy of Hope ( www.convoyofhope.org, for their established work in Haiti). One of the Colorado-based beneficiaries is Larimer County’s Project Self-Sufficiency ( www.ps-s.org), assisting low-income single parents.

More than 100 artists will appear on eight stages at The Ranch. Confirmed bands include Skillet, Mercy Me, Fred Hammond, Jeremy Camp, P.O.D., Red, As I Lay Dying, Sanctus Real, KJ-52, Superchick, Shonlock, Phil Keaggy, Andy Hunter, Transform DJs, Proxy, Everfound, Random Hero and many, many more. The most updated artist line-up is always at www.HeavenFest.com.

Heaven Fest, founded in 2008, is the largest Christian music and worship event in the seven-state Rocky Mountain region. The event includes camping, a kids area, a skate park, and experiential features that promote a seven-part vision, including making Jesus the headliner, giving, introducing people to Jesus, introducing a new generation to God’s heart for the poor, biblical unity, being a catalyst for transformation along the Front Range, and establishing a 24/7 worship and prayer movement.

Heaven Fest is a project of Worship and the Word Movement, a not-for-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization ( www.WorshipAndTheWord.com).
Media materials available at heavenfest.com/press.

Christian Newswire

 To: National Desk Contact: Steve Chavis,
Heaven Fest,
303-772-0307



 

Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping….

1 Christ is All, 4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, 5 Songs I am Singing, Stuff I Actually Think, , , ,

Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.  Psalm 90.12 niv

When I get the time…

Where did the time go?

There aren’t enough hours in the day…

Time flies when you’re [fill in the blank].

I don’t have time for this.

An “alarm” clock.  Is this why time alarms me???

A quote I have kept for years…

“Don’t ever say, ‘I don’t have time.’  What you mean is ‘I haven’t arranged my life so I can make the time to do more of the things that are meaningful to me.'”  ~Alexandra Stoddard

I continue to work on discerning the difference between the apprehensive, nerve-inducing “what time is it?” and the more important “what is it time for?”  I wanna be doing the right thing at the right time.  Ecclesiastes 3, says,

1 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.

2 A time to be born and a time to die.  A time to plant and a time to harvest.

3 A time to kill and a time to heal.  A time to tear down and a time to build up.

4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.  A time to grieve and a time to dance.

5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.  A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.  A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7 A time to tear and a time to mend.  A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

8 A time to love and a time to hate.  A time for war and a time for peace. 

9 What do people really get for all their hard work? 10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. 11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

I don’t want to get all the way to the end and realized I wasted precious time, not one minute of the plan of God for my life. 

There is a TIME { f o r } everything, even if this isn’t exactly the time right now.  A mystery I am pondering.  If I had it to do all over again…

Teach us to number our days, our hours, our minutes and seconds; teach us to discern and organize our very lives, Lord, in a way that welcomes You (Wisdom) and heals our hearts….Every morning, every evening, all our days: May Your favor rest on us.  Establish the work of our hands, yes – establish the work of our hands. 

From Psalm 90, a Prayer of Moses, the man of God

If I could put time in a bottle, the first thing thing that I’d like to do….

NOTE TO SELF:  So, ummmmmm….in light of the previous post (from yesterday), it must be time for Heaven Fest.

Lust {not love} Hurts

1 Christ is All, 5 Songs I am Singing, Stuff I Actually Think, , ,

From Half-Broke Horses, a book she is reading, Erin shared this quote:

“By loving you, I have destoyed you” he said. 

 “…you have a mighty high opinion of yourself,”  I told him….You don’t love me and you haven’t destroyed me… You dont have what it takes to do that.”

What we were taught:

We spent an entire 2 days in junior English at Hammond High School dissecting the words to the Nazareth song, Love Hurts, its’ imagery, its’ angst.  I heard it every single day on the school bus, to and from home.  It sunk into my heart as fact – if you love some one, it will eventually hurt you – irrepairably.  Having been around the block, I know now this is not true..  This is not love. 

But if you replace the word “love” with the word “lust,” the song holds a lot of insight.  Because while lust comes to take, to consume, to use, {true} LOVE comes to give, to nurture, to sacrifice.  It isn’t that there isn’t risk and pain in maintaining true love, but love, real love, covers so much.  It is the greatest thing of all that will remain (1 Cor 13).  Lust is a passing-fancy while love is an unbroken covenant.  Lust hurts, but love heals.

LOVE HURTS by Nazareth

love hurts, love scars,

love wounds, and marks,

any heart, not tough,

or strong, enough

to take a lot of pain,

take a lot of pain

love is like a cloud

holds a lot of rain

love hurts, ooh ooh love hurts

I’m young, I know,

but even so

I know a thing, or two

I learned, from you

I really learned a lot,

really learned a lot

love is like a flame

it burns you when it’s hot

love hurts, ooh ooh love hurts

some fools think of happiness

blissfulness, togetherness

some fools fool themselves I guess

they’re not foolin’ me

I know it isn’t true,

I know it isn’t true

love is just a lie,

made to make you blue

love hurts, ooh,ooh love hurts

ooh,ooh love hurts

Truth:

1 Corinthians 13 (New Living Translation)

1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

4 LOVE IS patient and kind. LOVE IS not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. [LOVE] does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 [LOVE] does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 LOVE never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But LOVE WILL LAST forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.

11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and LOVE—and the greatest of these is LOVE.

Who ARE You People?

1 Christ is All, 2 Mi Familia, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, 5 Songs I am Singing, Stuff I Actually Think

The familia.  The Heaven Fest Familia.

You know how you join some things and the meetings stink?  THIS is NOT one of those things.  You leave these meetings thinking, “I know THE BEST, most amazing people in the universe and God lets me hang out with them!  What on earth??!?  This is church, people.  Church!

These are my people.  Their God is my God, their people are my people.  I have these people in my heart!

Sunny Monday, so good to me*

2 Mi Familia, 5 Songs I am Singing, Stuff I Actually Think

*Think: Mammas and the Papas, “Monday, Monday.

Meanwhile, though, just in case the spring rains come along again (needed and refreshing and renewing and all those good things that they are, but still…) be making your list and checking it twice.  Make sure you know WHAT makes you happy when skies are gray.  Especially  WHO.  And even WHERE.  Yes.  This is good to know before the black clouds roll in.

IGNORE BRYAN.  Shhhhh…..{tomatoes make me happy when skies are gray}

Who Loves Investigation Discovery? I do! I do!

1 Christ is All, 9 TV & Movies/Books & Entertainment, Stuff I Actually Think, , , , ,

ID: Ivestigation Discovery, just another Discovery cable TV channel among, how many now, 37 or 152?  Ah, but this one is great.  All unsolved crimes and crime mysteries and FBI and CIA and Paul Zahn-On the Case; there are crimes and I-almost-got-away-with-it cases and pretty clever criminals, but some hero-type officers of the law who investigate and solve tough situations.  It is my one TV potential-addiction.  I know this because I have already plotted, should I break a major bone and have 7 -10 days where I have to just be on the couch, I will watch ID around the clock.  It is weird to know that, but I like to plan ahead.

Last night I didn’t get to {really} watch any ID, but I did sort of land on it for a few minutes while waiting for the Papa Murphey’s pizza to bake.   What I was able to surmise, in this particular show about the FBI in Carroll Parish in Lousiana, was that some crazy alligator-wrestling swamp-guy did some bad stuff (like shooting & killing a man outside a bar while some one hed him down and claiming self-defense), but escaped from from the courthouse after sentencing and they could. not. find. him.  Why?  Because he knew how to live in the woods and the water and the swampy areas.  Even when his feet were chained and the sheriffs came out with the dogs, he knew to bury himself into wet marshes and the mud, allowed the soaked earth near the water’s edge to come up around him and they say the dogs walked right over him and couldn’t even pick up hs scent because he was covered, face down,  in the mud and water. 

Life-Changing Moments with God, Praying the Scripture Everyday by Dr David Jeremiah

My mom gave me her copy of her favorite-ever devotional book by David Jeremiahwhile I was there visiting  in January.  I love it because she jots little notes in the margins and notes family milestones.  She’ll add a song she is singing that day and definitions to words that stand out.  It is sort of her journal and very personal.  She got herself a new copy and let me have the one with the real treasures.  I pick it up periodically so I can see what my mama has been meditating on on any given day. Each page starts with a scripture, then a prayer made up of scriptures, then the scripture references are noted.  For today ~

April 16, page 119

I said in my haste, ‘I am cut off from before Your eyes,’; nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to You.

Lord, I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters where the floods overflow me.  Waters flowed over my head; I said, ‘I am cut off!’  I called on Your Name, o Lord, from the lowest pit.  You have heard my voice. ‘Do not hide Your ear from my sighing, from my cry for help.’  You drew near on the day I called on You and said, ‘Do not fear.’

Lord, will You cast me off forever?  Will You be favorable no more?  Has Your mercy ceased forever?  Has Your promise failed forevermore?  Have You, Lord God, forgotten to be gracious?  Have You, in Your anger, shut up Your tender mercies?  I said ‘This is my anguish; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most high.’  I will remember Your works, Lord God; surely I will remember Your wonders of old.  I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see Your goodness, loving God, in the land of the living.

Great is Your faithfulness, Lord!  I will remember Your works and Your tender mercies.  Praise Your name!**

Yesterday.

I had one of those days.  You work hard, really hard, for a long period of time.  And suddenly, you are overcome, overwhelmed, at your end.  There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no relief in sight.  You have done all you know to do.  You have done as much as you can and suddenly the ground seems unstable.  You sense you are sinking into the mire.  Nothing is working as it should.  Wait, what?  How did I get here?  What happened?  Did I take a wrong turn?  What is going on?

Yep.  I had one of those days.

And in reading this this morning, and having watched the FBI show about the swamp-guy, I realized it is ok, sometimes, to just surrender to it.  Burough down into the mud and let the waves and water surround.  The promise from God is that they will not overtake me, anyway.  Yes, it is a pit, but from there the Lord still hears my cry.  The Faithful One is on it.  But the enemy won’t be able to find me, hidden in the land, the land of the living.  The enemy may prowl, but I’ll be where only God can find me.

That is where I may be reached at this time.

**Psalm 31.22, Psalm 69.2, Lamentations 3.54-57, Psalm 77.7-11, Psalm 27.13 (from the book, page 119)