Godly Insights for the 21st Century Life

     This summer, Mom and I did some cleaning around the house. One of the things we found was an old CCM magazine talking about the upcoming book and CD set chronicling the 100 greatest songs in Christian music. While the article hinted at some of the songs featured in the countdown, we were really curious to see the entire list. While we could find the track list for some of the CDs, we couldn't see the entire list without reading the book. We had to use an inter-library loan to get it, but it was worth it to be able to uncover the mystery of which songs made the list.     My parents and I really enjoyed reading the book and seeing the choices that the editors made. Some of the songs on the list came as no surprise. (Among the top five were " Awesome God " by Rich Mullins, " Jesus Freak " by DC Talk, and " I Can Only Imagine " by MercyMe.) Some of the songs I knew well, but not their original versions. (I've sung " Soon and Very Soon "

We're living in a world that keeps breaking But if we want to find a way to change it It all comes down to this Love God, love people ~ Danny Gokey, " Love God, Love People " I initially wrote a post based off of this song in August of last year. While much has changed in the 14 months since then, unfortunately, many people are still having trouble loving others the way we are called to. In fact, I feel like some people are less loving now than they were then. As Christians, our priority should always be loving others the way Christ has loved us.  Going back to the roadmap presented in 1 Corinthians 13, here are some of the areas I've noticed still need a bit of work. Love is kind:  The member of our monthly circle group I mentioned in the original post  finally came back to our group in April. Mom and I enjoyed spending time with her and catching up on the last year. That was, of course, until the subject of the shot came up. She asked Mom and me if we had gotten it,

    In June, Matthew West posted a video for his song "Modest is Hottest". I've heard that it was quite a fun video, but I have never been able to watch it myself. The reason is simple: too many people can't seem to take a joke these days. What he had created as a lighthearted take on raising girls in today's culture was brutally attacked by those who have been hurt by "Modesty Culture", causing him to remove the video mere days after it had been posted.     One of the main problems I see in our culture today is an inability to cope with things we don't agree with. Rather than dealing with things that offend us, we push for them to disappear. To stay in our comfort zone, we push away anything that tries to interfere with the safe space we've made for ourselves.     The response to this video is a prime example. All of these people triggered by the video probably could have figured out before they watched the video that it would trigger them. Even

End of blog post. Well, not really.     Truthfully, I shouldn't have to say more than this, but unfortunately, I do. Increasingly it seems as though some people think the only reason anyone isn't yet vaccinated is because they haven't had the opportunity to be. I've had the opportunity. In fact, I've had many opportunities, but I haven't gotten it, and may never get it.       The reason is quite simple, I am not afraid of Coronavirus. Never have been, and never will be. I take to heart the words of Matthew 10:28, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." The absolute worst thing that the Coronavirus could do to me is kill me, which is unlikely to happen. Even if it did, my future is secure. In Christ, my death secures me a one-way ticket to Heaven, where pain and disease no longer exist. I'm not in any hurry to get there, and I'd rather not get there because of a

     Tuesday night, Simone Biles shocked the world when she decided to step down from competing in the team gymnastics finals at the Olympics. After a botched vault, she realized that she was not mentally where she needed to be to continue the competition. After a brief break behind the scenes, where she likely consulted with her coach and team doctors, she came back out and announced to her teammates that she would be sitting out the rest of the competition. She then threw on her warmups and enthusiastically cheered her teammates on to a silver-medal winning finish.     Since that day, many people have commented on what happened. While most I've seen have been supportive, there are some people who have been very critical. Most have called her selfish, but there are a few who have gone beyond that to label her sociopathic and un-American. No matter what form the criticism has taken, it all seems to be focusing on the wrong thing. They're mad because they believe that her withdr

 "We are not trying to prove ourselves to you again. But we are telling you about ourselves. We are giving you reasons to be proud of us. Then you will have an answer for those who are proud about what can be seen. They don't care about what is in a person's heart." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:12      Recently , my parents and I were talking with a couple we hadn't seen for a while, and as it often has recently, the subject of vaccination came up. We told them that we haven't yet gotten the vaccine, and have no immediate plans to do so. We even explained the reason for our hesitancy after they asked. This was enough to satisfy the husband, but clearly not the wife. She parroted the oft-quoted line of how safe and effective the vaccine is, even though she was not acting as if it was. Even after the topic was changed, she continued to shoot us disdainful looks that indicated that us being unvaccinated was all she saw.     In my previous post Covidolatry , I mentioned that

 "Also, it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or on the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark." ~Revelation 13:16-17 It's been over a year since the pandemic started, and things are finally starting to get back to normal. Churches are opening up, high school students got to have proms and graduations, and people are once again planning vacations. However, what caused these changes had nothing to do with finally reaching herd immunity or people stepping out in faith and trusting God more than they feared the virus. These changes are coming about because of a rapidly produced, not yet fully tested vaccine. Now, I'm not against vaccines. I have received all the vaccines given to infants, and faithfully receive my tetanus booster. I think vaccines are a great way to help eradicate deadly diseases, but they have to be developed properly. This one went from necessity to dist

 This Sunday, my church had its first service in the sanctuary in over a year. There are quite a few restrictions we need to follow, such as wearing masks the entire service, using only every other pew, not singing, and not passing out bulletins or the offering plate. Admittedly, I'm not thrilled with the restrictions, especially since the people at my temporary church home have been unmasked and singing with abandon for months. However, it was worth it to me to be around my church family even if it meant dealing with a little inconvenience. While the restrictions are a bit frustrating, there was a certain beauty to be found in them as well. Without having the bulletin, I was less focused on what came next and more on what was currently happening. I also feel like the absence of them made for a more intimate service, despite the distance between congregants. Not singing allowed me to really listen to the words of the songs. (Admittedly, I did mouth along with the words for one song

"and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor." ~ Luke 6:16 "[Judas] said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it." ~ John 12:6 "Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself." ~ Matthew 27:5 These three verses are a summary of the life of one of Jesus' twelve apostles: he was a traitor and a thief who killed himself. Yet I think there has to be more to the story than these verses convey. Jesus chose Judas for the honor of being one of the twelve apostles, and Jesus would not have chosen him if He didn't have a good reason. We know from Acts 1:21-26 that there were other disciples that could have been promoted because, by the end of this passage, Matthias was. Jesus had to have a good reason why Judas was in the top twelve and Matthias wasn't. Unfortunately, that reason is something we will never know because

"You give the sparrows everything they need You light the stars and you paint the leaves You clothe the lilies with your majesty And you don't even love them like you love me" ~ " Like You Love Me " - Tauren Wells     From the first time I heard this song, I absolutely loved it. Sure, the melody is catchy and fun to dance to, but that's not the reason. This song is a great reminder of an even greater truth: God loves people more than any other thing He created.     This song is based on Matthew 6:25-34. Part of the Sermon on the Mount, this passage is about trusting God rather than worrying. Jesus teaches that God feeds the sparrows and clothes the lilies more beautifully than any human being could ever be dressed. In saying this, Jesus was assuring us that we had no need to worry about anything because the God who cares even about the birds and the flowers will care even more about us because He made us in His image.     Now, I know from experience that thi

     This past year has been horrible in so many ways. Our world has been cowering in the shadow of a pandemic since March, and in some way, its tentacles have seeped into everyone's lives. The deaths of black men and women this spring at the hands of police sparked protests and riots for months. Wildfires burned through Australia, the Atlantic hurricane season spawned so many storms that meteorologists had to dig deep into the Greek alphabet for names, and murder hornets sprang up out of nowhere.      In a year with so much bad, it can be a challenge to remember the good things. I decided to take up the challenge to find 20 good things that happened this year, and while it was hard at first, once I started it was hard to narrow it down to only 20. Here, in no particular order, are 20 things that have been blessings in my life in the year 2020. Performing in  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat :  This was a blessing this year in three different ways. The main reason was b