Godly Insights for the 21st Century Life

I grew up in the church and loved learning about Jesus and reading Bible stories. However, when my parents started listening to Christian music on the radio when I was in third grade, I hated it. I had just started at a new school, and I would much rather listen to the popular songs that all my new friends listened to. That all changed at an Avalon concert in the spring of 1998 when I first heard " Testify to Love ". Something about that song spoke to me in a way that nothing else had, and listening to it prompted me to fully give my life to Christ. From then on, I immersed myself in listening to Christian music and growing deeper in my newfound faith.  In May, a trio of artists, two of whom are former members of Avalon, re-released "Testify to Love". Now as a huge fan of the song, you'd think I'd be thrilled. The problem is that it was released as an LGBTQ+ affirming anthem. Now, as I mentioned in an earlier post , I have my doubts about the sinfulness of m...

 A popular song around the time I began listening to Christian music in the spring of 1998 was " Awesome God " by Rich Mullins. He had died a few months before in a tragic car accident, and the more I listened to that song, the more I lamented that the light of his talent was snuffed out too soon. That song is making a resurgence now, but not in a way I like. After years of the chorus alone being used in worship at churches across the country, Phil Wickham wrote new verses for "Awesome God," keeping the refrain intact, and released it under a new title. The problem is, those new verses don't fit either musically or in meaning. The original verses penned by Rich Mullins speak of a God whose power is so impressive that it's hard not to be in awe of it. They also talk of how God has the power to raze sinful cities to the ground, but also had the love and grace to send His son to die for our sins. Throughout each verse, a chorus of voices repeats the phrase ...

 As anyone who regularly reads my blog might have noticed, this is my first post in a while, with my last one being over a year and a half ago. Now it's not that I didn't have ideas of things to write. In fact, I was reminded of two partial posts as I sat down to write this one, and those don't even count my planned analysis of the Lenten scarf pattern I completed last year. I've had ideas for sure, but unfortunately, life got in the way of them coming to fruition. My husband, Jon, spent most of 2024 on medical leave. He was diagnosed with Brugada syndrome in February, and his job wouldn't accommodate the restrictions he needed to work safely. He had surgery in June to implant an internal defibrillator, and he recovered quite nicely. Within a week, he was back to doing DoorDash and making Spark deliveries, with me occasionally tagging along to help. We moved in August into a bigger place with a nice yard for our dogs, and although the rent was a bit of a stretch, we...