Happy are People Who Have Broken Hearts

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:3 (ESV)

Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. - Matthew 5:3 (CEB)

When a person is hopeless here on earth, it means they are ready for the eternal. When God wants to use a person, sometimes he needs to tear them down completely to rebuild them into a tool for eternal purposes. Having an eternal focus changes all the things that affect us here on earth.
My week hasn't been great, but I am blessed. I heard this secular song, I've put he lyrics here. The general sentiment is correct.

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100 Bad Days

By AJR

[Verse 1]
 Remember when we all got drunk?
I ended up with two broke thumbs
Oh my God, I felt so dumb, lucky me
I wrote a song that no one knows
I played a show and no one showed
Oh my God, I felt so alone, lucky me

[Pre-Chorus]
(Ah) When all is going wrong and you're scared as hell
(Ah) What you gonna do? Who you gonna tell?

[Chorus]
Maybe a hundred bad days made a hundred good stories
A hundred good stories make me interesting at parties
A hundred bad days made a hundred good stories
A hundred good stories make me interesting at parties, yeah
No, I ain't scared of you
No, I ain't scared of you no more

[Post-Chorus]
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da, da
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da, da
No, I ain't scared of you
No, I ain't scared of you no more

[Verse 2]
Remember when she broke my heart
Waitin' for the waiter to return my card?
Right as I let down my guard, lucky me
We had to work a bit more hard
Only just to get a little bit less far
We could laugh about it all tomorrow, couldn't we?

[Pre-Chorus]
(Ah) When all is going wrong and you're scared as hell
(Ah) What you gonna do? Who you gonna tell?

[Chorus]
Maybe a hundred bad days made a hundred good stories
A hundred good stories make me interesting at parties
A hundred bad days made a hundred good stories
A hundred good stories make me interesting at parties, yeah
No, I ain't scared of you
No, I ain't scared of you no more

[Post-Chorus]
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da, da
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da, da
No, I ain't scared of you
No, I ain't scared of you no more

---

This is a pretty optimistic song, you see there is still a sliver of truth in stuff of this world.  The real truth is God uses Bad things to make us better. 

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” - C.S. Lewis

When we look at the bad things happening in our lives, and that's all we focus on, then our lives are awful.

Example:

My wife left me and took the kids

I don't have enough work

My car doesn't have Air Conditioning

My well broke, I have no water, I can't even do my dishes or take a shower

My house is falling apart

I owe a lot of money for medical bills my insurance won't pay

I owe property taxes and business taxes

I have pain in my hip and I can't stand up for more than 5 minutes

I need a root canal and fillings

But none of that stuff really matters! I'm happy because all that stuff doesn't matter, God the creator of the universe has a plan, and he will use all these things for His Glory!   I don't know how, I don't know when, But God will use it for His Glory, not mine.   

I know God uses all things together for His good.  One day I will spend eternity with Him, and not here in this fallen world!

When Peace, Like a River

By Horatio Gates Spafford (1873)

Verse 1
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well with my soul."

Refrain (may be sung after final stanza only):

It is well with my soul;
it is well, it is well with my soul.

Verse 2
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control:
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and has shed his own blood for my soul.

Refrain

Verse 3

My sin oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
my sin, not in part, but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more;
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

Verse 4

O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend;
even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

How to Glorify God in the Dark Times

Yesterday my life changed drastically. I'm deeply sorrowful, I have anger, and bitterness because I'm confused and don't know what happened. Why did God allow this to happen to me? After meeting with my pastor I realized, I'm the reason. I'm a sinful fallen man who is now by the Grace of God being cast into the rock tumbler of life. My biggest problem, I'm rough, really rough, so rough that I've pushed the ones I love the most away. But, the focus of my life was at the wrong place, on me or on my wife or on the current problem I had to solve, but my focus wasn't where it needed to be, It wasn't on Christ. Today is a the first day of the rest of my life, it's a new day with lots of things I can change to be more Christ like.  This morning my son and I read this:

3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 3:1-17 (ESV)

So, today is the first day of a new man,  I need to first take baby steps, putting all my thoughts and actions into an eternal perspective.  Everything I think, everything I say can have eternal perspectives on the world around me,  I'm just an ambassador representing Christ, and I've done a horrible job.  My focus hasn't been on the eternal, it's been on me.  Generally I think I'm a smart guy, but the problem is i've been doing all my figuring out trying to get what's best for me, but that's wrong,  I need to move from this self motivated movement, to an eternal focus.  How will what I say bring Christ glory for what he has done for me.  How will my actions be a focus for other people to see Christ.   

Today,  I need to surrender it all to Christ,  for he and only he will know what plans he has laid up for me.  I don't know what those plans are, I don't know where my journey will lead me, but I do know the destination is to spend eternity with Him in glory.   

Each day I hope to move through this verse and present how my life is changing.   Where am I failing, what God is using me to do, and most of all how I can be the person He wants me to be.

The potter is being kinda rough on me today, but I know he's making something worthy of honor in His house.

If you've read this,  please keep me in prayer, the day is very dark.  Also keep my family lifted in prayer.

New Year, New Problems

With the dawn of 2019, it's got me thinking about the clean slate of a new year.   Honestly, 2018 went by so fast I really can't even remember it.   It seems that as time goes on, new problems emerge, the result of the 2nd law of thermodynamics I assume.  It seems like things I buy wear out faster now than when I was younger.   That could be two fold: China is making things cheaper and designed for failure, or maybe time is just moving a bit faster in my perception. 
Honestly,  I do think time is moving faster than it was last year, and one of the biggest changes I plan to  make this year is to document those changes on at least a daily or weekly basis here.   I haven't done a great job of it in the past, so a new leaf might make me slow down and enjoy the New Year.
The Format of this blog will change a little bit,  I plan to start reviewing content I consume here,  This includes comments on blogs I read, podcasts, sermons and music I've heard, books I read, and movies and videos I watch.   I hope this to be more of a philosophy of our modern time.   I do have another blog where I comment on my own personal Bible study: https://pbssmf.blogspot.com/   feel free to follow me there as we discuss the Word. 

So please come back and see more content as I try to build up this blog to something meaningful that can be a blessing to my readers.

Another Day Closer

Yes, it's another day closer to the "End of the World!"   On July 4th 2017, North Korea in an attempt to disturb the United States, decided to launch an ICBM proving to the world they are closer to "World Domination".   Understand that South Korea is probably one of our closest allies in the world, we've defended them since the Korean war.   There has been peace treaty, just a general cease fire.   We are still at war with North Korea, and they know it.

In only a few minutes North Korea could launch a complete artillery strike on the capital of South Korea and level the city, causing mass losses.    The North Korean military is hardened, and most of the military positions are below the ground making most conventional war methods mute.

When will the insanity end?

Honesty, Integrity, and Plagiarism

What's wrong with plagiarism?  Yesterday the bomb was dropped at the RNC, when Melania Trump plagiarized Michelle Obama's speech.   Now, I'm sure Melania didn't write her own speech, actually I'm sure Michelle didn't write it either, but it seems to have happened.   What does this day about Donald Trump?  What does it say about Melania?  What does it say about the entire Republican National Convention?   Usually there are people who check this kind of thing.   I'm sure Donald Trump has an entire staff of writers who check sources, material, and the context of the writing.   There is no reason this should have happened, with modern technology, we have tools called plagiarism checkers.   These are databases of source material, and when a fragment of a sentence or a paragraph is found to have a high degree of matching... Then you know you have a problem.   The solution, re-write before the speech was even given!    

The RNC is on thin ice with Donald Trump, values such as integrity and honesty seem to be lacking as a matter of principle.   Republican Donald Trump isn't the Donald we saw eight years ago.   At that time, Republican Donald Trump didn't even exist.   You see Donald Trump was a totally different person...  He was a big government spending Democrat, using every form of corporate welfare to prop up his business.  Donald has been a business man, ruthless in getting to the top of the pack.  But the attributes of honesty and integrity are not exactly what people see in him, even now.

Over the last year we've heard Republican Donald Trump and we like what he says.   It's logical, it makes sense, it's been too long in being said.   Our problem- is the "Republican Donald Trump" the real "Donald Trump"?  Is this simply a mask to get him elected president?   Has he simply plagiarized the entire Tea Party Movement for his gain of power only to ditch it when he's sworn into office.  Honesty and integrity come over time... respect isn't given, it's earned and it takes time, so too with integrity. This slip-up isn't so much a slip-up, rather it's a systematic example of the character of the man who will be the next President of the United States.

By no means do I like Hillary, but please Mr. Trump, please give me something to hold onto!   I'm about ready to turn in my Republican Card and ditch the party.   No matter what happens, I don't see anything good happening in America for the next 20 years or so... if we last!

"Sola Dei Gloria" without Sola is Idolotry

"S. D. G." (for Soli Deo Gloria) at the end of a G. F. Handel manuscript

I'm often taken back by the "political" inter-workings of church congregations.  Often times you will find groups of individuals that tend to operate aspects of the church, be it food preparation, grounds keeping duties, cleaning functions, Sunday school boards, mission boards.   These groups serve purposes, of course, good purposes and those members should be appreciated... they are appreciated.   Good works, this is what the christian should be focused on doing.  But my question is... to what end?

I can't directly question the motivation of all individuals, because many do take the rolls seriously and see it as a direction to bring glory to God alone.   But many, it's a job of personal satisfaction, they do the job in order to receive praise.    As a child and young adult I often attended churches that would have "special music" during the service, which was a code word for someone performing.  I have a problem with this during corporate worship, because when we clap after that person has sung or played an instrument... is that applause for them?   If the entire worship service is, in fact worship, the subject of our worship is on God.

This got me thinking... about the five Solas.   The five latin phrases that were the diving force of the reformation.   However, many today in the "Modern" church probably haven't even heard or tread upon these short nuggets:
  

• Sola Fide, by faith alone.
• Sola Scriptura, by Scripture alone.
• Solus Christus, through Christ alone.
• Sola Gratia, by grace alone.
• Soli Deo Gloria, glory to God alone.

 
Where am I going... well in these quick phrases we get some big, huge ideas.   First it's by faith and only faith that we are saved, not by works, not by doing good things, not by working at the church, it's the faith that is given by God.     We know this, because of the Bible, and it's the Bible alone that provides this revelation.  It is through Christ Alone we are saved, because it is the work of Christ that saves us, not our work, our faith is in the finished work of Christ who satisfied the Father's wrath against us and our sinful nature.  Why did Christ do this?  It was by Grace, meaning it was a free gift of incomprehensible value, bestowed to us while we are still sinners, reviving us, making us a new creation, regeneration.   Why was all this done?  To give all the glory to God alone, it is to show that God, while Holy and wrathful, is loving and kind, he shows mercy and grace.    We don't need to be praised for our works, God gets the Glory of our works, we should humbly submit them to Him... Alone.

There is a huge wave of ignorance and superstition that has entered our modern churches, where the act of worship is now just a big concert.   This is inexcusable!   Just because we have some personal need to be a "super star" doesn't mean it needs to come out at church, our purpose at church is to Worship God... Alone!

The need for self validation is in itself pride and stubbornness.   If we are truly in Christ, we have no Self-esteem,  we don't live for ourselves, we live for Christ, so anything we do is a reflection of Christ to the world.  If we are trying to glean that praise for ourselves... then we are living in idolatry.

I've also heard it said that the church worship service should be a beacon of light to the dead world, so making it "seeker sensitive" or making it more like a big flashy pop concert is more comfortable to them.   I disagree, the wicked never willingly come into the presence of God.   Our services should be to the Glory of God alone, not to our glory, not the the praise of man.  If we play this idea of "seeker sensitive" out, then we should water down our doctrine and theology and try to meet them where they are... Hence the hypocrisy, these "seekers" have their own sense of deity which unless quickened by God, is pagan practice, thus it leads to no good result...   At this point we've just spoiled all the dough with just a pinch of leaven.  Motivation is everything...  and it's the fine hair splitting between God centered and man centered world views.

Worship is an action of the heart, the inner being of a person, the whole person.  If that - Worship isn't completely directed to God, then it's not Sola Dei Gloria. 

This is an observation of my life, and this is the question I need to take with me daily: to who's glory am I doing this task?

Sola Dei Gloria