Heavenly Gates

At long last the lifetime journey had come to an end, the pain, the suffering, and loneliness had all vanished and there in front of her were Golden Gates, she sat staring in awe from the wheelchair which had become a part of her life over the last years. Then the gates opened and gazing into the multitude of faces one caught her eye, jumping up she ran through the crowd and straight into the arms of her beloved husband who had been waiting patiently for this day! Their time on Earth had been a blessing to family and friends, but together again in Paradise was the real treasure! A new life in a new home, built just for those who are willing to follow the Savior!

As a Baby, Jesus Came

                           As a baby, Jesus came

                      From His home above

               He left His throne, and who He was

                     To teach us how to love.

                      As a baby, Jesus came

                  Wrapped in swaddling cloth;

                 Willingly He took on humanity,

                 Though He was one with God.

                                               

                      As a baby, Jesus came

                      To one day grow to be

                 The savior of the human race,

                   For people like you and me.

                      As a baby, Jesus came

                      As God’s eternal light

                 That will never be extinguished,

                    But forever shine out bright.

                      As a baby, Jesus came

                     The hope of eternal life,

                  Reconciling us back to God,

                  Giving meaning to our strife.

                      As a man, Jesus died,

                 His blood poured out for all,

                   Cleaning and forgiving us,

                       For this was His call.

                                   

                  Through it all we can live on

                   With Jesus Christ our Lord

            Who was a baby that first Christmas

               To give us all an amazing reward.

                           (Author unknown)

                                                             

Christmas

C-hrist gave

H-imself as a

R-eward so that

I-ndividuals know the

S-acrifices

T-hat he made for

M-ankind to

A-chieve the gift of

S-alvation

(Author unknown)

Kindness Returned for Kindness

How often does this happen, someone returns kindness for an act of kindness? It’s not something that happens very often, people might thank you and go on their merry way thinking to themselves how kind you were, but to repay that act with another act is very rare indeed!

I went to the grocery store and did some quick shopping, all the while with a million things on my mind. Finished and went to the checkout counter piling what I thought was all the stuff in my cart on to it. Got rung up, packed up, paid up and went out to my car putting all my bags in the trunk. Then as I looked down at the shopping cart while I pushed it back to where the carts are kept, I noticed I had forgotten to pay for something, nothing very valuable, just a pack of pocket combs I’d picked up for my husband.

First thought is it’s only a little over a dollar, so I should just keep it, but that didn’t sit very well, so I decided that since I had to use the ladies room anyway, I’d just go back in and pay for it. So that’s what I did.

So I’m standing in the self checkout line waiting my turn because only two out of four were open, the other two were being worked on. I noticed a young woman come up next to me pushing a stroller with a cute little baby in it, she’s only got a couple of things in her hands, so I let her go ahead of me. She rings up her stuff, bags and pays for it and as she’s leaving says to me “oh you can keep the change”. I reply that she might need it for the baby, but she just says “keep it” as she walks away! It’s only 51 cents, so I thank her and use it to pay for my combs.

As I left the store I was amazed at the way things went, I showed her a small act of kindness and she returned it with another act of kindness! It’s not as hard as we think to show the world a little of God’s love!

What Matters More?

I read an article about Derek Webb and his battle with his record label, INO, over the release of his solo album “Stockholm Syndrome”. The battle was centered around a lyric in a song on the new album causing a delay in its scheduled release. I actually had the opportunity to witness first hand Webb and the infamous song with the questionable word. I was at the Revelation Generation Festival, it’s a fairly large two day Christian music festival and the year I went it included five stages, the New York, Philadelphia, Nashville, Urban and Come & Live, with over 50 artists and speakers, one of which was Webb. 

Friday night, I spent my evening traipsing between two stages, the New York and the Philadelphia stages, watching artists like Matthew West, Haste the Day, Delirious?, Emery, Jars of Clay, Underoath and MercyMe! It started at about 3pm and was done by around 10pm. Saturday was a much more grueling schedule; I had to run to all five stages to see all the artists I had come to see. The gates opened around 10am and the first act on the Philadelphia stage was And Then There Were None at around 11am and the last act, Switchfoot, hit the New York stage around 8:50pm! A long with a bunch of lesser known groups, too numerous to mention, I made sure I saw, The Fold, August Burns Red, B. Reith, Needtobreathe, Barlow Girl, Impending Doom, Relient K and last stop was the Nashville stage with Derek Webb.

I must admit I was a little apprehensive upon entering the tent, but I liked Webb before I had read the article, so I guess it was just plain curiosity that brought me there. So there he is up on the stage, alone, just him and his guitar, just playing and it didn’t seem so scary, so I pulled up a seat. Since I own only one of his albums, “Mockingbird”, I have to admit that I’m not all that familiar with his solo stuff since he left Caedmon’s Call. Not much of a talker, he seemed kind of nervous as he was explaining that he never really had a hit song, but the closest he had come was a song that was used on the show “Grey’s Anatomy”, the words of which had my 19 year old, unsaved daughter twitching in her seat, but it wasn’t until he played a song "What Matters More" from his new album, that she really became uncomfortable, it’s the one with the tainted lyric. The song contains a line referring to how we don’t give an “s-word” about others, so there it was in a nutshell! Probably one of the most common sayings in the English language, but is it necessary for an artist who professes a faith in Christ, to use such language in his songs? So the question is really what does matter more to Webb? 

To me, it's obviously his artistic freedom that matters more to him, more than using discretion when choosing his words. So whatever point he was trying to get across in the song is now lost, because the focus is on the word and not the intended meaning behind the song. The saddest part was that the audience didn’t seem to mind it at all, even with young children present! But I felt I had to leave and was a little embarrassed about having taken the time to give him a listen. Had I any desire to continue following Webb's music, it was quickly extinguished, what would be the point? What could he possibly offer me, something new, maybe something different? Apparently not, just the same old drone as most of the secular mainstream music out there these days! I could have listened to Green Day or Lincoln Park and gotten the same effect. Listening to his songs one hears a lot of sarcasm, mostly political in nature and rather crude descriptions of things in everyday life, which I could let slide, if there was something of value hidden in it somewhere, but I found his use of this word far more offensive than the Newsboys use of “elephant dung” in their song “Reality”. Dung is actually mentioned many times in the Bible, but somehow the use of modern slang in the lyrics of songwriters of faith just doesn’t seem appropriate. 

Maybe it was just because I was tired and sun burnt, that I took offense, but I think not. I still think it is much better to sacrifice one’s art instead of one’s sense of right and wrong or the integrity of the heart. I think most people have a tendency to use art as a license to sin. Although Jesus sat, ate and spent most of his time with hardcore sinners, I don’t think he would have used coarse language among them just to fit in or to make a point. So whatever arguments Derek Webb might use to justify his actions, I think they would be a bit flawed based on the following verse from 1 Corinthians 6:12 “Everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me - but I will not be mastered by anything.” Was Webb letting his sense of artistic freedom in his music, master him? If he was looking for a hit, I think it's a miss!

Webb and INO later came to some kind of agreement, the album was then released in two versions, a "clean" and an "uncensored" version, which just makes me wonder why? If he was so proud of his original version, why release an alternate version? Was he sincere or just trying to corner both markets? My bet was on the latter!

The Vanishing Girl

The bell clanged loudly; it was time to go back to class. It was my duty, being the newest and youngest teacher at King Elementary School, in the ghetto, to supervise the children at recess and herd them back into the building when it ended.

I was busily doing so when I noticed a little Negro girl pressed close against the schoolyard’s iron fence, looking in from the outside. She appeared to be a year or so younger than the children in my class of first graders. She wore a handed down blue dress which was clean and neatly ironed, an old red jacket and sneakers without socks. Her hair was combed and braided with care, blue ribbons adorned each end. Her brown eyes, wide with wonder and excitement, disclosed that she had been watching the school children play. A tiny brown finger rested on her pale lips as if to hold back a secret wish ready to burst forth.

When the last of my wards was safely in the door, I looked for her, but she was gone. Had I only imagined her? As I looked around at the aging apartments across the street, I didn’t see her, but looking down by the fence I noticed a blue ribbon laying there on the ground! Perhaps I will see her in the school over the coming years!