Yesterday I found myself thinking about Passo
ver, which we are a couple of days into at this point. Not being from a Jewish family, the significance of Passover is somewhat lost on me from a cultural perspective.
However, several years ago Lisa and I sat down with a group of friends and a former Jewish Rabbi walked us through a traditional passover meal, explaining each element as we went. The symbolism that is tied to each and every item on the table is quite meaningful. If you have the time, the video below from Jews For Jesus is similar to what we experienced.
It is important that I remember my spiritual heritage.
It is important to remember what I have been rescued from.
I challenge you to pause and reflect on either your current spiritual state of bondage or freedom.
I pray that you will accept the freedom and deliverance found in Christ.
Below are two songs from Andrew Peterson that move me to remember all these things.
Passover Us
Lyrics for "Passover Us"
by Andrew Peterson
Well, we all remember Moses on the banks of the river
He said "Pharaoh, you've got to let my people go.
You don't want me to have to tell you this ten times over--
Denial ain't just a river, you know"
So we all remember Pharaoh, he just wouldn't do it
So the plagues came upon Egypt one by one
His heart was hard and the other nine just couldn't move it
So the last was the worst: the death of the firstborn son
Oh but the Lord, he gave to Moses a word for the people
He said their firstborn sons would live to see another day
"Put the blood of a lamb on the doorway and death will pass right over"
That night all the children of Israel prayed,
They prayed,
"Lord, let your judgment passover us
Lord, let your love hover near
Don't let your sweet mercy passover us
Let this blood cover over us here"
So the years went by and the people they whined and they wandered
And only sacrifice atoned for the sins of the land
So you see the priest he placed upon the holy altar
The body of a spotless lamb
And he prayed,
"Lord, let your judgment passover us
Lord, let your love hover near
Don't let your sweet mercy passover us
Let this blood cover over us here"
Deliver Us
Lyrics for "Deliver Us
" by Andrew Peterson
Our enemy, our captor is no pharaoh on the Nile
Our toil is neither mud nor brick nor sand
Our ankles bear no calluses from chains, yet Lord, we're bound
Imprisoned here, we dwell in our own land
Deliver us, deliver us
Oh Yahweh, hear our cry
And gather us beneath your wings tonight
Our sins they are more numerous than all the lambs we slay
These shackles they were made with our own hands
Our toil is our atonement and our freedom yours to give
So Yahweh, break your silence if you can
Deliver us, deliver us
Oh Yahweh, hear our cry
And gather us beneath your wings tonight
'Jerusalem, Jerusalem
How often I have longed
To gather you beneath my gentle wings'
Lyrics to "When the Stars Burn Down (Blessing and Honor)" written by Jennie Riddle and Jonathan Lee:
When the stars burn down and the earth wears out
And we stand before the throne
With the witnesses who have gone before
We will rise and all applaud
Singing blessing and honor, glory and power
Forever to our God
Singing blessing and honor, glory and power
Forever to our God
When the hands of time wind fully down
And the earth is rolled up like a scroll
The trumpets will call and the world will fall
To its knees as we all go home
Star of the morning, Light of salvation
Majesty
God of all mysteries, Lord of the universe
Righteous King
There will come a day standing face to face
In a moment, we will be like Him
He will wipe our eyes dry, take us up to His side
And forever we will be His
Singing blessing and honor, glory and power
Forever to our God
Singing blessing and honor, glory and power
Forever to our God
Lydia's preschool teacher has a blog that she updates every day with lots of photos and updates on what they are learning and doing. This was how today's blog began:
Proud.
Humbled.
Blessed beyond measure.
"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6
Jesus Friend of sinners we have strayed so far away
We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to
swing
Jesus friend of sinners the truth's become so hard to see
The world is on their way to You but they're tripping over me
Always looking around but never looking up I'm so double minded
A plank eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided
Oh Jesus friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus friend of sinners break our hearts for what breaks yours
Jesus friend of sinners the one who's writing in the sand
Make the righteous turn away and the stones fall from their hands
Help us to remember we are all the least of thieves
Let the memory of Your mercy bring your people to their knees
Nobody knows what we're for only what we're against when we
judge the wounded
What if we put down our signs crossed over the lines and love like You did
Oh Jesus friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus friend of sinners break our hearts for what breaks yours
You love every lost cause; you reach for the outcast
For the leper and the lame; they're the reason that You came
Lord I was that lost cause and I was the outcast
But you died for sinners just like me a grateful leper at Your feet
'Cause You are good, You are good
And Your love endures forever
You are good, You are good and Your love endures forever
You are good, You are good and Your love endures forever
You are good, You are good and Your love endures forever
Oh Jesus friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus friend of sinners break our hearts for what breaks Yours
And I was the lost cause and I was the outcast
You died for sinners just like me, a grateful leper at Your feet
Billy Graham is known the world over for his decades of preaching the Word of God to millions of people during thousands of sermons delivered at small revival tents, large churches and arenas and stadiums filled to capacity. He has offered advice and counsel to Presidents and has become an icon of modern Christianity. In his book "Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well, Mr. Graham takes a look back at the life he has lived and offers advice and encouragement to readers young and old.
Being in my mid-thirties, I am certain that I do not fit the target demographic for this book. I do not doubt that many of my peers would not pick up this book to read it, when there are so many other books on the shelf that are being written by the current group of up-and-coming, popular, mostly young pastors and theologians. While this is understandable, and there is a lot of great content being generated by that group, it is unfortunate that the words of a man who has lived a life dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ might be overlooked.
In this book, we get to hear the heart of a man who is fondly recalling not only events in his life but one who is also pleading for others to learn from his own mistakes. We get to hear the humility of a man who fully understands that he is far from perfect, but knows that he is loved by God. We get a glimpse into the frailty that comes with age and the heartache that is generated by the loss of so many loved ones. We get to see a man who is calling us all to live in the here and now, fighting our sinful nature and sharing hope with the world, all the while anticipating the joy that will come when we are called home to Heaven.
I would encourage anyone at any age to read this book. While it is geared more toward the older generation, there are many wonderful sections that are directly applicable to people of all ages. For those of you who, like myself, do not have a grandfather to listen to share the Biblical wisdom they have gained through their life experience, I would wholeheartedly recommend taking a couple of hours to read through what Mr. Graham has penned.
A Brief Excerpt:
"Christians are not to be preoccupied with death; God has put within each of us a will to survive. But neither are we to shrink from death or act as if we must fiercely resist it until the breath. The time may well come, in fact, when life's burdens and pains overwhelm us so much that we will welcome death as a friend - and that is as it should be. If we know Christ, we know that Heaven is our true home, and (like the saints of old) we are "longer for a better country - a heavenly one" (Hebrews 11:16). Remember that one day everyone will be facing old age. I can recall as a young adult worrying about my parents as they aged. I always try tried to give them the respect they earned and deserved, and I was cautious not to insult them by suggesting that they could no longer make important decisions about their lives. A fine line sometimes separates preserving your parents' dignity and ensuring their well-being." -- from pages 66-67
Did he pray silently to You?
Was he afraid to make a move?
At what point did his fear subside?
When was he comfortable inside?
Did the lions nuzzle up to him in that place?
Did they sniff him out, breathe on his face?
Did they wander around in that place unbothered?
Did their ears perk up as he called to you Father?
When the king came calling, did the lions arise?
When he shouted his greeting, was there hope in his eyes?
When the response came, did his heart soar?
Was the moment punctuated with a lion's roar?
Daniel - servant, prophet, faithful
Lions - creatures, passive, powerful
King - tricked, trapped, released
A wonderful story of God, man and beast.
I am the woman at the well, I am the harlot
I am the scattered seed that fell along the path
I am the son that ran away
And I am the bitter son that stayed
My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King?
My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
It's a mystery of mercy and the song, the song I sing
I am the angry man who came to stone the lover
I am the woman there ashamed before the crowd
I am the leper that gave thanks
But I am the nine that never came
My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
When all my love was vinegar to a thirsty King?
My God, my God why hast thou accepted me
It's a mystery of mercy and the song, the song I sing
You made the seed that made the tree
That made the cross that saved me
You gave me hope when there was none
You gave me your only Son
My God, Lord you are
My God, my God, Lord you are
My God
According to cosmological theory, says MIT
astrophysicist Simona Vegetti, "there should be thousands of dwarf
galaxies in the Local Group." That's because the earliest days of the
cosmos were not a tidy time, and after the big galaxies came into being a
lot of debris ought to have been left behind — "debris," in this case,
meaning little galaxies, made partly of what's known as cold dark
matter. The fact that we don't see the galaxies, she says, is due to one
of three things: Either they're simply too faint to detect, or there's
something unusual about the local cosmic neighborhood that would explain
why it departs from the larger rule. Or — and this is the troubling
alternative — maybe the theory itself, which has been generally accepted
for the past 30 years or so, is fundamentally wrong in some way.
So what does this mean? The cosmological theory may be fundamentally wrong - as in, incorrect.
The presented alternatives as to why these galaxies are missing are as follows, with my response: 1. These galaxies are just to faint to detect. It is hard to believe that some of our closest neighbors would be invisible to the technology that allows us to peer across billions of light years to incredibly distant galaxies. 2. Our galaxy doesn't follow the cosmological rules for some reason. It seems difficult to accept that there may be some mysterious reason why our galaxy
might not have behaved as every other galaxy is expected to during its
creation. 3. The theory is fundamentally wrong in some way. I think this means that scientists are
discovering that they cannot prove one of the fundamental things that
should exist if the Big Bang did indeed form our galaxy. They aren't
willing to state that they believe the theory is incorrect at this
point, just that it may be flawed.
Here are a few unanswered questions that I have after reading this brief article: 1. Have the expected "debris" been seen in other galaxy neighborhoods? If not, then why is this theory even proposed? Does the theory itself exist strictly on the basis that the Big Bang would have had to result in such "debris" existing?
2. If "debris" has been documented elsewhere, were those galaxy neighborhoods larger or smaller in size when compared to the Milky Way? If the answer is yes and the neighborhood is larger than the Milky Way galaxy, then it leads me to alternative #2 above, which naturally points us to alternative #3. If the answer is yes and the neighborhood is smaller, then I fail tun understand why we cannot find our own "debris" and dismiss alternative #1 to land at #3, after a brief time at alternative #2. If the answer is no, then it leads me directly to alternative #3.
From my own personal Christian perspective, I believe that this leads me to the alternative not mentioned, which is that God made it all and placed it all exactly where He wanted it to be. Perhaps the reason they cannot find the "debris", which resulted from quickly moving masses colliding with one another to form galaxies over time, is because it didn't happen that way. Perhaps these galaxies were created in space as they are by a God who wanted to display His magnificence and splendor on a canvas that is wider than mankind ever imagined was even in existence.
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished..." - Genesis 2:1
"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?" - Psalm 8:3-4
I have been reflecting on the sermon Pastor Bob delivered on Sunday (see Dan's Sunday AM Remix), particularly the section on waiting on God timing, and this song has been in my head throughout that process. Sometimes the silence we hear and feel when we seek direction/guidance from God can be quite unnerving. This is particularly true in cases where we approach God with a heavy emotional burden. And that is why I love the conclusion of this song:
And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
Jesus understands what it is like to hear the silence of God. While in the Garden of Gethsemane, He pleaded for the Father to remove the cup of agony and pain he was about to experience from Him. (see Luke 22:39-46) Yes, we are told that an angel is sent to comfort Jesus, but the angel does not remove the suffering Jesus is encountering. Note that, after the angel appeared, Jesus then prayed more earnestly while still being in agony. "The aching still remained..."
Jesus then understood the silence of God in a way that we will never understand. While hanging on the Cross on Calvary, Jesus had His Father, whom He has been in communion with for all eternity past, turn his face from Him and pour out His wrath upon Jesus, as the sins of millions of people were cast upon Him and judged. In that moment of alienation, when Jesus Christ experienced the total silence of God, He cried out "Why have you forsaken me?" (see Matthew 27:45-46).
For years I always attributed this quote strictly as a natural response to that painful moment when Christ felt the absolutely foreign weight of sin cast down upon Him. However, in recent years, I have come to love the fact that Jesus was not merely responding to the moment, but was capturing it by quoting the beginning of a Psalm of David, which every Jew that surrounded Him would have instantly recognized and known how it progressed.
Read the following portions of Psalm 22 and see how Jesus was proclaiming His Deity and the faithfulness of God just prior to His death:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praisesof Israel.
In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd,and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet -
I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations even the one who could not keep himself alive.
Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.
I can definitely relate to the "Where are you God?" portions of this passage. However, we must recognize, like the Jews on the hill that day, that Jesus was pointing out that the rest of this Psalm was His to proclaim as well. He was enduring exactly what was prophesied by David centuries before, so that he could also lay claim to final portion where the Lord is given the praise and honor that is due Him. Jesus wasn't merely proclaiming that He was missing God's presence in that moment; He was also proclaiming that He understood that the final outcome was that God would hear His cry and that Jesus would have his rightful place of authority restored.
This is one of the reasons why, immediately prior to his last breath Jesus cried out "It is finished." He had accomplished the task set before Him. He had endured the pain of the crucifixion, as well as the pain of judgement and isolation from God. There was nothing left for Him to do.
So the challenge that I have, that I place to you, is to consider "How do I wait on God?" Do I wait on Him with a sense of dread that He will not respond or that He might give me an unclear response, or do I understand like David and Jesus that God is faithful and He will fulfill all His promises to me? I struggle with remembering that my life is but a vapor and the only amount of significance that it obtains has been given to me by God, so that i proclaim Him to those around me.
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as
we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are
unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that
are unseen are eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
The Silence of God by Andrew Peterson
It's enough to drive a man crazy; it'll break a man's faith
It's enough to make him wonder if he's ever been sane
When he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
And the heaven's only answer is the silence of God
It'll shake a man's timbers when he loses his heart
When he has to remember what broke him apart
This yoke may be easy, but this burden is not
When the crying fields are frozen by the silence of God
And if a man has got to listen to the voices of the mob
Who are reeling in the throes of all the happiness they've got
When they tell you all their troubles have been nailed up to that cross
Then what about the times when even followers get lost?
'Cause we all get lost sometimes...
There's a statue of Jesus on a monastery knoll
In the hills of Kentucky, all quiet and cold
And He's kneeling in the garden, as silent as a Stone
All His friends are sleeping and He's weeping all alone
And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
In the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God
This song has been playing in my head and on my iPod for weeks now.
The following lyrics have really caused me to dwell on the incredible reality of the Incarnation:
"But the baby in her womb, He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith that could make the mountains move"
It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town
And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night
So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love
This new research out of Yale University is absolutely incredible.
The complexity of the human body is absolutely breathtaking.
The developmental/growth process of it is unfathomable.
"...so perfectly organized a structure, it was hard not to attribute Divinity to it..."
"So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."
(Genesis 1:27)
"Give me the grace to believe that you really do know what is best for me and that I do not.
May I cling to Your character and rejoice in Your pursuit of me." - Kenneth Boa
ver, which we are a couple of days into at this point. Not being from a Jewish family, the significance of Passover is somewhat lost on me from a cultural perspective.
by Andrew Peterson
" by Andrew Peterson
:
, which is where most people have heard it:
" by 
, Mr. Graham takes a look back at the life he has lived and offers advice and encouragement to readers young and old.
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