Tag: Life

Categories
Life

Woven

The “loner” in life is actually a misnomer.

"Weaver on the loom" by Vincent Van Gogh

There are no true loners. Oh, it is true that some of us wish to be left alone, and prefer solitude to the company of others. But my very presence on this earth is designed to be part of a larger community. How I interact with my family, friends and acquaintances, and the strangers I meet, all has an impact on the world around me. I can be a force for bringing those around me into a different place today: My depressed attitude, speech, and actions can make others feel the same way; my anger can cause others to react defensively or in anger; my joy or humor might elevate someone else’s sad mood.

Nor does only my presence have consequences on others; even my absence can have an effect on those who love and care about me. If I have been an annoyance or irritant in my little world, there may be some relief when I go away, but even an irritating child can be loved by his mother and missed when he is not around.

I have a part and you have a part in the design of this world, and we contribute to the whole, just as do threads in a tapestry. An individual thread might seem unimportant, but the Weaver knows the picture that He wants to make; that thread makes small details stand out, and helps to make the picture complete. Ask God what part you have to play in his design, and be sure that you are allowing Him to work His way in your life!

Teri DeSario sings about this beautifully on her 1985 album Voices In The Wind, with the song Tapestry.

I am a thread in the tapestry
I have the Master’s hand on me
And then He weaves me carefully
Making textures as He goes

Each of us part of this Great Design
You’ve got your part and I’ve got mine
All of our lives are intertwined
As the fabric starts to grow

Through thick and thin
The Master weaves us in
Young and old
You’re the colors of the rainbow
Our lives are short and long
But together we hold strong
In this everlasting tapestry

Taking the lovely and the plain
All of our laughter and our pain
Passing them back and forth again
The pattern can be seen

And when we’re finished we will be
A perfectly woven tapestry
A beautiful new creation seen
For all the universe to see

Through thick and thin
The Master weaves us in (yeah)
Young and old
You’re the colors of the rainbow
Our lives are short and long
But together we hold strong
In this everlasting tapestry

And every thread is known by name
Not a single thread the same
Every thread is known by name
As we’re woven on His Name
Into a tapestry of love

Thick and thin (together)
The Master weaves us in (together)
Young and old (together)
You’re the colors of the rainbow
Our lives are short and long (together)
But together we hold strong
In this everlasting tapestry
Everlasting tapestry

Together
Together
Together
Together

Voices In The Wind, 1985, Terry DeSario
Categories
Life Praise

Unloved

Last Sunday was Life Sunday, when we remember the sanctity of life. At my church we had a panel of five local ministry leaders with whom our pastor talked during the sermon time. We heard from:

  • AAA Center For Pregnancy Counseling, working to encourage women to seek alternatives to abortion when facing an unplanned pregnanacy
  • Embrace The Heartland In Prayer, focused on dedicated prayer for the city of Omaha
  • Good News Jail & Prison Ministry, ministry to those serving sentences, to bring hope to those who are hopeless and giving them a reason to not return to crime
  • Abide Network, working in the underserved and poor part of the city to restore and empower children and families to change their world through the transforming power of Jesus
  • Threefold Cord, which focuses on ministry to the elderly in nursing homes, many of whom are forgotten, lonely, and facing death
Photo credit -- Flickr, Romanlily
Photo credit -- Flickr, Romanlily

As each representative spoke, and told of the work they do, and the lives they have impacted, it was startling to see the great need present in the very city in which I live. I was shown how lives from pre-birth to the grave all have their own unique problems, and how some people had been called out of their comfort zones to help and minister to these underserved groups.

Amongst the songs we sang that morning, our worship leader chose one that specifically focused on getting a feeling for God’s heart for all of these hurting people. Notice the lines that I’ve emphasized below in boldface, especially this: “break my heart for what breaks yours.” Or, as one of our speakers stated, “I once asked Jesus into my heart. I now learned that I needed to ask Jesus to let me into His heart.”

Oh, Lord, help me see each person you bring across my path with Your eyes, as I do my daily work!

Here is the song Hosanna, as sung here by Hillsong, from the live 2007 album Saviour King.

I see the King of Glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes

I see His love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing

Hosanna
Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

Hosanna
Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We’re on our knees
We’re on our knees

Hosanna
Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like You have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom’s cause
As I go from earth into Eternity

Hosanna
Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

Hosanna
Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

Saviour King, 2007, Hillsong
Categories
Life

New Life

Remember the story of Aladdin and his magic lamp? There are various versions of it in circulation, but the basic story is that Aladdin finds a lamp with a genie who can grant wishes. Back home with it, his mother (not recognizing its value) is tricked by a door-to-door salesman into trading the genie-enhanced lamp for a nicer-looking, non-magical lamp. The salesman knew about the value of Aladdin’s lamp, and offered the better looking (but worthless) copy to try to gain that treasure. The pitch he gave was, “New lamps for old! New lamps for old!” It was as deceptive as the line you might read today in an e-mail today, one that promises you a portion of $17 million dollars if you will just give your bank account number so that it can be deposited.

History is full of shady agents out to separate fools from their money, or leaders who have deceived crowds into following them in a war of conquest of a neighbor who had something that they wanted. But in spite of these bad examples, there have also been many, many honest businessmen or politicians who have truly wanted to provide their customers or subjects with a quality product or quality leadership.

Jesus, in his role as a salesman, did his best to explain to a teacher of the law in Israel what it was like to be part of the kingdom of God. In John 3:1-21 you can find the full details of his sales pitch. He told this Pharisee about being “born again” through God’s Spirit, and the change to a person’s life that happened when he was exposed to the light of God. He also told the Pharisee that when truth entered his life, the results could be plainly seen by all. The change on on the inside resulted in a visible change on the outside.

Wayne Watson released an album in 1982 called New Lives For Old. The title track of that album tells the story of someone who was radically changed by his encounter with Jesus. Like the salesman in the story of Aladdin, he was offering something new in exchange for something old; but unlike the Aladdin story, this new thing was the real thing, and it was worth everything to an old carnival man. This clip was taken from The Larry Black Show, so Larry has some comments at the end.

They say he ran a carnival
That used to come to town
Till one September afternoon
He shut it down

They tell me something happened
Some say he lost his mind
Now most September afternoons
This is what you’ll find

An old man on the corner
Where he used to sell his show
Now he shouts what sounds like foolishness
As the people come and go

“New lives for old!
Warm hearts for cold!
Have I got a deal for you today
Come on, step right this way
And get your new lives for old!”

He puts it in the paper
He goes from door to door
The people say, “He’s such a fool
To come back for more!”

Old friends are mostly puzzled
They don’t know what to say
‘Cause ever since that afternoon
He’s just been that way

It’s like the old man died
And someone came to take his place
Now he just stands out there bellowin’
A smile upon his wrinkled face

“New lives for old!
Warm hearts for cold!
Have I got a deal for you today
Come on, step right this way
And get your new lives for old!”

Remembering this story
As I once passed through that town
I thought I ought to stop and see
If he’s still around

There was someone on that corner
Where I heard he’d alway stand
And he chuckled when I asked him
Where I could find the man

He said, “Thank God that crazy fool
Finally died last spring.”
And I said, “I’ll take up where he left off, then
‘Cause I’m pushing the same thing!”

“New lives for old!
Warm hearts for cold!
Have I got a deal for you today
Come on, step right this way
And get your new lives for old!”

Categories
Life

Living Water

Have you ever felt so excited about something that you couldn’t contain yourself? You just had to tell your friend, your neighbor, the person you met while walking down the street? This news you had was just too good to keep inside. It was like something that was bursting out of you that you couldn’t control!

The Joy that Jesus brings to my life is like that sometimes. Almost like a geyser, the Spirit bursts forth from me, usually in songs that I know, and that Joy comes out with it. It is literally energizing to have this happen, and spend the next several hours with music coming out in hums and whistles and fragments of song.

Jesus talks about this in the Gospel of John, chapter 7, verses 37 to 39: “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”

This “living water” that Jesus spoke of, the Holy Spirit, is obviously so much more than just a song. But His work in your spirit could be through tears and repentance, or through joy and song. And I know that one way in which He works (at least in me) is to bring back to my remembrance Scripture that I’ve learned in the past — or possibly a song. And regardless of how He chooses to work in me today, it gives me something I can use to water the thirsty land around me, if I choose to let it flow!

Denny Correll released an album in 1979, Standin’ In The Light. One of the tracks on that album, Living Water is a joyful song that explains what I’ve said above in different words. Enjoy!

I grew up in a shack by the railroad tracks
In the funky part of New Orleans
All the people would come from miles around
Just to hear my grandpa preach
They would line up in the streets

He would shout, “Hallelujah!”, as he’d lift his hands
And tell them ’bout the glory train
With a tear in his eyes a Scripture he’d read
From the the Gospel in his hand
He had to make them understand

He’d say, Come ye, who are thirsty, come
Drink Living Water from the fountain of life
Come ye, who are thirsty, come
Drink Living Water from the fountain of life

He would say, “I was a sinner, just like you
Before the Lord set me free
By the Spirit of Truth my chains were loosed
From the Fountain of Truth you see
Now Living Water flows through me!”

He’d say, Come ye, who are thirsty, come
Drink Living Water from the fountain of life
Come ye, who are thirsty, come
Drink Living Water from the fountain of life

He’d say, Come ye, who are thirsty, come
Drink Living Water from the fountain of life
Come ye, who are thirsty, come
Drink Living Water from the fountain of life