Friday’s Tune: Resting Place

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faith, Friday's Tune, music

It was the Sunday following the attacks on September 11th, and I was still trying to wrap my mind around it. So we gathered as a congregation, clustered en masse at the altar, praying and worshipping. It was the first time I heard this song taken from Isaiah 66:1-2.

And as I sang, in the midst of the fear and confusion, God whispered in my ear…”Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool”. What a mental picture! The God of the Universe is so much greater and stronger that this planet is a small piece of furniture in comparison. He is not a God who stays at a distance, but One who saw each tear and heard each cry that day, and this day. I could trust that He would hear us in the days ahead, and I could trust Him, God of the Angel Armies, to keep us safe.  I don’t ever need to be afraid.

Happy Weekend!

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Daphne Rademaker (c) 1991 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music, David C Cook)) Vineyard Songs Canada (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music, David C Cook))

 

Friday’s Tune: Turn Your Eyes

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faith, Friday's Tune, hymns, music

Today’s tune is a surprise, even to me. It’s been a tough week, and this old hymn, first published in 1918 by Helen Lemell, has been an anchor. I can remember singing it as a kid and being confused by the line “and the things of earth will grow strangely dim”. How could the things around me, the trees, my house, my toys, just fade? I knew it wasn’t by magic; I knew about miracles and Jesus’ power. Was it like drifting off to sleep?

As I’ve grown older, I have understood the deeper meaning. That when I take my eyes off Jesus and focus instead on the things the world values, I lose intimacy in my relationship with Christ. I become proud and arrogant, going my own way, being swayed by “fine-sounding arguments”. I get beaten up and overwhelmed. I lose sight of Who I am to follow and to Whom I belong. I become no longer who I was made to be, and to serve as I’ve been called to serve.

But if I focus on Jesus only, the opinions, the conspiracies, the craziness of the world will fade away. I can have lasting peace and joy. Don’t get the wrong impression. I’m not a naive, “airy-fairy, ignore-it-and-it-will-go-away” person. I am not living in fear. I am not afraid to speak up, in love. I hope I am wise enough to know when to shut up. I have a choice in Who and what I listen to, and I choose Jesus.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Gal. 6:14

Friday’s Tune: Raise a Hallelujah

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faith, Friday's Tune, photography, sunsets

Some days we just have to trust a little harder, pray a little longer and sing a little louder. The King is Alive!

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Happy Friday!

Jake Stevens | Jonathan David Helser | Melissa Helser | Molly Skaggs (c) 2018 Bethel Music Publishing

 

Friend of a Wounded Heart

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faith, Friday's Tune, love

I listened to this song when I was a senior in public school. It made me feel less lonely. I  was (stupidly) desperate to have a boyfriend and be like the other girls in my class. I was a shy wallflower, so most of the guys didn’t notice me. And the smart ones who might of noticed me, were too afraid to say anything.

Smile, make them think you’re happy
Lie, and say that things are fine
And hide that empty longing that you feel
Don’t ever show it, just keep your heart concealed

Like most prepubescent girls, I had a warped sense of love and romance. There was pressure to conform and FOMO, the fear of missing out, something that’s existed long before the concept gained popularity! I suspect that even though girls are educated from a young age to dream big and pursue those dreams, from astronomy to zoology, from running marathons to running multi-million dollar corporations, the longing is still tucked away in there. We were built for relationship. Unfortunately, thirteen year olds aren’t built with the maturity to build serious relationships.

I don’t think the pressure to have someone really lessens with age. The ability to sidestep those awkward conversations get easier. And one learns to take joy in other types of relationships, including with one’s self. As we all should. After all, no one person can ever truly make us happy. Only Jesus.

Instead, it seems every television show promotes relationships as one-night stands or something that can be tossed aside when something better comes along. Not every relationship is healthy but the casualness is disconcerting. Not just because I’m an old fart! It’s just a style with which I couldn’t be comfortable if I were single.

I’m proud of my oldest son. It’s a sore point for him. I know he’d like settle down with someone special. I’ve watched him sidestep the awkward questions. I know he gets pressured by the guys at work. But I’m proud of him for waiting, for respecting himself and the girls out there enough not to run around. He’s looking for a lasting relationship, built on friendship and trust, not sex. I believe he’ll blessed one day, and though it’s painful in the waiting, he will share a love that runs deep and can weather any storm.

 We have all been wounded by love, in the lack of it, the distortion of it, or the loss of it. We were built for relationship. But what we don’t realize is the first and most important relationship were supposed to have, the One who should be our first and forever love, is Jesus.  I don’t think I got that at thirteen. I realized it much later in life, after a lot of wounding. And yes, sometimes I still have to be reminded Who loves me most. That all the longing to love and be loved can be satisfied in that one relationship. That when it is, I have love that overflows into the other relationships I hold dear – my family, my church family, even the stupid man in the grocery store who didn’t care that he was going the wrong way!

Perhaps that’s why this long-forgotten song has been playing in my head. I needed the reminder again. Maybe someone who persevered through this very long post needed it too.  😉

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Friend of a Wounded Heart © Claire Cloninger / Claire D. Cloninger / Wayne Watson
Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Photo: Marko Blažević on unsplash.com

Friday’s Tune: All The Way

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faith, Friday's Tune, hymns, music

The sun was shining this morning. It had rained through the night and broken the oppressive heat. A gentle breeze was blowing, and the birds were all singing their glorious songs. But I was sitting there in a bit of a funk. I felt guilty because I knew I shouldn’t be feeling this way. My unwelcome and long-time companion, insecurity, was hanging around too.

I had participated in an exciting venture this week, but it felt like no one noticed. Of course, they did! I had worked hard to make sure other players were acknowledged. But wasn’t I also part of the team? Like a person on fire, when a pity-party threatens, I need to stop, drop and roll before the Lord. I need to remind myself why I did what I did, why we all did. It was to honour Him with our gifts and talents, with the creativity and the opportunity He gave us. It was an honour, and each of us had an important part to play.

As I confessed my insecure heart and my ungrateful, selfish attitude, a song started to play in my heart. A hymn I have I loved for a very long time. There is nothing more that I need.

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All the Way My Savior Leads Me  (c) Fanny Crosby / Richard Mullins Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management

 

Friday’s Tune: It’s Good to Be Alive

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blessing, faith, Friday's Tune, music

Sometimes we just gotta’ wake up and count our blessings. Widen our focus. Put on some music and dance. Each day is a gift. Even the hard ones.

When we “count our blessings”, we shift the focus from our circumstances or the 4 walls of our minds. It helps us appreciate what have, or who we have, in our lives. It encourages us to say “thank you”, thereby spreading the blessing. Renewed gratitude renews relationship, even the one you have with your own soul.

Like a conversation with someone else, we are forced to rethink our perceptions, talk through what is holding us back, or holding us down. We can see where we have been and where we are going, and where we are growing. If we don’t like the direction, we can start to make choices to  change it.

This life could almost kill ya’ when you’re trying to survive

When all your energy goes into just surviving, ask God to show you the blessings in your life. Share the pain, the guilt or whatever it is that is threatening to overwhelm you. He can handle it. He can handle your anger, your disappointment, and your sorrow. He can fill your loneliness, restore your peace, and strengthen your resolve.

Each day is a new beginning, a little resurrection. A chance to start over. A reason to find joy.

 

Happy Weekend!

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Photo courtesy of Jasper Geys on http://www.unsplash.com
Writers: Tom Douglas, John Cooper, Zachary David Maloy

Friday’s Tune: Perfect Union

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faith, Friday's Tune, memories, music, weddings

This week, while resting with a cup of tea between jobs, I perused Instagram. I don’t normally check out the “suggested for you” page, but I did and there were wedding photos. I’m a sucker for ball gowns. Actress, Busy Philips, celebrated her 13th anniversary this week and she posted pics from her nuptials, including her dress, her invitations, and her “mix tape”, a gift to  was given to her guests. My guests received homemade chocolate truffles. I think I’d prefer the truffles.

Anyway, it got me thinking, since this Monday is my 24th wedding anniversary! I’ve lived more years with Hubby than without.

There were certain things about my special day that were extra important, the groom and my family aside. The dress (as Princess Diana as I could afford). The flowers (red roses like my grandmother). And the music. I selected every piece, from the processional (Praise My Soul the King of Heaven) and recessional (Trumpet Voluntary), to the hymn and 2 solos. I also selected the first 3 songs for our small dance. I danced with my father to Matthew Ward’s, My Little Ones. It made us both cry. Our wedding party danced to All the Way My Saviour Leads Me by Rich Mullins. But it was our first dance that is today’s tune: Perfect Union by Matthew Ward.

My sister-in-law introduced me to this song when she had it sung at her wedding. I loved the imagery that despite the “storms of life”, if we chose to seek God first in our marriage, we would be strengthened and love would endure. We would be joined in “three part harmony”.

During some very difficult years, I would look at our wedding photos and I was encouraged by the light reflecting on the cross on the altar in front of us. I took that as a special message from God that He was still part of this relationship and if we looked to Him, we would endure.

Hand and hand we’ll seek the Father.

Happy Friday!

Lyrics
copyright: © Matthew Ward / John Andrew Schreiner Music, Megins College Fund Music

Friday’s Tune: Legendary

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Friday's Tune, music, Skillet

I went grocery shopping yesterday and it wasn’t long until I became an angry shopper.

I met a woman coming the wrong way down the well-marked aisle. I kindly pointed it out to her and she walked right and muttered, “I don’t think so”. It immediately sparked something primal in me. I replied, “no, really. There are arrows on the floor”. She replied without stopping or looking back,  “I don’t see anything”. “Really?” I barked, and turned to go. That’s when she muttered something rude. I won’t repeat it.

It made me angry: her sense of entitlement to break the rules, her assumptions about me, and overall, the complete lack of respect.

Anger is a natural response. In some cases, it’s an appropriate response. Even Jesus got angry. But he didn’t live angry. He didn’t feel angry. Not all the time. It was one of the reasons that I quit my job. I felt angry all the time, and I don’t want to be that person.

I don’t want to drive angry. I don’t want to work angry. I don’t want to live angry.

On the way home from the store, Skillet’s song, Legendary, was playing.

Every day I fight to be…Legendary

What does that mean? I know for some it means building an empire, getting noticed, having a following. As a Christ Follower, I am not called to build my kingdom but God’s.

Somewhere along the way, God started to connect the dots. To be legendary means to live every day as Jesus did. Jesus spoke out against injustice. He built up the poor and the weak. He loved the outcast. The very things we let divide us never mattered to Him. Instead of skin colour or cultural backgrounds, He saw people who struggled and hurt.

Legends made when faith is strong.

It sounds simplistic, but if we all adopted the attitudes of Jesus, wouldn’t it stand to reason that our actions would become an outpouring from a place of love. Our own sense of importance and entitlement would dissipate. We would have the energy to focus on fighting for the things that matter – “breaking down the wall of hostility” – instead of fighting each other.

I’m not naive nor do I belong on a soapbox. I know the problems in our world are greater than any one person. Or any one group of people. But it doesn’t mean I stop trying. I can choose to be angry, or I can choose to live another way.

Happy Friday!

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photo: canva.com

Friday’s Tune: Better is One Day

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Bible, faith, Friday's Tune

Matt Redman’s song, Better is One Day came out in 1995 and it remains in on the Christian Copyright Licensing International’s Top 20 list. It’s based on Psalm 84: 9-11:

Look on our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one. Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

This week my amazing friend shared her experience with this song with an honesty and vulnerability that made my heart both burst with joy, and bleed a little. Her testimony is amazing because her God (& mine) is amazing. Her joy is contagious and her desire to know and serve the Lord is tenacious. God has done great things, and He is doing and will continue to do great things in her life, and in the lives of all she touches. Her blog is called Blessed Beyond Measure – I encourage you to pop over and visit her post “Better is One Day“.

I made a connection to this song when I learned about the sons of Korah in Beth Moore’s A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place. It continues to be a reminder that I should be content where God has placed me to serve. His presence is all I need.

God had set apart the Levites as the tribe to serve in His holy dwelling place, and the Korhathites in particular (Lev. 4:4), to carry “the most holy things” used in the Tent of Meeting when the camp moved. (Lev. 4:15) BUT they were not to touch or look upon any of the most holy things or they would die. (Lev.4:15, 20)

But, as people are prone to do, a number of them, along with some other prominent  leaders, became insolent and accused Moses and Aaron of setting themselves above everyone else. Moses asked Korah, “Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? …now are you trying to get the priesthood too?” (Num 16:9-10) Moses interceded so that God graciously spared the innocent members of the rebellious tribe, but God’s judgment on the others was severe. The earth opened and swallowed them so that the whole nation would know that God distributed justice.  As a reminder that God was sovereign, He directed the censors used in the rebellion were hammered down and used as a overlay or shield on the altar.

The descendants of Korah became temple musicians in the days of King David and King Solomon, and they never forgot the sins of their forefathers. They sing a new song of praise and gratitude, recognizing that being present with God’s is the greatest blessing.

Happy Friday!

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Better is One Day  Matt Redman © 1995 Thankyou Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Friday’s Tune: Who You Say I Am

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failure, faith, Friday's Tune

Have you ever noticed that we wear names and titles like a favourite old shirt? They become a staple in our wardrobe, something we cling to as familiar and comfortable. They are unflattering, maybe even off-putting to others. Maybe even to us. But we can’t quite work up the energy or even the courage, to let them go. We feel naked without them; they have become the fabric of us. Other times we know it’s time to throw them out but we are too uncomfortable to go without. We want to wait until something better comes along, but we’re too timid to look for something better.

I’ve worn a lot of names and titles. Some of them were unflattering. 😉

This week, a worship leader shared that she lost her office admin. job in her home church because of COVID-19. She understood, and was still participating  as a volunteer in other areas. Yet she struggled with feelings of anger and hurt, and feelings of guilt for feeling angry and hurt. She was part of things but somehow felt like she was now on the outside. I understood. I still struggle with feelings of anger and hurt after leaving my job too.  I’m part of things but often feel like I’m on the outside, no longer valued, simply because I’m not wearing that title any more. Anger, hurt, guilt – it’s all part of the grieving process and one can’t just snap their fingers and be over it. How I wanted so much to share something meaningful with her that would help her.

 As I tried to craft a written response, God heard the unformed thoughts of my own heart. He reminded me that my title was never Office Administrator – that was just my job. My title is not Worship Leader, or Ministry Leader, or Blogger, or even Mom. My title is Child of God (John 1:12). Everything else flows out from there. Anything else that was or will be also flows out from there.  It’s the only shirt I will ever need to wear.

Happy Friday

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Who You Say I Am © Ben Fielding / Reuben Morgan, Capitol Christian Music Group