Tag Archives: courage

When My Two Angels Braved the Lake

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When my two angels braved the lake
To laughs and shouts of glee,
Despite the bitter temperature
The morn of Christmas Eve,

It was a fun tradition
That went back many years,
For demonstrating courage
And overcoming fears.

Some braved the cold so stoically
While others gave a scream;
Few lasted half a minute
Before they had to flee

Back to the shore to dry and warm,
Share greetings of the season
When One braved a greater shock
For a far nobler reason:

Descending from His heavenly throne
To be a helpless babe,
Amidst the cold and stench and filth
And aiming for the grave,

Where He would buy us with his blood
An open path to Him,
Where we can share His glory,
And His love is everything.

A Sermon: Love and Terror

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(This is a sermon I gave on the 20th of February this year, before the Russia-Ukraine Conflict began)

Romans 8:14-18

1 John 4: 7-21

Last time I gave a sermon, I introduced a new song, and played a video connected to the sermon that also served as a pre-sunday-school message for children. This time, I have (almost) combined all of those into one (I’m not sure it quite works as a message for children, but they might enjoy some of the images at least)

Many people struggle to love God because they can’t grasp who and what God is, how indescribably wonderful he is and worthy of our praise and attention. This passage provides us with one key to grasping a whole lot more of who we are called to worship and follow.

God is love. Would you say that the song was telling the truth about love? We see examples of love in the world that reflect those aspects, those properties of genuine love. Even if we aren’t experiencing them directly ourselves, we have certainly witnessed something like them in the lives of others around us, or in stories that really resonate with us, because they are showing something true and pure, the love of good parents or grandparents, of good and honest friends, a motivated rescue worker or doctor, the camaraderie and sacrifice of an honourable soldier, a helpful colleague at work, a kind-hearted stranger, a loving husband or wife. All of those loves that we can see concretely are weak reflections of the perfect, abundant, generous and powerful love of god. All of those loves that we see around us or hear about ultimately come from him.

God is love. So everything that the song said about love, we can say about God. He is patient and kind; he won’t leave us to our fate, he looks us in the face; he sees our flaws, but that doesn’t discourage him; he gives us a place where we truly belong, he continues to care even when we turn our backs on him, he forgives us and welcomes us back when we realise how stupid we have been, he gives us room to grow and empowers us to be the person we were truly meant to be.

God is love. A key aspect of God is that He is a powerful, active, invigorating, joyful, and supremely generous relationship between three persons. God is so overjoyed by this relationship that he wants to share it with us! Imagine that. He wants us to be as loving, as joyful, as generous and fulfilled as He is—to have live in abundance. To grow the gifts that he has already given us and become more and more the magnificent creations he made us to be. Now that is an invitation worth accepting. If we have already accepted that offer, it is one worth remembering, being grateful for and living accordingly with all our heart, all our strength and all of our mind.

Perfect love casts out fear. What is the message that the world, our governments and news organizations has been telling us for the last two years?

Be terrified. Suffering and death is around the corner. Hide. Everyone around you is a threat; keep them away. Don’t meet together, don’t celebrate, don’t sing. Wear a mask, or two, or three. Be responsible and show everyone around you how terrified you are. I recently saw a video of a man on an airplane putting on six masks. He was very proud of himself, making a show in front of everyone of adding mask after mask, as if to say, “Look at me! I’m better than all of you, because I’m more afraid.” It’s absurd. Other people scream hysterically whenever anyone comes near them, as if standing next to someone is the same as attempted murder. Some just play at being scared so they can look down on others and bully them, others have become addicted to this foundation of fear and are unable to cope with things going back to normal. They should be pitied.

What else does the news try to terrify us with? War is coming with Russia! (Now that the war between Ukraine and Russia has begun, that it’s the start of World War III and nuclear catastrophe) Democracies are turning into tyrannies all over the world. Civil wars are on the horizon. Economies are collapsing. Everything is unstable, out of control and you’re powerless to do anything about it. Despair, cower, and most of all, be terrified.

How do we respond to that? We could quote Mark Twain:

“If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.”

Because so much of the news is distorted, if not invented, and important events and contexts are often ignored completely. Unfortunately this is not only true of the tabloid press, the never-ending news cycle means that reaction and attention is everything, and the easiest attention-getting reactions to evoke are fear and outrage. (The fact that these reactions also make the viewer/listener easier to manipulate is a bonus). There will be some fragments of truth mixed in occasionally, but without a reliable direct source for comparison, it becomes very difficult to know what is really going on (even moreso during a time of war, as all you will hear on the news is propaganda from one side or the other), so ignoring the sensationalized version of what a given news source wants you to think becomes more appealing, even healthy.

Even if every danger they warn of is real, the words of C.S. Lewis that have been recently circulating online in various venues come to mind:

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

— “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) in Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays

If all of our hopes are in this life, then despair and terror are logical responses. It has always been that way. But our hopes are not all in this life. We are promised persecution, struggles, difficult tasks and difficult choices, but also the strength to endure and grow through them. We are not abandoned and helpless, we are treasured children of a loving God. If the worst happens and we die, we go to be in the arms of God, fully plunged into that amazing relationship, seeing His infinite beauty face to face.

Getting back to the song, a blind friend of a friend by the name of Michael Bayus listened to it, liked it and shared the following thought:

“Being deeply loved by someone gives one strength, loving someone deeply gives one courage.”

So know that you are deeply loved by someone stronger than the world, who has defeated the world, and take strength from that to deal with the discomforts and troubles of life, and we are still very well off compared to any era in history.

Let’s have the courage to love those that God loves around us, work to make our little part of the world a little closer to what it should be, create something beautiful and share it, renew a relationship that’s been neglected, support a friend in their efforts to improve themselves, work on developing the gifts we have been given, aim to be more like Christ in the way we treat others. Meditate on what it means that God is love, and that He loves you, and learn to love him back.

Winter Musing

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I wrote most of this this while on a walk yesterday:

Winter Musing

When snowy fields at sunset have turned the world to gold,
Remember truths you must pass on before your heart grows cold:
An empty soul cannot be filled with momentary joys;
A broken heart cannot be fixed with parties, tricks and shiny toys.

Don’t entertain yourselves to death, but reach for higher things,
You do not need to be struck blind or hear an angel’s wings
To witness glory all around in little acts of love,
Appreciate a kindness shown when push has come to shove,

Let the lonely child know there’s a place where he belongs,
Offer words of hope to those whose faith is not as strong:
When darkness overwhelms you and your path is all but gone,
The shadow’s but a passing thing, and you are not alone.

The one who knows your heart and pain,
Who knows your will to rise again,
Who calls the storm cloud and the rain,
Is closer than you know.

So lift your head up strong and proud,
And when before the madding crowd,
Be not afraid to shout aloud,
“In His steps I will go!”

Should they choose to run you through
For staying faithful, pure and true,
Then heaven’s door will be in view,
And joy will overflow.

Pentecost

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I had the opportunity to preach yesterday on Pentecost, so of course that was the topic of my Sermon. I very nearly turned down the opportunity due to a persistent eye dryness problem that made it very difficult to prepare for it, but that has cleared up today, so I am grateful for all of your prayers for me on that issue.

Pentecost

The book of Acts is one of the greatest adventure stories in history, a small band of the faithful begins to overcome the most powerful empire the world had ever seen, but not through military force. There are spectacular reversals and transformations, of individual lives and of communities. Powerful men are humbled, captives are freed, there are riots and imprisonments, intrigues and conspiracies, shipwrecks, storms, journeys and spiritual battles. And miracles. Lots of miracles. All of this started with Pentecost, or rather it began with the crucifixion and resurrection, where Jesus paid for the sins of the world and proved once and for all that he was who he claimed to be—the Danielic Son of Man, Messiah of Israel and Eternal Son of God— but it was Pentecost that fully equipped and empowered the Early Church to begin the Great Commission.

The Jewish festival of Pentecost (otherwise known as the feast of weeks, since it was a week of weeks or 49 days after Passover) was a celebration of the first harvest of wheat, and over time also became a celebration of the giving of the Law to Moses, so was fairly significant in the Jewish calendar, though far less so than Passover, obviously. This meant you would have to be a particularly pious Jew to travel to Jerusalem for both festivals when they were only seven weeks apart. The crowd that witnessed the speaking in tongues that were from all over the known world, even beyond the Roman Empire, were mostly people who had permanently migrated to Jerusalem from those other countries rather than just visiting for the festival (though some were described as being visitors from Rome), so they most likely already spoke Aramaic or Greek and didn’t absolutely need to hear the message of God in their own language, though this no doubt had a great impact on them to hear God being glorified in their own tongue, indicating that God’s Kingdom was about to spread far beyond the borders of Israel and be just as present and at home in those other nations as in Jerusalem. Since the Christian Pentecost and giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church occurred at the Jewish Pentecost, which celebrated the giving of the Law to Moses, let’s quickly compare the two events.

First, from Exodus 19:5-6,16-25(NIV):

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

 

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

 

The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.”

 

Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”

 

The Lord replied, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them.”

 

So Moses went down to the people and told them.

Now Acts 2:1-24, 36-41(NIV):

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

 

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

 

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

 

“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

 

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

 

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

 

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

 

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

In both events, we have a public and spectactular show of God’s power, heralded by a great noise, God appearing in the form of fire and also the sound of a voice, and both were connected with the establishment of a new covenant between God and man. There are important differences, however.

In the giving of the Law to Moses, only Moses (and later Aaron) were allowed up the mountain, the ordinary folk were forbidden to approach. The great noise scared the people gathered there. God appearing as fire remained where He was, as one entity, undivided, and spoke with one mighty voice. The law and covenant that was set up established intermediaries between the ordinary folk and God (Moses, Aaron, and the priests).

At Pentecost, the noise drew people towards it. The fire split and rested upon everyone in the upper room, and the voices were many, that of the people present in that upper room giving all of them new languages to speak and glorify God, and everyone was given direct access to God through the Spirit.

This was like a temporary reversal of the Curse of Babel, where instead of people speaking new languages they’d never learned to prevent them from understanding each other and force them to disperse, people were speaking new languages they’d never learned so that everyone could understand the good news of God’s Kingdom and know they were invited to join and become part of God’s chosen people, no matter who they were or where they were from.

Some in the crowd joked that the disciples were drunk. We can’t tell whether this was a mean-spirited jibe meant to discredit them or just a playful jest at the joy in their hearts. What we do know is that Peter doesn’t take it personally, maybe even laughing along and responding with a little joke of his own. If he had been as concerned for his own honour as some of the chief priests and Pharisees of his day, he could have easily reacted with, “How dare you accuse us of drunkenness! We are holy men of God!” And immediately a barrier would be raised between speaker and listener, and genuine conversation would become more difficult. When we can laugh at ourselves, it disarms insults, whether intended or not, it brings us closer to people and we can move on to more important matters. It’s a very important skill (and attitude) to practice.

The passage that Peter quotes from Joel speaks of God’s spirit being given to those who would never be normally allowed to be priests, those who were too young or too old, girls and women, and the note that whoever calls on the name of the Lord being saved now carries extra weight. God’s kingdom is now not just for the Jews—everyone is to have access to God and to share His love and His Kingdom with the wider world. They really are becoming a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, just like God planned for Israel as he was giving the law to Moses.

It could have been easy for Peter to soften his message to avoid offending the crowd, but he didn’t hold back. He started with what the crowd themselves knew, since they lived in Jerusalem and had no doubt heard of Jesus and what happened to him, plus some of the rumours—a number of them had probably even heard Jesus teach. Peter then added what he and his friends had witnessed and learned, and led them to the logical conclusion, the harsh truth. In this the Holy Spirit was working, not giving him new knowledge, but guiding Peter in what to say, and the spirit was also working in the hearts of those listening, convicting them of their condition before God.

And three thousand were added that day. The church that Jesus builds, that the gates of hell will not prevail against, got going in earnest.

What about us? We aren’t personally surrounded by miracles, signs and wonders. What can we do to spread God’s Kingdom? We can tell the truth, even when it seems people will hate us for it. We can admit when we make a mistake or don’t know something or don’t understand something. We can keep learning, listen to people around us and start with what they know, trying to lead them to the full truth. When we hear a lie being spread, we can counter it. Maybe people won’t believe us, maybe they’ll want nothing to do with us afterwards, but it’s still the right thing to do.

The Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson is a very interesting individual. He’s not a Christian, but many of us think (and hope) that he is not far from becoming one. He often defends the Bible and Christianity and its part in Western civilization from attacks by Marxist activists, he gave a series of lectures on the Bible in which he highlights the healthy wisdom, deep spiritual truths, and good life advice it contains. Many young men have come to Christ through his lectures, despite the fact that he is not a believer himself. On the verse “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” he had this to say (I’m paraphrasing and combining with other comments, but I hope he’d agree that I’m not totally misrepresenting his positions):

What some people call courage is actually just being afraid of the right thing. Each time a person fears what people will think of them, deciding to not cause trouble by standing up to something they know is a lie, they shrivel a little inside. If this pattern continues, they grow old bitter and full of regrets and resentment. When you tell the truth in a given situation, then that will result in the best possible long-term outcome overall, even if the short-term outcome is very unpleasant, or the outcome for you personally is very negative. When lies are allowed to spread unopposed, then that leads to tyranny, to societies where everyone lies about everything all the time, and that is hell. I’m afraid of reaching old age, and looking back at all the times I could have stood up to evil and lies, but didn’t. That’s what I’m afraid of.

How much more should we who believe practice looking at our situation from the perspective of eternity, and consider what opportunities we’ll be ashamed to admit we didn’t take when we stand before the throne of God? It is an unsettling thought that should motivate us to action, a struggle that should accompany us our entire lives.

So let’s learn from our mistakes, learn from each other and learn together. Let’s be glad for the chance to laugh at ourselves. Let’s be filled with the spirit of Truth, overcome our short-sighted fears and tell people the truth, guide them from where they are towards the source of all truth, to the one who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Songs Now Available for Purchase

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Both versions of the song ‘A Tale of the Once and Future King’ are now available for purchase at my cdbaby.com artist page for only 99 cents each. They can both be found by clicking the image below:

In time they should also become available from other online music stores. I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I did creating them, and they help to prepare the audience for Anthony Marchetta’s upcoming masterpiece.

A Tale of the Once and Future King

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After a highly enjoyable discussion of the Classic The Once and Future King by T.H. White at DragonCon yesterday, I was able to makes some new friends and give the premier showing of the promotional video for the Upcoming Superversive Press anthology Tales of the Once and Future King. It was very well received, and I can now share it with you all via the magic of youtube:

There is also a more orchestral version of the song, in which Sean McCleery again showcases his considerable musical talent:

Both versions of the song are now available for purchase from cdbaby.com, and in time will also become available from a wide range of music sites. As this is my first foray into the world of professional music, it is an exciting and also daunting prospect. Click on the image below to visit my artist page, where both versions can be downloaded.

The Lyrics of the song are below:

A Tale of the Once and Future King

I’ll tell you a tale so your hearts won’t quail
Of the Once and Future King.
Surrounded by heroes, how mighty the cheer rose
At the hope his presence would bring.
With the sword from the stone
For his sins he atoned;
Though he did go away,
He’ll be back here one day
To reclaim his rightful throne.

A shadowy hand stretched over the land
And the people were distressed.
Foul fiends of the night,
Filled with unholy might,
Gave the poor and helpless no rest.
By the power of the cross,
And at great human cost,
They were sent down to hell,
And the land was made well,
So at last they could mourn the lost.

Though we’re pressed on each side
And so many have died,
Now is not the time to despair.
We’re still strong enough
To repel and rebuff
The troops of the Queen of the Air.
We will not concede,
For in our hour of need,
It has long been foretold
That our great king of old
Will be back, and the people freed.

You may mock, you may sneer,
You may laugh out of fear,
At the hope I claim to bring:
Mere stories for children,
Or gullible pilgrims,
Of a good and righteous king?
Yet he stands in your midst
And will not be dismissed;
His heroes beside him,
His people uniting,
In his army we enlist!

Wise Men

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Declared by wonders in the sky,
Wise men saw a king was nigh.
Trusting in their ancient art,
They got ready to depart
Across the vast and burning sand
To a distant promised land.

A mighty convoy was prepared
To ensure they made it there,
With treasures, mounts, supplies and troops
To fend off nomad raiding groups.
Tents to shield from brutal heat
And nightly chills that oft repeat.

After months through harsh terrain,
Despite discomfort, cold and pain,
At last they reached the royal court
To see the newborn king they sought.
The old king flatters them a while,
With subtle knives behind his smile.

“Of course we’ll worship this new king
As soon as you’ve confirmed this thing.
In Bethlehem was prophesied
The birth of our great nation’s guide.
Pay your respects, then bring back news
That we can share with all the Jews.”

With joy refreshed and strength renewed,
And packs refilled with royal food,
They journeyed on to that small town
(Soon to be of great renown),
Above them that celestial sign
Guides them in one final time.

With reverence they find their goal
Beside the slumbering lamb and foal.
Despite the stench, the holy sight
Fills their souls with peace and light.
Their treasured offerings now seem
Paltry in that glorious gleam.

They stay a while, discuss the worth,
The meaning of this wondrous birth,
All that’s heralded this thing,
A pauper’s home for this great king?
What will he be and do for all,
That has the heavens so enthralled?

Their spirits countlessly enriched,
Return to where their tents are pitched,
And as they rest, a herald warns
Of plots against this pure newborn.
To thwart this foul insidious wrath,
They packed and took a stealthy path.

“This all our fathers saw and knew,
Most honoured gospel scribe Matthew.
We know their tale is one small part
Of a greater work of art.
Now we have helped you as we ought,
Please tell us all He did and taught?”

The Hill

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In ancient times this sacred hill did nourish weary souls
A nobleman once stood here and declared “We’ve reached our goals.”
The land I see from this high place is fertile, watered, green;
Here we can carve out a life that’s safe and most serene.

Houses and small villages can be marked out and built
Fields planted in this thick dark soil enriched with rain and silt.
A fortress to defend our young and old upon that ridge
Looking down upon that great wide river that we’ll bridge

Nine centuries of legend have grown upon this mound
It’s viewed as a great pilgrimage to almost holy ground
Parents with their precious children come here to retrace
The steps of him who gave his name to this enchanted place

Some young are not so keen to climb the steep paths up the hill
Some even lose heart so much as to make themselves quite ill,
Insisting they have not the strength to even reach its base
With wails and whines and tears that keep on streaming down their face.

The father makes the effort to snap his son out of it
Not letting despair win the day, not letting his boy quit
With gritted teeth they climb the slope part way and then they rest
Seeing that his son has so far been doing his best.

Then son decides upon a plan that takes his dad aback
To take a shortcut up the hill far from the concrete track.
The spirit of adventure lives and glows from his young face
Dad can only follow, barely keeping up his pace.

They reach the top, exultant, son has grown his mind and heart;
He’s learned of all that he can do, if only he would start.
Great obstacles now hold less fear, as he knows that he can,
He’s taken one small step towards becoming a young man.