Seriously?

Let's face it, this blog usually deals with some pretty serious topics - serious to me, at least.  Last week, I had some thoughts on the war in Gaza/Israel.  A lot of times it is about something I heard at church or in our small group, and sometimes it is about something that inspired me.  I admit to taking myself way too seriously most of the time, but that is my nature.   My son, Michael, and his wife went to hear John Crist at the Fox Theater this past Saturday.  You may be familiar with John from some of his YouTube videos.  He is a Christian that is all about finding laughs at our own expense.  I'm pretty sure God has a great sense of humor, and I know he loves humility.  Here is a short clip of John doing stand-up.  I know I need a few more belly laughs, and maybe you do too.

Terror Rains Down

The military leader of the terrorist group in the Holy Land announced his intentions to kill every Jew within reach - his barbaric actions based on centuries of hate.  Fortunately, God placed two people, their Jewish heritage hidden, within the trusted circle of the terrorist and his cabinet.  At great risk to their own lives, the two Jews were able to convince the terrorist organization's leader to spare the Jews, and a notice was sent to the Jewish towns warning them of the threat and encouraging them to prepare their defense.  Many Jewish lives were spared 2500 years ago due to Esther and Mordecai's courage to stand in the face of danger.   I wish that last Saturday, someone would have had the same influence within the Hamas organization that could have saved thousands of Jewish lives.  Now, my prayer is that Hamas would feel the unrelenting resilience of the Jewish people and fold quickly under the threat of annihilation, hopefully sparing more innocent lives in Israel and in Gaza.  I pray that God will show his face to anyone with a desire to see Him.

Refusing To Bow

 

In the Book of Esther, Mordecai refuses to bow down to the ruthless Haman, who had been appointed as the right-hand-man to King Xerxes.  After Mordecai revealed his Jewish ancestry, Haman ordered not only Mordecai to be killed, but all Jews.  What happens next is for future posts, but Mordecai's refusal to kneel paints a picture of faith under fire.

In 1936, August Landmesser attended a rally, led by Adolf Hitler, to christen a new ship and was identified in this photo as the man with crossed arms refusing to salute Hitler.  He had become disenchanted with the party when the party tried to intervene in his relationship with Irma Eckler, a Jewish woman.  Both Landmesser and Eckler were sent to separate concentration camps.  Eckler died among 14,000 others exterminated by the Nazi's there.  Landmesser died performing dangerous service as a part of the penal battalion that he was assigned to.

We may not be faced with genocide and concentration camps, but every day we have the opportunity to stand up for our faith or hide it from the world.  I want to stand more.

Loving Life

 

One of my closest friends is John Crawford.  I met him in 1980 at UGA when we were both in the Redcoat Band.  Our lives have many intersecting points.  I am his insurance client.  He is my real estate client. My wife works for him.  But more than anything, he has been a spiritual mentor for me for 40 years.  John has four sons, and the oldest is Luke.  Luke is married to Elizabeth, and 9 months ago they were excited to announce that they were pregnant with a child, which would be John's first grandchild.  Shortly after that, the family was saddened to find out that their baby had a condition called Anencephaly. Anencephaly is a rare, serious condition where the baby's brain does not develop completely and cannot survive for long outside of the womb. Many, if not most parents, would make the decision to end the pregnancy. Luke and Elizabeth never considered that option.  They wanted the opportunity to hold their baby and love it for any time that they could. Last week, baby Nathaniel was born and loved as much as any baby could be loved for a full hour before passing into the loving arms of Jesus. The family was grateful for the time they had with Nathaniel and recognized that Nathaniel was one of the few children that never experienced any pain or sadness on earth. We all praise God for that, and I praise God for the value that Luke and Elizabeth placed on Nathaniel's life. Their story is a miracle for me.

Hero's tribute

 

Michael W. Smith is one of the titans of the contemporary Christian music genre.  We have been singing his songs in church and along with him on the radio and streaming for over 30 years.  Earlier this month, I was looking for a way to reflect on the events of 9/11 and came across this worship performance led by Michael which premiered in June of this year.  I learned that Michael had released his album entitled "Worship" on 9/11/2001, and the music in this 2013 performance is from that 2001 album.  He was joined by other performers, including Amy Grant, another one of my favorite Christian artists.  Decades ago, Amy helped give Michael rise to prominence as Michael served as her keyboardist and eventually the opening act for her concerts.  If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know of my love for orchestral music.  Michael is also a gifted orchestral arranger, so this performance with a full orchestra is of particular significance to me.   This link is for the full one hour performance.  If  you don't have that much time, here is Michael's video of his chart topping mainstream song, "My Place in This World".  Praise God for Michael's talent and his willingness to use it to help build God's kingdom here on Earth.

Wine and Women

Last night in our ConnectGroup meeting, we dove head first into the book of Esther.  We talked about the 4 main characters.  King Xerxes - the ruler over Persia known for his love of wine and beautiful women, but not so much for his leadership qualities.  Haman - the king's first lieutenant with a treacherous desire for power.  Mordecai - a Jewish exile that was quiet, but defiant and determined.  Eshter - Mordecai's cousin, also a Jewish exile, caught Xerxes's eye.  Xerxes was so enamored that he made Esther queen.  In our discussion time, we talked about which of the characters we could relate to most.  We all want to have the courage of Esther and Mordecai, but there are pieces of Xerxes and Haman in all of us.  I look forward to seeing how the story of Esther unfolds and to the truths that will be revealed about our God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Ester Rules

We had the first meeting of the season for our ConnectGroup from church last night.  We will be reading and discussing Max Lucado's book, You Were Made For This Moment.  The book will walk us through the Book of Esther.  Esther is one of the most well-known women from the Old Testament.   She faced challenges and hardships that could only be overcome by the plans of God, in whom she had ultimate faith.  I found this creative video providing a 10 minute overview of the book of Esther.  Take a look, and if you would like to read along with our group, here is a link to the book.