“If a man will concern himself with the depth of his ministry, the Holy Spirit will take care of the breadth.” Tozer
Tozer
Reply
Category Archives: Thoughts
An Andrew Peterson Interview
Andrew Peterson has done about as much as anyone to expand my imagination from the size of peanut to a small apple. I hope that it continues to grow!
Andrew Peterson: Christmas, Children, and ‘Hutchmoot’ | Music | Christianity Today:
The Season of War
Pausing a moment on the knoll
The sound of marching in the air
Moving the earth and shaking my soul.
They had blossomed in youthful blaze
And cast their shadow over land and man
But now their future began to fade.
The time had come to meet the foe
Who would shake their lofty perch.
And bury them below the coming snow.
I felt the blows as cool as night
Strike the ground around my feet
And saw them falling in the battle’s bite.
The limbs were bent in painful sway.
The trees inhaling the volley thick
Never to drink of sun’s bright ray.
The wind itself pushed them on
And moved them to give their lives
To color again the crimson lawn
Soldier falling from their ranks
In graceful glory they bowed their heads
As in a pool, they slowly sank.
Many as one or one alone
The fate was all the same
It was all this world has ever known.
Their dark uniforms stained blood red
Thousands falling all around
And only coldness surrounding them
Their once exalted state had been denied
And now they lie on steely ground.
Their long cold rest will not end
Some will cry and call their name
until they sleep beneath the land
from whence they once came.
Each fall I I feel the icy numb
Of winter approaching and taking life
I pray that spring will quickly come.
Stories are Soul Food: Don’t Let Your Children Hunger
N.D. Wilson, the author of 100 Cupboards, and Notes from the Tilt-a-whirl, writes about why children need stories in Stories are Soul Food: Don’t Let Your Children Hunger. I don’t know about children, but I need stories!
Nearer My God to Thee
Not my home…
In the Weight of Glory (1949) Lewis writes:
A man’s physical hunger does not prove that that man will get any bread: he may die of starvation on a raft in the Atlantic. But surely a man’s hunger does prove that he comes of a race which repairs its body by eating, and inhabits a world where eatable substances exist. In other words, If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
Smooth Stones
This last week I have run into a few people from my past. No, not the scary kind where you try to hide behind the celery stand at the grocery market, or in a clothing rack at the department store, but the good kind. They were those meetings which resulted from two people living their lives in a normal way and intersecting paths at the time God chooses.
Those I met up with from elementary and high school days were not people who played a huge role in shaping who I am today. Those individuals who have done that I could probably count on my ten fingers. But they did play a part. And they did play a significant part. I am not sure why God brought us together for those brief encounters, but I am thankful.
One reason I am thankful is because it reminds me of all the work God has gone through to make me who I am today.
Have you ever thought about the work it takes to make one smooth stone on the beach? It takes thousands, perhaps millions, of small waves to smooth a stone. Sure, there may be a big storm every now and then, but the real work is done by the individual waves rolling the stone up and down the shore, the scraping and clashing of other little rocks on the larger one. Every wave contributes. It may only move the rock a few inches, or perhaps it may roll it all the way up the beach, depending on the size of the wave and the position of the rock when the wave hits.
God used these people in my life in my earlier years, and now He brought them back to roll me a little further. I thank God for that.
Andrew Peterson
One of my favorite artists to listen to is Andrew Peterson. He has a way of capturing my imagination and making me see this world in a different way. I have a list of favorite songs, but at the top are:
1. Dancing in the Mine Fields (This takes first place for sure. The rest of the list is not in any specific order)
2. The hidden track after “Why Walk When You Can Fly”
3. In the Night
4. The Reckoning
5. Little Boy Heart Alive (You can get this track and the whole album for free here – Andrew Peterson)
6. Let There be Light
7. After the Last Tear Falls
Not only do I like listening to his music, but have truly relished his Wingfeather Saga. The only problem is that I had to wait 3 months to get the 3rd book – a really long time if you have ever read the ending of the 2nd! Now I don’t even know when the final book will be written and released! The pain…
Imitation and Immaturity
I was walking through a store a while back and passed a few people looking at a jewelry display case. I overheard the teenager say “Are those real diamonds? Look how sparkly they are! Who cares!” I noted it as a good illustration of the mentality found among many Americans today – “I don’t care if it is real at long as it sparkles.”
Old People
So often a visitor evaluates a prospective church by the younger generation present. I am not so sure that young people are the best determinate of spiritual life in a church. Do they have it? I sure hope so! But the trend among the younger generation as a whole is that they are transitory and noncommittal. Therefore, one may join a church because of a large group in that particular age group, but the majority of the group could be gone the next year.
I would postulate that a better determinate of spiritual vitality in a given congregation is in the old people. Is the older generation full of joy and growing? Are they interested in encouraging and edifying the saints? Do they love and admonish others? Are they willing to do their part in the Body of Christ? If you find a church where the older generation loves Christ and seeks to know Him, latch on!