What is real life like for you? A lot of times on Facebook and Instagram we post what we want people to see. I want to do a few blogs and posts about the things we don’t necessarily want others to see.

One of those aspects is when we do something we’re not proud of, like yelling at our kids. Now I’m all for discipline that helps our kids grow and teaches them to respect authority, take responsibility for their actions, and do the right thing. But sometimes we are trying to control our kids to make us look better, or taking out our bad mood on them. God forgive us when we do that. The picture below is an example:

Why is it that we want to post things that make us look good? One of the results of this phenomenon is that we can easily start comparing ourselves to each other and become really self-defeating about how good of parents we are. Say you see some old friends with their kids and the kids are well dressed, well behaved, everyone is smiling and it looks like one big happy family. Is that how it is all the time?

Do we ever just put on some coffee or tea and pop over for a visit? Oh my, they might see what my house looks like normally!!! Well, is that so bad?

I’m really into authentic community in Jesus, but I have to start first with my family. See our vision on the other parts of the website: http://www.envisionmission.org/About

After we do that well in marriage and with kids, then we can also do that authentic community thing with others. Now that’s real life!

And I believe Jesus Christ is the key to authentic community because He restores that with us and therefore with one another by loving us while we were His enemies, so we can do the same with others by His power.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the saints…

when my great Aunt Hess passed away my heart started to sing this song, taken from Psalm 116 in the Holy Bible. I always remembered her being able to laugh, walk with her God humbly, and love others well. Family members told a story of how she was such a farm girl, she actually had alfalfa growing in her ear and had to have a doctor pull it out with a pliers. I thought that was so cool that I named my wood-paneled station wagon after her, the one I traveled all over the country with, because it was so hearty.

Not all the words of the song are directly from the Bible:

The rain is falling from the sky, from sky; yes the rain is falling from my eyes from my eyes; ’cause the eyes of the Lord they are crying they are crying; He is grieving for the earth and the dying.

I remember it was raining on the day of her funeral when I wrote the song and it seemed like God was crying for us to as we grieved.

Yes, his tears are falling to the ground, to the ground; while the sun behind the hill goes down

Then I began to quote the Psalm:

I love the Lord for he heard my voice, He turned his ear to me and heard my cry; Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the saints, is the death of the saints

When the cords of death entangled me and the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow, then I called on the name of the Lord; oh Lord save me, you are full of love, oh Lord protect my simple heart; be at rest my soul for the Lord is good; from death oh Lord save my soul. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the saints…

Once again I expressed ideas from the Psalm in my own words and then broke into the words of the Psalm to finish:

Stop the rain from falling from my eyes, from my eyes; and my feet from stumbling as I walk in this life; I trusted then I was beaten down, but you lifted me up from my chains, from the ground; How can I repay you, Lord I cannot; I will call on your Name and lift my cup; I will thank you, Lord in the midst of my friends; for I am your servant to the end. Precious…

The CD will soon be on our website: http://www.envisionmission.org/media

I titled Psalm 42, Night Song, because it seems like the writer had a tough time sleeping and sang songs to the LORD in the night.

Have you ever had a tough time sleeping and just decided to pray instead of laying there worrying? Then you relate to this song:

“Deers panting for the stream, I long for you, God

Tears are flowing from my eyes all the day long

Used to sing the songs of joy, we were so glad

What’s happening to me, why am I so sad?

Oh my soul, where is your hope? Oh, my Lord, You are my hope

Deep’s calling out to deep, roaring waters run; waves crashing over me, pray when the day is done

Deep’s calling out to deep, roaring waters run; waves crashing over me, pray when the day is done, sing with the rising sun with a Night Song

I’m gonna sing a Night Song… to the God of my life

I search for God my rock on which I can stand

Has He forgotten to hold me in His hand?

My enemies keep saying “where is your God”?

I feel it in my bones, all the day long

Oh my soul…gonna sing a Night Song…lai di dai…”

The Psalmist compares himself to a deer panting for a stream of water in the desert with great thirst for God. If God created us with thirst He gave us water to quench it. In the same way, we have a thirst for God and of course there is a God who can quench that thirst, and He alone!

Have you ever remembered times when you were glad and wished you could go back to that place? The Psalmist is sad, tears are coming to him throughout the day, even if he isn’t always letting it show. He asks his soul questions about why he is so sad, where is his hope? And then he finds it in God again, even as he sings a song in the night.

His soul searches for the foundation that God is, but he senses his enemy, which we as believers see as a spiritual enemy, asking where God is and he feels the question in his bones all day long. What a picture!

But he sings songs in the night to get through and puts his hope in the LORD. Sometimes that’s all we can do.

This song is on our newest CD “Wake Up oh Sleeper” which will be on this website soon. Check out other albums on http://www.envisionmission.org/media For now, let us know by e-mail if you would like a hard copy CD.

Signs? There are those that believe any time there is a red moon or an eclipse that there is some significance to the last days involved according to Bible prophecy. That may be true; I don’t know. But for me it first reminds me of the beauty of God’s creation. There is such marvelous design in the universe. Secondly, it does remind me that Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God has promised to return. Then He will make all things new. I long for a world where there are no tears, no pain, no sin or angst.

I believe that world is coming because the Son of God has started it in my heart being transformed by His Grace. His death and resurrection has accomplished something mysteriously redemptive. Somehow by it, I can trust in God and receive forgiveness of sin, which causes all the horrors of this world. He puts His divine Spirit in me and I begin to change into the likeness of the ultimate Human and thereby become more and more what I was meant to be. This is available to any who will put their trust in Him. Will you? I can only hope and pray you will. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. And we long for His coming to be fulfilled!

Signs? Maybe, but maybe the sign has already been given. At the end of the Apostles Creed we recite as Christians:

“…From thence he shall come again to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.” https://www.ccel.org/creeds/apostles.creed.html

Also check our explanation of house churches and what we believe: https://envisionmission.org/house-churches/

This means not only shall Jesus come back and raise us from death, but he shall give us everlasting life. It also implies that He shall make a whole new Earth and Heaven, which the Bible also teaches. What good news that is!

Crying Tonight

Originally i wrote this as a love song, but when i started working with folks that were homeless, i thought them more worthy of the song’s sound than romance.  Mother Theresa used to say you could find Jesus in disguise by ministering to the poor.  I believe she was right.  Jesus said, “Whatever you have done for the least of these brothers of mine, you have also done for me…” according to Matthew’s account of the Gospel of Jesus Messiah.

The song begins..

You never see me, always leave me, as I’m crying on the streets at night

You don’t know me, but I know you, can hear me I’m Jesus in disguise

Now I’m reaching, but you’re leaving, yes I’m hiding in the homeless man

And I’m dying just to know you, if you saw me would you understand?

I’m crying, I’m crying, oh I’m crying tonight…

 

Then I begin to see…

Now you know me, and I know you, ’cause you’ve broken the chains that bound my eyes

You’re crying…oh you’re crying tonight…

 

And the call goes out to anyone who will listen…

Who will go now, will you go now, to the broken and wipe the tears from their eyes?

You’re crying, I’m crying, oh we’re crying tonight…

 

It’s so important that we take this seriously.  Jesus even says that those who don’t will suffer eternal hell.  That’s no joke!  I want to hear the cries of the lonely and broken and poor because i’ve been there myself and as God leads i want to love them.  Do you?

Join us.  Upon writing this blog we are going to have a concert at “My Church” in Bellingham on November 3 at 7pm.  Come and join us and find out more.

Also on our website: http://www.envisionmission.org/media

You can hear this song on the Celebration album.

There are seasons in the life of a Christian; not that it makes one Christian better than another, just seasons of maturity.  John the Apostle wrote in 1 John 2:12-14: “I write to you dear children because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.  I write to you dear fathers because you have known him who he is from the beginning.  I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.  I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.  I write to you, fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning.  I write to you young men because you are strong, the word of God lives in you and you have overcome the evil one.”

Similarly i wrote the song, “I Speak to You” because it is said or sung to the audience when i perform it but with much the same words as the Biblical text.  The Spirit speaks through John to children, that is to new believers who learn with certainty that their sins are forgiven.  This can take some time to actually believe and many Christians today seem to be stuck here.  Either they are struggling to believe they are forgiven and therefore have a difficult time forgiving others, or they accept on some level they are forgiven of their sins but don’t seem to go on to maturity.  It is a vital and wonderful season and ought to be cherished by those experiencing it and those who need to be reminded again of that basic but most important reality.

Then the disciple of Jesus goes on to overcome the evil one.  That is they have victory over sin, they are not taken in by the devil’s schemes.  They begin to realize that this is possible on this side of heaven, though not unto perfection, certainly from victory unto victory and they have a tendency to remind the rest of the Church of the importance of this.  The danger is to start to judge others and begin to have an elitist attitude, where the believer thinks he or she is a cut above the rest.  But if cherished well, this season can be a great blessing to the Church, can usher in revival and even help thousands of others resist temptation and come into a kind of promised land of new life in Christ.

And then there are fathers and there are precious few of those.  I dare say little about it, because i’m not sure where i’m at on this and may be barely learning about it myself.   But it seems that fathers in the faith, whether male or female (of course these maturity levels have to do with spiritual maturity not gender or age so much), begin to relearn the basics of the faith through a much deeper appreciation and experience.  They can chuckle a bit more when other believers are not getting it, they can be patient, they can love without condition, they are not easily thwarted.  And they bear fruit which lasts.

Let us appreciate whatever season we find ourselves in and give God all the glory.

Recognizing that this is a strange poem, i still think it worth sharing.  It is impressionistic but has to do with the experience of one who walks in the Light but the darkness does not comprehend it.  Equally strange it is titled: Ah –

There is a ship that’s sailing west upon the light of stars at rest

The sun refused to shine back home so we took up a lightning song

Ah-

If you could sing a different song like one you heard in another dimension

Then wait for love to come on shore to see the weight of glory’s store

Ah-

They hate your tune upon that string; it’s red, it’s blue that song you sing

The water’s rising up too high to see the sunset’s beauty tide

Ah-

And so you’ve come to untie it; the knot was tied, it’s at an end

My Love is waiting on the side of the mirror that has no sight

If you will listen close you’ll see what noses, mouth and ears can’t be

Because it’s far too visible so in no demand to comprehend

Ah-

I will touch you in places wrought with pain and sorrow and spirits caught

There was a loom above your head; a tapestry, below the thread

Ah-

It is a song as well, but not yet published.  For a sample of other songs visit http://www.envisionmission.org/media

and scroll down the page to see what you are interested in.  Then follow the directions accordingly.

How does the poem strike you?  What feelings does it bring up?  Do you find yourself relating to it or feeling repulsed by it?

Peace to all but especially to those who have an undying love for Jesus.  It is based on the words of John the Apostle: The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

There is a lot of writing in my Christian denomination about how we need to make sure we are relevant and how we need to make public statements as a church about climate change, gun control; that we need to be more open to Darwinistic Evolutionary Theory and more ready to embrace current sexual practices in the culture in the name of love, to rethink our doctrines of atonement and hell.  And that by doing this we will not lose so many young people.  The concern comes from the fact that more and more folks are leaving the churches and the assumption is that we need to be more relevant to them in order to not lose numbers. 

I would like to write about why I think this is not only unhelpful, but not at all the focus that the church needs to have.  In fact, historically denominations that sought to be more relevant to the culture, more embracing of cultural practices and worldviews, have decreased in number so dramatically that they have had to merge with one another in order to survive at all. 

The reason for this is quite simple.  Such churches have nothing to say to the world that the world doesn’t already believe and become merely social clubs for folks who grew up in the institution of the church and need a place to belong even when they no longer believe in the Supremacy of Christ or their desperate need of Him. 

I believe that climate change is brought on, at least in part, by human consumption and needs to be addressed, that we could use some moderate gun control laws, that one can be a Christian and still believe God used an evolutionary process to create all things, that we ought to love everyone with the love of Christ whatever they may practice, that all theories of atonement have a place at the table and that we don’t probably know everything about what hell is, but none of these things will revive the church or bring people to Christ. 

The one thing we need more than anything else is an unashamed, uncompromising obsession with Jesus Christ as the LORD of all, as the One who gave Himself for us, who conquered death and hell, who calls us to repent of sin, to bow before Him with complete surrender and radical devotion that is willing to die, if need be, to love enemies in His Name, to love the poor in His Name, to long for His Presence, His glory, His renown.  He is the One who casts down demonic forces, who raises up leaders and takes them down, whose love is irresistible, whose glory is what it is all about.  His Word must be upheld, to refuse Him is hell, to receive Him is heaven, to follow Him is to suffer with Him in love and to hope for a new world that begins in our hearts and will someday wash away all else.  Some may call this idea pietistic, conservative, or narrow minded, or even too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good, but I say it is LIFE and TRUTH and the WAY = Jesus. 

Oh how I wish a single article or post or executive address would be about Jesus, pure and simple; His glory, His Name, His power, His ability to awaken the darkest of hearts!  That is the reformation, revolution, revival that we need and nothing less!

 

Why can’t we just have our church on a screen or on the internet?  After all, we find “community” that believes the same way we do, even if the persons are many thousand miles away and we will never meet in person.  Finally we have found someone who thinks the same as we do!  And it’s so much easier because you don’t have to find out their weaknesses!

But what did Jesus mean we he instructed us to go to another (Matthew 18) if that person has sinned and show him/her the fault, “just between the two of you.”? That is the context of Jesus’ teaching on the “church.”  Why not texting, e-mailing or some other means of media communication?

The bigger question is, what does it mean for the church that Jesus came “in the flesh” and that according to 1st John to deny this truth is “anti-Christ”?

I believe it means that Jesus came and was among His disciples as God face to face, in human form, day after day, with touch, and tone, and movement, and smell, and even eating together with them.  Even the Passover supper was a covenant between God and his Church, His Bride.  He called us to make disciples as He had done, with all that incarnational stuff included.  (In- carne- means “in the flesh”)

Our Christ community must be incarnational- in the flesh- not over cyberspace, but real, human connection and real connection with the Divine.  That isn’t to say we can’t use the web or texting, etc.  Just that we must not let it replace the authentic community Jesus came to bring us!

See the mission statement of our ministry on: http://www.envisionmission.org/home

And then you can see why this matters to me so much.  I can’t recount how many times pastorally I’ve had to deal with misunderstandings because people chose to text instead of going to a person face to face.  God help us!

I consider this the best pencil drawing ever done.  It is called, “Come Forth the Bride” and the artist’s name is Chris Shreve.  At first glance we notice the beauty of the Bride, her wedding veil, her crown, the shape of her form, that she is naked, that she is coming forth.  We notice a tree is behind her and the sun and moon as well.  We notice a dove flying to her and the waves of the ocean all around, stars above and a man just behind her who has fallen asleep or died, it is uncertain which.  He is in the shadows and her leg is his leg is her leg is his.  They are one.  The touch of her foot as she comes forth brings a ripple effect for all time, to all the generations after her. 

Then if we look closer we see the side of a man, who has a cape on his back, like a King and a pierced side.  Then we understand that the man is not just Adam and the woman is not just Eve.  It is that Adam was put to sleep and out of his side came Eve.  Man and woman.  In the same way, Christ Jesus went into the sleep of death on the cross and His side was pierced, but out of his side was purchased His Bride, the Church.  And they are one. 

The Holy Spirit is the dove who birthed this.  The tree itself is gnarled and thorny, like Jesus’ crown of thorns, which compliments her crown of beauty.  It speaks of the Cross of Christ and a family tree.  There is a light above the sun and even the stars that shines down on all of it and this comes from the Father, who can never be pictured except that this light comes from Him. 

And this is a thing of beauty symbolizing beauty itself, the very greatest news of all for the universe that God became man that we might become one with God, that we might be married to the Son of God forever, with God as our father and the Holy Spirit giving us new birth.  Oh that everyone would say yes to the wedding invitation, the offer of God the Son to be one with us.  But we must have a choice, it cannot be love otherwise and the alternative will be hell for those who realized that they missed it.  So don’t miss it.  May all who read this be certain that they too join us at the Wedding Feast of feasts!

To see more of Chris Shreve’s work go to  http://www.chrisshreve.com or http://www.normiehead.com