Monday Morning Music Ministry

11-18-24

Lately, every time I log on to the web, I see pop-ups. Well, that’s not lately – the Internet is always one big commercial, dishing up propaganda, spooky algorithms (“How did it know I was thinking about sandals made in Brazil???”), and invasive seductions, with occasional bits of news and useful information. At least there is a pause in political pop-ups, but they will resume soon.

However, two categories of messages glom up my in-box lately, and not to my regret. Past and future, in a manner of speaking. I am inundated with videos about prehistoric architecture, pyramids around the world, and ancient civilizations. Fascinating discoveries and intriguing questions. And the other category on the web… I should say Webb, because we are continuously seeing more galaxies, probing deeper into outer space, and learning more about what we don’t know as humankind. Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope.

We not only “see” farther and more clearly than ever before, but lenses, filters, and spectrometry – and pinpoint transmissions – provide indications of where things are, what they are made of, and, ultimately, myriad things we don’t know.

look up

Being a city boy, I am always awestruck by clear night skies in sparse areas of the world where I have visited and looked up. Not the points of constellations observed by the Ancients and given names because they vaguely resembled objects – a primitive connect-the-dots exercise. No, the thousands of stars that blanket the night sky. But now we begin to know what the first humans who looked Up only guessed at.

There are more than thousands of stars. There are trillions of stars.

There are more than trillions of stars, because those “stars” often are entire galaxies with trillions of their own suns and stars.

There are more than suns and stars, because, as in “our” solar system, there are planets and moons too.

The very tiniest dot of light we now see in Webb’s image-captures might in itself be a distant but gargantuan galaxy with its own trillions of constituent members. “Universes” by themselves, metaphorically speaking. The “heavens.”

Where does the universe stop? Does it have an “end,” a wall? … and then, what is on the other side of that wall? When will it end? Ever? When did it begin? And How?

If your brain is hurting, as mine is, it means not that you have special insight or an enlightened curiosity; it means that you have a pulse. “Primitive” cultures and squads of PhDs alike, and all of us in between, wonder about those generic conundrums – where we are, how we got here, what’s out there, and such. It is why myriad superstitions and belief systems and religions have sprouted. The basic but inchoate wonderment has inspired thinkers and poets and, thank God, now even governments and entrepreneurs to employ technology and reach “out.”

Whether archaeologists and anthropologists explore the past, or scientists and philosophers speculate on the present and future, mistakes have been made. Well-meaning, often; presumptuous, frequently; foolish, occasionally. The latest explanation of the what-when-where-and-how of the universe’s origin is the “Big Bang” theory.

Speaking personally, my brain doesn’t hurt about the Big Bang theory. My face does, from laughing so much about it. Skeptics and presumptuous atheists challenge Bible-believers on the matter that the Bible has the answers to the questions asked above. “Where you there when the universe began?” they challenge. Of course not, is the answer. But my God was, and He has told us all about it.

Back to that Big Bang, we can ask the same questions – what was before the Big Bang? Just where in this “empty universe” did the Bang happen? If it is still happening at its extremities, where can it end; whether its expansion is linear or 360-degree, and (the latest speculation) if it is forever growing and contracting… we are no closer to answering the what-when-where-and-how of it all.

Notice that there is no Who in that set of questions. Humankind – or much of it – in its arrogance and, ultimately, foolishness insists on reaching for and embracing every answer but the God Answer. Oh, it gets close: blathering about the “God Particle” and Intelligent Design, and such. They are deflections; euphemisms.

“All the saints and sages who discussed [Omar the Tentmaker wrote centuries ago] /of the Two Worlds so learnedly are thrust / Like foolish prophets forth; their words to scorn are scattered; / Their mouths are stopped with dust.”

The scoffers go further when they use the recent cascading discoveries of this virtually unfathomable universe to challenge our faith: There must be uncountable other planets with life and life-forms and civilizations out there… if there is a God, why would He place us in a faraway corner of an unimportant universe and galaxy?… When we realize the vastness of space, don’t we realize how insignificant we are???

• Well. We do realize certain things. If there is creation… there must be a Creator.
• Read Genesis. That is the Big Bang, explained in step-by-step fashion.
• Uncountable other explanations of creation (including scientific answers) have been abandoned or discredited or superseded by other theories. Yes… we do note that this current “answer” is nevertheless termed by its proponents a theory.
• The God of the Bible – excuse me, the Creator of the Universe – has been so reliable through every other detail of history, prophecy, and fulfillment, that we can be assured that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof”… but, more, that the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork (Psalm 19:1). And if there were “other” worlds, as with the superstition about reincarnation, the Bible would have told us. Not so.

Who, What, When, Where, and How? God, God, God, God, and God. His Creation pleases Him. But let us ask the other “standard” question – WHY? We – you and I – are His children, the apples of His eye, a purpose of His Creation, we are told.

We look at these images of a crazy-vast universe; of its unending space and its parts; of its wonders and beauty and mysteries… and do we feel insignificant, as scientists and skeptics tell us we should feel?

NO! As grateful believers in the Creator God… we feel anything but insignificant. As His children, we are His creations too! And we are special. We are significant. Let us respond every day in every way as we should. Our “brains may hurt,” but our souls are at peace.

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Click: The Love of God Is Greater Far

11-11-24

There is significance that can be gleaned from punctuation and spelling which, as a Word Person, I am happy to assert as often as I can. It is true of missed dates and common misunderstandings, which have led to bloody wars. This message will be a rambling collection of tangents, forgive me; but little things in life are often consequential. We have the aphorism repeated from ancient days by Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin):

For want of a nail the horseshoe was lost.For want of a shoe the horse was lost.For want of a horse the rider was lost.For want of a rider the message was lost.For want of a message the battle was lost.For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.

November 11 is Veterans Day, and I began these thoughts with notes about grammatical precision because it is important, if we are going to commemorate events and observe holidays, that we remember why we do so.

Veterans Day began as “Armistice Day,” dedicated to those who died in World War I. Strictly speaking, President Woodrow Wilson wanted to hallow the moment when peace was declared, more than honoring the millions who died to secure that peace. It was typical of that self-righteous megalomaniac to build a psychological edifice while – in the opinion of many people at the time – soldiers died on the battlefield while the clock ticked toward Wilson’s “11^th day of the 11^th month, 11^th hour, 11^th minute” irrelevancy.

“Armistice Day” eventually became Veterans Day. Word distinctions: Memorial Day was declared to honor those who died, Veterans Day to honor all who served in wars. And it is not “Veteran’s Day” or “Veterans’ Day,” so we remember all vets. A national holiday pf commemoration – in effect, our day to honor them, not their vacation day.

Do I make too much of these distinctions? Possibly. But I urge us to regard Veterans Day as a day where we all (we who are not military veterans) meditate on what others have done; what our brothers and sisters have sacrificed; and the essence of becoming a veteran. Yes, you can be a veteran of, say, an average golf match… but as we routinely understand the word, Veterans usually have gone through some version of hell. And, often enough, for you and me.

So. I would have us appreciate, in others and in ourselves, what we go though in life ourselves, and should go through as our duty, the choice of work, service, and sacrifice. Such is Christ’s call on us – to reach the world with Gospel, which is not easy. To reach our family and friends too, which might be less easy. To be transformed by that Gospel ourselves; for some of us, that step was, or is, difficult.

God helps us… Jesus is like a buddy in life’s foxholes. And we see how He has helped others: To think, for instance, that He ordained a filthy-minded, adulterous, wealthy man with evil in his heart to preside over a nation… makes us think. Yet God did that… and that man, by God’s grace, eventually did much good, and wrote the Psalms.

Oh, did you think I was talking about Donald Trump or someone else? No, I mean King David. We are all flawed. But we are all veterans too, of some good fight.

The reason I like “Veterans Day” without the apostrophe is that I think we should appreciate, and encourage each other, in that thought: we are all veterans. We have been through a lot, every one of us. Challenges, crises, distress, disaster. Health, finances, relationships. Self-confidence, lack of faith sometimes?

My friend Becky Spencer, active in myriad ministries, is called by those who know her remarkable faith and work, the “Fight Lady.” Are you an “overcomer”? Are you “more than a conqueror”? You can be, and therefore you are a veteran; God sent the Holy Spirit to be your comrade-in-arms. I will repeat a fable I shared here just last week, and which ignited a lot of responses: A man arrives at Heaven’s Gate and is challenged by St Peter to display the scars he acquired during his life on earth. “I have no scars,” the man says. St Peter replies: “Really? There was nothing you ever thought was worth fighting for?”

Believe me, of course I am not urging that we stop honoring military veterans (in fact, we don’t do so enough). And it is a fool’s errand to suggest we establish a holiday to honor ourselves, even if we begin to dedicate ourselves to greater service. Banish that thought.

But if we can begin to ask ourselves what we are veterans of… what we have chosen as our mission(s) in life… what will lead to God telling you in Glory – in reality; not a fable – “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!”… that will be the greatest Veterans Day of all. We are all in this together, this thing called Life, and we need to follow God’s battle plan.

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Click: Will You Look At Me and Say “Well Done”?

11-4-24

As a historian, I sometimes am seduced by the “long view” of events in the life of our nation. Every people, every society, every civilization since the dawn of time has experienced crises. And so has the United States. Natural disasters, sure. Errors, national sins, corruption? We have not been immune. We have muddled through; and frequently we have triumphed.

There are many ways we are different than the myriad civilizations that have preceded us, societies that have risen and fallen. But there is one similarity we cannot escape. America will fall, as those civilizations have fallen. Whether it will be in hazy, distant future; whether it will be a revolution-evolution to a better system we cannot envision, or a slow disintegration from within or by invasions… the wheel of history grinds with determination.

Another path is whether we are in the midst, now, of the passing of the United States, the “extinction of freedom” about which Ronald Reagan warned.

In the days of Noah (Jesus said, recorded in Luke 17:27), they were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when… the flood came and destroyed them all. In other words, we can be in a crisis and not realize it… or its severity.

Because we eat and drink and go to jobs and wake up every morning, we are tempted to think all is normal, that our problems will resolve themselves. However, America is at an unprecedented inflection-point.

• Every dispositive “metric” points to rot and decay – crime statistics; drug use; human trafficking; homelessness; child and spousal abuse; disparity of wealth and poverty.
• Worse, if possible, are the underlying problems that seem insoluble – the decline in religion and faith; the social acceptance of baby-killing; glorification of violence; widespread illiteracy; invasion of millions of the world’s “unknowns” across virtually non-existent borders; the casual disregard of marriage vows and the prevalence of divorce; sex as a commodity.
• Even more insidious are factors that are challenging to discern, manipulated by players difficult to identify – the Dark State increasingly monitors, and controls, our lives; Big Media, Big “Education,” Big Pharma dictate our priorities; our currency is worthless and the economy is a toy in the hands of a few; wars are instigated here and there, and we are like pawns on a giant chessboard whose players are bloodthirsty masters we scarcely know; we being lied to by “journalists,” hypnotized by media, propagandized by pundits.
• … and we are anesthetized by the onetime source of refuge and strength, the mainstream church.

Click: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it any more!”

This time, this election, is different. The choices America makes and the implicit re-dedication that must follow, is consequential. The contest is not really between two individuals. Their unique strengths and weaknesses actually camouflage the larger historical trends are colliding. The election of 2024 is more than Republican vs Democrat; more than conservative vs liberal; more than old vs new.

How can we reverse course? Christian, do not pray that God send revival. It is lazy and irresponsible to pray for revival: that is our job, not God’s! It would not be genuine if we do not, ourselves, one by one, redeem our own lives, our households, our families, our relatives, our neighborhoods, our friends, our towns and cities… our nation. Then: our schools, our media, our churches too.

Some patriots are uncomfortable with Mr Trump as the leader of a moral, as well as a political, Restoration. His opponent Harris is a lightweight Jezebel who quickly will pass from the scene, but the former President, despite his record of accomplishing much for traditional values and Christian concerns, invites skepticism.

But the Bible is replete with flawed figured used by God for His purposes. In fact, Scripture overflows with stories and examples and lessons of people who are not always bright and shiny, yet through whom God has worked His will. And we can add you and me – are we so impure that we cannot let Him use us too? God forbid!

I believe that God can use, and is using, President Trump in many and mighty ways that might help bring this nation back to its standing as a home for the righteous. As we join the fight(s), and before “standing”… we must kneel. And vote. “In God We Trust” – do you believe it? Well, God trusts us, too!

There is an old Irish fable in which a man arrives at Heaven’s Gate and is challenged by St Peter to display the scars he acquired during his life on earth. “I have no scars,” the man says. St Peter replies: “Really? There was nothing you ever thought was worth fighting for?”

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Click: Ray Charles – America The Beautiful (Live in D.C.)