Yearly Archives: 2008

Joy and Sorrow

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What happens when a family has prepared for a death?  Oftentimes a sense of sorrow has been there for some time.  And grieving and mourning has been ongoing.  The actual death, while providing a moment in time that is difficult, is also seen as joyful if the deceased had a full and abiding trust in Jesus, their final savior.

But people around expect ashen countenance and stuttering acceptance.  How does a family fulfil both joy and sorrow?  I’m not sure.  As I watch a family in just such a situation, I’m glad I’m on the inside — I’ve seen both expressions.

Some have only seen one emotion from the family.  This can be misconstrued to mean they have not experienced the other emotion. 

Which brings me to one of the great virtues of gentlemen and ladies.  The ability to give the benefit of a doubt.

My hope is that I will be a true gentlemen to those who surround me.  May I seek to be at harmony with all people, as much as it depends on me.  And that means taking extra time to check things out before I pass a judgment.  This means wanting to see the best of people even when it appears the worst is what they are exposing.  This means forgiving and trusting and . . . loving others.

And now, I’m preaching my sermon for Sunday!  Sorry, got carried away — drop in Sunday and see how this ends!

Postmodernism just modernism on it’s head?

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An interesting quote from Christianity Today.

“For don’t we live in a postmodern culture in which appeals to such apologetic arguments are no longer effective?  Rational arguments of the truth of theism are no longer supposed to work.  Some Christians therefore advise that we should simply share our narrative and invite people to participate in it.

“This sort of thinking is guilty of disastrous misdiagnosis of contemporary culture.  The idea that we live in a postmodern culture is a myth.   In fact, a postmodern culture is an impossibility; it would be utterly unlivable.  People are not relativistic when it comes to matters of science, engineering, and technology; rather they are relativistic and pluralistic in matters of religion and ethics.  But, of course, that’s not postmodernism!  That’s just old-line verificationism, which held that anything you can’t prove with your five senses is a matter of personal taste.  We live in a culture that remains deeply modernist.”

Craig, William Lane.  “God is not dead yet”, Christianity Today, July 2008, p. 26.

951748

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The latest Microsoft Windows update number!  I’ve been using automatic updating of Windows.  I’ve also been using Zone Alarm for a firewall.  Both of our computers blocked internet access after they were “automatically updated”.  An article on fixing the problem is available from Zone Alarm.  They even sent out emails to alert us to the problem.

Only problem?  Couldn’t get on the internet to check my email (thankfully I have other computers I can use)!

Adding more songs

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In May we recorded three songs.  Two months later we added another three.

Not full recordings, just scratch tracks. 

For those who read this blog regularly you will remember Wayne Gibson.  Last fall we released a full CD of original songs he had written.  Now we have an EP CD that would be nice to have ready to go in a few months.

But, time is often as much an enemy as it is a healer.  We are ready to work on a new release, but our schedules are a little “helter-skelter”.  Wayne is headed to Scotland in September.  I’m working on September plans to kick off the fall.

I listened to the songs.  Two are worship songs we have used in our church services.  One on the holiness of God and another on His greatness.  Other of the songs talk of a new day and heaven.  The theme of God pervades.

Maybe that’s why I like them.  Not just for the melody, but also for the subject.  Last night the words attached themselves to me.  Accompanied by haunting melodies, I’m still being pursued by these compositions even as I write this blog entry. 

Perhaps theses songs will catch you one of these days.  I hope so . . . but first we’ve got a bit more work to do.