Hi everyone! I don't have a lot of time here today (nor have a lately) but I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about my blog! Last week I had the pleasure of having a double ear infection plus bronchitis. That alone knocked me down a bit on top of work and life itself. Also another "stick in the spokes" is the fact that I don't have an internet connection at home right now. I'll try to get back as often as I can.
That being said, I am excited about the most recent song I'm writing. I had the inspiration for the song about a month ago, but the full melody, first verse and chorus all came into bloom this morning - how unexpected! Thank you Lord! It is a "Part two" so to speak of a song I wrote for the Bible school I attended (Berean Bible Institute) entitled Carry On. It was a song speaking of God's call to men and women to serve Him and to deliver the freeing truth of His grace to all the world. It was written during a time of my life that was particularly exciting and new; it is a song filled with all of my hopes, dreams and visions of what and how I had always pictured my ministry to be.
Needless to say, several years have passed since this song and the journey that the Lord has taken my family on has been a turbulent one at best. It's easy, for certain, to question not only yourself but the Lord through any adverse circumstances - and question I have. This present song is my response to the call of the Lord after the fact which I've entitled, "Carry Me." I desire to carry on in His work and life, if and only if, He carries me. And, He will if and when I allow Him. This title reminds me of Moses in one of God's interactions with him. Basically, Moses tells God, "I'll serve You, but I don't want to go unless You're going to be there with me!"
You see, the times when I struggle most are those moments in which I pull my heart away from Him and I rely on anything and everything but Him to sustain me in His work of carrying on. Adverse circumstances are certain. Life will always be crazy, unpredictable and at times hurtful. It is His strength however that carries us through to continue on serving Him. This song is a deep reflection of my heart and the hope that God has and is extending to me as I continue to grow in my relationship with Him. I can't wait to share more with you regarding the song (there are some pretty neat musical things about it too), but of course, I'm not going to right now...
We serve an Awesome, Big and Comforting God.
Resting in Him,
Justin
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
More than Anything (pt. 1)
The following is a sermon (modified as a blog in several parts) I gave at Fellowship Bible Church on Sunday, September 13. I offer it here for it is the basis and foundation for my future blogs. I pray for your growth through God's truth presented here.
Justin
Our study this morning starts with an experiment born out of my own walk, study and struggles with the Lord; one which I now ask each of us here today to try. Answer these questions/open ended prompts.
1. More than anything....
2. In any and every way possible...
I posed these same prompts to a large group of people (mostly believers) and was not surprised by the responses I got back. Out of the 20 or so replies, all but 2 expressed personal wishes and desires of some kind. Answers like this: I wish my family could....I want the Lord to...I would like to... and so on. How does your answer line up with these?
In analyzing my "results," a realization struck me. When given the opportunity to express themselves in this way without any guidance or suggestion, the overwhelming majority first respond with a personal wish or desire of some kind. Desire, in any form is never far from each of us and this is a good thing! Sure, the negative lusts of the flesh can certainly take over and lead us far away from the victorious life that Christ has afforded us through the Cross. But, nevertheless, God still has created mankind for desire and with desire. Where we take our desire - how we fulfill our desire - what we do with our desire - these are the important questions we must answer.
On a personal quest to answer these questions for my own heart, I was truly intrigued with a specific verse:
"Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart." Ps. 37:4
At first glance this verse sounds absolutely wonderful - a magic genie of sorts promised to the God-fearing masses. However, a quick reading of the context brings about a balance to that. Among other things, we point out that in verse 3 we find reference to and a promise of "dwell[ing] in the Land", an unmistakeable landmark pointing to the Jewish ownership of the direct promises of these verses. God promised and dealt with the Nation of Israel in the physical (as well as the spiritual, but moreover by means of the physical). True to the primary interpretation, David, King of Israel is living under and living as a leading example under the Law. He is encouraging the Nation through his own personal heart and devotion to the Lord to put and place our trust in Him (i.e. to do things His way, therefore through the Law) and accordingly God will bless and prosper (as outlined in the Law).
However, there is still a principle present for us that still rings true today. We can surely walk away from this verse seeing the need to truly "delight" ourselves in the Lord, finding our joy, peace, contentment, fulfillment and strength in Him. But what about being given the desires of our hearts? Does this still apply? I believe it does;at least, that is, depending upon the desires of your heart. Let us examine the Apostle Paul's desires as he answers these same exact prompts for us, interpreting this principle for us in the current age of Grace. We will see the one way in which God still honors this verse in giving us "the desires of [our] heart[s]."
More than anything...
In any and every way possible..."But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death..."
"if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." - Phil. 3:7-10
Paul had a lot going on for him in his life; at least he did from the outside looking in. He just got describing his past life in verses 5 through 6. His boasting would sound comparable to something like this that we could all relate to today: I've got "good stock" in me. My family has been very influential in this city since its beginning. I've got the best education, the highest degrees and am a high ranking member of the most prestigious professional communities around. I'm an all-around "good guy" who's active in my church, home and community... The nauseating list could go on and on. Anything good that you or I think we have to offer and that make us stand out among the crowd could be inserted here. Actually, it must be inserted here so we can internalize the truth that Paul is teaching us all.
For each of our lists, no matter how big or small they may be, must all end with the same declaration with that of the Apostle of Grace, "It's all dung to me!" Call it crude, but it's the best imagery for the greatest that our flesh has to offer in our relationship and walk with God - refuse, bio-hazard material, waste...poo. Because Paul is making a point here. All of these things, both the good and bad alike, don't compare to Paul's true focus. More than anything, more than the rewards and esteem that can come about because of our flesh, there is something far greater that he desires.
1. That I may know Him
Paul willingly gives up and suffers loss all for one far more excellent thing - intimacy with His Savior. Without yet studying Paul's in-depth teaching on why this is a better route for the Christ-follower to take, one can already assume there are some grand reasons that Paul has for his decision - one of them being God's inherent goodness (look at the concept found in Ex. 33:18-19 where Moses seeks God's glory and He shows him His goodness). God is completely worthy and able to be entrusted with our every desire simply because of who He is. Paul is about to elaborate for us, however, in more depth about His goodness.
A. How do you know?
No, this is not come cynical question of "how do you know for certain that your should trust Him?" that you would hear from a skeptical unbeliever. Rather, this is a question of quality of knowledge. The Greek language, that which the New Testament is penned in, is a very descriptive and exact language. With in it, there are several common words to express knowledge, the very thing Paul here desires. Let's briefly look at these words and see how they help us to better interpret Paul's heart.
The common word for knowledge would be the greek term gnosis (pronounced "no-sis") meaning knowledge. Its close relative would be epignosis (pronounced eh-pig-no-sis) which is often considered to be a more full or exact knowledge. A deeper investigation however teaches us that our first term gnosis more correctly means to know experientially rather than intuitively (there are separate greek words for that). And, epignosis, often confused for experiential knowledge, rather means correct or precise knowledge (as dealing with accuracy). We could say that this knowledge is one that is "rightly divided" as we see in Col. 1:8-10 "with the knowledge of His will".
Let me add, however, that although each of these words have their own distinct shades of meaning, words still must be filtered by the plain teaching of God's Word and our Lord is certainly clear that all knowledge is meant to be experiential rather than merely just academic. God's truth by its very nature and design are meant to affect our hearts and minds and to be lived out (1 Cor. 8:1-2;Tit. 1:1b, 2:11-12). This being said, these shades of meaning do help us to know more precisely about that which Paul is speaking.
The point to be made here is this: Paul's desire was to experience Christ, NOT just to know about Him or His plans. Certainly we can never come to know Him without proper doctrine, but we must be careful to never stop the bus just at doctrine at the academic level. The train, so to speak, must forge on straight to our hearts where doctrine unleashes the power of God in our lives to truly change us! Remember, we're talking more than the theological here; we are taking truth to its home at a deeper level, going to the very seat of our emotions, will and desires, where God desires us to desire Him just as the Apostle Paul has fleshed out for us here.
To further illustrate not just the concept that Paul presents here, but the necessity of it, let me elaborate with a story. A proud, young man was once said to go the great philosopher and teacher, Socrates. In approaching the sage, he told him, "O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge." Socrates, obviously not a fool, could discern a pompous and proud heart like this when he saw it. The teacher led the young man out of the city and chest-deep into the sea, there asking him, "What do you want?" With that, the philosopher plunged the young man beneath the water. Thirty seconds passed. As he loosened his grip, the young man surfaced, shocked and grasping for air. "What do you want?" repeated Socrates. "Knowledge, great teacher" once again came the reply. The scenario continued until at last the young man was under water for just over a minute at a time. Finally rising from the water, Socrates asked the usual question, "What do you want?" "Air!" came the gasp from the drenched man, "I need air!" "When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge," taught Socrates. More than anything, do you want to know and experience God and to truly know Him on an intimate level? To the magnitude that we need air to sustain us by the moment? Paul did.
B. Who do you know?
To further illustrate not just the concept that Paul presents here, but the necessity of it, let me elaborate with a story. A proud, young man was once said to go the great philosopher and teacher, Socrates. In approaching the sage, he told him, "O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge." Socrates, obviously not a fool, could discern a pompous and proud heart like this when he saw it. The teacher led the young man out of the city and chest-deep into the sea, there asking him, "What do you want?" With that, the philosopher plunged the young man beneath the water. Thirty seconds passed. As he loosened his grip, the young man surfaced, shocked and grasping for air. "What do you want?" repeated Socrates. "Knowledge, great teacher" once again came the reply. The scenario continued until at last the young man was under water for just over a minute at a time. Finally rising from the water, Socrates asked the usual question, "What do you want?" "Air!" came the gasp from the drenched man, "I need air!" "When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge," taught Socrates. More than anything, do you want to know and experience God and to truly know Him on an intimate level? To the magnitude that we need air to sustain us by the moment? Paul did.
B. Who do you know?
Not only is the kind of knowledge we have important, but also the object of our our knowledge. Notice, Paul chose to turn from all things that He might rather know Him - the person of Jesus Christ! Religion, playing on our wayward flesh, so easily misses this point. God does not want our devotion to a creed, person, ideal or even doctrine. I repeat: God does not want our devotion to a creed, person, ideal or even a doctrine! Certainly, our devotion to Him is based upon doctrine and the ideals of His word for if ever there were a person who stood for doctrine it was Paul, yet he still kept first things first (1 Cor. 11:1)!
Notice the specific word choice of Paul in Col. 1:25-28. Paul is here referencing the truth for today, "the dispensation of God which was given to [Paul]...even the mystery." Although this was central in all of his messages, he stands as an example for us in that the message never took the place of the object of the message - Jesus Christ! In verse 27 he explains what the essence of the mystery is, "which is Christ in you the hope of glory." Of course there are dispensational factors here as the "you" includes the gentiles and jews regardless of nationality (Gal. 3:28; Eph. 2:11-12) and so on and so forth. Yet, the point to be made is deeper: Coming to the knowledge of the mystery, brings you directly to Jesus Christ, Himself, allowing Him to dwell within and be formed "in you." Paul continues in verse 28, "Whom we preach" - not a "what" but a "whom" - a Person.
Above all else, more than anything, our hearts, just as Paul's did, should desire to know Him on a deeply intimate level. When this is the desire of our hearts, I believe God truly honors those desires and therefore gives us the desires of our heart according to our initial verse, Psalm 37:4. The remainder of our passage is how I understand God to give us those desires, how He develops intimacy with us.
2. And the power of His resurrection
The Apostle continues his list of those things which he desires more than anything. Picture Paul's first statement of knowing Him as the canopy of a large umbrella under which these subsequent points fall, for that is the greatest part and function of an umbrella - to protect from the elements; so is knowing Christ our greatest and most important function. The second point here can be likened to the shaft of the umbrella. It provides the support and power for the canopy to function. This aspect of our desire also provides us the power to more intimately know our Savior and to live in His life.
A. Identify His power.
If we are to desire this power, we must first identify and come to an understanding of what this power is. For this, we turn to Romans 6:1-11. Let's look at verses 3 and 4 more closely, however:
It took great power - the power of God - to raise Jesus Christ from the dead. This is the same power that grace affords us today. The power to physically stand again in heaven but also here in this life. In His death, Christ died to sin and rose in power victorious over sin's penalty and power. To be identified with this is to have that same victory and power over sin in our own lives! You can also read Romans 8:10-11 where Paul also explains this great power and victory that we have. The focus of these truths is the life, present tense, that we have in our Lord.
B. Immerse yourself in His power.
To develop intimacy with Christ in this is to be fueled in everything and anything that we do by Him. This resurrected life is that of "the New Man" in Christ Jesus (Eph. 4:24). We immerse ourselves in the New Man, in Christ Himself, through our study of the Scriptures, our meditation upon Him (Phil. 4:8), through prayer, thanksgiving, through the giving up of our own will and placing all we have before Him, simply by spending time with Him. The goal is total dependence. What better way to express this than in each and every moment, opening your heart and mind to Him saying, "Lord, I want to know You now. I need to know You. I need Your strength."
This is the goal always. Certainly, we find it easier to do when things are going well, when we are experiencing victory in our lives, when circumstances seem to favor us. But, what about all of those other times? Paul's desire reaches even those places and times. He continues: More than anything, he wants to know Christ...
3. and the fellowship of His sufferings.
As we already looked at in Romans 6, Christ Himself did not even experience the resurrection power of God until He had suffered the ultimate - first, becoming a man in the flesh (Phil. 2:6-8) and finally the torture and death of the Cross for the payment of the world's sins. The Christian life has many times been likened to a series of peaks and valleys. To get to the peak of the mountain (i.e. the resurrection life) you must go through the low points and valleys (the sufferings). Returning to our umbrella illustration, knowing Christ is the canopy and primary purpose/function; knowing Christ's resurrection power is the shaft and finally knowing His sufferings could be likened to handle bar - that which keeps the umbrella grounded and not flying away. Intimately knowing Christ in His sufferings also grounds us in our walk, keeping us humble before Him so that we may continue to depend upon His power. Let's look a bit closer at His sufferings.
A. Sufferings in the flesh.
Our Lord suffered more than any human being could possibly comprehend. Even a cursory reading of passages of His crucifixion reveal the depths of His love for us in suffering so much - spears in His side, beatings, thorns, flesh being torn...all in complete silence. For most of us, we have had very little physical suffering - especially for the cause of Christ. Some parts of our world and generations throughout history can better grasp this concept better for they have fallen to the sword and physical torment for their faith and trust in Him. Certainly His power was and is available to them.
B. Sufferings of the heart.
A passage that never travels very far from my heart or mind on this subject is Matt. 26:36-46. Here, hours before His death, we see the even greater afflictions that the Lord endured on our behalf - those of the heart. The beauty of it and also that which once again we should identify ourselves with, is the angst expressed in his communion and communication with the Father followed by the next breathe of submission to the Father's will (v. 39). Christ suffered rejection, loneliness, righteous anger and so many more emotions I know I've endured - we all have. These are all too often, the neglected areas of our life in which we don't allow the Lord access and control. Yet, they are a crucial part of His plan - of "the umbrella" of knowing Him. We can't have an intimacy with Him if we don't walk in His resurrection power. We can't walk in His resurrection power if we don't die to ourselves - a painful process of suffering. This is something that occurs in the daily realm - let's take it further - moment by moment, breathe by breathe, flicker of the mind by flicker. Ever moment of every day affords us the oppurtunity to take our desires to Him and for us to draw closer to Him.
May our prayer and heart's desire truly be,"Lord, strengthen me in this moment. Let me know you in this suffering - whether fleeting or permanent - and for Your Son to be formed in me. Empty me of myself." This is exactly where these sufferings take us - beyond ourselves, emptying ourselves, dying to ourselves. This is where we'll continue our study next time.
Above all else, more than anything, our hearts, just as Paul's did, should desire to know Him on a deeply intimate level. When this is the desire of our hearts, I believe God truly honors those desires and therefore gives us the desires of our heart according to our initial verse, Psalm 37:4. The remainder of our passage is how I understand God to give us those desires, how He develops intimacy with us.
2. And the power of His resurrection
The Apostle continues his list of those things which he desires more than anything. Picture Paul's first statement of knowing Him as the canopy of a large umbrella under which these subsequent points fall, for that is the greatest part and function of an umbrella - to protect from the elements; so is knowing Christ our greatest and most important function. The second point here can be likened to the shaft of the umbrella. It provides the support and power for the canopy to function. This aspect of our desire also provides us the power to more intimately know our Savior and to live in His life.
A. Identify His power.
If we are to desire this power, we must first identify and come to an understanding of what this power is. For this, we turn to Romans 6:1-11. Let's look at verses 3 and 4 more closely, however:
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."Interestingly enough, the word "baptized" here means "to be identified with." In identifying His power, we learn that we ourselves are from the very beginning identified with it. The idea is therefore that whatever is true of Him is also true of us as well. Just as Christ died (to sin), so have we died to sin for we have been identified with Him; we are one in the same. We will discuss more about this aspect of our baptism a little later; for now we look at the latter portion.
It took great power - the power of God - to raise Jesus Christ from the dead. This is the same power that grace affords us today. The power to physically stand again in heaven but also here in this life. In His death, Christ died to sin and rose in power victorious over sin's penalty and power. To be identified with this is to have that same victory and power over sin in our own lives! You can also read Romans 8:10-11 where Paul also explains this great power and victory that we have. The focus of these truths is the life, present tense, that we have in our Lord.
B. Immerse yourself in His power.
To develop intimacy with Christ in this is to be fueled in everything and anything that we do by Him. This resurrected life is that of "the New Man" in Christ Jesus (Eph. 4:24). We immerse ourselves in the New Man, in Christ Himself, through our study of the Scriptures, our meditation upon Him (Phil. 4:8), through prayer, thanksgiving, through the giving up of our own will and placing all we have before Him, simply by spending time with Him. The goal is total dependence. What better way to express this than in each and every moment, opening your heart and mind to Him saying, "Lord, I want to know You now. I need to know You. I need Your strength."
This is the goal always. Certainly, we find it easier to do when things are going well, when we are experiencing victory in our lives, when circumstances seem to favor us. But, what about all of those other times? Paul's desire reaches even those places and times. He continues: More than anything, he wants to know Christ...
3. and the fellowship of His sufferings.
As we already looked at in Romans 6, Christ Himself did not even experience the resurrection power of God until He had suffered the ultimate - first, becoming a man in the flesh (Phil. 2:6-8) and finally the torture and death of the Cross for the payment of the world's sins. The Christian life has many times been likened to a series of peaks and valleys. To get to the peak of the mountain (i.e. the resurrection life) you must go through the low points and valleys (the sufferings). Returning to our umbrella illustration, knowing Christ is the canopy and primary purpose/function; knowing Christ's resurrection power is the shaft and finally knowing His sufferings could be likened to handle bar - that which keeps the umbrella grounded and not flying away. Intimately knowing Christ in His sufferings also grounds us in our walk, keeping us humble before Him so that we may continue to depend upon His power. Let's look a bit closer at His sufferings.
A. Sufferings in the flesh.
Our Lord suffered more than any human being could possibly comprehend. Even a cursory reading of passages of His crucifixion reveal the depths of His love for us in suffering so much - spears in His side, beatings, thorns, flesh being torn...all in complete silence. For most of us, we have had very little physical suffering - especially for the cause of Christ. Some parts of our world and generations throughout history can better grasp this concept better for they have fallen to the sword and physical torment for their faith and trust in Him. Certainly His power was and is available to them.
However, Christ's power and strength is also available to all those who haven't experienced such things yet still suffer in the flesh. Although Paul suffered much more for the cause of Christ than we most likely ever will (2 Cor. 11:23-29), he also suffered simply affliction in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7-10). This thorn in the flesh is said to be a messenger of Satan. So much of suffering today, if not all of it, comes from Satan, although more indirectly than anything. With sin's entrance into the world (via Satan) pain and suffering entered the world and the lives of mankind. As in the case of both Job and here Paul, we see that it is not caused by God but rather Satan. It is, however, allowed of God. I know, sounds crazy right? It is for a grand purpose, "that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Remember, being identified with Christ's sufferings grounds us and keeps us humble. This is the place we must remain if we are to be completely dependent upon Him. This is why God allows such things and great sufferings in our lives. Not as punishment or to torment us; but to teach us, to empty us of ourselves and to sustain us through each and every painful moment. Whether you daily endure suffering from a medical anomaly, a terrible accident or tragedy, whatever the case - allow the Lord to teach you through it and draw you closer to His heart. Draw deeper in your intimacy with Him through your suffering. It will be the hardest thing you ever do. It will also be the greatest thing you ever do.
B. Sufferings of the heart.
A passage that never travels very far from my heart or mind on this subject is Matt. 26:36-46. Here, hours before His death, we see the even greater afflictions that the Lord endured on our behalf - those of the heart. The beauty of it and also that which once again we should identify ourselves with, is the angst expressed in his communion and communication with the Father followed by the next breathe of submission to the Father's will (v. 39). Christ suffered rejection, loneliness, righteous anger and so many more emotions I know I've endured - we all have. These are all too often, the neglected areas of our life in which we don't allow the Lord access and control. Yet, they are a crucial part of His plan - of "the umbrella" of knowing Him. We can't have an intimacy with Him if we don't walk in His resurrection power. We can't walk in His resurrection power if we don't die to ourselves - a painful process of suffering. This is something that occurs in the daily realm - let's take it further - moment by moment, breathe by breathe, flicker of the mind by flicker. Ever moment of every day affords us the oppurtunity to take our desires to Him and for us to draw closer to Him.
May our prayer and heart's desire truly be,"Lord, strengthen me in this moment. Let me know you in this suffering - whether fleeting or permanent - and for Your Son to be formed in me. Empty me of myself." This is exactly where these sufferings take us - beyond ourselves, emptying ourselves, dying to ourselves. This is where we'll continue our study next time.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
How Appropriate...
Perhaps you know what this feels like:
You have a dream - a passion - something you've longed to do for so long, yet you've just not been able to "put all of the pieces together" to make it happen. I'm quite certain you know how this feels. We all can relate.
One of my dreams for so long (and it seems like the hopes and wishes of many others based on their comments to me) is to create, record and release a CD. This has been a pet project of mine for many years; and so, too have the wheels of my mind been turning for a long time in planning and preparation for such a project.
The journey that I've gone through with the Lord in realizing this passion of mine has taught me many things. I share one with you now...
Let me begin by saying this: the flesh will try as hard as it can, in ways you'd never expect, to side track you from doing things God's way. Let me elaborate. The Lord has blessed me with musical abilities. That said, it's so easy for a musician to get carried away into Perfectionist Land in writing, practicing and recording music. (Hey, who needs to be a musician to understand this? We all do it!) My flesh wants to place this project on a timed table, clearly marking off goals along the way. When I do this, I most certainly squelch the Spirit of God and His Word to inspire me in my writing endeavors. My creative juices quickly turn stale then sour when placed under such constraints. The Spirit of God - the Spirit of the Life of Christ does not work according to time tables and man's schedules. He works consistently and constantly within our hearts and minds "both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).
I've heard it said before that God is not in the microwave business, but rather the slow cooker business. God desires true change in our lives that takes place on a very deep level. It takes time for this to occur. Time which we do not like to give Him, ourselves or anyone for that matter in our "gotta have it now" society.
Although a hard pill to swallow, God has had to show me that He can and will use my talents in spite of myself and all of my planning and efforts. I have tried so many times to finish such a project as this, but each effort has come up empty. God's point to us all exactly: The flesh doesn't work. It has been a path of over seven years that I am just now slowly starting to grasp this concept. Believe me, I have so much further to go. Nevertheless, I have, at least currently at this moment (we'll see about tomorrow) placed this project and dream into His hands. Having done so, I have seen Him work in me to slowly bring this album into fruition.
I have decided a title for the work, and have written, composed and even begun recording the title track: Beneath It All. Sound familiar? How appropriate, right? For this is also the title of the Blog that I have chosen. In reality both projects are one in the same. In this album, my goal and desire is to encourage myself and all believers to look deeper in their own walks with the Lord but also to look beyond the skin and superficial to see beneath it all and what the Lord is doing in the hearts and minds of fellow believers. That is also the same goal of this Blog. I intend to not only share updates about the album with you via this avenue, but further points to ponder and other musings from my own studies and walk with Him. Eventually, it will also house more in depth teaching on the truths, backgrounds and stories told through song found on the album itself.
For now, this is all I share of the project. Come on, now - I have to create some form of anticipation!
Until we meet again,
Justin
You have a dream - a passion - something you've longed to do for so long, yet you've just not been able to "put all of the pieces together" to make it happen. I'm quite certain you know how this feels. We all can relate.
One of my dreams for so long (and it seems like the hopes and wishes of many others based on their comments to me) is to create, record and release a CD. This has been a pet project of mine for many years; and so, too have the wheels of my mind been turning for a long time in planning and preparation for such a project.
The journey that I've gone through with the Lord in realizing this passion of mine has taught me many things. I share one with you now...
Let me begin by saying this: the flesh will try as hard as it can, in ways you'd never expect, to side track you from doing things God's way. Let me elaborate. The Lord has blessed me with musical abilities. That said, it's so easy for a musician to get carried away into Perfectionist Land in writing, practicing and recording music. (Hey, who needs to be a musician to understand this? We all do it!) My flesh wants to place this project on a timed table, clearly marking off goals along the way. When I do this, I most certainly squelch the Spirit of God and His Word to inspire me in my writing endeavors. My creative juices quickly turn stale then sour when placed under such constraints. The Spirit of God - the Spirit of the Life of Christ does not work according to time tables and man's schedules. He works consistently and constantly within our hearts and minds "both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).
I've heard it said before that God is not in the microwave business, but rather the slow cooker business. God desires true change in our lives that takes place on a very deep level. It takes time for this to occur. Time which we do not like to give Him, ourselves or anyone for that matter in our "gotta have it now" society.
Although a hard pill to swallow, God has had to show me that He can and will use my talents in spite of myself and all of my planning and efforts. I have tried so many times to finish such a project as this, but each effort has come up empty. God's point to us all exactly: The flesh doesn't work. It has been a path of over seven years that I am just now slowly starting to grasp this concept. Believe me, I have so much further to go. Nevertheless, I have, at least currently at this moment (we'll see about tomorrow) placed this project and dream into His hands. Having done so, I have seen Him work in me to slowly bring this album into fruition.
I have decided a title for the work, and have written, composed and even begun recording the title track: Beneath It All. Sound familiar? How appropriate, right? For this is also the title of the Blog that I have chosen. In reality both projects are one in the same. In this album, my goal and desire is to encourage myself and all believers to look deeper in their own walks with the Lord but also to look beyond the skin and superficial to see beneath it all and what the Lord is doing in the hearts and minds of fellow believers. That is also the same goal of this Blog. I intend to not only share updates about the album with you via this avenue, but further points to ponder and other musings from my own studies and walk with Him. Eventually, it will also house more in depth teaching on the truths, backgrounds and stories told through song found on the album itself.
For now, this is all I share of the project. Come on, now - I have to create some form of anticipation!
Until we meet again,
Justin
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