Jesus, Messiah

Christmas, the celebration of the incarnation of God in man. Unexpectedly, the Christmas occasion sermon at my church this ytear was taken from Philippians 2, rather than one of the gospel accounts of Christ's birth. It brought a fresh understanding to me of what God With Us really means. Our pastor reminded us that the most proper attitude at Christmastime is humility, considering the degradation to which Christ submitted Himself, and the glory that God gave him, as the God-man, as a result of His obedience.

I looked on my notes tonight in a quiet moment and was reminded of Chris Tomlin's "Jesus Messiah." He came as a man so that He could carry a cross and become sin, Who knew no sin, that we might become His righteousness. Love so amazing!

Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer, Immanuel.
He's the rescue for sinners
The ransom from heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all.

I am all about Christmas -- all of it. Give me the chestnuts roasting on an open fire where I can dream of a winter wonderland. The sweets, the lights, the gifts - it's all magical to me. At the heart of it, I believe, is a sense of comfort and joy, that He has come to be with us.

All our hope is in You
All glory to You, God
The light of the World.

Amen, and Merry Christmas.

O God, Our Help in Ages Past

I feel ambivalent about my birthday this year in a lot of ways. One the one hand, I like parties, cake, and I admit, presents. On the other hand, I am getting older. I have to maturely accept that my birthday will not be as cool for me as it was when I was a kid. It's nice to have a reason to celebrate, but I kind of want to deny I'm getting older. So I kind of want it to be a big deal, and I kind of feel like it shouldn't be. I think we are going out to dinner with some friends tonight, and my husband is getting me a cake.

I think I'm seeing a pattern now over the years that things even out; one realizes that a lot of stuff that seemed important in the teen years, or even in college, really weren't. You knew they weren't then, too, but it just really seemed like it. Now I feel old and wise enough to be the hoary advisor who tells teenage girls what's up and how to stay steady.

I started to thank the Lord this morning for what He's done this past year. There has been so much grace when I have failed. Strength when I was weak. Patience when I was stubborn. Delight when I sought it. I thanked Him for a wonderful church, a beautiful daughter, a caring husband. And as I started to think of life carrying on for another ten years, I thought of this hymn.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast
And our eternal home.

I looked up the seventeenth-century lyrics and it turns out they suited my musings quite well. You see, Isaac Watts writes about the passage of time, and how it takes all of our lives, and at the same time, how God is in control of all of that time, and of all of our lives. It talks about creation and eternity. The new, and the continuous. That's the kind of contrast life holds for me right now.

I've been studying 2 Peter, which talks about our hope in Christ's second coming. You know, I am not sure I think enough about what happens after this life, or how I'd really like it to end. The saints to whom Peter was writing seemed concerned that those who died before Christ's return wouldn't get to see the event. He assured them that they would rise first, and then the living would meet them in the air. How thougthful, really, of the living, and of Peter to allay their concerns.

Such framing events provide a narrative to life, and I know I need a story to live in. Christ will return one day. I don't think much about it, but I believe it. And looking back on life, I see how He has been my help, and I can trust Him to be my home now in the future.

That kind of truth is better than a birthday party. Gives me steady hope. But give me a birthday party, too, and if it's not too much trouble, a short-lived, cake-induced sugar rush. Oh, and that other song I love to hear - "Happy Birthday to You."

"O God, Our Help in Ages Past," Lyrics by Isaac Watts, music by William Croft. More lyrics can be read, and the tune heard, at http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/g/ogohiap.htm

Revelation Songs

Tomorrow marks the date when, nine years ago, my husband and I embarked on life together as a couple. It so happens that I was going to write about Third Day's song "Revelation," which is a plea for a specific, timely direction from the Lord. There are times when you just need that. There have been times in our marriage when we've said, in effect,

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move
Give me a revelation
I've nothing without You.

The last line of the chorus is always true - I've nothing without Him. In good times and bad, sickness and health, in plenty and in lean times, I have Him, my husband has Him, we have Him. This is both humbling and reassuring. A bedrock on which to establish a marriage, a family, a life.

The title of Third Day's song combined with the wedding theme reminded me of "Revelation Song," originally recorded by Kari Jobe and now also by Phillips, Craigs, and Dean. This is an awesome song. It's in some kind of odd key - maybe minor? I tried playing it and can't quite figure it out. The effect is ethereal, and evokes the throne room, where four living creatures surround the throne, eternally singing,

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come,

We have a glimpse of this heavenly scene in Revelation 4, while here on earth -

With all creation I sing:
Praise to the King of Kings!
You are my everything,
And I will adore You…!

Marriage is a glimpse of heaven, as well, meant to symbolize Christ and His bride. When they are united, Revelation 19 says that a great multitude say, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready."

Oh babe, I don't really know that I was ready. You know that now. But we both know that our purpose here is to get ready for heaven, when things will be revealed "which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor 2:9). It will be true then, as it is true now, that "God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever," but for now I see only dimly.

Here is to more of the journey, of seeking, remembering, believing, and worshipping.

Worthy is the
Lamb who was slain
Holy, holy is He.

KMM

"Revelation" by Third Day, title track of the new album.

"Revelation Song" by Gateway Worship recorded by Kari Jobe on her self-titled album and Phillips, Craig and Dean on the album Fearless.

Step by Step

Ah, naptime. I call it "mommy time." A few hours when things are quiet and I can work on projects, or think.

Time has been telescoping in my mind lately. Every little moment seems huge, and yet I can all too easily look ahead twenty years and realize the world is going to be a much different place then.

My little one turns eight months old today. I've said it before, but people who say time just flies by when you have a baby are speaking from outside the event. Inside the phenomenon, time passes very slowly. There are diapers, feedings, endless nights when you hold her because she doesn't feel well enough to sleep peacefully. There are milestones, moments, pictures, visits from grandparents. There is fear, failure, victory and reward.

All the while, you are loving a little person - a baby, in other words. It has just become clear to my heart that this little person will grow up. In twenty years, I will not be able to just hold her, as much as I might want to, and that thought makes me sad. If I could indulge a single moment longer here, it also makes me sad to think that she won't remember how good we had it when we could just lay on the floor and play together. I have to take pictures to prove it to her. :)

So time passes slowly, still, and yet I can see past the horizon to know that these days are coming to an end very soon. There will be birthday parties, scraped knees, teeth, and - gasp - school! Walking through the school supply aisle today at the supermarket I was thankful we don't have to deal with that just yet.

There will soon be that first step. I admit that I am ambivalent about her walking, per se, because I know once she is mobile I will be worn out chasing her around. Of course I will be proud, though. I imagine that my husband I will both be there and I will let go of her hands as she toddles over to him. I hope it happens that way. :)

My daughter's Praise Baby video features the song "Step by Step," originally written and recorded by Rich Mullins. The video portion features babies taking some of their first steps, which is especially cute over the words, "learn to walk in Your ways." God is in it all, I've concluded. Cradle to grave.

Being mentally transported into the world of my daughter's future also means considering the years of my own life. That makes me think of other lyrics from the song, and I don't think these words are in the Praise Baby version:
Sometimes I think of Abraham
How one star he saw had been lit for me
He was a stranger in this land
And I am that no less than he
A star in the Abraham's array - one that waited to be born for thousands of years, one of many. My life is put in perspective with these few lines. In the grand scheme, I am blessed through Abraham, blessed to be a child of the faith. In seeing my daughter's future I get the sense that my life is part of history. I do not understand all of my past and don't know what will happen in my temporal future, but I know one thing remains constant - He is my God, and by His grace I will ever praise Him.

Feeling inspired

Silent for a season. I've been finishing a semester of school, packing, moving, and traveling. And in the middle of it, I've felt kind of uninspired.

But, the other night I saw a sneak preview for Julie and Julia, a movie based on Julia Child's life story and the experience of a woman who blogged her way through Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I really enjoyed the movie. It wasn't Shakespeare, and far from scripture, but it did have its transcendent moments, I think, and what especially what worked for me was how she stuck with her blog out of the desire to finish something. The movie made blogging - and cooking - look fun, and it made me want to get back into the former.

I'm including some of my cooking in this first post-hiatus post. I'm relying on Super Foods for Babies and Children by Annabel Karmel for ideas and recipes. It's not French cooking, but it does involve sauteeing onions and making delicious food. I just added the frozen peas to "Chicken, Sweet Potato, and Pea Puree," in which I substituted regular potatoes. It smells wonderful. In a few minutes I will puree it and then freeze in ice cube trays what I don't serve my daughter for lunch. I have been successful making other purees and recipes from this book.

It's just what a cookbook should be - full of pictures, clear on directions, and enthusiastic about the food. It is also didactic; it tells you how to do what it's telling you to do. One learns how to cook. That is just what Julie wanted to get out of Julia's book. Ah, there's something hospitable, neighborly, and genuinely lovely about a good cook book.

Well, I'm hoping to get back to writing about songs soon but for now, Bon Appetit!

We're the issue

I've been reading a lot of feminist writing lately for school, in part because there is not much from any other perspective dealing with problems women face today. I'd like to offer another perspective, though: problems women face today, including chauvinism, are real, but their solutions are spiritual, not political. I hear a lot of talk about power relations. Isn't it obvious that the question of who has the power is just another way of asking who is abusing it? Much of the discourse I've read merely pits interest groups against one another. The conflict is real, but additional skirmishes of the same kind will not end it. Fighting will just lead to more fighting, more wounds, more animosity.

The real problem is a fundamental moral flaw in men and women. Among Switchfoot songs that have been relevant to me today is "Ammunition," which describes the strife aptly: "We've been blowing up, we're the issue. It's our condition. we've been blowing up; we're the issue. A detonation ... we are the fuse and the ammunition." The problems that exist among humans exist because of human nature. We start them - we're the fuse - and we make them worse when we add the ballistic forces of hatred, denunciation, and derision. As the song says, "We've got ourselves to blame. Look what a bomb we've made of love."

When women fight for rights while men continue to accuse them of the sameo old things; when men find that no woman is able to live up to every ideal, isn't it time to ask if the problem is perhaps both created and sustained by human nature itself?

If so, the question becomes not whether women and men can strike a power balance but whether or not human nature itself is redeemable. How do you make ammunition safe from its own volatile nature? Furthermore, how can this be done without taking away all of its spark? I don't believe we were meant to be either combustible or cold as gunmetal.

In the gospel according to Switchfoot there is another song, "Redemption Side." Four in the morning, the speaker is lonely and alienated, but says,

I've got my hands
At redemption's side
Whose scars are bigger than
These doubts of mine
I'll fit all of these monstrosities inside
and I'll come alive

That's what I want, and that's what I think we need - a savior big enough to handle all of our monstrosities - the messes we've made - and bring us into a real life that isn't about bruising each other for our own selfish gain but living for something bigger - something holy - an eternal flame that consumes what part of our ambitions make us impure and refines us to live for the glory of One who created us in His image, male and female.

Blessed Be Your Name

I started reading the book of Job the other day because, like him, I feel caught in the middle of circumstances I don't understand. I wondered what I would take away from this book which is at times very dark. I have found one bright spot that dispels this darkness. Chapter 1 verse 21 says, "And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

I've been returning to that verse over the past few days as I have had occasion to bless the Lord on my behalf, and that of others. God gave a son to some friends this morning; blessed be His name! His name is also to be blessed though He took away a child growing in another mother's womb. The Lord took away a friend's job, but even the friend would declare "blessed be the name of the Lord."

The friend who experienced a miscarriage told me she has been meditating on Job's words in 2:10, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not adversity?" This has kept things in perspective for her. On my own small, private, scale, it keeps things in perspective for me, too. My daughter sleeps through the night at two months old - blessed be the name of the Lord! It is difficult to get her to nap and she yells in my ear when I try to burp her. Blessed be His name.

I have had the Matt Redman song in my head for the past few days. It is such a catchy tune that it's easy to forget the dark circumstances that were the context of those words.
Remembering Job's sufferings when I hear this song reminds me that I may not understand my circumstances, good or bad, but that God is still in control, has a purpose for my suffering, and plans to prosper me, as He did for Job.

On a very practical level, this helps me accept the ups and downs of my day. When my daughter rests or entertains herself in the bouncy seat, I can bless the Lord. When she cries for a solid hour, and I don't understand why, though I've tried, blessed be His name. The Redman song reminds me how to respond, to: every blessing He pours out I'll turn back to praise, and when the darkness closes in, still I will say, 'Blessed be the name of the Lord.'

If this is a dream...

I've been thinking about a Charlie Hall song that is really a scripture song, entitled "You Have Done Great Things." Its Psalm 126 set to music, which makes memorization a cinch.

The Psalm is about how God had set His people free before, and now His people want Him to do it again.

When they were set free the first time, they felt as though they were in a dream state (v. 1). It must have seemed too good to be true. Like the Cardinals getting into the Superbowl after a history of bad seasons.

Charlie Hall takes the statement "we are glad" and turns it into "we are filled with joy." I like the simplicity of the Psalmic language. It doesn't need to be overblown; if you've been in captivity for awhile, just to be glad is enough.

For me, the "great things" the Lord has done have been little breakthroughs my seven-week-old daughter has made, like learning to smile. It sets my heart free to sing for joy. The bridge of the song, which is the end of the Psalm, tells why:

Those who sow in tears shall reap with joy
And return with shouts and songs
Carrying the fruit of God.

The season of sowing is different for everyone. I for one have sown in tears the past few weeks, as all new mothers do, and the harvest I reap is when my daughter reaches a new milestone. My heart is singing this song - "You have done
great things." If this is a dream, don't wake me!