Doug Van Pelt

uh-MAZE-ing

Been having a blast at SXSW and seeing some fantastic stuff, including some real human drama. I'm tempted to spill it all out here, but I've gotta save some revelations for the print magazine, man. I will say this, though: Watching Press On, a documentary about the life and music of Robert Randolph (and the "Sacred Steel" movement) was SO inspiring. I shed tears of joy a few times watching the movie, just reveling in the goodness of God that is being poured out on this guy in a very public manner. His music is phenomenal. For a glimpse of the great footage of this documentary, pop your copy of Unclassified into your computer and watch the "Behind The Scenes" video. It's some of the same footage found in this movie.

In Ezra 7 we see that "the gracious hand of his God was on him, for Ezra had devoted himself to the study and ovservance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel."

We (speaking of myself) look at the Law as some sort of negative thing, a list of rules we don't have to keep anymore because Jesus fulfilled the Law on our behalf, yada yada. But I think a better perspective is to look at it within the context of how it was applied. God's Law was His Word given to His people. His laws are not mean party-killers, but guidelines that keep us healthy and safe and prosperous. For Him to visit man was a marvelous thing. And even moreso, Ezra had His gracious hand upon him, blessing what he did. God's favor is an amazing thing, and something to be super thankful for. I wonder what it's like to never feel like God's favor is upon you. I can think of times where I was assured inside my soul that God was with me and that He showed me grace and favor. I think of someone who might say, "I've never felt that. I've never sensed God as being close to me or showing me favor." I imagine the feelings of condemnation and unworthiness that would accompany such thoughts. I'm not sure what to tell someone in that situation. Our relationship with God at some point becomes subjective and personal. There are promises in His Word and descriptions of His care and love which are inclusive of all that believe. To somehow exclude yourself from His care and family is believing a lie. To not be able to say, "I've felt such and such emotions" is one thing, but to say that, "I don't belong, God doesn't love me," or "He doesn't care about me," is quite another (and false, according to Scripture). I hope that if I encountered such a hopeless one that I would have hope to offer, like the "reason for the hope that is within you," as Scripture states. I believe that one way to be "ready" for that is by having a regular spiritual diet that includes God's Word. There's certainly been times in my life where I've felt dry and hadn't "eaten" or "digested" God's Word in a while, and that would probably impair me a little towards the effort of "feeding" or helping someone else. There have been deposits in my "well," some that go down deep into my soul and comfort me, but having been recently "refreshed" with God's Word, like splashing clean water on my face, equips me all the more to share that hope.