I love Mountain Dew's new flavor, Pitch Black. I'm usually not a fan of grape soda, but this is a hybrid, kinda like those blackberry and multiple-berry flavors of Clearly Canadian of old...
And now for something completely different...
In God's Word I read today about God's instruction to His people as they prepared to go to war. He was giving them all this territory, but they still had to go out and fight to get it. It's interesting that the leaders would tell anyone who was afraid or fainthearted to just go home. Their fear and bad attitudes would spread to the others, so they were just allowed to take off. Sometimes we have to have courage to go for it and do what God has given us to do. That's encouraging.
I was reading in God's Word today (Deuteronomy 17), I was impressed by a number of things. One is that God didn't want someone to get stoned to death for bogus reasons. No accusation was held against someone on the word of only one witness. It had to be at least two or three. Then, if they had defied God, they would be taken out and stoned.
Also, to prevent false accusations or a conspiracy, the hands of the witnesses must be the first ones to cast the stones. That's hardcore stuff.
God also instructed His people to, if they were going to elect a king, to do so from someone in their midst, not letting a foreigner reign over them. That's a good thing. The king also gets a scroll/copy of the Law of God and he is to read it all the days of his life, so he knows God's will and will revere Him.
Hey, I did like the reporter for ESPN asked me:
"When you hit the knees tonight, thank the Good Lord for putting Reggie White on this earth for 43 years..."
I did that. Reggie was a good man. I disliked his teams (Packers and Eagles mostly), but respected him much as a man of God. I met him at GMA once, as he started a label called Big Dog Records. He was really a good person. It's a shame he's gone so soon. It's hard (impossible here maybe?) to understand why he's gone so soon, but I believe he's in a much better place.
Whew!
I saw worried about this. I had made some room on my hard drive by deleting the contents of my temporary internet files. I ignored the warning about losing cookies, but one of the cookies was my password into the website backend. And I had no clue as to what that password was.
My girls and I prayed about it, my parents' safe trip, and the comfort of a friend. My parents made it safely here, I was able to get an old computer fired up (which had the settings saved), where I could change the password to one I can remember. I trust my friend is being comforted by the Holy Spirit, Who is called "the Comforter."
Well, Merry Christmas, everyone.
I encourage us all to find a time (30 seconds, maybe longer), where we think of someone we know (or someone we don't know), who may be less fortunate or going through a super tough time, and ask God to comfort and be with them.
Have you ever been gracious to someone else?
For instance, while out holiday shopping (and wrestling the automobile traffice everywhere you go), have you let someone trying to turn on the road from a parking lot get in front of you? That is an example of being gracious. It's polite. It's giving a gift (no matter how small). It's letting another person in line in front of you at the theater. It's giving up your aisle seat on the airplane so a couple can sit together. It's really unmerited favor. We are just being nice to someone, perhaps for the simple reason of doing a good deed for a stranger.
God is gracious to us. The gifts (large and small) that He gives us are completely unmerited. He is nice. He is loving. He is thinking about us. He's being creative in ways He can bless us. Isn't that awesome?
I was reading John chapter 8 this morning and wondering what examples of graciousness I could find there. We see mercy at the beginning, where the Pharisees try to "trap" Jesus by bringing in front of him a woman caught in the act of adultery. He showed her mercy by telling her, after all her accusers had left, that neither He will accuse her (being that He was the only One Who was qualified to condemn and stone her, since He was without sin). That's mercy. Later on in the chapter He talks about giving those who believe in Him the right to never taste death. That is grace. It is an unmerited gift that only requires belief. Belief is easy, but it's also tenacious and can be hard, difficult, and trying.
I love the Amplified Bible, and it's not because I can hear electric guitars turned up loud or anything. It's because it expounds on the words in the text, taking the Greek and Hebrew word definitions and explaining their meaning by adding synonyms. For example, in John 3:16, the text that says, "...whosoever believes in Him..." reads something like "...whosoever clings to, trusts in, and relies on Him..." Sometimes believing is clinging to Him with every ounce of strength we have.
I wonder if I could tell a Buddhist (I used to have a NSB Buddhist as a roommate) that he could still be a Buddhist and believe in Jesus...? The implication I'm wondering is, 'If this person believed in Jesus, coming to Him as a Buddhist (a sinner) and placed his faith in Him without prerequisites or conditions (such as renouncing Buddhism), if God in His graciousness and mercy would remove the shackles of that false religion later on as a part of that believer's journey and sanctification process. It's an interesting thought. Certainly we don't tell dirty people to "clean up, and then shower." In the same way, we don't force people to renounce their sin or give up their sinful lifestyle before they put their trust in Christ. We confess our sins, but most often we renounce, turn from, or "repent" of our sins after Christ comes into our hearts. I could be wrong about this, but I think it's a good question to ponder (out loud). I often find myself asking questions that relate to evangelism, because I truly want to see people come to Christ. I wish I was more active in seeing folks become born again.
I pray, "Father, please use me to bring glory to Yourself. I ask that You would give me the privilege of seeing more people born again into Your kingdom. May Your will be done. Amen."
I've been reading this fun book, called Built To Grind. It's a 25 year anthology from the Independent Truck Company. It's fun to read about the glory years of skateboarding, its decline and resurgence as street skating. I remember subscribing to Skateboarder back in the day and how it changed its name to Action Now at the end, in an attempt to cover all kinds of action sports. It reminded me of my own decision to make in the mid-90s when metal was getting thrashed by the industry with a musical shift of grand proportions. In some ways, I wish I would have changed the name to Heaven's Mental and specialized in the harder edge of punk rock, etc, putting bands like Blenderhead and MxPx on the cover. I wonder how that would have gone over. Would I have caught any flak from those in the mental health profession?
For those that can remember MxPx was on the cover of the first issue of HM, although it was a "split" cover that had to be turned upside down to "switch" cover bands. The other one was the retro 70s group Imagine This. What was I thinking? The covers that followed were: Guardian, Michael Sweet, Jesus Freaks, and Stavesacre.
I'm reading / reviewing a book put out by the Independent Truck Company, called Built to Grind. It's a 25-year history of the renegade skateboard truck company and all the rad riding that's taken place in that time. It's fun reviewing books like this.
In reviewing a little Scripture today, I want to rate God's actions, on a one-to-ten scale...
Ha ha. Just kidding. But, in reading a little Scripture today, (Deuteronomy chapter 7, to be exact) it was fascinating to see God's plan for Israel to take things little by little. Reminds me of how I've got to get back in shape. I can't expect to lose all the weight I need to immediately, but if I stay faithful and take little steps to achieve small goals, along the way I'll accomplish big things.
Also sticking out in this chapter is God's faithful love to His people.
"The Lord did no set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath He swore to your forefathers that He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you fromt he land of slavery..."
Isn't it cool to think of the Lord setting His affection on us? I think so.
I never thought of the word "fidelity" in any other context than the most common one -- marriage, but I've recently seen it used to simply talk about faithfulness. We can show fidelity in our relationship with God and those around us.
In Numbers 23, we see God showing His fidelity and faithfulness to be consistent. This guy named Balak took Balaam to a place and sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams and then asked Balaam to curse Israel for him. Balaam went to inquire of the Lord and came back with an "oracle" and spoke a blessing for Israel. This frustrated Balak, so he took him to another place...and then another -- all with the same result. God would not turn around and curse a people He had blessed.
It says that God "put a message in Balaam's mouth." I wonder how that worked out. I also wonder why Balaam would agree to go with this guy to multiple places and keep trying in vain to accomplish something that seemed unlikely to happen.
It's good to know that God is always faithful.
Working hard on the new issue. Interviewed a band from Hawaii called Olivia today. Very fun dudes. Am hoping to get the website updated. I noticed the Heaven's Metal page was down for some reason. That's odd.
I had an interview with Daniel Davison of Norma Jean last night. It went fabulous! I was so excited. This will be for our cover story. Anyway, I was so glad that the interview went well that I took the microcassette tape with the interview on it home with me -- for safe guarding. I wouldn't want anything to happen to that tape.
I think that's pretty silly of me.
God is good...
...all of the time.
Even when your car breaks down on a cold morning. Even when someone rips off your skateboard. Even when someone cuts in front of you in line and grabs the last voucher for that coveted toy. Even when someone bumps into you on the way to class, knocking your headphones out of your ears and spilling your coffee. Even when someone steals the emblem off your car's wheels. And even when God opens up the earth and swallows up some proud Levites who oppose His prophet Moses.
There is a terrible story in Numbers 16, where Korah stirs up 250 men to oppose Moses and his "special access" to God's presence. They wanted a piece of the priestly action, too. Moses calls a litmus test of sorts, where God will show up and prove who His true "come near" priests are. When they all showed up, God got angry.
"Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once."
Moses and Aaron fell face down. "O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will You be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?"
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Say to the assembly, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'"
The earth opened up and swallowed these men and their wives, children, and little ones and all that they owned. People freaked out.
"The earth is going to swallow us, too!"
Fire then came out of heaven and consumed the 250 other Levite men who had stood with Korah to oppose Moses. The next day, however, instead of being broken and repentent before God, the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
"You have killed the Lord's people."
When the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron, a cloud covered them and that familiar message was heard:
"Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once."
Moses had Aaron take his censer with incense and atone for the people in order to save them from God's wrath, for the plague had started. Aaron ran into the midst of the people. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. 14,700 people were dead.
Isn't it amazing that the priestly duty of intercession saved the community from death? That is one serious priestly duty/responsibility/honor/gift.
Right before Stephen succombed to the stoning that ended his physical life, he looked up and saw a vision. Perhaps it was even a glimpse into Heaven. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. In the midst of a dramatic story, this little detail might get lost. Elsewhere in Scripture it is pointed out that Jesus has the prestigious spot of sitting at the right hand of the Father, kind of like a king's "right-hand man." It's a place of great honor. Like a military man who chooses to salute a fellow soldier, Jesus apparently stood up, as if to say, "Well done. Come on home." That guy, Stephen -- he was a hero.
Caleb and Joshua are other biblical heroes. Cowards among them, 10 of the 12 spies sent out to spy out the land (in Numbers 13 & 14), described the people in the land as "giants" and themselves as "grasshoppers." I wonder if this offended God at all, since He had sent locusts (a bug somewhat similar to grasshoppers) as a plague upon Egypt not too long before; and here were some of those rescued people refering to themselves as like grasshoppers. I dunno... But when all the Israelites wept and grumbled and cired, "If only we had died in Egypt..." I bet that got God kind of angry.
It appears that was the case, as anyone over 20 (except Caleb and Joshua) was told that they would die before entering the promised land. It was like God was giving them what they asked for. That was a good time to be under 20 years old!
"Did you hear what happened tonight?"
A member of New American Standard asked me as they loaded in to my house last night at about 2am.
"Dimebag Darrell is dead. Someone came on stage with a gun and started shooting people. That guy is dead."
I didn't believe it at first. Later I turned on the tv news and found a short story on CNN. Wow. This is some very sad news. A senseless and tragic event. Apparently a nut climbed on stage during a Damage Plan concert in Columbus, OH last night. Early into the set he came on stage, apparently said something about Pantera (Dimebag's former mega-huge metal band) and shot him four times at close range, and then started shooting others. A quick call to the police started a "shots fired" message on police radio and a policeman who was nearby came into the back entrance of the club, entered the stage and shot the nut. One report states that he was holding a hostage while this happened. Three heated city buses were brought in so all the concert audience could be questionied about what went on. This was insane.
I'm saddened for Dimebag's friends and bandmates. I also regret not taking the opportunity to interview Damage Plan last summer when their publicists had asked me. I hope Dimebag was able to talk to his Maker and make things right before his murder.
This sets a terrible and creepy precedence for rock shows. One online news report mentioned that there were no metal detectors at the club. I hope we do not turn into a hyper-security state where paranoia and fear changes how we live. Many clubs I'm sure cannot afford high dollar security systems. What happened was a nightmarish event. It's hard to believe. It's kind of a drag that this news is not getting more prominence, which Dimebag's musical legacy deserves.
Sigh.
It's always good to host travelling musicians, and the folks with New American Standard were a joy to get to know more over breakfast. They are an indie band that has been touring on their own for over five weeks now, which is awesome. They have recently hooked up with management and booking, so things should be looking up for them soon. They're heading off to Corpus Christi today for another show tonight.
And now for something different:
We need rest.
It's interesting how Leviticus 23, where God continues to share guidelines of health and good things for His people, He lays out specific festivals and days of rest. We need it. We are incomplete. We eat food that acts as fuel, and our bodies need to rest. It is good for our souls, too. I love the provision in verse 22 that instructs the farmers not to harvest out to the edge of the fields, but to leave that to the poor and the aliens, so they can have somewhere to get some grain for food. That's a wonderful provision and indicative of a caring Heart...
Wow! When Moses gave directions from the Lord to Aaron in Leviticus 9, it was in preperation of seeing the Lord. After meticulously following the instructions for making offerings, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. "Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown."
That is intense. Wouldn't you love to see that? I tell ya, though, my nature would probably make me un-excited about the preperations necessary. If I had to follow all the details of those sacrifices, I might get lethargic, grumbling, and cynical about it. 'Isn't there a shortcut?' I would probably think. But how much it must please God if we obey what He says instead of reacting this way. I would probably try to counteract that tendency by thinking about the result -- the glory of God. That might motivate me to do my work cheerfully and expectently. That's how I want to be. I want to say "I love you" by obeying.
Yesterday I met with some members of our parent printing company -- Quebecor World Printing. We talked about Co-mailing our magazine, which will be a leading new method of mailing our magazine with others (probably 30 to 90 other titles), which will be sorted by region and zipcode together, so that they stay out of mail sacks and travel to the centralized mail facility closest to the destination faster. This would be very cool -- especially in the face of more postal rate hikes, which are expected in 2006.
The Cowboys pulled out an exciting game that changes leads twice in the last three minutes. That was fun. The new issue of HM should be finished printing and ready to ship out in a day or two. Besides a cover story on Comeback Kid, this issue will feature: Taking Back Sunday Says, Showbread, Anberlin, a Symphony in Peril poster, a Pillar Tour Journal, Wovenhand, Chasing Victory, Viva Voce, The Showdown, the 2004 Staff Picks, Kemper Crabb's new column, and more.
(to the tune of "Follow That Dream")
"I'm gonna follow that cloud
wherever that cloud may lead me.
I've got to follow that cloud to find the love i need...
...Keep a-movin, move along, keep a moving..."
Over the Tabernacle of Moses there was a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When these things moved, the people of God followed. This is a cool, but still mysterious way to be led by the Lord. It is also cool but mysterious to be led by the Lord today (by the leading of His Holy Spirit). Some may argue, some may resist, and some will follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Reading God's Word, hearing what He has said to us, and then choosing to cling to, trust in and rely on what He's told us is simply being obedient and led by God.
I was the guest on a public access show this past Saturday. One of the show regulars related a story about how he had an opportunity to share ("witness") to someone and he not only had the opportunity but the prompting of the Holy Spirit to share about having a relationship with God and he disobeyed or let it get away. And he felt a pang of regret for doing so. This is an everyday example of God leading us in the day-to-days. Now, since I brought it up I should address the topic of disobedience.
When we fail to obey, we should allow feelings of regret -- let 'em come, but only so long as they lead us to repentence. Once we repent before God, then we can tell feelings of regret to get lost, along with our sin. Forgive and forget is a real thing. Going public is another matter, though. If you repent in public, many well-meaning friends will try to console you and maybe even talk you out of repenting. I'm a strong believer in letting a person repent (giving them space). If I see a friend wallowing in regret/guilt and failure, then I'm likely to encourage my friend to trust in God's forgiveness and forget about it and move on. Sometimes it can be healthy to repent in public (and sometimes it's called for -- like if you ripped off an entire church or something), but often it can be done in private before God. If Jesus tells us to approach a brother that offends us one-on-one, it probably means that God cares about dignity and prefers dealing with sin in small, closed circles. (but that's another topic)
One thing I think I'm learning is that I need to spend time in God's Word on a daily basis. If I do that, I'm more likely to hear and sense God's leading. If I neglect that, I can still be led of God, but I won't be as healthy. I might still be in the game, but just not "at the top of it." That's what I want.