God is God Over All Hills & Valleys

I played guitar for the praise team at our church this past Sunday, and there was a new song (to me) that has stuck with me ever since I heard it. It is called Hills And Valleys, by Tauren Wells. Below is his testimony about how he wrote the song.

"When you are on the mountain tops of life learn to bow low;
when you are in the valleys of life, learn to stand tall."

This mimics so much the truth from an older song I sang many years ago and my group the Men of Mercy sing called, God on the Mountain. I can remember testifying at a church in southern Ohio I was serving as youth pastor, and had a similar revelation come to me. It was,

whether we are on the mountain or in the valley,

if we keep eyes on Jesus, we will never know the difference.

Tauren's lyrics communicates that truth much better, much more to the heart, of what I was hearing from the Lord.

So today, are in you in the valley? Or are you on the mountain top?

Wherever you are, remember, God is God right there, His grace is sufficient for you, and keep your eyes on Christ--the Author and Finisher of your faith!

IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY

I just had a board meeting where I went over a study on the word "unity" and "divisions." The question that immediately came up was, "Well, Christians don't have to agree on everything...right?" My response went something like this, "Well, wouldn't we want to?" It hit the fan like a lead balloon, which is not at all what I had expected. I thought all of the other board members would be shouting, "Yes!" and giving me high-fives and chest bumps. Well, maybe not chest bumps at this age. There were some other ideas, thoughts and opinions expressed, and I was like, "We just went over this study of like 25 verses that state we are to be unified and have no divisions among us. Why don't you get it?" Seems like I was the one who actually didn't get it. It wasn't that I thought my interpretations were wrong, the weren't. The question centered around their application. "How in the world are we to agree on e...

"Just Thinking About Jesus"

I was wondering today about how I could start meaningful, spiritual conversations with others whom I know are not Christians but perhaps once were. I wondered how I would come across if I was deep in thought and he or she asked me, "What are you so deep in thought about?" and I replied, "I was just thinking about Jesus." I wouldn't want it to be annoying, just bridging. I was reading over an article adapted from The Evangelism Study Bible, that explored responding to people who have had a bad experience with Christianity. I found their five reminders worth repeating and good for keeping in the back of your mind, once practiced in your "holy imagination" (aka, spiritual reflection). 1. Don't be defensive. Remembering that it isn't so much that you do not agree, but HOW you disagree that will stick in their minds when they walk away. Take into yourself their comments as if you were the one who did them wrong and then reflect it back to the...

What if Metallica Came to YOUR Church?

A reaction to John Van Sloten's, The Day Metallica Came To Church: Searching For The Everywhere God in Everything , 2010. This book caused me to rethink some of my foundational theologies, specifically Creation and the Fall. If God created us in His image and declared His creation as ‘very good’, what consequences did the sin of Adam and Eve have upon us? How deep does it go? I have some very strong thinking patterns that hold everything as either good or bad, God’s or Satan’s, black or white. This either/or (dualistic?) outlook doesn’t leave room for the mysterious. But what if all of these things were meant to lead me to something more? What if I always stopped short because I was led to believe that when I came to a certain point I had arrived—mission complete--stop here and move on to another subject? And what if that wasn't true? I was challenged by the thought of how God speaks to us outside of the Bible. I have believed that God speaks to me through many things (...

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