Monday Morning Music Ministry

6-27-26

As June draws to a close, so does Pride Month. It is worth noting the celebrations or festivities or whatever we are supposed to feel, or do, to honor homosexuals.

Many groups and nationalities and causes have parades these days, and even associated holidays, some to honor peoples’ heritage, and some to pander to voting blocs, or both, in the American spirit of multi-tasking. It strikes me that, among the flags and lapel-pins there is no White Month or WASP Parade, but some might respond that every day and month in America is an affirmation of White-Majority Christianity; but that statistic is rapidly losing validity.

I have attended, but not marched in, Steuben Day parades in New York City, being of German ancestry. The tradition began in Ridgewood, Queens, a few blocks from my parents’ home when I was a kinder pre-garten. It is now held in Manhattan, centered around the formerly German neighborhood of Yorkville on 86th Street.

But I love, and attend, ethnic festivals of all peoples, and do so frequently. I genuinely love seeing blacks attend St Patrick’s Day events; Poles at Columbus Day festivals; and other cross-cultural happenings. It confirms the basic goodwill of the American people, despite stereotypes of the nay-sayers.

There are still some people, however, who say Nay regarding aspects of some types of group-ID festivities. I suppose I share the bewilderment of Norm Macdonald, who pictured a Gay Pride parade where a father bragged about his son who was Number One in his class at Harvard and loved to fondle other men’s privates. What else, really, is Gay Pride?

I still resent “gay” being hijacked as a word, but my thoughts this month are centered on the “Pride” part of the phrase.

Of course there is a type of pride that is legitimate, like being proud of your child winning a race. That is a human emotion – a reflection of love – that cannot offend or presume. The Bible warns against other forms of pride… and this armchair theologian holds the view that pride can be regarded as the chief sin. To my way of thinking, pride is the underlying motive for other other sins enumerated by God in the Garden, prohibited in commandments, and warned against by Jesus.

• What I mean is this: When we rebel against God, we are presuming that we are exempt from His rules. Worse, we act as if He will give us a pass.
• When we break Commandments, our pride persuades us that His rules are for other people, but we are above His laws.
• God has carefully and fully shared His laws for living… but it is pride that says we know better than the Lord of Creation.
• When we fail to completely surrender to Jesus – to spread His message and opportunity for salvation – we pridefully act like we have a better plan (even if we continually postpone acting on it).
• If we doubt the Bible… or pick-and-choose portions of it… or are seduced by extra-Biblical philosophies… our pride says, in effect, that we know these things better than God and His revealed Word.
• Salvation? Eternity? Heaven? Concern for our loved ones’ souls, much less our own? Taking such vital questions lightly is a reflection of pride; we act like our wishes are stronger than God’s truths.

Back to Pride Month. In the contemporary world’s parlance, I understand that homosexual relationships are what’s being celebrated; and to quote one of the most legitimate of bumper-strip theological truths: I don’t hate the sinner, but I do hate the sin. And the Bible clearly preaches against the practice of homosexuality. A fuller exegesis is that I pray against the transgression, and for the transgressor. No false humility: in the sense that Paul referred to himself as chief among sinners, I frequently sin and I am aware that God despises all sin. Oh, I am conscious of it, and pray for – and accept – forgiveness all the time. I love, and pray for, fellow sinners. That’s what Jesus has us do.

But our sins are properly matters of regret, remorse, and repentance. God forbid that we ever turn them around and build holidays around them or organize parades to brag about them. Who would attend Shame Day parades?

… actually, in this life, there are virtual Shame Days, Shame Months, and Shame parades all the time. How many do we march in, unknowingly or intentionally?

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Click: Toby James – Speak Truth (Music Video)

6-22-26

This last week, evidently with the Wanderlust still coursing through my veins, we hit the road again, driving from Michigan to Ohio for a convention of my wife’s family reunion; thence to Kentucky and Tennessee. People – old friends and new – are always fun; but Mickey and I managed to see new sights and sites too.

Without our planning, there were unifying themes and affinities along the way. God lit our paths.

Our main targets were the famous Ark Encounter and the related Creation Museum in Kentucky.

The former museum is a 100 per cent re-creation of Noah’s Ark, built according to the Bible’s construction details. Large (of course), Ken Ham’s museum and the nearby Creation Museum are mature walk-throughs overflowing (sorry) with signage, information, models, animals, dioramas, and please-touch displays that anticipate the questions of adults, and excite the imaginations of children. It is neither condescending nor preachy, but yet cites the answers in Genesis to a multitude of questions about Creation, seeming anomalies in the Bible, the age of rocks, and, ultimately, the Rock of Ages.

At the other end of the spectrum, at the end of our trip we visited the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Spending a few days with my friends Penny and Norm Carlevato (Norm is this blog’s webmaster) and my old writing buddy Diane Obbema, afforded us the opportunity virtually to set sail on the replica – 50 per cent sized – of the ill-fated White Star luxury ship. Penny has written several books on the Titanic.

This was also very impressive: reconstructed rooms; a wealth of information – everything about the astounding construction to biographies of every passenger; displays of retrieved artifacts; the ability to plunge your arm into the 28-degree water into which passengers plunged; and, again, signage and stats and history at every turn.

As I mentioned, it was not our intention to visit in one vacation the world’s premier museums devoted to history’s most famous boats – the ancient Ark and the famous luxury liner that sank in 1912. Yet the contrasts, and the affinities, were compelling.

There is a joke that virtually has become an aphorism about the two ships. To wit, the reminder that the Ark was built by amateurs, but Titanic was built by professionals. It has been attributed to humorist Dave Barry, preacher Joel Osteen, and performers Mark Lowery and Toby Mac; its launching has floated a thousand quips. Most recently Titanic has inspired TV productions, motion pictures, all sorts of merchandising, and notable scrambles for the salvaging of its treasures.

Beyond the jokes (and the truths) about perspectives that we should recognize, and motivations we ought to emulate, are very serious lessons.

Yes, the Ark was built by amateurs, Noah and his sons. But these guys were not half-wits wondering what ends of primitive hammers to hold. This was a time in God’s temporal dispensation when He communicated with His children (one reason for His heartbreak over humankind’s rejection of Him and His precepts). Read Genesis chapters 6 through 9 and review the ship’s length and width; the kinds of wood to use; the pitch to make the ship watertight; and calculate that the construction was over decades, perhaps more than a hundred years (in pre-Flood times people lived longer than today). And so forth. Two animals of every kind? That was practical in a time of earth’s history when there were “kinds” of dogs, for instance, before breeding, cross-bredding, and species variations. Dinosaurs? Young dinosaurs might have been the dragons, leviathans, and behemoths in Biblical accounts and fossil records.

The Ark’s “builder and maker” was the Lord; Noah and his sons handled the tools.

The Titanic might not have been designed by God, but there were many hands in the science of its design. There were many hands involved in its construction – over several years Harland and Wolff (for the White Star Line) was the largest employer in Ireland. And there were many records set by the ship, even before it sailed. For instance, it was the largest moveable transportation machine in the world; it was certainly the most luxurious ocean liner of its day; and so forth.

Yet Bruce Ismay, head of the White Star Line (although J P Morgan had a controlling interest), was obsessed with PR-related records being set. An eyewitness claimed she heard Ismay urging extra speed on Captain Edward Smith during the voyage. Smith, by the way, went down with the ship as per the naval honor code; Ismay hopped on the last lifeboat and lived another 25 years in general obloquy.

We are confronted by tempting contrasts between the two ships, their manner of construction, and their fates.

• The Ark was built in obedience; Titanic was built according to commercial desires.
• The Ark’s goal was to rescue creatures of God’s creation; Titanic’s goal was to attract paying customers from rivals.
• The Ark followed God’s instructions; Titanic occasionally cut corners with iron rivets instead of steel, among the shortcuts.
• The Ark provided for all creatures great and small, animal and human; Titanic was allowed to have fewer lifeboats than passengers.
• … and so forth.

There is no doubt that Titanic was an engineering marvel, and many amenities were gracious, for instance the higher standards of third-class accommodations. The Ark – whether of Biblical fidelity or legend – was no less, perhaps greater, of a marvel. Thousands of years before Christ, watertight, sufficient for animate creation’s survival.

I suggest that there are many lessons to be drawn in this comparison. Some are obvious; some become evident when we contemplate the times, motivations, and fates. Amateurs vs professionals? It is a question of limited relevance – floating or sinking, so to speak, according to whether we heed the large question: do we listen for God’s direction or do we follow human desires?

Answers will come flooding upon your thoughts.

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Click: The Old Gospel Ship

6-15-26

Some things in life run in parallel tracks. Coincidences, maybe. Mixed blessings, invariably. Like a kid whose birthday is on Christmas Day: convenient for relatives buying presents; tough on the kid whose gift is a “combination.”

This year, D Day celebrations, just passed, are close to Fathers Day, just ahead. And with Memorial Day in the calendar’s neighborhood too, none of us has to stretch our memories and emotions to appreciate the role of fathers in our lives. You dad did not have to die in a war or go ashore on “The Longest Day” for you to savor the role of fathers in the human family… nor the role of father-figures assigned to us, going forward.

Obviously I am addressing men and boys, but the nuclear family – those duties, responsibilities, and blessings that God has laid out – are generally universal. Ignoring the liberal halfwits who think they are smarter than God as they think they can better arrange the physical plumbing (so to speak) of peoples’ bodies and minds, we all do have assignments in life.

Back when Theodore Roosevelt was the first major political figure to advocate full voting rights for women, he also warned that “Equality of rights does not suggest equality of functions.” Contemporary America has a way of taking a good idea and hijacking it to absurd extremes, and this curious tendency is the cause of many social tensions. Ignoring the common-sense dictum of TR, or believing that idiots can turn boys into girls on a whim, illustrates my point.

In my case (regarding the confluence of holiday observances, not social pathologies) I remember my father who served in World War II, participating in the D Day invasion – not on the beaches, but overflying the battles in weather reconnaissance flights. Three reasons to remember him during these days… not that I need special days on a calendar, or promotions by Hallmark Cards. Every time I finish a piece of writing, or give advice to my kids, or discover a new piece of classical music, I have the impulse to wonder what Dad would have thought, or done, or discussed.

… and it is the same with recollections of my mom. The same impulses, but different contexts: and that is how God designed us: The same love, different expressions.

Yes, the same love, different expressions. That IS God. He is Father of all; “God is love,” as the Word reminds us – a definition of God! – yet an emotion He expresses in 8 billion ways. Even more ways than that, of course. Every creation, every act, every blessing in life is a manifestation of God’s love. Which brings us back to the “confluence” I mentioned earlier.

That is to say, our Father which art in Heaven has a surrogate on earth. Yes, His Son Jesus was God in the flesh come to redeem us from the punishment to which our sins sentence us. But I rather point us to our earthly dads… and ourselves, in turn, as parents; and how we are to be heads of our households, examples to our families; protectors. We are representations of our Heavenly Father, or should be.

Can we be perfect and consistent “imitators” of God as per Ephesians 5:1? Of course not; but we can devote ourselves to that goal. We must devote ourselves to that goal. A multitude of Biblical injunctions paint the picture of Godly fathers. To be good and faithful servants is not an option; not even a marching order; but supremely, a privilege.

“Honor thy father and thy mother.” When the cycle of time is due, receive honor too. We teach by example, and we learn by leading. This is God’s way, and worthy of celebration!

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Click: Daddy And Home

6-8-26

I suppose every generation of human history thinks it has discovered a better way, or even the perfect way, to communicate the truth. Or truths… via legends, epic sagas, poetry, art, literature, song, allegory, comic strips. Contemporary post-modernists congratulate themselves for discovering “story” as the greatest mode. Yet Aesop and even the Lord Jesus made effective use of tales and parables to amuse, inspire, and educate.

Sharing the Gospel – the “good news” of Jesus Christ – is often regarded as a unique skill by Christians, perhaps even a spiritual gift, like prophecy or imparting wisdom or a healing ministry. And many times when it is employed by Christians, stories are shared of God’s great power, or lessons that Jesus taught, or events and incidents – even miracles – that are cited to make powerful points.

Indeed there are lessons that can be shared in these ways. Not everybody needs a miracle, but a story about someone else’s miracle might be effective in certain situations.

… But wait. Are we nervous about calling down a miracle? Who are we to decide whether a miracle is needed in a person’s life? In fact, who are we to decide what a miracle is? Some folks enduring anguish might be moved in a major way by a little ray of sunshine, a reassurance, a word of faith. Many times I have witnessed a change in someone’s spirit, even body, by a simple smile, prayer, or the sharing of a Bible verse. A story, perhaps about someone who had been in their situation, has had a great impact.

Christians should think beyond that. Stories about others, no matter how pertinent to your friend’s situation, are never as powerful as when the story involves yourself. There scarcely is a situation that is unrelated to something in your life. Anguish, yes; doubt, fear, challenges, crises, desperation, loneliness; even a toxic confusion when no friend is present.

In those moments, all too common, the personal empathy – not calling upon something you read or heard about – can connect your soul with a hungry person.

It is not difficult, yet we seldom rely on the mode. Are we shy? Do we feel presumptuous? Can we “close the circle” with the point we attempt to make? No matter: everyone appreciates the connection, the sympathetic outreach, the humanity when invoked in the Name of Jesus.

I recently returned from a postponed honeymoon, three weeks in Europe. My wife and I encountered several opportunities to share the Gospel or a brief prayer. God arranges these moments… if we choose to recognize them. I returned to America and was in the hospital and quickly found myself in the hospital with a travel-related malady, and encountered five opportunities to share and pray; two with Christian hospital staffers, three with staffers who saw my Bible and were moved to ask questions about faith.

Each of us has uncountable opportunities to share, pray, “be Jesus” to someone. We disobey God when we let chances go by!

I think some of the most powerful prayers I have shared was during my family’s hospital ministry years ago, with transplant recipients or survivors of surgeries gone wrong. Through tears people would ask, “Why me?” or “Why is this happening to my family?” and, having at one point been through those challenges myself, I was moved to say… “I don’t know!!!”

And then I followed up, after sharing what I could, with invitations to pray together for answers, and to search Scripture together. No offense to wise stories or anecdotes, but real stories proved more powerful than hearsay.

I don’t believe that God sends sickness and disease to His children; He is not a child abuser. Yet there is evil in the world, and we are all victims at times. It is our job – our privilege – to share with others how we have coped and triumphed. And a hint: sometimes sharing and discussing our own trials helps us grow even as we minister to others!

Get personal! And if you pray with someone whose details don’t closely track with yours… tell him or her the story of Jesus. “Can I remind you that He loves you?” – How personal can you get?

All things are not good, no; but All things work together for good to people who love God and are called according to His purpose. – Romans 8:28

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Click: Tell Me the Story of Jesus / I Love To Tell the Story