Monday Morning Music Ministry

8-24-20

“If you’re not for us, you’re against us.”

“The friend of my enemy is my enemy,” or variations.

“Decide this day who you will serve.”

… and a hundred similar aphorisms. These are not fortune-cookie sayings or snippets of advice. They truly are life-rules, and are best understood when put into use… when circumstances oblige us to make choices.

I have mentioned before how once when I visited Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist (Maus) and his wife Francoise Mouly, now Art Director of The New Yorker, they were eager to have me explain, if I could, an ad they saw in a magazine. It offered T-shirts, one of which bore the legend “Don’t let Jesus spit you out.”

Surely a curious message for those who are not Christians (and, I’m afraid, many who are); or those who are not familiar with the challenging book of the Apocalypse, Revelation.

The full title of the Bible’s last book, in many translations, is The Revelation of Jesus Christ To His Servant John. The elderly Apostle was exiled to the island of Patmos off the Greek coast, a penal colony, for evangelizing in Ephesus. It was on Patmos that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, inspired the words of End Times, messages to the major churches of the day, and, many believe, describing the stages of spiritual maturity of believers as represented by future history’s unfolding dispensations.

The words to the churches are… revelatory, and often harsh. Lessons to all believers. They should be read without confusion by Christians who identify with the challenges, shortcomings, and warnings. Some passages:

I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead…. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

… I am coming quickly; hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.

And to the Church at Laodicea, which many think is a picture of the Christian church of our times:

The faithful and true Witness… says this:

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to receive from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Can these words be true? Chilling, if so!

Jesus would prefer that you are totally sold out for Him (hot)? Or prefer ice-cold nominal Christians, or lax church-goers (cold)? Prefer over “lukewarm” Christians?

Of course it makes sense, and that fact, if lukewarm Christians would stop to think about it, should make them deathly afraid. Jesus does not even say, “Depart from Me; I never knew you,” another famous verse… because lukewarm Christians do not really know the Savior in the first place.

What can be more graphic than virtually “spitting someone out”? – Distaste, disgust, rejection. Jesus warns that He will do it… and that we can bring this on ourselves.

This is surely good theology; it was spoken by the Son of God, in a “letter” written directly to “the Church at ———” (you may supply your home address there).

Beyond theology, there is no better user’s manual, so to speak, in life.

It might not have application in every moment of life, through history (yes, it does, but that’s another message) but it surely resonates today! The threats in this world… the crisis in our nation… the turmoil on our streets, and parks, and neighborhoods, and churches, and government offices… demand that we not be lukewarm.

We cannot be lukewarm in the face of efforts to destroy our heritage. How can you be lukewarm about the destruction of police headquarters, and the homes and shops of average citizens and neighbors? We should be spit out if we are lukewarm about the assault on secular and sacred statues – the Founders of this nation, and of Jesus, Mary, and saints – as we merely watch on TV.

It should against the law to be lukewarm in the face of such things.

Actually, it is. Against God’s law.

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Click: Halleluyah in Jerusalem

4-27-20

Plandemic. That is not a typo.

I believe this current crisis, across the entire earth, touching health and finances and well-being and emotions is not random. I believe it has been planned.

We hear of “Acts of God” on the news and in insurance policies. To me, acts of God are not hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, nor epidemics.

Acts of God are love. And beautiful days. And happy families. And babies’ smiles. Generosity; charity; forgiveness; gratitude; joy.

These current hard times have us confused and worried. Soon, these emotions might turn into widespread bitterness, suspicion, anger. Maybe not soon, but… eventually. We do not know, now, how long this all will last. People read this message all over the world, and if there still is a world, might read these words ‘way into the future. Now, we see through a glass darkly, because that is as far as our eyes can discern today.

So I say that I am persuaded that this pandemic was planned. Readers who are not Christians might share my own immediate suspicions that China charted a war but without bullets or bombs. Lab-made or natural virus, it is plausible that the worldwide spread was not an accident. Our instincts tell us that, like children caught in the jelly jar, Communist China’s myriad stories, versions, corrections, cover-ups, disappearances, suppression of news, falsified statistics, denials of reliable assistance, arrogance toward truth-seekers… prove them as culpable as gunmen in a bank heist or drivers of getaway cars. If they act guilty, they likely are guilty.

Readers who are Christians may see this view as irrelevant. But I invite skeptics to consider the other evidence of “planning.”

I am persuaded that there is a God; there is a heaven and there is a hell; there is a Savior, Jesus, through whom we are reconciled to the Father. When humankind chose to sin and to rebel against God, yet He sent His Son to bear the penalty for our sins.

As part of our rebellion, for some reason people – even His chosen, those who know Christ – often think that sickness and sorrow are sent by God; and that events like epidemics and death are, oh well, just part of life; not part of Satan’s evil intentions.

Believers and skeptics alike still have to deal with the details, fine-print, and reality of such a worldview. But our 100 per cent understanding of the world and its woes would not change anything in the world. Including the dizzying array of theories and “solutions.” Especially we must deal with things like this awful, stark reality before us.

How do we deal with things? For personal security, a current view is that we engage in social-distancing. OK, having chosen the professions of writer, historian, and cartoonist, my own decisions have put me closer to the “hermit” mode of daily life. I am a little primed, but believe me, I realize this is not for everyone.

First (among many perspectives) we must realize that, at the moment, it might be said that more disruption and misery has been caused by fear than by the virus itself.

I recommend to you not to surrender your spirit to this bizarre solo life of isolation. Rather, realize that as Christians – which I hope all readers are, or will be while there is time to deal with the Truth of the Gospel – we all actually are pilgrims and strangers in this world, already.

We are called to “be apart.” To be “in the world, but not of the world.” This world is not our home! And “I don’t want to get adjusted to this world.” “Be not transformed to this world.” We’re headed for the Promised Land!

I have used quotation marks here because I quote Bible verses and song lyrics – sermons in song, poetic and life-saving advice.

So you may follow the news and the advice about the virus. That is good! You might be curious about whether we are under attack by forces of flesh and blood. But be aware of the real enemy. Through boredom and annoyances and inconvenience, discern the enemy of your soul. Be aware – this is a war, whether we like it or not. Trust God, not headlines.

Spiritual terrorism is being waged against us. You might perceive sniper-fire. But Kamikaze attacks are what we face.

Oh, what a weeping and wailing,
As the lost were told of their fate;
They cried for the rocks and the mountains.
They prayed, but their prayer was too late.

The soul that had put off salvation,
“Not tonight; I’ll get saved by and by,
No time now to think of religion!”
At last, they had found time to die.

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On Easter, Lily Isaacs and her children Sonya, Becky, and Ben were quarantined, but recorded a message and song in the little chapel at Sonya’s home.

Click: I Have Decided… It Is Well