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)

1-5-26
Janus, the Roman god who had two faces, one looking backward and one looking
forward, was among other things the source of January’s name. We logically are
prompted at this time to review the past year and contemplate the next. (By the
way, it strikes me as appropriate that a false god can be considered two-faced…)
My favorite pied-a-terre outside Bologna (Sasso Marconi) is the ancient villa Torre
di Iano, Tower of Janus. The old guy has been around for a long time, as have
superstitions and traditions like new year’s resolutions.

I will not offer resolutions, nor even suggestions, this week because I likely will
have broken my own before I hit “send” on the keypad. However I will share
observations I have jotted down over this past year. Advice, wisdom, challenges,
irrelevancies, take your pick – ‘tis still the season.

More people search the Scriptures looking for loopholes than for direction.

Contemplating the vast universe makes a lot of folks confess to feeling
insignificant. But shouldn’t we feel, placed on this planet amidst the vastness of
space and was created by God, special? – MORE significant!

We are berated every day to be Politically Correct. It is more important, however,
that we be Spiritually correct.

Pro-abortion forces insist that “blobs,” not lives, grow inside expectant mothers. So
why do they call their prescriptions “BIRTH control pills”?

Christians – in fact all people – are like moths: We are drawn to the Light.

In Life, there is a difference between GIVING and FORGIVING. Specifically,
come to think about it, not much of a difference! Each act blesses you as much as
the recipients.

Be not deceived – God is not mocked. (I had help on that one. Namely Galatians
6:7)

Pastors and priests once were condemned for what they preached. Today, many
pastors and priests should be condemned for what they DON’T preach.

A mathematical certainty: Life without Christ can yield half-successes. But it also
leads to total failures.

Satan tempts; God tests.

We want to cry out that God change our circumstances. God, however, desires to
change US.

Let us all banish from our vocabulary the word “luck.” What we call “bad luck”
we usually bring on ourselves. And what we attribute to “good luck” are insults to
the loving will and care of our Father God.

If your life were made into a movie, could it state truthfully in the opening credits
“Based on a True story”?

America needs a backbone. Instead, it has been looking for a wishbone.

Listen to the debates about Creationism vs Evolution, hotter than ever. For my
part, I care more about the Rock of Ages than the age of rocks.

Why is it that pundits attribute mass church shootings to racial and sexual and
political motivations? These are churches… children and adults praying…
Christians worshipping. Why not discuss our culture’s hatred of Jesus, its
animosity toward faith?

Jesus knocks at the front doors of our lives. Satan climbs in the back window.

The world foists “Pride Month” on us. Dare anyone call it “Shame Month”?

Our coins and public buildings say “In God We Trust.” Oh, really? Where does
He fit on the “truth” meter with favorite politicians, military weapons, “luck,”
guns, insurance policies, unions… Whom do you really trust?

And, from two of my best friends, Penelope Carlevato and Clive Staples Lewis:

We take our children to malls to see the Easter Bunny and to meet Santa Claus.
How many take children to church and meet Jesus?

Jesus claimed to be the Incarnation of God, the Savior of Humankind. By these
claims He was a madman, a liar, or… indeed the Son of God, Savior of your soul;
the only way to eternal life. There is no other choice.

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Click: My Tribute

youtube.com/watch?v=KcE5IlUL_focom/watch?v=KcE5IlUL_fo