Devotional Thoughts: Wonderful Maker Wonderful Savior

One of the knocks on contemporary Christian music is that the lyrics are too simplistic and repetitive.

My feeling is if the lyrics are theologically true and encourage trust and obedience to God then I'll take simplistic and repetitive.

However, having said that, there is definitely a place for song lyrics that contain more depth.

The Christian faith has a rich tradition of communicating its message beyond just the written word. Great hymns of the past would raise the hearts of Jesus followers who would know the story of faith by song because they memorized songs because they couldn't read.

And for those who have been on the journey of faith for many years, songs that moved the soul many years ago would be fresh on the mind and lips the minute the first few notes are heard.

This morning, the lyrics on my mind are from a contemporary song that I think goes beyond the simplistic though it is a little repetitive but I just love it!

Have you heard and sung Wonderful Maker?

Excerpt:

You spread out the skies over empty space
Said, let there be light
To a dark and formless world
Your light was born
You spread out your arms over empty hearts
Said, let there be light
To a dark and hopeless world
Your son was born

I just love the linkage of Genesis with the Gospel of John!

Just love it!!

And so using the chorus as a prayer ...

Thank you Lord, that I can stand with generations of followers saying:

What a wonderful maker
What a wonderful savior
How majestic your whispers
And how humble your love
With a strength like no other
And the heart of a father
How majestic your whispers
What a wonderful God

Help me to walk in this today exhibiting the joy that comes from this love. Amen.

World: Is war ever an answer?

Ever see that bumper sticker: war isn't the answer?

On Veteran's Day, last week, on KCET, the PBS station here in Los Angeles was showing Ken Burns' latest film The War which chronicles the lives and events of World War II. I caught a few of the episodes and the scale of carnage of World War II was incomprehensible.

Was war the answer?

Could Germany, Italy and Japan have been stopped without war?

The other night, I saw The Kite Runner.

Afghanistan has suffered from war as long as I have been alive. There once was a puppet communist government and an insurgency brewing. The USSR decided to invade to prop up that puppet government. The insurgency received aid from the USA in a proxy war which was part of the larger global Cold War. Eventually, the USSR pulled out and the insurgency took over which led to the Taliban. After 9/11, the USA overthrew the Taliban. Now, the Taliban launches insurgent attacks in various parts of the country.

The Kite Runner is not a political movie. It didn't dwell very long on the brutality of the Taliban nor did it hide it. As the main character rode in the car through his old childhood hometown, he saw the devestation of years of civil war and the totalitarian evil of the Taliban.

In one of the most emotionally gut kicking sequences, we watch the people enjoying a soccer game but under the watchful eyes of armed guards which was followed by "the half-time show" where a local Taliban official gives a fiery sermon about morality and has two people caught in adultery stoned to death on the playing field. Some in the soccer stands cheer the execution while others turn away in horror. We, in the audience, removed by time and distance, seethe with anger and revulsion.

Question: is war the answer against such evil?

In my opinion, yes.

I know it is easy for me as a 40-something well beyond draft age to say yes. I want to believe that if I was a 20-something, I would risk and possibly sacrifice my life to rescue people oppressed by the Taliban or other such crazed evil rulers.

What do you think?

I also want to take this moment, one week after Veterans Day, to say to anyone who clicks to this site who is a member of our armed forces: THANK YOU for your service.

@ the movies: The Kite Runner

Saw a pre-release screening of The Kite Runner courtesy of Grace Hill Media and the Brehm Center of Fuller Theological Seminary.

THUMBS UP!

A very moving film. There were audible gasps in the audience at some powerful moments. There were moments when people reached for the hankies or tried to hold it together without tissue (me). Also, be warned there are some shocking scenes of evil that rightly drew the PG-13 rating.

I can see post-film discussions going in lots of directions.

One can ask was there a Jesus figure in this film about Afghan life which is part of the Muslim world?

I think so!

What emotional and relational issues hit home with the viewer?

I could write/talk about a lot there.

Will readers of the book be happy with this adaptation?

I didn't read the book but I had some unanswered questions which I wonder if they were addressed in the book but were left out of the film because films have to simplify.

Though the film makes no statement about politics, because of its setting in Afghanistan, one can't help but ponder the film in light of current events.

3 out of 4 stars, go see and be moved by this emotional and beautiful story of the power of friendship and watch the post-movie conversation go to history, faith, politics and life choices.

Sports: UCLA football, stick a fork in 'em

The season started with high hopes. Some were saying 10-2! I thought realistic was 8-4 or maybe 9-3.

Well, the best the team can do is 7-5 and to do that they have to beat Oregon, the team looking to be the favorite for the BCS championship and USC. Chances: slim and none.

On KLAC 570, the host often announces one of the guests this way, with us is Matt Stevens, the last UCLA QB to win a Rose Bowl. I looked it up.... 1986!

Since then UCLA made it to the Rose Bowl game just twice and lost both times.

Kind of reminds me of the Dodgers ... the last MLB championship appearance and victory was 1988. Since then, the team has made the playoffs an odd number of times with just one victory.

As a lifelong Dodger fan and UCLA football and basketball fan most of my adult life, it has been a long time. Each year, I go into the season with a "springtime of hope" and wind up in the fall (for the Dodgers) and winter (for UCLA) of despair.

But a bright spot appears on the horizon: UCLA basketball!

Devotional Thoughts: The Gospels

Tell us about the long longed for Jewish King
And the kingdom, power and glory He will bring
Thank you, Matthew.
Tell us about the Messiah straight and so fast
And the fumbling followers who by grace last
Thank you, Mark.
Tell us about the Savior of the whole earth
And the good story of His humble birth
Thank you, Luke.
Tell us about grace and truth found in the Word
And we along with them life and light we heard
Thank you, John.

Lord, help make my life into a life of praise to you so that by deeds and words I help make followers of you, the true hope of our sorry state, assured you are with me even when I'm afraid. Amen.

Sports: Bruins lost football season?

From such high hopes to wondering if they will win another game this season!

UCLA defense can be had by pass happy teams.

UCLA plays Arizona on the road this Saturday against the #1 pass offense in conference. Arizona State at home the week after with the #2 scoring offense in conference. The Ducks then fly into the Rose Bowl with the #1 offense in conference. Finish the season going to USC's home turf.

Can UCLA win any of those games with a running game with no Bell (out for the season with an ACL), a still gimpy Markey and Moline and a converted defensive back Ramirez?

Can UCLA win with QB Cowen still hobbling around on bad knees?

Time for the gutty little Bruins to show up once again?

Non-profit of the month: October, 2007 - Mission Aviation Fellowship

How do you get supplies to far away places?

Sometimes a bush plane is the only way to do so quickly and effectively.

Thus, for this month's post about non-profits trying to do some good in the world, I direct our gentle readers to Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Check out this story about a pilot working for MAF in Afghanistan. Excerpt:

Wrecked fuselages and bomb craters dot the perimeter of Kabul's International Airport where pilot Jim Keech takes off in his Cessna 210 airplane almost every day. Today's flight cargo is medicine destined for a distant village, accompanied by the doctors who will administer it.

By land, the trip would take several days. Flight time today will be about an hour. But time is not the only consideration. Land travel can still be dangerous due to mines and bandits.
........
Recent rains have softened the ground. Keech has instructed the men at Yawan to drive a truck onto the airstrip to check how far the wheels sink in. The test reveals the strip is useable, although it sports a few muddy spots.

Yawan is cradled on the side of a mountain, at the end of a long valley. Keech descends and circles the strip to assess the muddy patches and determine if they are avoidable. He judges the airstrip is safe, makes his approach, and lands on the rising slope of the runway.

Keech safely delivers the doctors and medicines and continues on to pick up and deliver other passengers before returning later in the day to retrieve the doctors. If all goes well, Keech will be back in Kabul before sunset. After an evening's rest, he'll do it all again.

Anywhere, anytime, anything for the Kingdom of God!