'Ascension Day: When Jesus started working from home.'
Not only is the first meme I've ever seen on the subject, it's the first time I've thought about the subject for awhile. Then again, I'm an American. Let's look at Acts 1:6-11.
Music today: Iris DeMent, 'God Walks the Dark Hills'
An acquired taste, perhaps, but I find the lyrics (and this performance) deeply meaningful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OGq4EXaXTM
What helps us to be courageous? Even more, how do we know we're using courage appropriately? Let's learn from Joshua 1:8-9, Jim, and Huck Finn.
Music today: 'The Bravest Man in the Universe', Bobby Womack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPr0FqXuhT0
'A Head Full of Doubt', Avett Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeYSqZPzwr8
Do you believe people you've never heard of have the greatest impact on our world? Terrence Malick's glorious 'A Hidden Life' would say 'yes' to that. The Apostle Paul shows us in Colossians 3:1-3 how we can appreciate being 'obscure' in the world's eyes, and a practical way to act on it in 3:23-24. Humility is often overlooked or misunderstood - but is always seen and honored by the One who really matters.
Movie Trailer: 'A Hidden Life'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJXmdY4lVR0
Music today: 'I Believe in You,' Bob Dylan.
Most can't handle his nasally tone (which I think he does here for effect), but you may enjoy Dottie People's awesome gospel rendition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02Y0LGw2CZY
One or two GOOD things have come out of the pandemic. One is cleaner air. Another may be clearing the spiritual air to spot one of the most insidious vices of the human heart. Let's look at Luke 12:13-15 and one of my favorite verses, Luke 17:32.
Music Today: Caedmon's Call, 'This World'
'This world has nothing for me, and this world has everything/
all that I could want/and nothing that I need.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjEoaUTdFXw
Bob Dylan, 'Blind Willie Mctell'
'Seen the arrow on the doorpost/saying, 'this land is condemned, all the way from New Orleans, to Jerusalem. . . '
'Well, God is in his heaven/and we all want what's His
but power and greed and corruptible seed/seem to be all that there is/ I'm gazing out the window of the St. James motel/and I know no one can sing the blues like blind Willie McTell.'
Geeking out over Dylan lyrics can be a full time hobby, but let me just offer this one - in a song dealing with greed and slavery, the lessons we learn from living with the book of James (St. James motel?) are very applicable.
It's not just those on the front line of physical peril that can become casualties in a pandemic. The dangers that accompany meeting spiritual needs hit talented pastors especially hard. Join me for a meditation on spiritual depression and Revelation 22:16. Let's be careful out there.
Music today: Ben Shive, 'Rise Up'. When a song can move you from anger to worship, that's powerful medicine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQx-Cv_X_hU
Leslie Phillips, 'Carry You'. Phillips certainly knows something about spiritual depression, but her farewell release to Christian music was a classic, and that includes this reminder of Christ's sufficiency in trouble.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eISdKOe0els