Abandon gives way to Abandon

We are in the midst of Lent. Reading through Holy Scripture, I can't help but focus on the cross, and Jesus' words there. "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani", "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" Those are challenging words for me. I read it and I feel complete and utter sadness, guilt, weightiness. It is a moment when Christ is completely abandoned to pay the penalty of sin in my life. Fully human, and completely abandoned. There is no rescue. There is no hope. He knows that what He faces--this Innocent One--is the wretched death sentence of my sin and your sin and the sin of every other human being that has walked the face of this earth. Utter darkness. Pain. Despair. A crying out that receives no answer. There is no hope.

That word "abandon" literally means "to leave completely and finally". When reading that definition, the word "finally" jumped out at me. …The finality of separation from God. Without Christ's sacrifice, it is overwhelming. Can you imagine? He had a choice. He was fully God. But at this moment chose to become fully human. Jesus had never before been separated from the Father, until this moment. He didn't have to go through that pain. But He chose to for you and for me.

Stuart Townend writes, "How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure. How great the pain of searing loss, the Father turns His face away as wounds which mar the chosen One, bring many sons to glory."

God the Father turned His face away from Jesus the Son one time. Can you imagine how He grieved? Can you imagine how painful that was? Abandonment. Darkness. Pain. His Son.

Townend continues, "Behold the Man upon a cross, my sin upon His shoulders. Ashamed I hear my mocking voice, call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought me life. I know that it is finished."

Finally, the hope returns. With the death of Christ, and His triumph over death, our penalties were paid. Every last penalty--past, present and future--paid for. His dying breath brought me life. Here's where that dark, final abandon turns into glorious "abandon"--to yield (oneself) without restraint or moderation; give (oneself) over to natural impulses, usually without self-control--to worship. We are to boast in NOTHING but the power of Christ! We are to give ourselves over -- without restraint -- to the worship of Him.

"I will not boast in anything--no gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom." Townend truly has a gift for expressing the beauty of the cross in this great hymn.

Today, there was a blackout at the church. I was in complete darkness. I've never seen it that dark anywhere. I was in the ensemble room off of the choir room. I didn't have my cell phone...no flashlight. It was pitch black. I felt my way (very slowly) out to the sunlight. It was a reminder to me that as I worship Him, that's what my life needs to be like. I am abandoning the darkness to the abandonment of worship of Him--unrelenting worship--worship without restraint--uninhibited worship. What a divine gift! God, the Divine Creator, the Lord over all, turned the hopelessness of abandonment into something glorious--the worship of His people.

Psalm 103:11-12 says, "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. "

Thank you, Father, for being willing to abandon Your Son at the cross to pay the penalty for my sin. Thank you, Father, for the blessing and joy that come from worshiping You. Thank you, Father, for loving us so much, and removing our sins so far from us that we can share in fellowship and communion with You once again. Thank you for not abandoning us, but rather allowing us to abandon the things of this world in total and complete worship of You. We are Yours.

Great is Thy Faithfulness

This past Sunday, I was leading music at Brown Blvd, and we sang the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness. One of the gentlemen visiting the church that day was from Kenya. His home had been burned recently with all of the turmoil there. Two of the people I serve with week by week have parents serving in South Africa as missionaries. I began to think of Kim and Cindy and their team, and how people were being won to Christ in some of the darkest regions of the world. Great is Thy Faithfulness was such an appropriate song to sing as I began to think about how vast His church is, and the varied circumstances it faces!

I told the congregation this story about my time in Cuba. We were in Cuba, visiting a church on a Thursday night. It was my first trip there, so I didn't know what to expect, and quite honestly, I was afraid. The church was packed out--people standing outside, leaning into the windows so they could hear. ON a THURSDAY NIGHT! We had done some praise team sessions earlier. I was the only one with the group who had worked with praise teams, so even though I wasn't planning on it when I went, I was quickly recruited to teach those classes.

That night, we followed up with a time of worship and an orchestra concert. I was asked to give my testimony at church that night for two reasons: 1. Because I was appropriately dressed (I was wearing a skirt--this is a big deal in Cuban churches) and 2. because I was playing a solo on my violin later in the service, and they wanted them to hear my testimony. Well, I don't remember ever giving my testimony in public like that before. And, I legally wasn't supposed to. I wasn't there on a religious visa at the time. But, God convicted me, reminding me that He was faithful, and I gave my testimony. And I had a wonderful translator who was a passionate, growing Christian and translated so passionately.

We had been singing the song "Come, Now is the Time to Worship" earlier in the worship time, and had taught it in Spanish to the praise teams I had worked with earlier in the day. I followed that song with my testimony. I just re-told those words, "One day, EVERY tongue WILL confess You are God. One day, EVERY knee WILL bow. But the greatest TREASURE remains for those of you who choose Him now! You can know true joy by choosing Christ Jesus right now!" As I said that, all of the lights in that packed church went out. Every last light in the village went out. It was pitch black. I was scared.

But then, I heard the strong, but quiet voice of Camp Kirkland standing behind me say, "Keep going, they're listening". I continued with my testimony, and though there were no mics due to there being no electrical power, the Power of the Spirit was there, and people were quiet, and they heard the Gospel.

When I finished my testimony, there were still no lights and no power. We couldn't continue the concert. But one of the praise teams I had worked with earlier in the day got up and began singing in Spanish "Great is Thy Faithfulness". They sang all 3 verses. Then, they sang "Shout to the Lord". The entire congregation joined in. I will never forget that time of worship in the dark. There was a peace and a sweetness as you heard that dark room filled with the light of hope in the voices that rang out songs of praise.

After awhile, lights came back on, and we continued with the concert. At the end of the concert, we had our first profession of faith on the trip. It was a young girl (probably 18) who had been in the praise team workshop that day. She had come because she just wanted to learn music. She had no idea she'd receive the gift of salvation and the joy of a life knowing Christ. We gave her a Bible, and told her to start with the Gospel of John. The next morning at 8 a.m., she came back and found us and said, "I've finished John, now where do I go?" Throughout the course of the week, she brought back her mother and her grandmother and her aunt. All accepted Christ that week. All in all, this little group of instrumentalists and church musicians embraced 60 people as they came into the Kingdom family that week. We had little to offer in and of ourselves, but God was FAITHFUL. He took what we had, and He used it in a mighty way to change lives FOREVER!

Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."

Lord, no power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck us from Your hand. Thank you for your faithfulness. Even when we are weak or afraid, You are fearless, strong and FAITHFUL!

I want to be like Tychicus

I must confess that today was not one of my most "Christian" days. I had a bone to pick with someone, and I picked it. More like I bulldozed it! It wasn't one of those moments to be proud of. It was actually painful. It was a moment when I felt that I had to confront something, and was right to feel the way I felt, but didn't necessarily deal with it in the right way. As I went through the day, I began to focus (ironically) on the word, "Encouragement". I must admit...this is not an easy word for me.

I am a classical musician. I hear the imperfections first, even in my own playing. I'm incredibly self critical. I just am. So, I have to work to be encouraging. However, we are called to encourage one another...to build one another up (Rom 14:9). Now, I'm not talking about flattery or pandering. I'm talking about true encouragement. The word, encourage, literally means to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence. We're talking about spurring people on to real meaning, to core values, to spiritual truths. We're talking about inspiring them to attain eternal perspective and lives filled with purpose.

I don't think I realized how important this was until recently. I've had the opportunity to work with the worship team at Brown Blvd--people who are incredibly gifted, but needed some encourgement. They needed someone to pray with them and for them. They needed someone to encourage them in their giftedness and instill confidence in them. I've had the wonderful privilege of being one of those people (I hope). The other day, a lady wrote me about something I had said to her about her spiritual walk and how it had meant so much that I took the time to encourage her. I meant what I said to her (another thing to know is that I say what I mean...I don't believe in flattery). It was affirming to me to know that actually speaking it out loud to her encouraged her the way it did.

Well, as I focused today on this word "encouragement", I did a Bible search on the word. This guy, Tychicus, kept coming up. Paul sent Tychicus to encourage...to share good news. When Tychicus was coming, he was accompanied by a positive word. Paul closes two different letters with the word that Tychicus was coming to encourage. What a great thing to be associated with! Tychicus' name went down in Holy Scripture as an encourager.

We live in a world where everywhere we turn, we are confronted by the fact that we are not good enough, not smart enough, not wealthy enough, not thin enough. TV is loaded with images of (seeming) perfection, and yet it's accompanied by people who "have it all" and are complete basket cases--people like Heath Ledger or Brittney Spears. Well, I don't want to be a Heath or Brittney. I want to be a Tychicus! The world needs more people to encourage in truthful things. It needs people called to be true encouragers--to inspire people to courage in their faith and in their walk with God.

So, I'm praying that I won't have many more failures like I had this morning (though I just received an email from the person in question saying they were relieved that we had such an honest conversation--that's an absolute gift from God!!!!). I'm praying that I will see things more with God's eyes (and ears) and less with my own. I want to close with this simple prayer of Paul's found in Holy Scripture:

1 Thessalonians 2:16-17:
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Tender-hearted Prayers

First, an update... My kids love the scripture cards. They look forward to that time each morning. As a matter of fact, it actually works as a motivation to get them up and going. The sooner they get ready, the more time we can spend with the scripture cards. Now, perhaps that's backward. We should give God our firstfruits. But when you're trying to get two kids up and ready for school, and you can use scripture as a motivation, I think God understands and accepts that offering.

One of the things that has meant the most to me is hearing my kids pray. The scripture cards I'm using have a scripture on the front and an explanation/prayer on the back. We've used the back of the cards to get my kids started praying in the morning. But the amazing thing is, giving them the few words to start prompts them to the most amazing prayers. For instance, last night, Ben and I were up in the middle of the night because he had a terrific sinus headache. He spent half the night crying. This morning, we read the scripture from Matthew, "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you." As Ben followed up the scripture with prayer, he didn't pray for God to relieve his headache, even though he still wasn't feeling well. I must confess, that was my prayer--I knew how he had agonized throughout the night. But Ben asked God for wisdom, peace and joy that comes from knowing God. My 10 year old son caught the value of that eternal perspective. He modeled it in his prayer, and he modeled it for his sister, who was listening intently. I know that God was pleased by that tender-hearted prayer this morning.

I am thankful for tender-hearted prayers. I'm thankful for the people who take time to teach my children and nurture that simple, yet powerful faith. It's not a meek (mouse-like) faith. It's strong. It's unwaivering. It's powerful. It's what God calls us all to have.

Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened.

O Lord, I ask this morning that you place eternal things on our hearts. Help us to see with Your eyes. Help us to run from the materialistic or superficial things of this life, but instead to treasure Your knowledge, Your wisdom and Your power. Help us to gain those things so that we are better suited for Your Kingdom work. Thank you for the modeling of children and their simple faith. We love you, Lord!