notes from lisa...

Today, in most of our churches, hymns are a rare commodity. You might find hymnbooks, but it isn't often that their pages are opened and the songs sung, and that is sad. Hymns are a precious part of (or should be) our worship, our praise, and our arsenal for battle. Hymns have been replaced with worship and praise songs, and many of them are beautiful. Still, they don't match the quality and power of hymns--I don't know why, but they just don't . There is simply no match when it comes to lyrics, but it seems as if because it is the popular thing, it is what everyone does. I wasn't always bothered by it--but more and more, hymns are being erased from our services, and many of our young people don't know what a hymn is. Even some in my own generation of baby-boomer's struggle with the words to many well-known hymns. I guess I'm not anti--worship and praise songs, but I do suggest that we must not throw the baby out with the bath water--we always seem to...

Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him— but some of them doubted ! Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:16-20 It's urgent! The past few days have been extremely violent in the city of Philadelphia--in fact, according to reports while homicides and shootings (especially) had been on the decline, in Philadelphia and many other cities they are now once again, on the rise. Families are being devastated by it, and our inner cities are ravaged by violence; and there is no sense to be made of the taking of human life--innocent or otherwise. It simply ...

"1  The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2  “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” 3  But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord . He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. 4  But the Lord..." [Jonah 1:1-4a] Doesn't this map really drive Jonah's disobedience home, for you??? It's almost laughable--if it weren't so sad, and honestly, so much like us, at times, too. Jonah lived at Gath-hepher, right in the center--close to Israel. When God commissioned him to go to Nineveh, he should have traveled East, but Jonah took a detour. He boarded a ship south of his home and Israel--in Joppa, and headed to Tarshish--it isn't even showing on the map...that's how far west it is (in the oppos...

"But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs in their death, But their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride serves as their necklace; Violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance; They have more than heart could wish." [Psalm 73:2-7, NKJV] Light bulb moment!!! Now, I get it. I just had one of those. Like most people, it was hard to understand how people who seemingly "had it all" could take their own lives, or waste it on drug abuse or reckless living. It just never made sense, to me. It seems reasonable that those who are the most "blessed" should be the most happy, and diligent in preserving their lives so they can continue to enjoy the wonder of it all as long as possible, right? What makes common sense, d...

Often, I find myself frustrated and burdened by the arguments and divisions that occur among us in the Body of Christ--and, I should be, somewhat; however, God uses even them to serve His purposes. They aren't His perfect will for us, because the Word of God teaches us that love is the more excellent way, and esteeming others more than ourselves is better. That is the example that Christ gave us--and it is the one that Paul taught us and stressed so urgently in his discourse in Philippians 2. Still, we must remember that "ALL things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose. For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was aware and loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom He thus foreordained, He also called; an...

I'm up early and pondering things...again. I am vacationing in Mexico and observing the behavior of Americans toward the very accommodating staff at the resort where I am staying. It always gets under my skin when I observe someone mistreating another--or being snobbish; and, I mean it really irks me. I have to control my urge to be mean to them in retaliation. I'm being transparent here. I want to inflict the same kind of hurt on them to give them a "taste of their own medicine". Of course, that is not the way that God would have us respond to the situation. It seems like, snobbery abounds and is so very pervasive. We turn our noses up at any and everyone who is different from us. Why does everyone have to be the same to enjoy common courtesy? I mean who made my (or your) standard, the golden one? It isn't new though. This morning, as I still struggle with the time zone changes, I awakened and decided to do some reading. As I read the geneaology of Jesus (at fi...