Written on their Hearts

As I was sitting in church Sunday, I couldn't help but notice all the people that were REALLY getting into the worship part of the service. In my church, the worship is led by a band that plays upbeat, even rock music. Looking around the auditorium, many people (mostly teenagers) were swaying, raising their hands, worshipping. I am a little more demure about my worship - especially in the past few months because of situations that are trying to rob me of my joy (but ultimately failing). But I digress . . .

I am reminded about the time I attended a Motley Crue concert a couple of years ago. It was an interesting night, actually. There were plenty of things to look at that one usually doesn't see as he trifles down life's avenues. For one thing, I saw a scantily-clad young woman leading a little person (although he was referred to as a midget) by a leash. There were nearly naked trapese performers, fire, explosions and plenty of f-bombs to go around. The music was loud and true to the original sound of the eighties glam bands. Oh yeah, there was also a miniversion of "Girls Gone Wild" thanks to drummer Tommy Lee, a hand-held camcorder, and two giant screens - oh and of course local women and two hours worth of consumed beer.

The thing I noticed the most, however, was not the nudity, profanity, or the rock and roll. It was the crowd - it's behavior. Notice that I described the crowd as a singular entity rather that a plurality of people. That is because they were of one mind, one spirit.

In unison, they sang, jumped, pumped their arms toward the objects of their affection. It was more than the throng admiring the music or the musicianship. The multitude was enraptured and was caught in unified worship.

I was in awe. Not that I have never witnessed this phenomenon before, but I never truly SAW it before. It confirms what my Christian spirit and the Scriptures have always taught me. God writes instructions on the hearts of mankind. He programs us.

God gave us a necessity for worship. When we are lost in this world, the instructions are often perverted. Nevertheless, they always manage to surface. The crowd worshipped Motley Crue because they had a NEED to worship . . . something. The band offered a loud, high energy, outlet. It made perfect sense.

Many Christians would have been offended if they saw what I saw on that night. I wasn't. These people, the band and crowd alike, are on their paths - living out what they think is written on their hearts. No, I wasn't offended. I praised God for letting me in on a little more truth.

Amazing Grace

Have you ever listened to a song that you have heard a thousand times before, but it hits you suddenly like you have never heard it before? This has happened to me before and also today. I guess it is a matter of listening instead of hearing.

This is where some bloggers tend to list a whole song of lyrics for all to peruse. I am going to resist that urge and talk about a few things in the song instead - and yes, will probably include snippets of the lyrics. For some reason the whole song transcript thing just gets on my nerves.

The song in question is "I Need You to Love Me" by Barlow Girl. When I heard it today on the radio, I actually listened to every word. The tune and the sweetness of the harmony of the group's voices made it all the more bittersweet for me. It reminded me of my failures, but not in despair but in hope. It starts out this way:

Why, why are you still here with me
didn't you see what i've done?
In my shame i want to run and hide myself
But it's here i see the truth; I don't deserve you

Facing God in a situation like that is heart wrenching - if you believe that He is there. There is no place to hide. Yet, if you feel the mercy and the Grace, you know the only place you want to run is to Him.

After taking you down the road of self-examination, we are led in the chorus to facing the moment, our needs, and our lifeline:

But I need you to love me,
And I won't keep my heart from you this time
And I'll stop this pretending
That I can somehow deserve what I already have
I need you to love me

The last verse is what got me. It literally changed my state of being while driving to work:

I just never saw how you could cherish me
'Cause you're a god who has all things
And still you want me

I understand that if you don't have this kind of vision of God, that this song really has no meaning for you. I don't want to sound superior, but I really pity those who do not know God or even recognize His existance. Without Him, all you have are others who have their own agendas and all of them do not include you. People, every single one, will ultimately let you down. All you have left is yourself and if you are as honest as I am at this moment, you know how wretched you really are.

Where is the hope? The hope lies with the One that includes you in every agenda. The One who does not grade you at every turn and will not turn from you when you betray Him. Because if you aren't in a state of betrayal to the God who sacrificed for you right now, you will be in the future. You can't help yourself. And when you are, He will still be there taking your best shots. He can't help Himself, either. It is His nature.

I am sure I will be there again as the first verse describes, wondering why God is still there after knowing what I have done. It is knowing that He will be is what gets me through today.

Good or Evil

A friend of mine told me that she believes that everyone is basically good, but through bad experiences they change for the worse. I cannot see it that way. Why did the first bad experience happen?

I believe we have a trace of goodness in our spirits because we are the handiwork of God who created us. However, just being born into this fallen world with the fallen genes of our ancestors wrecks that goodness. We then have to learn to tap into it again. However, we are incapable of doing this on our own.

My point is that we are all born self-centered and have to learn not to be. My friend countered that babies aren't self-centered and that is why she believes that we learn to be self-centered.

Babies are the HEIGHT of self-centeredness. I told her that I have never NOT seen a self-centered baby! They want and want and want. They have to have this or cry. They are VERY self-centered. When was the last time you saw a baby put someone else in front of his own needs? They don't know how to NOT be self-centered. I am not blaming them; I'm merely pointing out an observation.

She argued back that babies only do that because they are trying to survive.

My answer was, "Fine, so they have an excuse. It is still self-centered. They have to learn not to be. They have to be taught to share when they are old enough to understand. If they were born "good" and selfless, there would be no instruction needed. We don't have to teach them to suckle, do we? However, we surely have to teach them to share.

Ironically, on the day of my discussion, I found an ally in the newspaper. Billy Graham writes an article and addressed this. This is what he wrote:

". . . most of our problems have a deeper cause: the greed and selfishness of the human heart. Jesus said, 'For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander' (Matthew 15:19)."

Most people will not want to believe as I do. I didn't want to believe it either. What we want to believe is irrelevant to the truth, however. We live in a fallen world and it is all we can do to daily climb out of it enough to not suffocate from our own odor.

Focus, Please

I was thinking about how different people see God. Then, there are some that do not see him at all. It is amazing to consider that when God's love and laws are written on
all our hearts.

Then I read something written by C.S. Lewis:

"When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others - not because He has favorites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition. Just as sunlight, though it has no
favorites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as in a clean one.

You can put this another way by saying that while in other sciences the instruments you use are things external to yourself (things like microscopes and telescopes), the
instrument throught which you see God is your whole self. And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred - like the Moon seen through
a dirty telescope."
___________________

I think the way I would put this is if our soul or spirit is not alligned in such a way where we can focus on God, then we will only see an ambiguous figure that we cannot
properly distinguish. So, instead we assign OUR ideas of what God should be to Him and miss what He really is and has always been.

Pass the Windex!