Breakfast For Your Soul

Good Morning Beloved,

God, family/friends, country…. When it is all said and done, those are what are most important in life.  I’ve heard it said that, “those with nothing to die for, generally have nothing to live for”.  Many people merely exist from day to day, looking for nothing in particular just ho-hum… “same ole-same ole”. I know that’s not you…but some people I’ve met along the way.  I noticed something yesterday.  My family and I traveled to the Living Waters Theater in Pennsylvania to see “The Voices of Christmas“.  It was a beautiful production.  Live animals, great actors, glorious sets and costumes, magnificent choreography, beautiful voices raised in song to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.  It was held in an intimate atmosphere conducive to worship.  My daughter laughs because I don’t cry easily, but some things make me cry like a baby.  Yesterday was one of those times.  When they enacted a piece telling the story of George Frideric Handel, and how he came to write “Handel’s Messiah”, I was in awe. When they started to sing the “Hallelujah Chorus”, I was mesmerized, but when an elderly man rose to his feet during the song, to honor God, and people all over the auditorium stood up like a wave… that is when my tears flowed… and I wasn’t the only one.  What a beautiful experience!  The presence of God was evident and powerful.  It was one of those moments I wish I could have frozen in time.  What I find interesting is how that project was born out of a man who was going through turmoil.  Broke and despondent, a letter from a friend, gave him purpose. The friend approached him with an opportunity to help other people, which actually drew Handel closer to God.  While composing this work, he felt God, and when we  listen to it … so do we.  It is amazing.  I have a good friend, Arlene.  She is a great woman of God, with an amazing voice.  I don’t think she realizes how beautiful it really is.  She gets many compliments on her singing, but what people don’t realize is how much suffering she has endured over the years.  How much loss, grief, deaths of loved ones, (including her mom, dad, a niece, a nephew, and two of her brothers), abuse, humiliation, betrayal, poverty, and sadness.  She has gone through so much, and has managed not to allow bitterness to settle in her heart.  She has been hurt, but she still has a heart that is tender towards God and people.  She is generous, hard working and thoughtful.  A child of God.  Marvin Sapp is another one.  His encouraging anthem, “Never Would Have Made It”, isn’t just any song; it’s very near and dear to Sapp’s heart.

It was particularly out of the pain and grief over his father’s death that the song was born — written the Sunday after Dr. Sapp buried his father. 

“The Lord said to me, ‘Marvin, there’s something you need to understand,’” Sapp explained. “Although your father isn’t with you physically, I will never leave you nor will I forsake you. I will be with you always even until the end of the earth’. Then I walked into the pulpit with my Bible. When God began to assure me that He was there for me, I stood up. I grabbed the microphone and started singing, ‘Never Would Have Made It,’” he recalled.

…. and that dearly Beloved is Good News.

Symphony -Romans 15:5 101 of 101   The church is made up of diverse peoples,with different cultures and styles. But, we can come together in unity when we are all following Jesus. November 9, 2008

 

 

Character Builder -2 Peter 1:5–7 81 of 101   Building Christian character can be a strain sometimes, but it is necessary to “keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 2 Peter

 

 

 

 

Character Builder -2 Peter 1:5–7 81 of 101   Building Christian character can be a strain sometimes, but it is necessary to “keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 2 Peter