Thoughts for the Day

I apologize for the fact there have been no daily blog articles this week. My trip to the hospital on Monday morning for the removal of my 12 to 14 inch stint did not go as expected. After its removal I was not able to urinate and we were not able to leave the hospital until I could go. I will not bother with details, but after a brief consult with the doctor before heading home, that day became a very dark and challenging day for me mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. My recovery from this procedure began to improve mid week when my daughter discovered a scalar/rife frequency specifically designed to clear and help the urethra (you are not allowed to use the word “heal” in such situations by most governments of the world).

I also began my two hour per day scalar/rife protocol this week. Since the doctor on Monday made it clear he would be pushing for radiation and other procedures at my next appointment in early October, I am looking to provide positive evidence to offset his approach to my situation.

I was well enough for a quick trip to the bank and post office in town yesterday. While I was out, I noticed a significant number of vehicles parked at the local Legion. During a weekday afternoon this almost always signifies a funeral “tea” is being hosted. I also witnessed a group of about ten people walking from the parking lot of a nearby plaza towards the Legion. The plaza parking lot is often used when the Legion lot is full.

Having watched funeral events in our community for the last 24 years, both as a pastor, leading the event and as a outside observer, with the exception of seniors, the clothing generally worn to funerals tends to be what I would describe as more casual. This was not true of the group of ten I saw yesterday. The men were all in dark suits and the women all wore dresses. This fact caught my immediate attention.

My mentor, Joel Bauer, teaches about the importance of our appearance and how we want to be perceived by others. What is the message we want to express, whether we are going to a funeral, to school, to church, or anywhere else?

We seem to live in a culture which has reacted against the idea, people “dress up” to be seen. This is self-centred selfish approach to life is not what God intended for us. God is looking for to align our lives with pure, selfless love (holiness). What as been lost, in the move to “casualness,” is the importance of understanding how we present ourselves is a reflection of what we believe about ourselves, in relation to God and others.

Does what we choose to wear fit the situation we are in? What do our clothes say about our intentions? It does not matter if your best does not measure up to someone else’s standards of best. If it is your best, then you know, God knows it and it will energetically make a difference in your life and how you feel about yourself. Don’t allow anyone to look down on your best and negatively impact you. Your intentions are the force that will move you forward. What you wear and how you look is far more important than most people realize, because it reveals your intentions and helps create your reality!

I spent some time this looking for appropriate songs to fit the 122th anniversary service of the congregation I pastor. In my search I discovered a hymn book from the Holiness Movement Church in Canada. This denomination joined the Free Methodist Church in 1958, the same year The Gospel Workers Church joined the Church of the Nazarene, which our congregation is connected with.

This hymnal was published in Ottawa, Canada in 1902. My copy is a words only edition, so I have no idea what the tunes are to most of the songs. In fact I do not recognize most of the songs. More than 100 of the 600 songs in the book are connected to the concept of holiness in some way. I did not take the time to calculate it out, because of how the layout of our current hymn book is set up, but the percentage of holiness related songs is significantly less than this old Hymn Book was.

I understand, in many locations today, hymns have been replace by worship style songs and choruses. The intent of the old hymns was to provide a context for building a strong Biblical foundation for faith and spiritual growth in the lives of those who had said YES to the relationship with God through His Son, Jesus. We have been working through our computer software used for congregational singing to remove the “thees” and “thous” in the hymns, while including some choruses which have meaningful and Biblical content.

I personally desire for the Holy Spirit to be the one who engages and lifts the hearts of those present and not a pattern of emotional manipulation to provide a sort of “spiritual high.” In reading through some of the hymns from the Holiness Movement Church in Canada I was impressed at how the full experience of holiness was being built out. If someone was paying attention to the words they would have a better understanding that holiness truly is “the perfect alignment of our life with pure, selfless love,” as demonstrated by Jesus.

Music is an important part of our connection to God. Psalm 100:1-5, “Shout for joy to Yahweh, all the earth. {2} Worship Yahweh with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. {3} Know that Yahweh is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. {4} Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. {5} For Yahweh is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Make music in your heart to God!

When you find your self in a challenging situation or period of time, one of your best options is simply to keep your mouth shut and say nothing. Your words are powerful and one of the devil’s most powerful weapons against you resides about one inch below your nose. Be careful what you say. Our words reveal what’s in our hearts and also what is being stored in our subconscious mind. You will often hear someone say, “I didn’t mean what I said!” Chances are they did mean it in the moment and are now regretting having said it.

If we are honest, we likely all have been guilty of this at some point in our life. I am seeking to grasp a better understanding of what it means “to be holy as God is holy” (1 Peter 1:16). I suspect the concept of holy and holiness is very foreign in our culture today. When the Holy Spirit gave me a specific meaning of the this concept a few months ago, I began to use it, but never really understood the depth of its meaning. In Isaiah 6 we read of the prophet’s profound encounter with a holy God and the impact this experience had on him and his life. I suspect most people today who have said YES to the relationship with God through His Son, Jesus have no concept of what happened there in the temple with Isaiah and do not relate to what connecting to the holiness of God is really like.

I invite you to begin to reflect on the concept of what “holy” and “holiness” looks like in practical terms of bringing your life into “perfect alignment with pure, selfless love” as demonstrated by Jesus. No wonder Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me.” As you consider how to consistently exercise this concept, you will realize it is impossible by your own strength and effort. It must be a work of God in us and it requires some specific actions on our part. Remember Hebrews 12:14 tells us, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord” (NIV). Are you enjoying perfect alignment with pure, selfless love?