There Are No Songs

There Are No Songs

There are no songs till Springtime comes.
No melodies for voice.
There are no tunes till death has stung
That Easter might rejoice.
There are no words to bring you back,
From your frozen winter's will.
There is no hope the ice will crack,
Till Jesus melts the chill.

For some you say. Perhaps, many ...yes.
But surely not for me.
For I have run from the very best,
How can there mercy be?

Come home, come home my ramblin' child.
Let down your ragged sail.
And steer your heart to the oceans wild,
Where the breath of God prevails.
It's not too late to turn around,
And catch the tender breeze.
That blows you to the holy ground,
You find beneath your knees.

For when has soul, been bound to time,
Or heart too cold to melt.
Or forgiveness too lost to find,
When regret is truly felt.

There's mercy, mercy my little ones.
Mercy without bounds.
For all who simply turn and come
And lay their burden down.
For there's nothing that you've ever done,
That My love can not change.
Unless you choose to finally run,
Away with pride and pain.

There are no words to bring you back,
From your frozen winter's chill.
There is no hope the ice will crack,
Till Jesus melts your will.
~ Michael Kelly Blanchard

This song is not exactly a Christmas song, but I think it is fitting for the Christmas season. A few days ago Christians all across the world celebrated the birth of Jesus. Christmas is a celebration of a God who loves so much that He could not just sit around and be God. He entered time and space as a little child in the lowliest of families. He whispered His way to the cross and died so that there might be "nothing that [we have] ever done that [His] love can not change". He is a lavish God who runs to us, puts a robe on our back, a ring on our finger, kills the fattened calf, and throws a party for us even while we smell like the pigs (Luke 15:11-32). He is a God who will leave the ninety-nine to search for the one and bring him home (Luke 15:1-7). He is a God who will go after the prostitute multiple times even when she continues to return to her old ways (book of Hosea). He is the God who offers "mercy without bounds" and the Christmas season is the perfect time to remember that.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Merry Christmas!

Thank you, God, for being born,
You who first invented birth
(Universe, galaxies, the earth).
When your world was tired & worn
You came laughing on the morn.

Thank you, most amazing Word
For your silence in the womb
Where there was so little room
Yet the still small voice was heard
Throughout a planet dark & blurred.

Merry Christmas! Wondrous Day!
Maker of the universe,
You the end, & you the source
Come to share in human clay
And, yourself, to show the Way.
~ Madeleine L’Engle, Most Amazing Word

Merry Christmas! What we have been anticipating in Advent has finally arrived. Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus. The greatest King born in the humblest of circumstances. Christ did not come with an army, though He could have. He did not take over Herod's kingdom, though He could have. He did not replace Caesar Augustus, though He could have. He was not even born into a wealthy family. He chose an insignificant girl to be His mother. He chose an insignificant man to be His earthly "step-father". He was born next to barn animals. The greatest King born in the humblest of circumstances.

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

That God would take on human flesh defies all logic. That He would take on human flesh in the lowliest of circumstances is even more incredible. Yet He did so that we could know the joy of being in relationship with Him. Merry Christmas!

By His Grace,
Taylor

Fourth Sunday in Advent

"The astounding truth is that in Jesus Christ, humanity encountered God in a real, personal, historical, and tangible way." ~ Kenneth Samples, Without a Doubt

Yesterday was the last Sunday in Advent. The time of anticipation is coming to an end because the celebration is near. When we truly reflect upon what we celebrate in Advent we cannot help but be astounded. Listen to the expressions of wonder from a couple of the greatest minds in Church history:

He by whom all things were made was made one of all things. The Son of God by the Father without a mother became the Son of man by a mother without a father. The Word Who is God before all time became flesh at the appointed time. The maker of the sun was made under the sun. He Who fills the world lay in a manger, great in the form of God but tiny in the form of a servant; this was in such a way that neither was His greatness diminished by His tininess, nor was His tininess overcome by His greatness. ~ Augustine, "Sermon 187"

The next thing that I would observe concerning the incarnation of Christ, is the greatness of this event. Christ’s incarnation was a greater and more wonderful thing than ever had yet come to pass. The creation of the world was a very great thing, but not so great as the incarnation of Christ. It was a great thing for God to make the creature, but not so great as the for the Creator himself to become a creature. We have spoken of many great things that were accomplished between the fall of man and the incarnation of Christ: but God becoming man was greater than all. Then the greatest person was born that ever was or ever will be. ~ Jonathan Edwards, "Of Christ's Incarnation" from A History of the Work of Redemption

Soon we will celebrate the birth of the "greatest person... born that ever was or ever will be", God "great in form... but tiny in the form of a servant." It truly is the "season to be jolly", but not because of presents, time off work, or even family celebrations. Those are good things, but they all pale in comparison to the celebration of He who made joy becoming like us so that we could experience joy in Him.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Third Sunday in Advent

  "Go back eighteen centuries before that. Who could have cared about the birth of a baby while the world was watching Rome in all her splendor?... Palestine existed under the crush of Rome's heavy boot. All eyes were on Augustus, the cynical caesar who demanded a census so as to determine a measurement to enlarge taxes.... What could possibly be more important than Caesar's decision in Rome? Who cared about a Jewish baby born in Bethlehem?
  "God did. Without realizing it, mighty Augustus was only an errand boy for the fulfillment of Micah's prediction... a pawn in the hand of Jehovah... a piece of lint on the pages of prophecy. While Rome was busy making history, God arrived. He pitched His fleshly tent in silence on straw... in a stable... under a star. The world didn't even notice. Reeling from the wake of Alexander the Great... Herod the Great... Augustus the Great, the world overlooked Mary's little Lamb." ~ Charles Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life (43)

Today is the third Sunday in Advent. The Church continues the age-old tradition of celebrating Advent so that we do not make the same mistake the Romans and Jews made 2,000 years ago. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of Christmas and forget about the reason behind Christmas. There is nothing wrong with celebrations, presents, and family traditions. In fact those are good things, but it is easy to get caught up in them and forget about the good news of Christmas.

Luke 1:31-33:
"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
Luke 2:10-11:
"Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

By His Grace,
Taylor

Update to "Mote of Dust in a Sunbeam"

This is an abnormal post, I know, but I wanted to update a previous post. Back in September I quoted Carl Sagan and then presented a brief series of photos to show just how small we are in the grand scheme of the universe. I ended the photo series with the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) image. I noted that this was the deepest into the universe anyone had ever seen. At the time I would have argued that this image was the most important image in astronomical history. Now, however, that has changed. With its new Wide Field Camera 3, the Hubble recently recorded an even deeper image of the universe that required a much shorter exposure time (only 4 days as opposed to 11 for the HUDF). This new camera allows the Hubble to catch light nearer the infrared region of the spectrum. That may not sound like anything special but because of the expansion of the universe light from great distances is "reddened", which means that the wavelength of the light is stretched out as space expands pushing the light towards the infrared region. Since this new camera can detect light nearer the infrared it can catch the light from objects farther away than before. Below is what I call the NEW Ultra Deep Field image from the Hubble:
More amazing discoveries will come when the James Webb Space telescope launches in 2014. Then we will get an even better idea of how small we really are. That is okay though because, as I said in the previous post, God holds all this in His hands and He likes me a whole lot.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Second Sunday in Advent

"When we open the package of Christmas we find that God has given us many gifts--vulnerability for intimacy, comfort for suffering, passion for justice, and power over prejudice... In the gift of Christmas, the unassailable, omnipotent God became a baby giving us the ultimate example of letting our defenses down... There is no way to have a real relationship without becoming vulnerable to hurt. And Christmas tells us that God became breakable and fragile. God became someone we could hurt. Why? To get us back." ~ Tim Keller, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas (36-38)

Yesterday was the second Sunday in Advent. If you attended a church in almost any Christian tradition you probably saw the second candle of the Advent Wreath lit and heard one of the prophecies about the coming Messiah read. Many of us who have been "churched" for most of our lives have heard these before so it is sometimes difficult to remember how incredible the subject of Advent is. The "unassailable, omnipotent God became a baby". "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." (John 1:1, 14a) The Word that was God became flesh. When we really stop and think about it that is an incredible. The sovereign God became a vulnerable baby. Why? "To get us back." To redeem the relationship. That is the celebration we anticipate with Advent.

By His Grace,
Taylor