Rest in Peace

Posted on March 25, 2012 by JohnJ


Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.
Psalm 116:15

The death a few days ago of my uncle and a few weeks ago of a friend made me recall the music of the Requiem. Not just any Requiem, though. One of the most amazing pieces of music, in my opinion, ever composed, Gabriel Faure’s Requiem, composed between 1887 and 1890.

Music is an intensely personal experience, what I love you may hate, and I’m far from articulate enough to review this work on the level that it should. I can only clumsily and briefly write what it means for me to listen as one whose heart has been touched by the grace of God.

Faure’s Requiem is different from others. Take Mozart’s Requiem, perhaps a more familiar work. But where Mozart’s composition is ugly, plodding, and way too lengthy, its main failing is that it depicts the terrors, the horrors of death, in its bombastic score. There is nothing of beauty, no loveliness, the focus seems to be on Death itself in all its corruptions. Certainly Mozart has given the world some of the most touching, soul stirring pieces of music, the Ave Verum Corpus for example, so we know he was capable of creating sublime beauty. But his Requiem seems more a dirge, emphasizing the death of the sinner on his way to Hell. [But in the interest of full disclosure, Mozart died before finishing this composition and it was only completed by committee, to put it harshly.]

Contrast the lofty, lovely, and majestic strains of Faure’s work. The sensation of elevation from this life to meet one’s Creator and Redeemer is repeated often in ascending lines; they transport you into that experience of entering the glory of rest granted the Believer. The entire work, even though the somber reality of death is the subject, focuses not on what is left behind, the pain and aftermath of one’s survivors, but of the bliss of shedding his mortal coil and the peace that passes all understanding.

To explain the reason for this difference in his Requiem from most others I should quote from the liner notes that came with one of the CD’s I purchased:

As he told the critic Louis Aguettant in July 1902, he saw death “as a welcome deliverance rather than a painful experience.” . . . . And as he told his son Philippe in 1908, “For me, the purpose of art, and especially music, is to elevate us as far as possible above everyday existence.” His Requiem comes as close, perhaps, as any of his mature compositions to transcending reality and expressing the inexpressible.

The timing of the performances of the seven pieces is perfect, not too slow, not to fast, phrasing of the orchestra is superb, and the vocals, soloist and choral, are sheer delight. As far as I’m concerned Faure is successful in capturing the feeling in the heart and soul of being elevated, of being transported, out this earthly oppression and into the glorious light of the presence of the Lord.

There are many versions of particular piece in stores, if you can still find a copy I highly recommend the version published by CBS/Odyssey, conducted by Andrew Davis with the Philharmonia Orchestra, with soloists Lucia Popp and Siegmund Nimsgern. I have it on cassette tape but it is out of print, however I see the vinyl is here on Amazon.

If friends convene upon my passing this is the recording I’d like played, to celebrate, finally, my going home to where I was always meant to be.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Rest in Peace

What the Bible Teaches, RA Torrey – Chapter 4

Posted on March 22, 2012 by JohnJ

This the 4th installment of a review of RA Torrey’s 1898 publication What The Bible Teaches. See all of Lex’s posts here. A PDF copy of the book can be downloaded here. You are welcome and encouraged to join the discussion.

Chapter 4. THE OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD

I. GOD IS EVERYWHERE
He knows when you are sleeping; he knows when you’re awake; he knows when you’ve been bad or good . . . no, I’m talking about God. Sure, for a lot of people I might as well be talking about Santa Claus since to some they represent the same level of mythology, from the likes of so-called funny man Bill Maher to intellectual Steven Hawking. There are those who find the concept of a super intelligent entity who is everywhere and knows everything and reads everyone’s thoughts and intentions either amusing or dangerous. Amusing in childlike gullibility; dangerous in that it breeds hostile fanaticism. We can at least all agree it is incomprehensible.

Scriptures are replete with references to the omnipresence of the Lord. From Psalm 139 asking where in the universe one could go to escape His presence – answer, nowhere – to Jeremiah 23:24, “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD. And yet even as God fills the vastness of the universe still He is close to everyone of us, as Paul tells the Athenians, that “they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist . . .” (Acts 17:27,28)

Thus the dilemma for the human mind, how can someone so vast be so personal and intimate with mankind. How can He be everywhere and yet localized in the person of Jesus Christ walking the earth two thousand years ago, or sitting on a throne in Heaven in eternity amidst a Heavenly throng? We ask aghast like Nicodemus, “How can these things be?”

Perhaps a child can perceive God’s omnipresence most easily, after all Jesus did say “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” (Mark 10:15), possibly because the young don’t have all the baggage and cynicism and trust issues that seems to be an inevitable outcome of growing up. Adults have seem to have skepticism programmed into them, the effect of years of battling with this life; kind of like the theme of Ecclesiastes, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecc. 1:2) which I paraphrase as, “What a Waste.”

As a child I looked up at the night sky, similarly as As Lex mentioned last week, awed and amazed at the immensity of the visible universe, perceiving there was a lot more to existence than met the eye. I read enough astronomy books to be completely astonished at the myriads of galaxies flung throughout creation, and instinctively knew there was someone who must have designed, engineered and created it all, that it just couldn’t come into existence by itself. Yet even today the brilliant Steven Hawking has the “faith” to say that something can create nothing (as reported in this article in The Telegraph. How brilliant do you have to be to believe that nothing could contain something with which it is able to create? Talk about incomprehensible!

II. GOD IS NOT EVERYWHERE IN THE SAME SENSE
But there really are things that are just too incomprehensible to the human mind. That God could create all that is and exist outside of His creation and yet that He could be so intimately involved in His creation to walk among us, like He has since The Garden up to and including the Nativity, that He could care enough for our lost little world to visit us and pay the ultimate price for our redemption . . . it just boggles the mind! Many give it little thought, blindly going about one’s business, going to Church on Sunday and living like the devil the rest of the week, wrapped up in their own little world. I hate to admit that even reading His word daily and leaning on Him constantly for survival in this constant struggle called life, I sometimes strain in really grasping the immensity of such a great God, too easily distracted by less important things. I think if I only had half the faith that I know I should have I’d have less trouble surrendering control of everything I have to His will.

God dwells in the Believer. This is why it should be an especially powerful influence in our behavior, in our desires, in thought, word, and deed. God Himself in the Holy Spirit actually dwells in those who have invited Him in! (John 14:17) How is that not an earth shattering prospect? I am convinced that we tend to have a poor realization of this Biblical fact. Otherwise we would more convincingly manifest God’s grace internally and externally, and would really be salt and light to our communities. Wouldn’t this world be a better place if only the Holy Spirit could more effectively work through us?

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

Posted in What the Bible Teaches | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Law of the Jungle

Posted on March 14, 2012 by JohnJ


But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.
1 Samuel 8:6,7

I think I heard it in a class while attending Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, that the best form of government is a benevolent dictatorship for reasons that are fairly obvious. There is no social confusion, the benevolence of the ruler has everyone’s best interest at heart, and things get done.

Unfortunately there has only been one nation in world history to have ever experienced such a thing. That, of course, is Israel. But it only lasted a very brief time, as depicted in the books of Exodus through Judges. And even though it was the Lord of the universe that was ruler over the nation, Israel never really took very well to God’s benevolence. Look what Samuel says in chapter 7 of this book, after the ark of God had been returned to Israel. “Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” (1 Sam. 7:3) A similar statement is made by Joshua after the 40 years of desert wanderings. (Joshua 24:23) In other words all the while God was leading His people and saving their hides the people still carried idols around with them and were still giving half-hearted service to their God! Half-hearted is as good as rejection.

So much for the application of benevolent dictatorship. At least until Jesus returns. Hopefully the Church will honor Him with more dedication than Israel had when He comes back to reign!

After a benevolent dictatorship the next best form of government is a democracy; applied in America as a democratic republic. The Church has something to fear though with this form of government. A democracy is based on the will of the majority. What the majority wants, it can get. One of the roles of the Church in our nation is to be a moderating influence on the public voice for the good of the people, a beacon of light, a preservative of salt. This presupposes that there is a foundation of morality that is understood, not just the Church, but by a vast majority of the citizens. If the majority has lost their moral compass then literally anything goes. The voices raised in favor of things detrimental to good social order would have no meaningful opposition. I think it is generally understood that some past great civilizations were lost this way.

Now, because our society is a democracy all voices potentially have an equal opportunity to be heard. Even extreme views that are antithesis to the good of social order unless constrained by the majority. We are witness today to an increasing vocalization of views and practices that are detrimental to sustaining good and productive order. Such as the prevalence of abortion as a form of birth control, of open homosexuality, just to name two. But we’ve seen that evil can be repelled. A while ago racism was institutionalized in the form of slavery. Christian Churches finally awoke from their slumber and there arose a mighty cry against it. It took some time and a ferocious war in to eradicate the institution, and even longer and more horrible deaths to cripple racism itself, and though it is by no means eliminated it has been greatly diminished.

Decades ago it would have never occurred to most Americans that the things currently eroding the moral climate in this country would have legitimacy in our social structure. Today they are apparently accepted by a majority, if only by silence. And if that acquiescence continues these things that by their very nature are antagonistic to family and society will become pervasive, exacerbating the very real fear that the fabric of society will be rent.

America is not really a Christian nation, but it is a Christianized nation. Meaning there is a foundational Biblical influence in its laws and precepts and the Church is one of the things that holds back the pushy tide of immorality. And now even some Christian Churches are being led by those duped into accepting immorality that is being promulgated under the guise of “equality under the law.” The Psalmist wrote, “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.” (Ps. 127:1) Yes, even though this is not a Christian nation, this is still God’s world, and we are still His creation. This country should not kid itself that just because we don’t see a pillar of fire at night and a cloud of glory in the daytime guiding us from place to place, that we can escape the effects of a morally bereft citizenry.

But that’s democracy. If the majority want to sell out the country they have that ability if unopposed. If Israel could do it right under the hand of God, it certainly could happen here in the good ol’ USA. Let not God’s people reject Him as king, let Him reign, be a light, be salt in the land. Let your voices be heard! Or it is the jungle to which we will all return.

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

Posted in judgement | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Law of the Jungle

What the Bible Teaches, R.A. Torrey – Chapter 3

Posted on March 13, 2012 by JohnJ

Lex is discussing this Thursday the eternal nature of God in Chapter 3.

“When I was little, before I knew Him, I used to sometimes imagine myself rocketing through space. Beyond Pluto, out of the Milky Way, past the known universes … what would be there? More darkness? More stars? More of the same? Or something new? Every adventure ended in a white-out because even a child’s untempered imagination can’t hold eternity.”

So on March 8, please stop in and see on what journey the she’ll take you. Accompany her on this path of terrible joy! Visit her post and share your own wanderings into the mind of our great God and Savior! Add a comment on her post and join the conversation.

Posted in What the Bible Teaches | Tagged , | Comments Off on What the Bible Teaches, R.A. Torrey – Chapter 3

When is Sin a Good Thing?

Posted on March 12, 2012 by JohnJ

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20, cf. Psalm 52:3, Malachi 2:17

The answer is never. Wishful thinking on my part says you all got that question correct. Can I see a show of hands? A closer scrutiny of society will reveal however that many people get it wrong.

I address this to a Disciple of Thecla post comment which raised the question “why is there such hostility to homosexuality and not an equivalent crying out against the other sexual sins in society? Here is the reason. All those other sins are pretty much understood by everybody to be wrong. Few would argue that adultery, or any of the other sexual ills suffered is an appropriate behavior and healthy for well adjusted, productive society. They are practices done in the dark, in secret, so as not to be discovered.

Homosexuals, on the other hand, want to be considered normal, accepted. Behavior to be a thread deliberately woven into the fabric of society in bold, pronounced colors. It is even to be celebrated with parades and festivals, to be legitimized and protected by law.

That is why the sin of homosexuality causes so much uproar and is so vocally and roundly condemned by Christians, more so than some other sins of our society. It is a slap in the face of all that they consider true, healthy, moral and good. The promotion of such behavior openly declares that there is really no such thing as right and wrong. Whatever any individual decides is true is appropriate for them. My version of truth and morality is just as valid as anyone’s. But when that happens immorality become amoral. True becomes false. Good becomes evil. There is simply no difference!

It is true that our civilization is rife with as many manifestations of rebellion from God’s grace as the imagination has capacity to produce. And in spite of the great many Churches in America, and the large evangelical and missionary outreach in our own country, very great evils continue as if unabated with seeming unabashed impunity: child abductions and molestation, the sex trade, all manner of thievery, murders, bullying, just to scratch the surface. But all these things are rightly understood by most as unacceptable in a civilized society and are forcefully proscribed. If a great momentum for the acceptance, approval, legitimization and legalization of any of these evils were propagated certainly a very great outcry would rise against it. Why should it be surprising then that the practice and promotion of homosexuality as an equally valid way of family life receives such reproach?

Why are some so forceful in their opposition to what many think is a private, personal matter? Frankly if that was really all it was then there probably wouldn’t be this level of outrage expressed against the homosexual community. If they just led quiet lives and did not flout a universally unacceptable behavior in the face of society the headlines wouldn’t be so pronounced. But the hornets nest has been stirred. Opposition is merely matched by the flagrant flaunting of their behavior in the public arena. What did they think was going to happen?

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

Posted in sin | Tagged , , | 1 Comment