Truth is...

When You and Your Parents Don't Share a Common Faith

In recent years, Taylor Swift and other songwriters have earned a reputation for writing songs that publically express some very personal feelings or events. But they've got a long way to go to match the heartfelt transparency Keith Green displayed in "Song to My Parents (I Only Wanna See You There)".

I need to say these things 'cause

I love you so

And I'm sorry you get angry when I say that

You just don't know

That there's a heaven waiting

For you and me

I know it seems every time we talk

I'm only tryin' to just make you see

And it's only that I care

I really only want

Just to see you there

Please try and overlook my

My human side

I know I'm such a bad example

And you know I'm so full of pride

But Jesus isn't like that

No, He's perfect all the way

I guess that's why we need Him

'Cause by ourselves, there's just no way

And it's only that I care

I really, really only just want to see you there

To see you there

Close the doors

They're just not coming

We sent the invitations out long, long, long, long time ago

We're still gonna have a wedding feast

Big enough to beat them all

The greatest people in the world just wouldn't come

So now we'll just have to invite the small

And it's only that I care

I really, really only want

Just to see you there

Isn't that Jesus?

Isn't that Joseph and Mary's son?

Well, didn't He grow up right here?

He played with our children

What! He must be kidding

Thinks He's a prophet

Well, prophets don't grow up from little boys

Do they? From little boys?

Do they?

https://youtu.be/2LOoBRW5Nxk

Truth is...it's a hard thing to put a desire for a smooth, peaceful relationship aside in favor of the desire for an eternal one. Talking to our parents or other dearly loved family or friends seems scary, but if we really love them, and Jesus is really real, their rejection of Christ should scare us even more.

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How to Succeed in Politics

This has never aspired to be a political blog, but Clement Eaton has made some observations that certainly contain facts and point out a deeper truth.

The voters failed to elect their superior men to office. To obtain the [votes] of the people it was not necessary for a politician to have a superior education or a brilliant mind. Rather, he must be able to sense the common man's discontents, his economic grievances, his prejudices, and his dreams. The successful politician was, as a rule, a vigorous or eloquent speaker, a man who could devise popular slogans and organize political workers, and who gave the common people a feeling of their own importance. As party warfare developed into violent partisanship and as sectional tensions arose, the politician who had strong convictions and had taken a courageous public stand on issues was often pushed aside in favor of a candidate of availability.

In the spirit of Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story, it may surprise you to learn this is a quote from the book, Henry Clay and the Art of American Politics, and is talking about the voters of the 1830s and 1840s.

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Truth is...What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV)

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I Am Loved: Top 25 Jesus Quotes: #22

If you go to TimothyKeller.com, you are immediately greeted by a picture of Keller apparently speaking from a pulpit or lectern. In large type, like a banner across the top of the page, is this quote:

The gospel says you are more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe, but more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope.

That's a pretty good collection of words right there, and it relates to Jesus Quote #22 in two ways:

1. It covers similar ground...talking about how Jesus has an effect on what I think about myself.
2. Its source is the same person.

The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.

Truth is...While I have often said that God loves us so much He would rather die than live without us...and there is truth in that statement...I am also reminded of something Rich Mullins said: "I grew up hearing everyone tell me 'God loves you'. I would say big deal, God loves everybody. That don't make me special! That just proves that God ain't got no taste. And I don't think He does. Thank God! Because He takes the junk of our lives and makes the most beautiful art."

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Something to Stop Praying About

It might surprise you that in a book titled Pray Big, the author (Alistair Begg) actually spells out something he thinks we should all STOP praying:

I want to erase the two words that shut most of our prayers down. Here they are:

"Be with..."

If you were to record my prayers, I have a sad suspicion you'd hear a lot of "be with": "Dear Lord, I pray you will be with Tom as he goes to work, and be with Mary also, who's having her wisdom teeth removed on Tuesday, and be with...and be with...and be with...and be with us all. Amen."

This is unimaginative. It's limited. It's certainly not spiritually ambitious, like Paul is. And it is, I think, unnecessary. Jesus said, "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). He's promised to be with Tom and with Mary. It's a bit of a waste to make the sum total of my prayer for them the request that Jesus would do what he already said he'd do, and has already started doing.

Search the Scriptures, and you won't find a prayer recorded that just asks God to "be with" his people. The prayers of the saints have far more weighty, far more spiritual concerns.

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Truth is...we can all understand the intent behind our "be with" prayers. Maybe we could expand them into prayers pleading that our friends and family would actually sense God's presence and walk boldly into whatever circumstance they find themselves, knowing that Yahweh, the creator of all that is, loves them and will never give up on them.

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Keith Green Isn't Feeling Like Himself

Here we are at the seventh song on Keith Green's first album (For Him Who Has Ears to Hear), and Keith is speaking on behalf of Lucifer.

I kid you not.

Instead of singing, "Hey, people, Biblical truth is still Biblical truth! Satan is not a fairy tale!", Green puts on the persona of the chief fallen angel and proudly sings "No One Believes in Me Anymore (Satan's Boast)".

Oh, my job keeps getting easier

As time keeps slippin' away

I can imitate the brightest light

And make the night look just like day

I put some truth in every lie

To tickle itching ears

You know, I'm drawing people just like flies

'Cause they like what they hear

I'm gaining power by the hour

They're falling by the score

You know it's getting very simple now

Since no one believes in me anymore!

Oh, heaven's just a state of mind

My books read on your shelf

Or have you heard that God is dead?

I made that one up myself

They're dabbling with magic spells

They get their fortunes read

You know, they heard the truth

But turned away

And then followed me instead

I used to have to sneak around

But now they just open their doors

No one's watching for my tricks

Since no one believes in me anymore!

Everyone likes a winner

With my help, you're guaranteed to win

Hey man, you ain't no sinner!

No, you've got the truth within

And as your life slips by you believe the lie

That you did it on your own

But don't worry

I'll be there to help you share

Our dark eternal home

Our dark eternal home!

Oh, my job keeps getting easier

As day slips into day

The magazines, the newspapers

Print every word I say

This world is just my spinning top

It's all like child's play

You know, I dream that it will never stop

But I know it's not that way

Still, my work goes on and on

Always stronger than before

I'm gonna make it dark before the dawn

Since no one believes in me anymore!

Well, I used to have to sneak around

But now they just open their doors

You know, no one's watching for my tricks

Since no one believes in me anymore!

Well, I'm gaining power by the hour,

They're falling by the score,

You know, it's getting very easy now

Since no one believes in me anymore!

No one believes in me anymore!

No one BELIEVES in me anymore!

https://youtu.be/y9YL0HV0mwE

Truth is...It wouldn't be fair to expect a song to take the place of C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters in just three minutes and twenty seconds, but this could certainly be Side One, Song One of an album full of music inspired by that classic book.

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Truth is...

When You and Your Parents Don't Share a Common Faith

How to Succeed in Politics

I Am Loved: Top 25 Jesus Quotes: #22

Something to Stop Praying About

Keith Green Isn't Feeling Like Himself

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