No Stairway to Heaven
Some of you know I love to play guitar. It's a great relaxer and gives me another creative outlet. If I was any good at all at it, that would be a huge plus, but I'm approaching mediocrity at a snail's pace.
The other night, I was trying to learn the acoustic part to a Led Zeppelin song, "Stairway to Heaven." I had stumbled across the music and tabs to it and so started trying to learn to play it. Never having been a big Zeppelin fan when they were big and I was young, now I really have begun to appreciate their music more, and in particular, "Stairway." So I was fumbling around, making noise.
My son Sean, an accomplished and self-taught guitarist, walked in behind me. When he heard what I was trying to do, he laughed and said "what are you trying to do, get ready to go to the guitar store?"
Let me explain what he meant.
One of the most common songs people play at a guitar store, when trying to impress everyone with how well they play is, you guessed it, "Stairway to Heaven." It has so become so bad that Sean stated some guitar shops put signs up saying "No Stairway to Heaven."
I guess everyone gets tired of seeing people try to be something they are not.
The Bible has a lot to say about people who fake it, but one of my favorite verses perhaps says it best.
9Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. 10Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Romans 12 - The Message
When we "clean up our act" around some people, when we "watch what we say" if the pastors around, when we have one set of ethics for business and another for church...
We are faking it.
If we are to love from the center of who we are, Jesus has to own our heart. He has to be our treasure. We cannot be Christ-followers any other way. There are no short-cuts, no "stairways" to heaven. It takes loving Christ more than yourself, and it takes doing that every day.
The good news? Stay after it - after Him! Over time, as you continue your journey with Christ, you'll look back one day and find you've made progress. There'll be more of Christ and less of you.
Gotta run, Purple Haze is next on my list of songs to learn. :)
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Hiding In Plain Sight
When I heard the learn'd astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and
measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much
applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars. by Walt Whitman
There has never been a generation with more tools with which to find God.
Radio stations fill the airwaves with praise and preaching. TV channels are exclusively devoted to the same. The average American household contains 7 Bibles. When you Google Jesus Christ, 19 million websites are ready to deliver the information.
We've been MasterLife'd, Experience God'ed, Purpose Driven, and still, how many of us really know God?
Whitman's poem caught me today at a needy moment. Frustrated because I wasn't happy with the way my message for Sunday morning was going, I took a break and pulled a literature book off the shelf. I felt like the poet had been looking over my shoulder all morning as I tried to fit God into my purpose, instead of spending time listening to His Word. I was looking for points to deliver, for principles to teach. That's all there in the Scriptures to be sure. But just like Whitman had to leave the lecture to find the stars, sometimes you really need to step back from the Scriptures and embrace the wonder of God's love.
More than anything else, the Bible is given to bring us to God through His Son, Jesus. Jesus put it this way, when confronted by some people who memorized the words without getting to know the author...
"You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! John 5:39 (The Message)
Friends, it's wonderful to know the Bible, and awesome to be given the opportunity to teach it. Just remember, it's not about information - it's about Jesus. Teach someone biblical truths without helping them find love for Jesus, and you've hidden God's love for them in plain sight. Help them find Him, and His love will lead them into the Scriptures.
It's always about Jesus.
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
When I heard the learn'd astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and
measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much
applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars. by Walt Whitman
There has never been a generation with more tools with which to find God.
Radio stations fill the airwaves with praise and preaching. TV channels are exclusively devoted to the same. The average American household contains 7 Bibles. When you Google Jesus Christ, 19 million websites are ready to deliver the information.
We've been MasterLife'd, Experience God'ed, Purpose Driven, and still, how many of us really know God?
Whitman's poem caught me today at a needy moment. Frustrated because I wasn't happy with the way my message for Sunday morning was going, I took a break and pulled a literature book off the shelf. I felt like the poet had been looking over my shoulder all morning as I tried to fit God into my purpose, instead of spending time listening to His Word. I was looking for points to deliver, for principles to teach. That's all there in the Scriptures to be sure. But just like Whitman had to leave the lecture to find the stars, sometimes you really need to step back from the Scriptures and embrace the wonder of God's love.
More than anything else, the Bible is given to bring us to God through His Son, Jesus. Jesus put it this way, when confronted by some people who memorized the words without getting to know the author...
"You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! John 5:39 (The Message)
Friends, it's wonderful to know the Bible, and awesome to be given the opportunity to teach it. Just remember, it's not about information - it's about Jesus. Teach someone biblical truths without helping them find love for Jesus, and you've hidden God's love for them in plain sight. Help them find Him, and His love will lead them into the Scriptures.
It's always about Jesus.
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
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