What the World. . . Needs now. . .

. . . Is Love. . .Sweet Love. . .

Mel Wild wrote an exceptional, relevant—in light of our current climate of lawlessness—and just plain brilliant article using a similar refrain.

See his post at: In My Father’s House.

Here’s something I posted in 2013, which I thought about after reading Pastor Wild’s post. I share it again here:

“What the World Needs Now Is Love” is a 1965 popular song with lyrics by Hal David and music composed by Burt Bacharach. First recorded and made popular by Jackie DeShannon, it was released on April 15, 1965, on the Imperial label after a release on sister label Liberty records the previous month was canceled. The song reached number 7 on the US charts in May of that year. (source: Wikipedea)

Twenty-eight years ago today, Jackie DeShannon released the song that cried out a prayer for love.

Lord, we don’t need another mountain
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross
Enough to last ’til the end of time

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some, oh, but just for every, every, everyone

While true for today as for the sixties, the call for love didn’t begin with Jakie DeShannon’s song. G-d commanded love, way back when:

“. . .you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” (Lev 19:18)

The Apostle Paul wrote quite a bit about love. Here are some sample quotes:

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” (Romans 12:9)
“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Romans 12:10)
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
(Romans 13:8)
“For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
(Romans 13:9)
“Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:10)

Isn’t it love that will counter lawlessness? Isn’t love that will bring peace and happiness? Perhaps. But before we can have love, before we can have peace, before we can have happiness, we must:

“. . .seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
(Matthew 6:33)

Perhaps that’s the problem. We want love, we want peace, we want happiness, but we don’t seek the Lord while He can be found.

Something to think about.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Responding the Gospel

Beginning with a discussion of what many see as dangerous times ahead for Christians after the
U. S. Presidential Elections this fall, I talked about the Festival in celebration of the giving of the Ten Commandments, took a look at the Salvation of Y’shuaJesus and Street Evangelism and receiving Messiah. It seemed a bit disjointed, but I shared concerns over the rising conflict and lack of peace that is occurring in America and has been ongoing in many parts of the world.

Rounding it out is the way we respond to situations that affect us. For instance, in some of the videos on YouTube, Street Evangelists evoked responses from an audience that became bitter, angry, and often threatening. I’ve heard that people are tired of the Gospel being used to beat them on the head. This reminds me of a farmer and his grandson. The boy was trying to get a mule to move. He was pulling hard on a lead and yelling at the mule, and getting no response at all. Finally, the old man intervened. “Gentle, Grandson,” the old man said, “on must gentle and speak softly to this fellow.” The boy looked a the old man, and the old man nodded. “Let me show you.” So Grandpa picked up a stick and hit the mule hard on top of his head, then leaned down, stroked his ears, and spoke softly. He then gently grasped the rope and walked with the mule following. “Grandpa,” the boy said, “why did you hit him when you said to be gentle and speak softly?” The old man sighed deeply. “Grandson, we need to get his attention first.”

Messiah Y’shuaJesus never beat anyone on the head, though many may have felt as though he did. What he did was elicit responses from people, some who bowed down, others who picked up rocks. Luke reports how the disciples responded Sunday morning after Friday afternoon’s crucifixion of the Lord.

[Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other women] went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Luke 24:1-9

The absence of the body of Y’shuaJesus at first “perplexed” the women. When they saw two men in dazzling apparel, they were frightened, and then bowed their faces to the ground. It only took a Word from the two angels to remind the women of what Y’shuaJesus has said. The women returned to where the disciples of Messiah gathered and received mixed responses. Some of the disciples said the women’s story was an “old wive’s tale.” Peter, though, headed out to check out the situation for himself. What Peter saw made him return home, marveling about it all. Two of the disciples left Jerusalem walking west down an old Roman road west to their village, which we now call Emmaus. They ran into a fellow who “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Himself being the Lord Y’shuaJesus whom the disciples didn’t recognize until, in their home, the Lord broke bread. Then the disciples realized to Whom they’d been talking, just as the Lord left. “They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures.’ ” [Luke 24:13-25]

The Lord appeared to the Apostles, who at first were startled then frightened. While still disbelieving, Lord Y’shuaJesus showed his wounds, asked for food, and when they came to there senses,

He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. Luke 24:46-49

In the Gospel of John, we learn that Thomas was not with the other Apostles at that encounter. When told of it, Thomas responded, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” [John 20:25] When the Lord did appear to Thomas, He said, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” To which Thomas responded, “My Lord and my God!” [John 20:28]

Look, you can see by these few examples the variety of ways in which people respond to the call of the Lord. There are so many other examples. The Lord knows what is needed for each to come to repentance and find his or her salvation in the Lord Y’shuaJesus. Apostle Paul described out place in the process of another’s salvation this way:

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. 1 Corinth 3:5-9.

A Wonderful Sail Yesterday

Yesterday, I went out to the lake to sail. I stopped on the way to pay a bill. When I arrived at the marina, despite forecasts of wind, there was nothing. Then I realized my phone dropped from my pocket while paying that bill. I drove back to the place, retrieved my wallet, and thought, “No wind. Why bother going all the way back out.” I drove toward home, yet turned on to the highway toward the marina without even realizing it. So I figured, “Okay, let’s try anyway.” On the way, I did see some tree tops moving and some waves forming on the lake. The wind was coming up.

That’s not the first time things like that have occurred to me. I’ve taken the “wrong” highway, ending up in the same place I was suppose to be, only by a different route, and only realizing it when I entered the destination from a different place than I’d recalled from the last time there. I knew it was the right “wrong” way, and wondered what was on the other route that I was prevented from taking: an accident that might delay me? an accident waiting for me? Don’t know. Some things just work out the way they do. Things happen.

At the dock, Cassandra, a Cape Dory Sailboat, was looking pretty good, despite needing her teak oiled and some yellow jackets buzzing around the mast. I’ve sealed off the places they used to build nests, but now they’d found a place under the mainsail cover that apparently suited them. Without ado, I cranked up the motor, cast off the lines, and backed out of the slip. The slip is located deep within a cove, off the lake. The water was calm, mostly clear, and I really wondered if it would be worth it going out. I motored slowly toward the mouth of the cove, rounded the shoreline, and was surprised to see another sailboat on the water, full sails, and moving along just fine. As I entered the lake, I could feel the wind now, coming out of the west. The cove is well protected from that direction, which is why it appeared not to be any wind at all.

Soon I shut off the motor, removed the sail cover, which made the few remaining yellow jackets take fly to another haven, and went forward to the mast where I raised the sail. Returning to the cockpit, I sheeted in the mainsail and began to slowly move ahead. Unfurling the jib to it’s full size, I gained further headway. Though the wind was light, under ten miles an hour, I easily made between three-and-a-half to four mph heading southwest about forty-five degrees off the wind. The light wind had very little gusting, and I easily trimmed the sails to point high enough to clear two small islands off to port, my left, and proceed up the lake toward Three Sisters Islands.

The wind began to vary in strength, and Cassandra responded, heeling about 15 degrees and leaping forward nearly to full hull speed of six miles per hour. This lasted five minutes or so and she would settle back down as the wind slowed. This process repeated many times along our route. An occasional gust or change in the direction of the wind did little to disturb Cassandra’s drive toward the islands, though it had me pulling in on the sheets to trim the sail a time or two. We went on this way, remaining on the same tack, that is with the sail to port and wind to starboard, to the right off the bow, for nearly two hours. Finally, we changed direction, tacking and rounding about near the island, then steering a course back toward the marina.

The entire time we were out, dark clouds moved slowly overhead, with only a few gaps where the sun could pop its head through to say, “Hello.” Only a few fishing boats hung around the shores, and one family towing kids on a tube behind a small powerboat sped happily past. One large cruiser moved quickly across my bow, leaving a large wake, which Cassandra bound over as if she were a horse jumping a fence. Or perhaps Cassandra was dreaming of the ocean, and the waves offshore. I think she wants to sail the seas, and only hope she’ll take me as her crew. The other sail boat I’d seen earlier came nearby once and we exchanged greetings as he rounded a buoy I’d just pasted, perhaps preparing for a race or just having fun. His two small children, bundled in life jackets, stood along the stern rail, and waved.

The sail, yesterday, was peaceful. It’s often like that during the week days, unlike the weekends when so many boaters are out. The clouds made it feel a little cooler, too, blocking the intense rays of the sun. It was a nice morning. I like the water, both lakes and ocean. I like being on the water and I like being in the water. I always have. There’s something soothing about the water. Water is unpredictable, too, untamed. Yet it brings me back to a peaceful place where I find a measure of refreshment. Spending some moments such as those yesterday, sailing, open my ears to hear what the Lord would speak to me through the His words recorded by the Apostle Paul so long ago:

I [Paul]therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of

the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:1-3

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Micah and a Lasting Peace

Many promise peace. Probably most famous is British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, who promised “peace in our time.” He did this in defense of an appeasement agreement in Munich that allowed Germany to take part of Czechoslovakia. But this didn’t appease Germany. Poland was in its sights. When Poland fell to Germany, England entered what would become WWII. England suffered greatly during the war, with much destruction coming upon it.

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

1 Thes 5:3

Y’shuaJesus didn’t promise peace on Earth.

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Matthew 10:34

He promised peace, though, through HIM.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

In the Book of Micah, we find a prophet itemizing the failures of his country–its iniquities. He cries out to his people regarding G-d’s requirements: justice and mercy, walking humbly with G-d. To Micah, proper worship of G-d is the prime ingredient for a proper relationship. Consequences follow when a people loses its relationship with G-d. Destruction. But Micah also promises redemption, salvation. He foretold of the Messiah. He also foretold that the Last Days would usher in a lasting peace with the Earthly reign of Messiah, Y’shuaJesus.

And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Micah 4:3

Bad times come. Bad times go. We ride the worldly roller coaster. Peace we have through all this that is brought into our hearts through our faith in Y’shuaJesus. He is the Only Way to Peace.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .