Chris Cornell sings Show Me How to Live – 7/12/2017

WARNING PREACHY…

A month ago or so, singer Chris Cornell[1] committed suicide after a concert in Detroit.  I was not really a fan, nor had I ever been to one of his concerts, but he was an incredible musician and I loved most everything he created.

Since his death, I have been listening to his music through his career of performing in a bunch of different bands and projects.  He did a song “Show Me How to Live” that he sang when he was with Audioslave and I wanted to comment on it.

Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwKcMdiq60s

Show Me How to Live

Audioslave

And with the early dawn
Moving right along
I couldn't buy and eyeful of sleep

And in the aching night under satellites
I was not received
Built with stolen parts
A telephone in my heart
Someone get me a priest
To put my mind to bed
This ringing in my head
Is this a cure or is this a disease

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life
Now show me how to live

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life
Now show me how to live

And in the after birth
On the quiet earth
Let the stains remind you
You thought you made a man
You better think again
Before my role defines you

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life
Now show me how to live

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave…

I’m not going to try to figure out the depths and details of this song but the chorus begs to be commented on.

Nail in my hand

From my creator

I find it interesting that Cornell was of the opinion that there was a creator of this world.  One may argue that this was just a song and he was not trying to infer this at all, but he has other songs that were somewhat spiritual in nature, and it leads me to believe otherwise.

On my deathbed I will pray
To the gods and the angels
Like a pagan to anyone
Who will take me to heaven

(Like a Stone – Audioslave[2])

He seems to understand that he has the curse of death in his life but he’s not exactly sure what to do about it.

You gave me life
Now show me how to live

These words are sung almost in an angry tone; like someone who is upset that he has been born into this world but doesn’t have the directions for life.  I can sort of relate...

When I first became a Christian, in 1994, I found I was upset because I was placed in the situation of having to live according to the will of Christ when all I really wanted to do was to live my life -- my way.  But the resurrection would no longer allow me to simply live my life for myself, and I could no longer deny that there was a moral obligation on my life.  My problem was that I wasn’t yelling to God to show me how to live, rather I already knew and I didn’t necessarily like the call to a new life of selflessness and sacrificial existence.

In Christ, we have all been shown how to live; for Jesus lived a life of selfless abandon led by the Spirit of a Holy God who cared for the poor and the neediest among us.  And he called us to pick up our crosses and follow him daily[3].

Chris Cornell was an extraordinary talent and I am sorry that he ended his own life.  I wish he didn’t struggle like he did and I wish he could have been around longer so he could have met the savior and learned the answer to his question.

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cornell

[2] Like a Stone - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX-t_Y-AzWY

[3] Matthew 16:24-26

The Prowling Lion – 5/28/2017

WARNING PREACHY…

I’ve had recent discussions of the reality that once a person officially enters into the ministry of Jesus Christ, there seems to be a target on their back. 

1 Peter 5:8-9 

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

In the past year I have had friends, and close acquaintances, fall from their positions in ministry.  It’s easy to shake my head and wonder how they could let that happen, but the reality is that I am in the cross-hairs; and so are you.  Peter has written his letter to Christians, and so if we have committed our lives to following Jesus in this world then the devil is on the prowl for us; preacher and parishioner alike.

I generally think the devil hates us, but I wonder if this is true.  A lion doesn’t prowl around because of hate, a lion prowls because it is hungry.

I once saw a documentary where photographers in Africa had gotten chummy with wild lions.  So long as the lions were well fed during the night, the human photographers were able to form real relationships with the lions during the day.  It was really cool to see these wild lions actually enjoy the friendships with these humans, but they were still lions and one night one of the humans went outside the gated compound and was killed by one of the prowling lions.  The lion didn’t hate the man; it was just a lion doing what lions do.

I might have been right in the first place, the devil probably really does hate you, but the point is that we should never be lulled into thinking that it is safe to let our guards down because the devil is going to do what the devil does and we need to always be sober-minded and alert.

John 8:44

⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

1 Thessalonians 3:5

⁵ For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.

John 10:10

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

James 4:7

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Why do Christians Suffer? (Part 2) - 07/24/2016

WARNING PREACHY

I’m considering the reason for Christian suffering.  Previously I wrote about the first reason that I considered as to why Christians suffer – disregard of the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit [1].  You can read about that by following the link.  Now, the second reason that Christians suffer is simply because we live in a fallen world; a world that has been cursed by God.

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. ¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. ¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Genesis (3:17-19)

Let’s face it; we live in a sinful world that is decaying.  As sure as the new becomes old and the fresh becomes stale there will always be something that causes us grief and suffering in our lives.  The world into which we are born is cursed and we live in a state of falleness and sin.

"What a world!  What a world!"  ~The dying words of the Wicked Witch of West

It’s the everyday reality, just turn on the news.  You have the radical Muslims blowing up and shooting everyone else, we have what seems to be a literal race war between the blacks in America and the police, and the American government is trying its very best to make acceptable the murder of the unborn children in this country.  The world is corrupt because the devil is the rightful ruler of it.  Not only are humans animalistic toward other humans, we then have the so-called “acts of God” such as famine, tornadoes, floods, fires, tsunamis, and the like.  These occur regularly.  And all the while we grow from having skin as soft as a baby’s butt to wrinkly and calloused until we return back to the dust from which we started.  This world is simply designed to be one big box of sorrows, struggles, and suffering.

And yet amidst all of that, it is good.

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.   (John 10:10b)

We are born into a world that is in fact cursed by God and we are invited to be in relationship with Him.  A relationship does not take away any of the pain or struggles that we live among but the relationship does bring us comfort during life's storms.

Yes, we Christians do struggle and suffer through many things in our lives.  And yes, we will often feel the despair and hopelessness of it all throughout our lives.  But as Christians, we have a hope because we know that no matter what we are experiencing, it is not the end of the story.  For in Christ we know that even death is not the end because our hope is in the resurrection, which is a whole new beginning.  Faith in the invisible against the physical that we see seems like an impossible way of helping us to combat the suffering that can come upon us, but this is exactly the point.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Next time, I will look at the final reason that we Christians suffer, and that reason is, quite frankly, because we are Christians and we endeavor to live contrary to our old natures in this world that does not make it easy for us to do so.  Be sure to read part 3 of Why do Christians Suffer next week.

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[1] http://warningpreachy.blogspot.com/2016/07/why-do-christians-suffer-part-1-07172016.html