Welcome to February and the season where "love" is in the air. According to The Beatles, Tuesday's Musical Notes - "All You Need Is Love". In fact, Tuesday's Musical Notes dedicated an entire month to the season of love in 2014. Check it out in the archive at tuesdaysmusicalnotes.blogspot.
Much has been said in recent months about how we are to love. Everyone expounds on their particular definition. It seems that even many folks whose world view is NOT based on the principles of the Bible are using the Word of God or at the very least referring to it with regards to the refugee crisis that is a pandemic around the world. It seems odd that folks who deny the very existence of God are now using His Word, "love your brother as yourself", "Do unto others...", etc. as a foundation for accepting refugees into the United States. The Notes, while not wanting to get into the fray of the emotional back and forth between people, would like to point out just a couple of things that perhaps folks haven't considered.
The Bible commands us to love God first, then love mankind. In that order. If we do the first, the second will come as a natural outgrowth. Secondly, the United States has much less restrictive entry criteria than do most countries around the world. Tried going to India recently? (I know some folks who are. I wish hoops are all they had to jump through!) To tighten our procedures serves security as well as places us on a more even playing field. Finally, the United States has set a precedent of being the most welcoming country to foreigners on the planet. This practice was based on our founding principles which evolved from standards found in the Bible. Loving folks is what we do. We have, however, seen the tragic results when this welcoming gets taken advantage of. There is a fine line, a balance, between providing for the common defense and promoting the general welfare. This balance is what we pay for in our representative form of government. If you don't like what the policy is, call your representative and voice your opinion. Regardless of what the populace may believe, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are not movers of public policy. Social Media can be a detriment to accurate, factual information being put into the public forum. Be sure , you know the facts, not just the emotional arguments that so many make. And now...the rest of the story. Page 1!!!
Today we feature a "love" filled Musical Note from the email archives. From September of 2011, with a few edits and updates, is our first of the month flashback with Huey Lewis and the News. Read it..."It might just save your life..."
"The Power Of Love" from the 1985 soundtrack to the Major Motion Picture Back To The Future .
The song is a recurring underscore throughout Back to the Future. Huey Lewis even has a cameo in the movie as a judge of bands for the Enchantment Under The Sea dance. "Sorry fellas,......I'm afraid you're just too darn loud". You can still catch Huey Lewis and the News in concert with 4 of the original band members and in October of 2010, the band released "Soulsville", their tribute to Staxx Records. For more News about Huey Lewis check out this: Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Bad Is Bad" Tuesday's Musical Notes - "We Are The World"
"The Bible is a bunch of don'ts!" You may have heard this criticism of the Bible on occasion. I know I have. The best response I have ever heard is a challenge that I think we can all accept. "If we are busy doing all of the do's in the Bible, we won't have time to do the don'ts!!" As we carefully read the Ten Commandments, we see that it contains both the "do's" (Remember the Sabbath, Honor Your Mother And Father) and the don'ts (No Other Gods, Make No Idols, Do Not Use The Lord's Name In A Disrespectful Way, Do Not: Murder, Commit Adultery, Lie, or Want Something That Belongs To Someone Else). Even closer examination shows that all of the Ten Commandments have a common thread, LOVE. The first 4 have to do with the love we have towards God. The last 6 discuss the love we have with people we interact with every day. To love both God and others, it is required that we have a relationship with them. I think that as we grow our relationships with both God and man, our love for God and man grows at an exponential rate. That's the power of love.....
"The Power Of Love" supposes that love is more than just an emotion and sometimes needs "a little help from above". I suspect that Huey is correct in this assumption. Our relationship with God and people often times need help from above. The song lyrically asserts that love has the ability to change people and situations. Has that been your experience with love? How are you different because of Christ's love? Is that something you have experienced in your life? Jesus explains that we should love others so much that we would be willing to lay down our lives for them. He demonstrates that love by doing what He taught others they should do. He died for us. This ultimate display of Love came when Jesus provided the sacrifice that would eradicate our sins, past, present and future, forever. You may ask how we can repay that love. In the parable of the sheep and goats, found in Matthew 25:31-46 English Standard Version of the Bible/ The Message paraphrase of the Bible parallel, Jesus teaches that the only difference between the sheep (those on the right, who enter into the kingdom) and the goats (those on the left, who do not enter the kingdom) was what they did and did not do. Each expressed their love or lack of it by what they did or did not do for their fellow man. The outpouring of gratitude and love for Jesus' sacrifice is expressed by outward actions. Keith Green put it like this:
"The Power Of Love" supposes that love is more than just an emotion and sometimes needs "a little help from above". I suspect that Huey is correct in this assumption. Our relationship with God and people often times need help from above. The song lyrically asserts that love has the ability to change people and situations. Has that been your experience with love? How are you different because of Christ's love? Is that something you have experienced in your life? Jesus explains that we should love others so much that we would be willing to lay down our lives for them. He demonstrates that love by doing what He taught others they should do. He died for us. This ultimate display of Love came when Jesus provided the sacrifice that would eradicate our sins, past, present and future, forever. You may ask how we can repay that love. In the parable of the sheep and goats, found in Matthew 25:31-46 English Standard Version of the Bible/ The Message paraphrase of the Bible parallel, Jesus teaches that the only difference between the sheep (those on the right, who enter into the kingdom) and the goats (those on the left, who do not enter the kingdom) was what they did and did not do. Each expressed their love or lack of it by what they did or did not do for their fellow man. The outpouring of gratitude and love for Jesus' sacrifice is expressed by outward actions. Keith Green put it like this:
In the busyness of living, do we do everything that we can to benefit our fellow man? Do we use the resources, skills, gifts, and blessings that God gives us daily to benefit others so that He can receive glory? Do our lives reflect that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength? How can we change our shortcomings when we fail? Only by being renewed daily with and through, "The Power Of Love".
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy
Randy
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