Welcome to Tuesday and this week's entry into the annals of musical double entendre'! It's Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!
It's the first Tuesday of August!!! which usually means transitions are about to begin. School supplies are dominating store aisles and are relatively inexpensive. Who knows what the weather will do on any given day. Families begin the conversion from summer vacations and a relatively flexible schedule to a more rigid regimen that includes a structured school day and a renewal to work goals. Even though it is more than another month until Autumn official begins, along with pencils, paper, and backpacks, stores are decked out in oranges, browns, and every manner imaginable variation of things pumpkiny.
I absolutely love this time of the year. Even though it continues to be really hot here, the beginning of August signals that the end of the heat and humidity are almost over. College Football practices begin and everyone has high hopes for their favorite team's chances at national attention. (Woo Pigs Sooie!!! Go Hogs!!!) PreSeason Games, that mean absolutely nothing but TV time and interviews, begin for the NFL (whatever that's gonna look like this year...please rise for the singing/playing of our national anthem...we'll see)
I remember this time of the year as always being my favorite. Marching Band practice (Bald Knob High School, University of Arkansas) would begin usually around the first and as a young person, the heat was made much more tolerable by the fact that you were back with friends who shared a common passion and loved doing what we got to do...and even more tolerable by the occasional donated truckload of ice-cold watermelons that showed up that one time after practice...Tuesday's Musical Notes salutes those students and teachers who are making memories, living your passions and sweating on the marching fields around our country! Gatorade is your friend, water is even better!!!
It seemed that with the start of the school year, regardless of whether you were in band or if you waited for the actual first day of school, anticipation arose at the prospect of new relationships. As an older student, I pondered if this could be the year "The one" might be revealed and destiny would be set forever. Regardless of the dating scene for the year, anticipation was still there that new friends and potential "dates" were to be met in the coming year. (Fall 1985 "The one" did come along!!! We began dating in October 1985. 3 Kids, 2 grandkids, and 32 years of matrimony later we're still dating!!!)
What has happened to the art of dating? Has the process of finding true love and courting been made too easy by social media and digital meeting places like dating apps? Does this generation not see the benefit of going to the movie with just one person and showing that person ALL of your attention, not to mention spending your entire paycheck on the evening with them? It seems that dating as a group is the new thing. Yes, there is security in numbers, but don't you guys ever want to be alone?... I digress...Could this group mentality, speed and online dating be indicative of today's "modern love"?
"Modern Love" was the opening track and a top 20 single (#14) from Bowie's fifteenth studio album. It was the third single released from the album behind the title track, "Let's Dance" (#1) and a new iteration of "China Girl" (#10), a song co-written by Iggy Pop for his 1977 album The Idiot. On the strength of the three singles, Let's Dance was nominated for an Album of the Year Grammy in 1984. It happened, however, to be released in the same year as another album by another pop music icon. You might have heard of the Grammy that year going to a little project known as "Thriller" by Michael Jackson.
At the time of his death in 2016 at age 69, Let's Dance was David Bowie's best selling record. It has sold in excess of 10 million copies and continues to prove that those of us raised on 80's music know how to show artists of that time a lot of modern love.
There has been much discussion on how to define modern love in recent years. Tuesday's Musical Notes has attempted in kind and loving ways to examine the issue. Now, before you hit the "x" in your upper right-hand corner (your left-hand corner for Apple users), let me assure you this is not a "hit" piece or an attack on anyone. I would like to convey some very strong emotions today about a very personal subject. We mean no offense to any person. That being said, we hope you will continue reading...
It seems across the world that "love" is an emotion that is difficult to define. Let me be perfectly clear. My beliefs command me to love every person to the point of giving my life for theirs. The Gospel of Jesus according to the disciple John, chapter 15, verses 9-17 New International Version of the Bible/The Message Paraphrase of the Bible/English Standard Version of the Bible parallel Notice, that passage says nothing about whether I agree with them politically or even like them. I must love them enough to lay down my life for them. This is the example given to me by the One who made this statement. His name was Jesus.
Imagine a world where everyone you encountered was willing to die for you. To me this thought is humbling. It is also a challenge because I fear that I would be the one to ruin that utopia. I confess that my daily life is fraught with predispositions about people based on looks and behavior. I confess that I make up my mind about a person based on what position they may take about an issue on Facebook. I confess that I discriminate based on culture, color, nationality, sexual preference, and all of the other modern-day labels we attach to folks.
This is NOT how I want to be, and every day of my life my challenge and goal is to become more like the One in whom my hope is found. Paul's 2nd letter to the Corinthian church, chapter 3 NIV/The Message/ESV My intense desire is to be like Paul when he says at the end of this passage: "We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of His face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Him." (The Message)
Becoming like Jesus means that while I love as Jesus loves, I also must love and live in His truth. Jesus truth regarding physical intimacy was unpopular in His day and is even more unpopular today especially as one attempts to define modern love. This is the truth we find in the Bible, simply put, ANY physical relationship outside of the constructs of the marriage relationship is sin, missing the mark of God's perfect plan. The Bible calls this fornication. That's an old-fashioned word that we rarely hear to describe adultery (extramarital, premarital, "hook-up" sex), homosexuality, pedophilia, bestiality, or any other misuse of what is supposed to be the physical expression of intimacy between 1 man and 1 woman. Anything else is against God's plan for man.
Let me be clear. I am not judging anyone. I have sin of my own. I can't trust my best five minutes to get me into heaven. Fortunately, my entrance into heaven is based on what Jesus has already done and my belief in that fact.
Because I am a follower of and believer in Jesus, I must love without condition. This is the truest expression of the most modern love. Friend, if you have never had anyone tell you that you are loved, please consider this: I love you and I make this commitment to you that every day I will repent of the bias and inconsistencies in my life that may keep me from loving you. I love you because you are made in the image of the God I serve. I love Him because He first loved me!!! The Gospel of Jesus according to the disciple John, chapter3, verses 16-21 NIV/The Message/ESV To do that effectively, I must love you without any preconceived notions or judgments regarding the sin you may do.
In fact, my desire is to be able to love the adulterer, love the homosexual, etc. And I desire to be so much like Jesus that I would love them so much and desire them to be saved that I would lay my life down for them. Forgive me for not exhibiting this behavior in a consistent manner.
The enemy of God and man says that these manifestations of physical intimacy are true expressions of who people are as defined by modern love. Remember, this is the enemy's distortion of the truth. Those who have no foundation in Jesus and the Bible will listen to these fabrications and believe them. Paul's 2nd Letter of mentoring to Timothy, Chapter 4, verses 1-5 NIV/The Message/ESV
Jesus gave up His life for the folks who are caught in these lies and He commands His followers to love them enough to be able to separate the person from their actions. This is difficult to do. We can't be satisfied with the cliche' "Hate the sin, love the sinner". It goes so much further than that...according to Jesus, we should be willing to lay down EVERYTHING...to show EVERYONE how a child of God loves others. This is a kind of love that in our generation is unfathomable. This is a kind of love that in our generation is irresistible. This is a kind of love that needs no confession or religion. This is a kind of love, when done correctly, ultimately expresses THE modern and eternal love of which you'll never wave bye-bye...
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
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