Welcome to the Tuesdayest Tuesday of them all! Well at least in our lifetime! What does that even mean? I'm not sure, it just seems I'm running out of ways to start this adventure into anecdotes and accents! So let's get started already with another edition of your favorite blog and mine, Tuesday's Musical Notes...and Yes, we know it is November and that September ended nearly two months ago. I guess that means we're awake?
The fourth single from 2004's American Idiot was released on August 31, 2005. Written by lead vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong about the death of his father in 1982 (he was 10), the single peaked at #6 on Billboard's Hot 100 marking the group's second foray into the top 10. The song became emblematic for two major events in the United States, Hurricane Katrina and the September 11 attacks of 2001. The Platinum-selling single featured an extended video in pseudo protest over the war in Iraq, which went to #1 on Total Request Live and was voted #2 in a readers poll from Rolling Stone in the year of its release.
In this world, we don't live forever. Everyone deals with the grief of a loved-one lost in different manners. Loss of a loved one is a theme that poets and songwriters have been putting to paper through the course of history. Grief has been captured by creatives in myriad ways through the arts, but it seems that none are more poignant that song. It seems that the music that supports the lyric in those special songs adds to the cathartic impact as one processes closure of a relationship.
The Bible holds constant in its theology that death doesn't have to be a permanent state for folks. Despite what some might propagate, there is something more after the departure from this existence. What that "more" is will be determined by one's belief systems and faith.
Abraham was the patriarch of God's chosen people, the nation that would become Israel. And even this "righteous" man passed from this earth. You can read about Abraham's departure here: Genesis 25 New American Standard Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel
Abraham followed in the footsteps of those who had come before him. He died. His sons gathered him up and buried him next to his wife Sarah. His story comprises a large portion of the book of Genesis as we see God move an idol-worshipping bedouin, into being a righteous, One God only, father of a nation. Did Abraham make mistakes? We've mentioned a few along the way in our introspection of his life. But the Bible says that God counted Abraham as "righteous". So God was able to work with his flaws to provide a bountiful life and bring forth the promises he had made to Abraham long ago.
In Hebrews 9:27-28 NASB/The Message/KJV Paul writes about the inevitability of every person's future. The NASB and KJV both speak of this time as "appointed". The pragmatist in me suggests that each of us has an appointed time in which this body will expire. Some of those appointments occur unusually soon seemingly to us, yet in God's timing, they are right where they should be. Can God change that appointment? Sure He can! Isaiah 38 NASB/The Message/KJV
A question of much greater import is: when your time comes what will happen? You get to determine what will happen! The Bible also has the answer to this question. It's as simple as this: 1) A - accept Jesus as Savior (boss, king, ruler) by confessing your sin and believing He is who the Bible says He is and did what the Bible said He did. 2) B - believe that Jesus is God in human form and that He came to earth the first time to die as a sacrifice for our sins. By doing this we become righteous in God's eyes just like Abraham, as we believe in Jesus. 3) C - confess that we can do absolutely nothing on our own merit to get to heaven, that we can do nothing to restore the broken relationship between us and God. Confess that Jesus did what needed to be done to make a way for every man, woman, boy, and girl to have that relationship with God mended. Then tell everyone with which you come into contact about the good news (Gospel) of Jesus' salvation for mankind for those who believe. It's as simple as A-B-C!!! But you have to choose. Friend, God is calling you, drawing you to Himself through Holy Spirit. Won't you believe today and determine where your "more" will be?
We will never know when our appointment to leave this world will be, however, we can know the One who made the plan and executes it every day. Only through this knowledge can we have hope, joy, and peace about where we will be when we wake up and our September has ended...
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
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