Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Because You Loved Me" (Celine Dion)

If you travel much, you may have noticed that larger metropolitan areas are made up of several other large cities that have grown into each other.  Here in Arkansas, we have seen that happen with the Little Rock Metro as the dividing lines between the municipalities of Little Rock proper, North Little Rock (or Argenta as the locals call it), and Sherwood continue to get closer and closer.  The same has happened in Northwest Arkansas with Fayetteville, Springdale, and Rogers fast becoming one huge hub of cities. It becomes more and more difficult to determine where one of these cities ends and the other begins.

Such has happened with the 4th quarter of our calendar year.  The lines between holidays have seemed to meld into one huge 3-month celebration as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year all get seemingly mashed together.   Many times this makes a boon for retailers as candy, then food for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, and finally pork and peas for New Year's have their peak sales.   Let's face it, you're behind the ball if you haven't got candy yet!  It's one week away! Got your turkey yet? Is your Christmas decor sitting on standby?  New Year's binge-watching picked out?  You know what I mean...

Recent years have thankfully seen a social media pushback of sorts for this Halanksmasyear continual party.  Folks seem to desire a break between their festivities.  They desire the opportunity to do some effective planning to make the celebration more meaningful, and besides who wants to give another fruitcake for Christmas because you ran out of time when if you would have time to consider your gift giving, you would have given the Millennium Falcon Lego set?

Here in Notesland, we like to breathe just a bit between the above-mentioned seasonal celebrations and honestly, the older we get, the more we want to savor every single moment with friends and family as we come together and smell the pumpkin spice in cooler temperatures, see the costumes of young and old, taste the delectable side dish and dessert, hear the newest (at least its new to us) vinyl and enjoy the feel of that midnight kiss.  This separation between the holidays enables me to appreciate those who stood by me, those who brought joy into my life, and those who helped to make my dreams true...

"Because You Loved Me" the February 19, 1996 single from the album Falling Into You by Celine Dion

Sung by Celine Dion (Tuesday's Musical Notes -"Beauty And The Beast" (Angela Lansbury/Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson)) "Because You Loved Me" was written by Diane Warren ("Top Ten Hits By Diane Warren" - wikipedia.org)  and Produced by David Foster ("David Foster - Career" - wikipedia.org), the song was nominated in 4 categories at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards and won the Grammy for Best Song Written For Visual Media.  It also garnered Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song.   Adding to its accolades are its outstanding sales numbers with more than 5 million copies of the song sold in its first 6 months of release.  

One would imagine that as the years went on with this song, Ms. Dion began to think of specific folks as she sang lyrics like these...

...You gave me faith 'cause you believed
I'm everything I am because you loved me...

or in other words...

"We always give thanks to God for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers..."

1 Thessalonians 1 New American Standard Bible/The Amplified Bible/English Standard Version of the Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel

1 Thessalonians is probably one of the first of the letters that Paul would write.  It was originally intended for the church in Thessalonica (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Upside Down" (Jack Johnson)) but would eventually find its way to being circulated among believers throughout the region.  It was written from Corinth during Paul's second missionary journey, which we just saw completed last week.  (Go check out last week's blog in the archives to the left of your screen for a recap.) 

Paul is writing this letter to the church at Thessalonica in response to what Timothy has reported to him about the church.  Unlike some of the accountability we see in some of Paul's other letters, 1 Thessalonians contains great encouragement to the church as it was seeing continued persecution from all sides, yet because of their diligence and resolve, more and more folks were believing the Gospel of Jesus.

I love the way Paul starts the body of his letter.  After his initial greetings, Paul praises the church by letting them know of his gratitude for them in their steadfastness for the Gospel.  Paul commends the church at Thessolinica for their "work of faith and labor of love".  He goes on further to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives which is evident by the things Paul hears about them.  

Paul applauds them for being "imitators of us and of the Lord" as they endure great afflictions and, get this, "with joy", from those who oppose them.  "For all those times you stood by me..." "...For all the wrong that you made right..."  Paul continues in his admiration of the believers by telling them that he does not need to tell others about their faith, their reputations are being told all around the region:  "...but in every place the news of your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything."  Their about-face from worshiping idols has been testified around all of Macedonia and Achaia (Macedonia and Achaia map), a region where worship of Greek and Roman gods was prevalent.  And the testimony of the Jesus whom they have turned to sparks the interest of those who were searching.  Especially as they communicate their anticipation of His return to "...rescue us from the wrath to come."  

Could the same be said of your church?  I saw a meme not too long ago that suggested that some churches are so bad that Paul needs to write them a letter.  While on the face of it, this seems humorous but if you get down to it, some of Paul's more critical letters could apply to churches all around our world today.  

What is the main focus of the church you attend?  Is it making and sending disciples of Jesus?  Is it more concerned about musical styles than it is about making much of the Messiah?   Does its membership show love to the Lord, their community, to each other?  Does your church compare itself to other churches in your town rather than comparing itself to Jesus? 

Or would Paul write something like this about your church:

"You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'cause you believed
I'm everything I am because you loved me..."

What can people say about us individually and our church collectively because we love them?

'Til Tuesday

Loving HIM by Loving You,

randy

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