Happy New Year!!! Welcome to 2024!!! It is a very interesting year that we have ahead of us.
Why you may ask?
For one, it is a Presidential Election year which means we should be getting ready to be inundated with every bad thing that is going on with our country as well as hearing much about people we will probably never even meet, but get to set the course for our country. I don't mean to sound pessimistic, as I find this entire process fascinating and look forward to seeing who will be the nominees. For my two cents worth, it doesn't need to be either of the current front runners who find themselves both under a myriad of investigations at the state and federal levels. 
Secondly, it is a leap year. The time that rolls around when we get an extra day added to February and our calendar year consists of 366 days. Usually, we find very little interruption to our year because of the extra day but it with the aforementioned circus does add to making 2024 somewhat unique.
What else may happen in 2024? We have all kinds of spillovers from 2023 that certainly need to be resolved. Far too many for the length of a normal Tuesday's Musical Notes to mention. But even with the remainder of things that need closure from 2023, there will be much that we will find that will be new, in fact in some instances, it might even be...
"(Just Like) Starting Over" the October 24, 1980 single by John Lennon from the album Double Fantasy
The last song recorded but the first single released from the Yoko Ono/John Lennon Double Fantasy album was today's featured song, "(Just Like)Starting Over". Released on October 24, 1980, the song stalled at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 until Lennon's shooting death on December 8th of the same year. The song instantly propelled its way to #1 and stayed there for five weeks becoming Lennon's biggest solo hit. It ranked #8 for the year-end Billboard Hot 100 for 1981 and 62nd on its 2013 all-time Hot 100.
"(Just Like)Starting Over" was a logical choice for Lennon's return to popular music after a five-year hiatus from the music industry. The "(Just Like)" portion of the title was added to set the song apart from Dolly Pardon's "Starting Over Again" which had topped the US Country Charts earlier in the year.
The song speaks to the stagnation of relationships when the "routine" becomes too routine. Lennon is writing about having alone time that seems to have escaped his and Yoko's life in recent years. He longs for days past and wants to insert elements into the relationship that will remind them of when they first started their lives together. He longs for the opportunity to start over and make things like they used to be.
With a new year, this thought may have occurred to many. A new year, with its fresh resolutions and opportunistic landscape, lies ahead of us as we anticipate what could be next. We long for new relationships and the renewal of those we've allowed to fade in the previous year. I don't know about you, but I tend to look at every new year in that light. Yes, many questions may seem to elevate us to our highest imaginations, but the carry-overs from the past year seem to tether us to a foundation that seems familiar. This feeling itself has its familiarity as we have sensed with each passing year, becoming more and more poignant as we get older.
I'm not sure that this longing for past relationships to be stronger in the coming days is a new emotion, however...
While Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "A Little Good News" (Anne Murray)) he
Paul's 2nd letter to the church at Corinth expresses some of the same desire as "(Just Like) Starting Over". Paul had been hurt by the church that he started in that they rejected many of the things that made them great in the beginning. The church had even rejected Paul as an apostle of Jesus. They had succumbed to the "flashy", well-spoken orators who had come through and polluted the Gospel. These prosperity types had even gone so far as to question Paul's authority, which the church at Corinth began to echo. (why does this sound so familiar?...)
Paul's answer came in the form of a visit to the church where he attempted to right some of the wrongs. The results of this visit were mixed as Paul mentions them in chapter 2 of 2nd Corinthians. The ESV goes so far as to translate this encounter as "the painful visit". As an aside, I wonder if there are not many modern journeys that need such an encounter, but I digress.
This 2nd letter addresses some of the reconciliation that Paul felt and had heard of from his "painful visit" time. He realizes that there are still many who do not accept his authority as an apostle and takes this second letter to address those arguments. He takes the beginning of the letter to encourage further reconciling and encourage the church.
Paul then takes on some of the issues that the church had been having. He goes so far as to question where their loyalties may lie as their actions, their fruit of being Christians, did not appear evident.
One of those basic tenets of Christianity that Paul questioned was the church's generosity. The church in Jerusalem had fallen on hard times because of a famine. Paul had requested funds from the churches. It seems that all of the churches except the church in Corinth had been very generous, in fact, the other churches were enthusiastically generous with their gifts. Paul questions the Corinthian's values as believers as he attempts to lovingly admonish their actions. He reminds them of the generosity displayed by God in sending Jesus as the redemption for mankind and challenges them to live up to that standard. These are also reminders that we need in the modern church.
Paul wraps his "starting over" letter up to the Corinthians by addressing some of the questions the church had regarding his authority. He does so not to be braggadocious, but to let them know the "flashy" folks are not the only ones God calls to be leaders. In listing his credits, Paul shows them that his authority is as good, and in many ways better, than their well-spoken orators. Ultimately, Paul addresses the lifestyle that he leads as one that emulates that of Jesus and encourages the church to adopt that mentality, regardless of who may be speaking to them on any given occasion.
Paul's 2nd Corinthians is a letter that I think needs to be used more often in today's church. In many instances, the church, in general and perhaps many more specifically, needs a "starting over" moment. They need to reconcile themselves back to the original love they had for Jesus and attempt to live out the life to which He called them. They need to be more generous than the Salvation Army, or Red Cross, and show their communities that they care for the poor and underserved. All the while their leaders need the credibility of following Jesus, not the latest book or "flashy" preacher.
Since I mentioned it. There are many great Christian life books out there. I've read many of them. I agree with some and don't agree with others. But recently, I have concluded that perhaps these books are our modern-day pharisaical offerings meant to lead folks into more "I've got to follow what this book says or I'm not going to be with Jesus" mentality. They burden us with things that have a Bible sound and are based on Scripture but sometimes take that Scripture completely out of context. At the very least, they are certainly some person's interpretation of what the Bible is saying about their topic of the week.
Again, there is some good Christian life literature out there, however, the best will always be The Book, The Word, The Bible. Yes, there are difficult passages to read. Yes, there are difficult passages to understand. Yes, some of the language is foreign to our modern ears. But as believers, we must beg the Holy Spirit to show us what we need to know...for that day. His mercies are new every morning. Lamentations 3:22-23 NASB/AMP/ESV/KJV We want to understand ALL of the Bible when it was never meant to be understood in one reading. If you've never read the Bible use this New Year, this "starting over" moment, and begin in Genesis. Look over to our friends at Bible Gateway and find a translation or even a paraphrase that resonates with you. You don't have to get it done in a year. (That is a good time frame and many good reading plans accomplish such. One such that we can recommend is The Bible Recap) But the main thing is to go at your own pace and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you for what you need at that moment. Don't be overwhelmed by yesterday or what might happen tomorrow. Read for today. The only true authority about life and everlasting life is God. Read HIS book. He is the only credible source you need.
Paul takes his last portion of 2nd Corinthians to challenge the believer's belief. Based on the things in both letters do they truly get what the Jesus life is all about? If so, what will they now do about it? Perhaps it could be "(Just Like) Starting Over"
'Til Tuesday
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
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