Taste and See...

“Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

During this time of year, we begin to wind down in our work, plan family vacations, and begin losing ourselves in dreams of white sand beaches between naps. It’s been a long year of struggle and accomplishment, with (unending) snow covering the ground, our families are busy, and we just...need...rest.

So often, I find myself rushing to get through another month, another season that I forget to stop, slow down, and follow in the footsteps of God. I become so captive to my schedule that I begin to look for escape.

And yet God calls me to something different.

He calls me to follow him to green pastures, to slow moving rivers, to be silent and still. Why? Is God so naive to think that my schedule will obey Him? We’ve got kids, obligations, employment, when do those demands ever slow down?

I’m reminded of my son Joshua during these seasons. In the few minutes before bedtime, I read to him. My job as dad is to read the story! Finish the book! Tuck him in, all in the span of a few short moments. “Mission accomplished!” I exclaim and move to the next event.

During these times, Joshua is often the whisper of God to me - as a five year old, he asks questions, he lives in the moment, he savors the breath of life that God has given him, and he slows down.

So during this season of winding down, when it feels like you are running on fumes and desperate to escape reality, remember to slow down. Remember what it’s like to listen. Remember what it’s like to live with meaning. And then taste and see that God is indeed very, very good.

Blessings on your weekend,

Shaun Smith

Praise Him

It probably comes as no surprise to you that, as a musician, I love the Psalms. Take Psalm 150, for example:

Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens.
Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet… with the harp and lyre…
with timbrel and dancing…with the strings and pipe… with the clash of cymbals...

God has clearly ordained music to be a means through which He is worshiped. But have you ever pondered what He had to do to make it possible to do so?

First of all, He came up with the idea to have all of creation be made up of tiny molecules, invisible to the naked eye. He made some of these molecules light enough to float around and bump into each other. Then He made living creatures with super-sensitive organs that these particles could collide with. Random impacts would be perceived as noise—but when governed by laws of vibration, consonance and dissonance—again, His ideas—melody and harmony became possible.

So far, it’s kind of a technical explanation… but consider that we not only can perceive music, we also are moved by it. Music can inspire us, energize us, console us, sadden us, and even frighten us. But one of my favourite things about music is the fact that it can unite us—especially when we worship our Creator together.

…which was also His idea, by the way. So let the miracle of sound and the gift of music help fuel your worship this weekend.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Blessings,
Jeff

Unshaken

 I remember a time in college when I felt that my world was falling apart. A relationship had ended, and I was stressed about what path my future would take. A gift that God gave me was Psalm 16:8. Back then we used a translation called the NASB, so that's where my memory takes me,

"I have set The Lord continually before me, because He is at my right hand I will not be shaken."

God used this verse then, and many times since, to remind me of two life-giving truths:

• I need to choose daily and sometimes hourly (continually!) to allow God to take up the most space in my line of vision. When He is in His rightful place-First-all other problems are reduced in size and significance.
• When I make this choice, I simply align myself and my thoughts with reality...God is bigger...God's got it...God's with me. He is as close as my right hand. Even if my world and the world around me are shaking out of control, the inner world of my true self can remain unshaken.

These truths gave me a rock solid place to stand while in college and countless times since.

Joy!
Rita

Hope

Have you heard the term ‘YOLO?’ Over the last year, you have probably seen it in popular culture or in your social network of choice. The acronym, which stands for “You Only Live Once,” has been used by many as an excuse to make a series of poor decisions. The basic idea at play is that if we only live once, then why deny ourselves pleasure now?

To those who do not believe in the resurrection, this actually makes sense. The Apostle Paul nods at this in the second half of 1 Corinthians 15:32:

“...If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’”

But for those who choose to follow Christ, we live a different reality. We can live with hope! Hope that comes in the defeat of death, hope in a new life! This hope of a new reality impacts the way we live daily.

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

In Him,
Jeremy