Tag Archives: Newsboys

Not Just Going to Heaven

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But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5, NIV*

“Why should I believe in Jesus?”

“So you can be saved from your sins and go to Heaven when you die.”

As a child, that’s how I thought. But there’s so much more to it than that.

Even “saved from your sins” means more than fire escape. It means freedom from their domination and from the destructive mindsets we’ve accepted. Freedom from ourselves, too!

And healing for our brokenness. Peace for our anxious spirits. Forgiveness… and the strength to forgive.

Most of all it means a relationship with the God who formed the universe and who welcomes us like a longing parent welcomes a long-lost child.

He’s with us. He’s our strength for today and our hope for tomorrow. He won’t leave us, always understands us, and His presence makes the difference in whatever we’re going through.

At Other Food: daily devos, Violet lists some of the facets of this salvation Jesus bought.

Holy and merciful God, we were all damaged goods, without hope of healing. But Jesus came willingly to be our Saviour. Thank You for the grace to believe. Open our spirits to receive the full extent of the healing and restoration You want to work in our lives, and help us to be living examples to those who still need to come to You.

∞

The Newsboys used to do an extended version of their song, “I Am Free,” where Peter Furler (former lead singer) quoted parts of Isaiah 53, ending with today’s verse. This is the Gospel message: for now as well as when we die.

*THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Review: Shine, by the Newsboys (book)

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Shine: the bookShine, by Newsboys (Whitaker House, 2002)

The Newsboys are my favourite band, and their music both blesses and entertains me. So when I saw their book, Shine, I had to pick it up.

Like their song of the same name, Shine is subtitled “make them wonder what you’ve got.” It’s a book that challenges Christians to do just that. Each section includes song lyrics, relevant quotes, and personal anecdotes from the Newsboys (at the time of this book: Peter Furler, Phil Joel, Jody Davis, Jeff Frankenstein and Duncan Phillips).

Most importantly, it includes solid thinking and teaching on key issues. Section titles are Where’s the Light?, Living in an Upside-Down Kingdom, Knowledge of the Glory, The Fruit of the Light, Light for the Land of Shadow, and Appetite for Eternity.

There are journal pages at the end, each with a question designed for prayerful reflection. There’s also a list of further reading material, both contemporary and classic.

I was a little afraid the book would turn out to be entertainment hype. Then I started reading, hit words like ‘postmodern’ and feared it would get too deep and philosophical. Wrong again. It refocused and encouraged me, especially the section on the Kingdom.

Like the band’s more serious songs, it takes an honest look at life in our culture and at ways we as Christians haven’t got it all together yet. And like their more fun, off-the-wall songs, it’s packaged in one of the funkiest covers I’ve seen.

You can see the cover art with this review, but there’s more. This is a textured cover; the black sinks in and the white is raised. And still more: this book cover glows in the dark. The white is bright, and there are faint green crests and designs. It was my bedtime reading, and at first I wondered where this glow was coming from after I’d put it down and turned out the light.

Shine is available through the Whitaker House site, the Amazon sites, and Christianbook.com (English and Spanish – the English is also available as an ebook but you’d lose the cool cover). It doesn’t seem to have received the attention it deserves, and I’m glad I found a copy in my local Christian bookstore (thanks, Miracles!).

To see what the Newsboys are up to now (current band members: Michael Tait, Jody Davis, Jeff Frankenstein and Duncan Phillips) visit the official Newsboys website. For an overview of the history of the band, see the Wikipedia Newsboys page.

Other reviews of Shine (the book): Deus Nobiscum, Kiwi Reviews.

 [Review copy from my personal library.]

Jesus is in My Boat (re-post)

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[Jesus] then left [the Pharisees], got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn’t a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, “Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod.”

Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, “Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don’t you see the point of all this? Don’t you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

They said, “Twelve.”

“And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?”

“Seven.”

He said, “Do you still not get it?”
Mark 8:13-21, MSG*

The disciples have a loaf of bread. Jesus has recently demonstrated that He can multiply a little food to feed a lot of people. Yet they’re hung up on not having enough.

But Jesus is in the boat with them! If they stop to think, they’ll realize He’s all they need.

Many times I feel inadequate or uncertain about situations, afraid I’ll mess up or won’t do well. That fear can freeze me up and become self-fulfilling. I feel alone.

These verses tell me something precious: Jesus is in my boat, and He’ll be all I need.

Whether it’s energy, love, ideas: whatever’s needed, no matter how small my loaf, I need to offer it to Jesus, and to remember what He can do.

Father, I know You promised to never leave us, and You’ve given us the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts. Forgive me for the times I panic and believe the enemy’s lies. Thank You for using these verses to finally help me see I’m never alone. Help me remember and be confident in the truth that Jesus is in my boat, and that He is enough.

Our song this week is my prayer: “Presence (My Heart’s Desire)” by the newsboys, from their Devotion CD.

*The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

[This is a re-post from 2009, but I needed to read it again.]

Careful to Remember

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Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied … then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Deuteronomy 8:11, 12a, 14, NIV*

A quick search of Bible Gateway turns up 31 instances in Deuteronomy when the Israelites are warned to be careful not to forget Him and His decrees.

After everything Israel saw God do to rescue them from Egypt and bring them to the Promised Land, someone from another planet might ask how they could be in danger of forgetting Him.

As humans, we know better. We still do the same thing.

We start off well, depending on God and walking closely with Him. Especially when times are hard and we see the need.

But it’s so easy over time to rely more and more on our own strength and understanding. We slip into trusting what we do instead of trusting He who made us. We start fighting our own battles with the universe. We forget to pray and to do our battle in His name and strength.

Father God, our Saviour and Deliverer, forgive our forgetfulness and draw our spirits nearer to Your Spirit. Grow us in dependence on You, teach us to walk closely with You and to be careful to stay near Your side. Help us remember how You brought us out of slavery to sin. Help us to love, honour and worship You and live in Your light.

∞

The Newsboys’ “We Remember” is a good song to get stuck in our heads.

*THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Not-Reviews: Two CDs I Can’t Stop Listening To

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I had a wonderful, wonder-filled stretch of days last week but not a lot of reading time. Instead of speeding through the next book I’ll review, I thought I’d share two CDs from 2011 that mean a lot to me.

Saying Grace, by Geoff Moore

Geoff Moore sang “I Believe” and “Saying Grace” at the Nova Scotia stop on the “Evening with Steven Curtis Chapman and Friends” tour this spring. Buying a CD when you’ve just experienced a live performance is risky, as a couple of dusty cases in my stack will prove. But those two songs fit into my soul at first hearing like they’d been there all along.

This album is about love: God’s love for us and our love in response to Him. It’s about gratitude. And it celebrates living a full and simpler life. It’s one of the most soul-encouraging albums I own.

The music is light-to-moderate rock, or perhaps country-crossover. Every song on the album means a lot to me and if I tried to pick a favourite I’d list at least half of them. For a limited time, you can listen to the album on Geoff Moore’s website. Just click the player on the lower left of the screen.

Anyone who didn’t get a copy of the CD at one of the concerts is finally able to pre-order it now through Geoff Moore’s online store. Pre-orders get you an immediate digital download of the entire album, and an autographed CD when it releases at the end of August.

 

On Fire, by Peter Furler

Okay, anyone who’s a newsboys fan from the Peter Furler days has to get this album. The band is different, so don’t expect classic newsboys sound, but the sound is great.

The CD is filled with Peter Furler’s trademark energy and it’s a lot of fun. And among the clever lyrics, driving vocals and instrumentation are some deeper-meaning moments that encourage my spirit.

A lot of the songs are loud rock, best played with the windows open and the sound cranked, and I’m sure I hear Super Mario-esque music in one of them. There are quieter, worshipful songs too. I love what he does with “Psalm 23”.

Every song on the album makes me smile and sing along, and again it’s too hard to pick an overall favourite. “I’m Alive” is my faith anthem, “Faster and Louder” has my vote for most fun, and “All in Your Head” called me back to writing fiction.

You can read a proper review of On Fire [p. 26] and an interview with Peter Furler [p. 20] in the July/August issue of Christian Musician Magazine. His closing thoughts on gratitude and perseverance encouraged me. The album is available through iTunes or from your preferred music store or provider.

[CDs from my personal library. If you buy On Fire through the above iTunes link, it benefits Peter Furler, not me. So go for it!]

Hero Worship

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I love hero stories, of incorruptible leaders you’d follow through battle or disaster when there’s no way out—because if anyone can make it, they can. And they won’t just save themselves, they’ll rescue as many as possible.

The popular trend in fiction is flawed protagonists like us, who muddle through to victory and give us hope we can do the same. I understand it, but it’s not much fun.

I miss the wonder, the larger-than-life dream, the characters I could admire.

Maybe that’s why I re-read favourite novels. I don’t have many “new” fictional heroes and a few have fallen to moral lapses along the way. In new fiction, the best I can hope for is a quasi-hero or heroine, the reluctant hero model where s/he grows into the role and may someday be pedestal-worthy to me.

Hero-worship… could it be the soul’s instinctive longing for something—someOne—higher, bigger, greater? That God-shaped hole inside us aching to be filled?

God took on flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus subjected Himself to human limitations to reach us. He went farther than that. He gave Himself as a willing sacrifice to rescue us from bondage to the enemy of our souls.

He wasn’t a hero sneaking into the strong man’s lair only to be caught and executed as a failure. He came intentionally, deliberately, with a plan so outlandish that the devil missed it entirely until it was too late.

Jesus, Son of David, Son of Man, Son of God, Messiah, Saviour, Prince of Peace. Arrested and condemned to death. He could have called more than twelve legions of angels to rescue Him.

Remember Elisha’s servant’s eyes being opened to see the angel army poised to rescue them? I think Jesus saw the heavenly hosts around the Cross and held them back by His own will. He chose to finish His work.

He saved us. At inexpressible cost.

How does that make you feel?

To me, it demonstrates one and for all the absolute and utter proof that He loves us with a strong and active love.

If our spirits are open to understand what He has done, and why it was necessary, what other response can there be but absolute and utter devotion and loyalty?

That’s what I’d give unreservedly to a fictional hero if I were in a story. It wouldn’t be a choice, it’d just happen. That’s what I want to give to my God. It’s His right. It’s cause and effect.

But God is unseen and His whispers are soft. The world is loud and in-your-face. I need to choose this day, each day, to take every thought, idea, doubt, suggestion to God—take it captive to Christ—and examine it from a point of unquestioning loyalty and devotion to my Saviour. My Rescuer. My Hero.

A fitting song is the newsboys’ “We Remember.”

To Know God Hears

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I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
Psalm 116:1-2, NIV*

Psalm 116 comes from more than intellectual acceptance of the deity of God—it overflows with love and gratitude.

Three times in these first two verses, the writer says he called out. But what really thrills him is that God heard. And acted.

It’s the psalmist’s experience of God’s answer that compels his loving worship. If this is a David psalm, it’s not the beginning of a personal relationship with God. If it’s someone else, maybe this is the moment when he moves from faith by hearing to faith by experience.

People need to hear the truth about who God is and what Jesus has done to offer them rescue. But it’s the personal encounter when they risk calling out to God that makes it real. We each move from “I have heard” to “Now I know”.

I find myself praying for specific individuals today, and my prayer is that the aching Christians will know with certainty that God is hearing their cries. That His love and peace will sustain them.

And I’m praying for ones who are wandering to cry out to God and be amazed that God is hearing—and that His answer is distinctly personal and life changing.

I love you, LORD, for You  hear each voice, You hear each cry for mercy. Reassure us that You hear, and let us experience the wonder of Your deliverance from whatever is crushing us.  As we walk through Holy Week, I praise You for this ultimate proof that You have heard the cries and groans all through time, and that humanity can say, “when I/we was/were in great need, He saved me/us.” 

∞

Here’s a classic from the newsboys: “Thrive.” When He touches us, we know we’re alive.

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Marching Forward

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I don’t know what time of year our local writers’ group began, or how many months I attended before guilt made me write something: just a short letter to the editor of our local newspaper.

The group, bless their hearts, praised me as if I’d written a feature article. I started listening to my thoughts—and to God—a little better and writing inspirational and personal experience essays.

Got my first rejection letter—and a positive one at that—on my birthday one May.

When a novel started brewing, I resisted for a year before giving in. My earliest dated notes for that manuscript are from March 1994. That means I’ve lived with some of these characters for 17 years now, ignoring the long gestation period. No wonder we have cake every March!

Three years ago, again in March, God nudged me into this blog. It’s been a great way to meet some new friends in the faith, and I need to publicly say that not once has He not provided the input for a weekly devotional. He is faithful.

Since March seems to be the month for significant writing beginnings for me (not that I’d turn one down in, say, September) it feels appropriate to choose now to join the Christians keeping gratitude journals.

Not lists of positive things, but lists acknowledging that those things are gifts from God who loves us. Lists that accept the gifts and thank the Giver.

I’ll add a thank-you to Ann Voskamp, whose lyrical book, One Thousand Gifts, convinced me to give this gratitude journal idea a try.

I won’t post a weekly list, but here are the first gifts I’ve recorded (resisting the urge to play catch-up for the ones in my memory):

  1. Bright, white seagull in a clear blue sky.
  2. Spring sunshine.
  3. Dancing candle flames—and the little girl who shared them with me.
  4. Expansive stillness moment in my spirit.
  5. Michael Tait singing “Glorious”.
  6. Sparkles on my journal cover—and that it was waiting on my shelf for this purpose.
  7. Fluffy black cat nestled on the back deck.
  8. Sun stripe bright on green moss on the willow branch.
  9. Small brown sparrow in the bare, brown hedge branches.

10.  White-gold sun disc behind translucent clouds.

Thank You, God!

Not Anxious

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Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6, NIV*

Sunday morning I watched the blowing snow and thought about the 6-hour bus ride Wise Guy Son had booked for that afternoon to go back to university. The route includes a section of highway noted for its whiteout conditions.

I knew I could spend the whole day fretting about his safety, and the only thing I’d gain would be muscle tension. Been there, done that.

It took several times of consciously stopping to commit the situation back into God’s hands (and to remember that the bus driver is a trained professional who presumably dislikes death and lawsuits) but I was able to join in morning worship instead of worrying, and to relax in the afternoon instead of checking road conditions online.

The bus reached its destination safely and almost on schedule, and I’m praising God for the answer to prayer but also for the progress He’s making in my heart.

Usually my prayer is something like, “See the problem, God? Please help.”

I thank Him for His power and love, and for being with us. I thank Him for the plans He’s already made, that whatever the situation is has not caught Him by surprise. But I keep aware of the problem.

Now I see a bit more to the “with thanksgiving” part of today’s verse. I need to thank Him with expectation that He will act. Not to decide how He’ll act, because that’s His call. But after committing the need to Him, I need to stop looking at it and trust Him.

He reinforced the lesson by not bringing this devotional together until Tuesday mid-afternoon. I schedule them to post early Wednesday mornings, and this particular week has no time Tuesday evening to write.

He’s been giving me a Wednesday devotional thought every week since He nudged me to start blogging in March of 2008. It’s not usually this close to the line, though.

My prayer wasn’t “Lord, do You have something to say?” so much as “Lord, help me not to miss what You say.” Still, there was a definite choice to make. Would I go through the day reminding Him of my need, or would I look expectantly for His reply?

To me, there’s a difference. The first way still has the tension, the uncertainty. The second has a confidence that God will do what He planned, even if I don’t see it yet.

Father God, Your plans for us are good, and You love us. We don’t always like what happens to us, nor do You. But You are our Creator and Sustainer, and Your patient grace teaches us to trust You. Give us the confidence to pray with thanksgiving and with expectation that You have heard… and that You will act. Thank You for your grace.

∞

Here’s another song from the newsboys that expresses our confidence: “Strong Tower” from their Devotion CD.

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Sustained

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The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
Hebrews 1:3a, NIV*

“Sustaining all things by His powerful word.”

I don’t know about you, but to me the world seems a little out of control. Natural disasters are more frequent and widespread, society’s morals keep sliding, sickness and anxiety thrive. Of course, it doesn’t help that I finished 2010 by reading the book of Revelation.

Today’s verse is from the beginning of Hebrews, and later in the same chapter we read about the heavens and the earth perishing. The writer ends that passage by reaffirming that God does not change.

God the Father won’t grow weak or fail. Jesus the Son will sustain all things. The Holy Spirit will never leave us.

I take comfort in that. The world may be a scary place, and material things will wear out, break and decay, but I can trust the God who made the universe to sustain what matters to Him… and that includes us.

Mighty God, we can depend on You to sustain us. Give us the grace and faith we need to keep our confidence firmly fixed in You, who alone are worthy. Because of who You are, we can rest in hope.

∞

This version of the newsboys’ “Lord, I Don’t Know” doesn’t show the lyrics, but the images are really effective.

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.