Gone but not Forgotten 2016

As we draw “one heck of a rollercoaster year” to a close. Many events stand out this year that I’m sure will be reflected upon for years and years (and years) to come. Much of this year’s notoriety was two-fold; the event that happened as well as people’s response to the event.
One category in particular is the amount of celebrities and famous faces that passed away this year.
Of course, people pass away all the time but when it seems to happen to big names several or more times in just a few days…how can we help but react?

After hearing the news about Carrie Fisher, I'm sure many of us have gone to the internet to see just how many "Celebrities" we've loss this year. Tragically, it seems like so many....too many.
Wiki-pedia has the largest list I've seen.
We're saddened and many are sharing kind words of remembrance, hope and the richness of life.
But what then?
Many of us who were touched by these people, were touched through entertainment and because of what they've given to us...we or course, want the best for them...even in the afterlife. I saw several posts and creative images on Facebook about how these celebrities are all congregating in Heaven. Sadly, our desires to wish them Paradise don't weigh as much as we'd like.

I know this is unpopular and I'm ready to be chided for my perceived insensitivity - but I believe I am being as appropriately loving and as sensitive as I can be - for us who are alive and are still able to make a choice about life and death that will assure your eternity…it’s important enough to say something.


Here’s The Word:

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

The Bible really is GOOD NEWS. These verses (at least the first two) only sound ominous if we don’t live out a proper response to truth and death comes for us before we’ve taken the opportunity to embrace Christ and live accordingly.
But when we look at this year and see the people that have passed on, even those who aren’t celebrities as I’ve personally lost one of my closest aunts and an uncle within a day of each other; it should remind us that death comes for us all and not all of us are ready to die.

2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

We will soon see our next U.S. President sworn into office and we’re commanded by the bible to pray for our leaders. I hope we would also continue to pray for our loved ones. Pray for the salvation of those in our immediate family as well as those who we have a fondness for because of their presence as entertainers. We’ll all die one day in the realest sense of the word and there will be no credits rolling – only the shock and awe of meeting The Creator face to face.


In Him,
Cros


JANUARY

January 10 David Bowie, 69 Rock icon
January 14 Alan Rickman, 69 Actor
January 18 Glenn Frey, 67 Eagles rocker
January 23 Jimmy Bain, 68 Rainbow rock star
January 30 Frank Finlay, 89 Acting great
January 31 Terry Wogan, 77 TV & radio legend

FEBRUARY

February 3 Maurice White, 74 Earth Wind & Fire star
February 19 Harper Lee, 89 To Kill A Mockingbird author
February 28 Frank Kelly, 77 Father Ted star
February 28 George Kennedy, 91 Movie great

MARCH

March 1 Tony Warren, 79 Coronation St creator
March 6 Nancy Reagan, 94 Former First Lady
March 8 George Martin, 90 Beatles producer
March 11 Keith Emerson, 71 ELP rock legend
March 15 Sylvia Anderson, 88 Lady Penelope March 16 Frank Sinatra Junior, 72 Sinatra’s singer son
March 17 Paul Daniels, 77 Comedy magician
March 29 Patty Duke, 69 Child star
March 31 Ronnie Corbett, 85 Comedy legend
March 31 Denise Robertson, 83 TV agony aunt

APRIL

April 6 Merle Haggard, 79 Country legend
April 12 David Gest, 62 TV personality
April 20 Victoria Wood, 62 Comedy genius
April 20 Joanie “Chyna” Laurer, 46 WWE wrestling legend
April 21 Lonnie Mack, 74 Blues guitar great
April 21 Prince, 57 Pop icon
April 21 Guy Hamilton, 93 Bond director
April 24 Billy Paul, 80 Chart star

MAY

May 17 Guy Clark, 74 Country legend
May 19 John Berry, 52 Beastie Boys star
May 19 Alan Young, 96 Mister Ed TV star
May 21 Nick Menza, 51 Megadeth drummer
May 24 Burt Kwouk, 85 Pink Panther star
May 31 Carla Lane, 87 Liver Birds writer

JUNE

June 3 Muhammad Ali, 74 Boxing legend
June 14 Henry McCullough, 72 Wings guitarist
June 19 Anton Yelchin, 27 Star Trek’s Chekov
June 24 Bernie Worrall, 72 Funkadelic star
June 28 Scotty Moore, 84 Elvis’s guitarist

JULY

July 2 Caroline Aherne, 52 Comedy actress
July 16 Alan Vega, 78 Suicide punk pioneer

AUGUST

August 13 Kenny Baker, 81 Star Wars’ R2-D2
August 15 Dalian Atkinson, 48 Villa cup hero
August 29 Gene Wilder, 83 Comic genius

SEPTEMBER

September 11 Alexis Arquette, 47 Transgender actress
September 17 Charmian Carr, 73 Sound of Music’s Lieslie
September 25 Arnold Palmer, 87 Golfing legend

OCTOBER

October 14 Jean Alexander, 90 Corrie’s Hilda Ogden
October 23 Pete Burns, 57 Dead or Alive chart star
October 24 Bobby Vee, 73 1960s teen idol

NOVEMBER

November 7 Leonard Cohen, 82 Iconic singer & writer
November 11 Robert Vaughn, 83 Veteran actor
November 13 Leon Russell, 74 US rock legend
November 24 Colonel Abrams, 67 80s chart star
November 25 Florence Henderson, 82 Brady Bunch star
November 26 Ron Glass, 71 US TV star

DECEMBER

December 1 Andrew Sachs, 86 Fawlty Towers star
December 6 Peter Vaughan, 93 Game of Thrones star
December 7 Ian Cartwright, 52 Wolves midfielder
December 8 John Glenn, 95 First to orbit Earth
December 8 Greg Lake, 69 ELP legend
December 10 AA Gill, 62 Writer & critic
December 10 Ian McCaskill, 78 TV weatherman
December 12 Walter Swinburn, 55 Derby winning jockey
December 18 Zsa Zsa Gabor, 99 Actress
December 24 Rick Parfitt, 68
December 25 George Michael, 53 Singer
December 26 Liz Smith, 95 Actress
December 27 Carrie Fisher, 60 Actress

Quotes

I often use quotes in a scenic backdrop as the image that introduce my posts. Is it just me or is there not something wildly fascinating about a great quote? I’m not talking about idioms, memes or clichés but a genuine quote as a free flowing thought that immediately resonates with our very souls. It’s almost magical how a short phrase can capture a universal connectedness; promote a common feel or obvious truth that requires no more explanation than the wisdom presented in the quote itself.

Do you have a favorite quote? Oh my God! There are so many quotes that I love. Sometimes, I find myself going to websites in hopes of being encouraged by some thoughtful excerpt that I’d never heard before or to be re-inspired by ones that I hadn’t considered in a long while.
It seems evident to me now that there are more than a few people who can’t help but speak profoundly. Whenever I think of American Pastor, Warren Wiersbe, who said:

“Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.” “God doesn't bless us just to make us happy; He blesses us to make us a blessing.”

I honestly can’t imagine him simply asking for buttered toast and coffee without sounding effortlessly profound. However, it really doesn’t take greatness to find yourself in a moment where something irrefutably timeless and relevant will unexpectedly spill right out of your mouth.
My favorite category of quote is that which deals with spiritual enlightenment. You don’t have to be a Zig Ziglar, A.W. Tozer, Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, GK Chesterton (or Wiersbe...and so many others) to say something captivating, as there are many, many ‘unknowns’ that have made just as indelible a mark. For example:

“In life you will meet two kinds of people: Those who build you up and those who tear you down. But in the end, you will thank them both.” ~Unknown.

Here’s The Word:

Proverbs 15:23 To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!

Luke 12:12 “for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Luke 21:15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

Now, there’s a definite context to each of these verses that give specific meaning to the situation in which they’re placed but if we take a higher view, we see a God who knows us and enables us to be an undeniable encouragement (a blessing) that establishes and exemplifies His truth.
Of course, I don’t mean for us to try and conjure up wise sayings to try and impress others, but I also wouldn’t want to understate the ability of God to touch those in our immediate hearing as well as generations down the line if we’re found in Him, embracing the work of His hands on our lives, and being living epistles of the love that God has for all. You may not be able to coin a phrase like an Oswald Chambers or Joni Eareckson Tada, but don’t let that stop you from proclaiming God’s praises just the same.

The point here is Christ! His richness, applicability, empowerment and absolutely everything about Him that draws us to Himself. To me, He’s that magical revelation that touches our souls when we read a great quote. Notwithstanding, we do need to be aware of cleverly worded, or otherwise saavy counterfeits but If it’s true, it’s because HE is truth. If it helps us hold fast or be encouraged to press on, it’s because HE is The Way. If it identifies with our common experience in a manner of surreal pertinence, it’s because HE is Life! He is to be glorified! We are at our best when we’re close to Him, reflecting His light and responding to the world in the power of His Spirit and the character of Christlikeness.

Now, flip it and think of it this way. Before God formed you in the womb, He ordered your days. He had you and your purpose in mind well before He decided to “say” your name and breathe life into your frame. If you can receive that on a daily basis, you can yield to His leading and be that simple, clear yet profound quote He intended the world to hear when He made you. The only way to be an unknown is to leave the life that Christ offers, unlived. It will testify to His truth and love and bring glory to His Son!


In Him,
Cros

Joy

    Anyone who chooses to pursue Christ and His righteousness needs to be keenly aware of what it takes; namely being a strict and staunch Bible-ist. We do indeed HAVE to study to show ourselves approved (2 Tim 2:15) because it's too easy to misunderstand things. It doesn’t even require trickery from the devil who's malicious attempts mislead us from the true path. We can slide off the path accidentally as innocently and easy as you please. Why? Because there seems to be an easy sensibleness that lends itself to human effort.

In our human effort, we can try to do MANY different things that look good and benevolent on the surface but are as far from truth and righteousness as any malicious lie.

But I digress, this post IS about Joy. When The Bible talks about us experiencing joy as a fruit of The Spirit, it’s not something that comes naturally with ease. It also doesn’t come from a whole bunch of effort either. It comes from The Spirit but having the Spirit doesn’t automatically make everything you enjoy, evidence of The Spirit.

Here’s an example. Two people looking at a rainbow after a pretty intense storm shower. Both people see that the sun breaking through the puffy scattered clouds, against a magnificent blue sky, accentuated by a brilliant rainbow is beautiful. Both have a happy feeling from the experience.
Does the fact that one of these two is a Christian make the experience more joyful for them? Or does not having The Spirit lessen the experience for the non-Christian? The fact of the matter that although both are probably pretty happy to see such a sight, the joy available to the Christian CAN make all of his experiences entirely different.

The Bible uses 'happy', 'joy', and 'blessed' almost interchangeably in certain portions of Scripture. However, just because we can all experience a myriad of things that bring us joy, none can substitute for TRUE JOY, which comes from Christ, by being in Christ through faith.

Here's The Word:

Psalm 32:11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

This last verse in John sounds quite similar to the verse about Jesus' "peace" that He gives to us. Fact of the matter is, God values the joy of His children but not ALL people are His (1 John 3:10) even though we can all immensely enjoy many different things.

For the Christian, indwelt by The Spirit. Everything is different because even after salvation and justification, we're being transformed into the very image of Christ and we need to realize that we are part of an eternal revelation; that we are no longer enemies of God. That we have who were once FAR AWAY, have been brought near (Eph 2:13). All of those Biblical truths that we glean from His Word is what continually proves and fills our joy. And in everything we take joy in, we can look at the very thing that performs and allows such joy, the cross of Christ!


In Him,
Cros