Gordon Lightfoot: "Rainy Day People"

These are the sort of friends folks desire and admire. You can hear the reasons for their value to others in this song. Check it out here.

Showing kindness to the son of a foreign king is a rare thing. We read of one instance of this in 2 Samuel 10:1 and 2 (Bible in Basic English). "Now after this, death came to the king of the children of Ammon, and Hanun, his son, became king in his place. And David said, 'I will be a friend to Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father was a friend to me.' So David sent his servants, to give him words of comfort on account of his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon."

Of course the greatest act of comfort was prophesied in Isaiah 62:11 (BBE). "The Lord has sent out word to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, See, your saviour comes; those whom he has made free are with him, and those to whom he has given salvation go before him."

Part of that fulfilled prophecy was shown to a hemophiliac sufferer by Christ in Matthew 9:22 (BBE). "But Jesus, turning and seeing her, said, 'Daughter, take heart; your faith has made you well.' And the woman was made well from that hour."

And as the sick were despised by society in Christ's time, so were disabled people. Matthew 9:49 (BBE) demonstrates Christ's compassion on less-fortunate folks. "And Jesus came to a stop and said, 'Let him come.' And crying out to the blind man, they said to him, 'Be comforted: come, he has sent for you.'"

But we don't need to be healers and miracle workers to help others. Look at what Paul wrote in Romans 15:1-4 (BBE). "We who are strong have to be a support to the feeble, and not give pleasure to ourselves. Let every one of us give pleasure to his neighbour for his good, to make him strong. For Christ did not give pleasure to himself, but, as it is said, 'The bitter words of those who were angry with you came on me.' Now those things which were put down in writing before our time were for our learning, so that through quiet waiting and through the comfort of the holy Writings we might have hope."

If our hoped-for desire of Christ's return hasn't happened by Saturday, I'll post about how disabled folks must be treated

Gordon Lightfoot: "Canadian Railroad Trilogy"

This artist is one of a few I know who proudly sang about Canada. The railroads opened up this land. Those who built them, mostly by hand, contended with everything from bogs to steep mountain sides. While abuses of personnel did happen, the tenacity of those railroad builders is laudable.

Listen to Gordon Lightfoots tribute to these men here:

We followers of Christ owe our inclusion in his family to faithful followers. As Jude 1:3 (Bible in Basic English) says, "My loved ones, while my thoughts were full of a letter which I was going to send you about our common salvation, it was necessary for me to send you one requesting you with all my heart to go on fighting strongly for the faith which has been given to the saints once and for ever."

We read of God's testimony of one faithful man in Numbers 12:6 and 7 (BBE). "And he said, 'Now give ear to my words: if there is a prophet among you I will give him knowledge of myself in a vision and will let my words come to him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so; he is true to me in all my house:'"

When unfaithful priests blackened the name of God with their wickedness, the Lord deposed them and put in a new one. As he said in 1 Samuel 2:35 (BBE), "And I will make a true priest for myself, one who will do what is in my heart and in my mind: and I will make for him a family which will not come to an end; and his place will be before my holy one for ever."

God's truth is incredibly valuable in this world of lies. In Christ's parable of the talents, Matthew 25:21 (BBE) leaves no doubt. "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and true servant: you have been true in a small thing, I will give you control over great things: take your part in the joy of your lord.'"

If that great and wonderful day hasn't happened by Saturday, I'll post about not being stuck in the past.

Saturday Song: Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

Isn't it interesting how news reports can impact some folks but not others? I was in Toronto, Ontario in November of 1975 when I heard the news one morning. Though I felt a twinge of sadness for those twenty-nine sailors, it was just one of many tragic news stories that day.

But Gordon Lightfoot was deeply moved by the news, so much so that he wrote a song about it. Almost a year later, that song was in rotation on radio stations across Canada.

Hear the song here.

The fact nobody is willing to face is that we all die. As the scripture says in Isaiah 64:6 (KJV), "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

And as it says in James 4:14 (KJV), "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

But death isn't the end, as many people believe. Each one of us will stand trial for what we did in this life and for accepting or rejecting Christ's magnanimous gift of eternal salvation. As the Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 (KJV), "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"

This is good news if you've placed your life in Christ's hands but bad news if you haven't. Message me if you'd like to learn more about eternal life.

Well, what did you think of this song and what I wrote? Please leave me a comment below. Also, have a great weekend.

Monday's post will be about the danger of being a Bible teacher. Those who teach error will be harshly punished by God.

0Saturday Song: Gordon Lightfoot, "Black Day In July"

The world sure seemed to me to be in turmoil back in the late sixties. Race riots and anti-Vietnam-war protests gave me the impression that the world was tearing itself apart. Added to the feeling of impending doom were underground nuclear bomb tests and the arms race between America and the Soviet Union.

Gordon Lightfoot immortalized the atmosphere of Detroit's riots with his ballad which became a hit in July of 1968.

Listen to it here:

We who place our trust entirely in Jesus have a different view of history. After our Lord laid out the events of his journey to the cross, he comforted his disciples. John 16:33 (BBE) is also our assurance of who's really in control of this planet. "I have said all these things to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble: but take heart! I have overcome the world."

Christ also reminded his disciples of his mastery of the future in Matthew 24:30 and 31 (BBE). "And then the sign of the Son of man will be seen in heaven: and then all the nations of the earth will have sorrow, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

But some folks might say that it's all fine and dandy for the future but what about today's troubles? Our Master assured his disciples, and us by extension, not to worry about whatever wicked people will do to us. Matthew 10:28 and 29 (BBE) reads, "And have no fear of those who put to death the body, but are not able to put to death the soul. But have fear of him who has power to give soul and body to destruction in hell. Are not sparrows two a farthing? and not one of them comes to an end without your Father:"

How wonderful then that whatsoever worries us is also known to our heavenly Father. We can take our concerns to him in prayer and leave those matters in his capable hands.

On Monday, I'll post about the error of pacifistic rejection to fight in wars.

HISTORY THROUGH CHILDREN'S EYES

I'm sure that many seniors remember where they were and what they were doing when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. For younger people such as myself, I didn't realize the seriousness of the tragedy at the time.

I don't remember the actual news bulletin of Kennedy's death but I do remember being upset that the cartoons were canceled. Both CTV and CBC aired the telecast of his funeral. Having just turned seven, cartoons seemed much more important than some man's funeral.

Another funeral that annoyed me was that of Winston Churchill. I was at Jericho Hill School for the Deaf and Blind at the time of his death. Our supervisor made us sit and watch the entire ceremony, something I found extremely boring. How glad I was when we were allowed to go and play.

Being preoccupied with surviving at Jericho, I didn't notice the Vietnam war intensify or the Detroit riots. Not until Gordon Lightfoot's "Black Day in July" song came on the radio the next year did I finally pay attention to the news. By then war footage from Vietnam and peace demonstrations became a daily feature of the news.

When Martin Luther King Junior and Robert Kennedy were murdered in April of 1968, I felt worried about all the global turmoil. It felt like the end of the world. By God's grace, we're still here but the memories of those days remain.

I wrote about how I became aware of world events in Deliverance from Jericho: Six Years in a Blind School. It, and my debut paperback are available through the Bruce Atchison's books link.

I have a new book out called How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Read more about this wonderful testimony of God's love at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Virtual Bookworm Publishers.