Talking Heads: "Life During Wartime"

What an interesting song about war this is. Instead of decrying the carnage and brutality, David Byrne imagined what daily life would be like in a failed state. Survivors would be concerned with finding food and keeping safe. Things like records and speakers would be very low on the priority list of people in such a situation.

Listen to this song here:

We Christians are living in wartime but it's a spiritual conflict. After Paul listed the weapons we must put on, he gave the reason we fight in Ephesians 6:13 (Bible in Basic English). "For this reason take up all the arms of God, so that you may be able to be strong in the evil day, and, having done all, to keep your place."

Armies are often commanded to hold their position or to advance. Paul urged his prodigy to keep moving forward in 1 Timothy 6:12 (BBE) when he said, "Be fighting the good fight of the faith; take for yourself the life eternal, for which you were marked out, and of which you gave witness in the eyes of all."

Fighting a war, like competitive sports, takes great effort. As Paul likened both in 1 Corinthians 9:24-26 (BBE), "Do you not see that in a running competition all take part, but only one gets the reward? So let your minds be fixed on the reward. And every man who takes part in the sports has self-control in all things. Now they do it to get a crown which is of this world, but we for an eternal crown. So then I am running, not uncertainly; so I am fighting, not as one who gives blows in the air:"

Neither must we forget the afflictions we suffered before, as Hebrews 10:32 (BBE) admonishes, "But give thought to the days after you had seen the light, when you went through a great war of troubles;

The finish line of faith is also what we must keep in mind. Philippians 3:14 (BBE) is Paul's end goal. "I go forward to the mark, even the reward of the high purpose of God in Christ Jesus."

If we don't reach that finish line by Thursday, I'll point out the stupidity of racism.

Talking Heads, "Heaven"

One of the most successful New Wave bands from the seventies was Talking Heads. On their third album, "Fear of Music," appeared this song. Have a listen here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAa7J10D8Qw

People sure do have some weird notions about heaven. Many of those ideas of eternity are based on popular opinion and not on what little the Bible says.

We know that God lives in Heaven but what does he do there? He hears the prayers of all the righteous. When Solomon dedicated the temple, he prayed in 1 Kings 8:43 (Bible in Basic English), "Give ear in heaven your living-place, and give him his desire, whatever it may be; so that all the peoples of the earth may have knowledge of your name, worshipping you as do your people Israel, and that they may see that this house which I have put up is truly named by your name."

Heaven is also where all the nations are ruled, though Satan has been given power over the wicked. We read in 2 Chronicles 20:5 and 6 (BBE), "And Jehoshaphat took his place in the meeting of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord in front of the new open space, And said, 'O Lord, the God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? are you not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hands are power and strength so that no one is able to keep his place against you?'" The answer is obvious.

Prophecy also shows that God knows all things. As we read in Daniel 2:27 and 28 (BBE), "Then Daniel said in answer to the king, 'No wise men, or users of secret arts, or wonder-workers, or readers of signs, are able to make clear to the king the secret he is searching for; But there is a God in heaven, the unveiler of secrets, and he has given to King Nebuchadnezzar knowledge of what will take place in the last days. Your dreams and the visions of your head on your bed are these:'" Then he told him what they were.

As we know, that statue of various metals was a prediction of future kingdoms which all happened. And as heaven will be our home, we look forward to being with Almighty God where we'll be free from the nagging undertow of sin.

If Christ doesn't come for us by Monday, I hope to post about racism.

Saturday Song: Talking Heads, "Cities"

How many of you folks live, or have lived, in cities? Each has its good points and its bad points. Even so, many folks have to live in cities because that's where the work is. Cities also have many amenities which rural towns lack.

Check out this song about cities here.

Though I live in the country, I do look forward to living in a certain city. As we learn from Hebrews 11:10 (KJV), Abraham yearned for this special dwelling place. "For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

But long before the heavenly city comes down, Israelites held onto the hope of being in Jerusalem. Psalms 46:4 (KJV) exalts, "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High."

Likewise, Psalms 87:3 (KJV) sings, "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah."

And as Revelation 3:12 (KJV) assurs us believers, "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."

Someday, we all will see God's city  come down from heaven. Revelation 21:2 KJV)  "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."

Are you yearning for that wonderful event too? Please feel free to write me about your hope.

On Monday, I'll post about the dualism error. Some folks actually think that God and Satan are two sides of the same coin, metaphorically speaking.

THE DEATH OF HOSPITALITY

I'm sure we've all had this happen. While enjoying a lazy morning sleep in or working at the computer in pajamas, there comes a knock at the door. When you answer the door, it's some talkative individual wanting to bend your ear for hours. There was a time when people dropped in unexpectedly at each other's homes and were welcomed. In our modern society, why is this no longer the case?

People are busy. All of us have places to go and people to see. The last thing we want is somebody wasting our time. Most folks understand this but certain individuals don't seem aware of the fact that they're boring us to death.

As in the song "Who Can it Be Now?" by Men At Work, people also value their down time. Nothing can irritate us quite like being bothered late in the evening when we hope to relax. Even if somebody is concerned about us, in the case of the visitor in the song, we still don't care to let people know that we wish not to be disturbed.

In this age of e-mail, Skype, land lines, and texting, people have no excuse to barge in on others for casual visits. Through social media sites, e-mail lists, and other online tools, anybody can contact us to arrange a convenient time for a visit. I feel that if it isn't a dire emergency, such as a neighbour seeing flames coming out of the roof, people should use those channels of communications first.

Sadly, there are individuals who bore us to tears. They just don't get the message, unless we rudely tell them to take a hike, that they're wasting our time. Like in the Talking Heads song "No Compassion", we might have to say to them, "Go see your analyst. Isn't that what they're paid for?"

I've mentioned in all three of my books how I enjoy uninterrupted solitude. Check out my first two paperbacks at the Bruce Atchison's books page. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's Books stock my latest memoir called How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity.

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