Love’s Power Greater Than a Hurricane

With the recent Texas experience of Hurricane Harvey and watching Hurricane Irma in Florida I gave a fresh listen to the Switchfoot Song “Hello Hurricane”. In watching Harvey as the first forecast showed it moving our direction until it jogged Eastward it was amazing to see the power and strength of its furious winds and rain. In the aftermath watching the recovery in Houston and the Coast more amazing were the stories of people banding together out of love and concern for their fellow citizens in caring for their well-being. Take some time to click on the title of the song and listen to it while you reflect of the lyrics.

"Hello Hurricane" by Jon Foreman of Switchfoot (Click on title for video)

I've been watching the skies, They've been turning blood red
Not a doubt in my mind anymore, There's a storm up ahead

Hello hurricane You're not enough
Hello hurricane You can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows Boarded up
All your dead end fury is Not enough
You can't silence my love, my love

Every thing I have I count as loss Everything I have is stripped away
Before I started building I counted up these costs
There's nothing left for you to take away

Hello hurricane You're not enough
Hello hurricane You can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows Boarded up
All your dead end fury is Not enough
You can't silence my love Yeah my love

I'm on fire fighting for control I'm a fighter fighting for my soul
Everything inside of me surrenders You can't silence my love
You can't silence my love

Hello hurricane You're not enough
Hello hurricane You can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows Boarded up
All your dead end fury is Not enough
You can't silence my love

Yeah I said hello hurricane

Jon Foreman wrote the song in the context of Hurricane Katrina. Here are some of his comments from that time about the song: “"This is a subject matter that I speak of with holy reverence. Having grown up on the East Coast I know firsthand of the houses lost, of the dreams turned into nightmares. I take my shoes off and recognize that this is a matter that is dear to our nation, especially of late- with every passing hurricane season. Last year, with Habitat for Humanity we helped to build a house for a woman who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane had taken her city, her house, and her leg. As she relocated to Baton Rouge and learned how to walk as an amputee, her mantra was this: "I walked out of my house and my life in New Orleans on my own legs, I'm going to walk into this one the same way." This is the spirit that I wanted to capture with this song.” (from http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858782485/)

Foreman’s song captures what we have seen in the news and internet about Hurricanes and other natural disasters. There is a fury that beats and batters the environment and homes. That is why people board up their homes. Although when you look at the people’s responses in the aftermath, you see the resilience and grit of the fighter in his song. Especially when you consider the thoughts in his comments about the lady who lost everything – “I'm going to walk into this one the same way."

A hurricane is a perfect metaphor for many of the problems we face in life. Many problems come into our lives with a furious pounding. Sometimes we have a warning like the red sky coming so we can board up internally with prayer, reaching out to friends, or creating a fighting back plan. We need to remember that with the storms of life that come at us with a vengeance we have a choice. The choice is to cave in and respond with bitterness and anger or to fight back with grit and keeping love as our foundation of healing after the storm.

Reflection: What thoughts do you have about the song that can help you through life’s storms. Think of a storm you went through – What helped you bounce back after the storm?

How Do You Greet You Day?

This year I missed the National Career Development Association Global Conference that was held earlier this week in Boston. I have always enjoyed that conference as there are so many informative and practical sessions on various aspects of careers. Instead this July I am focusing on preparing for my first Colloquial for my Capella University PhD program. Yet knowing the conference was going on my thoughts through the week turned to career thoughts.

Those career thoughts connected with a song I was listening to on Amy Grant’s lastest CD. Her new cd is How Mercy Looks From Here. It is full of powerful lyrics to think through and beautiful melodies to enjoy. The song that caught my attention was Greet the Day. The song made me think through “How do I greet my days?” I thought of many work days in the past and to be honest my worst days usually started off with a negative mental attitude. My best days were when I started off with a positive mental attitude. Look over the words to the song. As usual if you click on the song title it will take you to a video where you can actually listen to the song which I believe allows you to gain more insight into the lyrics.


Greet the Day by Amy Grant and Cindy Morgan

Lead me to the ones I need, And to the one who's needing me.
I won't assume the worst is true,, And do the best that I can do.
A word of kindness, I believe,, Is heard throughout eternity...
Hey, hey, This is how I greet the day,, I greet the day...
Lead me to the ones I need, And to the one who's needing me
And everything that gets me through.
Gladly I’ll receive from you.
All the mercy , all the love. Pouring down to fill us up…
Hey, hey, This is how I greet the day,
I greet the day,
Hello sunshine, Hello rain, Glad to see you either way.
Hey, Hey, This is how I greet the day
Come on, greet the day, let’s greet the day.
Hello sunshine, hello rain, hello every single day.
Lead me to the ones I need, And to the one who's needing me.
I won't assume the worst is true, And do the best that I can do.
If you listened to the actual song you can first see how the cheerful melody captures the spirit of the song. The song is very bright, lilting and upbeat. A kind of melody that brings a natural smile to the face. That is how to greet the day. You don’t greet the day by pulling the covers over your head. You don’t greet the day by sleeping in and rushing out the door. You don’t greet the day by having a mindset that says, “something is going to go wrong today”. Something already went wrong by you thinking that.
The way to have a positive workday is to have a positive mindset of greeting the day with a smile and “Hello”! Amy Grant adds to the song in the liner notes by sharing the background of the song was based on a prayer she was taught:
“Lord, lead me today to those I need, and to those who need me, and let something I do have eternal significance.” What a powerful way to start the day!

Starting our day is not about just rushing out the door to find a cup of coffee to hold onto at work. It is not about assuming the worst concerning the guy who is travelling too slow on the highway. It is not about assuming the worst of our co-workers or boss. Starting the day is to take a few minutes to breathe up a prayer seeking God’s guidance to touch lives and to make a difference. How can you better serve the people who come into your path each day so they can learn to “greet the day” should be on our mind at the start of the day.

The phrase that states, “Gladly I’ll receive from you. All the mercy , all the love. Pouring down to fill us up…” is another prayer reminder. We start each day needing a new filling of mercy and love for people from God so that we can do our best in our people interactions through the work day. It is those people interactions that have lasting consequences so they need to be filtered by mercy and love.

Her repetition of “Hello sunshine” and “Hello rain”, reminds me of the verse in Matthew 5:45 “In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” The immediate context is in relation to how we should love those around us even enemies who hate us. We are all faced with good and bad things that happen in our day. I have mentioned Dr. Jim Bright’s Chaos Theory of Careers in the past. We live in a chaotic world. Much of life we do not have control over. The important thing is how we react to the happenings of life. This song is a reminder to greet the good and bad with a “Hello” and do our best with each circumstance we face.

Reflection: How do you face your days whether you are working or not? Do you take time to spiritually meditate on the day ahead? How can you improve on “Greeting your day”?

Improving Your Attitude Is Important In Living More Than OK

What is it that shapes our outlook on each day and our future? How can several people experience the same event and have totally different feelings and ideas about it? One person looks at a rainy day as a terrible nuisance and another thinks it is helpful for the plants and nature or enjoys it as a great day to relax and read, (my personal favorite). This shaper of our mental outlook is our attitude. We all have an attitude all the time. The problem is what kind of attitude do we carry around with us?

There is a motivational company called Simple Truths that promotes positive books on a variety of topics. They also have short motivational videos that are very uplifting to the spirit and can help think over better ways to live our lives. I want to share with you one that is on the topic of Attitude. Before we progress further take a moment and click on the below title and watch the video:

Attitude Is Important (Click on Title)

There are too many uplifting ideas in this video to expound on in this short blog post. I just want to touch on a few that meant the most to me as I watched it. The first is what I think most of us relate to when considering attitude. Stay Positive. A positive attitude is so important to living the best life possible. I often ask college students in lecture who would you rather hang around with? Someone with a positive attitude towards life or a negative attitude? Always the response is the desire to be with a positive attitude person. There is always the rare wise aleck student that states they enjoy negativity.

To have the best life possible, we need to as the video states, have an attitude that “Expects the Best”. If we expect the best, that attitude motivates us to do our best to get what we desire. To go for our dreams and reach our goals we need to have that expectation of the best to fully reach them. Listen to testimonials of sport stars and musicians you will often catch that “expecting the best attitude” in their talk. This drives their discipline to be the best. We each can use that attitude in achieving what we each are passionate about.

Attitudes are relational as they affect how we relate to those around us. The thought in the video about an attitude of kindness is important to consider. “It is not the things you get, but the hearts you touch that will determine your success in life”. The kindness attitude seeks to help build other people up not to tear them down. A good question to ask in relating to others is how do we view others? Is it with a kind heart or a disdainful heart? Greater than kindness is having a loving attitude. The quote in the video is so true which I believe is why they call their company Simple Truths. “Love doesn't make the world go round – Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” To live a life of purpose and fulfill our mission God has us in this life for is to be people with loving attitudes. This is why the Bible states the “greatest of these is love” in I Corinthians 13.

Another question I want to end with is in the middle of the Simple Truths video clip. It speaks of how attitudes are contagious. Attitudes can rub off on others. Consider a work situation where negative comments are being tossed about by a worker who has a bad attitude. Soon others chime in and try to one up the negative statements. The work climate soon becomes very negative and gloomy. Consider the same work group situation but this time a positive attitude person encourages a co-worker and is always cheerful and kind. Often then the office atmosphere becomes more positive. So here is an important question to consider – Is my attitude worth catching?

Reflection: What were the main ideas of the attitude video that caught your attention? The video speaks of singing your song. Is there a song you like that could be considered your life theme song?

God’s Not Dead Response To The Reason Rally

Recently as I was thinking about Easter, I have also been reflecting on news reports on two atheist gatherings that occurred in March. One was the Reason Rally in Washington D. C. and the other was Rock Beyond Belief at Fort Bragg. Just looking at the names of the events causes one to question their critical thinking skills. Are atheists the only people who can use reason? With the Rock Beyond Belief the atheists, from interviews, they seemed to be focusing on the common myth they propose that atheism is not a belief. They say they believe in science which is based on facts. Just ask them for their scientific proof that God does not exist and they are usually silent or defensive. What about the “ism” in atheism? From dictionaryreference.com ism is a “suffix loanword from the Greek, used as a productive suffix denoting action or practice, …, a usage or characteristic, devotion or adherence”. So atheism is not beyond belief -- it is a belief.

One of the speakers at both events was Richard Dawkins, noted atheist speaker and writer. He was introduced in a video I listened to of the Rock Beyond Belief gathering, as one of the leading atheists in the world. I found this quite disingenuous as after the introduction Mr. Dawkins jumped right into his diatribe against religion, primarily Christianity. One statement was, “There is no good, honest reason to believe in a god…the only reason to believe something is that you have evidence for it.” But who is honest? He accepted the adulation of the crowd as their atheist evangelist but in the Telegraph, February 24th, 2012 there was an article Richard Dawkins: I can’t be sure God does not exist The article speaks of a meeting Dawkins had with the Archbishop of Canterbury where he admitted he considers himself an agnostic not atheist He said he was 6.9 out of 7 certain of his beliefs. That works out to a 98.57% certainty of no God so that is not a 100% atheist. If he was honorable he should have told the crowd he was speaking to of that fact he considers himself an agnostic. Instead he went on a diatribe against religion hinting that Christians belong in insane asylums to the cheers of the small crowd. In the video I listened to he gave no scientific proof that God does not exist. Of course he can’t as atheism is a belief just as Christianity and other religions are beliefs.

So what does this have to do with Easter? In the resurrection of Christ I believe in a risen Savior who reveals to us that God is not dead. Think over this as you look over the words to a song by the Newsboys. As usual if you click on the title you can look at a video The Newsboys created for the song. It is very well done.

God’s Not Dead (Roarin Like A Lion) Newsboys

Let love explode And bring the dead to life A love so bold
To see a revolution somehow Let love explode
And bring the dead to life A love so bold To bring a revolution somehow

Now I'm lost in your freedom And this world I'll overcome
My God's not dead He's surely alive He's living on the inside
Roaring like a lion

My God's not dead He's surely alive He's living on the inside
Roaring like a lion

He's roaring He's roaring He's roaring like a lion

Let hope arise And make the darkness hide My faith is dead
I need a resurrection somehow

Now.. Now I'm lost in your freedom
Now.. And this world I'll overcome My God's not dead

He's surely alive He's living on the inside Roaring like a lion

My God's not dead He's surely alive He's living on the inside
Roaring like a lion

He's roaring He's roaring He's roaring like a lion
He's roaring He's roaring

Let Heaven roar And fire fall Come shake the ground
With the sound of revival Let Heaven roar And fire fall
Come shake the ground With the sound of revival

My God's not dead He's surely alive He's living on the inside
Roaring like a lion

My God's not dead He's surely alive He's living on the inside
Roaring like a lion...

Their song is a bold proclamation of their faith in a living God. Hope arises through this faith that we have in the risen Christ. Their proclamation reminds me of the verse, Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” In a world where atheists label believers as crazy we can stand and boldly respond to their secular religious faith. The verse says, “it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” Yes it all boils down to belief. But as we read through the Pauline epistles we understand it is a belief based upon sound reasonable arguments. Just because I can’t place God in a test tube or beaker does not mean He ceases to exist.

God’s clear existence is seen in the lyrics, “He’s roarin like a lion”. The lion is a symbol of God. In Revelation 5:5 Jesus the Messiah is pictured as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The atheist declares where is God? Why is he silent? Is the lion’s roar silent? I hear the Lion’s roar of God when I’ve seen the majestic Grand Canyon, looking out at the waves of the Pacific Ocean, or seeing the changed lives of Christians. Going back to the Easter story, look at the changed lives of the disciples. There is no rational explanation other than the resurrection of Jesus that the cowering, fearful disciples should have turned around with most of them boldlygiving up their lives for the message of the gospel.

One other thought, hearing of the Roar of the Lion, for me is seen at the beginning of the song. That is seeing Christ’s love work through His people. “Let love explode And bring the dead to life A love so bold To see a revolution somehow Let love explode And bring the dead to life”. John 13:35 states, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”. I read a story on The Blaze the other day of how an atheist, Patrick Greene in Texas has been affected by the love of Christians in a small Texas town, pouring love out to him during his time of sickness. It is making him change his perceptions or Christianity. This is because he has been trying to stop the Christmas display in town so in his eyes he felt the Christians should hate him instead of love him. That is a pretty loud roar!

Reflection: This Easter think over the roars of God you have experienced in your life. If you journal jot these down for your memory sake.

We Are Designed For Loving Relationships

We are relational beings in the sense we thrive better in our lives by having meaningful relationships with family and friends. We are not islands to our selves but our actions affect those around us. In the spiritual realm of our living I believe God is relational. I understand some believe that God is an impersonal life-force or others believe God is a figment of our relational imagination. This is why I mentioned before that everything boils down to our belief system.

The following verses from the New Testament reveal that the God of the Judeo-Christian worldview is a God of Love. The Bible states that God is Love. His love is a sacrificial love and outreaching love. God’s love reached to man before man reached back. His love is the model that those who believe in Him should follow.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. – 1 John 4:9-11
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. - 1 John 4:16

God desires for us to really live lives of love through Him. That is the purpose behind the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. The text points out that it is not we who love God. He first loved us. The fallen nature of man makes us selfish creatures who simply tend to love ourselves first. Within self esteem this is needed to a certain level. Our sin nature though often turns this selfishness to an extreme that excludes us from relating true love to God and our fellow man. As we accept God’s unconditional love and sacrificial love we can then love ourselves in a right manner and then pass God’s love on to those around us.

The following song by Toby Mac is a picture of a clear statement of how we were designed to be loving in the image of God’s love. It is a great song from one of my daughter's favorite music artists. That is another reason I chose it. Click on the title to view the video of the song and then reflect over the lyrics.

Made To Love

The dream is fading, now I'm staring at the door
I know its over cause my feet have hit the cold floor
Check my reflection, I ain't feelin what I see
It's no mystery
Whatever happened to a passion I could live for
What became of the flame that made me feel more
And when did I forget that...

I was made to love you, I was made to find you
I was made just for you, Made to adore you
I was made to love, And be loved by you
You were here before me, You were waiting on me
And you said you'd keep me, Never would you leave me I was made to love
and be loved by you

The dream's alive with my eyes opened wide
Back in the ring you've got me swinging for the grand prize
I feel the haters spittin vapors on my dreams, But I still believe
I'm reachin out, reachin up, reachin over, I feel a breeze cover me called Jehovah
And daddy I'm on my way, Cause I was made to love...

I was made to love you, I was made to find you
I was made just for you, Made to adore you
I was made to love, And be loved by you
You were here before me, You were waiting on me, And you said you'd keep me
Never would you leave me I was made to love, and be loved by you

Anything I would give up for you (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah)
Everything, I'd give it all away (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah)


Cause I was made to love you (I was made to love you)
Yeah I was made to love you (I was made to find you)
Cause I was made to love you (I was made to adore you, made just for you) (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah)
I was made to love you (I was made to adore you, made just for you)
Cause I was made to love you (I was made to adore you, made just for you) (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah)
I was made to love you (I was made to adore you)

I like how Toby starts the song out with a question of what has happened to the passion and fire of the dream. It is like the dream is dying. Recently I spoke of atheism as a belief system. Many atheists have a good argument against God by what they see in the negativity of Christians. The famous author Anne Rice made news recently in saying she was quitting Christianity because of the level of hate she sees in Christians. I felt sad that she has not seen the good examples of Godly Christians who unite as a community of God’s love. Thinking through the words from I John and this song they do have a point that should make Christians look at how they are living their lives. God gives each of us dreams to live out but the foundation of living out the dream should be bathed in His love so the world can take notice in a positive manner. Our dream can be revived just like the lyric line “The dream's alive with my eyes opened wide”. This comes to pass by our adoration of the God of love in daily worship and in daily loving of those around us.

Reflection:
What does God is Love mean to you? Think through the many good things in your life that God has brought your way often through happenstance events. How are you showing God’s love to the people in your sphere of influence?