Weekly e-News May 25, 2018
Hey, everyone!
Wow! If you’re like me, even a week after last Sunday night, you’re still…
…tappin’ those toes…
…snappin’ those fingers…
…hummin’ stuff to yourself that makes no sense at all…(“…Bop bopa-a-lu a whop bam boo!”)
…or puffin’ on those candy cigs…
(Actually, I had to pass on those…When I was about nine, I skipped the candy ones and went straight for the Winston Filter Kings with the flip-top pack I stole from my dad…So I thought it was best to just avoid the temptation altogether!)
Last Sunday night of “50’s rock ’n roll” was just the grooviest!
All those cool cats dressed like greasers!
Wearing those 50’s threads!
Guys’ hair slicked back in a D.A.! I even think I saw one cat’s hair in a jelly roll!
There wasn’t a square in the joint!
And those tunes were really cookin’!
(I was just glad it didn’t get so loud that the neighbors called the heat and the fuzz showed up!)
Lots of folks were really goin’ ape and I dug it so much!
Crazy, man, crazy!
So glad everyone decided to not stay at the pad but go ahead and make the scene!
It was so nifty!
Like, buzzin’, cuz!
You know, one really dopey thing I said in church that morning was that our “50’s night” was going to be “just for fun” with no one trying to “sneak Jesus in on anyone…”
(And what I meant was that we weren’t going to offer an evening of fun and music with the unspoken intention of, once we’d corralled everyone into one place, slipping in a gospel sermonette to our unprepared guests…Which really isn’t very cool,man!)
It was a dopey thing to say because Jesus slipped in anyway!
I’m not quite sure how He did it, but in my heart, after an evening of pure joy and fun with those I love, all I could think and feel was…
“Lord Jesus, You are so amazing!”
Instead of “bop bopa-a-lu a whop bam boo!”, I was thinking, “Jesus, I love You so much!”
And I’m not quite sure where THAT came from!
Except that…
Wherever there is pure love and pure joy, it’s because the Maker of love and joy…Who is the God of love and joy…is there!
The reason we feel love and joy is because the loving, joyful Maker of all, made a world where love and joy could be!
Because they live in His heart!
They live in the world that He made because they live in the Maker of the world!
The Maker of love and joy is the God of love and joy!
One time, St. Paul told a crowd of folks who knew nothing of God, that our God had not left us without evidence that He is there…or better, here!
Check out this awesome verse!!
“Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven…he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” (Acts 14.17)
Did you get that?!
He’s giving you rain from Heaven to prove He exists!
He made you to need water to live and He sends it to you from the sky! See? He there!
He made you to need food to eat…and He gives it to you! Get it?
When you chomp into a juicy burger with a HOME-GROWN tomato’s juice is running to your elbows…
or when you scoop up and shovel in that HOME-MADE peach ice cream…mmmmmm!!!…
you can almost feel Him say, “I thought of that just for you! I am here!”
And when you get a whiff of pure joy…
just a moment of “This is soooo fun!”…
you can almost hear the Maker of joy say…
“I am!”
Jesus’ first miracle was making enough wine at a wedding so that the music and dancing could go on and on! And He didn’t want anyone to know He was the One Who made it!
“Huh?! Why not?”
No need! Because in the end…
in the heart…
everyone knows (whether they admit it or no)…
there wouldn’t be music…
or dancing…
or love…
or a sweet marriage…
or joy…
without Him!
When you have an unexpected moment when you feel so happy that you want to burst…
just be still…
and listen…
You just might hear Him say…
“I’m right here!”
And then you can say with confidence…
“…Well, Bop bopa-a-lu a whop bam boo!”