Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

I watched a documentary on the life of Russ Taff a little while ago and was struck by many things.  In case you are not familiar with Russ, he was a popular Christian artist back in the 80's.   I took a freeze frame from the documentary that I found fascinating.  Here it is above. Russ struggled with many demons, one being alcoholism.  He was what some would call the Prodigal Son. But Russ loved Jesus.  He had a heart for God.  You could feel it and hear it whenever he sang for the Lord.  Russ knew the real Jesus.  That happens when we come to the end of ourselves.  We finally meet the real Jesus.  And when we do, our lives are never the same.  We fall in love with the Lover of our souls, our Rescuer, our Friend. Russ's behavior didn't make him a "bad" person.  It made him human. We all struggle.  We all battle personal demons.  Some are more visible than others, that's all. I posted this pic here because it is tremendously revealing. If you had to "hang

There are a plethora of sayings out there telling us what we need to do with and in our lives.  Here is a short list of items that you may have heard. And now that you have heard them, perhaps repeatedly, you feel an unconscious, or even conscious, weight on you like you “have” to do these things.  Word for you:  you don’t. Here we go: 1.  Find your tribe If Jesus is our truest and highest and only example in how to live, then this statement is not one for Christians.  Jesus was about doing His Father’s work every day of His earthly ministry.  Jesus was not concerned about “fitting in,” or finding His tribe.  He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah!  That was enough for Him.  And you being a child of God is enough for you, whether or not you ever find a “tribe.”  Finding your tribe is a useless pursuit because people change.  People are fickle.  People leave.  Putting our hope or identity in a tribe is a recipe for disappointment.  Instead, trust that God will provide every single person

You’d think that if God wanted you to become more loving, He would place you around those who are easy to love. Nope. Just the opposite. Welcome to the Bizarro World of following Jesus Christ! When the Lord wants to work in us to love others in the same way that He loves, He puts the most ogre-like people around us. Why does He do this? Because the kind of love that Jesus wants us to give others is unlike the world’s love. Most anyone can love those who love them.  Jesus commands that we love our enemies, those who mistreat us, those we just don’t like. This is a fine line because we are not to hang around those who do evil.  Yet when the Lord arranges our parameters, which He does, so that we are face to face with horrific sorts day after day, it can pan out one of a few ways. We can become embittered.  Or we can do everything we can to avoid the beasts.  Or we can let God love them through us. “Forgive her as if it never happened; like I forgive you.” Whatever God commands us to do i