Monday, January 31, 2005


Swing Dancing? Posted by Hello

posted by mgoblue62 @ 7:38 PM 0 comments

Backdrops

From a missionary friend of mine, Eric Chapman:

Victory is sweeter against the backdrop of defeat. Even modest accomplishments seem impressive against the backdrop of failure. Rest is more enjoyable after bone-wracking exertion. But most of life is the backdrop. In the sovereignty of God, the backdrop is continually changing, and a person's shadow against it affected not only by his own movements, but also by the changes in the backdrop itself and movements of the other players.

Once a life is over, and folks read the biography, all is clear: the boundaries of the stage are defined, the backdrop is finally static, the features of the Christian are distinct. But the one doing the living cannot see the entire stage of even his own life. Nor does he know in advance at what point the stage called time will end and he will move off stage into eternity.

The only thing that matters is that the Christian with unflinching loyalty to Christ live out the script -- the Scriptures -- the very mind of the self-same Playwrite and Director and Audience. In real life the Christian seldom knows if his is a big or a small role in the play; only the Director knows. Nonetheless, respect, awe and love for the Director make even the "little" role important. In real life the Christian does not even understand all the other players and their roles -- but he must know his own (Col. 1:9) and love the others (I Jn 3:14-16).

As we live the Script against the God-painted backdrop we don't know why He changes the backdrop. Maybe He brings on the darker backgrounds to provide deeper joy in future days of light. Maybe He deigns defeat because He knows victory's mountain is more precious against the backdrop of the valley of failure.

(An inspiring biography that influenced my thoughts for the above is the biography of Robert T. Ketchum, PORTRAIT OF OBEDIENCE. While he was living through trial after trial -- real hard ones, not "easy" ones like ours -- he couldn't have known the beauty of the final picture. His was a portrait of obedience. He called it "obedience", Robert E. Lee called it "duty", I think it the "Spirit-filled life".).

posted by mgoblue62 @ 6:29 PM 7 comments

Sunday, January 30, 2005

My first post

Just listening to Sound of Majesty on a Sunday night, browsing the net. Great music selections, as always.

I came across a blog, and while trying to compose a reply, was prompted to create my own. We'll see how this experience goes...

posted by mgoblue62 @ 6:10 PM 0 comments