A Royal Witness?

To link to the article from "the Telegraph" referred to below go to...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8481434/Paul-Mealor-The-royal-wedding-composer.html

You can read what's below in the link made above.

Little-known 35 year old Welsh composer Paul Mealor was chosen to provide a sizeable portion of the royal wedding music at the behest of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Why they chose him remains open to debate; it’s believed that Mealor’s most famous work, Ubi caritas, which premiered last Autumn at St Andrew’s University (where the young royal couple met) held some sway and, in a further twist, the composer also hails from Anglesey where the couple currently reside.
The entire wedding ceremony, including Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est (Where charity and love are, God is there), will be recorded and made available digitally the same day, with physical copies going on sale from 4 May.

I heard Mealor's Ubi caritas live very early this morning, while sipping my coffee, in awe of the overtly Christian teachings, prayers, hymns, music, and message peppering the Royal Wedding. I think a lot of us were caught off guard by this. For me, a composer of no note, to hear Paul Mealor's incredible piece along with two billion other people, was overwhelming. Beautiful things can still happen in this world. Listen to it. Listen to the little interview found at the link above.

Simply amazing...

Distinguishing People Pressure from God's Will

I'm involved in many things as a leader that put me in the crosshairs of people who have influence and an agenda. I make the mistake more often than I would like of misjudging both. I'm not the only one. Many of us both over-estimate the power of other people and over-accommodate their agendas. Undiscerning Christian spirituality mixes with this to leave many of us further confused. Is this powerful person's agenda really God's will? The answer is always "no!" Get that straight. Being pushed by a person -- and some people have an amazing, subtle ability to push -- is never the same as being drawn by God. You seek God's will by seeking God, not by seeking to please a person whose pleasure you believe will be to your advantage. If you're being pushed by a human being, it may be a sign that your walk with Christ has taken on a limp. Whenever I'm not praying, not in the Word, not "living with" other believers regularly, I'm vulnerable to lesser gods. Yes, that's where this points. If we're not with God, then someone lesser will take His place in our conscience. This is so dangerous. In the end, it's never the bully's fault. We can't be bullied without our cooperation.

God puts it clearly to begin His Ten Commandments:

"You shall have no other Gods before Me." Exodus 20:3

Amen.

PS - Thanks for the feedback on the blog. We'll see. I think I'll at least blog more; this may evolve into a daily or close to daily blog. It's worth doing if it makes a difference for someone, like anything else.

To blog or not to blog (on a daily basis)

OK, I'm back here. I hope you followed my Lenten blog. Either way, though, thanks for reading here. I have a question. Should I blog on a daily basis? And should I consolidate all my blogs? This would mean using one, this one I guess, even for the seasonal devotions. It would mean focusing and plowing through. Maybe I would take weekends off.

If you think I should, why?

One congregation member with some IT savvy thinks I and the church are too spread out and unfocused in terms of the internet. Maybe he's right. What do you think?

It's Easter Monday. What was that Monday like? When they woke up this morning after having had some interesting conversations with the formerly dead Jesus, do you think it took them a moment to update their files? Did they stare straight ahead after being awake long enough to recount the events of the day before? Did they still make their coffee and go for a 5 mile run? (Isn't that what everyone does every morning?) What did they eat, wear, or do today? Do you just go back to work? When people ask you how your weekend was, what do you say? Uplifting? Eye-opening? Do you tell people, or do you wait? They'll think you're crazy, right?

Easter Monday is the authentic Christian life. We do the things we do, but those of us who believe never shake off the astonishment. All Christians are a little dreamy. Many who are not might find us irritating. We don't dance to the same music anymore. Anger, fear, despair, and the flesh are all popped balloons now. He is risen indeed!

Seriously, let me know if you think I should do this on a daily basis. Thanks!