SUNDAY PSALMS PART 32 OF 48: PSALM 119:57-64

 

Christ Church Cathederal with nativity scene, Indianapolis

57     You are my portion, O LORD;
          I have said that I would keep Your words.
58     I entreated Your favor with my whole heart;
          Be merciful to me according to Your word.
59     I thought about my ways,
          And turned my feet to Your testimonies.
60     I made haste, and did not delay
          To keep Your commandments.
61      The cords of the wicked have bound me,
          But I have not forgotten Your law.
62     At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You,
          Because of Your righteous judgments.
63     I am a companion of all who fear You,
          And of those who keep Your precepts.
64    The earth, O LORD, is full of Your mercy;
          Teach me Your statutes.
                                Psalm 119:57-64, New King James Version

Isn't this a wonderful section of Scripture? This is my favorite in this Psalm. One verse in particular is the reason why - verse 63. I love being a companion of other Christians!

Do I hear an "Amen"?

MOVIE REVIEW - CITIZEN KANE

 

I first learned of "Citizen Kane" in a high school class, "American Humor and the Aescetics of Film." Since then, I started watching it three different times, and probably never got a fourth of the way through it.

You've probably heard it referred to as the greatest film made. After watching it, I won't argue. Director/star Orson Welles did an excellent job with directing, using atypical film angles and good music. One other stroke of genius was having a cast of unknowns. 

I've hear someone say that a lot of people admire the movie but not many actually like it. I can agree with that sentiment. To me, this movie is a tragedy, and reminds me of Lawrence Olivier's "Hamlet." 

Sometimes, seeing an older film/actor reminds me of a more contemporary thespian. This was true here - I could picture Robert Downey Jr. pulling the role off. There are parallels between Kane and Tony Stark.

While not a movie I'll probably rewatch, I think the movie is an excellent telling of "What does it profit if a man gains the whole world but forfeits his soul?" One of the character said that he was Kane's only friend, or maybe not, which meant Kane had no friends. One of Kane's weaknesses was self-love.

If you want to see a great work of art, see this. It is worth watching. 

BOOK REVIEW - LOST BITS BY KERRY NIETZ

 How did K-404 end up in this pile of discarded technology? Why is there a disconnect of years in his memory? And can he protect his friends, humans that distrust him, and himself from annihilation?

If you enjoy dystopian science fiction and you have yet to discover Kerry Nietz, shame on you. And "Lost Bits" is the place to start. Those who are familiar with the Dark Trench Saga, the Peril in Plain Space trilogy, "Mask," and his "Rhats!" additions to the Takomo Universe, you enjoy his creative new novel.

I'm not a super geek, but this book has some inside jokes I got. For example, you'll notice that on the title has a zero and a one in the title, the two numbers of the binary system. Likewise, each chapter is designated by the typical arabic numbers (such as 21) and the binary counterpart (0001 0101). Not to mention the dreaded 404 code when something's not found. But you'd expect no less from the computer programmer who wrote of his experiences with Fox Software in his autobiographical "Fox Tales."

One thing I enjoy about Nietz is that he deals with community and friendship. I enjoy his friendships of ThreadBare and BullHammer in the Dark Trench Shadow series and with Frolic and Abs in the Rhats books. Here, we find 404 befriended by Sam, Wes, Blue, Fuzzy, and Radial. 

As usual for a book by Kerry Nietz, I highly recommend this story.

 

BOOK REVIEW - RHATS TOO! (TAKAMO UNIVIERSE; THE MUTO CHRONICLES #2) BY KERRY NIETZ

 

Where did Frohlic's large family (all mutos have large families) disappear to? He barely survived his previous smuggling trip in space; did he really want to join his friend Abs for another one? Especially when facing ants and spiders that are bigger than you?

I absolutely loved Rhats Too!, the full length sequel to Kerry Nietz' novella surpisingly titled Rhats. In this edition, our muto (a cross between a human and a, believe it or not, rat) hero finds his family missing from his home, with a feisty, flirty female with a gun there instead. He also is invited by his friend Abs to join his crew another smuggling trip... along with the feisty, flirty female.

There is plenty of sci-fi action in this book, as well as surprises here and there. My favorite part is the friendship between Frohlic and Abs. 

If you like sci-fi, this is an excellent book to read. I highly recommend it.

REVIEW OF "TOD" BY TOD MOSES

 

I'm going to take a slight detour. Most of my reviews and interviews have been focused on explicitly Christian music/fiction/non-fiction. But allow me the opportunity to promote the latest project by my friend Tod Moses.

 

I've known Tod and his music for over three decades. Several of his songs have blessed me over the years, such as "Master In Disguise," "Learn The Lingo," "Chasing After The Wind," "Stand and Deliver," "Salt Shaker," "Higher Ground," and "Standing Behind Me." He's commented that I remember songs of his he's forgotten.

 

One other memory I want to mention involving Tod before getting to his latest project. I decided to put together a Christmas musical titled "Viewpoints," looking at Christ's birth from the views of different people involved like Mary, the Innkeeper, and the Shepherds. I asked several of my songwriter friends to help out., including Tod, who did a great song from the view of Herod. Afterwards, he said he'd like to help with another song. I had one composer back out, so Tod and I co-wrote a song from the view of the Priests who knew where Christ was born but made no move to join the Wise Men in seeing the Messiah titled "Do I Really Care?" That song is one of my favorites of the songs I've written.

 

 But enough about what happened in '93. Let's move to 2020, when Tod released his latest project, "Tod." Stylistically it's different from his other projects I listened to, including fronting the band Fujita 5 - this is a little more blues influenced. And while I'm not a blues fan, and while this and some of his more recent releases are more mainstream than Christian, I completely enjoyed this collection.

He has a pair of strong singles from the project: "Time In The Country" and "Can't Stand Another Day." Other songs that stood out were "Gone Missing" (also released as a single a few years back by Fujita 5) and "Sing On."

 

I've had several great conversations with him on music, Christianity, and other things over the years, and I have appreciated his friendship since we've met in '88.

 

Do you have any friends who are musicians? How have they blessed you?

Friends Of The Prophets And What Is Our Focus?

  

Jon Wyclif giving the "poor priests" his translation of the Bible by William Fredericks Yearnes The "poor priests" (aka the Lollards) distributed Wyclif's translation of Scriptures in an age prior to printing presses.

 

Raise your hands if you noticed the blog's new name! Funny, I don't see any hands.

In a post about two weeks ago, I mentioned I debated changing the blog's names, and gave the two options :

1. Keeping the original name "Faith, Facts and Fiction."
2. Changing it to "Friend of the Prophets."

You would not believe the response I had (or maybe you would). After the days (or was it seconds) of counting the votes, my vote proved to be the tiebreaker. (Zero to zero is considered a tie, isn't it?) 

What is the idea behind that name? Because those that fill the role of a prophet are often friendless, but I have a desire to be a friend to those types of people. And you'll notice the new title is in the plural? My hope is that I not only encourage fellow believers on the front line of Spiritual Warfare, but I also encourage others to join me.

But what does it matter? Does it matter if I change the blog's name? Does it matter if I write this blog? Does it matter if anybody reads it?

Would you believe me it's discouraging for the blog to more often than not land in the lower single digits on people who see it? (That's when I post it on my Facebook page, otherwise it wouldn't have any.) I'm sure you have discouragements about your endeavors at times, asking yourselves "What's the use?"

The reality is WHY am I taking the time to do this? Is it to build my platform for writing? Even more so, is it so that my name means something?

I'm rereading The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer, and the chapter I read today deals with that issue. Is God the ultimate reason for what we're doing, or are we trying to build our own kingdom?

Hopefully, this blog not only has a new name, but a new direction on the part of the blogger.

Hidden Danger Of Arts Revisited

 

Allegory of Painting, Gerard van Honthorst

 Two days ago, I shared a post about one of my heroes leaving one ministry for another. If there was much press about that, it's been eclipsed by Kevin Max, formerly of DC Talk, saying he's now an Exvangelical. If it was just him, that would be one thing, but he's not alone.

This reminded me of a paper I read thirty years ago by my friend Robert Roberg, titled "The Hidden Danger of Art." Roberg, who himself is a singer/songwriter, a visual artist, and a former church planter,  introduced one danger in art before telling a hypothetical story illustrating other dangers. 

I do have some comments about Mr. Max and the state of today's Christianity, but I would at first like to bring up Mr. Roberg's initial critique and add other things that can be a danger of an artist, be it musicians as in Roberg's story or actors/actresses or novelists or visual artists.

The first point Roberg made was the focus of self promoting that is involved in art. I'll admit that I do that with this blog, because I feel it might reach twice as many readers if I do (meaning there will be four regular readers instead of two). True, this is a job that many artists whole heartedly despise. There may not be the ego with these creatives. But it can also lead to a mentality that our success as a musician is up to us, not to God.

Another danger is contained in Proverbs 18:2: "A fool has no delight in understanding, But in expressing his own heart." Art can be an effective form of communication - after all, a picture (or a symphony) is worth a thousand words - but a lot of times it is self expression, emphasizing not what's on God's heart but what's on ours.

Also, art is by nature sensual.  I don't mean that in a negative sense (pun unintentional), but as an objective fact. Paintings draw one's eyes. Music catches the ear. Acting does both. You could say that novelists are an exception, except the best writers are good at making you feel, see, hear, and even taste and smell the setting. Thus, there is a danger of the artist moving from appealing to the senses to being sensual (in the negative sense).

An artist can also forget what is inspiration and what is Inspiration. I've known one musician who arranged Romans 8:1 to music and says it needs to be heard because he wrote it. No, who set the music doesn't matter. Another songwriter claims innocently that it's not him who writes his songs but God. No, my friend used his talents and wrote in his style. 

I love hanging around Christian artists and musicians, and for that matter pastors and missionaries (all my rowdy friends are preachers). For me, sharing their faith is a blessing. But even for me, it can be a danger, because I could start hanging around and listening to and viewing artists that don't have my worldview. "The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray." (Prov. 12:26)

Now, one may ask if being an artist more susceptible to falling away from the faith. I know of two people I admired (one musician, one author) who went from being outspoken Evangelicals to taking a more ritualistic approach to faith to becoming atheists. As mentioned above, it's not rare for artists to become "Progressive."

But let me seem to digress. Nobody really considers news to be art. And many complain of all the crime in the news. One person commented, though, that crime is the exception. There are more people helping others than killing others. The helping is so commonplace, it's not newsworthy. The killing is not as normal, so it's news. Likewise, you're going to hear of the few who are turning from their faith while the many that stay faithful are seemingly (and possibly actually) ignored.

Kevin Max has become progressive and left the evangelical scene. Any indication his former bandmates Michael Tait - who became lead singer for the Newsboys - and Toby Mac doing the same? I haven't heard a peep. Likewise, while Max has moved toward Progressive Christianity, former Zoe Girl Alisa Childers used the lure of Progressive Christianity to strengthen her faith, which you can read in her book "Another Gospel."

So what can we take away from this? First, we need to do as Peter says and make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10). Second, we can look for those who are standing firm and encouraging them in the faith. 

Is there an artist you know that you can encourage?

WE ALL NEED A BRYCE AND A LORETUS

This was originally a "note" on Facebook. Well, today, I found out that the notes section was missing. I was able to dig this up, and hope this is a more permanent form. It's one of my favorite blogs that I've written, and so I wanted to share it. I did edit it a little.

At the end of King, the finale of R. J. Larson's Books of the Infinite trilogy, she had a question on our favorite supporting characters. I mentioned four, and shared it with the author. One was a Destroyer (an overgrown horse) named Scythe, though a main character chose to call him Pet. Larson mentioned that was a popular answer. My other three characters got a combined one mention: The lucky one was Tsir Aun, a gentle milatry commander who became a prime minister, and who always commented that Ela the prophetess (the character I referred to above) was always getting into trouble.

One of the other two was Bryce. The other main charater, Kien Lantec, found himself appointed to govern a region of Siphra in the second book, Judge, as a reward to saving King Akabe's life...an unwanted reward. Bryce was assigned as a steward. What I liked is that Bryce was loyal, had Kien's back, but would not hear of Kien backing out of his role. Kien told him not to call him "Lord", and Bryce wouldn't hear of it. Bryce also appeared in King, but it was his role in the first story that won me to him.

The last one was Loretus (pictured above). He also was introduced in Judge, assigned by King Akabe to train Kien for battle. The thing that impressed me -- in King, you can see that Loretus was no less loyal, probably no less fond, of Kien as Bryce was. But he had a different role. Bryce was the companion who fought beside. Loretus' job was to toughen Kien up, a job Loretus relished. And while Kien wouldn't admit it, I'm sure he knew Loretus was a faithful friend as well.

We all need a Bryce and a Loretus in our lives, both in general and especially in ministry. We need someone who has our back and supports us ... except when we want to step away from what God has called us to do. One who will defend us to the death, but will not hear of us retreating or surrendering. And we also need someone who will test us -- not to break us but so we're ready for the real battle.

That's what church is about. It's where we meet with our Bryces and Loretuses. That's why we're not to forsake our assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:24-25). We're supposed to be stirring up one another to love and good works and exhort each other, exactly as Bryce and Loretus have done for Kien.

But whether our church needs a Scythe/Pet is another matter. He's got a bit of a rebellious streak. And he takes up a lot more space.

Do you have any Bryces or Loretuses in your life? (Or a Scythe/Pet for that matter?)