Ding Dong Merrily on High

Ding Dong! Merrily on High
in heaven the bells are ringing:
Ding dong! verily the sky
is riven with angel singing.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

One of the most awesome revelations i have ever experienced came to light when I was quite young via the song above.

I had a sense/glimpse of the angels filling heaven singing praise to God.  My hair on the back of my neck stood up. I could almost hear bells along with a chorus of voices beyond imagination.

There was a real sense of awe and majesty hovering, echoing in that flash of a moment, which I later came to believe was a thin place between Heaven and earth.

In that moment was the echo of the Incarnation.

When Heaven met earth in such a powerful way, the world was changed forever.

God came to be with us.

Heaven on earth.

And that miracle?

Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

We who know this truth will continue to join with the angels in singing this forever song, which will keep ringing out for eternity.

Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

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Historical Background:
Ding Dong Merrily on High was originally called Gloria in Excelsis Deo in Latin.  It is believed to be French in origin and written in the 16th century.

Sunday Psalm: Let Heaven Come

When Your people
humbly drop to their knees
before You
inviting Your Kingdom
to come & invade us,
You come.

Just as You have
throughout human history
since its beginning,
come and let what You
want to be done
happen here on earth.

Take our brokenness
and let Your Light shine through it.

Take our wounds
and bind them in Your strength.

Be the One who holds us all together.

Use our gifts, our passions
as only their Giver can.

Let our hands, our feet, our words, our actions show Heaven to a hurting world.

Let Love lead the way to freedom & victory.

Let the lost be drawn in,
and make their way Home.

Your Kingdom.
Now.
In every moment.

Let Heaven come.

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when the world & heaven collide…Herod

There was once a king.
Not born a king, but appointed.
A very paranoid king, he wiped out all opposition to his throne, real or perceived: at least one wife, one son, a few other relations. He was known as the butcher in some circles. His name?

Herod.
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image from the Nativity Story

Not to be confused with his son & namesake, Herod Antipas, this Herod was called ‘the Great’ historically. But I am going to call him Herod for the post today. For he too was just a man.

When our Advent story took place, Herod was in power, established on the throne of Israel by Rome.
Rome had a way of collecting taxes and constantly being on the look out for rebellion, two things Herod too took part in regularly. The Jews were heavily taxed, not only for their usual temple tax, but Herod’s expensive building fund (Masada, and several more landmarks) and Rome’s demands on top. Many in Israel were struggling to make ends meet, especially in the smaller towns with less industry.

Now Herod ruled by keeping a very close eye on the pulse of Israel. He knew the Jews (of which he had become one in order to rule, but was not born to it) were waiting for the Messiah, and like the rest of Israel, they all expected a man to announce himself, one who will free Israel by force from Rome’s grip.

It is most likely Herod was keeping an eye on any perceived Messiah contenders, and would have had a plan in place to swiftly deal with any who would appear. Remember, Herod killed his own flesh & blood, so there is not a lot of compassion going on within this ruler.

Enter the wise men into this already powder keg situation.
They arrive in Jerusalem, and announce themselves to the palace to meet King Herod.

Not to offer platitudes or humble themselves before him, but to ask assistance to locate the baby King of the Jews who is about to be or has been recently born!

I believe this set off a fury in Herod that has only been matched a few times in history, and cemented his rule as blood thirsty for all time, but not immediately set into action.

First, he asked the wise men to return and let him know where they found the child so He too could worship him, the new King of the Jews. Sneaky strategy to ask genuine seekers to help betray the one they seek.

When they were warned not to return to Herod, I believe the full impact of what they had accidentally done must have weighed heavy on the wise men’s hearts.

When they failed to return to Herod within the expected timeline, his rage exploded, and he decided to kill every male infant from birth to 2 years in a set targeted area. And swiftly set his troops out to do his bidding.

How this must have echoed the murder of the Jewish baby boys in Egypt to the Israelites. A second targeted annihilation attempting to foil God’s plans for deliverance, at great cost to His people.

We know how this story ends, but in that moment, Herod’s plan would have looked like it was a success, and the mourning wail that arose? The sound of hair raising grief at such loss.

When heavengriefearth collide, God is not surprised.
He never is when evil raises its head to strike.
He made a way….

More on that tomorrow!

#TheWhenSeries
#AdventuresinAdvent
#LoveCameDown

Adventures in Advent

With the arrival of Advent comes the retelling of the Christmas story.

I have heard it many times…
in song, through drama, or by a reader at church. I have read the story to myself, and to my children.

This year, I am doing something different.

I have never read the whole story in the Message version before.
The NIV, ESV, NASB, KJV versions? Yes. So this Christmas, I am going to revisit a familiar historical based story- how Jesus came to us as a baby- as seen through the Message.

You see, I have always thought of the Word as the living Message, so I am quite excited to see what will unfold through changing my expectation of the familiar.

Keeping myself on my toes so to speak.

Not only will it be a less familiar translation, I am going to look through each of the Gospels one day a week for each of the topics I felt to cover this Advent.

Matthew- the tax collector
Mark- the writer
Luke- the doctor
John- the fisherman

Four men whose encounter with Jesus changed them each forever.

Pull up a cozy chair, your bible, and let’s let the Christmas Message speak to our hearts anew this Advent…

As I was in worship this past Sunday, the following headlines came to mind:

Preparing the Way.
Trusting a Teen.
Depending on a Doubter.
Making Space.
Following His lead.
Accepting the Gift.

I have decided to take look at how each writer recorded their viewpoint based on how they heard the Christmas Story.

Let’s reawaken the desire to share this part of His story, the Greatest Gift God has every given us.

For with the arrival of eternal God into our finite time line,  this event rippled across the universe & the heavens, forever changing the world it encountered.

Advent is the story reminding us of God’s primary Message from creation’s foundation to the end of revelation:
God is with us,
the Message of Christmas!

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home

…make myself at home in His love.
– John 15:10 (MSG)

Our true home is calling.

Jesus came so we can have life in abundance here on earth, but the source of that life is eternal.

God Himself.

And once we decide to let Him in, He opens the doors to wonders we can only grasp at while here on earth.

We will be gasping with awe and wonder when we see them in heaven.

We were designed to walk with God in the garden.

To converse with Him face to face.

Once we have met Him, our spirit within begins to long for its true home, heaven.

And we have an internal unquenchable hope dependent upon our eternal God.
Holy, true, awesome in all His majesty.

His Spirit continues to whisper to our spirit, reminding us we are on a journey where the final destination is set firm:
Heaven is our true home.

And we get glimpses and snippets of heaven breaking through in to our daily lives from time to time, through thin places.

Where the presence of heaven invades earth in a mighty glimpse of what is yet to come.

His love is the key to it all.

God has a place for you, for me, in His love. Jesus refers to it as the Father’s mansion with many rooms.

I think that mansion is His heart.

God invites us to move in, and live in His love.

To make our home in Him.

To rest with the Almighty, secure in knowing He is in control.

As much as I love my family, friends and most of my life here on earth, my spirit leaps when I think of heaven.

I believe our spirits can be home sick for our true home, just as we can be when we are away from our houses or country.

His love is drawing us heavenward.

Hope begins with His Presence,
reaching out to us,
calling us Home.

Every love song serves as an echo of heaven’s invitation home.
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thin places

They are locales where the distance between heaven and earth collapses and we’re able to catch glimpses of the divine…

Eric Weiner

Where Heaven meets earth.

Thin places.

They can be in many locations, but one thing remains the same…

Those who experience a thin place are never the same.

I find there are times when I am worshipping with other people, and this happens right where we are.

You can feel God enter the room, and it is amazing and holy and humbling and thrilling and awestruck wonder all rolled into one.

People are changed.

Being on the shore looking out over the waves of the ocean.

Walking in a forest where the trees tower overhead in a woven canopy of cover.

These are other thin places for me.

Where the aching draw to meet my Creator face to face wells up within my heart, and I am overwhelmed with love, adoration and His majesty.

His presence transforms each person who encounters Him.

You might feel this is a bit mystical, or out there for your taste or beliefs.

That’s okay.

But God is bigger than we limit Him to in our thinking.

And I like to think that in the brilliance of a never before seen and never will be again sunrise or sunset, there are thin places where I can see a tangible wants to meet with us God, each and every day.

My longing for Him will never end when heaven finally comes down to earth and eternity is unveiled.

Until then, may I be tuned into Your presence in the thin places, God.

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*Quote from http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/travel/thin-places-where-we-are-jolted-out-of-old-ways-of-seeing-the-world.html?_r=0