11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 12 How
art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art
thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For
thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt
my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north:
Indeed...we have an enemy. Good thing I'm on the winning side with Jesus!
This is Poem composed by Scott Boerma, which the Southshore Concert Band did commission him to do and so I had the pleasure of performing this. Thank you Scott!
This is by Frank Ticheli and is titled Rest, which I also had the privilege of performing with the Southshore Concert Band. I almost had tears performing this. Beautiful!
To all my dear sisters whom I love, including my beloved wife Rebecka:
Well I can honestly say what Beauty is not. It is not something you can buy from a store. It doesn't come in a tube, bottle, or jar. It doesn't come on a hanger or rack. It is not something that is applied from the outside. So what is true, authentic, genuine Beauty???
Again, Beauty is not something that is applied from the outside. Genuine Beauty is something that is unveiled from deep within. Yes, Beauty is unveiled! I spell Beauty with a capital B to differentiate it from the beauty that we all come to know as being only skin deep. So there is Beauty (unveiled from within, set there by God), and then there is beauty (skin deep/external application). So then, genuine Beauty is not skin deep. It is soul deep. This accounts for such expressions as music, or any of the arts for that matter. So there is a significant difference between looking beautiful and being Beautiful.
Does Beauty matter to God? I believe so! All you have to do is take a good look around this universe and this earth He created. His masterpiece work of art is full of so much Beauty. It always saddens me, however, to see so much of this Beauty being vandalized or outright destroyed by people. I believe this all to simply be an assault on Beauty from satan and his. Remember, satan was once Lucifer who was perfect in Beauty. But Lucifer rebelled against his Creator and lost that status. So when God created the heavens and the earth, and then created woman who is I believe the expression of God's Beauty and mystery on this earth, it's not hard to imagine how much envy satan must have had and the desire he has to assault such Beauty...just to get at Him who created it. So yes, Beauty matters! Why?
The author John Eldredge writes in Wild at Heart that there are two things in this world that pierce our hearts. Affliction is one of them, and we certainly get a heavy dose of that these days. The news seems to report more affliction than anything else. The other thing that pierces our hearts is Beauty. Beauty invites us to come closer. It also allows our souls to rest and expand. The genuine Beauty of God certainly sends the message, "Come closer, I won't hurt you." I believe this is how God draws us closer to Him. God doesn't scares us through fear and intimidation to obey Him. No, He unveils His Beauty which says, "Do you delight in Me? Will you pursue Me?" This is what I believe to be the cry of the genuine feminine heart.
Is it not true dearest sisters, that from within your heart you desire to be delighted in?..to be pursued?..to be made first ahead of all other things in this universe? If you can answer 'yes' to all these questions, guess what? God wants the same thing! Aaaaaand, you are made in His image! Yes my dearest sisters, you are His expression of Beauty and mystery. Not a mystery to be solved, but a mystery to be continuously explored. A mystery that is in and of itself Beautiful and also asks, "Will you pursue me?" Beauty is indeed very alluring and captivating...and very powerful.
Proverbs 31:30 states that beauty if fleeting. This is of course an utterance from a mother to her son, Proverbs 31:1. So what is mom telling her boy? Don't choose a wife based only on her looks. Instead, look for a wife who has a Beautiful character. Of course anyone, women AND men, who can exercise the Fruit of the Spirit then has a Beautiful character. The most Beautiful person to ever walk on this earth is, of course, Jesus Christ.
While Eve is very beautiful, alluring, mysterious and captivating, I believe men have some Beauty also. When I ask myself the questions, I do want to be Beautiful. Because I have Christ in me, He balances me out. So for now, I am a Beautiful man. And ya know what, there are many Beautiful men right now in this world. Here's one of them:
The composer of this gorgeous music is John Mackey, and it is appropriately titled. Enjoy.
So my dearest and beloved sisters, I pray that we all can be the most Beautiful and captivating that we can be.
I'm a man who loves Christ and is always taking steps toward Him one at a time together with my wife and with the church. I have a heart for God and for music.
