The Dream of Jesus

Good morning. It is Tuesday, August 19, 2014. Let’s see . . . there’s something special about this day. What was it??

Oh, yeah!! Stephanie is 21 today!!

And for the Tuesday song . . .

Besides being Stephanie’s birthday, it is also Photography Day.

We had a nice evening yesterday, after work. We had not been to Chef Point Cafe in a while (if you click on that link, you can see the “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” feature on the restaurant), so we planned to go last night. We went straight there after work, in order to beat some of the crowd (the parking lost is always over-flowing). The food was every bit as delicious as we remembered it being. They had some new additions, such as “Italian Nachos” for an appetizer. They were absolutely delicious! Then I had “Atlantic Salmon Piccatta” for my dinner. It was truly amazing. But I couldn’t eat it all . . . had to bring some home. After dinner, we went to Braum’s for sundaes.

This morning, Stephanie opened her presents, then listened to Frank Reed, from KLTY wish her a happy birthday. She had happy tears after that. After a little while, we are going out to get pedicures (Stephie wants a manicure, too), donuts at Krispy Kreme, and then, who knows what else? Tonight, we are having a birthday celebration at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Fogata’s.

(Source: This Day In History)

It was on this date in 1964 that The Beatles kicked off their first American tour, performing at the “Cow Palace” in San Francisco. Their set for that show (as well as the other stops on the tour), which lasted just over thirty minutes, consisted of: Twist and Shout, You Can’t Do That, All My Loving, She Loves You, Things We Said Today, Roll Over Beethoven, Can’t Buy Me Love, If I Fell, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Boys, A Hard Day’s Night, and Long Tall Sally. (In the clip below, I also heard Till There Was You.)

“At other stops on the tour, the Beatles’ performances would last approximately 33 minutes, but the show that night in San Francisco lasted some five minutes longer—not because of any difference in the Beatles’ performance, but because of police intervention to stem the growing pandemonium. Within the first few seconds of the first song that night, at least one radio journalist traveling with the Beatles had been trampled to the ground along with a young female fan who broke a leg in the melee. And thanks to an offhand comment by George Harrison about the group’s favorite candy in the days leading up to the show, the Beatles themselves were pelted with flying jelly beans throughout that night’s set. Though John, Paul, George and Ringo were uninjured, they left the Cow Palace that night by ambulance after their limousine was swarmed by berserk fans. It was a scene that would become familiar to them as they continued on their first historic tour of America in the months ahead.”

Sharing a birthday with Stephanie, we have Justin Nowlin (her brother-in-law), John Stamos, Bill Clinton, Matthew Perry, Christina Perri, Coco Chanel, Veronica Roth, Orville Wright, Kyra Sedgwick, John Deacon, J.J. Hardy, Jonathan Frakes, Gene Roddenberry (El Paso, TX), Ginger Baker, Jim Carter, Ian Gillian, Erika Christensen, Peter Gallagher, Malcolm Forbes, Ogden Nash, Philo T Farnsworth, Willie Shoemaker, Diana Muldaur, Jill St. John, Johnny Nash (Houston, TX), Tipper Gore, Gary Gaetti, Ron Darling, and Jason Starkey (son of Ringo). Wow. Stephanie’s birthday is way cooler than mine!

Ian Gillian was one of the lead singers of Deep Purple during the Ritchie Blackmore years. There seems to be some discrepancy as to whether it is “Gillian” or “Gillan.” I have always spelled it “Gillian.” I could be wrong. Anyway, he’s 69 years old today.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23:6

(From The Divine Hours)

Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!
Psalm 31:24
O LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
Psalm 141:1-2
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14:16-17

Today’s Gospel reading

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Matthew 4:18-22

I have to confess, I’ve always felt a little bad for Zebedee in this scenario. I can’t help but wonder what his reaction was. I mean, his sons just left him high and dry. So to speak. On a more serious note, the words of Jesus, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” are brief and to the point. Are those words meant for us today? I’m not sure about that. I’ve had more and more questions, recently, about how we should read the Bible, one of those being the popular practice of taking every single word of the Bible and claiming it is written to modern Christians. I just don’t think that is either true or wise. However, we can’t go wrong following Jesus. Whether or not we all wind up being “fishers of men,” depends solely on his plan for our lives.

Today’s reading in Reflections for Ragamuffins is “The Dream of Life.”

We all have a dream or vision of some kind, “a vision of life that corresponds to our convictions, embodies our uniqueness, and expresses what is life-giving within us.” This dream “gives definition to our lives and influences the decisions we make, the steps we take, and the words we speak.” We often get distracted by circumstances and temptations, but that dream is still there, prodding our consciousness, nurturing our fantasies and sustaining our will.

“The dream of Jesus Christ is the Kingdom of God, and the committed Christian buys into his dream.”

Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him,
and he will act.
Psalm 37:5

I like to include verse 6 with the above quote:

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

And some people believe that verse 4 goes better with it:

Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Father, help me to buy into the dream of Jesus. I pray that the desires of his heart will be the desires of my heart in all things. Once again, I seem to have become constantly distracted by the elements of the world around me. I pray that you will direct my heart so that I hear your voice, through the Spirit, every day, only listening to the desires of your heart for me. Your Kingdom is what is important. I pray that we, your Church, will help bring it to earth, however we can. May we be imitators of Christ and show your Kingdom to all who come in contact with us. This doesn’t mean that we all have to be evangelists. There are many ways in which we can share your Kingdom, not the least of which is wrapped up in how we act and how we treat other people, especially when they frustrate us. May the dream of Jesus, your Kingdom, be that which gives definition to my life and influences the decisions that I make, the steps I take, and the words I speak. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.

I pray for this day. May we have a safe and fun time with Stephanie as we celebrate her birthday today. I pray that she will experience great joy today as we try our best to make this day all about her.

May we be committed to the dream of Jesus in our lives.

Grace and peace, friends.