Music: Undo by Rush Of Fools

Following my post on Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, I wanted to share my thoughts on a song, which relates to the story line of the novel and God's redemption story for us. For me, "Undo" by Rush of Fools is a song I've offered up to God as a prayer when I've reflected on my life - knowing how imperfect and undeserving I am of God's love and forgiveness.

The lyrics for "Undo" speak of seeking God's divine help after falling away from God and living a life worse than a prodigal son and living a double life of a hypocrite and hiding the sin.

I know I can testify on my behalf that I've found myself guilty of making that journey back to God on more than one occasion. I know I've messed up and repeated the same offenses over and over and over again. Yet, I've come to realize that you can't keep hitting yourself over the head with the guilt of being a repeat offender - it's more of a tactic the enemy uses against us to keep us from moving forward and embracing the full redemption of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross for ALL of humanity for ALL sin. Sure, it's no excuse to sin, but it is a call to start on the journey towards repentance.

Angel, the prostitute in Redeeming Love, makes the journey back to her husband, Michael Hosea (the farmer), on more than one occasion after leaving him. I know I can relate to Angel making that journey back to Michael when I think of those times I've had to make the journey back to God. In the past, I've kept asking myself if this would be the last time. Then, I would humbly realize that I can't do this myself...on my own strength...on my own abilities, and the only way out is for me to give everything over to God and trust in Him to undo the mess I've made of myself.

Even the act of forgiving myself has been impossible for me to do on my own and it has been an ongoing process as I discover the true reality of God's forgiveness and gift of redemption.

I've included the music video for "Undo" here.





To visit the Official Site of Rush of Fools, click here.

If you would like to read the story of the Prodigal Son (or Lost Son), it can be found in Luke 15:11-31. Again, I highly recommend that you at least start off with a translation of the Bible that you can understand and comprehend.

2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

------

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
(Psalm 103:2-5, 8-13, NIV, bold face added)

Book Review: Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

I wanted to start off this blog on a radical note by recommending, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, a novel I found to be a superb read (outside of the Bible...of course).


A friend of mine highly recommended that I read Redeeming Love. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure how I would take to reading - as far as I can recall - my first romantic novel, but I took her up on her recommendation.

Well, I just finished reading this awesome story of God's unconditional love, and I found that from cover to cover, I had a hard time putting this book down. This was not what I imagined a romantic novel to be like. In fact, the story contained in the pages of Redeeming Love is the same story contained in the Bible of God's unending love for each and every one of us.

Rivers does an exceptional job of retelling the story of Hosea using characters set around the mid-1800s during the Gold Rush. The deep emotions and struggles of a prostitute and a farmer come to life in this book and reflect God's forgiving and redeeming character that never changes no matter how unworthy our lives may seem.

If you haven't read this novel yet, I highly suggest you pick up a copy for yourself.

On a further note, if you're not familiar with the story of Hosea, I suggest you take a look at the Book of Hosea in the Old Testament of the Bible before you read Redeeming Love. Hosea is classified as a Minor Prophet and contains 14 chapters. As with reading any book of the Bible, I recommend that you find a translation you can understand (at least to start out with).

My First Post

Welcome to my Blog!

Thanks for checking this blog out...I'll be working on it and adding content soon, so stay tuned and check back frequently for updates. I'll be working on getting some reviews up for resources and sharing ideas that may help for growing your faith, sharing your faith, and with various types of ministries.

I hope that you had a very special and merry Christmas season. As the year comes to an end, I hope you'll have a very blessed new year. Remember that every good and perfect gift comes from our Father in heaven (James 1:17), so thank Him.

God Bless...