Good, Good News

My son loves that song. Good News. It is a Gaither Vocal Band song. I know, I know, you either really like them or think they are that country, sticky sweet fake gospel type music. Well, I was raised with a grandmother who called Marty Stewart her little boyfriend when watchng the Grand Ole Opry. I was part of a few bluegrass bands, rock bands, accapella groups,etc growing up. I like music. It doesn't concern me where it comes from or what type is it classified as. If it speaks to me I like it. I think that is evidenced by the fact that my CD collection contains everything from Hall and Oats, John Mellencamp, Billy Joe Shaver to The Gaither vocal Band. OK, I forgot Train, SCC and.... I better stop. I was also a disc jockey for about 5 years and I know every album cut on pretty much every album from 1970-1988!
Back to the point of this blog. Good News.
Last night I saw a little interview with Joel Osteen. I like Joel. I know, I know here we go again. But I think he is sincere. He wants to get the word out that Jesus had some good news for us. Yes, we will have some hard times, things will be difficult, but good news is at the base of our lives when we choose to follow Jesus.
Now recently I have called my own belief system into question a lot. I am a very open, accepting person. I don't like to draw lines in the sand or put up barriers. And oddly enough this seems to cause people to question my true beliefs. It seems that in today's Christian world that you must walk a certain walk and talk a certain talk in order to show others that you are truly a Christian. It is so bad that it seems you must vote a certain way and have a certain agenda.
Whew! Beam me up Scotty!
Where did this come from? How did we get to this point?
The Jesus I see in the Bible, walked and talked and extended himself to many different people. He did it in a pretty regular way. Down to earth, face to face, hand to hand. To the heart. Good news. Yes, he has some things to say. But when I read I see a lot of admonishion being sent toward those who thought they had it all figured out. Those who had their rules and regulations memorized and who were not willing to change.
Wow, sounds a lot like us. At least sounds a lot like the Christian radio stations I hear hear on a daily basis, the people in the leadership roles at lots of churches and various other members of the religous mainstream.
I want to clarify that I am not down on church or religion. I am not trying to bad mouth anyone. But I am trying to say that I think being a true follower of Christ will cause us some problems with the religious establishment, some times with our own churches.
Jesus in my mind was pretty radical in the things he did at the time he did them.
He wasn't poplular with those who were considered the Moral majority of the day. He called them on it too!
What a novel concept. I continue to read about Jesus to listen closely to his words and to dissect his actions. But last night Joel made a point, Good news is really pretty simple. He is there for us. Where we are. We can come, he is ready. Life won't be perfect. We will struggle with our issues and we will question. But Good news never changes. You don't have to complicate it.

I'm off to the Mellencamp concert in a few weeks with my two kids aged 10 and 8. We will all enjoy it and are very excited. My sister and her boy friend are also going. We will bond in the music. I can tell you that in that environment with that music I will have my spiritual moments. Where you least expect them. Becaue that music speaks to me.
Good News does too.
My new resolution I guess it is my mid year resolution is to let the Good News help me stay focused. To let the Good news light the darkness that sometimes creeps in. To stay focused on the Good. To keep walking, to journey on. To stop focusing on the dissappointments that seem to happen in multiples on a daily basis lately. To trust and walk. Always knowing Good news is there waiting and I can touch it.