So - what does all this have to do with "Blue Mountain"? Well, Blue Mountain is the newest album from Brandon Heath... the handsome guy in the picture with us. He talked about the title of the album and how it had come to be. C.S. Lewis is one of his favorite authors and he talked about how he read in a C.S. Lewis book a quote about mountains and how they look the same in the distance - blue and hazy but when you get close they are all just brown and green like everyone else. He talked about how we are all really just the same - broken hurting people in the need of a Savior. This picture of the mountains is seen clearly in these two pictures from my Colorado trip last fall.
I found this quote from an article: Brandon says, “So I really wanted to create this place called Blue Mountain and all of the characters because I think that the best way to know a place is to know its people,” Heath says. “In a sense, I’m actually inviting you to come closer to the Blue Mountains so that it is not so much of a mystery anymore.” He played some songs from the album last night - really good stuff. One of my favorite songs was "Jesus in Disguise" - you can listen to it here Another favorite was "The Harvester" which you can listen to here
These songs both made me think about my life - God reminded me that He is calling me to be His witness where I am TODAY. I see truck drivers come in and out of the warehouse every day and I admit - they look like blue mountains to me - just a haze - they all look the same. But, if I took the time to just take a moment to look closer I would see they are brown and green just like me - they are people that have stories - a life - they may have a family, they may be alone, they may be hurting, they may be broken... I don't, and won't, often know anything deeper in these people's lives - but they come into my life for a few moments and I would be remiss to not take the opportunity God gives me every day to show them His kindness, grace, and mercy.
Mandisa shared about how she views her life as a timeline with a dot where she was born and a dot somewhere down the line where she dies or when Jesus comes back. And then there are these dots along the way - one of them stands out among the rest.... that one is red - representing Christ's blood and when she received God's gift of salvation. She talked about how she watches a lot of Law and Order and she imagines someday when she gets to Heaven it being like a courtroom scene from Law and Order. God in the judges seat in His flowing robe, the enemy - satan, the at the prosecutor table and her on the defensive side. She said she imagined satan standing and reading her long list of sins and reasons she shouldn't get into Heaven, for after all the wages of sin IS death. Then, her lawyer, Jesus approaches the bench, maybe says "Hi Dad" and says, you are right, Mandisa deserves death, but I paid the price for her and if you read that whole verse you just took out of context, satan, you would see it says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) Jesus would tell satan yes, she deserves death, but I paid the penalty for her. Then God, the Father - from the judges stand would declare her "Not Guilty" - which is the name of one of her amazing songs: "Not Guilty" This courtroom image was pretty powerful to hear her describe - and I am so grateful I know where that red dot on my timeline is - August 1, 1985. That dot is the most important dot on my timeline and THAT dot is what should define me and my life.
I loved that when Mandisa shared the gospel and gave people a chance to respond she didn't just leave it there - she talked about how becoming a Christian doesn't make your life easy, actually the opposite is true - there will be hard times, God's Word says that in this world you WILL have trouble, but we are not fighting FOR victory - Jesus won the Victory already - we are fighting FROM a place of Victory.
This was so powerful for me and such an awesome reminder. I am so unbelievably thankful for the time of worship and praise last night. God reaffirmed so many things He has been doing in my heart and life - it was a time of continual healing along my journey, a time of hearing Truth from God's Word, praising the Lord, being challenged in my walk with Him, an amazing few hours of worship. It honestly felt like I had just tasted a small glimpse of what Heaven will be like.... except it won't just be a few hours... "When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun." Oh, how I long for that day - how I am ready for that day... but in the meantime - I'm to walk the journey He has laid out for me.
Absolutely unbelievably blessed beyond measure,
Sherri
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