sad

If Only

/ Mark Brady / Leave a comment

I have been listening to the same song over and over today, so I decided to share its lyrics. The song is “Christmas at Denny’s” by Randy Stonehill. It is sad and kind of haunting—at least some of the words are.

they got Christmas Muzak
piped in through the ceiling
and the refills of coffee
are always for free
and the waitress on graveyard
and the surly night manager
are wishing that all of us losers would leave

there’s a star on the sign
at the Texaco Station
like the star long ago
on that midnight clear
as I look all around
at these cold, empty faces
I doubt that you’d find many wise men here

and I’m dreaming about
a silent night
holy night
when things were alright
(Chorus)
once I had a home
and a wife and a daughter
had a company job
earning middle-class pay
then Lisa got killed
by a car near the schoolyard
and my wife started drinking
just to get through each day

I will never forget that little red wagon
turning to rust all alone in the rain
one morning I flagged down
a truck on the highway
I just couldn’t bear to go back there again
(Chorus:)
and I’m dreaming about
a silent night
holy night
when things were alright
and I’m dreaming about
how my life could have been
if only, if only, if only
well, it’s not just the blind man
who loses his sight
merry Christmas
it’s Christmas at Denny’s tonight

they say
life’s made of cruel circumstance
fate plays the tune and we dance
dance til we drop
in the dust and we’re gone
and the world just goes on

the cop at the counter
he’s the guardian angel
he watches these orphans
through dark mirrored shades
and the register rings
like a bell sadly tolling
for the fools we’ve become
and the price that we paid

oh when I was a boy
I believed in Christmas
miracle season to make a new start
I don’t need no miracle, sweet baby Jesus
just help me find
some kind of hope in my heart
(Chorus)
but I’ll still be here
at the morning’s first light
merry Christmas
it’s Christmas at Denny’s tonight

The song tells a sad story, and I would bet it isn’t too far from at least one’s true story. Life is about making choices in reaction to what is going on in our lives. In the above story, the man couldn’t get over his daughter’s death and then witnessed his wife’s slow demise into alcohol. Even though he mentions having knowledge of God in the past. If only you hadn’t cheated on your spouse. If only you hadn’t lost your job. If only you had not come down with cancer. If only you had been a better parent. If only your house had not been destroyed by fire. If only, if only, if only.

You can mess up or have bad things happen in your life but still keep your hope.

So what happens when one looks at the circumstances instead of God? They lose their faith. They lose hope. That is what Satan wants. For you to lose your hope, that is. Without hope, people die. Jesus is the hope of the world. Accept Him and survive anything that may come your way in life.

…in him will the nations find hope. Mat. 12:21 (ICB)

I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in him. Then your hope will overflow by the power of the Holy Spirit. Rom. 15:13 (ICB)

Copyright © 2024 Mark Brady  All Rights Reserved

How Fortunate!

/ Mark Brady / Leave a comment

I seldom get down, and depressed, but it happened the other day.  I knew what all was bothering me, but I could not come up with an answer to the problem.

I asked God, “What should I do?”

I sensed He whispered, “Love”.

I thought for a moment and said, “What else you got?”

His answer seemed impossible considering the circumstances, so I continued to remain quiet, and sad.

I wrote, just last week, how God gets creative whenever He communicates with us.  Last night, He just showed off!  A friend texted with a request to help her and so we agreed and went over to a different neighborhood than ours and took care of her need.  I could have completed the task by myself, but thought about the restaurants in that area and asked my wife if she would go with me.  I didn’t tell her what I was planning, but I knew one of her favorite eating establishments was close by.

I took care of the deed, and then drove about a block to the Chinese restaurant.  The look on my wife’s face of pure excitement and joy was worth the trip alone.  We ordered and she went and found us a place to sit to enjoy our meal.  I, on the other hand, got our drink, plastic ware, napkins, soy sauce, and of course a fortune cookie.  There was a whole basket of cookies, but I randomly picked one.

We ate and then I cracked opened the cookie.  Now, I am not one to believe in fortunes, or horoscopes, or the like, but when I read the message inside, I knew it was meant to be.  It read,

“Hope is the most precious treasure to a person.”

As the, so called, “random” message sunk in, I sensed a feeling of love, and God saying, “Gottcha!”  I believe in hope, I write about the importance of hope, and of the power of hope.  In that moment all of my depression left, and I knew the situation was going to be okay, and yes, his earlier message of “Love” was going to be the key.

God speaks.  Look for his words, seek them out, expect them, and listen when He does whisper to your soul.  He communicates because He loves us so much.

God always answers, one way or another,
    even when people don’t recognize his presence.
Job 33:14 (MSG)

Copyright © 2021 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

Why Do You Let Your Emotions Take Over?

/ Mark Brady / Leave a comment

The title to this blog is a good question.  One asked by Job’s friend, Eliphaz in Job 15 from the Bible.  The reason we do is because it’s natural.  We instinctually go there first, to our emotions that is.  Expressing one’s emotion has gotten so popular these days we can even respond by sending an “emoji”. Of course, not all emotions are harmful, and not all are based in fear.

I remember a time when I got extremely mad and hurt from my father.  On the way home, from that encounter, I ordered a pizza.  I dropped it onto the asphalt on the way to my car due to high winds.  I had to go back inside and order another one.

When I finally got home and was eating it, God whispered, “Why didn’t you turn to me first?”

OUCH!

I thought about it and answered, “Because you weren’t my first thought, God.”

That’s probably why we turn to our emotions first and allow them, or empower them to take over us.  We have not yet trained ourselves to think of God first, and allow him to help us react to life in a peaceful manner.  Or to respond to a person and or situation with one of the fruits of the Spirit.  Can you imagine how much better life would be, or go if we could retrain our minds?  It is possible!  While in the midst of the process of getting my wife’s immigration to America completed I got depressed, and instead of turning to food, and allowing my emotions to rule, I prayed.

A key to learning to change our behavior is asking God for help to do so.  I had to do this as well.  God loves us so much and doesn’t want to see us get bogged down because we allow our emotions to rule us.  So the next time something happens that “gets your dandruff up”, or raises a red flag, stop, and ask God to help you.  I know you will be glad you did.

Copyright © 2021 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

Jesus Wept

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“Jesus Wept” statue at the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK. 4-19-1995

As a child growing up in church, the title of this post, John 11:35, was my favorite verse to quote.  I think the reason is obvious.  Saying it with accuracy would help earn me a candy bar, or something.  But these days, it has a whole new meaning.

These days, I know why Jesus wept.  I was taught it was because his good friend Lazarus had died, but I don’t believe that anymore, for Jesus already knew he was going to raise him from the dead.  Verse 4; When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, but to God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (NET)

Jesus wept because the people, and his friends, who had lost their loved one were hurting.  My point to telling you this is Jesus hurts when you are hurting too, even today.  Jesus sees you, knows your name and knows what you are going through now and will go through in the future.

Verse 32 Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed. (NET)

When you are hurting, distressed, be confident that Jesus knows, he cares, and he can’t wait for you to invite him to do something about it.  It’s true, he holds the whole world in his hands, but he’s holding you as well.  Now rest in that knowledge.

Copyright © 2019 Mark Brady.  All rights reserved.

Jollibee

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20181220_215148On a recent trip to the Philippines, I saw a lot of life I had never seen before. I experienced several new things as food, phrases, and culture. One thing that I couldn’t help but notice was the local rival to McDonalds, Jollibee. It has what McDonalds has as well a local favorite, chicken with rice and gravy.

Something that really stood out were the people. One, there were a lot of them. Two, as in America, there were different classes of them, but the lowest class seemed to be living in a darkness like I had never seen. Their eyes were so dim, as if the light was about to go out of their lives. They certainly have nothing to “bee jollie” about.

I looked at some and managed to do or say something that brought a small smile to their faces, but soon, the reality of their world would return, and the smiles faded. In those moments, what I really wanted was the time and the ability to share in their local language, Tagalog the hope of Jesus Christ that is within me. Just knowing Jesus is there with me in this life brings joy. He gives me a reason to “bee jollie”.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Ps. 42:11 NIV)

Copyright © 2018 Mark Brady  All rights reserved