STOLEN

Well I would have to admit that I am surprised it hasn't happened in the 12 years of doing church in the park but it finally did. The trailer we store our $15,000 + worth of equipment was taken from the front of the house were we keep it. The police called our office Wednesday at noon asking if we had a utility trailer. When we told them we did they told us it was parked in Penticton. The police informed us that they would tow it to the police compound in Penticton and we could pick it up from there. Yesterday a team of three went off to retrieve the trailer and when they arrived they investigated and discovered that most of the sound equipment except the sound board was gone. But, we have our trailer back and not everything was taken our tents were still there and a few chairs. Fortunately we have insurance and should be able to replace it all within the next couple of weeks.
Thou shalt not steal was written for good reason. The sense of loss, the frustration and grief it causes, the injustice is nauseating. God's commands are given for good reason and not as so many assume to keep us from enjoying life. And in keeping these commands there is great reward. Let him who stole steal no more is the true testimony of those who have taken Gods forgiveness and his new life as their own. They now seek to respect their fellow man and also their possessions. One of the interesting things to me is that theft is now so common place most the people we have told have their own stories of being robbed as well.

Weep and Wail and Mourn

It was about 38 degrees today. I was melting but the cool evening is so welcome. My lament yesterday did me much good. Sometimes you just have to say or write it or both just to get it out of the system. Fortunately God has blessed me with a personality that is usually pretty positive and enthusiastic. But I still like and need to let it all out sometimes. Laments are one of those "overlooked" biblical concepts that is generally misunderstood and therefore way undervalued in our western culture. Nothing like the purifying power of a good lament! But our culture likes to make us all think we're supposed to be happy all the time. And that line of thinking seems to be epidemic in the Christian world. Everything has to be fixed and/or "victorious" or our faith comes under suspicion. What I find most interesting is that Kind David would write a lament, put it to harp music and then everyone at synagogue would sing it that Sabbath! How weird would that be. Imagine the song leader getting up there and saying something like, "Ok everyone David had a really bad week this week and somehow he found the time to put it into a poem and then to music and we're all going to sing and weep our way through it this morning." It was depressing, miserable, "durgy" type music and everyone felt the sadness of the song as they sang it. Then to top it all off, the Holy Spirit decides to make sure it is preserved in the bible for all eternity! Most of the Psalms are laments and of course Jeremiah left a whole book with the title Lamentations! Funny, I have grown up in the church and the only things I know about that book are the two or three positive statements in the whole book and virtually nothing else! Anyway, if your feeling down say so about sums up what a lament is all about! BOO-WHO!

Propping Up

How long does one need to be propped up by fellow believers? I know a person who arrived on our churches doorstep about 6 years ago broken, depressed and really hurting. His wife had left him with their kids suddenly. He arrived home to find them all gone. He started coming out faithfully to church , joined a life group and rededicate his life to God and even got baptized with a believers baptism. He began the slow but steady road to recovery and really did very well up until about a few years ago. That is when he met his girlfriend. They instantly made a great couple. His life group began the process of introducing "purity" into his life as a healthy and godly way of respecting this young lady. We tried our best to hold him accountable and for the most part he had been very respectful and accommodating. But things began to change. Silence began to show up in his life when before he was always talking about his relationship. Then we began to notice her staying over night and we began to dig into the idea of purity more and more candidly. He constantly was on a roller coaster over this and eventually, even with our valiant efforts to encourage him to keep their relationship pure, she got pregnant. Now the issue is to marry or not but my friend can not make up his mind. He was eager to submit to the group and be accountable to make changes with their sexual relationship. Then our group decided to take a break over the summer and we left on holidays. Yesterday, I found out he is ready to buy a house with her and move in. I was so angry with him I just stormed away. What is that about? I understand the power of fellowship and how essential it is to our Christian lives but come on... When does it become like some sort of "co-dependent" thing. As soon as the group is absent, even after 5+ years of propping him up he has no backbone to make good solid Christ-like decisions! I'm pretty frustrated with him and I am planning to sit down and chat with him about the unwelcome but necessary prospects of church discipline. But the thing that bothers me most is all the work, years of building into a life, and the repayment is summed up with him repeating the exact same mistakes over and over again. Very frustrating!
So I guess, after writing thus far, it is not far from my mind that God has had to deal with me and all of us the same way even after years and years of working on our hearts and propping us up we still are prone to fall. We are prone to unforgiveness and holding grudges, we are prone to walking away from relationships rather than working them out in a Christ like manner. We are prone to blame and accuse and criticize and blast away at another person who is made in God's image just like us! We are prone to sin and therefore we are all in a position of needing much grace. I guess at the end of the day we can trust that God will deal with his children and sometimes that means church discipline. Oh the joys of church leadership! Any way, thanks for reading my lament, I would be suprised if you're still reading this with me. Cheers!

Preaching

This is me this morning preaching in the sanctuary that God has provided for us throughout the summer. NOT BAD EH!!!!

Breakfast ... Club

Ok for all you whiners out there it did rain here in the not so sunny Okanogan so the temperature was only 26 C and it poured most of the day... Most of the day except for the morning that is. This morning I woke up late from the affects of attending a motor vehicle accident last night until 2:00 in the morning. But when I did finally wake up my wife pleasantly asked me if I wanted to join her down town to sit at a table on the sidewalk in front of her Edward Jones office and share breakfast together. When we arrived we found that the neighbor, a fish and chip shop, had left their stove on slightly and the entire building smelled of the sickly odor of natural gas. But once we got past that little surprise we were able to sip on fresh brewed Tim Hortons coffee, enjoyed a ham, cheese and mushroom omelet and some delightful conversation that had little direction and was quite light hearted. One of the best ways to start any day I would say.
Meanwhile, my friend down the street named Tim opened up his hardware store. We could see him putting out his wears and getting ready for a full day of business from where were sitting. He also shares the building he is in with a nice Hungarian lady who runs a clothing/beach wear shop. Shortly after Cheryl and I had finished our sweet time together a couple of young men began to bother this lady. She came out of her store shocked and upset and acting as though she had been assaulted. So Tim, who is usually a bit of an over actor, grabbed a grub hoe handle to use as a club and marched out after these boys (both in their twenties). He also thought they had stolen a couple of shirts off his outdoor rack so he was pretty heated. The thing escalated to the point where the police were called in and after statements were taken the tempers finally cooled down. Later he told me that the lady next door was defiantly over-reacting, he definitely over-reacted ( the boys didn't take his T-shirts) and said that a gentle tone would have been a much more powerful way to solve the problem. Really not the way you would want to start off the day - anytime really! Seems like there is never a dull moment around here these days.
As the day progressed Cheryl got some really great news and I better stop there or she will be mad at me for stealing her thunder.
And now the weekend is upon us... Counseling tonight, wedding tomorrow evening and more visiting with Quentin and Tracee before they leave Sunday and then church, preaching and family on Sunday. Looking forward to it all.

Old Friends, Chatting and Stuff!

Today I spent the most of my day with old friends. Nothing like it really. They are the kind of people we just connect with. We see eye to eye on most issues and we love to chat up every issue that comes to mind. Quentin and Tracee Steen are long time friends and "Q" used to be on staff with me here in peachyland for two years. We golfed in 36 C weather and I melted and even he melted it was soooooooooooooo hot. Then we joined the wives and kids for a bbq and more chatting. We have such a good time, laughing, sharing stories and telling lies! Well you know what I mean. I am pretty beat up from the heat so I'm going to keep this one short. Yip, nottin like good ol fashion friends. Good night all!


Cheryl is on the computer beside me and found a good website for quotes, these ones made me laugh."Have you ever noticed that if you rearranged the letters in mother in law, they come out to Woman Hitler?" OR "Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken over there ... I'm gonna eat the first thing that comes out if its butt"? OR Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink what comes out"? OR "Why is it that when we are humming and then we plug our nose, our humming stops? Do people really hum through their nose, or their mouths?" OR "Don'’t you find it weird we teach our kids: scrub a dub dub, three men in a tub?" OR "If your named Will and you are in the army do you get worried when people say fire at will?"


Good ones babe!

Ok be honest, how many of you tried the humming one!

Blood Splattered God Garments

Today I read about the day of God's vengeance and the year of his redemption. It has to be one of the most graphic and disturbing passages of scripture in the entire bible. It portrays God as such a violent God. It states in Isaiah 63:3-4 "I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. 4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. After this graphic and disturbing description of the wrath of God the prophet seems to run to the aspect of God that is much more likeable. He goes on to say...Isa 63:7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us — yes, the many good things he has done... The lesson seemed clear to me. The passionate wrath of God is scary and at the same time motivating. Motivating because of the "year of his redemption". The point I got this morning was that this terrible and awesome aspect of God's character should drive us to the side of him that longs to show kindness and mercy now. The two times are compared. His wrath is pictured as a day but his redemption is described as a year. His mercy is huge and his anger is slow in coming but in the end his wrath is swift. I've seen this in my own family, especially when the kids were younger. My anger was swift and decisive but my mercy and kindness was slow and steady and thankfully long. The display of my anger I am sure was terrible in the eyes of my kids but the calm following the storm was sweet, deep and abiding. I think I saw this in my heavenly father this morning. Later in the passage the prophet wondered why God would make us in such a way the we wander from his ways and our hearts can become hardened so we don't revere him. But this again is a tribute to his amazing love. His warnings are thick and long and often and his patience seems to be endless but in the end we must chose to love him back or face the terrible consequence of our own choice. This was the beginning of my day and this passage has been rumbling around in my mind the whole day. It feels good to get it out of there and write it here in my blog. What about you guys any thoughts about this subject?

What up with that???

We have friends living in china. They are teaching English there and seem to be really enjoying themselves. Dale has a great sense of humor and one of the things he blogged was a translation off of a hair spray bottle. It is so funny I thought I would post it for you.

Translation #1: Hairspray Bottle - word for word....it's confusing

The vogue's what hair style need is which suite vogue already set. Profession special hair spray have type of the strong dint the result. Design of in keeping with all shapeness. Show hair that make you since now moving magic power, again hold out for long time the constant type, and the special afiliation is wet validity lock lives water the care for show hair for does not outflowing, for you providing the profession but completely.

How's that for a translation! What are they talking about!!! More to come....

You talk about LOST IN TRANSLATION!
Tonight I did some premarital counseling with a young couple. We got sidetracked (kinda) on this whole topic of not understanding what the other person is saying. It is about being lost in translation. So often feelings are hurt or things are said one way but completely taken the opposite way. What's up with that?
I guess it is God's way of helping us learn to understand our differences, learn about ourselves and learn about how God deals with us as well. We don't often understand his ways as they are higher and wiser than ours. And just as we have to work hard at communicating with and understanding one another so we have to work hard at hearing and understanding what it is God is trying to commuicate with us. I guess it is just further proof of the fall of mankind from the perfect paradise of the Garden of Eden.

Did you understand anything I just wrote????

My Secret Chocolate Cake Story

This is for Shuana who has not heard my secret chocolate cake story. More than likely she was preoccupied with getting married to some guy named Rick something or other. As the story goes... My roommate and I lived in a little cultisack while staying in Quezon City Manila Philippines. We eventually made friends with the neighbors who were the owners of the only Bus lines (worth mentioning anyway) on the main Island. They were very wealthy and they loved to party and basically about once a month they would make any excuse to have a real big bash. On this particular weekend they had decided to celebrate the 9th month birthday of their sons youngest child. By then we had become pretty good friends, playing basketball until the wee hours of the morning and we got an invitation to the fiesta and what a feast it was! Complete with dog meat, humogous prawns, giant crabs, frogs legs, shark fins, sticky rice, regular rice, noodles and of course coagulated pigs blood with special spices mixed in for dipping what ever you wanted to dip. We finished off the evening with biut(baby duck pickled and still inside the shell) and chocolate cake with ice cream. Well needless to say the chocolate cake was the most moist and delicious cake I had had for quite some time and so I had a couple of massive pieces. The Filipinos loved it, they were laughing at my enormous appetite and seemed far to eager for me to eat more chocolate cake. At the time I just assumed it was a quirky thing between big white guys and little brown guys and that was all there was to it. WRONG! When I went to bed and fell asleep, my body felt like I was sinking deep down into the bed. My dreams were wild and all of them were in fast motion. When I woke up my sheets were on the floor and my mouth felt like it had been filled with cotton balls the night before and I sucked on them all night. I also felt really disoriented not to mention completely exhausted. When I explained to my x-drug dealing roomie what I felt like he left the house in a flash and marched directly over to the neighbors house. When he came back he told me his suspicions had been confirmed. They had laced the chocolate cake with a large amount of pot. That was the source of the big joke when I helped myself to a second massive piece of chocolate cake that night. They all seemed to be in on the joke and so stayed away from the cake. I never ate their cake again. That is the first and only time I have ever been high and I slept right through it! And that folks is my secret chocolate cake story.

Random Thoughts and Home Sweet Home

Two weeks of sleeping in other peoples beds, eating other peoples food, borrowing other people's shoes, clothes and cars, staying up late, playing games, watching stampede fireworks, hanging around family, driving and driving and driving, going to a heavy metal meets punk meets acid rock concert, stampeding, spending money left right and center, getting eaten by mean little critters who love to suck your blood, seeing new converts come into the kingdom, guiding young men and women into deeper faith, mentoring a good up and coming youth leader, watching the passion play, getting a hug from Jesus afterwards (I knew him he is from Vernon and I watched him grow up at eagle bay camp were I often spoke and now he is a fine actor), seeing some seriously cool and old bones in Drumheller, wondering about the amazing Creator of all this weird whacked-out and wonderful creation, enjoying some crispy cream donuts, shopping, shopping, shopping, picnics, parties, getting a bad sunburn on my bald head, going to church and hearing an awesome sermon by an old bible school buddy, singing happy birthday to 2 complete strangers, singing happy birthday to 3 different family members, leading worship, blobbing some 90-120 lbs kids and watching them sail with extreme joy through the air, gaining a couple of pounds (oops), buying some new clothes, enjoying Banff, dancing with two people named Mackenzie at the same time, late night talks, early morning silence, enjoying a very engaging book, getting lost in Calgary, riding while Cheryl drove in Calgary, experiencing a city bus tire blow out from being over packed with wild, black eyed, black haired, blacked nailed, black clothed, pierced, tattooed, spikes, chains, evil looking t-shirts, pot smoking young people, golfing at Cirrocco golf club with uncle N, auntie J, and cousin Doug, playing bochie ball and going undefeated, playing pingpong and being beaten by a 10 year old kid and a 60+ year old uncle, BBQing, going out for dessert and coffee, watching thunder clouds roll in, listening to a huge rain storm, watching some awesome sunsets, hanging with Jeff and Veronique for a day, buying a cowboy hat, eating a taffy candy apple and an awesome piece of stampede fudge, losing Cheryl for 2 hours at the stampede (ouch), driving home and finally sleeping in my own bed. I had a pretty full and wonderful two weeks. Nothing like hanging out with some of the ones you love the most in this world. Cheryl and I and our girls are truly blessed people. It is nice to be back in our home sweet home!

Face Your Pace

How is your pace these days? In the past 2 or 3 weeks I have had conversation after conversation where I ended up challenging those who spoke with me regarding the pace they had set for living their lives. It seems as though for most folks they don't recognize that the pace they travel at is the exact pace they have chosen. After my mentioning it to them their first tendency is to blame everything and everyone else for their pace. The worst part is that if I had not taken my two months off I would be just like them. During my time off I was forced to stare my own pace in the face and it made me sensitive and alert to this subject. Over the course of those two months, my pace was drastically decreased. I thought I would be very restless but because of the record breaking pace I had been keeping prior to my time off I was far more exhausted than I felt or thought I was.

I think it is possible to live very full and exciting lives and still maintain a sane pace while doing it. I was reading a study of a group of professional tennis players. The study found that often the top tennis players are equal to and in some cases less equal in talent or skills than those who are not considered "top" in their profession. So what made them the best at what they did if their skills were basically the same as the other players around them? Pace. They knew how to pace themselves during matches that can take several hours to complete. What set apart the top of the top athletes was their ability to maximize small amounts of time to remove themselves from the pace of the game. The writers of the study gave an example of one super star who would take a vacation in his mind in the few seconds it would take to walk back to his line before serving or receiving a serve. To their surprise this same pattern was followed by all the best tennis pros. They had learned to pace themselves this way and it often gave them the advantage especially during longer matches and even when playing much younger but more intense (all the time) players.

Jesus was the master of maintaining a sane pace while keeping what we would even consider in our day a pretty full and busy life. He lived his life to the fullest but that included often taking breaks to rest and pray. He instructed his disciples to come apart and rest awhile when he noticed that the pace they had set was getting to much for them. One speaker I have enjoyed in my life named Howard Hendrix used to say that Jesus told his disciples to come apart or they would indeed come apart! So many things suffer when we don't learn this vital lesson on pace. Our health for one thing; Our physical health, our mental health, our emotional health and maybe the most important part of our lives our spiritual health are often unhealthy because of our unrestrained pace. If we are not healthy in these areas then everything else about us and around us will suffer.

Start small; take small breaks throughout your day. Make sure you are faithful at taking one day off per week. Take celebrations seriously. Long weekends, Easter, Christmas etc. are perfect to pull back, take stock, rest and pray about our lives. Church attendance is a simple way to pull back, relax, take a load off of our hearts and minds and be refreshed by the music, the fellowship, serving and by the preaching of the word of life. It is time to face your pace!

New Faith

New faith. I cannot think of anything more exhilarating than new, fresh, faith. Today, was a trip to the house of 3 new believers. A widow and her two teenage children. A family that just buried their father not more than 5 weeks ago. But through the whole event, they have thrown themselves upon the "God who is near" and they are so excited about what they are learning and experiencing. The 16 year old son said, "we should have church every two days. It is what keeps me going, it makes me excited and fills me with great hope." His 18 year old sister said that she is totally amazed that God hears her prayers and that he is answering them and the prayers of her family in such an amazing ways. "It is unmistakably God and I feel sorry for those who have to go though this without him?" The mother said she was over to visit a friend who doesn't believe in God yet. She was shocked to see her friend, who had lost her husband over 3 years ago, still grieving deeply and was basically at the same place. "The difference is hope, she said, we have so much hope!" Her friend believes in annihilation and it was obvious it had basically held her captive in a dungeon of grief. I left them about an hour after I arrived and I felt rejuvenate from a visit that normally would have left me pretty drained. At one point in the conversation (over a mean cup of coffee shuana) they had so many excellent questions about faith and God. It was absolute fun for me to lead them in a simple bible study and to watch their eyes light up as they began to see the truth revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. I love new faith.

Good Sunday.

Good Sunday. Made early morning omelets for the lasses before they left me in an empty house by 7:15 AM to hit the pitch for three rugged games of football (hear the Scottish brogue in there). Once again I was able to take advantage of the silence. I also did a bit of prep for the morning, had a nice long hot shower, and headed off to the service. We have made a conscious decision as leadership to "linger-longer" much longer, over the bread and the cup. We have dubbed the last Sunday of each month as "1st Priority Sunday" (sorry Chris) in order to accomplish this. Each time I will give a short 10 min talk on some aspect of either baptism, Communion or prayer. Then we have made more room in the service for the elders to come to the front with oil for anointing and prayers for those who come. The people really responded. Many came forward to be prayed with for many different situations and needs. We went so long that the "sermon time" was reduced to 10 minutes. I loved it. There is something very rewarding and revitalizing when we linger over the Lord's Table and pray for each other in this fashion. Very spiritually energizing to say the least. We were given a treat by a couple of teens at the end of the morning service. They won a couple of awards at a local film festival so we finished off the morning service and invited the folks to stay and watch the 11 min. production called CSI Kitchen. It was amazing! We have so much hidden talent in this little church! After that I had lunch with friends, headed home for a change of clothing and a 10 minute nap, and went off to coach my last soccer game of the spring league. And you all know the rest of the story by now. Proud moment for a dad and a coach!(hear the buttons popping off the shirt I am wearing and ricocheting around the room). So... just as it started out this morning there is silence in this house again. Everyone is sound asleep and so I am able to catch up on all the blogs and even write my own.

Enjoyed the day

Early morning stillness just sat there in the silence, then coffee with my girlfriend, a leadership meeting, coaching last Saturday game of soccer(two more tomorrow), eating at Wendy's, fed goldfish, watched goldfish, worked on church stuff, went to our small group for a wiener roast, had a good chat with a teenager from church, brought two of kids friends home for a sleep over, came home tired,watched movie called BIG FISH, must go to bed now. night night all:)

A blessing And I Didn't Even Know It!

Last night after the ball game Mackenzie begged and begged and wore me down until I finally gave in and went for a "last-ball-game-of-the-season-slushie" at our local Petrocan. I ended up parking outside the building and waiting while kenzie took my debit card and went in and bought a good sized slushie as a reward for her stellar season. As I waited I was looking in my rear view mirror and I watched as a 1/2 ton pick up truck without a muffler came roaring into the gas station parking lot. The boys tumbled out one by one laughing, swearing, and smoking, looking like they were looking for some mischief to get into. By that time Kenzie had made her purchase and had jumped into the passenger seat of my truck and started sucking on her straw enjoying the sugary ice. I noticed one of the boys was heading towards my truck and as he came closer I recognized him as a kid who I had worked with when I was involved in the Restorative Justice program. "Jack" (not his real name) came over to the window and said hey Mr. Nichol how's it going? He proceeded to tell me how his life had changed since his incident with the law. He had made restitution with those he wronged and in fact was friends with their two daughters. He told me he graduated from high school and that he now was working 14 hour days, 6 days a week for a paving company. He said over and over again how much he appreciated my input into his life. He said that what I had done for him had really helped him get through a rough period in his life. I was blessed by his words. I figured that I had had very little input into his life and that he really wasn't that interested in the tough work of making some serious changes to his behavior. I remembered how I had prayed that I would be able to be at least one positive male adult in this kids life. The Lord graciously answered my prayers.
I got thinking about how often that has happened to me. Many times I have been thanked by those who I really didn't think I had had that much influence on. But I was determined to bring the light of the kingdom of God into their situation and trust God that something good was going to happen even if I never got to see it. He often uses us when we are completely unaware of it. I think it will make heaven even more delightful as we bump into people whose lives were changed by having been near us.

Full day

Tonight we played our last ball game of the season for Mackenzie's team. We got to end on a victory note so that was nice and our party is next week Thursday night. All in all it was a terrific season and I had a lot of fun coaching the kids and working with their parents. A good group of people all around. I had a pretty full day only touching down in my office for about 15 minutes late in the afternoon. The rest of the day was spent with people. Walking, talking, coffeeing, and doing life together. One of my co-mentor groups I belong to is working its way through a book I would highly recommend to all of you. It is called The Power of Full Engagement. It really is one of the best books I have read for practical steps to fully engage life in all its aspects. Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. By following some of its ideals 3 of the 5 other pastors have found significant changes to their energy levels. Pretty cool.

the peachland piranhas 

the team....contemplating the season.... 

The Awesome Power of Music and Songs

Last night our girls ball game was cancelled so we decided to have team photos and play a game of Kalifornia Kick Ball along with the parents. We had just nicely gotten into the top of the 3rd inning when ZZZZZZAP CRASH BOOOOOOM a massive lightening and thunder storm came over our heads. That was the end of kickball! After a few seconds of what-should-we-do-now, we decided to hustle the girls and the few adults there down to the local restaurant for some good old fashioned ice cream cones. While we were there some guy showed up with his big expensive Karaoke machine and to our surprise we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Karaoke night at the Peachland Garage Grill and Pump. Well, the rest is history. The kids started singing songs, laughing, ribbing each other, some started being the back up singers to the two or three girls that were singing. Some of the kids could really sing and some of them, well, you know they did try anyway! I even ended up joining in on the fun and sang one song with Paige and one song with Mackenzie. We stayed there for over an hour and a half and everyone went home with a little ice cream in their tummies and a big smile on their faces (adults included).
Music and songs are such powerful things. They have the power to make us laugh or cry. They have the power to attach themselves to our memories and suddenly take us back to those moments. They have the power to take a good time and turn it into a great time. We are made to hum or sing or just be moved by music and song by a humming, singing, dancing creative God. The stack of evidence is thick. Just look in the bible and see the poetry, the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. From funeral durges to loud angelic choirs and from flutes to drums it's all in there. We are instructed that making music and melodies in our hearts to God is meant the be a picture of a heart set free from sin and engaged by the beauty of the savior. Interestingly enough in the end times one of the things that the angels will destroy is mentioned in Rev 18:22 "The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters,will never be heard in you again." One of my favorite passages of the scripture is found in Zeph 3:17 "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
I can almost hear him.....