Conversations About Faith

A song about running to the Father

By Steven Brodsky

… and two Bible verses to take us into the weekend and beyond:

John 14:23: “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

1 John 3:1: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”

Hallelujah for Entertainment, Culture and More readers who have stopped running from the Father.

Posted 7-19-24

On this Monday morning

By Steven Brodsky

… sharing this SEU Worship video:

Posted 7-15-24

Jeff & Sheri Easter will be performing a concert on Sunday, July 21, 2024 in Coleman Park (located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania)

By Steven Brodsky

… The concert will begin at 6:00 p.m.

There will be no admission charge.

Visit https://musicinthepark.net/event/jeffsherieaster/ for additional information.

Posted 7-15-24

Especially for column readers who want Jesus more than anything

By Steven Brodsky

… an embed of a video that was released this morning by Stephen McWhirter:

Posted 7-12-24

Every morning

By Steven Brodsky

… God’s mercies are new!

Lamentations 3:22-23: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

Posted 7-10-24

Continuing a theme of freedom

By Steven Brodsky

… though Independence Day 2024 has come and gone, with “No Longer Slaves,” performed by Zach Williams, and a Bible verse:

John 8:36: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Posted 7-5-24

If you’ve found a friend in Jesus

By Steven Brodsky

… the lyrics of this song may tell your story also:

John 8:36: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Posted 6-24-24

Shackled and unshackled listeners

By Steven Brodsky

… have been enjoying episodes of UNSHACKLED, the iconic radio drama show, since 1950.

Episodes of UNSHACKLED are accessible at: https://unshackled.org/on-demand/browse-all-programs/.

John 8:36: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Posted 6-6-24

‘There’s joy in the house of the Lord’

By Steven Brodsky

… Yes, there is.

(Some of you will be experiencing the joy of the Lord this weekend.)

Questions?

Some answers: https://www.gotquestions.org/joy-of-the-Lord.html.

Posted 5-31-24

Psalm 46

By Steven Brodsky

Enjoy this Shane & Shane performance video:

And enjoy Psalm 46 KJV: https://biblehub.com/kjv/psalms/46.htm.

Posted 5-5-24

A song that expresses being thankful to ‘God for the man on the middle cross’

By Steven Brodsky

The man on the left cross, the man on the right cross, and the man on the middle cross appear in Luke 23: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2023&version=KJV.

Posted 5-1-24

A powerful song/video about someone ‘taking back what the enemy stole’

By Steven Brodsky

… paired here with a well-known Bible verse, 1 John 4:4.

Let’s preface that with John 10:10 (another well-known verse): “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Enjoy:

1 John 4:4: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

https://www.gotquestions.org/greater-is-He-that-is-in-me.html

Posted 4-28-24

In a proper season

By Steven Brodsky

…  appeared this frog (and the shadow it cast upon a lotus leaf):

Ecclesiastes 3 KJV (biblehub.com)

Posted 4-25-24

‘O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’ – 1 Corinthians 15:55

By Steven Brodsky

… This video is embedded here especially for the miracle children who regularly visit the sections of the Entertainment, Culture and More column:

Posted 4-10-24

A life that is proof of what God can do

By Steven Brodsky

You may know people who’ve experienced God-enabled transformation similar to the kind that Stephen McWhirter sings about in “My Life Is Proof.”

I do.

Matthew 19:26 KJV: “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

Posted 4-4-24

It wasn’t you, nor was it me

By Steven Brodsky

… who made this tree:

“Trees,” by Joyce Kilmer: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/12744/trees.

The tree was photographed yesterday.

The Joyce Kilmer poem was published in August 1915.

About Joyce Kilmer: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/joyce-kilmer.

Posted 3-25-24

‘I have a future and it’s worth the living’

By Steven Brodsky

… a line from the lyrics of “Made For More” that pairs nicely with Jeremiah 29:11: Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. (biblehub.com).

Some of this column’s readers will be “singing hallelujah” this weekend.

Have a great weekend!

Posted 3-1-24

Need a reminder that the battle has already been won?

By Steven Brodsky

… If you do, you’ve come to the right place.

Psalm 63:4: “Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.”

Posted 2-19-24

Just as we are

By Steven Brodsky

One or more of these three songs and the invitation that underlies them will resonate with a number of Entertainment, Culture and More readers:

Just As I Am (youtube.com)

Crowder – Come As You Are (Music Video) (youtube.com)

Just As I Am (youtube.com)

Revelation 3:20 KJV: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Posted 1-21-24

‘But the cross says they’re wrong’

By Steven Brodsky

… thankfully.

Posted 12-4-23

‘A Man Called Norman’

By Steven Brodsky

… referenced here three years ago, is a story of kindness and faith.

Enjoy “A Man Called Norman”:

https://www.focusonthefamily.com/episodes/broadcast/a-man-called-norman-part-1-of-2/

https://www.focusonthefamily.com/episodes/broadcast/a-man-called-norman-part-2-of-2/

Consider sharing the above links with others during this holiday season.

Posted 11-27-23

‘Be still’

By Steven Brodsky

Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Posted 11-10-23

Thrown out of church

By Steven Brodsky

… the character in “The Outlaw’s Prayer”:

I hope that he found a more hospitable place to worship and fellowship.

1 Samuel 16:7 comes to mind: “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

Posted 3-30-23

‘Perfectly Loved’

By Steven Brodsky

Update: “Perfectly Loved” Rachel Lampa (featuring TobyMac), won the 2023 K-LOVE Fan Award in the category of Breakout Single of the Year.

I’m thinking that this may be a perfect time to share this video for “Perfectly Loved” with the readers of this column (while listening to the song playing on my radio now):

Posted 2-3-23, Updated 6-6-23

Leonard Cohen and Billy Joe Shaver drew upon the same Bible verse

By Steven Brodsky

… The verse is Isaiah 64:6. As translated in the King James Version, the verse reads: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

I’m writing about Leonard Cohen’s “If It Be Your Will” and Billy Joe Shaver’s “If You Don’t Love Jesus.”

Most people who’ve heard the songs haven’t encountered the verse directly (and most of this column’s readers haven’t heard the Billy Joe Shaver song.)

In the Leonard Cohen song, Isaiah 64:6 is alluded to in the line: “In our rags of light, all dressed to kill.”

In the Billy Joe Shaver song, an allusion to the verse appears as: “Take your rotten rags of righteousness and stuff ’em up your self.”

“If It Be Your Will”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXoqQAvkLfQ&ab_channel=LeonardCohen-Topic.

“If You Don’t Love Jesus”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MbF0bc7iEs&ab_channel=Boofitts. The song is “strident,” as I described it during a radio interview that I did with Billy Joe Shaver a number of years ago.

Posted 8-2-21

Paul Simon heard Jessy Dixon perform ‘The Wicked Shall Cease Their Troubling’

By Steven Brodsky

… in Radio City Music Hall in 1972.

That prompted Paul Simon to invite Jessy Dixon to sing with him on Saturday Night Live. The two would go on to tour together in the U.S. and overseas for eight years.

Enjoy this video of Jessy Dixon performing his song “The Wicked Shall Cease Their Troubling” at The Dome:

 

Jessy Dixon passed away on September 26, 2011 at age 73.

Posted 1-10-21