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The second new episode of Cephas Hour, released on January 14th, 2023, touches on matters and music that lately have been heavily pressed on my heart. There’s much, much more to come. You can listen to the entire show here.

As one grows older, time’s schizophrenic nature becomes ever more apparent. Even as we know our days are growing fewer in number, this punctuated by the magic and loss of goodbyes said to those we love, we look forward with joy and hope to the coming great reunion in our Lord’s presence. Like lions gathering in autumn, we pool our resources, learning with increased clarity the Scriptural lesson of many parts forming one body. We are growing ever more aware that, as a particular book title states, God’s not dead, and neither are we. It is incumbent upon us to press on, fearlessly speaking God’s Word to our generation and the generations that have come after us. There is no pass on righteous living or sin’s wages based on how far back the numbers go on our birth certificate. This is the time for action and revival. The time will come when we are no longer able to act. Therefore, we need to act starting now.

Even as we move and change throughout our lives, the Spirit within us remains unmoving and unchangeable. Why should it consider any other path? It is the third part of the Triune God. It knows the score.

One of the greater mysteries in Christianity is the notion of the Holy Spirit, God Himself, living inside us. It is better if we resign ourselves to never fully understanding this process. Simply put, it is more than we can handle. For example, as one learns by examining history, artists are the population segment most prone to madness in varying forms. This should come as no surprise. Regardless of admittance to same, an artist’s creativity stems from intimate contact with God, Who is the Creator. When finite man connects in any fashion with the infinite God, mind-blowing evolves from humorous anecdote to authentic reality.

We must let the Spirit speak to us, and we should always be mindful that God Himself dwells inside of us. We are not God, nor are we capable of perfection. But there is perfection present. We should assimilate it as best we can.

Those of us with long memories recall the days of our heady youth and zealous faith when we firmly believed Christ’s Second Coming was imminent. It wasn’t, at least not by how we measure imminent, and a fair amount of former faithful have fallen away, disillusioned and embittered by having to live out their lives.

We who have remained in the faith have not lost hope. While our eschatological interest may have diminished, it remains intact, free from the back of the closet where our well-worn copies of The Living Bible and Maranatha Music compilation albums reside.

Jesus will indeed return, and He alone knows the details regarding when. We should take comfort and a sense of urgency from that, resolving to continue or renew our efforts to win others to Christ while living our lives in a manner worthy of Him. The Second Coming is on the calendar. In the meantime, let’s celebrate the first.