On Why God is Good, Oldies are Timeless, and Hope is Not Lost

I'm waiting for my car to get done at the auto shop and I forgot my Jewish Literature anthology at home, which I have about a hundred pages to shoot down by this afternoon. So, of course I decided to waste time until Art at Hawthorne auto calls me and tells me my Honda is good to go.

It's not all that bad for many reasons:

First, the coffee shop I am in is playing a ridiculously great oldies mix which has included "Run Around Sue" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling." Have we all recognized the bridge to that last tune? There's no way Neil Diamond is not influenced by that. Thank you Phil Spector and the Righteous Brothers.

That's immediately on my mind. Secondly, and way more importantly, on Friday I had the extreme joy of asking my best friend and love, Ali Dugger, to marry me. And wouldn't you know it she said, "yes." So, we're now officially going for it and can officially talk about life together forever. She is simply remarkable. I could talk to her about anything for hours - maybe years - listen to her for longer. She lives a life I want to be a part of and through God's grace, a life I could compliment in some way. My future is all the more exciting.

I am incredibly thankful, and in praying and thinking about proposing to her, God has taught me amazing things that maybe I should share because it may be of help to you.

1) God redeems: Ali and I both come from what newspapers would call "broken" families. In other words, divorce has plagued both sides of our families as well as our immediate family. This, sadly, is a very common thing in the western world. You would think that we would have a scarred and perhaps bitter vision of marriage, but on the contrary, over the past years, God has redeemed marriage in our minds and by his grace and through prayer we are gaining the excitement for honoring him and each other by dedicating our WHOLE lives to him together and taking the vows seriously: This is for life, and it will be a joy.

2) God is serious about saving you: He'll do anything to save you from what you make ultimate. We all have something at number 1 in our priorities. God promises that if we put him there, we will have a life of joy. That doesn't mean we are without suffering, pain, loss, heartache, struggle, but rather that in those things (when they arrive...and they will) we have identity and belonging. We do not suffer in a vacuum.

But God wants this for you badly, and he will call to you constantly to drop whatever you put above him. You have to ditch your idols. Career? Your vision of a "good life?" Money? Marriage? If you want any of these things or anything else above Christ, you will not find life. "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desire of your heart." You do not know desire until you delight in God and God alone.

I put down many idols before and will be continually battling against them, but I know this is true: God is real, and he saves if you surrender.

3) God pulls through: This is difficult to stomach, because too many of use believe all we've done is suffer. But "the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." Claim that, don't just wish it will happen one day, but claim it.

I just realized I could go on and on. Please ask me about these thing, for they are objective truths that lead back to the Truth himself, Christ. I'd love to talk to you about how I learned this and am learning this.

"Sweet Little Sixteen" just came on and not "Surfin' USA," this guy knows what he's playing.