Skip to main content

Daring to Be a Daniel

 

I am musing about....

Daring to Be a Daniel

How many of you remember that old Sunday School Song with this name that we sang with such  gusto as children? How many of your kids sang it when they were young? How many of you are still singing it with your kids or grandkids today?

We sang it the other evening during an evening singing for a dear elderly lady from church. When I mentioned how this song has been on my mind lately with all that is going on in the world today, a sweet friend looked at me and with a smile asked if I had been "musing about it lately". 

 And thus this post (thanks Sandy):)

And so. let's revisit the words from the chorus of this song:

    Dare to be a Daniel,

    Dare to stand alone,

    Dare to have a purpose firm,

    Dare to make it known.

The melody of the song is decisive and strong, like the lyrics. I have always loved this song and found strength in the firm conviction and dedication it portrays and promotes.

As Christians, from day one we need to take a stand. To be willing to be different. To stand out and sometimes alone. For a cause and a purpose.

In this Cancel Culture, where "anything goes" and those who stand on firm convictions are considered narrow minded, uncompassionate, old fashioned, self serving and even unloving, personal convictions have given way to "group think". For many in this "cultural moment" who are not Christ followers, it seems to have become difficult to admit or even know how to establish a personal conviction.

Yet, the Word of God is all about that. About convictions'. About right and wrong. About Truth.

How challenging this culture makes it to share Truth in a world where "truth" has become so relative, so personal, so.....untrue!!

I am going to quickly go down a side street to make a point. Please bear with me without getting too caught up in the initial theme.

The church I was raised in (which I am thankful for and still love and attend today) has a history of being...well, traditional. When we surrendered our lives to Christ, we stepped out of the world and into a completely new lifestyle that became very obvious to those around us. I realize that this statement, though true, could lend itself to a dissertation on God's grace and the sanctification process, yet this was my experience and I will maintain it for all practical purposes relative to the point I am making here:)

Looking back on that time, I realize that it was good practice for me in being okay with being different. For the sake of my Jesus!!

Being different is okay! It is good! It is necessary! To be a Christ follower is to forsake the world and those things that pull us down or away from Him. What that looks like will vary some, as we each search the Word and spend time with our Savior and look to Him for personal direction in all things.

But are we willing...to be different?

May we never shy away from all that means. May we not let the culture in any way dictate our responses to the issues surrounding us today.

May we seek God's grace as we respond. May we respond with Truth while exercising humility and kindness.

After all, is it not the kind thing, the loving thing....to spread Truth that saves? Truth that produces joy and meaning? Even when that Truth is rejected or when the proponent of said Truth is ostracized or maligned?

Ryan T. Anderson, Pres. of the Ethics and Public Policy Center put it well on a Breakpoint podcast (5/10/21)  when he said "We (Christians) may be called to carry a cross by bearing witness to a countercultural vision. The way that we love our neighbors is by bearing witness to the Truth. We (in the culture) have a definition of love which is relabeled affirmation, and that is not love. It is cruel to tell someone who is not okay, that they are."

"Then you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free." John 8:31

So may we Christians, freed by the Truth, go forth in and with the love of God. May we, as commissioned by God's Word and advocated in that powerful song of our childhood, 

Dare to Be a Daniel. Dare to Stand Alone. Dare to have a purpose firm and......

DARE TO MAKE IT KNOWN!!


                                                

 Check out this video!!

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP5PemuGAjY


  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thank You and God Bless!!

  Thank you friends and family for coming along on this musing and marveling journey the last three and half years. The journey is not over. There is still plenty of musing and marveling to do. But for now, I have come to a place of pause and reflection. As 2023 rolls to its close, I am considering taking a step of faith to put this into a book to be shared with those I love, and those who love (or will love) Jesus! All along, it has been about using God given stories and random analogies to encourage and inspire, as together we let life point us to our life-giver, Jesus! And that is my prayer for each of you dear readers...that you may be encouraged, each day, to continue on in this Christ-following journey. Look to Him! Shine for Him! Love Him! Share Him! It is what we are called to do! For this life is all about serving our Lord and bringing others to the Father's throne of mercy and grace, that place where we all find hope, purpose and peace. And to each of our precious grand-c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Misunderstanding Understanding

  I am musing about...  Misunderstanding Understanding (the understanding of misunderstanding :) ) We all have been involved in misunderstandings; in being misunderstood. It is logical to see how this can happen. We all look at situations according to our  own "story", our personal experiences and our own  interpretation of life. There are times we say something, and it is simply taken "the wrong way". There are times someone says something to us, and we take it "the wrong way". The sad thing is when this misunderstanding goes uncorrected; when it influences behavior, emotions and relationships. That is why good communication is so important. That is why prayer is so needful. Do we pray that God will guide our words and conversations? Do we pray that God will prepare the hearts of those we may plan to speak with regarding a somewhat deep situation? But then there are those spontaneous, if you will, interactions. Those supposedly harmless statements that so...
Post a Comment
Read more

Did you know Our Brother Jim?

  Did you know our brother Jim? Did you ever talk to him? Because if you did It's safe to say, There's a good chance  you made his day. He loved people, There is no doubt  He liked to visit Liked to find things out Not in a gossipy sort of way That was not Jim's kind of way, He simply cared  Took an interest you see, He just enjoyed knowing  About you and me, He loved his Jesus With all his heart He leaned on him greatly He did from the start, After he surrendered, Back in 78, From that time on He served love from his plate, He enjoyed little kids Had a heart for the old, He loved to sing, Had a faith that was bold, Took care of his mom With kindness and care, Took her for rides, They were quite a pair, They gardened together, Made apple sauce, As boys worked on their farm, He was a fun, friendly boss, He was a farmer Through and through, He embraced all the things That grain farmers do, Then there was that day Five years ago, When things changed forever An acci...
5 comments
Read more