Why do the wicked SEEM to prosper?

I listen to talk radio a lot. Strange for a musician I know, but it goes all the way back to an Air Force vehicle with an AM only radio (a story for another day!) Some days I come to the point of saying, "Why do the wicked seem to prosper?" "Why does evil seem to go unpunished?"

I'm sure I'm not the only one with those questions, in fact we find one in the writer of Psalm 73. By verse 16 he has come to the point of frustration - "When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me" It was troublesome in my eyes. Marko paraphrase - It made my brain hurt trying to figure it out... UNTIL

"Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end" Psalm 73:17

It comes back to personal worship again. Are you surprised? Getting alone with God puts everything in perspective. The all-knowing, all-powerful God is in control and we can trust that He is able. Everything is not as it SEEMS. This life on earth is not the end of the story. It's just the beginning of eternity.

That is not from a vindictive spirit of, "They're gonna get theirs just you wait!" It should cause us to be burdened even more to share with them the good news of eternal life.

Excellence from the Heart - Mark

Why Excellence from the Heart?

"Excellence from the Heart" has been the theme of my ministry and life for many years. It is more a high standard to which I aim than a destination to which I have arrived. I always thought of it as giving my best from a heart of worship. It is that, but God is teaching me that it is so much more.

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us" II Corinthians 4:7

"Excellence from the Heart" is more than giving our best from a clean heart. It is allowing the power of God to outshine any of our efforts. A quality to the music, to the art, to the life lived that exceeds our own earthen abilities to the point that the true God-source is revealed. For only in that divine power do we find true change.