Enjoy today. An Easter Song by ME.
It is for you. Click on the music left prompt and it should start the song.
Thank you
Click Below
music
GOD’S IMAGE
GOOD SATURDAY AFTERNOON ALL
I have had an interesting day. So different from the weatherman over the last many days. Cold and wind chill and wind chill and cold creates its own image of how the day proceeds. When I woke up at 6 AM to take the dogs out there was no wind and the sun was waking up right along with us. Make no mistake, I did not dream it.
We all smiled and the day changed to the TV after a long morning walk to the park. The computer expanded the TV to catch up on some reading and writing. The lunch treat became a couple chocolates, coffee and cinnamon rolls and a monster cookie. More habit than good idea. (You have to remember that GOD goes shopping with me once in a while). The computer led me to more reading and it is now 1:40 PM as I have tuned in to the WORD. IMAGINATION.
Most of you know I write this blog and a music blog and have for years. I would love to be able to sit back and take the credit for my imagination. The guardian angels (Mack and Jake) take me for walks. Go left, go right. Let’s go this way or that way. The clock tells me what time to go out, before the rain or after the snow stops falling. GOD helps me write the music via the people that GOD has entered into my life. Some to say hi and have a nice day. “Nice to touch spring”. Years of others to share parts of their lives with a part of mine. The blog and the music is merely the result of my interest in what GOD has shared with me over many, many years of choices and decisions and opportunities. Where credit is due, credit should be recognized for those who GOD has shared with me and my journeys.
Today there is a smile on my face that overlooked laundry, groceries, cleaning and assigned the day for what it is. A day off and moving forward. Have a wonderful day and know that OUR CARES AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU.
ME, and Mack and Jake
THE LITTLE THINGS COUNT
GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING ALL
I have done lots of music in my life from my own music to worship music in churches, on retreats, in Barbershop settings, and on and on. When I think that my memory is fading the WORD for today pops up. One of my favorite retreat songs for kids goes: I’ve got the JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY deep in my heart, deep in my heart…….I’ve got the LOVE OF JESUS, LOVE OF JESUS deep in my heart…..and so on.
As soon as I looked at today’s word “JOY” The whole song bounced into my mind and the pictures of dozens of smiling kids filled my memory. The smile went from left to right and north to south and east to west. Sometimes I feel forgetful and that is when GOD shines a light onto a music folder and the smile appears. Too often we feel that GOD has gone on vacation and forgot to tell us where GOD has been off to. We feel that GOD doesn’t care, or GOD doesn’t exist or GOD is too busy. Then, seeming-lee without paying any attention, GOD drops a little GOD-SHELL to make sure we do not miss all that GOD is doing. We expect great things from GOD, or we do not have any belief in GOD. Great things are too often subtle and we do not recognize all the activity that GOD involves ourselves in. When you find yourself down and out there becomes a song in the background, or a memory to remind you, that GOD is so active that you think that GOD is too GREAT to deal with “just me”? Wrong again.
GOD is more a master of THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT.
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy …..Have a wonderful day. OUR CARES AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU.
ME, Mack and Jake
MEMORIES — 1-19-22
GOOD MORNING ALL
Today I keep my joy, joy, joy joy deep in my heart, deep in my heart today.
The world is surrounded by joyful music.
Whether it is freezing cold or summer heat, a smile comes to mind when the thought process comes to remind me of special days, events, people, friends and the dogs. When it is 9 degrees I remember knocking on doors and shouting Happy Halloween in Minnesota. When it is 90 degrees I remember jumping in a swimming pool in Billings Montana. Joy can not hide inside and life can not frown when memories are remembered. Remembering life isn’t buried in sadness, it is people I laughed with, people who made me smile. It is music that brings them back to life.
Life is a journey of challenges, and of gifts and do you remember when. I have had more smiles than frowns. I have had more opportunities than not. Enjoy the memories. When I sit down to write these little tidbits I think Thank You. Have a wonderful time despite the weather, grief, loss, or tears. Life is an adventure. Life is filled with memories. It is a time of throwing stones across a pond, and a time of gathering them up. (Eccesiasties- 3 vs 5). OUR CARES AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU ALWAYS.
ME, Mack and Jake
Heaven, Hereafter, or hereNOW
Heaven, Hereafter, or hereNOW
From 5-30-2006
I have heard a great many sermons in my life that are to tell me what heaven and the hereafter are like. I have heard so many that I now know one thing for certain; no one has a clue.
Hereafter
I do know that if I do not choose Jesus as my Lord and savior I am doomed to eternal damnation and life in Sheol (whatever that is). I do know that I cannot be saved if I am not Baptist, (or Mormon, or Methodist, or Presbyterian, Evangelical or Episcopalian and certainly I don’t have a prayer of heaven if I am not Catholic). This causes a substantial dilemma since I cannot be all of the above at the time of my death. Of course, I will also spend a life in eternal damnation if I am not Jewish, or Sunni or Sikh, or Moslem or Hindu or Buddhist or any of dozens of other religions that inhabit the Earth.
I guess that means that I may resign myself to the “bad” place.
Then again:
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
Jesus, as a teacher or Rabbi or preacher or philosopher or son of GOD, holds forth in his hand the ultimate carrot, “Why wait?”
I do not believe that Jesus came and sacrificed himself on a cross to merely extend promises of a fancy divine hereafter. Most religions seem to offer up Nirvana in some shape or form.
What Jesus did was to come and offer us insights as to how we can positively impact the here and now. Jesus taught us how to impact the heaven that lies within our grasp right now, daily, not the after.
Whether Heaven has mansions or refers to new bodies in different times as the Hindu believe (reincarnation) is irrelevant to me. Whether we sing in a divine chorus 24/7 (or whatever time-frame is the physics of heaven) is not as relevant to my living as the promise that I can experience heaven now, as Dennis, as me. It is equally important that you can live it as you.
Is it no wonder that Jesus’ teaching was so radical that most, not even those closest to him, could comprehend His meaning? The Heaven that Jesus prayed for is within our grasp daily. ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, what a radical and impossible dream. LOVE ONE ANOTHER, another impossible dream.
Daily? A fantasy for sure. Jesus has been the object of great debate since the beginning. Those who do not wish to change much look forward to the end of their lives firm in the knowledge (or belief) that the hereafter has the mansion they couldn’t charge here. They look toward a magic place where grace takes them and places upon them a robe of authority or position and extends divine preference based on the sign in front of the building they visited on Sunday morning or Saturday afternoon for an hour or two out their week.
And yet no one can tell me what they will do all day, every day, for eternity. More than that, they wish me to believe that they can perform this function for eternity when they get fidgity now after 60 minutes out of each week in GOD’S own house, which they built with their own money. How do they expect to be satisfied with that heavenly life when a half hour of prayer daily is a challenge. How will they adore GOD every day, all day when they can not accept the Muslim on their knees 5 times daily when they are reluctant to extend thanks at the dinner table with GOD’S blessing of food to eat before them daily.
I do not believe Jesus was about hereafter. All kinds of religion handle the hereafter. What was unique about Jesus was his preaching about the hereNOW.
Jesus did not say to the blind man, “Your sight will be restored in the hereafter”.
Jesus did not say to the lame man, “You will walk on the heavenly shore”.
Jesus did not say, “Kill your neighbor and you will be great in heaven”.
Jesus did not stand before the tomb of Lazarus and yell “Lazarus, have a great time.”
Jesus did ask of his spiritual father, “On Earth as it is in heaven”.
Jesus was about the hereNOW.
The great teachers teach us how to live the here and now. They teach us how to make the best of who we are, appreciate what we’ve been given, share the blessings of our wealth be it physical or spiritual, and enjoy the journey of our living. Jesus says to me, appreciate, share, and enjoy for the Father has tomorrow handled. Whether I play a harp for eternity, or return to this place again and again and again is GOD’S venue, what Dennis Wheeler does with His appointed days is mine. I can live an example of a Jesus or Jimmy Hoffa. I can appreciate all I’ve been given or be driven to power and it’s ultimate corruption. I can share what I’ve been given or horde it until that day when it lies in a yard sale weeks after my passing, or worse yet, is tossed into a dumpster and becomes buried with countless other lives under tons of dirt fill.
The reality of life is the hereNOW, the speculation is the hereAfter.
If GOD was less concerned for us He would not have utilized Jesus to promote a better hereNow. GOD would have left us to the Jewish law, or paganism, or mythology. We would be eternal passers by, the bad Samaritan, the righteous priest or the self focused CEO or CFO.
What if I’m in Heaven now? Do I help its dream, or hinder it? Am I promoter of it, or a thief? Am I an encourager of living or a prospector of dying? What do I feel that Jesus would have me do? If I call myself a Christian, to be true to my Jesus and myself, I should be living the best hereNOW I am capable of. I should appreciate it, share it, and enjoy it as the gift that it is.
Amen.
It’s True For EASTER 2021
I first posted this song last year in 2021 for Easter Sunday. With all of the challenges of the the Pandemic and the election and social media I felt my belief to believe needs to be recognized that what happened 2000 + years ago was embraced by followers whose only knowledge was driven by the calls of that Sunday morning. No newspapers, no books, no TV or anything else. This is what the people knew and heard about. From that moment a single itinerant rabbi introduced the world to a belief that was just 2 days before hopeless. Today His name Jesus is a name that is known throughout the world. May the events of those days answer your questions and may your develop a relationship with Jesus that will enrich your life forever.
I Decided to post a song of mine that I wrote a number of years ago for this Easter Sunday. Unorthodox Christianity as I see it follows the story, believes in it, and tries to live it. The song seems appropriate for this day. One need not agree. One can even debate it. For me, and my house….. It’s True.
Click the left button to start.
Lyric:
The women say…….. It’s empty now
His body’s gone…….. and He’s Risen
Oh It’s True…..Oh they say that it is true
He has risen from the dead for me and you
They have seen him once again… and He’s forgiven all our sins
You can praise and join along…. They couldn’t kill the savior’s love
Oh It’s True…..Oh they say that it is true
He has risen from the dead for me and you
It’s so hard to comprehend….. For I stood and watched Him die
But they say they’ve seen Him risen and the truth can’t be denied
I had placed Him in the tomb…And then I turned around and cried
Now they say that He is risen and His love is still alive
Oh It’s True…..Oh they say that it is true
He has risen from the dead for me and you
And then I see Him…….
Touch my feet and touch my hands
Put your fingers in my side
You can see the tomb is empty and this truth can’t be denied
Oh It’s True……Jesus is seen and He’s Alive
He is risen from the dead and He’s the Christ
Touch my feet and touch my hands
Put your fingers in my side
You can see the tomb is empty and this truth can’t be denied
Oh It’s True…Jesus is seen and He’s Alive
He is risen from the dead and He’s the Christ…
Oh It’s True…Jesus is seen and He’s Alive
He is risen from the dead and He’s the Christ…
IT’S TRUE…….
MERRY CHRISTMAS 2020
We are well into the Holiday Season. In all my wanderings I have had the opportunity to do Christmas in a few different retail settings. I have unloaded and put up Christmas trees, much of the merchandise as a dock manager for a couple of large multi state retail chain stores over 15 years. I helped with the decorations, and in the 70’s what used to be traditional Christmas programs with a train in the special Christmas shows that used to fill up very large department store auditoriums for thousands of customers every Christmas. On the 8th floor the auditorium was half of the 8th floor. The hall had all kinds of Christmas vignettes to walk through or ride through depending on the theme of the year.
I have been smothered now with years of Christmas shows on TV with Santa Claus and Snowmen, and such.
For you that have tuned in here to Unorthodox Christianity, a little different Christmas song I wrote years ago.
Enjoy the Season, from ME
Click on Below.
(All rights reserved by the writer)
SURPRISE
What a wonderful day off. (plus Sunday). Cousin Nedra just stopped by as I -was getting ready to forward today’s WORD. She called first and asked if I would like some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Well duhhhh. They are great, btw. This is also more than a Daily Word today. The Test is to fill in the blanks. ________________ ASSURANCE __________ ___.
Takes me right back to the Church Choir. Life just has a way of putting a smile on your face when you least expect it.
Stay safe and enjoy the day.Cares and Prayers
ME, Mack and Jake
Light A Candle
Light A Candle
Click above arrow on left to start song.
Light A Candle is a song I wrote in 2001.
On September 11, 2001 there occurred an event in New York City that changed the course of humankind forever. A terrorist attack on the World Trade Center killed thousands, and more in a plane crash in Pennsylvania, and a plane attack on the Pentagon. In my safe world in Salt Lake City I called in late for work and was told to turn on the news immediately. As I turned on the TV, I watched plane 2 fly into Tower 2. We all can tell similar stories for when we heard. The immensity of the event changed the everyday. That Sunday I went to church. Our friends from Pakistan came in that morning and the fear was in their eyes and it touched my heart. They had moved to America for religious freedom as they faced terrorism in their own country for their religious beliefs. They were neither terrorist, nor even affiliated with the country the Terrorists had come from. But they were victims. Sometime later many of us from that church and other churches gathered at a memorial given to pray for the victims and the country. The hate was at the forefront of political and national rhetoric, as one would of expected it to be. War was in the air. And I remembered my personal choice of Christianity. I had no problem with the concept of justice for those responsible, and some day they may all see the justice that they deserve. But at this memorial, by Christians, I presented a song I was inspired to write by the one whom I profess to believe in.
It is self explanatory and is also located on my dcwheelermusic.com website. As appropriate as it was then, I post here on 6-7-2020 for the events of our last two weeks are as hurtful, and even more universal in our country today. Racism under any banner is unacceptable for we are a country that has attempted many times to make the dream of Ellis Island be available for everyone who chooses to be a member of our American family. In memory of George Floyd and all who have had to fight the battle of racism, not of terrorists from outside us, but the people within us.
I archive it here, because I can. And because its validity is as needed today well beyond the confines that it had then. dwheeler 6-7-2020
w/m all rights reserved..Dennis C Wheeler 2001-present
Light A Candle : Lyric w/m by Dennis C Wheeler 2001
Light a candle in the darkness that the world might see the light
In a world that lives with anger, may the love of GOD shine bright
In the hatred of the shadows, amidst the power of the dark
By the light of just one Christian, may the oceans of the hatred learn to part
Light a Candle In the darkness
Light a Candle Where you are
Light a Candle In the darkness
Show the world A place to start
In a world so bent on Anger and the power desired by men
Where controlling one another, is the foundation of our sin
We forget all of the lessons of the man upon the Cross
By the light of just one Christian may the oceans of the hatred learn to part
Chorus
We take a legacy of love into a world so bent on hate
That it cheers the death of others as though Glory was its fate
We must learn to love each other with compassion in our hearts
So by the light of just one Christian may the oceans of the hatred learn to part
Chorus (2x)
ORDINARY PEOPLE
The Meek Shall Inherit
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth. (Matt. 5: 4-Tyndale NT)
If song does not automatically start push arrow button on left.
A number of summers ago I was asked to perform at an outdoor revival meeting called Break Down the Walls in Salt Lake City, UT. On one particular afternoon there was a fiery evangelist preaching his Full Gospel Message. In the best tradition of fiery Full Gospel preachers he jumped up and down and shouted and gestured wildly as he moved from one side of the stage to the other, “THANK GOD that Jesus came for us sinners. That Jesus came here, to the other side of the tracks”.
He went on to discuss how deeply we are in sin and why we suffer and how great it was that Jesus came for us sinners. I thought immediately of a young lady on a retreat I was on who commented that she didn’t feel she could find Jesus because she hadn’t been ‘hurt’ enough in her life to find Jesus.
I sat back and thought to myself, Thank GOD that JESUS came for the little lady who always sat in the back of the sanctuary and made a cake or a meal for every funeral at the little white church I had attended in western Minnesota. That Jesus came for the school teacher who stopped in after Sunday school class to help clean, or mow the lawn. The neighbor who took a dessert bar to the family next door when there was a loss or a celebration.
I thought, “Thank GOD that Jesus came for the ORDINARY PEOPLE. The ones who live ‘normal’ lives, who aren’t necessarily fallen angels or alcoholics, or from broken homes or live broken lives. Yet we all have challenges for that is what “normal” truly is.
I translated my thoughts into the above song above called ORDINARY PEOPLE, just like you and I.
Enjoy.
Ordinary People ; w/m Dennis C Wheeler 2002 Lyric:
Ordinary People, just like you and I, He chose ordinary people to be followers of Christ. Ordinary people with ordinary flaws. He took ordinary people with Him to the cross.
Ordinary people living ordinary lives. To be priests among the people were the chosen ones of Christ. From the walks of daily living, they followed as He talked, From the shores of fishing villages to the dark day of the cross.
It is the promise we’ve been given that it isn’t where we’re from, it isn’t what may be our status or our color or our jobs, we’ve been called to tell the people of the sacrifice of Christ. Grace for ordinary people is the reason that He died.
Jesus called the ones to follow who would boldly tell the truth. It was a call of faith and courage for what He was about to do. Just like ordinary people, at first they ran away, I am so much like those people it was me He came to save.
There is always hope for sinners, for forgiveness is His call. Called as ordinary people separated from our GOD. One the cross He called out to us, to those standing in the street. HOPE for ordinary people is what Jesus came to teach.
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