You may have heard this before. I'm paraphrasing, source unknown.
So there was a father with two children. One of the children was a pessimist; the other an optimist. The father decided to do a little experiment to see if he could change their natures.
He gave the pessimist child a room full of toys. To the optimist child, he gave a shed full of manure. Once the gifts were given, he went to the room full of toys to check on the first child. He found him sitting in the middle of the room, crying.
"What's wrong?" the father asked.
"I just know I'm going to break something, so I don't want to play with anything," the child responded.
A little while later, the father went to the shed of manure to see how his optimist child was faring. To his surprise, she was eagerly digging through the manure.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Oh, Daddy!" she exclaimed, "I just know there's a pony in here somewhere!"
I just know there's a pony in here somewhere.
When my friend ditches me and drivers honk at me, when the weather is crappy and I don't have an umbrella, when my husband doesn't answer his cell phone, I can still count on something inexplicable to remind me that I am loved.
Heard recently in a group Bible study:
"The idea is to give people a taste of the pie, not shove the whole thing in their face."
What does it mean to love?
The best I can come up with is that love is equal parts grace and truth. I heard a speaker once say that truth without grace is legalism, and grace without truth is license. If our love is going to do anybody any good, we have to strike a balance between the two.
Love is not rejection. That sounds like a stupid thing to say, but it is something I have been discovering little by little as of late. Not that I previously thought love was rejection. What has dawned on me recently is that if something can get in the way of love, then that love is flawed. And can it even be called love after that? Our love for others should be tenacious, especially if it is modeled after God's own love for us. Paul said, "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). And I am convinced that our love should take after His.
Sin makes it hard to love people sometimes. We live in a fallen creation; sin is everywhere. Humanity lies rotting all around us. We know we are supposed to avoid sin, to repent of it, to rebuke it. But what happens when the object of our rebuke and the object of our love take up residence in the same soul? Once I thought to myself that God was a master at taking the bad with the good. Then I realized it was the opposite: God is a master at separating out the bad, even to the subatomic level, and dying for it.
But the redemption of creation is a process not yet complete. And so we find ourselves in lives that will never be completely perfect, with people who will never be completely perfect. Perfection, or holiness, is the goal, but our Christian lives trace a parabolic curve. We could go on for infinity, coming ever closer, and never touch that line. Knowing this, shouldn't our aim be to get, and help others to get, as close as we can? I am less concerned that my loved ones live sinless lives as I am that they meet Jesus before they die.
Homosexuality does not send people to hell. Overindulgence in alcohol does not send people to hell. Murder does not even send people to hell. The only sin by which people relegate themselves to eternal damnation is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31), in other words, rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior. Everyone begins spiritual life in a state of rejection against God. We have to choose, each of us as individuals, to cross over into a relationship with Him. What precipitates this choice? People catch a glimpse of something attractive about God. His love. The Holy Spirit is a free agent, without need of help from believers, but He allows us to share in the process by being conduits of that love.
For a conduit to work it has to be open on both ends. We miss the extraordinary opportunity to see God work through us when we let our actions be dictated by the faults of others. Jesus loved the sinners, and rebuked the ones who thought they were doing everything right.
My interpretation of the Bible describes homosexuality as contrary to God's intention for human relationships. As, to be blunt, sin. I believe the Bible to be true in its entirety. Therefore, I cannot condone the practice of homosexuality and still maintain integrity in what I believe.
But many people, including homosexuals, don't share this interpretation of Scripture. Some even believe God made them that way.
I don't know what causes homosexuality. I don't know if God wove it into certain people's makeup, or if it is a repercussion of the fall of mankind. Since I don't know, I feel I need to err on the side of caution, to take a conservative stance, to align myself with what I believe God says rather than what I know the world says. I have to proceed on the premise that homosexuality is sin.
But sin is sin. The Bible teaches that no sin is any worse or better than another.
True. But there is a difference between incidental and habitual sin. Between the sins committed unintentionally, confessed immediately, and those that pervade our thoughts and actions and become lifestyle. The difference is willfulness.
Even so, no sin—incidental or habitual—is outside God's redemptive power. The tide of Jesus' blood does not stop short of willful disobedience. And He is the only One who can effect change within a person. Not the church.
Ah, the church. Failing to minister to homosexuals everyday. The church's message seems to be, "You are welcome within our walls. But you are not welcome to remain homosexual." With that caveat, how can the first statement be true? If we as a church don't welcome people as Jesus did—just as they are—then what are we saying about Christ? That you have to get your life straight before He will accept you? If He is the only One who can effect change, then that implied message is completely backward. You can't get your life straight until He's in it. So first things first. If the church believes homosexuality is sin, and that Jesus is the only cure for sin, then the church should be in the business of introducing homosexuals to Jesus, not standing in the way of that meeting. As it is now, the greatest barrier to homosexuals coming to know God is not their homosexuality, but judgmentalism on the part of the church.
What if the church were to take this kind of stance on other lifestyle sins like gossip, or gluttony, or pride? Churches would split over whether to allow someone who was overweight to take a position of leadership. If homosexuality is a sin, it is a sin like every other sin in every other person's life.
God responded to sin with mercy; He came to earth Himself to accept the punishment every person deserves. And He is still in the business of setting people free from sin. We as the church think this responsibility falls on our shoulders, but it doesn't. Jesus says in John 13:35, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" not "...if you take a hard line on homosexuality."
And what if homosexuality is not a sin?
In either case, love is the only correct response.
Here I go.
Reading about the execution of Dexter Lee Vinson, I kept seeing the movie Dead Man Walking superimposed on the story. The soundtrack played in my head as I took on the perspective of the accused, the victim, their families, the prison officials, and the governor in turn. It was an uncomfortable exercise in empathy. I would not have wanted to be any of them.
Gov. Tim Kaine has made known his personal feelings regarding the death penalty. He is against it based on the convictions of his Catholic faith. Yet he went against those convictions to uphold a decision made by the people of Virginia. And I commend him for that. Not for denying his conscience, but for making the more difficult choice.
Either choice would have been right. Both staying the execution and refusing to stay, in a metaphysical sense, defend life. That, I assume, is the Catholic precept: to preserve the sanctity of human life. But we as humans did not start out exalting our existence; God had to teach us to value life. And He did that by instituting the death penalty.
When Noah stepped off the ark, it was onto a different world. The entire population had been wiped out in God's judgment, and now the rules were different. Genesis 9:3-6 records God's new mandate:
"But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man."
To overturn a decision of the courts—and in doing so nullify a 9-year legal process—in order to pardon a convicted murderer would have been a statement affirming life. But allowing justice to take its course, demanding an account from Dexter Lee Vinson for the life of Angela Felton, makes a stronger statement. It carries the notion that human life is so weighty, so important, that we as a society will not shrink from whatever means necessary to protect and champion it. Even to the point of death.
Execution is messy. It leaves a dead body, images that witnesses probably wish they could erase, grief that family members did not deserve, antipathy on the part of many peace-loving citizens. But the governor was willing to accept all of these in his affirmation of the state's decision. He could have prevented this particular mess, and pacified those committed to his own stance on capital punishment, with one telephone call. Only the most cynical of critics would have characterized it as cowardice. I am sure there are many, however, including the family of Angela Felton, who were heartened by his courage.
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well." - Matthew 6:33
A verse for all the worriers. The "things" Jesus refers to are food and clothing, the everyday necessities. This is a great, foundational verse about priorities and trust. It is just what the spiritual babies (good grief—preemies!) attending Jesus' sermon on the mount needed to hear and apply to their lives.
But Jesus doesn't just say "these things;" He says "all these things." So really that could mean anything we need. Or think we need. Or can't get for ourselves. But hey, God can. He's got the hookup. We seek Him like a cosmic vending machine, throw in our loose change, and expect to get "all these things."
At some point, however, we need to realize that "all these things" do not constitute the payoff of Christian faith. The payoff is God Himself. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD/and he will give you the desires of your heart." Doesn't it sound like He is just begging us to make Him the desire of our hearts? Of course He won't begrudge us the necessities of life; they are so nothing compared with the gift of Himself He's dying to give us. Nothing we could ask for even comes close to the value of God.
The rich, young ruler of Mark 10 already had "all these things," or at least, most of them. He just needed the last thing on his list: eternal life. So he hits up the J-man. Jesus tells him, Get rid of all these things. They are keeping you from the greatest thing: me. But the man couldn't see that laying hold of God Himself was a reward far greater than anything else. Granted, adjusting one's perspective to prize the gift of God above the trappings of faith requires some spiritual insight and abstract thinking. But all these things will be given to you as well.
"When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, 'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.' He was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.'" - Genesis 28:16-17
Surely something of Jacob's fear was due to his sin. However, "to fear God" in the Old Testament is to reverence God. Flippant language in prayer and testimony about God reveals a lack of a true sense of His presence. The movement of God's Spirit is always accompanied by a deep sense of intense awe. People want to kneel. Some are so convicted of sin that it appears as a terrible blackness. Such people find they have the attitude of the apostle John who, although in earlier days had leaned upon Jesus' breast, bowed to the ground in worship before the ascended Lord (Revelation 1:17). - BSF: Genesis, Lesson 23
Our culture is not normally one to foster deep reverence. Even genuine God-seekers can be blinded by their desire to make their God-concept into something that works for them. Therefore, God becomes a casual God because I am a casual person. God becomes a permissive God because I am a permissive person. God becomes a short order God because I am accustomed to instant gratification. (I had intended to avoid this phrase, but) It smacks woefully of creating God in one's own image. We take the portions of God that we can see, relate to, and/or are endeared toward and whip up a God-casserole that is digestible to us. And we've missed it.
We've missed that, in relation to us, God is entirely other. He has imbued us with certain aspects of his own existence—intellect, emotion, spirituality—so that there can be communication between us and Him, but He is also, to a large(r?) degree, unknowable. "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isaiah 55:8-9). Jacob saw it. He saw that God was not Who he had imagined Him to be. In that experience, he was forced outside himself. He could not continue to be who he was, after having seen God revealed. His God-concept was shattered and with it his self-concept, also.
We can only truly appreciate God (in our limited earthly capacity) when we lose any notion of ourselves. Jesus said, "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it" (Matthew 16:25). The irony is that in forfeiting our lives/egos/self-concepts, we become more fully the individuals we were intended to be. We find the completion of our personalities only in relationship with Him. And we gain a more realistic perspective on His awesome unknowability.
Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"
- Charles Wesley, 1739
"In the garden at Gethsemane
He prayed for the life he'd never live,
He beseeched his Heavenly Father to remove
The cup of death from his lips" - Bruce Springsteen
"You gave Your body to the lonely
They took Your clothes
You gave up a wife and a family
You gave Your ghost
To be alone with me
To be alone with me." - Sufjan Stevens
What am I (not) willing to give up?
Do you ever find yourself in a situation, an encounter, that you know is ordained by God? There is some meaning or purpose for your being there—for your being you, there. Right then. You are completely in the moment—so self-aware that every nerve ending tingles—as if the Holy Spirit, the Cosmic Stage Manager, had just whispered in your ear, "You're on."
And you blow it.
You know there's something you should be saying. Some way to acknowledge God, to meet that person where they are, to validate the encounter in terms of His kingdom. But you just stand there stupidly with a "Thanks," or a "That's ok," or a "You, too," and then leave as soon as possible because you know it's too late to say anything worthwhile.
I trust the Holy Spirit to give me the words in these situations. I just wonder if I know how to listen.
If Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified, demonstrating that the shedding of blood was necessary to obtain peace, how could He have been a pacifist?
Usually I try to write, in the grand tradition of Seinfeld, about nothing. However, in the next few paragraphs, I will wander into the realm of something.
I have noticed things. Things taking place in our world. Things out of the ordinary. I have noticed things, and perhaps you have, too.
A lot of people in America hate President Bush. And when I say "hate," it is not because I am too lazy to find a better synonym. They hate him. Viscerally. Irrationally. They don't merely disagree with his policies or disapprove of his actions while in office; they hate him as a person. With all the thinking people in America (and I consider most of the Bush-detractors to be thinking people) I would expect arguments against the president to be more logical and less emotion-driven. This, to me, is strange. Along with the most outspoken segment of America, the Rest-of-the-World seems to hate Bush, too. This is also strange, and yet makes perfect sense, as I will attempt to demonstrate in a moment.
Intersecting anti-Bush sentiment in the fabric of history is the simultaneous surfacing of a number of life-or-death issues: abortion; terrorism; cloning; war in the Middle East; embrionic stem cell research; gay marriage (as for why I consider gay marriage a life-or-death issue, that is a subject for another post). Some of these came to the forefront years ago and are still with us. Others are more recent developments, brought about by the courses that technology and our cultural sensibilities have followed. Some I never expected to see in my lifetime.
These issues, among others, have contributed to the political polarization of our country. The conflict has been heated, as evident in this most recent election. Much was at stake, and everyone felt it. It was as if events were coming to a boil around us, accelerating toward a focal point. But it was not the election. The anticipated focal point is on a much grander scale.
What is obvious to me, and yet remains hidden from the general populus, is that the conflict raging around us is predominantly spiritual. We perceive echoes and outgrowths of it in the physical realm, but the corpus of it lies entirely in the spiritual dimension.
The reason so many are at odds with President Bush is that he and they are on opposite sides of God's law. Romans 8:5-7 elucidates this principle (emphasis mine):
Those without the Spirit are hostile to God and therefore hostile to God's people, who are indwelled by His Spirit. Jesus foretold the world's attitude toward Christians when he spoke about the end times: "You will be hated by all nations because of me" (Matthew 24:9b). How very accurate.
We, dear readers, are living in the end times. I can't say exactly where in the end times timetable we find ourselves, but we are assuredly here. And if I know it, then it is certain that satan knows it. Hence the mad rush to negate as much life as possible; he knows his time is short. If he can keep abortion legal, establish terrorism as an accepted negotiation tool, and devalue human life to the point of its being created for spare parts, he will have erected a system of evil capable of perpetuating itself. The reelection of a godly president over a world superpower is just a minor setback. The return of the Kings of Kings will put him decidedly out of business.
I read an entry today (I can't remember where--I was bloghopping) in which the author was lamenting her disillusionment with the Divine. She denounced whatever higher power existed in the universe for allowing bad things to happen in the world and in her life, and for "his/her/its" failure to answer her prayers. It intrigued me that someone could be so astute and so clueless at the same time.
I say astute because she recognizes that there is a Power beyond herself, and it is real enough to her that she will honestly pray to it. I say clueless because while she believes in a Supreme Being, she thinks she can approach Him on her own terms. Here's the thing, and pay attention, people... If God were obligated to do whatever you say, then you would be God. I don't think many people grasp the disparity between Creator and created.
To them, God is a fairytale--a bedtime story that parents tell their children (and adults recall to themselves) so that they can sleep at night without having to face the alternative: that their existence is utterly without meaning, and there is no overarching force for good in the universe. Everyone goes to heaven when they die, just like Santa visits every home on Christmas Eve. It is our popular mythology, and people are content to accept it blindly and without investigation.
One question derails the whole thing: how do you know that? How do you know that God is loving and fair and won't let anyone go to hell? How do you know that He is responsible for making sure nothing bad ever happens, especially to you? How do you know these things? And behind a puzzled expression is a cosmic understanding based solely on preconceived ideas and superstition.
Here's a clue: everything you need to know is in the Bible. Some things about God are intended to be a mystery, but a great many are not. In the Bible, we are given a detailed account of who God is, who He expects us to be, and how to reach Him. There is no reason to wonder. I'll give you the Reader's Digest version...
Yes, God is loving and fair, but He is also holy (morally perfect). So holy, in fact, that He can not tolerate sin (moral imperfection) in any form, in any degree. Because He loves us, He affords us the perquisite of free will. Being endowed with this "right to choose" we have consistently chosen moral imperfection. This is a big problem for God, who intended for us to be in relationship with Him, but now can not have anything to do with our sinful selves. To satisfy the requirement of His own holiness, He came to earth as a human (Jesus Christ) and bore the punishment (crucifixion and hell) for our wrongdoing. Because He didn't deserve it, it can then be applied to every one of us who did. That is why we can say, literally, He died for you. But God will not violate our right to choose, even to save us from damnation. We have to choose to accept His sacrifice on our behalf. And to maintain the restored relationship now available to us, we have to choose every day to put aside our self-seeking agenda and seek Him instead.
That is when God answers prayers in the affirmative--when we pray according to His agenda and not our own. It requires humility to admit you are not the dominant being in the universe, and to submit to the One who is. But many today continue to snap their fingers at the cosmic bellhop and believe themselves to be gods.
I received an update letter from my missionary friends who work with Wycliffe Bible Translators. The letter included this quote from a recipient of a newly translated New Testament in his native language:
"When we read the English Bible, it's like trying to eat the husk of a coconut," stated the Solomon Islands Christian. "But you [the translator] have husked and opened the coconut. Now we can eat the actual meat."
As my senses are lately bombarded with attacks on Christianity, whether in reference to "anti-gay" legislation or The Passion movie, I am reminded of two sayings:
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." - Proverbs 9:10
and
"A fool is born every minute." - P.T. Barnum
Have you ever imagined God designing the universe the way expectant parents design a nursery? In every detail, the thought of someone else. It must be warm and bright, letting in a lot of light during the day, with the walls painted a soothing shade of blue. At night, it will never be completely dark, with a nightlight and glow-in-the-dark stars across the ceiling. There will be teddy bears and bunnies and all different kinds of animals to comfort and cheer. And a Lamb, the provision chosen with the most care, to dry every tear, to ease every hurt, to make life more full. Everything we see was set in place by a loving Father in preparation for our arrival.
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" - 1 John 3:1
Newsboys in concert. Third row seats. Very choice.
Look at my pictures.
"I decided early to give my life to something eternal and absolute. Not to these little gods that are here today and gone tomorrow, but to God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."
"If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive."
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me? - Psalm 13:2
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. - II Corinthians 10:5
How treacherous it is when fantasies and daydreams cross the line and intrude upon reality! I set out to capture that which has no shape or form, for I am at war with my psyche. My thoughts, elusive and evanescent, are the weapons of my mind intent on exposing me for the evil person I am. Daily they emerge anew, betraying my greed, my lust, and most severely my lack of faith. If I wholly believed what I say I believe, no worry or impatience would originate within me. Even to maintain consistency in my convictions is a battle constantly fought. Were it not for the reinforcements of the Holy Spirit, I would have succumbed to defeat long ago. It is He alone who keeps my faith.
Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. - II Timothy 1:12
No, it's not Celebrity Death Match or a South Park episode. I just thought I would take a moment to compare and contrast the two major figures of Christmas.
I. Santa lives at the North Pole; Jesus lives in the hearts of those who believe in Him.
"The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." - John 14:17
II. Santa knows whether we've been naughty or nice; so does Jesus.
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." - Hebrews 4:13
III. Santa requires good behavior; Jesus requires only belief in Himself.
"Then they asked him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'" - John 6:28-29
IV. Santa lets the little children come to him; so does Jesus.
"But Jesus called the children to him and said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'" - Luke 18:16
V. Santa gives gifts; Jesus is the gift.
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:6
VI. St. Nicholas died; so did Jesus.
"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" - Philippians 2:8
VII. St. Nicholas is still dead; Jesus is alive.
"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" - Luke 24:5-6
We had an interesting conversation at my uncle's house last night. He and his wife are self-proclaimed atheist-leaning agnostics; my parents are clergy and devout layperson. Not having been privy to one of these controversial discussions before, I took the role of observer and tried to bridge the gap whenever possible. Even though I whole-heartedly agree with and support my parents on spiritual matters, the last thing I wanted to do was to set myself up as another spiritual antagonist to my aunt and uncle. Not that my parents have done that, but I have a feeling that's how they are viewed.
The conversation veered toward the dreaded topic of <shudder> God when my uncle expressed his discomfort about all the Christian influences in His environment: "It's like it's not politically correct to not be religious these days." We thought that was pretty interesting, since we find exactly the opposite to be true. Everybody in the room felt like he or she was in the minority of society, being careful not to offend anyone and seeking not to be offended in the process. The shared experience of feeling outnumbered opened the door to a very candid discussion about many things faith-related.
I don't think it's a quirk of fate that my aunt and uncle find themselves lately inundated by Christianity, nor that my parents and I were available to talk about it, when they felt prohibited from bringing it up to anyone else. Something is happening over there, and I just hope I will get to see it come to fruition.
I used to think Thanksgiving was a stupid holiday, but that was only because in preschool, my mother made me wear a construction paper pilgrim costume. Hat, collar, cuffs--the whole deal. It took me a while to get over that.
When I truly began to ponder the significance of Thanksgiving, I realized that it is the only uniquely American holiday dedicated to honoring God. Though we may be the most decadent nation on earth, I find it reassuring that we continue to acknowledge our Provider and who we are in relation to Him: the recipients of His blessings.
What am I thankful for this year? For the privilege of knowing my Creator. For Jesus Christ, who made that possible. That I have everything I need. And that I don't have to wear a construction paper pilgrim costume ever again.
Last night I had the singular privilege of being present while someone prayed to accept Jesus into his life. It is a humbling and awe-inspiring occasion to witness. I didn't feel like I deserved to be there--I barely knew this guy and hadn't had a real conversation with him, let alone a spiritual one. Nevertheless, Someone saw fit to include me.
The emotions I felt, I imagine, are genuinely similar to those experienced in a hospital labor and delivery ward. He started asking questions, which came out of the blue like labor pains.
"What does it mean to 'be saved?'"
Call the hospital, this is it. We were all jarred into the reality of what was happening. Excitement and fear both came into play, along with a palpable feeling of anticipation as the conversation progressed.
"So how do you get saved?"
Time to move to the delivery room; this baby is gonna be born whether we're ready for it or not. We left the party raging in the living room and went into the dining room, away from the curious glances of fellow party-goers. There the male representative of our group led our friend in the Sinner's Prayer.
This young man became a born-again Christian right before our eyes. I was moved by this brand new beginning, full of hope and promise. And I realized how vulnerable he would be now. There was so much I wanted to tell him, to share with him, to dispel and clarify for him... But I had to realize that this is just the first day.
This thing is the greatest. You can make your own church sign. Knock yourselves out.
"There’s an emptiness inside her/And she’d do anything to fill it in" - Dave Matthews Band
There is a theological concept that every person is created with an internal, spiritual vacuum, a void, which nothing can fill completely or satisfactorily except God. This vacuum creates a hunger in the person's life; it is a hunger to know his or her Creator, but the true nature of this need is often obscured by the lies of the world. In our deceived state we look to anything and everything but God to satisfy the longing. It is so rooted in the core of our being that is manifests itself not only spiritually, but physically and psychologically. People gorge themselves on food, sex, mood-altering agents, even their jobs, in increasing measure because the hunger doesn't seem to go away.
I've heard it said that the concept of a God-shaped void is not biblical. I disagree. I believe Jesus speaks to it directly in John 6: "Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him'" (v. 53-56). The disciples called this a hard teaching, and many fell away because they did not understand it. Jesus was not advocating cannibalism here. It's as if He were saying, "I know you're hungry. The reason I came into the world is to satisfy that hunger. Stop looking to the things of the world to fill you up; fill yourself with me and your longing will be enduringly satisfied."
As is typical of any generation, God is usually the last Person people look to in order to have their needs met. That's because when you find something, you generally stop looking.
"The only thing I need is a void that You can fill." - Caedmon's Call
"'DRINK ME'... 'EAT ME'" - Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
I seem to be low on motivation these days. The word rut keeps floating around my brain.
Speaking of ruts... I learned about a new one recently. Well, new to me, that is. The rut I'm talking about is the one underneath the stone covering the entrance to the tomb where Jesus was buried. Apparently, the stone rolled along a track dug into the ground, and rested in a trough at the tomb opening. This "rut" is what held the stone in place.
The Jewish leaders who had advocated Jesus' death wanted the stone to stay in that rut. They petitioned Pilate, who told them to "make the tomb as secure as you know how" (Matt. 27:65). If there was going to be a (contrived) resurrection, they were going to prevent it. Essentially, to this end, they did everything humanly possible.
But the maximum human effort is no match for God. His messenger shifted the stone, stunned the sentries, and set the scene for the empty tomb to be discovered. And, make no mistake, it was already empty. The stone, even while held stationary by the rut, could not hold Jesus. His glorified body had vanished, leaving the burial dressings still folded in their characteristic pattern. This is what His followers saw, and what caused them to believe.
So even if I am in a rut right now, I know that Jesus is still moving in my life. Despite the efforts of the world (including my own) to keep me rut-bound, God still has the power to move my listless self and reveal the evidence of what He's been doing all along.
Whew, I'm back. After much angst, stress, and IT nonsense, I have moved my site to a different server: ipowerweb.com. I was just fed up with the needless downtime on my old server, and I'm sure you were, too. Hopefully now we can all be happy again. :)
It's Aslan!
#5 Milton Reyes
Over 5,000 people attend the Easter Sunrise Service in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.
Congratulations to my parents, for on this day, they were married--26 years ago. And on this singular day, I would like to take the opportunity to share with you a little of my family story.
In the summer of 1976, my dad was 23 (whoa, that's how old I am). A seminary student, he had taken the position of summer youth minister at Great Neck Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, VA. It was there that he met my mom. She must have stood out in that small congregation, with her stylish way of dressing and her long, sleek, reddish hair. She was a new Christian, and had only been coming to the church for a few months. After their first date, they both had a sense that they had found something special. My mom knew that my dad was a world apart from any other guy she had ever met. My dad spent that night walking along the beach, pondering it all.
When his stint at Great Neck was over, my dad left to take up a pastorate in South Carolina. And he was miserable. He was so lonely apart from my mom, that after just a few weeks, he proposed to her over the phone. They were married that spring, on Easter--April 10, 1977--in the little church where they met.
Epilogue:
I found out later that it was my dad who performed my mom's baptism there. He baptized me there, also. In 1987, when I was 7 years old, we were stationed in Virginia Beach with the Navy. We attended Great Neck Baptist Church (which was across the street from my elementary school), and it was there that I accepted Christ.
Even as they fight this war for freedom, the war over their souls is being won.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. - II Corinthians 3:17
Pfc. David Kurns is baptized by Task Force Chaplain Capt. Ron Cooper, left, and 1st Lt. Brian Case, right, in the desert north of Kuwait City, Wednesday, March 12. Eight members of the 3rd Infantry Division were baptized in the desert on Wednesday.
Last night I caught a clip of President Bush's remarks at the Pentagon: "We cannot know the duration of this war. Yet we know its outcome; we will prevail." For a second, I felt like I had crossed the boundary between the physical world and that which is unseen. His words have weight beyond their surface meaning. They speak to the very state of our cosmos.
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." (Romans 8:22) There is a war raging. And it is being fought on the battlefield of human souls. The forces of darkness, led by the father of lies, are engaged in an ongoing offensive. Their objective: to negate life. But we have a secret weapon, and it has already been detonated. Jesus Christ defeated death permanently when He rose to life after being crucified. That single victory set off a chain reaction which will culminate in the permanent extermination of evil, and the institution of a glorious kingdom of peace, honor, and illumination. God will prevail. And since all time is within God's purview, He already has.
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. - I Corinthians 15:55, 57
Make a bomb of love and blow it up - Dave Matthews Band
Mel Gibson is working on a new film that captures the last 12 hours of Jesus' natural life. It is intended to be a graphic portrayal, with dialogue spoken in Latin and Aramaic, the languages of the time (no subtitles). Mel Gibson, who is a devout Catholic, is financing the film himself, but not starring in it; Jim Caviezel is playing the role of Jesus.
In this article, a respected rabbi expresses his concern that the film may place blame on Jews collectively for the crucifixion of Jesus, thereby (you can infer) creating a wave of anti-Semitic sentiment. In the mid-sixties, the Second Vatican Council resolved no longer to hold the Jewish nation as a whole responsible for Jesus' death. This rabbi worries that Mel Gibson will not adhere to the reformations of Vatican II. A friend of the Gibson family is reported to have said "... that the film will lay the blame for the death of Christ where it belongs," a reference that some take to mean the Jewish authorities at that time.
The point of view not represented in the article is that the blame for Jesus' crucifixion rests on everyone. On the whole of humanity. Whether Jew or Gentile, alive at the time or not, we all contributed to His death by our choosing to sin, to follow our own selfish agendas rather than God's. Because every person who ever lived or ever will live had a part in putting Jesus to death, His sacrifice can be applied universally. He died to bring all of creation into a right relationship with God, no longer separated by sin--the sin that was directly responsible for His crucifixion. In the marvellous paradox that is our Christian history, Jesus conquered sin by letting it take His life.
It seems a shame to end the story there. I hope Mr. Gibson will do a sequel, one that portrays Jesus risen to supernatural life. That is the happy ending: because Death could not hold Him, neither does it hold sway over those who believe.
I sang a song in church today. People are always so nice when you do stuff like that. Perfect strangers will come up to you and express their appreciation. I guess when you put yourself out there, at that moment, you belong to everybody.
It was cool, too, because I really felt like God wanted this song to be heard. When I wrote it, I had no ambition to sing it for the whole church. And yet, circumstances just worked out that way. I was supposed to do a harp solo, but one of the mechanisms on my harp broke the week before. I offered to sing instead so that they wouldn't have to find someone else short notice.
It's not as if I can take credit for the song itself, either. I had asked God for a song--something that I could offer up to Him when I wanted to worship Him in my own words. For a long time, nothing came. I would sit down, welled up with emotion and wanting to pour my heart into a new song for my Savior, but I was blank. Then, finally, He gave me this song. People asked how long it took me to write it. Not long at all; it came all at once.
Here are the lyrics, if you are interested:
What will my offering be
What will my offering be
Frankincense, myrrh and gold
For the Babe Whose birth was foretold
What will my offering be
What will my offering be
Two small fish, some loaves of bread
That by Your hand the multitude is fed
What will my offering be
What will my offering be
With pure nard to anoint Your head
As the King Who rose from the dead
What will my offering be
What will my offering be
Take my life, and all I am
I sacrifice it to the Lamb