Monthly Archives: November 2011

How Much Longer Lord?

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Russian male and female life expectancy from 1...

Image via Wikipedia

You might think this post is a bit strange.  But if I say nothing, who will?

I have found myself considering the end of my life.  Where will I go to meet the Lord?  How long do I have left in this rotten place of sin?  How much longer must I be tested?  This is the reason for wondering about it.  How much longer can I expect to live?

So I looked up the stats on life expectancy in America.  I’m 58 this year.  When can I reasonably expect to go home?  My mom and dad lived into their early 80’s.  So genetically, I can expect to live quite a while longer.  Dang!  I was kind of hoping it would be less than a year or two.  Frankly, I would have been satisfied with a couple days.

I know I haven’t achieved much of anything, in the way of serving the Lord or men.  But I’m tired now.  The world is quickly disintegrating in this decade.  And I fear for man for what is surely to come in just a short couple years.

So how long are men living in America?  About 78 years, on average.  For those of us who hate math, that’s another 20 years for me.  Sigh.

Will the Real Christians Please Stand Up? We’re a Bit Confused Here.

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A large crowd gathers [at Madison Square Garde...

Image by Kheel Center, Cornell University via Flickr

I have met and know a few people who love the Bible.  These people adore Jesus.  And they’re willing to obey God.  By all appearances, these folks are “good” people.  And if you met them, you’d think God must be pleased with the way they have come to handle the life God has given them.  They are acceptable humans; both by men and by the Church.  And no fault is easily found in them.

However…………………..

These same folks will accept what they think they can handle from the Bible.  That’s why they love it.  They will adore Jesus, as long as He remains simply a loving God, or a baby in a manger.  They are willing to obey God, as long as He doesn’t ask them to become something or someone they don’t want to become.  And though they appear godly, there is a test you can perform on these folks that will surely show their true colors.

Speak to them about the reality of the Bible’s message and watch how they react.  These folks will be nice to your face.   But it might be the last time they will willingly talk to you.  Speak to them about the Glorified Christ, who has made all that is and is the final authority regarding the righteous worship of His Father.  Watch how their eyes dance as they try to find a way to say “good bye.”  And as you watch them go, you’ll see them quickly rid their minds of what you  just said.  Again, they meld into the socially acceptable activity among men.

It is so very interesting how people are willing to believe the Bible, yet so quick to avoid anyone who talks about the Bible.  Most people simply adore leaving the Lord within the pages of the Book.  They gladly receive instruction from the written Word, but will balk severely when that Word becomes flesh among their fellow humans.  They will listen to a sermon while in a group of people.  But when it’s over you’ll find them talking about anything but the sermon’s content.

The Lord is not fooled.  And only He will assess their value to Him.  It is good to point these things out.  Far too many are doing what we are seriously warned against:  If we turn away from those who warn us on earth, how will we hope to receive Him who warns us from heaven?

 

By His Grace.

The Recluse 2

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Isolation Lake

Image by .Bala via Flickr

I don’t want to talk to you.

But I’ll gladly listen to your words.

I don’t want you here.

But I’ll make you a fine dinner.

I prefer to be alone.

But I’ll willingly accompany you as you need.

I don’t want your help.

But I’ll happily wash your feet.

I don’t belong in your world.

But I recognize that you belong in mine.

I care about you.

But I can hardly abide your presence.

I want to go home.

But it is better for you if I remain.

In all things, everyone is far more important.

And this is why I remain apart.

 

By His Grace.

The Recluse

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Log Cabin

Image by Dan around town via Flickr

Shadows

More friendly than the open terrain of humanity.

Night

More vibrant than the light of day.

Dawn

A time to retreat from the empty sidewalks.

Noon

A time of sleeping while the noise of rebellion screams loud.

Twilight

The time of awakening to the beauty the world never sees

Life

A magnificent place where, in the end, the recluse finds release.

 

recluse

early 13c., “person shut up from the world for purposes of religious meditation,” from O.Fr. reclus (fem. recluse), noun use of reclus (adj.) “shut up,” from L.L. reclusus, pp. of recludere “to shut up, enclose” (but in classical L. “to throw open”), from L. re-, intensive prefix + claudere “to shut”

Isaiah 53:2 An Ordinary Human Body, An Extraordinary God.

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JESUS

Image by Daniel Y. Go via Flickr

Jesus, such a magnificent personage.  And isn’t it just like the world to look to authorities to vet the beautiful people in this world.  None compare to Him, yet very few come to admire Him for who He really is.

“He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”

This place we live in is indeed a place of testing.  The heart of every man is tested every moment of life to see what he will do with this Jesus.  How blessed are we who know Him; that the Father has seen fit to open our eyes like this.  Let all God’s people in Christ Jesus give thanks for the fact that they are learning to worship the One whom God the Father has set above all.

By His Grace.

Matthew 12: 34

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Bark of a Blue Oak.

Image via Wikipedia

The tree sat silent, the sound from a backyard argument pierced it’s bark.  The waves of sound vibrated the fibers of the bark so slightly that no scientific instrument could measure it.  And those fibers remain as the tree grows.  There will come a day when that tree falls from age.  Yet those fibers will have been altered forever.  Though they rot and become food for the forest behind the lot where that house had stood, 300 years from now God will know what was done.

The men will have forgotten.  The words will not be found echoing between two mountains forever.  The air will absorb their noise quickly.  But God remembers.  Their hearts overflowed with anger.  But those hearts are now silent.  The bark was moved.  But now that bark is dust.  The bugs on and in that piece of bark also experienced something from the noise of their argument, as well as the grass.  All will die and rot, yet God remembers.

Consider what is around you and consider how everything we do is witnessed.  Yet there is a witness beyond this world.  It is wise to consider what we allow our hearts to hold, lest it overflow from our tongues.

34You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.

 

By His Grace.