Monthly Archives: June 2012

A Letter to My Brothers of Flesh

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human dimension

human dimension (Photo credit: ηeliʘ)

Dear Man:

You sigh with deep concern about what you see around you.  Your nerves are constantly tense because of what you perceive coming upon the entire world.  I am one of you, and I have seen it coming for quite a while.  I have a message for you that you might not have allowed yourself to realize.

Listen to the noise in the world now.  Watch as men frantically strive to right the ship of humanity.  It lists precariously to port.  Yet, instead of removing the excess cargo men keep adding to it.  In their lazy approach they have not evened the load within the ship.  And the lazy have drawn up their chairs on the port side of the deck to watch the commotion.

We are about to undergo a very deep trouble.  Finances will collapse around our ears.  Poverty will strike the richest among us.  Drought, disease, war, earthquakes, storms, and intemperate climates will embrace our waking from sweat laden beds.  Violence will become the norm.  And death will become desired by millions.

From centuries past man has thought he can create his own world.  And we are reaping the result of their foolish and greedy ambitions.  While we should be turning from the very building blocks of sin that has caused the present problems, we are doubling down on their ambitious greedy ways.

I am one of you.  I have no right nor need to accuse you of anything.  I will suffer along side my brothers of flesh.  But this is the message:  “There is no remedy for what is about to happen.”

I desire you peace.  But not the peace of man.  I desire you that certain peace of Jesus that soothes the nerves, heart, mind, and soul, despite the conditions around you.  This is what I desire for all men.  Just as my Father in Heaven has desired it for all men through out every age.  But now we must endure the results of godless ambition.

Come share with God’s people in the eternal life after this place of testing.  Enter in.  Allow God to prune your greedy heart until greed is just an unwelcome nightmare in your past.  Get clean now, despite the circumstances that are unfolding before our very eyes.  Only those whom God teaches to become like His Son will enter into eternity free of condemnation.  Beware!  It is not religion God is looking for.  It is a transformed life He rightfully demands.

By His Grace.

Something from Nothing to Perfection

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Man has invented (or realized) many items.  He tells his brother that his life is better for all the things they have made.  First came steel.  Then came the computer chip.  And man is boasting quite loudly that his hand has been able to save him.  From what?

God spun the world and all items of creation from absolutely nothing.  Man refers to the big bang.  God says He just spoke and the universe, in all its complexities, came into being.

Man makes a car.  Absolutely straight wheels glide the chassis and body down relatively smooth roads.  And with this invention, man’s world is transformed.

God makes a cloud rise up.  Turmoil between heat and cold eventually provoke a lightning strike.  Though lightning seems to us arbitrary, God does not see it that way.  He tells us the lightening answers to Him, “Here I Am.”

It comes from the cloud.  Traces the most random appearing path to the ground possible.  Then hits exactly the spot on the earth that God intended it to hit.  Amazing precision through apparent random behavior.  But this is the nature of God’s ways.  It is man’s way to control nature.  It is God’s way to use what is natural to perform absolutely perfectly precise tasks.

Man invented the car.  God created man’s feet.  And what a difference between the results of both.  Everything man does is destined to collapse.  Everything God does is destiny.

Wide-lightening

Wide-lightening (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Song of Creation

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English: Cyclepath. Summer photo of the cyclep...

English: Cyclepath. Summer photo of the cyclepath that follows the line of the Innocent Railway. It’s abundant with plant and animal life. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Lord God Jesus is a God of signs.  He speaks to all men by what He has accomplished.  His promises are made known by what He has already done.  He has made man in this place of abundant life and death.  Who does not perceive what is around them?

Animals, trees, grass, flowers, rocks, clouds, storms, heat and cold, and every other aspect of this world testify in some way to His majesty.  Suffering, joy, knowledge, and all the aspects of life roll up into our death.  And all the while we witness these same things in the life around us.  A living story has been created within us and without.  Who does not perceive what is around them?

Object lessons abound, each pointing to some great revelation of His ways.  Nothing is that doesn’t teach us something about the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.  Yet how many take the time to make the association between what is and what will be?

Boundaries have been laid out for every living thing.  And He has spoken a word to us regarding these signs.  “Man is without excuse.”  We are spoken to about God and His Majesty every moment of every day.  Men run from the Bible.  But the noise of creation is a song of testimony which never sleeps.

Let us all look around a moment and consider what we are and what surrounds us.  Listen to the song of sacrifice, life, death, consistency, and promise.  Regardless our willingness to accept what He speaks, the message of our Holy God in Jesus rings out loud and clear.  Deaf ears, blind eyes, unfeeling fingers, and lying tongues will never hide what is true.  Simply because I deny what is true does not make Him out to be a liar.  It is the one who ignores His message who suffers.  Eternity rolls on with or without us.

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“To StayGo Please.”

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A pair of In-N-Out cheeseburgers.

A pair of In-N-Out cheeseburgers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Standing in line at a fast food place, a person considers what they want to eat.  When it is their turn to render their order they are asked if they want this order to go or to eat in.  For most of us this is a no brainer.  But I confess that sometimes I have to think it through.  “Do I have time to just sit here in the noise and prying eyes to eat this?”  I rarely sit at a table to eat.  Usually I brave the spilled drink and dripping catsup behind the wheel of my car.  Somehow the meal tastes better if I sit in the car (alone).

An object lesson is about to unfold here.

Christians go to the Lord to appropriate a certain peace from being near the Prince of Peace.  Much like ordering a meal, we encounter the Lord to gain what we don’t have.  We spend a few coins of faith and receive a bounty of peace on our plate.  With a good sized drink of hope, we walk away from the “counter” of prayer to live our lives.

There are three kinds of “eaters” in this parade of prayer.  There are those who will sit near the place of “order”, eat what they have been given, enjoy the company of others, soak in the ambiance of the place, then go out into the world to accomplish what that “meal” dictates is true and good.  They are in the presence of that “Great Cloud of Witnesses”.  And they love their company.

There are those who make the order “to go”.  They cast up words to the Lord just like you would order a meal at a fast food place.  Once they get what they wanted they grab the bag and head for the door.  They’re so busy that, even as they eat it, they hardly notice the flavor.  To them this meal of peace and hope is just a function of their busy lives.  Though they are fed, to them it’s just an ordinary meal.  Somehow they have missed the fellowship aspect of prayer.  And they’re not putting themselves in a position to encounter it.

Then we have a very curious group.  I suspect there are far more of this last group than the other two.  They ask and receive just like the others.   But they differ because they are a mix of  “stay and go”.  They order to stay.  So they get the tray and all its fixings.  They sit for a moment, take a bite and a sip.  Then they grab their stuff and head for the door.

These people know the place was prepared to give comfort and joy to those who purchase here.  They feel compelled to listen to the beautiful music.  They let their bodies enjoy the soft seats, clean tables, beautiful lighting, and the aroma of joy this place provides.  But they don’t feel worthy to remain.  It’s kind of like they don’t really belong here, yet they know they should.

They are caught between accepted and rejected.  And their lives are filled with a curious internal war.  They believe what the Lord has said regarding His forgiveness.  But they are so filled with sinful tendencies that they have a seriously hard time associating that promise to themselves.   Bottom line, it is a certain love for sin that causes this turmoil.  But there is a certain love for the things of the Lord too.  There’s no need to judge them.  They do that to themselves all day long.  And, in the end, God will determine their standing.  I sense it will go well for them.  But there are questions, aren’t there.

I would love to be of that first group.  I loathe being of the second.  Yet I sure enough find myself part of the third.  I guess we all encounter the Lord of Peace as we do.  We work hard on remaining in His presence while we eat what He provides.  And who knows, He might even come around the corner while we’re there and sit with us a while.  Those who leave stand no chance of that happening.  Perhaps this is what the third group is looking for.  “Maybe if I sit here I’ll catch a glimpse of He who provides.  Maybe He will smile at me.  Maybe He would even come and sit with me.  I’m just not absolutely sure He loves me.”  Isn’t this what goes through the mind of most Christians?

How good it would be if we all just sat to enjoy what He has provided.  But this isn’t the usual manner of faith in this world, is it.

Choosers and Pickers

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Vehicle with its left directional signal activ...

Vehicle with its left directional signal activated. Front and side turn signals are visibly illuminated. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some people go to the store to shop for specific items.  They never leave with anything they didn’t plan to purchase before they arrived.  There aren’t many of these kind of people however.  Most people go to the store for one or two items in mind.  But in the course of shopping they are enticed into purchases they didn’t plan on.  They let themselves be directed by marketing.  Regardless our integrity as we go shopping we are, none-the-less, choosers.

The same is true in every aspect of life.  Do we choose to go to bed when we know we should?  Or do we stay up too late to face the next day rested?  Do we speak words that we know shouldn’t be spoken, or do we let it fly as our whimsical heart desires?   When we do our jobs, do we give it all that is true or do we only do enough to get by unnoticed.  Do we strive to fit in with the crowd or do we hate socially proper etiquette enough to do what is right, regardless how they taunt us to be like everyone else?

God has set us here to choose between His ways, our ways, and the ways of His enemy.  He says plainly that to choose any way but His is to be His enemy.  And, sadly, we all seem to choose to be His enemy far too often.  There is grace to cover our foolish and ignorant ways.  But we are encouraged to cease relying on grace alone to live out our lives in a willing obedience to His ways.  He tells us  “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.”  (Psalm 32:9)  But He allows us to choose our attitudes.

People build their own version of God’s commands.  And some rely on a strict code of obedience in their lives.  Our choices are laid out clearly enough, however.  Do we obey because we agree that Good is good?  Or do we obey because we fear punishment?  Perhaps we don’t even try to obey God because we simply don’t agree that His way is perfectly good and right.

Most drivers will turn on the turn signal long enough for one blink.  And they do this after they have begun to make their change of direction.  This isn’t obedience to the spirit of the law.  This is simply a nod toward the law.  The turn signal is there to tell others what you intend to do.  It is a warning for them that you’re about to make a change in the direction of your travel.  Look at how you treat this law.  Do you care about the others around you enough to develop a habit of use?   Or are you simply trying to avoid a ticket?  Turn on the signal a while before you make any moves, then you have obeyed the spirit of the law.

In the same way, we obey God’s commands so that we don’t hurt anyone.  We don’t obey so that we will receive praise.  We don’t obey so that we will gain eternal life.  We are to live out our lives in such a manner as to avoid harm to anyone, even God or ourselves.  Obedience is a choice we make every second of every day, and that for eternity.  We are to develop an attitude that looks for things in our lives that injure others (regardless how slight the offence).

Grace is provided as we seek His ways.  Grace is extended to all who turn from their selfish ways and seek the inclusive and harmless ways of God.  We show Him we care about what is good.  And He responds with the strength, wisdom, knowledge, and desire to serve what is pure and truly eternal.

Some people pick God’s things and ways apart, looking for the parts of it that make them look good or cause them happiness.  God says, take it all and apply everything you can.  What you lack I will supply with generosity.  We are all choosers.  Let’s not be a picker.

I’m Sorry for Not Being Sorry

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English: Construction works at a prefabricated...

English: Construction works at a prefabricated house (light-frame construction) Deutsch: Montage eines Fertighauses (Holzrahmenbauweise) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I recognize that the posts I write are quite harsh.  And I make no apology for them.  If you think I am far too harsh, consider this.

A man wants to build a skyscraper.  His plans are created and given to the construction team.  They don’t start with the top floor.  But the top floor is always in mind as they dig the foundation trenches.  In the same way, if we consider God’s demands for man, we can’t hope to reach what He commands us to be if we don’t keep the ultimate obedience in mind.

Today we see millions of people living life to the demands of man.  And we see the “fruit” of their efforts dwindle into complete rebellion, selfishness, wickedness, and depravity.  It all has to do with the focus each of us gives to the purity of God’s commands to us.

What if the construction team only focused on the foundation and never considered how tall this building would be?  Wouldn’t the finished construction be delayed, or maybe the building might never be completed!  Isn’t this what we get in our lives when we don’t keep our focus on the finished product of our lives?

We are encouraged to look to Jesus constantly.  He is the author and perfector of our faith.  And if we take our eyes off Him, replacing His perfection with that of man, we will never complete what He desires us to become.

I’m not sorry for being harsh in my writings.  And I don’t want you to think that I am a perfect man.  I am less than anyone who would read these words.  It’s just that truth demands center seat in any gathering of students.  And I won’t allow anything to sit there that gives us the illusion that we can live with less than Jesus’ commands.