Monthly Archives: June 2015

Challenge

by

0


I present a challenge to all.  It doesn’t matter how you perceive Christ.  Come and convince me that anything other then the full acceptance of His Gospel is truth.

Invited is the scholar.  Welcome is the agnostic.  The atheists already know they have been invited openly.  Invitation is extended to the religious.   Let the drunkard try to compel me this way is better.  Come and speak to me about finance, and how money is the end of all good things.  Let the violent receive the best of House seats.  Let the timid display the grandiose crown of their fear. 

Regardless who you are, come and convince me. 

Christ Jesus is king of heaven and earth.  By His merciful grace I am his servant.  It will not be me you challenge.  It will be the living God in me.

Let us all either “Put up or shut up”.

Why am I making this challenge, and doesn’t it seem rather absurdly stupid?  Yeah, it does.

I’m making this challenge because I am sick of watching the world decay all about me.  I am sick of watching Christian cower,  all the while the Living God promises strength.

By the looks of things around me, I surmise one of us is a liar.  Either it is Man or it is God in Christ.  You know the summation of that.

At the outset, I will admit that I know nothing about Islam, Buddhism, and whatever other religion you want to throw on the table.  All I know about them is that they are false.  I will speak of the gospel in Christ. 

Required materials: Pack a lunch.

It Can’t Be, But it is.

by

0


I am remembering.

How blessed I am.

For consciousness no sooner returns to my sleeping mind, and the things of my God come flooding in.

I am remembering who I was.

What an unspeakable blight to heaven and earth, was I.

For in those days,

No sooner would consciousness come to my sleeping mind and everything I could do came flooding in.

No thought of God.

No thought of righteousness.

No thought of restraint,

Except for apprehension by the laws of society.

I am considering.

There is a place where creatures are not blind.

There is a place where there is no break of sanity.

It is not a place of “was”.

It is not a place of “will be”.

It is a place of “is”.

Here, righteousness floats about like Cottonwood seeds on the breeze.

Here, righteousness is like the irritating mosquito.

Here righteousness is, “I will get to it when I feel like it”.

But in the place of “is”, sin and blindness are like those things.

So I wake to eyes in my soul that see.

Among the people of abject blindness, this one can see.

I am remembering.

What mercy is the Living God, that a man such as I should know these things like this?

I am remembering.

What potential lay in the blind souls of every man on this planet?

And now I remember my pleasurable duty;

Speak release to the captives.

With the cunning of a predator,

With the gentleness of a good mother to a newborn.

With every skill of captivity man has invented.

Yet with every possible release the living God offers.

I wake to holy sanity.

This cannot be!

But it is!

The glory is not mine.

I am no inventor of righteousness, skill, hope, regeneration, or release.

I do not have it in my hand to do any of those things.

What is in my hand is only to point:

There is God.

Here is God.

All around inclusive and exclusive, there is God.

Nothing is hidden from his sight, as it is in the eyes of dead souls.

He is perfectly dependable,  full of righteousness, peace, mercy, justice, grace, patience, life and hope.

Show me the place here that even is a shadow of a likeness to those things.

That I should know these things!

It can’t be, but it is!

Backed Against the Wall

by

0


It is said that if you back a coward into a corner with threats of death, he may well leap out against you with an excellent strength.   I believe there is a place where this has truth.   But I believe there is also a place with this might be true with a “man” of peace.  You can back him against his beliefs only so far.  Until you can back up no farther.

There is a place where the average man will not succumb to any pressure anymore.  Do you know the place in yourself  that I’m talking about?  Have you been pushed back to what you refuse to doubt?

We stand in this world and testify of Christ.  And if we are bold we will step away from the foundations of our belief into the realm of pure faith.  While we are extended like that, there is a possibility that we could be pushed back to the things we refuse to doubt.  And I’ll admit, sometimes we have extended ourselves way too far.  Being pushed back is simply a natural restraint.

But what is the extent of a Christian’s firm beliefs?  How far will they extend from himself that he may walk to the edge and push farther in pure faith?  How much of God’s promise are we willing to believe without doubt and without wavering?

How far could we be reaching out now?  What is not being done that could be?  What are we denying The Lord?

Our reaching out is stymied by doubt.  Is it possible to consider that a favorable response to his glorious grace?

Lots of questions.  Every man holds a different answer.

Resigned to Doing

by

0


A godless banker walked into a convenience store to get himself a piece of jerky.  He stops to hold the door for a dirty sweaty young man.  Not a word of thanks is spoken.  But the banker shrugs off the thankless heart.  To him, this is the nature of the unprincipled.

Moments later, while they are both still shopping, another man enters the store.  This one is dirty and filthy.  The smell of marijuana reeks from his body.  The smell of beer isn’t far behind.

He walked up to the girl behind the counter.  From his mouth begins a long line of ridicule.  He remarks about her looks, how ugly she appears.  He speaks violently about how pathetic her children must be, what a squalor of a life she must lead, and how embarrassed he would be if she were his wife.

He was loud and rude enough to capture the attention of the two who walked in before him.  The banker busied himself with a variety of jerky, as if he was trying to decide.  But the sweaty and dirty young man walked briskly to the side of the drunk.  From that position he gave the drunk a tongue lashing that caused tears to fall.

The drunk left ashamed.  The sweaty and dirty young man paid his bill and waited beside the door.  The banker, mindless of the position of the other, bought his jerky and turn to leave.

When he looked up, he was greeted by a great broad smile and friendly eyes.  I’m sorry I didn’t thank you for holding the door sir.”  The disheveled young man said.  “I just came here to get something cool to drink.  We just finished rescuing and burying our dog.  It’s been a hard day.  I hope you can forgive me for not remembering my honor.”

The banker was stupefied.  Shame covered his heart.  He thanked the young man for holding the door and wished him good speed on recovering from his loss.  Then the banker went out to his car, away from all prying eyes, and cried like a baby.

We are our brother’s keeper.  If he is wicked let us have the determination to set him straight.  If he is attacked unjustly, let us be bold enough to step forward and offer our own bodies for protection.  If he is weak and afraid, let us give him strength by example.  And all of this Christ’s people should be doing for the glory of the Holy Name who bought them.

No!  Christianity is not a religion.  It is a doing!

In the Open Field

by

0


Call me uncivilized.  Label me as one who does not play well with others.  The world despises me because I speak of the Lord Jesus.  The church looks down on me because I expose the utter depravity of man. 

Those who know me tell me to sit down and be quiet lest I stir up waves.  I am distrusted because I do not sufficiently care about the things of this world, as they expect me to do.

I tried to remain silent.  I tried to love the world with a soft hand.  I try to be included with my brothers in the church, and found myself incapable.  I tried to well up a caring for all the things my relatives care about.  None of that trying has proven fruitful.

What am I?  Who is this man who stands in an empty field alone?  I know what I am.  I am a disciple of Christ Jesus.  I need no other label to give me solace.

The Lord is my perfect strength.  This is no vain boast.  I stand here alone and isolated, yet perfectly full of strength to continue.  What is it to me if no man comes to my aid?  What is it to me if they take no notice of the one who stands in the rain of the open field alone?

This is my place to inhabit.  And I am proud of my God for placing me here.   A day will come when his wisdom is revealed.  And I will know more on that day than I do now, my God’s love and faithfulness to me will never fail.

The world points at the church to expose its corruption.  By this they excuse themselves from inclusion.  If it is a thousand men who are corrupt they are the same as one.  They are just another excuse for the world to remain in its sin.

But I will stand in the open field and point my finger back at the world!  “Destruction comes.  Go ahead, take no heed to the warnings.  Destruction comes for the ungodly.  The living God will not entertain your pathetic blaming.  Destruction is imminent.”

And I will stand in the open field and point at the church!  You are free from accusation regarding me.  Go and be at peace as you search out your salvation with fear and trembling.  Leave this one, as it is obvious you need to do.  Turn your back on me and get busy doing what you know you should.  I am richly provided for.  I am no pathetic orphan!

A Sequel, (personal observations)

by

8


I wrote a post called “Dear Active Atheist”.  It was not quite as successful as I’d like, though it wasn’t a completely worthless venture.  I tried to offer a platform of reasoning.  But no one seriously took the offer.

So what have I learned?  I learned that men call themselves atheists because they love the idea that there is nothing to be accountable to.

I learned a crucial side benefit for them in their godless thoughts; with no conscience to hold them down, they allow themselves to seek all possible notoriety (regardless the cost to anyone else).

And lest I had forgotten, I am reminded of what selfish brute beasts they are.  If they are not busy pursuing selfish pleasure, they are actively destroying the lives of those with hope.    In the best of my estimation, they are not a benign tumor in the body of humanity.

If it is a pursuit of pleasure you desire, why don’t you just call yourself a hedonist?  Why go so far as to say there is no God?   So on that note, honesty just isn’t enough.  I don’t think you’re an atheist, I think you’re just willfully ignorant.  In which case you are nothing special at all.

I have also learned that the atheist is a thief.  If he is not actively doing damage to those with hope, he is stealing from the mass of humanity by failing to take into account the larger picture.  A man can only teach what he knows. 

The majority of mankind at least recognizes that there is a larger picture.  Denying the portion of religion and the supernatural, the Atheist robs his fellow man of what is apparently crucial knowledge to all.

Let me finish this by addressing self aggrandizement.  There’s no God in the atheist’s mind.  So he raises himself to fill the void.  If others don’t agree with his newfound royalty, the atheist becomes livid.  It is because of simple posts like this, that I have been witness to explosive outbursts that fall just short of the legal line.

Once again my conclusion is correct.  At best the atheist is a worthless member of society.  At worst he is violence in the waiting.

I have reported my observations according to what I witness.  If you atheists have something else to offer that can soften my observations toward you, please present it.  I am not hard hearted.  I simply lack any proof of your value.

And please, be wisely aware that displaying any of the things I have already mentioned will do absolutely nothing to change my observations.  What credible value are you to humanity?

By His Grace