Category Archives: Service

It Can’t Be, But it is.

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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

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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

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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!

Turn or False

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True humility is not a brand of servitude.  It is a joyful and willing acceptance of one’s place in life, according to ALL that is true. 

Pride is the exact opposite.  Pride thinks it is humble.  But such false humility only weighs itself against a certain compartment of life.  Pride refuses to take into consideration the fullness of what is offered.

Humility receives all and is glad.  Pride rejects all, and sadly keeps what it thinks is his.

But let’s not be mistaken here,  pride seamlessly believes it is humble.  Therefore it is fully incapable of understanding true humility.  It is fully incapable of receiving anything.  Pride will gladly die, in abject poverty of truth.

By His Grace

Deeds Done in the Body

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The Hope of Christ causes we who believe to agree:

God has placed us among His belongings in Christ.

6 “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”  (2 Corinthians 5)

How much of this does each of us believe?  It is easily determined, how much of this we believe, by an assessment of our “doings”.

May sobriety tend to us as a caring nurse.

Vicious Words?

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Who on this earth forgives my sins?  Not counting my former wickedness against me, but giving me room to become a true man.

Who on this earth accepts me for the fullness that I am?  Not expecting me to fulfil their grand illusions of the titles such a man as I should wear; daddy, friend, employee, acquaintance, American citizen, and a human.

There is One who has accepted me and forgiven my sins.  He does not have grand illusions concerning my abilities.  He does not press on me more than I can handle.  And he is patient with my restricted ability to learn.

Before I was born he held out his hand in friendship, and he has not pulled it back once.  He has forgiven my great wickedness, not counting the things I did before I became his student.  And that same forgiveness lives day to day and moment to moment, as I stumble and stammer to understand and obey.

Now I have been told, that there is no humanity left in me.  The one who said this to me has grand illusions concerning this man.  But I do not hold it against him, I refuse to have grand illusions concerning my former friend.

But this one has done me a gracious favor.  He has driven me to love the Lord Jesus all the more. 

His vicious remark revealed something remarkable.  I am becoming like my Lord, to the point that others are forced to voice their observation.

If what he says is true, then what have I lost that he should observe it so radically?

1. I have stepped out of the sandbox of humanity.  I no longer desire to play with the same toys I did before.

2. I do not judge others as the world judges.  I am led to assess Man according to what is revealed from God.

3. I have forfeited vulgar words from my conversations.  I no longer take delight in the profane and useless conversations of Man.

4. I no longer speak of anything in the world as if it is beautiful.  As if involuntary, I perceive all things here as if they are already destroyed.

What must I have gained that he should observe me as such a man?

22 “Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.” (Luke 6)

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31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3)

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7 “For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face.
8 I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children;
9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. (Psalm 69)

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Depression is not becoming in those who love the Lord.  I know the sting of rejection, just like all my brothers and sisters do.   Just see how he has left us an answer for the things that cut so deeply.

Let the world revile us for no reason, for so they have treated the one we love.  And when they turn on us like animals, let us strive to remember:

24 “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church . . .” (Colossians 1)

By His Grace