Arrival


Morning comes.

Despite the desire of drunkenness, daylight arrives.

Sleep ends.

Despite the depression of soul, waking dawns.

Sobriety dawns.

Despite the obsession with sin, Souls awake.

Judgment explodes.

Despite the secrets of man, Accounting yells.

Who was ready?

Who was prepared?

Who saw it coming?

Who shouts with joy?

Whose mouth is opened despite his will to keep it shut?

The Lion


I dreamed a dream fit for no weak heart.  Yet I woke with no fear or trembling.  Sobriety was in my cup as one may sip his coffee in the morning.  I drank the wisdom of God to understand.

This is the dream:

A lion was loose among men.  In his devouring of men he was noticed.  The marks of his attack were properly identified. 

All men were called up to be on the watch and report.  As if by some means the lion could be captured and killed.

In the dream I had no fear.  I decided to hunt him down myself to see what all the ruckus was about.  Men die everyday, why such an uproar now?

I spied him running from room to room down a long and extensive hallway.  And so I followed as fast as I could.

Finally, in the open space, I found him resting.  With greeting from my mouth, I went over to speak to him.

I asked him why men despised him so, for he seemed such an amiable creature.  He willingly befriended me and took me to his lair.

There we sat, and talked of things.  He even offered me a cup of delightful drink, as we sat and mused together. 
I may have heard what he was saying, but I can’t recall one word.  The actions of another lion caught my attention.  It was then I noticed the bed.

A woman lay on the bed roasted, so that the meat of her body was tender for consuming. 

His companion, another lion, gingerly split the skin and ate.  Noticing the revulsion in my eyes, the lion explained to me that it is a delicacy and very delicious.

But I heard moaning, as if from a deliriously insane person.  I looked and saw that the woman was still alive.  Even though only her eyes could be seen moving.  They were wide open and quickly glancing about, as if one may be afraid for lack of knowledge.

After a while the Lions left, having satiated their hunger.  It was then that I awoke.

No fear attended me, and I did not consider it a nightmare.  Instead I have sought the Lord to understand.  It seemed to me that such a dream cannot have its source in the imagination of man.

In the process striving to understand, certain items of Holy Word have come to mind: define the lion, define devouring, define the amiable one who destroys men. 

Yet I am perplexed by the uproar among men.  Devouring has been a part of man’s experience from the beginning.  Why should they notice now?

The following scripture has fallen into my hand.  Let those who are wise in the Living God’s Christ understand.

Isaiah 59:
11 “We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.
12 For our offenses are many in your sight,
and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.”

I will relate no more understanding than this.  For what I have perceived may not be the full.  Yet what I have perceived is too the voluminous to write.

May God show his people what is true and faultless.  May he wake the sleeping.  May He protect and receive the righteous.

Beyond all things of man, may the will of the Living God be done forever.  In Christ Jesus he has secured his salvation.  Though the body is devoured, hope remains.

Yet, let all men worship Him, especially those of The Faith.  Let my brothers and sisters renew the urgent calling within them.  Christianity is not just religious habit.  It is a vicious and vibrant struggle between life and death. 

Let sobriety speak!  Those who count the things of Christ as if they are of this world, will not stand well on the coming day. 

But God is first.  As is the Father, so is the Son.  For the sake of His Holy name, may His will forever be done.

Even so, Lord Jesus come!

By His Grace

You will answer me


“Answer me.” God says. “Show me what is in your heart.  Confess what you have done.  Confess what you are. Confess what you desire.

I clearly see all these things, but I demand an accounting from you.  Confess now, that grace may abound and cause you to become a godly man.  Or wait until you appear before me where your confession will do you no good.”

Each man will choose what he will do in response to these commands.  The word of his lips, uttered to another man, will do him no good.  God demands the response of action.

The cross of Christ has opened the door to freedom from sin.  Who has guts enough to take it?

What God Promises Comes to Pass.


English: Woodcut of the Augsburg Confession, A...

English: Woodcut of the Augsburg Confession, Article VII, “Of the Church”. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What God has promised to do will be done.  Though man counts time in days and years, God’s promise to transform His people cannot be broken.  We look at our lives and worry attends our thoughts.  We have come to believe that we have stepped over the line and now stand counted as an enemy of God.  How can that be so?

Look back.  How easy was it to believe when you first heard the Gospel?  What has changed over the years?  You heard the call to righteousness and holiness.  You allowed yourself to believe the message that those who live in sin can’t expect eternal life.  Your soul shook with fear and your responded with confession.  Remember how you felt that first touch of freedom from a guilty conscience when you embraced the promise of God to forgive?

We all know what has changed.  In our struggle against sin we have fallen to temptation.  At first it was a mistake to allow ourselves to be fooled into death.  But when we turned to God for help, didn’t help arrive?  He no more desires us to die now than He did when we first believed.  As long as you are in this bag of flesh hope remains.  What has changed is a gradual dulling of our hope, which is a direct result of a learned disobedience.

How do we reclaim that vibrant hope?  Refocus your efforts to believe.  It’s not something we can actually manipulate with our hands.  We simply give up our own struggle, confess our lack, and wait for His response.  The struggle will resume soon enough.  And you will be tested again.  But the renewal of our time of confession, and subsequent receiving of hope, will give us a strength we did not have at the start of our journey.  We will have proven to ourselves, once again, that God’s promise is stronger than our failings.

I do not say these things as a novice.  Over 25 years God has proven His ability to save me.  Though you have no need to trust the word of a man, the testimony I give here comes from a myriad of testings regarding this hope we share.  I testify, as do all who remain hopeful, that God is able and WILLING to cause us to live.  If you give up it is because you choose to stop believing.  Simply make the choice to believe again.  It’s really that easy, my friends.  You need not wallow in pig slop any longer.

Just Wait


A typical Deutsche Bahn railway station clock

A typical Deutsche Bahn railway station clock (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What do you do if you’ve been caught up in a sin?  Confess to God and wait for Him.  It is not your eternity that can be manipulated by your own will.  It is the will of God you’re seeking.

Don’t lose faith in your waiting.  Remain solidly trusting.  Just wait.  The Lord will not reject His people forever.  We are set to the task of learning how to live under the rule of the Most High God.  Restoration after a sin is not something we can conjure up from our own words.  God is looking for a renewed interest in His ways within us.

And what if the sin we have done is one of those that have repeated far too often?  What then?  Again, sit and wait on the Lord after you have confessed it to Him.  Let Him be Lord, even of your restoration.  He has promised that He does not give as the world gives.  This requires a great deal of patience from us.  He knows what He is looking for.  And after a time He will restore you.  Do not forget that the unforgivable sin is that of complete denial of His intervention.  He cannot forgive an unrepentant heart.  That heart will not accept His gift.  But that is not the heart you have now.  Look how you yearn to be restored to Him.  Just wait and be silent.  Like a little child who has been punished, accept your spanking and be patient.  His love for you is not that of man.