I think about the tragedy of lives wasted for no reason. I’m no brain surgeon, but doesn’t this make perfect sense?
Nothing’s going to change in this pathetic and wicked world until you do!
Tag Archives: hope
The Classroom
1971.
Carly Simon released her song “That’s the way I’ve always heard it should be”
1971.
I entered the Air Force at 17 years old.
I learned from the music of that decade just like all my peers. What chance did we have to lead godly lives?
The music of the seventies was built on a foundation of quicksand. But that was our classroom; a godless religion of self-indulgence.
That was then. What is the state of affairs for the young people today?
How much longer, oh Holy Lord, until the quicksand swallows all hope?
Indelible, Unavoidable, Undeniable
Though we clean the windshield, the Yellow Jacket is still drawn to the smell of death that remains.
Though we conveniently forget the things we have done, the stench of our sins accompanies us to the Glorious Throne of God.
We will all stand without excuse to give account of ourselves for the things we have done here in this body. And it doesn’t matter whether you believe these things or not.
I don’t say this to frighten anyone. Let it simply be a fire of encouragement.
Righteous wisdom radiates from the Living God. He gives freely to anyone who will believe. Make no mistake, the righteous wisdom which God gives freely directs the soul to Christ Jesus His Righteous and Holy Son.
We either prepare ourselves to learn and do, or we are prepared beyond our volition to appear and give account.
Let sobriety be the banner of our days.
To the Journey
We have a tendency to trivialize everything. But we come to own this tendency with good reason. Absolutely everything we know deteriorates. Even the compassion of Man is in a state of flux; needs come and go, the sick get better or die, poverty evaporates at the end of its work, hatred goes to sleep when it is tired of destroying. So even Man’s compassion (what is considered the best Man can offer) rests from its work.
We strive hard, but at the end of the day everything we know is trivial. Everything we know is in a constant state of repair or deterioration. Isn’t that why we sleep?
Most people, including myself, tend to apply this trivial mindset to the gospel of Christ. We can’t help it, it’s in our nature to perceive things as if they are passing. And without the constant help of the eternal Living God’s Holy Son we would never perceive the gospel as eternal. It would remain in a mode of choice. And isn’t that what we see when we look at those who call themselves Christians; constantly making the choice to do (or not to do) Christ-like things.
We need to be reminded that his promises last forever and never change. That’s why we read the Bible often; to renew our decaying mind. That’s why we pray, with whatever earnest soul we can muster. Isn’t that why we are told to encourage one another?
Connected to this is an understanding that has come again to me this morning. Everything we do is manufactured. It’s in a constant state of repair. But a love for righteousness cannot be in a state of repair. For whatever constantly needs repair is also constantly deteriorating. Love does not deteriorate, and eternal Righteousness does not fall into the realm of choice. Let’s be honest, we either love righteousness or we don’t.
What an amazing place God has created; it is not a place of deterioration, it is a place of potential eternal life. There can be no better testing of a man’s heart than the state of affairs I have spoken of here. On top of that, God knows the difference between a manufactured love of righteousness and one that is ingrained and sincere.
This is the nature of salvation. It is not something that will be. It is something that IS. Christ has come, as the great power of God, to redeem the humble of heart. He has come to teach us eternity. Imagine that! The sum of what we know about eternity is the simple word itself. And without the presence of God, that’s where our knowledge remains.
Every man is encouraged to begin the journey of truth. The journey is called Christianity.
What Was, Still Is.
Why do we do the things we do? Why have we learn to love what we love? What causes a man to gravitate toward one sin or another? Why is ignorance so beloved while wisdom and sobriety wander like orphaned children? It is impossible that any man should answer these things. At best they can only say, “It is the way of Man”.
Centuries ago (Pick a moment in time.) one man made a choice. He agreed with wickedness; to perform and action of death. Once the deed was done, the ripple effect into future days has not ceased. No, it is carried in the soul of those who came from his day. It is carried like a disease to the generations that follow.
As it is so with one man, centuries ago, so it is with all the men who lived in his day. The laws they made, the words they spoke, the perceptions they held so dearly, the deviceiveness they encouraged without end, the judgments they made, the dress codes they approved or disapproved, how they segregated one man from another by language, color of skin, or other cultural differences, what lies were considered innocent, what does were considered necessity, didn’t all these things shape the mind of those to come?
Certain wickedness is adored, while holiness is forgotten. Protections are made for certain wicked people, while the righteous go abandoned. And haven’t we inherited all these things?
Add to this, our own imaginations. Look around and see what we adore. Aren’t we shaping the inheritance of those who will come after us? And how will they know what they believe? How will they be able to divide between what is necessary and what is inherited from the wicked who came before them?
Such is the plight of man to suffer in his own vile filth. Yet the good news of God remains. If we will humble ourselves and call out to him for help, he will give us what we never had. The more diligent the soul, the more God will give. In Christ Jesus, he will save us from our ignorance.
Is it any wonder that so few find “The Way?
The Ant Head
They gathered in a building. The final place of the final test. They came together to prove the value of Man.
The question was leadership and righteousness. Who is worthy and why.
From the body of the elders they pick the wisest one. They said to him, “Choose for us a prize that we may begin the contest”. The old man, bent over and half blind, said to them, “Bring me the head of an ant”.
The youngest of the elders was the first to move. He ran outside and grabbed the first ant he could find. With urgent dispatch he returned with the head of an ant.
The elder told him to put it plate and set the plate the middle of the table.
The elder sat at the head of the table. “Now debate among yourselves who is worthy to eat this head.”
They all stood speechless for the space of a minute. Then the first to move was the youngest. As his fingers reached for the prize, one of the elders slapped his hand with disdain. “What gives you the right to think you are worthy?” The reaching and the slapping became a spark to a pool of flammable liquid.
It started with a response. But it soon developed into an all out brawl. This went on for quite a while until a breeze came to the top of the table. Not even one elder noticed the ant head drift off the plate, down to the floor, and disappear in a crack.
________________________
I have looked at Man. I have tried to discover why righteousness eludes us. I thought I had the answer. But in the telling of it, it took too long.
In my life I have testified well over fourteen thousand times, trying to nail down the reason why we are full of disarray.
I have come to the conclusion of the elder who ordered the ant head. There is no righteousness among men. There is no peace to be found anywhere on this earth. Man simply does not have eternal life in him.
And I have understood from all that is Christianity, Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb. Except that the Living God had done his “Strange Work”, not one man would rise from the grave.
I used to stand at the edge of the city and wait to hear wisdom. I stood along the path where men walk and waited to hear someone utter something wise and beautiful. But I realized I will starve to death before I find a wise man walk by me.
Unless the wisdom of God comes down from heaven, man has no option but death. And hasn’t this been done? Christ Jesus crucified on our behalf. Yes, the wisdom of God has come down.
In Man there is no life. But God has sent mercy. Let every man do as he will; seek righteousness with all your heart. You will not find it here!
Words From There 