Babble On

like a virgin

2004-12-06T19:12:00.000-06:00

I realize this sounds to good to be true, yet in a poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, for Newsweek/MSNBC , 79% of Americans said they believed that Jesus (You know, the one from the Bible) was in fact, born of a virgin.

TAKE THAT "Jesus" SEMINAR!!!
Furthermore, 55 % of those polled said they believed "every word of the Bible is literally accurate. "
And perhaps most interesting 82 % believe Jesus Christ was God or the Son of God.

Thank the Maker.

the end, the sickness and a flexible trunk.

2004-12-04T01:10:00.000-06:00

The doctor said it was only bronchitis and a sinus infection.

I do not know if the stress of finals week brings the sickness on , but I do know this is the third consecutive Fall semester that I have been sick for finals week.

I will have time for a real post in the next couple of days.

For now I will leave you with the words of one Jane Truax:

" Botanists say that trees need the powerful March winds to flex their
trunks and main branches, so that the sap is drawn up to nourish the budding
leaves. Perhaps we need the gales of life in the same way, though we dislike
enduring them. A blustery period in our fortunes is often the prelude to a new
spring of life and health, success and happiness, when we keep steadfast in
faith and look to the good in spite of appearances."

Blogger's Dilemma

2004-11-28T14:47:00.000-06:00

Cox and Forkum have a new book coming out.

"put that in your pipe and smoke it"

2004-11-25T01:07:00.000-06:00

In 1891 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote, "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." ( from, A Scandal in Bohemia)

I have been in James and Ecclesiastes.

Reading through either of those books, one can come to a lot of conclusions, until they reach the next chapter.

I wonder how often people come to conclusions regarding scripture, with out going on to the next chapter or verse?

lucky me

2004-11-24T22:10:00.000-06:00

When a black cat crosses your path just after you accidentally let an umbrella open indoors, should you just stay home?

stumbling into Everything

2004-11-23T07:22:00.000-06:00

In “The Inner Voice of Love” Henri J. M. Nouwen writes: “The spiritual life is a long and often arduous search for what you have already found. You can seek God only when you have already found God. The desire for God’s unconditional love is the fruit of having been touched by that love.”

I am beginning to realize that when we find Jesus (or when we let Him find us), we discover the key to everything, His love. A stumbling into Everything.

We can look for fulfillment in school, work, church, family, spouses, friends or family, but in order to get the most out of those relationships and activities, we must first be in love with Him.

I don't know about you, but I am always making things more complicated than just accepting and then walking in His love.

needy

2004-11-19T07:49:00.000-06:00

"Our whole being by its very nature is one vast need; incomplete, preparatory, empty yet cluttered, crying out for Him who can untie things that are now knotted together and tie up things that are still dangling loose."
From page 13-14 of "The Four Loves," by Clive Staples Lewis...

There are some days I wake up and realize just how loose I am. How needy. How bereft of anything tangibly good.

I am beginning to realize the muddle is not caused by the looseness.
The slack is not the defect.
Instead, the problem is my efforts to cinch up or rein myself in without His help.

We must trust Him to fulfill us. No matter how needy we are, and we need to remember He will shore up our loose ends.

For, by Jesus, our God "shall supply all our need according to His riches in glory." Ph. 4:19

Disqualified

2004-11-19T01:23:00.000-06:00

I have received some e-mails from people wondering why I "quit" posting...The simple answer is, I have absolutely no free time.

While I've not been able to keep up with any of my blogs, I have been writing a lot.
I am currently a staff writer for the Brookhaven Courier, my college newspaper. I've been writting hard news stories, and even some editorials/opinion pieces.

This is the most difficult semester I have faced since returning to school.

I will make an effort to post once a week for a while and see how it goes. With the holidays and a break from school just around the corner I should be able to post some.

Time

2004-06-16T12:56:00.000-05:00

It has been a whole week since I have even had time to sit down in front of my little grey box.

We went to visit my parents in Arkansas on Friday. We played indoor-golf, ate several fresh, home-grown tomatoes, went out to the sail boat, made some stuffed eggplants, and sat around reading.

Now we are home, and I am having muscle spasms in my back.
It hurts.
Bad.
The last time I did this to my back (around November) I let the pain continue for weeks, before seeing a Doctor. I waited until I was useless. This time I went right away. She gave me some exercises to work the spasms out, and a bottle of little "happy-pills."

I find it funny that we do the same thing in our relationship with the Father. There are times when we run to Him only when we are almost incapacitated by our problems, and other times we run to Him as soon as we are aware that something is amiss.

An old Charlie Peacock song has a line that goes,

"time is a gift of love and grace
without time there'd be no time to change."

I pray that we would not ignore struggles, problems,and pains, and instead present ourselves to the Great Doctor, if not for immediate healing, (in the case of my back) then atleast for an immediate soothing.

"why can't so-and-so just get it?"

2004-06-09T16:34:00.000-05:00

"...do not be angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be..." Thomas a Kempis

"I wish that each one of you would GROPE."

2004-06-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

“I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope
And gather dust and chaff, and call
To what I feel is Lord of all.”
In Memoriam, lv. Tennyson

We are blind to the true nature of this existence, except for brief moments of revealed clarity, when some of the more spiritual elements of creation happen to come into focus.

“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from every one of us; For in him we live, and move, and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring’.” The Acts of the Apostles 17:26 - 28 NKJV

In his notes on the Bible Albert Barnes suggests that pselaphao (“grope” in the NKJV, other translations render the word “to feel after”) is to “ascertain the qualities” of something by using the sense of touch.

Barnes says that it literally means “to touch, or to handle.” But he also says that here it has the sense of one “(searching) diligently, so that we may know distinctly and certainly.”

Like a blind man meticulously, methodically feeling someone’s face or gracefully probing an object in order to “see” what it "looks" like, we too see through a "glass, darkly."
Definitions. Good luck. I would rather experience, than define. For me something is lost in the defining...and I am unable to define even what is lost. Perhaps the mystery.

And cannot our image of God be shaped by our own experiences and ideas?

As we feel in the dark for His light and we begin to made out the shapes in our mind, we must understand that our interpretation is itself shaped by our own experiences. If one has a great need for forgiveness, does not God seem to them merciful, and likewise, if one is in great need of provision whether monetarily or spiritually, does not He become Adonai Yir’eh, the Lord who provides, the “Lord who sees to it.” When one’s life has be a series of storms, it seems that usually Adonai Shalom brings a welcome peace.

We should “grope” after Him for if we do we will find that He is indeed "not far from each one of us…”

Decisions.

2004-06-02T10:36:00.000-05:00

I mentioned to a good friend at work that I would like to read some more of Henri Nouwen's books. I have only read two of them so far.

She brought me FIVE...
I am having a hard time deciding where to start.
This is my possible order, however, I will probably only be able to finish three or four before school starts. So any input that ya'll have would be much appreciated. (Yes, I used ya'll.)

1. The Wounded Healer
2. Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life
3. Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World
4. The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life
5. Compassion (A book that he is a "co-author" of...)

Thanks.

Also, I hope to have completed a post regarding my "testimony," within the next few days.

weird happenings

2004-05-28T19:07:00.000-05:00

I am not liking the new blogger.

Has anyone else ever had problems with their template altering itself? Or posts vanishing?

I am also having a having a hard time even typing posts now, as keystrokes are doing very crazy things...

More from C. S. Lewis on God's Omnipresence

2004-05-27T14:11:00.000-05:00

"Thomas Aquinas, in defending the mode of God's omnipresence, distinguishes three different meanings of the words "to be in a place" (or "in place"). A body is in a place in such a way as to be bound by that place, i.e. it occupies a place circumscriptive. An angel is in a place not circumscriptive, for it is not bound by it, but definitive, because it is in that one place and not in any other. But God is in a place neither circumscriptive nor definitive, because He is everywhere.

The world is crowded with the presence of the Father.

2004-05-26T17:21:00.000-05:00

"He is not far away from us. Rather He awaits us every instant in our action, in the work of the moment. There is a sense in which he is at the tip of my pen, my spake, my brush, my needle..." Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I awoke this morning to a very keen awareness of the presence of God.
As I laid there, in bed, I was overwhelmed by the realization of His presence.
I stayed in bed for close to half an hour.

A Psalm came into mind. I got up and read it.
I then made my way into the kitchen where I poured a glass of water. As I was drinking the water I remembered that I needed to water our garden. I went outside, turned on the soaker-hose, and just stood there for a while.

I went inside and prepared breakfast. I almost turned on the television to watch the news, but felt that the radio may be a better choice. As I ate, I was ministered to greatly by some “Parables of the Kingdom of God” by a minister of the Gospel.

I went for a walk with a book. I prayed.
It has been a glorious day.

Now I sit here...

I think that it can be highly beneficial for a Christian to dwell on the Omnipresence of the Living God.

Struggling with sin. Feeling “blue.” Problems at work or home. Desires for carnal things. Whatever problem or trial that you are facing in this world. There seems to be no better deterrence from living in the flesh or embracing the world than to spend some time in the presence of Adonai. He is all around us, and it seems that to ignore His presence invites problems into ones life.

Should not our behavior, whether at school, at work, or at home be influenced by the awareness...the reverence of His closeness?

God is "closer than we know."

In his Letters to Malcolm (Chiefly on Prayer) C. S. Lewis wrote that, “We may ignore, but can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not hard to penetrate. The real labor is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake.”

I pray that the realization of the Lord’s presence would bring grace and peace to each one of you this day.

Truth.

2004-05-24T12:43:00.000-05:00

"We make ourselves real by telling the truth."

From Thomas Merton's "No Man is an Island"...

Time

2004-05-24T08:46:00.000-05:00

I thought that since I would not be taking a class over the summer I would have a lot more free time...Thus far the opposite has been true.

I hope to have time for a real post on Wednesday. Until then have a blessed week.

One of those days.

2004-05-18T22:45:00.000-05:00

Well, today has been one of those days that helps you realize how good you have it the rest of the time.

For starters, I have about 30+ mosquito & chigger bites from doing some outdoor, manual labor at my in-laws house.
I am a bug magnet.
My legs itch SO bad.

Also, I am the proud owner of two handfuls of blisters from some sledgehammer work.

Additionally, we were planning on going to my parents for a visit this weekend , however, our brother-in-law’s father has a very serious (100%) blockage of his major arteries, (please be in prayer for him, the doctors say that IF he undergoes an operation, he has a 20% chance of surviving… ) so we will need to stay in town and take care of their cats and saltwater aquarium.

I forgot to record a TV show for my sister, who had a class to go to…I feel so bad. It was the season finale of her favorite show (Gilmore Girls?). I completely forgot. I was beside myself for over an hour.

Finally today, while Kimberly and I were working in our garden, a young bird fell and snapped its back. ( It was folded in half.) We were so sad…it was twitching on our deck. I even tried, with a spade, to try to help the bird right itself, but it's injuries were too serious. I knew that it needed to be put out of its misery, but I am not a hunter (I do not recall ever killing an animal). I really didn’t want to have to kill it, nor did I want to just bury it alive. It died as I was digging a hole to bury it in. While I was digging the hole, I recalled a passage about birds in the Scriptures.

Jesus said of sparrows, that “not one of them falls on the ground apart from your Father's will, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore don't be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.” ( Matthew 10:29-31)

I believe that the Father, not only knows the day and the hour of Jesus' return, but knows how my day will be.
He is not shocked when things go "wrong."

He knows what we can handle, therefore, we must remember that His "grace is sufficient" for us, and that His strength "is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

So at the end of the day, Psalm 34 is my prayer.
I pray that I would be able to “bless the LORD at all times,” and that His praise would “continually be in my mouth.” Even on one of those days.

Great list of essential books...

2004-05-16T22:26:00.000-05:00

Felix over at "Leaving Münster" posted Richard J. Foster's list of "100 enduring Spiritual classics."

I have only read eleven of the selections, but I am working on four now.

we’ll ride them some day

2004-05-16T22:09:00.000-05:00

"You know I can’t let you slide through my hands..."

On this day three years ago I lost a very dear friend. This post will most likely only make any sense to those who knew him.

This is from my journal from May of 2001.
"Jim's heart was so big. He was my spiritual father. A shepherd, a leader, a brother, a mentor, but most important a friend...
He was given his peace. Translated out of this world and into the Presence."

"Wild horses couldn’t drag me away
Wild, wild horses, couldn’t drag me away

I watched you suffer a dull aching pain
...
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind

Wild horses couldn’t drag me away
Wild, wild horses, couldn’t drag me away

...
I have my freedom but I don’t have much time
Faith has been broken, tears must be cried
Let’s do some living after we die

Wild horses couldn’t drag me away
Wild, wild horses, we’ll ride them some day."

Shiny Objects

2004-05-12T10:57:00.000-05:00

"'My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. / Words without thoughts never to heaven go.'" Hamlet Act 3, Scene 3, lines 97-98, exclaimed by Claudius as his prayers are distracted by his earthly troubles.

I don’t know about you, but I get distracted very easily.
When I’m at work, in a conversation, or even while praying.

Moving from one thing to another seems to be how I accomplish everything. At any given time I am reading a minimum of four or five books. Kimberly teases me because I‘ll "browse" the web with several windows open at once. Even today while cleaning the house up a bit, I noticed that I was working on four different things at the same time.

Don’t get me wrong I do finish things. And I guess that distractions while performing "soulical" activities, don't bother me as much “distractions” while in prayer.

I have not read much on the subject. It almost seems that people do not want to acknowledge that it happens. I had begun to think that it was just me. Until the other day.

Thomas Merton, in his book New Seeds of Contemplation (pg. 221-222), says that if one does not have distractions while praying then “they don’t know how to pray.”

Merton goes on to say that,

“the secret of prayer is a hunger for God and for the vision of God, a hunger that lies far deeper than the level of language or affection. And a man whose memory and imagination are persecuting him with a crowd of useless or even evil thoughts and images may be forced to pray far better, in the depths of his murdered heart than one whose mind is swimming with clear concepts and brilliant purposes…That is why it is useless to get upset when you cannot shake off distractions.”

He also says that distractions are unavoidable, and that the “tidal wave of wild and inane images is one of the standard trials” faced by one who is “committed to a contemplative life.”

He also stresses the importance of “free flowing prayer.” Saying that the easy way out is to grab a prayer book “clutching at its sentences the way a drowning man clutches at straws.” He warns that to let ones prayer life “degenerate into a period of simple spiritual reading you are losing a great deal of fruit.”

I take great comfort in knowing that God, though we are being perfected, love us, and accepts for who we are. As C. S. Lewis says all we have to do is “lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.”

walk with a monk

2004-05-09T08:37:00.000-05:00

The other day, I went on a walk with a monk.
I have been thinking about what I learned from him.

The following are portions of what he said…

He told me about a fellow monk who “for the past forty years” has taken “continual” care to be in the presence of the Father.”
To “always” be “with God.”
He has sought to “ to do nothing, say nothing, and think nothing which may displease Him. All this without any other view than purely for the love of Him and because He deserves infinitely more.”

The monk further explained that, for over thirty years, this brother has felt such a complete joy that he is routinely forced to “use means to moderate” and “hinder” the outwardly appearance of this immense joy that he feels.

Just then I was wondering, “How exactly has he managed to feel that kind of joy? To be continually in the presence of the Father” I thought “I know that His presence surrounds us at all times,” He is, after all, omnipresent. Never the less, I was perplexed at this continual joy that the monk experienced. “How had he come to experience that…?”

But before the question had even crossed my lips, the monk went on to explain that any time the Lord, by His Spirit, “stirred his soul,” even when the brother was “most engaged in his outward business,” he would answer with “exact fidelity” to the “inward drawings, either by an elevation of his heart towards God, or by a meek and fond regard to Him, or by such words as love forms upon these occasions. For instance, he may say ‘My God, here I am all devoted to You. Lord, make me according to Your heart’.”

Then he said that “it seems to him (as in effect he feels it) that this God of love, satisfied with such few words, reposes again, and rests in the depth and center of his soul. The experience of these things gives him such an assurance that God is always in the depth or bottom of his soul that it renders him incapable of doubting it on any account whatever.”

The monk then told me that this other brother oft complained of most of his fellow monks, as well as laypersons, slack in this regard. Not that we do not often feel that “stirring,” but that we do not take that feeling and run with it. Building on it, and meditating on it.

He says that many, “are to be pitied” who content themselves with “so little” of the presence of the Living God. God, he says, has ‘infinite treasure to bestow, and we take up with a little sensible devotion which passes in a moment. Blind as we are, we hinder God, and stop the current of His graces.”

On the other hand he says that when the Lord “finds a soul penetrated with a lively faith, He pours into it His graces and favors plentifully.”
There he says that “they flow like a torrent, which, after being forcibly stopped against its ordinary course, when it has found a passage, spreads itself with impetuosity and abundance.

He says sadly, that we often “stop this torrent by the little value we set upon it.”

He prays that every Christian would stop the daily devaluing of the presence of God.

Saying finally, in a great declaration…

“Let us enter into ourselves and break down the bank which hinders it. Let us make way for grace. Let us redeem the lost time, for perhaps we have but little left…because not to advance, in the spiritual life, is to go back. But those who have the gale of the Holy Spirit go forward even in sleep. If the vessel of our soul is still tossed with winds and storms, let us awake the Lord, who reposes in it, and He will quickly calm the sea.”

“Keep us, Lord, so awake in the duties of our callings that we may sleep in Thy peace and wake in Thy Glory…” - John Donne

Great Documentary

2004-05-08T22:26:00.000-05:00

I just finished a terrific documentary on Martin Luther.
I highly recommend it.
(Notice the considerably different reviews on Amazon...It either gets 1 or 5 stars.)

Summer

2004-05-07T23:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I am done with finals.
I took my last one yesterday.
I am NOT taking a summer class.

I went to the Library and checked out a whole mess of books...from cook-books to Iraqi history, from Thomas Merton's Journals to the Aeneid...
Now it's on.

trust

2004-05-02T11:33:00.000-05:00

"I know that God won't give me any thing that I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much." Mother Teresa

I have a hard time when it comes to making concrete decisions.
I am hesitant, to say the least. Reservations abound.
What if I'm supposed to do _____, instead of _____? When should I do it? How should I go about _____? What if its not the right time? What if I queer it all up?
*sigh*
*deep-breath*
(Introspection and reading are my only hobbies...)

Hudson Taylor said that all of God's greatest servants were just "weak" people that did great things in God's Kingdom simply because they "believed that God would be with them." Well, I trust that the Lord is with me. And God knows that I'm weak, so I guess that I'm headed in the right direction.

While listening to Sacred Treasures , one of my favorite e-Bay purchases, I was reminded this morning of the opening lines of "Trust and Obey..."

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

In , but not of

2004-04-30T19:32:00.000-05:00

As Followers
Of the teachings
Of Christ Jesus,
We are called
To be in the world,
But not of it.
Kept from evil,
We are not to conform.
Instead, we are to be,
A Light in the darkness.

“ I have given them Your Word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray for You to take them out of the world, but for You to keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. [Taken from Jesus’ prayer that is recorded in the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John.]

I have earnestly been praying to the Lord for direction regarding the next few years of my “education.”
I am at a fork in the road, and while not necessarily as dangerous as a Scylla and Charybdis type of situation, I am in a season of very serious decision making.

I am trusting in the Lord to guide my decisions.
I am willing to do whatever the Lord has for me.
{I think.}
And I pray that His grace and mercy would give me the strength to do anything that He would will.

It seems I am finding myself being shown a path that had heretofore not been given much serious consideration.

I am also pondering my role in the world, both the Christian and career "hats"... ( Seems Reid has been too…)

But, I have confidence that my path will be made straight.
WHY? Because Scripture says,
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, cultivate your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, so that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Among these you shine as lights in the world;” Philippians 2:12-15

I am encouraged, inspired, and convicted by this passage.
These are simple things, that over time, as Christians we tend to loose sight of…

First, It is God who works in us “both to will” and to do “His good pleasure.”

Second, we are to do some things…oops, ALL things “without murmurings and disputing,” especially because we are shining “as lights in the world.”

As temples who have been given (and are sealed with ) the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13; 1 Cor. 6:19), we are reflecting, the only true glimmer of hope that the world has to offer…In the midst of “a crooked and perverse nation” we are to be ambassadors of His Grace.

What better example of shining a light into this dark world than
William Wilberforce. Just six years after he entered the Parliament in Great Briton he was converted to Christianity, and shortly after his conversion he wrote in his diary, “My walk is a public one. My business is in the world, and I must mix in the assemblies of men.” Three years later he started a crusade against the British slave trade, and by 1807 it was outlawed. Thirty years prior to Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

We must mix in the assemblies of men.
But how? When? And In what way?
That's for us to be willing, and God to make us able...

hint

2004-04-26T10:51:00.000-05:00

I found this written on a sheet of loose leaf notebook paper a couple of days back.
I wrote it a few years ago, and I’m not sure who my “audience” was at the time, or what triggered me to write it, but I felt like I was supposed to post it…Here it is sans proper punctuation, grammar, and all…

Frederick Buechner calls it a “longing for home.”
Paul summed up the desire and described it as “better” to “depart, and to be with Christ.”
The older I get, It is becoming more of an aching in my bones.

Heaven.

I love my life in this world.
Not so much the “things” of this world, as the beauty that is in it…beauty that can only be little glimpses of Heaven. Places you’ve been, moments in life, that you wish you could relive over and over in slow motion to soak in all the rich detail and emotion. To slow it down and watch life in all its majestic splendor…And just maybe to hear the Voice of God a little more clearly, unfettered and uncontaminated.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my life as much as the next person…
My beautiful wife, family, friends, and church.
( Is there any…ANY…material thing that I lack to live. )

I am content to be who I am.
To be who the Lord has called me to be, and live out this life as He guides me to live.

At the same time there is an itch that begs to be scratched.
A longing that sometimes goes unnoticed.

But sometimes in life, when I am still…
Embraced by His presence,
He soothes my bones in a way that can only be described as a taste of home…a foreshadow of Heaven.

A moment of peace.

Creation

2004-04-21T07:03:00.000-05:00

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." Psalms 19:1

"For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." Colossians 1:9-16

There is something quite elementary that I have been meditating on for the last few weeks.

There is God. And there is His Creation.

All things exist in Him.

For as Acts 17:28 states the "poets have said" that "in Him we live, and move, and have our being."
And we know that nothing was made with out Jesus being there because the Gospel of John says that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

In reflecting upon the Creation, Kenneth Boa writes that "creation abounds with resplendent wonders on every order of magnitude from the microcosm to the macrocosm that point beyond themselves to the beauty and unimaginable brilliance of the Creator of the cosmos...

[Meditating on the greatness of our Creator]

Consider these...

Particles and atoms, light and color, microbes and daitomes, snowflakes, insects, seeds, flowers, leaves, shells, rocks and minerals, fruits, vegetables, plants, small and large birds, small and large fish, whales, small and large animals, trees, mountains, clouds, the weather, the seasons, our earth, the planets, stars, nebulae, our galaxy, clusters and super clusters of galaxies."

The Message puts it this way...
"What a wildly wonderful world, GOD! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, You made the earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalm 104:24

Praise Him!
Stand in awe.
Marvel at the works of His hands.

For more passages of Scripture see Psalms 104, 148, and 19.

too much

2004-04-19T08:12:00.000-05:00

I am going to be out of pocket for the next several days.
Unfortunately, posts will primarily have to consist of links or short quotes.
I will be finished with my research paper by Thursday, so until then check out this fascinating link regarding Judaism after Yeshua came.

"many are called, but few are chosen."

2004-04-15T00:03:00.000-05:00

"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." 1Timothy 2:3-6

"It is Heaven's Way to couquer without striving,
To get responses with out speaking,
To induce the people to come with out summoning,
To act according to plans without haste.

Vast is Heaven's net;
Sparce-meshed it is, and yet
Nothing can slip through it."

Lao Tzu

"The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." 2nd Peter 3:9 & 10

Also see the twenty second chapter of The Gospel of Matthew.

You Hypocrite.

2004-04-12T22:28:00.000-05:00

Kimberly and I were having a discussion about reasons that people offer as to why they do not go to church.
One reason, that many people seem to tout frequently, goes something like this... "All Christians are hypocrites." Or..."The church is full of hypocrites."

A senario came to mind.

Imagine that you go to the store to buy a few items.

It is almost your turn at the register.
You reach into your pocket or into your purse to pull out some cash.
(I realize that for many of us this is not applicable, because we would most likely have only a small plastic card for currency, but try to imagine, if you will, that you had some "real money.")

As your cashier begins ringing up your purchases, you add on a last minute impulse buy...A bag of malted milk balls.
You are then told the total cost for all of your items.
You flip through several bills that you have, and then hand the cashier a twenty.

The cashier reaches beside the cash register and produces one of those "counterfeit detector" pens. After marking on the twenty the cashier informs you that your bill is a fake.

Fake. "What do you mean fake?" you ask, realizing that you must have received the bill as change from another purchase you had made earlier.
Out of frustration, shock, and a little embarrassed, you throw all of your bills on the ground, and quickly exit the store. "I'll never have anything to do with money again," you think. "I don't ever want to deal with a counterfeit."

There are lots of hypocrites in the world. One can encounter them in every arena of public life. Relationships at work, at school, in the family, and yes even church, but, we need to realize that just because we notice a little hypocrisy in someone does not mean that we should shun them altogether. I think that at some point in everyone's life, we realize that we have to some extent, in some area of our life been more than a little hypocritical.

Several time lately I have been reminded of what Buechner says about Christians. He says that "a Christian is one who is on the way, though not necessarily very far along it, and who has at least some idea of whom to thank." We are not necessarily any better that anybody else, just "better informed."

I used the "all Christians are hypocrites" excuse for many years myself, but in retrospect I believe that one sees literally sees what they want to in that regard.

Remember the words spoken by Jesus in Matthew 7:

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but don't consider the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you tell your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye;' and behold, the beam is in your own eye?
You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye.

Perhaps, the "hypocrites" aren't always the ones really guilty of hypocrisy.

Resurrection Sunday

2004-04-11T14:35:00.000-05:00

The hope and joy that this Resurrection Sunday brings...
I am in awe at the love of the Father.
Words fail me, in describing how I feel.
So I will rely on the words of another.

I had never heard this song before today, and perhaps that is why is struck me so. I hope that you have a blessed day, and I hope to write a little more next week...

The song is called Calvary is the Sea.

Your broken form upon the cross,
Your holy love expressed
Stirs a passion in my soul -
Calling me to give my best.

No sacrifice I could give for You
Could match what You've given me,
For my everything is but a drop of dew,
And Calvary is the sea.

If I could take the love I feel
And capture it with words,
More than what my heart could give
Is still much less than You deserve.

No sacrifice I could give for You
Could match what You've given me,
For my everything is but a drop of dew,
And Calvary is the sea.

If I should ever doubt Your love,
My only prayer would be
That You would keep Your rugged cross
Etched upon my memory.

No sacrifice I could give for You
Could match what You've given me,
For my everything is but a drop of dew,
And Calvary is the sea.
Calvary is the sea.

by L. Alexander, D. Clark & T. Wood; 1998 Word Music Inc.

The Resurrection

2004-04-11T13:14:00.000-05:00

PenguinBoy's Easter post is very good.
He delves into the "solid foundation to our faith..."
That of Yeshua's Resurrection.

close to me

2004-04-05T21:25:00.000-05:00

"Those who draw water from the wellspring of meditation know that God dwells close to their hearts." - Totohiko Kagawa

The reality of existence is that there is God and His creation. The Word and the world.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being." John 1:1-3

It is amazing to me that if one is close to God and dwelling upon His ways the Holy Spirit can speak through anything. Gerard Hughes says that "God is continually drawing us to Himself in everything that we experience." It seems to me that if we are perceptive to the the Holy Spirit, a movie or book, a street sign or another person, a tree by a stream, a sparrow, or anything can become a living parable.

For instance, have you ever been listening to a song, that you have heard a thousand times before, and suddenly, out of nowhere become aware of its Spiritual significance?

The Cure has a song on the Discentegration CD, called Untitled, that starts off like this...

hopelessly adrift in the eyes of the Ghost again
down on my knees with my hands in the air again
pushing my face in the memory of you again
but i never know if it's real
never know how i wanted to feel
never quite said what i wanted to say to you
never quite managed the words to explain to you
never quite knew how to make them beleivable...

I'll let you see if you find any relevance in the song.
It is probably just for me...

I don't know about you, but I can only read the Scriptures for about thirty minutes or so a day, that leave a whole lot of time that I can only learn about God through His creation.

I hope that we all perk up our ears.
Seeking to hear His voice.

{The capital "g" in Ghost was added by me...}

The Easter Song

2004-04-04T23:12:00.000-05:00

I know that this is a bit early, but this song popped into my head...

I have heard several versions of this song. None are as good as Keith's.

Here the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be born again
Here the bells ringing
They're singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the word, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah

Hear the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be healed right now
Hear the bells ringing, they're singing
Christ, He will reveal it now

The angels, they all surround us
And they are ministering Jesus' power
Quickly now, reach out and receive it
For this could be your glorious hour

Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah

This song and Asleep In the Light it does not matter how many times I hear then I am ministered to...
Broken.
And then mended.

stop griping about the state of things...do something.

2004-03-31T12:40:00.000-06:00

Mahatma Gandhi said, "be the change you want to see in the world."

I think that for me it is time to talk less.
It seems that as Followers of Christ we are called to take action, and not to simply mope and complain.

I pray that, through the empowering of the Ruach ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit of ADONAI, that I would be able to do.

"Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most." - Fyodor Dostoevsky

More later.
Must get back to work on my Aristophanes.

*** FEEDBACK***
I wrote a paper on the Creation narrative in Genesis juxtaposed with the account in Ovid's Metamorphoses. It is several pages long, but If any one would be interested in reading it, I could post it as a comment...
Let me know.

one mind

2004-03-29T22:05:00.000-06:00

This theme has been impressed upon me lately (also see James 3:13-18).

"If there is therefore any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tendernesses and mercies, then fulfill my joy, that you may be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind.
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves." Phillipians 2:1-3

From J. Heinrich Arnold's writings...

"In a brotherhood ruled by the Holy Spirit one can see many aspects of Jesus...Each of us is different, but God created us, and we should not try to be something that we are not. We should give our heart, souls, and being to Jesus and let Him do with us what he wants. Then our lives will find true fulfillment, and we will love each other as we are, with all our differences..."

a signal flare

2004-03-29T21:49:00.000-06:00

I should not be bloging.
I should not be wondering if "bloging" should be spelled with one "g" or two.
I should be doing my school work, but I needed a break.

Besides I didn't want anyone to worry about me, and if I didn't post tonight it, it might be Friday before I had the chance again.
I am in the process of working on a take-home midterm for my world literature class. It is over Dante's Inferno, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and some other very old writings.
FUN stuff.

Contemplative (web) Space

2004-03-24T21:07:00.000-06:00

I have only gone to "Sacred Space" today, so it may be presumptuous or a bit hasty to recommend it already, but the entry for today really ministered to me...

Thanks to Greg Daniel over at Wishful Thinking for the link.
It's a website called Sacred Space,that is run by some Irish Jesuits. They get thousands of hits a day.

The site guides you through "a series of reflections, centered around a passage of scripture."

Supposedly, they update the verse(s) and picture daily.

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20

2004-03-22T09:21:00.000-06:00

Friedrich von Hugel said that "behind every saint stands another saint."

There is something amazing that occurs when believers get together, whether it is an organized time of assembly or simply a time of fellowship. When believers come together over coffee, pizza, bread and wine, or juice and crackers, something supernatural happens when the focus is on Him. When as The Message translation say of Matthew 18:20, "two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

God is faithful. He ministers to us through His Scriptures and through His children.

In Malachi 3:16 there is a verse that seems similar to the passages early in Job, in that we are allowed to overhear a conversation or be aware of an event that it seems like we should not be privy to.
It says...

"Then those who feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before him for those that feared the LORD, and who meditate on his name."

This should blow us away...We know that Jesus made clear that "every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." (Matthew 12:36) But this likewise should make clear to us that not one word goes unnoticed.

This is the passage that sparked my meditation on the "assembling of the saints..."

"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies having been washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for He is faithful who promised), and let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins" Hebrews 10:22-26

Finally, I liked this quote by Saint Ignatius of Antioch.
He was born in approximately 50 A.D. and he died somewhere between 98 and 117 (not to be confuse with the much later Sanint Ignatius of Loyola, the developer/author of "The Spiritual Exercises of...")

He said that believers should be "eager for more frequent gatherings for thanksgiving to God and for His Glory. For when you meet frequently the forces of satan are annuled and his destructive power is canceled in the concord of our faith."

like a tree

2004-03-14T23:11:00.000-06:00

“I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of Him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.” Psalm 104:33&34

I have had quite a bit of time this week to “meditate” on meditation.

I find it providence that out of the twenty times that meditate (or meditation) occurs in the Scriptures only five times does it occur outside of the Psalms.

Lately, I have been drawn to the Psalms (there have been a few in particular that I have really been focusing on…the “sixties” and 119) . I have been dwelling and standing upon them, praying them, and studying them, in other words…I’ve been meditating them.

The word “meditation” used to evoke an immediate negative reaction within me. I was under a false impression that all forms of meditation were “of the devil.” These impressions were perhaps due to my years spent in a private school, Bob Larson, or simply due to a lack of understanding.

In Thomas Merton’s book Praying the Psalms he says that we should not wonder why the Psalms are such a rich source for songs and prayers for believers. He says they are the Churches most “powerful” book of prayer and praise, because in them we “drink divine praise at its pure and stainless source, in all its primitive sincerity and perfection…God has taught us to praise Him, in the Psalms, not in order that He may get something out of this praise, but in order that we may be made better by it.”

From Richard J. Foster's, now ubiquitous, Celebration of Discipline:

“In meditation we are growing into what Thomas a Kempis calls ‘a familiar friendship with Jesus.’ We are sinking down into the light and life of Christ and becoming comfortable in that posture. The perpetual presence of the Lord (omnipresence, as we say) moves from a theological dogma into a radiant reality. ‘He walks with me and He talks with me’ ceases to be pious jargon and instead becomes a straightforward description of daily life.”

The Message translates "meditate day and night" in the second verse of the first Psalm as, "you chew on Scripture day and night."

We are to prayerfully consider and reconsider the Scriptures.
We are to be still and meditate the Word.

“Only in God be at rest, O my soul, for my hope comes from Him.” Psalm 62:5

If you're wondering "why is the title 'like a tree'?" See the first Psalm.

spring break

2004-03-14T22:28:00.000-06:00

Well, this week has, on many levels, been a great one.
Thanks and praise be to Adonai Yireh.

Here are some proverbs...

“The words of a man's mouth are like deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is like a flowing stream.” Proverbs 18:4

“A fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own opinion.” Proverbs 18:2

Psalms: Meditating Early and Late

2004-03-11T01:08:00.000-06:00

The contemplation of the saints is fired by the love of the one contemplated: that is, God." Albert the Great

Tehillim sixty-three.
A Psalm of David.
I was first brought to this passage, a few days ago, in the evening just before bed.

At first it was just a casual read through, but I can honestly confess that it has now become, almost an...for lack of a better word, "obsession." (It has re-opened my eyes to just how much, when you start meditating upon the Word, can be found within just a few words of Scripture. Likewise, when you really look at the Hebrew or Greek that is used, for example, the words used for praise in verse 3 and 5 differ...more on that, at a later date. )

“O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. Because Thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee. Thus will I bless Thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in Thy name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips: When I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches." Psalm 63:1-6

This early time of fellowship with the Creator is seen also in Psalm 5:3.

“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”

I do not know about others, but when I sit down to read the Scriptures in the morning I fully intend to hear from God. I seek Him because, as the second half of verse two states, “my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is…”
This world is a dry and weary land, but we need not weather it alone.
God has made it abundantly clear that when we seek Him, we will find him.

“I love those who love me; and those who seek me early shall find me.” Proverbs 8:17

"This book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it by day and by night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall act wisely." Joshua 1:8

Toyohiko Kagawa the Christian Missionary, and social activist, said that, "those who draw water from the wellspring of meditation know that God dwells close to their hearts."

Psalms 119:64

2004-03-10T09:08:00.000-06:00

"The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes." KJV.

"The earth is full of your loving kindness, LORD. Teach me your statutes." HNV

"Your love, GOD, fills the earth! Train me to live by your counsel." MSG

"O Yehovah, the earth is full of Your mercy; teach me Your Precepts." MKJV

Psalm 119:55-64

2004-03-10T07:21:00.000-06:00

"Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law.
This I had, because I kept thy precepts.
Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.
I entreated thy favor with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word.
I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.
The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law.
At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.
I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.
The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes."

Last words..."hey, what does that button do?"

2004-03-07T13:22:00.000-06:00

I have a book that collects "famous last words."

Kimberly showed me this one this morning.

While standing at the gallows Archibald Alison said...

"What think ye of Heaven and Glory that is at the back of the Cross? The hope of this makes me look upon pale death as a lovely messenger to me. I bless the Lord for my lot this day… Friends, give our Lord credit; He is aye good, but O! He is good in a day of trial and He will be sweet company through the ages of Eternity”.

Rambling

2004-03-07T07:31:00.000-06:00

"Jesus has many who love his kingdom in heaven, but few who bear his cross. He has many who desire his comfort, but few who desire suffering. He finds many to share his feast, but few his fasting. All desire to rejoice with him, but few are willing to suffer for his sake. Many follow Jesus to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of his passion Many admire the miracles but few follow him to the humiliation of his cross.
More from Thomas a Kempis.

I realize that this has been a "Passion"/ the suffering of Christ blog as of late, but then again so have many others...

A Violent Grace.

2004-03-03T16:43:00.000-06:00

With all of the books that have been recently released about the "Passion" at the Christian bookstores, I am shocked that they have not yet remembered this book.
(One would think that Multnomah would want to re-issue/re-offer the book.)
I remember when this book came out. The book was a big deal, with lots of promotion. Big displays.

From Card's website:

If Jesus' resurrection forms the hope of our salvation, why should we study His death?
Why is the cost of our redemption as significant as the saving itself?
Isn't it unhealthy to feel indebted to someone who sacrifices for us?
Isn't it psychologically damaging to study an event whose violence would have been considered at least R-rated?
Shouldn't we emphasize emblems of peace and love instead of symbols of brutality and death?
What can we possibly gain from focusing on the cross?

In his book, A Violent Grace, acclaimed author and singer Michael Card answers these questions with the insight of a biblical scholar, the authority of Scripture, and the passion of a disciple. Exploring the event of the cross, he explains, is essential to our understanding the depths of God's love and Jesus' sacrifice. And the brutality of Christ's death emphasizes the lengths God went to restore humankind to Himself. When we understand the darkness of the cross, we can more fully embrace the light it brought.

At Michael Card's Website they have the book on sale. (Two for fifteen dollars.) (It is normally $10.39 for one copy at Amazon.)

Not my will, but Thine.

2004-03-02T20:32:00.000-06:00

This was written by J. Heinrich Arnold:

“Surrendering to the will of Jesus means becoming one with him and with one another. Jesus fought so hard to surrender his will to the Father’s that he sweated drops of blood. Evil powers surrounded him and tried to cause his downfall, but he remained faithful: his attitude was ‘Thy will, not my will.’ This should be our attitude, too, in all questions, even if we are persecuted for our faith. Whatever happens, imprisonment, or even death, we should say, ‘Thy will, not my will.’ ”

(The credit goes to Reid for making this SHOUT at me as I read it.)

Imitation of Christ

2004-02-29T09:12:00.000-06:00

Interesting reading from Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis:

“If thou knowest not how to meditate on high and heavenly things, rest on the Passion of Christ, and
willingly dwell in his sacred wounds. For, if thou fly devoutly to the wounds and precious stigmas of Jesus,
thou shalt feel great comfort in tribulation...”

"Had you but once entered into perfect communion with Jesus or tasted a little of His ardent love, you would care nothing at all for your own comfort or discomfort but would rejoice in the reproach you suffer..."

"He who learns to live the interior life and to take little account of outward things, does not seek special places or times to perform devout exercises. A spiritual man quickly recollects himself because he has never wasted his attention upon externals. No outside work, no business that cannot wait stands in his way. He adjusts himself to things as they happen. He whose disposition is well ordered cares nothing about the strange, perverse behavior of others, for a man is upset and distracted only in proportion as he engrosses himself in externals.

These are from book two "THE INTERIOR LIFE."

To read a FREE modern translation...click here.

A Violent Grace: Preaching "Christ Crucified."

2004-02-27T22:09:00.000-06:00

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. First Corinthians 2:2.

I found some interesting, prophetic and revelatory words in re-reading the introduction to Michael Card's book (copyright 2000) A Violent Grace ...Revelatory in the sense that some are very "offended" at the violence of the crucifixion, especially as portrayed in the film The Passion of the Christ, and prophetic in the necessity of the church, as a whole, to obtain a more complete knowledge of "Christ and Him crucified." (Not to mention the part about the MPAA rating...)

He addresses a recent trend toward the "loss" and "abandonment" in Protestantism of the Cross of Christ, wondering how and why much of the church has almost glossed over the atoning "blood" of the Messiah, and the means thereof.

He writes:
"...The cross seems to have disappeared from Christian art and music...And worse from many hearts and minds as well. Fewer and fewer of the churches I visit have crosses hanging behind of the pulpit. Fewer songs sing of it. Fewer sermons celebrate it."
"Particluarly in American Christianity, the cross has become somewhat objectionable. Well-known pastors avoid referring to it in their sermons and on their TV programs because it is "too negative." Some contend that it is somehow "dysfunctional" to feel that we owe something to someone who sacrifices anything, much less himself, for us. Can't that become manipulation? Wouldn't it be better to respond to God for our own reasons rather than because we owe him something?"
"Other people are put off by the violence the cross portrays. No question about it--the blood and gore and pain of the crucifixion would certainly get an R-rating on the screen."

When explaining the point of his book,Card says that it is to "help you see the cross for what it is: on the one hand, the scene of the violent execution of the Son of God and, on the other, the source of His limitless grace."

I feel that most Christians will benefit from the film. (Likewise, I think that it drives people, as it has me, to look back at the gospel accounts.)
No doubt, the film is violent, but so is the relentless love of our Father.
If Gibson had turned the "Passion" of Christ into a "cake-walk," it would have been a diservice to both Christains and to unbelievers... (and again, we should not be shocked if people are offended or find it foolish.)

"For the Jews ask for a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness." First Corinthians 1:22-23

A stumbling block and a rock-of-offense.

2004-02-25T07:41:00.000-06:00

"The Passion of the Christ," the Gospel of Christ, a stumbling block, and a rock-of-offense.

I cannot believe how much dialogue about faith is being "allowed" on the mainstream media because of the "controversy" surrounding "The Passion of the Christ." (What is really at issue to the media, is not how does the film portray the Jews, or is the film anti-Semitic, it is instead, what I keep hearing over and over, from the media..."how reliable are the Gospels?") But the attacks on the validity of Scripture I pray will keep allowing Christians to defend, and present the Faith through the mass media. I just saw Billy Ghaham's son, Franklin Graham, on with Katie Couric, giving what I can only describe as an "altar call" on The Today Show...it was incredible.

It seems that to me the real "controversy" seems to be Jesus and his message.

And that is not shocking.

1 Peter 2 says, "Therefore also it is contained in the Scripture: 'Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner Stone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him shall never be ashamed.' Therefore to you who believe is the honor. But to those who are disobedient, 'He is the Stone which the builders rejected; this One came to be the Head of the corner,' and 'a Stone-of-stumbling and a Rock-of-offense' to those disobeying, who stumble at the Word, to which they also were appointed."

And in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul tells us that...
“we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”

And finally, Matthew 21 where Jesus himself explains his role, as the chief Cornerstone, and we find out what happens to those whom "falls on this stone," or on whomever the stone "may fall."

“Coincidences”

2004-02-23T22:36:00.000-06:00

or Divine providence?

I love scientists.
Especially those of the secular variety…
They possess a more unshakable, disciplined “faith” than most religious devotees. From Trappist monks to Tibetan monks, they have got nothing on some of these scientists. When a person of faith sees a coincidence they typically attribute it to Divine providence, but when most scientists see a coincidence…it is just a coincidence. Even if it takes more faith to believe that it was an accident and not Divine.

Case in point, in the most recent issue of Discover Magazine.
They discuss several unlikely “coincidences” of our solar system.

1st- (the Earth) “ The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, but it is also 400 times farther from the Earth.” “…Although the sun and the moon have drastically different diameters, they appear as the same size in the sky.” “Both the sun and moon rotate in nearly the same exact 27-day period.” Regarding these facts they said that “all of this is chance and nothing more.”

2nd - (Jupiter) “…the three big Jovian moons orbit in a precise 1:2:4 rhythm…” They say that “over billions of years” somehow they have managed to get “nudged” into their peculiar “orderly orbit.”

3rd - Johannes Kepler noticed that “ the cube of any planet’s relative distance from the sun equals the square of its orbital period. Jupiter, for example lies at 5.2 Earth distances. The cube of 5.2 is 140.6, the same as the square of Jupiter’s 11.86-year orbit.”

I love “coincidences.”

Casting off...

2004-02-20T19:26:00.000-06:00

The past few days have been very interesting...
It seems funny to me, that no matter what one is going through, there always seems to be a Psalm that speaks directly into the situation...
Several times this week a Psalm has meant a great deal to me.
Today it was Psalm 55 (excerpts taken from verses: 16, 17, 18, and 22).

"As for me, I will call upon God, And the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me...
Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved."

The word "sustain" in that Psalm is the Hebrew word chul(STG's # H3557 pronounced: kul ) it can mean several "comforting" things...to maintain, nourish, provide sustenance, bear, hold up, protect, support, sustain, defend...

This "casting off, of what ails you" also seems to be what Peter had in mind when he said...
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you." (NKJV: "...casting all your anxiety onto Him, for He cares for you.")

The word "cares/worries" (merimna) there can also mean...DISTRACTIONS.

2004-02-17T21:20:00.000-06:00

I was not sure what I was going to post today.
I perused several books, in addition to the ones that I am currently reading.
In the end, I decided that the only truely valuable things that I had read today were...

"At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven? And Jesus called a little child to Him and set him in their midst, and said, Truly I say to you, Unless you are converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Therefore whoever shall humble himself like this little child, this one is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven."

"And whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he who shall humble himself shall be exalted."

- The Messiah from the 18th and 23rd chapters of Matthew's Gospel (respectivly).

See also...
James 4:10 "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up."

Richard J. Foster on Prayer (God the Great Iconoclast)

2004-02-16T21:29:00.000-06:00

Regarding God during times of our "feeling" the "absence" of God...
(This post will really only make sense if you have read C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia.)

"...God, the great iconoclast, is constantly smashing our false images of who He is and what He is like.
Can you see how your very sense of the absence of God is, therefore, an unexpected grace? In the very act of hiddenness God is slowly weaning us of fashioning Him in our own image. Like Aslan, the Christ figure in The Chronicles of Narnia, God is wild and free and comes at will. By refusing to be a puppet on our string or a genie in our bottle, God frees us from our false, idolatrous images."

Richard J. Foster
from Prayer

I pray that Adonai, the Creator God, would help all those who seek Him to find Him, not as they want Him to be, but as He is...

Contemplative Prayer

2004-02-16T09:18:00.000-06:00

"...in meditation we should not look for a "method" or "system," but cultivate an "attitude," and "outlook": faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, supplication, trust, joy. All these finally permeate our being with love in so far as our living faith tells us we are in the presence of God, that we live in Christ, that in the Spirit of God we "see" God as our Father without "seeing." We know him in "unknowing." Faith is the bond that unites us to him in the Spirit who gives us light and love."

Thomas Merton
from Contemplative Prayer.

renewing our mind

2004-02-14T22:01:00.000-06:00

“Faith alone can give us the light to see that God’s will is to be found in our everyday life. Without this light, we cannot see to make the right decisions. Without this certitude we cannot have supernatural confidence and peace. We stumble and fall constantly even when we are most enlightened. But when we are in true spiritual darkness, we do not even know that we have fallen.

To keep ourselves spiritually alive we must constantly renew our faith. We are like pilots of fogbound steamers, peering into the gloom in front of us, listening for the sounds of other ships, and we can only reach our harbor if we keep alert. The spiritual life is, then, first of all a matter of keeping awake.”

Thomas Merton
from Thoughts in Solitude

I would only add...that it is only by the Grace of God that we can renew our minds daily. He is the Light. He guides our path.

good quote

2004-02-12T16:18:00.000-06:00

Over at Wishful Thinking Greg Daniel has posted a good Buechner quote from Sacred Journey.

2004-02-11T18:29:00.000-06:00

"However strong our will to control ourselves, and however deceptive we are, God sees through everything, into the depth of our heart. Only the act of putting ourselves under His light gives us a chance for renewal. Everything is possible if we put ourselves willingly under the light of God."

-- J. Heinrich Arnold from Discipleship

Unlike, Buddhism, Taoism, and other Eastern faiths, where we must strive to attain purity and, specifically in Buddhism, where we seek to gain right views, right intent, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration, at the heart of Christian sanctification...Is God. God, through His Spirit in us, when we are humble, and we subject ourselves to Him, can conform our heart to be after His.

"Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don't they come from your pleasures that war in your members? You lust, and don't have. You kill, covet, and can't obtain. You fight and make war. You don't have, because you don't ask. You ask, and don't receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures. You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously"? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (See: Proverbs 3:34) Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." From James chapter 4.

Peter's second letter...

2004-02-08T23:16:00.000-06:00

I was recently in a group setting, and the topic of grace was being tossed around...it is very facinating to hear people discuss grace.

Since, as Christians each one of us has experienced the outpouring of Adonai Tzidkenu's (the Lord our Righteousness) grace, through His Son Jesus, in a slightly different manner, I think that each of our expressions will inevitably be different.

Likewise, it would seem that as we "grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2nd Peter 3:18), through revelation granted by the Holy Spirit, our realization of grace changes and adapts as we grow, a "grace for the moment" or "fresh grace" if you will...therefore, perhaps not even allowing us to ever possess a "stale grace."
Since, "God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" (2nd Cor 9:8), we can go into the world with a perfect grace, through His divine power.

Peter addressed his letter to "those who have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah: Grace to you and shalom be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Yeshua our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue..." (2nd Pe 1:1b,2&3 HNV)

"His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness..." I once preached a sermon on this verse, and I still believe that moment by moment if we put our trust in Him, He will give us the grace that we need to give to others...

At the afore mentioned meeting I was reminded of these words. (Yes, another quote from Frederick Buechner . . . ) Grace, Frederick Buechner says, "is something you can never get but can only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of rasberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth....A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do."

There's nothing you have to do. Nothing we can do, past putting our faith in Him.

"Peace to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen." Ephesians 6

grace

2004-02-07T23:14:00.000-06:00

"Here is a revelation bright as the evening star: Jesus comes for sinners, for those as outcast as tax collectors and for those caught up in squalid choices and failed dreams. He comes for corporate executives, street people, superstars, farmers, hookers, addicts, IRS agents, AIDS victims, and even used car salesman. Jesus not only talks with these people but dines with them--fully aware that his table fellowship with sinners will raise the eyes of the religious bureaucrats who hold up the robes and insignia of their authority to justify their condemnation of the truth and their rejection of the Gospel of Grace." --Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

providence

2004-02-06T22:26:00.000-06:00

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths." - Proverbs 3:5-6

"Coincidences are spiritual puns."
Gilbert K. Chesterton

"Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business. If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future, I will strain my spiritual eyes so that I will not see clearly what is required of me now."
Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart

sounds flowed into my ears, and the truth streamed into my heart

2004-02-04T09:53:00.000-06:00

"Indeed, Lord, the days were not long enough as I found wonderful delight in meditating upon the depth of your design for the salvation of the human race. I wept at the beauty of your hymns, and I was powerfully moved at the sweet sound of your Church's singing.

Those sounds flowed into my ears, and the truth streamed into my heart. My feeling of devotion overflowed, and the tears ran from my eyes, and I was happy in them."

Augustine Confessions 9, 6

"now the words in my ears
and the wind up above
i will shed my skin as i jump right in
to this river of love"
Vigilantes of Love River of Love
of the Killing Floor album

Official Site

tau·tol·o·gies

2004-02-04T00:13:00.000-06:00

"Phrases like Worship Service or Service of Worship are tautologies. *
To worship God means to serve Him. Basically there are two ways to do it.
One way is to do things for Him that He needs to have done--run errands for Him, carry messages for Him, fight on His side, feed His lambs, and so on.
The other way is to do things for Him that you need to do-- sing songs for Him, create beautiful things for Him, give things up for Him, tell Him what's on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in Him and make a fool of yourself for Him the way lovers have always made fools of themselves for the one they love."

Frederick Buechner
from Wishful Thinking

*tau·tol·o·gies n. Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy. (Hey, it is Frederick...)

2004-02-03T22:05:00.000-06:00

"Halleluyah!
Praise Adonai from the heavens!
Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels!
Praise Him, all His hosts!

Praise Him, sun and moon!
Praise Him, all shining stars!
Praise Him, highest heaven,
and waters above the heavens.

Let them praise the name of Adonai;
for He commanded, and they were created.
He has also settled them forever and ever;
He has given a law to which they must conform. "
From Tehillim (psalms) 147

Well, I cannot seem to get of the topic of praise & worship...

"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." From the Gospel of John, chapter 4.

When we worship the maker of the stars, we should give Him all that we have.*
In that act, I believe that something
unfathomable happens to man...(an exchange perhaps?)

"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, so that He may be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him nor know Him. But you know Him, for He dwells with you and shall be in you." From the Gospel of John, chapter 14.

It is a "mystery" but the Scriptures say "He dwells with you and shall be in you..."
Through worship we begin to hear the testimony.
The Spirit bears witness (1 John 5).
And we begin to have a fuller realization of the nature of Adonai, Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit.

"And when the Comforter has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of Me." From the Gospel of John, chapter 15.

*(I believe that it is important to worship, even if we do not "feel like it." In my experience, it is at those times, that I needed the Comforter the most...)

a good shoe is a shoe you don't notice

2004-02-02T22:20:00.000-06:00

"Every service is a structure of acts and words through which we receive a sacrament, or repent, or supplicate, or adore. And it enables us to do these things best - if you like, it works best - when, through long familiarity, we don't have to think about it.

As long as you notice, and have to count, the steps, you are not yet dancing but only learning to dance. A good shoe is a shoe you don't notice.

The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of: our attention would have been upon God..."

Clive Staples Lewis
from Prayer

"the perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of..." C.S. Lewis

2004-01-31T20:59:00.000-06:00

I have been really reflecting on what does, or should, a gathering of believers look like.
I realize that there are different churches and denominations that serve the different needs that people have, but beyond that, beyond what there is, beyond what we want or need. What does Adonai Elohim desire for us...?

I started to think...If we suddenly found out, that in very real visible sense He was going to come in to a service or gathering to visit, would many things be different? Would I worship differently? Would I be in a hurry to leave? Would some churches alter their services? Would I be able to think about anything else? Would their be less pageantry and more prostration? Would I care what anyone else thought about my worship?

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them."

The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18.

There are many other verses that I know are applicable, however, this is the one that stops me dead in my trespasses {paraptōma: From G3895; a side slip (lapse or deviation), that is, (unintentional) error ...)}.

Regarding this passage Matthew Henry states that "every believer has the presence of Christ with him; but the promise here refers to the meetings where two or three are gathered in his name, not only for discipline, but for religious worship, or any act of Christian communion. Assemblies of Christians for holy purposes are hereby appointed, directed, and encouraged."

When we gather together, we need to be at home in our own skin. We need to be with "family." We need to be free. Posturing does no one any good.
Because, HE IS THERE, in our midst! And not in some new-agey Oprafied way...

When contemplating this verse Ambrose (339-397 AD) pondered "Imagine when an entire congregation is gathered in the name of the Lord..."

"...the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, this man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." Luke 15:2 (kjv)

2004-01-27T23:12:00.000-06:00

I recently read an article about the positive psychological effect that eating with a group of people has...on the individuals and the group as a whole.
And another blog regarding someone's theory that meals might in some way be related to the moving of God...

Then I came across this writing by Ephrium Syrus. He was born, some time during the reign of Constantine, to a Christian family, and he died in 373 AD. He was known throughout the early Christian world for his hymns, biblical commentaries, and poetry.

"The Lord did not hunger for the Pharisees' food, but for the sinful woman's tears. And when He was satisfied and refreshed by the tears He turned and rebuked those who called Him to eat perishable food. He did this to show that He did not become a guest for food for the body, but to help the soul. For our Lord did not mingle with gluttons and drunkards for pleasure, as the Pharisees supposed. But He did so in order to mingle His medical teaching with their mortal food. For just as the evil one gave his council to Adam and Eve, so through eating, the Lord gave His life-giving council to the sons of Adam through eating. For He was the Fisherman who came down to fish for lost lives. The tax collectors and harlots rushing into self-indulgence and drunkenness ran to His nets where they assembled. Then He could rescue these people from food that fattens bodies and bring them fasting that fattens souls."

I like the translation provided in The Message...
"The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, 'He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends'."

love constraining to obedience

2004-01-23T21:14:00.000-06:00

"To see the law by Christ fulfilled,
And hear His pardoning voice,
Changes a slave into a child,
And duty into choice." William Cowper / Crowper (1731-1800)

the song's full lyrics

"Be Thou my vision,
O Lord of my heart.
Naught be all else to me,
save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought,
by day or by night,
waking or sleeping,
Thy presence my light.

Riches I heed not,
nor man's empty praise,
Thou my inheritance,
now and always.
Thou and Thou only,
first in my heart,
High King of heaven,
my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven,
my Treasure Thou art." David Bazan (pedro the lion)

pedro article...

"Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him." Proverbs 29:20

2004-01-22T22:01:00.000-06:00

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. Offspring of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things. But I say to you that every idle word, whatever men may speak, they shall give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned. " (from the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew)

I must confess, these words intimidate me.
I don't even know where I would begin the catalogue...

I have said so many careless words.
For many years I profaned, and left my mouth unguarded, I said anything that I desired. Even though the Holy Spirit has enabled me to be more mindful, I still lapse into babbling, and idle chatter. Not to mention words said without reguard, or a single thought given to their potency (directed at Kimberly, friends, co-workers...).

As, followers of the Messiah, we are instructed to "guard" the words that "flow" from our mouths. We are now the ambassadors of grace to the world. The custodians of the good news.

"Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water." (James chapter three.)

of how it is required of us to worship God in spirit and in truth

2004-01-21T17:23:00.000-06:00

Brother Lawrence in his Spiritual Maxims:
"To worship God in spirit and in truth means to offer to Him the worship that we owe. God is a Spirit (See: The Gospel of John, chapter 4); therefore we must worship Him in spirit and in truth,--that is to say, by presenting to Him a true and humble spiritual worship in the very depth of our being. God alone can see this worship, which, offered unceasingly, will in the end become as it were natural, and as if He were one with our soul, and our soul one with Him..."

Godness of God

2004-01-20T21:33:00.000-06:00

"I can't prove the friendship of my friend. When I experience it, I don't need to prove it. When I don't experience it, no proof will do. If I tried to put his friendship to the test somehow, the test itself would queer the friendship I was testing. So it is with the Godness of God."
- Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking

2004-01-17T07:16:00.000-06:00

"My favorite writer, Frederick Buechner, says the gospel is not as much words that are true as it is a Word that makes us true. I think being true, not so much thinking ideas that are true, being a person who is true involves kindness and gentleness and those sort of things. A lot of Christians just want to be right and maybe not so much authentic or true. I think the Gospel makes us true." -- Michael Card

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

2004-01-15T09:29:00.000-06:00

Just about every moderately seasoned Christian has dwelt upon this verse to the "Hebrews." Most of us have heard it sermonized countless times, but how do you adequately explain the ineffable.

Substance, hupostasis in the Greek, literally means "a setting/standing under" or "support," figuratively in can mean "essence," or abstractly "assurance." It was typically used in the sense of a title deed.
Guy P. Duffield (S.T.D.,D.D.) says that "the root idea is that of standing under the claim to the property to support its validity...thus, faith is the title deed of "things hoped for."

2004-01-14T20:56:00.000-06:00

"All things are possible to him who believes, they are less difficult to him who hopes, they are easier to him who loves, and still more easy to him who practices and perseveres in these three virtues."
- Brother Lawrence

Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal

2004-01-07T13:28:00.000-06:00

"Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot cure.”

Here see the bread of life, see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove."

-- Thomas Moore, Sacred Songs, 1816.

In Luke 10 Jesus tells his disciples, " 'Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you. Nevertheless, don't rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.' "

It seems that many Christians loose sight of our citizenship in Heaven.

In Ephesians 2 it is written:
"And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins,
in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience; among whom we also had our way of life in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us (even when we were dead in sins) has made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved), and has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."

It seems like when we lose sight of our future, we get distracted and bored with our faith. Then, like Peter in Matthew 14 we begin to sink into our surroundings, morphing into the croud. Our faith becomes lackluster.

cowardly christianity

2004-01-03T10:13:00.000-06:00

"Without courage we can never attain to true simplicity. Cowardice keeps us "doubleminded" -- hesitating between the world and God. In this hesitation, there is no true faith--faith remains an opinion." Thomas Merton

I guess my prayer would be...
Adonai Elohim, in the name of Yeshua, help your children to not be doubleminded...i pray that the faith of this generation would become much more than an opinion. That we would re-examine our priorities, and seek to walk in your Way. So be it.

direction

2004-01-02T19:56:00.000-06:00

i am not sure what direction i will take with this blog. i hope to write about things that i am reading, and probably integrate quotes...
i will also probably type in some of the text from some of my own hard-copy prayer-journals...

2004-01-01T17:20:00.000-06:00

Well, today I read more of the "Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius." I am entertaining the thought of, one day, adapting the exercises to a more "I will seek the Lord, and pray that the Holy Spirit would remove (insert sin here) from my life." While having some very valueable insights into "getting closer to God," he leaves me with odious feelings due to his "I must pull up my own boot-straps" and rid myself of this sin, that is within me.
more later.