Living Among the Bones

Seperation

2011-04-21T21:56:00.001-07:00

The sky o'er head hung grey,
clouds heavy with divine tears,
as the Father's hand from help did stay,
a Son victim to all our fears.

Seperated from the source of life,
the Son in anguish did loudly cry,
embracing the result of all our strife,
and once for all the Life did die.

The earth in shock might'ly shook,
and tears a mighty torrent formed,
while thunderous gasps the air took,
nature in anguish powerfully stormed.

It is said that tombs burst open,
and ancient dead rose to witness,
a new covenant to which we hearken,
in His blood is our forgiveness.

The Son seperated in our stead,
to death, sin, and satan three days lay,
while we morn in sorrowing dread,
til Christ bursts forth on Easter day!

Hope for Good Friday

2011-04-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

Christianity is an extraordinary religion; now let me qualify that statement. I have studied many religions, both modern and ancient, and yet I have never come across another religion which teaches that God became man, suffered, and died for humanity. I know plenty of religions in which god(s) demand animal sacrifices of us, religions in which deities rape humans and unleash wrath upon their foes. But I know of only one religion which teaches that God became man, and died for us.
That central mystery of Christianity, the Cross, should be at the center of our teaching, at the center of our being. We ought to live with the Gospel as the center of our lives. No other message is as important. Seven steps to a better life, the power of prayer, social justice, fire and brimstone; these are not the messages of Christianity. Christianity has one message and that message is Christ crucified.
The entire history of humanity -it's creation, fall into sin, struggles, and salvation- pivots upon the Cross, upon the very Son of God suffering and dying for us. Our's was the sin that was atoned for upon that bitter tree. Our screw ups, our failures, our self centeredness and our tendency to turn ourselves into gods is what Christ atoned for. He the spotless lamb of God bore the full wrath of God's judgement so that we do not have to.
We are a people under the Cross. In baptism we are sealed with the sign of the cross on our foreheads, in our worship spaces the cross hangs(or stands) centrally, in our homes we hang crosses, and many wear crosses as constant reminders. Too often we allow these daily symbols to become common, and we forget the unbelievable message that they represent, the wonderful news which is the Gospel. May this Good Friday be filled with meditation upon the cross and renewed wonder for God's infinite love, and may we carry the message of this day, the message of the Cross, to all we meet. For there is no news more important, then that Christ suffered and died for you. Amen

Beyond the Infinite

2009-07-03T00:14:00.000-07:00

‘Prophecy Son of man, prophecy to these dry bones’

All of man’s wisdom, all of man’s knowledge, all of his greatness, his achievements, they are all but dust, and man is but dry dusty bones. We seek meaning in wealth, in fame, in drugs, alcohol, sex! But not just in what the world would call darkness, but also in that which claims to be light! We seek meaning in work, in good deeds, in love, music , peace, nature. We seek meaning in so many things, but it is all vanity.

Modern man is the epitome of vanity. No afterlife, no eternity, everything has a beginning everything has an end. We have characterized and set bounds on the infinite, we have probed the depths of the see and the heights of heaven. Modern man the pinnacle of history, modern man the pinnacle of emptiness and vanity. All that exists is before us, all the mystery has been boiled down into theorems and conjectures. We have conquered we have won! No more subject to the hocus pocus and the superstitions of the past.

The modern church bends to the vanity, bends to be relevant, throwing out mystery for logic and proofs. Angels and demons, heaven and hell, these must be sacrificed in an age where everything is quantified and understood. Science tells us that if prayers aren’t answered there either isn’t a God, or God doesn’t answer prayer. The only faith worth having is one that has visible signs and benefits, there must always be proof.

When we look to the stars no longer do we see spheres controlling fates, nor the rings of heaven. No more do we hear the music of the spheres, or fear the dryads of the woods, or the demons of the deep.

We have pulled leviathan out with a fishhook, have seen Pleiades and Orion bound, and know the ordinances of Heaven. We were there when the foundations of the universe were laid, have walked the depths of the sea, and broken the gates of the dead.

Modern man has grasped the infinite, and has tamed it, the universe is bound to our whims, to our wills…or is it?

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.

The stars shine above without our willing them, the days go by without our influence. We have become complacent in assuming that the mere knowing of how something works means we have power over it. And so we have sought so desperately to know, to understand and claim power. But in the end, all human knowledge crumbles all thought fails and we realize there is no answer to that three letter question: why? It is a question of infinite iterations, an uncountably infinite question, and only a being beyond the finite, a being beyond the infinite can know and comprehend the answer, only such a being can be the answer.

All of modern thought and science, all logic and reason, all human endeavors fall flat and die upon the question why. Hear O Man! Thou art but dry and dusty bones in the valley of the dead, and the power of the Lord alone can give you form and give you sinews, the breath of the Lord alone can give you life.

The actual infinite arises in three contexts: first when it is realized in the most complete form, in a fully independent otherworldly being, in Deo, where I call it the Absolute Infinite or simply Absolute; second when it occurs in the contingent, created world; third when the mind grasps it in abstracto as a mathematical magnitude, number or order type. ~Georg Cantor

Living Among the Bones

2009-06-17T23:44:00.000-07:00

In my time here at WSU I often wonder what the entire point of this endeavor is. It’s certainly not money, as I will probably never be paid well. It is certainly not pleasure as graduate school is one of the most sadistic things you could do to yourself. Is it knowledge? I came into grad school thinking knowledge was the point of this endeavor, but now I realize differently. WSU certainly has the knowledge, there are a lot of great physicist here, but they have all missed the point. My experience here has been one of great amounts of knowledge but no understanding.
WSU is one of those bastions of secular thought, an Athens, full of all the modern science and modern ways of thinking, very progressive and on the cutting edge, but for all this they miss the point entirely. There is no understanding.
“Have you not heard? Have you not seen?” For all the proof, for all the glory, all the wonder that is revealed in this place of research and study, those here miss the Truth shouting at them. It depresses me how modern mans distrust and loathing of faith has made it impossible for them to see reality through the eyes of faith. They do not see the beauty, the life, the Divine Harmony in reality. All they see is atoms and molecules, numbers and figures. The universe is dead in this world view, a bland set of rules and matter that exists and acts for no reason and no purpose.
Why have I come to WSU? Why have I come to Athens? I doubt there are many schools that are different from WSU. The dead universe is the prevailing world view in academia. How can there be life in a worldview that rejects the Life? Why am I here in this dead place? To share the Life.

The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD." Eze 37:1-6

God grant me the patience, the faith, and the perseverance to prophesy to this valley of dry bones, that your abundant life may flow into them and let them live. Amen

The Ecclesial Depression

2009-06-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

I continually find myself frustrated and aggravated with modern Christianity. It is not one specific denomination or group, it is a predominate reality that very few people are educated about the Church. This often leads to false perceptions and expectations of God, and leads those outside the Church astray into believing that the Church is something its not. There are many reasons for this mistaken view of the Church, but the one that I believe is the most dangerous, and damaging is the individualization of faith.
Individualism was one of the great triumphs of the renaissance and modernism. It is wonderful to consider individual rights, and treating everyone with proper respect and dignity, but as with all ideas, there is a dark side tagging around. Individualism no longer means that each person has inherent dignity, now it means that the highest good is the individual. A long list of societal and political woes can be made because ‘I’ and ‘me’ have become our most favored pronouns, but my concern is with the Church. Individualism has crept into the Church in the form of individualizing God and our relationship to Him. The view of ‘me and my god’ is overwhelmingly present in the Church, at least in America. Congregation’s have begun to cease the proclamation of the Gospel and who God is, and instead now proclaim an individualized god, an individualized gospel. I have had the odd chance of traveling a lot and experiencing congregations across the US and it disheartens me the number of congregations that get the individualized gospel of “believe in God and he’ll make your life turn out alright”.
Christians have forgotten what it means to be the body of Christ. We have forgotten what it means to have a communal faith, a faith shared by the saints in heaven and here below. Faith is now about myself, in a room with my Bible and God, about praying and having God answer with warm tingly feelings. And if we cant get those experiences we cry to God and ask what is going on, why is my ‘individual walk with God’ going so rough. The reason is, there is no ‘individual walk with God’! The road of Faith is one filled with the communion of saints, it is one populated by those who have gone before us, those who come after us, and those who walk with us. When we suffer the body suffers, when the body suffers we suffer.
A few years ago I was suffering severe depression after my grandmother’s death, and I told my pastor that I wasn’t planning on coming to Church because I couldn’t bring myself to sing songs of praise when all I was doing was mourning. He replied that even when we cannot seem to sing praise, and we are in mourning, the Body is there to lift up songs of Praise, songs of Mourning and songs of intercession on our part. The One True Faith, is one shared by the body of Christ. It is not some individual path. God is not revealed by sitting alone with a Bible in some wilderness, God is revealed in the assembly, proclamation, and work of the Church. It is when we assemble and hear the Word proclaimed to us and for us that God is revealed.
There is a lack of strong Ecclesial theology in the Church in America, and not only does this lack harm the Church’s members by not doing its job of proclaiming Christ crucified for us, it also hurts its mission to the world. Individualism is a plague upon the Church, and its cure is for the Church teach and educate its members in its ecclesial nature. The American Church must reform or else it will follow Europe to the same depressing end.
If the Church is to survive and succeed in its mission of proclaiming Christ crucified we must stop going along with society and falling into all the popular ideologies. The Church plagued by individualism, must start healing by having individuals reject the lie that the self is the most important thing. Only by the death of self will the individual find life.

While Christians slept: The Washington Euthanasia Initiative

2009-03-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

In the elections of last November an initiative to legalize euthanasia was passed in Washington State, making it the second state in the United States to do so, Oregon being the first. Below I post the wording of the initiative:

Initiative Measure No. 1000 concerns allowing certain terminally ill competent adults to obtain lethal prescriptions.

This measure would permit terminally ill, competent, adult Washington residents, who are medically predicted to have six months or less to live, to request and self-administer lethal medication prescribed by a physician.

The passing of such a bill in a liberal state, with a predominately secular population is not terribly surprising. The surprising aspect of the situation is the somnolence of Christians in the face of evil.
Neither before the elections, nor after elections did I hear the initiative discussed in Churches. There were no protests, no petitions, no signs of Christians even knowing or caring what was going on. It was as if the Church in Washington fell asleep while the roots of evil were passed into law.
Now you may think I am overreacting, I mean the bill is for euthanasia lite, but in the face of evil there is no such thing as overreacting. Certain nations in Europe passed similar laws many years ago. The allowance of those first laws has led to a situation in which doctors in much of Europe can kill anyone, even against there will, if the doctor deems their quality of life to be inadequate. Think I am still overreacting? Sociologists commonly say that the United States tends to follow trends in Europe with regards to society, laws, etc. If this is true, then one day in the near future, you may go for a doctor visit because of a runny nose, and the doctor will lay you, say that the runny nose makes your life quality poor, and kill you with a lethal injection, no matter how much you protest. If we do not stand now and root out the evil, then it will spread, and doctors may become dealers of death.
We legalized abortion in certain cases, and now women can kill their babies at any point in pregnancy: million of children have been murdered. We are legalizing killing the elderly, soon there will be no retirement as we kill off anyone over 60. And after that? Who is left but those in the middle? If life is not sacred at the beginning or the end, then it isn’t in the middle either, and murder at any state will be legal.
I leave you a poem by Martin Niemoller:

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

A Call to Arms

2009-03-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

The world is doomed. The armies of satan are matching over the earth, and most Christians are off hacking at the branches of even, and only a few, if any are striking its root. Injustice, poverty, the legalization of sin, are all branches from the same tree of evil. It is truly good and holy work to be just, charitable, and supportive of holy legislation, but that cannot be all we do. If all we do is help the poor, we are just pruning a branch off evil, while ten more sprout up. We, as the Church must unite and storm the bastions of the devil on earth, overthrow them and trample them to dust in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
‘What are these strongholds of sin, death, and the devil?’ you may ask. They are the philosophies, ideas and constructs which deny Christ as Lord, and attempt to make man into his own gods. These fortresses were constructed starting with the enlightenment when mankind proudly proclaimed that we can know everything, we are enlightened, and we will be able to do away with God and become our own lords and masters. Parts of the enlightenment were not bad of course, but deep within it was the ever present sinful desire of man to be god. Ever since Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil mankind has been trying to be god. It is our oldest, and deepest sin. Humans want to be god, they want to be their own master, and so throughout all time we have sought ways of abolishing God and setting ourselves up as gods. The enlightenment did not turn out any differently. Mankind set themselves up as gods in the enlightenment and Marxism, fascism, individualism, modernism, and a dozen other philosophies which are hostile to the Gospel sprang up.
In the enlightenment the forces of evil declared open war on the Church, no longer was it hidden and covert, now it was mainstream, the norm. The forces of evil which are hateful of the Gospel are in control, are ruling our society, and the church for the most part still doesn’t seem to realize there is a war going on! Many church bodies have already succumbed and fallen to the enemy and let the Gospel be distorted and destroyed by the philosophies hateful to it. And those churches which have not succumbed and hold fast to the Gospel are all busy hacking at the branches, or secluding themselves in order to remain untainted!
If the Gospel is truly all powerful as we believe, if demons truly will flee at the name of Jesus as we say, why do we still doubt and hide behind stained glass curtains and never engage the world and be the church militant? Rise up you redeemed! Rise up the baptized believers, incensed by the call of the Spirit to defend the Holy Church! Now is the time for battle, now is the time to engage the enemy strongholds; else the Church will fall in western society, and what was once a bastion of Faith will be claimed by the forces of the devil.

Eucharistic Fellowship

2009-03-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

I recently had the pleasure of visiting a Benedictine monastery. It was a wonderful experience, as usual, but with one hijink: it was Catholic. Since it was a Catholic monastery and I am a Lutheran both my governing body, and their governing body forbade my sharing in the Eucharist. Both the Catholic’s and Lutheran’s(LCMS and WELS) practice close communion.
Now some of those who know me may be rejoicing thinking that I have changed my stance on close communion, but I have not. I still support and believe in close communion, but I find terribly frustrating and depressing the reasons we need close communion, namely the schismatic nature of the church. Eucharistic fellowship was never a question in the early centuries of the formal church (after council of Nicea to about the 11th century), there was one catholic church, and therefore no need for close communion in the modern sense. It wasn’t until the east west split, and later the reformation which necessitated the institution of the modern form of close communion. Before the schisms close communion merely meant withholding from the unbaptized and uninitiated, but after the schisms the meaning was changed to being: withholding Eucharistic fellowship from those who believe differently than us.
You may want to argue whether or not close communion is right, but I am not here argue the validity of close communion. I am a supporter of close communion who is here to mourn the necessity for it. Every time we close off the Eucharist to a fellow Christian of a different denomination we are announcing the disunity of the body, and the terrible reality of sin within the Church. I am not saying that all Christians are the same, if I did I wouldn’t support close communion, but I am saying that Christians should be the same. Some of the strongest condemnations in the New Testament are against those who would divide the Body of Christ. It is a sad reality that the Body of Christ is divided, whether by politics, theology, or practice. This does not mean that we should forget all differences and make a goopy form of Christianity, which is a mixture of all. Quite a few denominations stand diametrically opposed to one another on certain issues, and it would be unwise to throw out such distinctions just for the sake of unity.
I desire unity for the Body of Christ. I dream of a day when we can over come schisms and meet in a catholic Church, one in which Christ is present and the True faith is taught unadulterated by the fashions of the times. Such a day may never come this side of eternity, as sin distorts and corrupts the thinking of the faithful, and heresies run rampant and seek to destroy the church. But God in his odd ironic way has turned the plethora of denominations into modern day Athens in which we can argue and discuss the faith, and ever strive toward the perfection, which is the One True Church. We may never be able to realize a true catholic faith this side of eternity, but we can certainly try.

Where are the thankful giving hearts?

2008-11-24T23:26:00.000-08:00

As the years go by there seems to be a trend about this time of year. A trend to skip over Thanksgiving, over Advent, and jump straight to christmas. In years past stores resisted putting up christmas decorations and items until after Thanksgiving, radio stations played everyday music til at least Thanksgiving. But now stores have skipped Thanksgiving and some even hand up christmas products before Halloween was even over. A radio station in Detroit started playing Christmas music on November 1st, nearly two months before the holiday, and every ad on TV, the radio, and the paper seems to be about christmas shopping and products. It is interesting that the richest and most greedy population on Earth are the ones who have decided to skip over there own holiday Thanksgiving and go onto a more tolerable holiday of self indulgence, greed, and selfish desire.
Writing on how christmas has lost its meaning in America is a very long and drawn out topic, and is for another time. No, for now is the time of Thanksgiving, despite what the media tells us. It is time for American's to give thanks for what they so abundantly have. It was pointed out to me by a charity worker that even the poorest of the poor in America get more to eat, clean water to drink, and shelter than a good part of the world, I think he said a number even as large as 75%. To realize that even our poorest, most destitute citizens are richer than 75% of the world! And we skip over giving thanks and demand more!
Our economy is shot, we are all afraid of losing money, all our savings, being unable to support our dry houses, our clean water, our daily supply of food. Oh how terrible it is to be an American today! What we as a country spend on our venti half caf lattes a year alone could end world hunger if not more! And yet we think we have a right to pray to God to save our economy, restore our fortunes and save us from actually living thankful lives. Because no, we do not want to give thanks, we do not want to admit that what we have is a gift, we want to believe that we achieved it all on our own, that we are strong enough, smart enough, independent enough, that we do not need God or His gifts.
I am not saying that wealth is inherently bad, or that we deserve the crisis we are in, but I am asking us to return to reality. To realize that we are blessed above every other nation in the world by God, and because of that we have responsibilities. We have responsibilities to give thanks, and to properly use our wealth. God gives gifts not because he wants to please us, but because he wants to teach us to give. We all are nothing on our own, we all have nothing, and so we cannot give on our own. It is only by God's mighty grace that we have anything to give. God desires us to become like him, to become loving, to become full of Life through love. When we hoard and store and turn our backs on the world we sink deeper into sin, deeper into our selves, farther from God and deeper into death. God desperately desires that we would turn outwards, acknowledge the gifts we have been given, giving thanks everyday, and as a corollary to share those gifts with others spreading God's love and grace. And maybe, just maybe we will find that when our hearts are turned outwards and we give more than we want, and we thank more than we whine we will find that God gives so abundantly that we cannot hope to give it all away, that we will find that His Love, His Life is a boundless spring which seeks to permeate the universe with infinite Glory, infinite majesty, harmony and joy. God desires so much more for us than we have, if only we would cease to cling to the clay sculptures that adorn our hearts and let the refining fire of God's grace and love fill our heart's instead. It is my hope and prayer that I can live by my own words, but only by the help of the One who came to help the helpless, and bring the dead to Life. To God be the Glory, Father Son and Holy Spirit now and forevermore. Amen.

enslaved

2008-11-08T01:50:00.001-08:00

Enslaved

When the night fades into twilight morn,
And the lark’s song rises forlorn,
Thoughts lay heavy where sleep should dwell,
Enchanted by sorrow’s bitter spell.

The bright day turns to shadowy evening,
Then to dark nightly monsters seething,
All things fading from light to dark,
As death claims all cold and stark.

Short the joy of gain, and long the grief of loss,
As all happy memories to storms we toss,
And we suffer under death’s fierce hold,
As we fear to meet the end of numbers untold.

We say Christ is Life and salvation!,
But think: why not grant it to creation?
Why must death still claim away all life,
In this seemingly ne’er ending strife?

Oh Lord why must death still rule,
the devil be a worldly king cruel,
and sin be the master of these living slaves,
trapped in dark and shadowy caves?

Reformation Day II: Sorrow

2008-10-31T19:09:00.001-07:00

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

Today is Reformation day, and so one part of me rejoices in the triumph of the gospel over those human failings that would have hidden and distorted the gospel so many years ago. But another part of me weeps in sorrow over the bitter schisms, which rend our Lord’s most Holy Church. We are all under one calling, one gospel, one Lord, and yet our sinful humanity divides us, we fight, we argue, we even go to war over those things which divide us. Reformation day is a wonderful day to remember the strength of the Word and of the gospel shining throughout time and rising in loud strains upon the criticisms which the reforms made of the Church. Yet one cannot but help to remember all the schisms and the brokenness of the Church today. How the day of victory is one of sorrow?
I pray that one day I may be reunited with my brothers and sisters in Christ under the Word free of all the human sinfulness that so distorts our thoughts and causes us to depart from one another.

The Church’s One Foundation
By Samuel J. Stone

The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
She is his new creation
By water and the Word.
From heaven he came and sought her
To be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her,
And for her life he died.

Elect from every nation,
Yet one over all the earth;
Her charter of salvation:
One Lord, one faith, one birth.
One holy name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses
With every grace endued.

Through toil and tribulation
And tumult of her war
Se waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore
Till with the vision glorious
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.

Yet she on earth has union
With God, the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O blessed heavenly chorus!
Lord, save us by your grace
That we, like saints before us,
May see you face to face.

Reformation I: Mysterious Ways

2008-10-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. 1 Cor 1:18-19 ESV

When all was naught, when neither energy nor matter, neither space nor time existed, You existed. In emptiness You alone were infinite fullness, and from Your infinitude through absence all things came to being. Where there was no space to be filled your fullness made space to overflow into. You are the ontological mover, the One from whom and by whom all things were made and without whom not even nothing would be made. Your existence is even necessary to predicate such a thing as non-existence, for without You there is neither existence nor nonexistence, for there is no thought not concept to comprehend the negation of the ontological necessity of You.

Your ways are higher than my ways, Your thoughts higher than my thoughts. You act in mysterious ways that we can neither observe nor understand. For you became incarnate as a man who neither betrayed the Glory of God to those around him, nor thought the glory a thing to be grasped but humbled himself to death, even death on a cross! And so the incomprehensible mystery of the cross, of infinite humility killing the infinite deity. The death of Life itself, and yet in that death, the death of death itself. Life giving death, the abdication of death by death itself. Oh Glorious Holy Mystery! How I yearn to dwell in your mystic incomprehensibility!

All my wisdom, all my ways, all my self-reliance, my feeble power is swallowed up in the mysterious ways of God.

From the cross thy wisdom shining,
Breaketh forth in conquering might
From the cross forever beameth
All Thy bright redeeming light

Oh Mysterious Cross! The wisdom of God shining as death and suffering redeem! In the broken places, in death on the cross comes the conquering redeeming light. Not in chariots and horses, not in regal glory, but instead in abject despondance and brokenness. Oh the folly of God that causes the wise to stumble and the arrogant to fall, but to use who cry out in despair and hopelessness we are given hope and life, we are raised from the pit and into a new life, not just one of a new experience of this life, but a new life all together which permeates all things and raises us to be no longer creatures of God, but instead sons and daughters of God.

Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word;
Curb those who by deceit or sword
Would wrest the kingdom from your Son
And bring to nought all he has done.

Lord Jesus Christ, your power make known,
For you are Loud of lords alone;
Defend your holy Church that we
May sing your praise triumphantly.

O Comforter of priceless worth,
Send peace and unity on earth;
Support us in our final strife
And lead us out of death of life.

Keep us steadfast in your Word, hold us in the gospel light never to fall away from your son. Oh Lord of Lords and King of Kings, hold us in your hand, guide and lead us through the dark nights of life and lead us by your ever shining light. For from the cross your love and grace call us from death to life through the Holy Spirit. Guard and protect your church, lead it to unity in your Word and Spirit.

Quotes taken from the LSB. Thy Strong Word, and Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in your Word are written by Franzmann and Martin Luther respectively.

help....

2008-10-18T00:47:00.000-07:00

Oddly it seems that we are unable to desire the light
until we are surround by pitch black night.
Lost in the eve of grief and hopeless despair,
we finally seem about life to care.

Gone the easy peaceful days,
spent lazing in the sun's comforting rays,
replaced by nights full of tears,
and many many lonely years.

Where did it all go awry?
rise to deaf heaven my bootless cry!
shake awake the Lord from groggy slumber,
Lord! your help no longer encumber!

prayer

2008-09-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

Many would consider me fortunate, blessed, given to a wonderful life full of joy, but it is all a lie. I would give up everything I own, everyone who loves me here for the opportunity to spend just one moment in the incomparable ecstasy of divine union. Oh Lord it is you alone I long for, you alone I desire! All other things pale in comparison to you and your divine Glory! I am a broken and shattered man without you. I could be king of the world and be loved by all and have all, and I would still give it all up for you. Sola Deus!
I yearn in bitter longing, I am in misery day and night! Every moment spent apart from you is the worst torture, far worse than anything that man in his sinfulness could devise. Hide not your face from me! Kiss me with the kiss of thy mouth! Destroy me in thy brilliant glory and unite me to you in everlasting praise and love! Lord I beg you, grant me your presence lest I die of yearning!

Sonnet 23 by William Shakespeare:
When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least:
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee,--and then my state
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings'.

The Pulley by George Herbert:

VVHen God at first made man,
Having a glasse of blessings standing by;
Let us (said he) poure on him all we can:
Let the worlds riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.

So strength first made a way;
Then beautie flow’d, then wisdome, honour, pleasure:
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that alone of all his treasure
Rest in the bottome lay.

For if I should (said he)
Bestow this jewell also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts in stead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:
So both should losers be.

Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlesnesse:
Let him be rich and wearie, that at least,
If goodnesse leade him not, yet wearinesse
May tosse him to my breast.

hear my cry!

2008-09-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain"

Oh what sorrow fills my soul that the one thing it yearns for cannot be? To meet with and dwell with Thee forevermore, no longer suffering thy absence through ontological disunion. To be unified, brought together, lost in the infinite sea of your Glory! To live is Christ, to die is gain. I live for your service, I am your hands, your mouth, part of your body working for your will here on earth, yet even in this working I am heart broken, shattered by hopeless longing for you. To die would be gain, but alas death does not come unless you will it, and so I suffer longingly for thy face, and know that only by your desire and will shall my desire be fulfilled. Teasing God! who toys with my soul into terrible ecstasy yet bitter pain! Fulfill what you inspire! Lord how I long, I I yearn. As a deer pants for water in a dry weary land, so my soul pants for you. Lord hear my cry! Fill me! save me from this bitter torment!

Creation Story

2008-08-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word proceeded from the One eternal deity and produced others, finite others. The Word created the finite, who would always be infinitely other than the deity. Even without the Fall of man we were other to God. O fortunate fall! Oh happy fault! For the Word became flesh and dwellt among us, and his was the glory of the eternal Father. His was an infinite majesty, and endless glory. Yet despite his infinite deity he humbled himself and became finite. The infinite Other became finite and dwellt with us, and in that dwelling we entered into the infinite majesty, the infinite Glory. We are ontologically incapable of uniting with the absolute Other as it is an infinite divide between creator and created. Only the infinite deity could cross the infinite gap predicated by mere existence. And so the infinite became finite, and in becoming finite bridged the infinite gap and now we can have union with the infinite God.

How to live in darkness

2008-08-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

What is the point of life? Why do we live? why do we suffer? why do we continually go day by day suffering infirmities, suffering scorn, suffering pain, loss, anger, sorrow and death? There is only one reason why we live, there is only one reason that we can claim to carry us through the tempestuous sea of life. We live to bring Glory to God.
I recently had a dream in which two friends died within a few days of each other, and in it I screamed and raged, I felt such anger, such disgust with life. I turned to a mentor and shared such thoughts, such pain over death, and his response was not words, or advice. He merely joined in a song that rose from the sullen earth, the land of the shadow of death. To remember that glad strain! that brilliant report! But alas I can only remember a little

Praise be to God the Father,
creator of Earth and Heaven above.
Praise be to the resurrected son,
ever living sacrifice of love,
Praise be to the sustaining Spirit,
immediate baptismal dove.

At which point I stopped thinking of the song and thought instead of how long it has been since I bowed down giving honor and praise to the Triune Deity, how long its been since I ceased my ever present selfish thoughts and focused on the brilliant Glory of the uncreated ineffable light.
We were created to glorify God. To rest in mystic sweet communion gazing in all encompassing love upon the brilliant Glory of God. I have failed to live a proper life, I have been caught up in the waves and tides of the world, thrown about by the tempest of a sinful existence, lost in terrible self love. Lord be thou my vision and thou alone, let none else enter my gaze and let me fall in abject praise of thy eternal uncreated Glory! May my life be filled with thou and thou alone!

Hopeful Sonnet

2008-04-02T22:20:00.000-07:00

Wert I to be thine alone, and thou mine,
ne'er lost to sinful and idle yearning,
Oh to be thine and thine beyond all time!
Mine heart in hopeful agony burning.
But soft, what wretch'd grief within at my sin,
Saint and sinner together juxtaposed,
wayward passions a cacaphonus din!
Oh beaut'ful Christ, thy blood mine guilt enclos'd.
Oh may I, may I hope in thy coming.
Conformed to thy bright ineffabel will,
my heart shine thy glory ever stunning,
may earths pleasures my hunger ne'er fill.
Glory to the Father, Son, and Spirit,
All praise and honor to thee I commit.

Thoughts for the Triduum

2008-03-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

Recently I was told by a professor that "the world doesn't stop just because its Holy Week". But why not? Why shouldn't we set aside everything, stop everything and focus on the greatest mystery of our faith?
Almighty God, creator of the universe, founder of all things, mover of all things in whom and with whom all things have their being, and without whom nothing would be, sent his one and only Son, into frail flesh! A great mystery in itself....but now, this week...God dies. The Father forsakes the Son, the Son descends to Hell. What great wonder! What amazing mystery! Should we not stop everything and think on this Holy wonder?
The Holy wonder of our sin, of our failure piercing the spotless lamb. Our neglect, our brokenness shattering the Holy Son. We all should say: "I nailed Christ to the cross! I was the one who betrayed him!" What wretches we all are! And yet God sent his one and only Son....Despite all our failures, despite all our bitter hatred of God, and all are wrathful vengeance upon the lamb; we are forgiven, we are redeemed by the blood that pours from the side that we pierced!
Glory be to the Father. Glory be to the Spirit. And Glory be to the most precious Son, who for our sake took on frail flesh, bore the weight of all our sin and died. These three most Holy Days let us in reverence and awe contemplate on this most amazing love, this most Holy Mystery, and let us sing with the whole universe throughout all time the most joyous songs to the risen King on Easter morn. Amen

Silence

2008-03-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

Why is it that we as a society cannot stand silence? Our lives are filled with the endless empty flood of noise, from stereos, to planes, to meaningless conversations; why can't we be silent?
Why is it that we as a society cannot be still? We move from sun up to sun down having everything to do and nothing to accomplish. We endlessly exhaust ourselves with work and play to the point that we can neither feel satisfied at work, or enjoy play. Why can't we be still?
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Ps 46:10
“But the Lord is in his Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him.” Hab 2:20
I believe that why we cannot be still, and why we cannot be silent, is because satan is deceiving us. He does not tell us lies, instead he tells us half truths. “You should give to the poor”, but not at the cost of giving praise to God for our gifts. “You should pray for justice”, but not at the expense of forgetting God's mercy. “If your a Christian you should be doing good works”, but not without first dwelling in God. Satan challenges us to do good things, but he does so in order that we may neglect the better things. As Jesus says, “For you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”(Mat 26:11). Satan delights in twisting Christians into pretzels of always giving to the poor, but never receiving from God. How can we give if we do not first have? How can we serve unless we first let Christ serve us?
God desires us to dwell in him through his Word. So often we are busy with “The Lord's Work” that we forget the Lord. Let us be still and silent, dwelling in and on the Word of God daily, not prone to menial conversations, and the endless drone of media nothingness. Let us not be caught up in ceaseless work, and play, but let us take time to be still and silent, praying to God with praise and thanksgiving, resting in his Word. Christians are to be in the world, and not of the world, and this means that we are not to get caught up in the whims of the world, including those that sound good: justice, peace, and saving the environment. Let us first have God, dwelling in the Word, and resting in the care of the Holy Spirit, and then we can seek to love and serve the world. To God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be all the glory now and forevermore. Amen

yearning

2008-03-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

I am haunted by the divine.....the hidden melody, the eternal harmony, it torments me. I only catch but glimpses, only hear but a chord and then it fades away. I do not belong, I am a sojurner lost in a wilderness of sorrow, lost in the brokeness of the day.

Every bush is afire with God, every sight, every smell, everything hints at the hidden glory, the immutable majesty. Why dont we see it? why do wander aimlessly about doing meaningless tasks ignoring the creeping divine, the omnipresent eternity?

Why do we live these miserable unfulfilled lives so blindly, never seeking more, never desiring the joy beyond the vale?

Oh most gracious loving God! For me to die is gain and to live is Christ! When will you return? when will you carry me from this land of sorrow and into the joy I so bitterly desire? Everywhere I look I see it, in every noise I hear it, everywhere I perceive it, and with such anguished longing I yearn. Oh God! I am faint with longing, burning with bitter passion! Satisfy your servant! release him from the bonds of diminished life and satisfy his all consumming hunger.

Love Thy Neighbor!

2008-03-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

“His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things.” Mat 25:23

Recently Shane Claiborne came to campus and spoke. To paraphrase one of the things he said: we are all ready to save the starving children in Africa, but no one wants to do the dishes. And how right he is! How often do we ignore our next door neighbor when they are struggling? How often do we walk by a friend who is struggling and not care at all how they are feeling?
How can we hope to help people half way around the world when we can't even help our friends? How can we expect to promote world justice when we aren't even just to the person who sits next to us in class? You may think I am being harsh, you may think I am wrong, but I cant tell you how many students have told me at one point or another that they feel ignored, unloved. I am not speaking in theory, I am speaking from experience doing ministry on campus.
I pray that the Holy Spirit may burn within us that we may learn to love our immediate neighbor as ourselves, that we may treat one another justly. Let us be faithful in little, even just recognizing that others on campus exist, to just say “hi how are you?” and really mean it. How can we expect to make any impact on world justice if we don't even truly care for our friends?
Lord, we are all miserable sinners who cannot even love our friends. May you so move in us and grant us grace that we can not only love our friends but also the others who we do not see daily. Grant us a spirit of humble love and grace that we may serve you without grumbling. To God be the Glory forever and ever! Amen!

Eph 2:1-11

2008-03-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

Eph 2:11-22

So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by those who are called ‘the circumcision’—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.

L: Peace be with you
And also with you.

Peace? Peace! What is this peace you so readily speak of?
Where is this peace, for that matter, where is Christ's love?

L: Lord have mercy.

Where is the mercy when by violence brothers die?

L: Christ have mercy.

Where is the mercy when churches schism and lie?

L: Lord have mercy.

Where is the mercy, when the lonely depress'd sigh?

L: In peace let us pray to the Lord.

Once again with peace!
In peace let us pray
when we act like beasts,
and our sisters we slay.

Strife, bitterness, and violence throughout,
and not even leaving the chapel doors,
we start decades long bitter wars.

L: United with Christ in the waters of baptism we confess our faith....

United? Ha! A funny joke,
as if I am some dumb blind bloke.
I know the rules and laws,
all the bitterness that forms our vicious claws,
to rend and tear one another,
killing sister, mother, brother.
United....
we are not united

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,

God you are creator, ruler, king!
Yet you let your church dissolve,
and in hidden resentment sing,
until wicked hatred evolve,
and rather than joyous eternal harmony,
in church only strife anger and discord,
unending resentment rather than amnesty,
Oh have mercy Lord!

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

Band(?): We are One in The Spirit,
We are One in The Lord.
We are One in The Spirit,
We are One in The Lord.
And we pray that our unity may one day be restored.

And they'll know we are Christians by our love,
By our Love,
Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

Amen.

L: In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.....you are built. Not yet, but already. United in Christ, yet violently disjointed. Condemned sinners, yet Blessed Saints praising God in eternity. Forever united in the mystery of the cross.

The Word of the Lord
Thanks Be to God

tomorrow

2008-03-11T21:28:00.001-07:00

The other day I was driving in my car and there was a song by Ozzy Osbourne on the radio, and I heard a phrase which I thought was “You pray tomorrow, but you're living today.” Now upon looking it up online, I found out I had heard incorrectly but it got me thinking. How often do we 'pray tomorrow', how many of our prayers live in the future and not today? We pray about what we'll be doing after college, we pray that justice may fill the world, we pray that all sorts of things will happen in the future. But the fact is we live today, and that we are to live as though there is no tomorrow.
In the Sermon on the mount Christ says: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”(Mat 6:34) We live today, not tomorrow, and while it is important to plan ahead somewhat, it is ridiculous and wrong for us to get to caught up in the worry about tomorrow. So rather than praying for a better tomorrow, let us live today in a way that is line with the will of God, and tomorrow will take care of ourselves. God has not called us to live our lives worrying how to save the world of tomorrow, he has called us to live our lives of humble service and love today, and to leave tomorrow, and the big picture up to him. To God be the Glory forever and ever! Amen.

Joyful Prayer

2008-03-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

1 Thess 5:16-22 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.
As Christians we are called to a unique and rather difficult life. We are to pray without ceasing, to be joyous in all circumstances, to give God praise even when the world is falling in around us. As we draw nearer to mid term stress levels begin to rise and more and more things demand our time and our energy, and we may not feel like praising God for three papers four midterms and a nice dose of homesickness, but that is what we are called to. To pray and give thanks.
We cannot do this work on our own. As sinful finite fallen humans we cannot help but despair at the dark times in our life, but it is through the Grace of God in the person of Jesus Christ that we can find hope in all situations and give God praise in everything. As an exercise and habit to help facilitate this joyful prayerful spirit try to think of ten things you are thankful for every night before you go to bed, and give thanks to God for them. Falling into a habit of daily thanksgiving, even if you dont feel like it, will help to bring about a spirit of thankfulness and contentment in all situations resting in the Grace of Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to the God who created us, redeemed us, and sustains us. Praise be the Holy Trinity now and forevermore! Amen

Death

2007-11-11T21:52:00.000-08:00

My Death
Half spent the waning moon,
misery my only companion.
Drip drip the blood goes,
flowing from my open wrists.

Musing with my final breaths,
wondering what to make of heaven,
wondering what to make of life,
as it flows onto the ground.

Unloving mother and careless friends?
Guilt over sin and sorrow over death?
No these are not the reasons:
God is the reason of my last breath.

Neglecting creator, and hateful father,
tempting seductress and dry spring,
lying of love and joy,
revealing pain and agony.

Send my soul to oblivion,
neither to deceiving heaven,
nor to burning hell,
to nothingness I go.

Drip drip, flows the stream,
ebbing life, dying soul,
drip drip, darkness enclose...
God is that you?

Grace

2007-09-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

Col 4:7-17

L: A reading from Paul's letter to the Colossians: Tychicus will tell you all the news about me; he is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow-servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts; he is coming with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here.

Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner greets you, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him. And Jesus who is called Justus greets you. These are the only ones of the circumcision among my co-workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you. He is always wrestling in his prayers on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in everything that God wills. For I testify for him that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you. Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read also the letter from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, ‘See that you complete the task that you have received in the Lord.’

L: The word of the....
(1 jumps up and raised hand in interruption)

L: Excuse me, this is church not class, you can't just jump up with your hand raised and interrupt!

1: but I have a question.

L: (exasperated) Fine what is your question?

1: (with air of victory) so what?

L: huh?

1: so what? Why did you read that, what does that have to do with us?

L: It's the Word of the....

(1 interrupts again)

1: Don't say that! If you say that everyone will say thanks be to God and then we'll move on in the service and I'll never understand why we read the passage.

L: Fine explain your question.

1: What does this passage have to do with us? I certainly dont have any friends named Tick-us, or Once-in-moose, or Epras...I have a friend named Mark but he's not the cousin of Barnabas, and what about Arch-supports....

L:(interrupting) Well despite the criminal slaughter of the names, you're kind of right. This passage seems very focused on a certain people at a certain time. So what does this have to do with us.....lets read the verse afterwards and see if it sheds some light....

L: Verse 18 of Colosians 4: “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.”

(expectant pause)

1: um you can continue anytime now....

L: The Word...

(1 interrupts)

1: NO!!! Stop doing that! And you haven't even finished the reading!

L: That's how it ends.

1: What? It doesn't explain the verses before it? Nor carry a message? Man this ending stinks! Who does this guy think he is!

L: Um Paul, the author of a good chunk of the New Testament.

1: (sarcastic) Oh Good clearly then it makes sense then since its Paul

L: Well then, the Word of the....

1: Stop that!

L: (exasperated) When will you let me finish?

1: When you explain it to me! Paul just keeps on talking about these hard to pronounce names and how they're faithful ministers, encourager's, servants, and a comfort to him. What does that have to do with us?

L: (distracted and murmuring) “since we are surround by such a great cloud of witnesses...”

1: what?

L: Oh I was just thinking of a different verse in the New Testament....(seeing despair in 1's face)
one not written by Paul. Hebrews 12 actually.

1: Hebrews? That explains the weird names!

L: Actually those names are Greek, and I'm talking about the book, not the culture or language.

1: Ok so what about this cloud? Are we talking cirrus or cumulus?

L: What?

1: Not a met major I guess. Well cirrus and cumulus are two classifications of clouds....

L: (interrupting) THE WORD....

1: Ach! Stop that! You still haven't answered my question!

L: Well if you'd stop getting distracted.

1: I am not getting...oh look a pond

L and 1 walk over to the Baptismal Font

L: This is the baptismal font, not a pond....and thinking about it I think this can help answer your questions about the reading.

1: Um, I dont think it can talk

L: No no no....what I mean is this: In the waters of Baptism we are initiated into the body of Christ, into the great cloud of witnesses....(seeing 1 about to interrupt) and no I dont know whether its a cirrus or cumulus....but continuing on. Along with the initiation into the body of Christ grace is mediated to us through the water and the word....

1: AHH you just tried to trick me and say the phrase which cant be said until I understand!

L: No I didn't stop interrupting. I am trying to help you. When God's grace is mediated to us we are changed by it, we are given new freedom to turn from our sinful and selfish self, drown it in the waters of baptism and rise a new with Christ. And given the death of Self in the waters of baptism we are freed to love one another, to encourage, support, and care for others.

1: Like the people in the reading with the weird Hebrew names.

L: Right but the names are Greek, not Hebrew.

1: So this section of Paul's letter, which at first seems unimportant to us, is actually like a case study in the Christian life?

L: Right, and Paul ends saying grace be with you, as an invocation of the grace which inspired them to service.

1: Well I guess it makes sense now....

L: Finally! The Word of the....

1 interrupts

1: Wait!

L: what I thought you understood?

1: I did but I just thought of something!

L: Oh no not again....

1: Grace be with you!

L: The Word of the Lord

Job complex

2007-09-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

Complaint and Response
Tormented by visions of my sin,
by the God who is never 'in',
prayers unanswered,
arguments unrebutted.
Where are you God?

Death and sorrow 'round on every hand,
guilt too great to even stand,
sin and pain addicted
God in my eyes not acquitted,
Where are you God?

I cry my complaint before you,
Hoping you never knew,
that help you were unable,
and not that you are sadism culpable,
Where are you God?

Where are you worm?
When I the stars and galaxies form?
Where were you when I hung on the tree,
that you did not have to live without me?
I AM here!

Can you understand the foundations of the earth?
Or alone have the miracle of birth?
Can you make a tree sprout and grow,
or command the wind which way to blow?
I AM here!

Where am I you ask?
Father eternal in Glory bask,
Son begotten before the throne pleading,
Spirit within guiding, leading,
Three in one, trinity, here I AM!

rhythm

2007-08-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

The coming week is the first full week of the new academic year. As students we are beginning to get into the rhythm of classes and of homework. If you are new to valpo you are beginning to find extra curricular groups to join, and if you are returning you are fitting back into old familiar places. The next few weeks are a time of getting settled into a rhythm of university life. For some of us this rhythm is old and comfortable, and for others it is new and exciting, but whatever the rhythm is I challenge you to get into a rhythm of daily prayer and contemplation. For centuries monks have prayed the Divine Hours, praying seven times a day, in a continual rhythm giving thanks and praise to the God who created us, who redeemed us, and who sustains us. While praying seven times in today’s hectic world sounds crazy, we can gain some help by just intentionally praying once or twice a day, and reading some scriptures. As you begin to get into your college rhythm leave some room for God, and I am sure you will not be disappointed by the good gifts which come from his gracious hand.

Good Stewards of God's Grace

2007-08-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

A fool’s mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels: they go down to a man’s inmost parts.
One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall.
Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

4Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh,* arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), 2so as to live for the rest of your earthly life* no longer by human desires but by the will of God. 3You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. 4They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme.* 5But they will have to give an account to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. 6For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.

7 The end of all things is near;* therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. 8Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 11Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

1: Hey! Welcome back! Oh my gosh, I missed you so much!
2: I missed you so much, too! How was your summer?
1: Oh, you know…
2: Busy?
1: Busy. You?
2: Busy.
1: Yeah.
2: Yeah.

3: Today’s hymn will be Hymn #333.

(Pause. They get out their hymnals.)

1: So did you hear about Bobby and Susy?
2: No, what?
1: They’re engaged.
2: (grimacing) …Really? I didn’t know they liked each other that much.
1: Tell me about it.
2: That’s like the 6th couple to get engaged, and the school year hasn’t even started.
1: (agreeing) Yeah. It’s like an epidemic already.

3: Proverbs 18, Verses 7-12. A fool’s mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

1: Are you talking to me?
3: No this is the reading for today
2: (whispered to 1) You always think its about you

3: The words of a gossip are like choice morsels: they go down to a man’s inmost parts.

2: Hey whats the big idea!
1: yeah why are you talking down on us?
3: I’m not, its what the reading says, you can see for yourself.
1 and 2 walk up to the lecturn

1: Huh, he’s(she’s) right.
2: Sorry about interrupting
3: No problem, these proverbs are really depressing….you know what lets see what the other reading is

3: Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God. You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry.

2: That wasn’t much better.
1: I’m confused… licentiousness? License…lice….why is he talking about lice?
2: No that’s not what he’s saying here, the NIV reads “For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.”
1: Drunkeness? But valpo is a dry campus

3: I think you’re both missing the point. Christ suffered in the flesh for our sins, and we are to imitate Christ, for whoever suffers in the flesh ceases to sin. We are to cease to live for our Earthly passions and desires—for the flesh—and to now live for the will of God.
2: But what does that have to do with snares and morsels and a city?
1: What?
2: From the first reading!
1: There was more than one?

3 sensing a dead end
3: Yes there were two readings, one from proverbs, and one from 1 Peter entitled in my Bible ‘Stewards of God’s Grace”. Hmm, interesting…

3 stares off into space thinking
1: I think he’s left us
1 pokes 3 lightly
2: Oh stop it. Why do you always have to be so stupid!
1: Why do you always think being wealthy makes you so smart.
2: Its not my fault that being worth millions allows me to go to the best schools

3: (exclaiming excitedly) I got it!!
1 and 2 jump in shock as 3 runs to the lecturn

3: (reading) The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall.
Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

3: (to 1 and 2) Get it?

1: No
2: not at all

3: (excitedly) Good stewards, wealth, city, humility, love, grace glory!

1 slaps 3 and shakes him
1: Snap out of it man!

3 dislodges him self disgruntedly
3: The second reading ends with: “Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

2: Still don’t get it.
3: Ok the proverb talks all about how foolishness leads to destruction, and how righteousness leads to honor, and in the proverb the foolishness is always the misuse of something whether money or time, or words.
1: Ok, so what does that have to do with what you just read?

3: The passage in 1 Peter is talking all about stewardship, about the proper use of the gifts which God has given us. The proper use of our love
1: to cover a multitude of sins
3: the proper use of material wealth
2: be hospitable
3: the proper use of our words
1: to speak the words of God
2: and the proper use of his grace
3: to Glorify him through Jesus Christ.

3: We are called to be Good stewards of God’s Grace, to be good stewards of all his gifts, to use them for his will, his purpose and his Glory. Not our own.

1: We live “so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

3: Thanks be to God.

I need thee

2007-07-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

I need thee every hour,
oh I need thee every hour,
I cannot live but for thee,
thy light and love,
my guide and stay,
what but thine power,
can foil the tempters mast'ry?

All around temptation stands,
I'm surronded by sins of thought and deed,
acts of hate and greed,
lust and loathing,
pain and pleasure,
Oh Lord save me from my sin!

Oh thy grace!
what can repay thy love?
what can e'er match thine sacrafice?
what gift have I to offer,
but a soul of quite greatfulness,
resigned to thine will and thine alone,
Oh God grant me your will!

Righteous Judgement

2007-06-28T19:18:00.000-07:00

Evil lives in the knowledge that it will be destroyed, it lives to die, while righteousness lives for Christ which is Life eternal. Satan exists with the constant knowledge that his doom is assured, and his damnation total. God has judged him, condemned him and one day when we are made righteous we will join God in condemning him and we will rejoice and glorify in our enemies total and utter defeat in the fiery pits of hell. God has redeemed and bought us through His Holy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ in the waters of baptism. We are no longer merely creatures of God who cannot take part in His existance and His plan, instead we are now children of God with his will before us in the incarnation of His Word and we are able to participate with him in his redemption of the world.
God so loved us the he sent his only Son that whoever believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. But that life is not just an artefact to be had after death, it is a gift given to us in this life. A new Life, Zoe, one which does not perish when this body dies but one which has the mark of the incarnate God within. God dwells within us through the Holy Spirit, and we live a life in the already present reality of evil's defeat. Even while we mourn the poor, we feast with them at the Lamb's high feast, even as we clean leprous sores, we rejoice in bodies made whole, and even while we comfort the grieving heart we rejoice in the resurrection. Christ has died, Christ is risen!, and Christ will come again, even as we are Christ to one another. Amen

enlightenment

2007-03-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

The enlightenment was meant to promote reason, to dispel foolish superstitions, to elevate the mind....and seemingly all it has done is to destroy all remnants of reason and elevate emotional arguements. The enlightenment failed, it was those thinkers in the history of the church: Augustine, Athanasius, Aquinas; they brought humanity to the height of their intellect, and all the demythologization of the world has done has to throw humanity into its darkest depths.
All who think the world is getting better, all the post-millenialist, they are all fools who have their eyes closed to the truth: that the world is falling more and more into disarray, and unless God intervenes man will become the animal he never was meant to be. O woe to us who live in the decline of humanity!

A Devotion on James

2007-03-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

“If a brother of sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit” James 2:15-16
The common interpretation of this passage from James is that words are worthless without the deeds to back them up, in this case that we should care for the poor and needy by providing food, clothing and shelter, rather than just saying words to them. While this is a salutary reading, I would like to posit another reading for your consideration.
Quite often Christians give to charities both in monetary gifts, and donations of food and clothing, and while this is good, I think James may be talking of this practice in this passage. What good is it for us to give the poor food if we are just going to send them away? Not all the needs of the poor are needs of food, clothing and shelter. There is just as much need in the poor for human companionship, and recognition of them as human beings. It is far easier for us to give money, and never spend a moment with a poor individual then it is for us to go to where they are, into the slums, dirty and smelly, and spend time with them. What good is it brothers and sisters in Christ if we merely give to the poor as charity cases? Even the pagans do that! But Christ came not to feed the poor and clothe the naked. No he came to restore all humanity into relationship with one another and with him. Christians are called to treat the poor as Christ; we are called to be in relationship with them. Not just to feed them and send them on their way. Christ ate with sinners and tax collectors, and that is what James is calling us to do.

fame

2007-03-07T23:15:00.000-08:00

Oh how sorrowful is this lie we lead, which holds a moment but too quick, and pain for so long. A world where everything dwindles away and is destroyed, where what we make returns to dust, and what we long for sinks away into the ignominy of ceasless time. Works of art may last a bit longer that the work of toil, but they do not buy bread. If we are to live this life we must die to eternal hopes of fame, and to reach for fame, is to die this life we are gien to lead. Trapped into the endless cycle of destruction we are once again, no escape except for the grace of God, through the person of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Broken

2007-03-04T23:26:00.000-08:00

We are all broken. We are all living in a broken world, a world of hurt and sorrow, a world of addiction and sin, a world in which we do not do what we want to do, and we do that which we loathe to do. what wretched man that I am!

Oh God!!! Are you a deceptive brook? a white washed tomb!? Are you a siren leading men to their doom? Oh LORD where art thou! Where is thy holy redemption!?

Baby boys who hate their mothers, fathers who drink away the pain, brothers who run away, and sisters broken by the pain of fame. Sorrow, oh sorrow stands around on every hand, no escape from this misearble existance where men exploit others for greed and pleasure, sex is but commodity to be marketed and sold, love is a universal that can be swapped at will, truth is marginalized to minimize conflict, and conflict rises over too little food....Oh LORD!! How broken are we! How horribly destroyed screwed up and worthless are we. Save Me Oh God! Save me from my sinful wretchedness! Save me from all the pain and sorrow that I cause, save me from the broken relationships, and ignored brothers....Save me from myself of Lord! Father forgive! For I have no excuse I am an abusive, arrogant, loathsome addict who does not even know all the sins which I commit......OH DEAR GOD! FATHER FORGIVE!

A Homily on Home

2007-02-21T21:29:00.000-08:00

A reading from the fourteenth chapter of the gospel according to John: “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.”(John 14:2)
Welcome back! I am assuming most of you went home for some portion of the break, and I am sure that each experience was different, and that to try and make generalizations is rather difficult, but I want to tell you about my break.
I only was home for one week of the break as for the first portion my family and I went on a vacation to the Caribbean, and the last week was spent in Iowa, but my experience at either place isn't what I want to tell you about, I want to talk about home...or rather where my parents live.
I say where my parents live because I can no longer consider it my home. Pastor Jim likes to describe this experience by forming two categories. One is that your parents essentially enshrine your room, leaving everything in place including the dirty laundry and the half eaten pizza, the other is that they change the locks and turn your room into a sewing room. Either way, or even in between what you once knew as home is no longer home. Some of your parents may let you know that it isn't home anymore by turning your room into a sewing room, or they may not let you know and clutch onto the idea that the child coming home, is the child who left for college months before.
My parents chose the middle path. They left my room the same, and just changed everything about the house. The kitchen in which I learned how to cook was remodeled, the front yard where I used to play they redid the landscaping, and my grandmother's room--in which I spent many a nights hearing stories from my grandma--they turned into a study.
The house that used to be home was different, and that was just the empirical loss of home. When I returned for the first time freshmen year I found that my parents expected me to have not changed. They treated me the same as before I left, and this caused much hostility. I felt more responsible since I had lived for several months away from them, but my parents did not treat me as though I had matured, and thought me still an irresponsible high schooler. While my experience may be an extreme example, everyone who grows up goes through some level of this angst. No matter how good of a parent, parents always have some amount of desire for their children to stay their children and not to grow up and go out on their own. For some of us it is a very painful experience becoming free, for others it is not that hard, but everyone who grows up experiences the tension.
The loss of home hinges on this natural result of change. If we consider home to be more than just our household, and let it incorporate the town in which we grew up in, we see even more the loss of home.
In a disgusting display of white flight, and consummerism my town destroyed several forests to raise up condos and strip malls. Trees and the natural landscape which I was used to was wiped out for cold lifeless concrete structures. What had brought me joy was wiped out by the bitter juggernaut of American capitalism. Along with the loss of landscape came the loss of friends. I do not mean loss of friends in a negative sense of the word, but loss as in a distancing because we are growing up. My friends went to other schools and met new people, and I met new people, and while we were still able to hang out it was no longer like it used to be. Our friendship had changed. Along with the nature of friendship changing, came a change of necessity. As we grow older, we need more money, and so we had to work more. No longer were we able to hang out like we used to because work interfered.
My parents house, the town I grew up in, my friends, all had changed in such a way that it was no longer home for me. So where is home? I could say valpo is now my home, but I know that once I graduate the same thing will happen. It is the nature of growing older and change that what we think of as home ceases being home over time. So why do we care so much about where is home? Why is it such a big deal to us?
“In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.”
The second verse of the Hymn “I'm but a stranger here” reads like this:

What though the tempest rage,
Heaven is my home;
Short is my pilgrimage,
Heaven is my home;
And time’s wintry blast
Soon shall be over past;
I shall reach home at last,
Heaven is my home.

Well we have found the answer to where is home. Heaven is home. That's nice but what does that mean? It means we weren't built to stay, we weren't made for here.
The author of Ecclesiastes says “God has placed eternity in the hearts of men”, we are not made for here, we are made for eternity. There is a cliché saying that “Home is where the heart is” and how true it is when we realize that eternity is within our hearts. Our home is in eternity, our home is in heaven. We long for home here so much, and look for home but we will never find it here, we can only look forward to that day when Christ calls us home, when Christ comes and takes us to the place he prepared for us.
So we are left with a desire for home, we are left for a longing that cannot be met. While this may sound hopeless, there is hope. I would like to read you something for CS Lewis' novel The last Battle as the Narnians enter the new Narnia:
It was the unicorn....

What we find here on Earth reflects the eternity, which is in our heart. Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
With a platonic reminiscence we are presented with a reflected image of reality. What we see, feel, touch, taste and smell is nothing but an image of the real, and a vague shadowy one at that. We cannot see the real, for to see the real is to escape the image, to see the real is to either be utterly destroyed as the truth bears down upon our sin, or for us to be taken up into the deity and become truly human for the first time while also transcending humanity and becoming sons of God. The Gnostics taught that spirit was good and matter was evil, but what we teach is that this matter here is but a poorly formed image of real matter, matter which if we but touch it we are also pulled into the real. And here is hope, that here on Earth, while strangers in a foreign land there are signs pointing our way home. All the Earth, the universe, everything we know points us towards the ultimate reality, the ultimate truth. That burning fire which withers away all that is sin, all that is sorrow, all that is death and imbues the life which does not end, the light which casts no shadows, and the reality that makes us children of God.
If you find joy and happiness in something here on this Earth, do not cease with just that object, but realize what that object points too. Also in this way, if you look at what used to be your home, and feel sorrow over the loss, rejoice that the mere trinket of happiness you may have experienced is but an image of the joy which you will find in Heaven.
These words of hope are not just platitudes; they are not a call to mercenary Christianity, which seeks only pleasure and security. No these words condemn us for every time we ever were content with what we have. If ever we were content with what this world offers. We are condemned for stopping at the image and not moving onto the object. If we would but hold lightly the things of this world, accepting that they are merely signs, then we would find that they become more. If we clutch onto what we think is happiness, if we clutch onto our idea of home, and do not let go, we will kill the happiness that we once found. The sweet wine will turn to vinegar, and you will be left with neither the real nor the image. But if we do not accept the image, if we strive for the real, the odd thing is that the image will begin to grow more clearly, the thing we thought beautiful at first will blossom and show us new beauty. If we but merely hold loosely what we want, what we think will bring us happiness, and allow God to sanctify those things around us through the painful process of change we will find that we not only do we have the images, but that we have the things themselves.

A homily on Death

2007-02-21T21:27:00.001-08:00

It is a pleasure to stand here before you, to experience what it is like to be down here rather than up there. I am going to speak to you today about a subject which some of you may have experienced, others of you have not but one day will. I am talking about that experience common to all mankind, death.
My grandmother is dying. I am seeing death steal her away before my eyes, and I see the horror of that wretched result of sin. Her eyes lull unaware, her mind is dulled as the icy clutches of that ancient foe, slowly entangle her. A woman once vibrant, loving and energetic turned to lay in bed, weak, defenseless and helpless. How I long to share a conversation as I once did with her? How I long to come home and see her cooking dinner, and feel her embrace? How much I long for things that will never be again, for things that are now only memories? For those of you who have experienced this, you know the pain, for those who have not yet experienced, you one day will. I hope to give those already suffering some comfort, and those yet to face a loved one dying—some advice.
I would like to read you a verse, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” In Christ we need not have to fear death for we know that it is not the end. Instead we know that death is a beginning, the beginning of perfection, the beginning of a new life with God in which we ever see his face.
This knowledge is comforting for those of us who have had, or someday will have loved ones dying slowly and painfully, for what God promises us after death is no more sorrow, and no more pain. In Revelation 21:3-4 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." There will be no more death, no more pain, what comfort it is to know that those whom we love and see slowly dying are going to a place where they will no longer feel any pain?
But what about us? What about those of us left here on earth, hurt, aching, and longing for sweet moments to be spent with those gone? Well its not really about us, its never really about us, it is always about other people, because that is how we are called to live as Christians. But just because we are called to be loving does not mean that we will never be sad. If you are sad about a loved ones death, than you are in very very good company, perfect company to be exact. John 11:32-36
“When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34"Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. 35Jesus wept. 36Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
Jesus loved Lazarus, he was the son of God, and easily raised Lazarus from the dead but a few moments later, yet Jesus wept. Jesus wept over Lazarus’ death even though he knew perfectly well Lazarus would rise. Sadness over a loved ones death is not a sign of weakness, nor a sign of a lack of faith, instead, it is the mark of the sinful world in which we life, one that even our creator cried over. Jesus knows the pain of losing a loved one, Jesus understands what we go through, and he is there for us. We are not alone to suffer through difficult times such as a loved ones death, we have the company not only of all sinful humanity, but also the company of the one perfect human to ever life. Sorrow over death, and our own dying characterizes what it means to be human, rising from the grave is what it means to be God. Praise be to Jesus that he was both God and man—that he may know our sorrow, and provide a hope for tomorrow. I would like to read you a poem before closing. It is titled Oh Lazarus:
Oh Lazarus
Oh Lazarus how wane and pale,
Thy face has slowly grown,
As thy breathing began to fail,
And you uttered your funeral groan.

Weep Mary, Martha Weep,
Thy lord has stayed to late,
Life has from Lazarus already seep,
And set his dire fate.

Lord how easy would it be to heal him,
At thy word lepers clean and blind see,
Yet you let his health wear too slim,
And his life has ceased to be.

Rush Mary rush to the Lord,
“Lord if you had been here,
If only you had been here,
My brother would not have died.

Cry Martha, Wail Mary,
Weep the Jews all in sorrow,
For Lazarus four days buried,
he will ne’er see tomorrow.

And sympathy and sorrow fill the Lord,
The creator of all life eyes turn to tears,
Sharper than any doubled edged sword,
As he mourns the result of sin through the years.

In sorrow Jesus move to the tomb,
Where dread death had held Lazarus cold,
In the foggy mist of time’s gloom,
“Lazarus come out” shout Jesus bold.

Slowly from the rotten grave,
Lazarus four days dead arrives,
Covered in funeral clothes,
Breathing as well as perfect health.

Mary Martha weep no more!
Thy brother lives, he lives again,
Jesus reigns over life and death,
He lives he lives!!

When Over Sin I Sorrow

2007-02-21T21:21:00.000-08:00

When over sin I sorrow,
And look to God for hope to borrow,
I weep at my wretched state,
And pray that God’s grace not be to late.

When buried under loads of work,
Within hideous doubt always lurk,
I sigh in bitter defeat,
And you lift me up off my feet.

As I strain to stave off sin,
I hopeless, see the devil’s grin,
And submit to sin commit,
But through it your love transmit.

When all the world seems to wail,
Under sins crushing weight flail,
I remember your love and grace,
And in evil I now see your face.

I see your face, tears in eyes,
For one who sins dies,
But gracious you are,
And you announce it by a star.

Two-thousand years ago a son born,
Who everyone would scorn,
Strip, beat, and hang upon a cross,
Gawking as his life loss.

But then with triumphant cry,
The son of God die,
To hell descended,
And finally to heaven ascended.

And so no longer sin be a crushing weight,
Because of God’s love great,
We can live as mean reborn,
Not as shells forlorn.

In Christ

2007-02-21T21:13:00.000-08:00

When I lay under sins crushing weight,
With no rest into the nights hours late,
I ponder a love so great, so divine,
That I weep to think one day it will be mine.

When I struggle to live sanctified,
And find no hope in that I am justified,
I look to God with weeping eyes,
And see that all hope at his feet lies.

When all the world around me crumble,
And my life through time a hopeless tumble,
Upon the hill which my lord had died,
I sacrifice all my vain and heavy pride.

When death and decay surround me,
And everything disappears except for thee,
In thy quiet Easter morning hours,
I rest assured in thy resurrected powers.

Then with you in my heavenly home,
Experiencing for the first time a love I had known,
All my life falls beneath my thought,
As I experience the joy I had sought.

Ash Wednesday

2007-02-21T20:04:00.000-08:00

What is Man, O Lord, that you came and died for him? Was there beauty that you sought to save, was there capability, or grace or joy that needed thy salvation? No! There was nothing! For out of the dust we came and to the dust we shall return! We are nothing but dust, there is no beauty, there is no redeeming grace, there is only sin, desolation and loathesome selfeshness within the heart of man. We sin against you, and against one another daily, we are slaves to our own inordinate desires, we are purely selfish beings who do nothing for Other, and everything for Self. It would be best if we had never been born, but we have been born, and so it would be better for us to be cast into eternal damnation then to continue on in our wretched sinfulness.

But for some reason that cannot be comprehended by reason you came to earth and died upon a cross! You, the infinite good, came to earth and became sin, tainted thyself in a disgusting display of the consequence of our sin. You, O most Holy and Precious Lord, were nailed to the tree by my sin, by my own most grievous sin. You had to die because of me. The immortal had to become death, the sinless had to become sin, hope had to become sorrow, and love had to become selfishness so that my own wretched soul should not perish in the fires of hell. But that it would! That this wretched soul be cast into the fires of Hell where it belongs, and that you my most Holy Savior and God would not have to die! But you have died, and so I show my gratitude by accepting your grace....but how little this means! I daily turn from you and enslave myself to that which you bought me from, I return to the vomit of my youth, and I daily forget thee and thy grace, and yet you still continue to grant me grace! Why O God hath thou shown such imcomprehensible, infinite love to such a wretch as I? Glory be to Jesus! Thou art all, and none but thou art!

worship

2007-01-13T21:16:00.000-08:00

What must God think when our poems to him have become short and shallow? Our prayers long and pointless? Our worship a rock concert? O Lord where have Bach, Ambrose, Luther, and Bernard of Clairvaux gone? Where have the great poets who praised you with the full beauty of language, and the full glory of belief?
Now we have songs that repeat the same phrase over and over, words which a child could have written! Shallow shouts of praise with no declaration of your worthiness to be praised! Do you O Lord accept the praise of those who do not know why to praise you? Do you accept the praise of a sinner who does not know their sinfulness? Are you O Lord merely a selfish being who just wants our praise? Or are you the loving, almighty, and ever living God which Christians preached for centuries, or are you the get rich scheme that is preached today?
O Lord, may I ever be mindful of my sin and shame that I may always remember why you are worthy of praise. May I surrender over my soul over to you for the purging fire, and not merely spew forth meaningless babble which makes others feel good. I would rather suffer the pangs of Hell and have you as you are, then have the joys of heaven and have a lie.

Answer

2006-12-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

If my servant would but forsake the foolishness of his lies. If he would reject the self dependency, the ridiculous lie that is his own rightesouness and turn to me. There is salvation and peace for those who turn to me. There is no salvation in any other. He who would be free of sin must frist die to sin, by dying to themself. If you will not die, I cannot set you free. Die to yourself, not in some impertient pompous show of humility, but truly die. Fall into the grave that has been dug by your sin, and let the dirt of your consequences overtake and overwhelm you, and I will set you free. For I do not meet you in strength, nor do I meet you in glory....no I greet you in the grave, clutched by death. Die or else you will never live. Live and sin will never die. Turn from your foolish ways and back to me. Die to your sin, and seek forgivenss and you will be accepted, stand upon your own rightesousness, and never live.

Complaint

2006-12-26T22:49:00.000-08:00

If God had pity on man, he would rend each of us in two, so that the vile beast within may be seperated from the new man. For we are all two different people living out very different lives in the same body. We are sinners and saints at the same moment. Blessed are those who are ignorant of the war that wages within, and accursed are those who know.

To see two people within your mind, one that seeks only self gratification and destruction, and the other only desiring God. What a wretched war that plagues the mind, heart and soul of any honest man. Anyone who does not experience war and strife is lying to themselves. There is no peace on Earth, there is no hope here.

To live is to sin.....to end one's life is a greater sin full of cowardice. How blessed are those that die young!

Wretched God here my complaint! Why must your servant suffer the burden of sin? Why must i daily be torn in two by the competing desires of my being when I call out to you for release! Are you a deceptive brook? are you a God with no ears for the complaints of your people? or are you even worse: a liar? Answer me! Here my complaint oh most mighty and ever living God. You call me to serve, to prophecy, and then you stand in the way. You call, and yet do another. Why are you two sided? or are you even worse...not there at all?

Social Justice

2006-12-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

“Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” Mat 6:1-2
What were the pharisees doing that made Jesus so angry with them? They were giving money to the poor, they were caring for those oppressed...they were performing social justice and Jesus got mad at them. Why? The reason why is that the pharisees were performing social justice for the wrong reason. They wanted to be made right in the eyes of God, and glorified in the eyes of men. Justice was just a means to an end, the end of standing before men. If Christ was concerned with the motivations of the pharisees in performing social justice we should ask the question of ourselves: What is our motivation here at Valparaiso University for our concern for social justice. Are we like the pharisees seeking to look better before men? Or are we seeking to be right before God through our actions even though its impossible? Or have we turned justice into an end rather than a means?
As Christians we should not view justice as an end. We seek justice because it helps restore right relationships between individuals and groups. Christ mission here on earth was not to turn the earth into a just paradise, his mission was to die on the cross for the sins of the world. When we turn justice into an end, we lose sight of the only end, which is Christ. Christ is our end, he is our motivation for justice, he can be the only right motivation for justice. Let us first seek Christ, and in that seeking we will be just.

Amos

2006-12-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

The night is cold and dark, the sun has set. A clear sky above, a cool breeze below. The night is calm, the night is still, the night is a mystery. We live in a night, a time of darkness, a time without the light of the word of God. As the prophet Amos wrote: “'The days are coming,' declares the Sovereign LORD, 'when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.”(Amos 8:11-12) We live in a time when there is a famine, not of food, but of the word of God. Humanity is falling apart from centuries of 'enlightenment', from denying Jesus Christ his proper role as Lord of the Universe, and denying the Word of God. We live in a dark time, a blackening night. But as with every night, all darkness does is to accentuate the stars. Be stars to this world, share the Word of God. Amen.

What is man?

2006-12-24T00:14:00.000-08:00

What is man that you are mindful of him? What is the essence of his days that you notice them? We are all but matches in the wind, quickly lit and quickly snuffed. Here today and gone tommorow, we leave no imprint, no legacy upon the earth for all we do will be wiped away by the torrents of time.

We strive and work out our weary days and maybe better our time, or better the future but that is all for naught, the sun will die, the earth will return to vapor, and the universe will end, and for what do we labor? for what do we strive? NOTHING! We labor and work away what precious few days we have and accomplish nothing!

Thanks be to God that we dont matter at all. If the measure of our existance relied on what we have done, then we would be nothing, but praise be to Christ Jesus, that all we have hope for and all that we are is found in Christ Jesus. We are nothing, Christ is everything!

Sleepingawake

2006-12-24T00:09:00.000-08:00

We are all sleepingawake. Our eyes are open, our bodies move and yet we are all asleep. We are trapped in a lie, trapped in a prison of our mind. Sounds like the Matrix right? Well it isnt to far from the truth.

Sinners! Until you repent you will be enslaved to sin, only sleeping your way through life dreaming that you ever lived.

Christians! Until you let go of the lie, the dream you are holding onto, you will always be asleep. Asleep wandering day to day doing things that are but puffs of smoke in the mist of time blown away by the most gentle breeze.

Wake up! You sleepers, awake the king is coming!