Begging at God's Table

I sit and wrestle with divinity
my little mind wrestles with the mysteries of God
so much you have taught me
so much you have shown me
little scraps from your table
back I come begging
searching
wondering
what a foolish endeavor
to think I might understand you God who is beyond all human comprehension
God who made all that is and stands apart from everything I know and see
God who interacts with Creation
Apart from anything I know
Apart from anything I see
Untouchable
Wisdom beyond measure
Love never-ending
Yet I come back for more
More scraps at your table to savor
I come back because you have been so generous to me
so generous to share with me, just what I needed, just as I needed it
to serve you
At times, I thought I might fully grasp you
In my arrogance, I thought too much of myself
Can I be at peace, in knowing in part but not in whole?
Can I rest in what you've done? and what you've shown?
Your Holy Spirit convicts me and moves me
Your truth burns in my soul
Love, justice, mercy, joy, peace, and patience
they point beyond and assure me of what is
That you God, you God stand behind it
You move me, you guide me, in your paths of righteousness
You move me where I desire to be, where I love to be
In your goodness, in your grace, with purpose and joy supreme

even when it doesn't make sense,
even when its hard times
this I know, you have been good to me
scraps I've savored from your table
by no merit on my own
but because you are good, and you desire to share with me

misundertood word: gospel

When you hear the word gospel, what do you think of?

It is the most important part of the Christian faith. Do we know it?

Gospel literally means, good news.

Why don't we just say good news...? Maybe then it won't sound like such a foreign concept to people who have never heard the word gospel.

Good news.

We all like good news.

Good news, even though we have all messed up and done bad things in our lives, God wanted to provide a way to cover all our bad choices and remove them from his sight. He did this by coming in the flesh as Jesus Christ, and took on the penalty, Himself, for all of our bad decisions. God chose to do this for us. God chose to sacrifice Himself on our behalf. None of us deserved it. None of us earned any favor with God. It was a free gift given by God, the same God who gave us life in our mother's womb.

Good news of a forgiven past.

It is belief in the good news that can purify a heart, after all Jesus loved you enough to die for you. It is belief in the good news that can cleanse a conscience, after all it was all of your wrong choices that required Jesus to be crucified. It is belief in the good news that can break through idle talk, after all there is a world that needs to feel the good news. The good news brings our dead souls to life. Fully alive, in God.

Good news! You have been forgiven, so forgive others. Good news! You have been helped, so stop and help others. Good news! You have been loved by the greatest lover of everything that exists, so love others.

Observations from 1 Tim 6:11-21

God alone possess immortality.
He was in the beginning, He is now, and He will be in the future.

God dwells in inapproachable light.
Just as light removes darkness,
God's presence cannot stand spiritual darkness.
Just as light pierces the dark,
God's truth pierces our consciences and illuminates the true path.
God's light is inapproachable, His goodness is beyond our highest thoughts of Good, His goodness is blinding to our eyes,
eyes that are used to and grow accustomed to darkness.

God gives life to all things.
God gives, its his nature.
He is a giver and generous with what He gives to us.
He gives the most precious of gifts, life.
Not because He had to, because He chose to.

God is the only sovereign.
There is only one King.
Every person who thinks they rule anything by a title or by force,
they are deceived.
There is only one who truly rules over this universe and this Earth.

So believer in God,
pursue righteousness (v. 11).
righteousness: being as we ought to be; the condition acceptable to God
Be full of integrity, virtue, purity of life, and seek correctness of thinking and acting.

Be who God made you to be.

Brain and Heart

"Brains can argue, but it takes heart to comfort."

-Samuel Chadwick

Why don't we teach Wisdom anymore?

Why is it that public education emphasizes teaching information and not wisdom?

Many cultures still value wisdom, America does not seem to be one of them. Children are taught dates, events, facts, names, numbers, and words.

What happened to teaching right and wrong?

What happened to good and evil?

What happened to how to live well?

What happened to virtue? Why shouldn't a child learn about honesty, justice, chastity, wisdom, prudence, compassion, benevolence, forgiveness, goodness?

If you look up virtue here's what you find in an American Encyclopedia, virtue: extinct when it was discovered there are no exclusive truths to base good upon.

In our society, due to our inability to recognize anything as true, we have paralyzed our ability to be wise as a nation. Our children learn vices rather than virtues. They are taught sloth, lust, gluttony, jealousy, and greed. They sit and watch media that promote such vices and have no exposure to virtue with which to combat.

How is it that we have agreed as a society to promote vices, but we find ourselves unable to teach virtues because there is no standard, no truth upon which to base such a teaching about virtues? I mean, who's virtues would you use? You can't use the Christians virtues because of the Muslims. You can't use the Muslim's virtues because of the Christians. And oh don't forget the Buddhists. Then, how can we agree to promote vices through the popular media? Who made that call and I find it offensive because they have chosen a worldview and standard that idealizes vices :) Obviously, someone has determined a standard, which is no standard and no virtues, only vices are acceptable curriculum?

Why don't we teach Wisdom anymore?

We wonder at the state of America when we flip on Jerry Springer, Montel, People's Court, Cops, or Bridezilla's and why in the world there are so many people that do not seem to have any noticeable wisdom. We chalk it up to the shows paying people to act like they are idiots and putting a show on, but I hate to burst your bubble I don't think its an act.

Why don't we teach Wisdom anymore?

I think people were wiser when they didn't have television. I think people were wiser when they lived off the land, looked at the stars at night, and made a life in their community. Sure, they didn't know all the information we do today, but what good does information do if you have no truth, if you loose mankind? Mankind has a history available to draw out virtues, to draw out truth. Mankind is not mankind if he does not exercise his mind to decipher what is good. For those who deny what is good, they rob man of his soul.

Can you hear Truth?

Can you hear?
Can you see?
Can you touch and taste?
When truth is spoken, is it a sweet sound?
When truth is revealed is it a beautiful piece of art?

When intelligence is obvious,
when design is apparent,
when "I think therefore I am,"
when we find ourselves in limited control
of this planet,
do we hear?
What do we see?

How hardened is the heart?
How dead is the soul?
That truth echoes back,
but does not take root.

How blind the eyes?
How deaf the ears?
When nature explains,
when flowers cry out!

How sweet an opportunity,
how precious the time,
"Go and reproduce."
"Go and rule and subdue."
You will be like Me,
You will rule.
You will rule this pile of dirt.

So go now,
go and listen to your heart,
go and embrace love,
go and freely take and freely give,
"I will not manipulate you."
"I will not force you."
"Go now."
Enjoy.

How good You are to us,
How You make us in Your image,
To rule, to have free will,
in small ways You have made us
Like You.

But it seems many think You are gone,
or that You never were.
That this is accident,
That we are slightly more intelligent than ooze.

Some think the body,
what they see,
is all there is,
their motto, "to live for the now."

But if they would stop,
and listen.
Your voice remains,
Truth can be heard.
You came.
You spoke.
You died.
You did not mean this to be
confusion,
or mystery.
So, You spoke.

And it was true.

"In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:4-5).

The darkness understands:
more hate
more war
more money
more fighting
more anger
more killing
more oppressing
more tearing people down
more wealth
more technology
more houses
more cell phones
more televisions
more books
more self-help
more loneliness
more brokenness
more entertainment
more delusion
more fantasy
more drugs
more denial.

The light understands:
purpose
glory
faith
hope
and Love.
More sharing
more giving
more holiness
more building people up
more serving
more joy
more fulfillment
more family
more strangers
more justice
more healing
more acknowledgement of God.

When it all comes apart.....He is there.....

The economy is changing.....

What I see happening involves the disappearance of a large section of the middle class best represented by the term "blue collar." These are the men and women who out of high school were able to find a job, not even just a job, but a middle to high-end job pulling down $50,000-70,000k. And oh yeah, and that is with pension, health care, social security, and overtime availability. This segment of middle America is dwindling.

Meanwhile, college costs have risen 50% over the last 10 years.

Social Security they say is broken. The 401k replaces company-funded pensions and involves employee contributions.

In today's world, you need a college degree to at least have a chance at the traditional blue-collar wages.

Things are changing.......

It looks like the course we are on can lead nowhere but a mix-up in our historical classes which built America. It looks like the poor/working poor, college educated, and ultra rich. With the barrier growing more and more difficult for the poor to break their family out of the cycle, the gap between the lower class and the college educated is widening.

Strange.

Our lifestyles are also changing and in some ways strange........

Everyone is so busy. No one has any time. We move from medium to medium taking in media. Internet, television, radio, ipod, mobile devices, and email. Constant noise. Can we still think and reflect or are we addicted to constant noise?

Another strange phenomena: Work is no longer back-breaking for the college educated or ultra rich, so they pay to have personal trainers give them work-outs that often times resemble work. I saw a man the other day in the gym swinging a sledge hammer onto a large tire looking thing. How odd, we have to pay to do what we used to receive naturally during our work day, when we would sweat by our brow to perform work.

Also, have you noticed that no one knows how to maintain relationships anymore?

Something is coming unglued. The future of today's students does not look as bright as it once did. The old blue collar high paying and generous companies that rewarded a person with a fully funded retirement package which was guaranteed, not hinging upon the return of the stock market, looks obsolete.

Is that gloomy? Or is it just reality? Am I a pessimist or unloyal to the state if I hold these views? Or is it just the truth?

What would happen if it all came apart? What would happen if we woke up from the dream? What would we do if it all fell apart? Where do we place our trust? Is it still like the dollar says, "In God We Trust?" Or is our faith in steel, bullets, finances, and flesh?

What are we left with if the stock market tanks?

If the currency inflates to astronomical levels and the prices of gold increase ten-fold, how do we move on with our lives? What would matter to us then? What if I loose my job? How do I live on so much less? How do I buy my Starbucks on that?

If everything crashes around me, who is with me in the storm?
What is left when the house comes crashing?
Nothing but the Foundation.

When all the deceit of riches are exposed,
He will be there.
When all the deception of luxurious retirement and winter homes are destroyed,
He will be there.
When lower class citizens cry out in despair,
He will be there.
When the nation humbles itself and cries out to God,
He Will Be There.
When the husband is fed up with neglecting his family and children,
He will be there.
When the regular church member is fed up with empty repetition that means nothing to her throughout the rest of her week,
He will be there,
When government programs won't pick up the medical bill,
He will be there,
When we are tired of trying to put a mask on and pretend we are things we are not,
He will be there.

Justice cries out to HIM.
He must answer.
He is Holy.
But that is not the end.
His love reaches out to them.
His love covers them.
In their flaws, He loves them
They are his children.
His creation.
But that is not the end.
He comes clothed in meekness and willing to take it all,
willing to die for them.
Death came to attempt to crush our hope,
Steel and power attempted to rule the earth,
The wealthiest forces of the day crucified Him.
But that was not the end.
He died and He rose!
When it all crashed down, He was there.
He was there!
Shed a tear and shout for joy, he was there.
When it all settled He stood in Victory.
I said when the smoke cleared,
He was still standing.
When the world came at him,
He was not shaken.
When He fell under the weight,
He got back up.
When the road was hard,
He kept on stepping.
When friends turned their backs,
He was not phased.
When hatred and evil gave their all,
My Savior was unstoppable.
Through it all He could not be defeated.
When the fate of the world hung in the balance,
He was there!
Hallelujah, He was there!

And He stands Today to encourage us in his Victory.
We can conquer all the powers and principalities,
they have no hold,
I mean, they have no authority,
over my Savior and his Reality.

For the Skeptic: A Narrative

There were these people who thought that everything that was, could be seen.

One saw all these green pieces of paper that seemed to provide the means to obtain luxurious things. These things look as if they meant something. Somehow the people there with all the stuff seemed to be happy.

One looked around and noticed a fierce competition. Everyone seemed to be jockeying for position and trying to "out do" everyone else, especially when it came to the opposite sex. So, this person naturally realized from witnessing this that what they needed was to plug into this mess and compete for love.

One only looked only at himself. He decided the only answer was to fulfill his every desire.

The last one of these guys the others all thought was crazy. He kept telling them about things unseen, telling them about things that existed that the eye nor the mind could fully grasp. He had this notion that there was something deeper. He could not help but gaze in awe at the order of everything. Everything seemed to be in some kind of harmony that he himself found lacking inside his soul. All of the created order around him seemed to buzz, blossom, cycle through patterns and seasons. He saw the colors and the artistry about everything. He watched in wonder at the death in Winter and resurrection of Spring. He learned of a code named DNA embedded in the minute levels of human composition that contained some blueprint the men had told him, some plan or code. Obviously, there was some order and intelligence at work in his very being.

Meanwhile, his friends only saw a flower. They saw only shiny rocks in the sky. Only random probability that the code in DNA formed itself together and made a human, only accidental. But the last one person we are talking about, he saw something different. He saw wonders and beauty. He saw meaning and purpose. He felt intertwined in the plan and not really random or accidental at all. There was always something just beyond his ability to put into words, something on the tip of his tongue, something faint and rather fuzzy, that he just couldn't seem to explain to his friends.

Then everything went far deeper for him.

All of a sudden he started believing in some from of moral structure. He began to believe in some unseen system of right and wrong. Something within his own soul seemed to echo this idea in his heart. From where and when did this come? How did it get there? Was it an accident too? Or was it part of the plan, was it part of the story? Not only did he find some strange notion of right and wrong but of virtues. Mysterious qualities about his fellow men that he admired as noble, just, and true. They were in direct opposition to liars, cheaters, murderers, and no good scum buckets. What made a man good and one bad?

His friends told him he was odd. Why should you follow things you cannot see? They told him, "There is no truth, no code, no purpose, no plan, no nothing, you just make it up for yourself man!" His friends said, look at me, I just do want I want, when I want. There is no code. You just live it up man! Look, its just a big party and everybody wants to have a little fun. Look, go buy that house you've been wanting, settle down with that gal you've been chasing, and make a little money, then everything will be just fine, you'll be happy just like us. Just step on up into our program, we'll have you trained and hit the ground running then you'll be just like us, stressed out, overweight, on anti-depressants, and oh yeah not worrying about any stupid things that you can't see, because obviously if all of us can't see it and we don't live by it, then it just can't be.

So, having heard this advice the young man went away disappointed. Their words were empty. There was no life in them. But the unseen kept at him. He just could not leave it alone. Deep in his heart, he knew, he believed there was more. One night he cried out, he was desperate for an answer. He set out looking for answers.

It was not long and his questions started being answered. He met others who had experienced this same understanding that there was more in life than what they had seen and that there was a disharmony within their bodies against the harmony of nature all around. Then, there was one who came and solved the riddle. He explained that they were indeed from another place and that is why they do not belong. He, himself, claimed that he was from this place and had seen it and he told them all about it. He said he had the answers and all those that wished to follow could, but it would require them to leave their old life behind. So, having reasoned that they could not live in a lie any longer and realizing this was their one shot to live the life they had sensed in the deep recesses of their souls was possible, they followed.

What they found was that there was more to life than what they had seen. As they walked together, more and more things made sense. The man that lead them shared more about his homeland. In this place, there were no struggles, no striving, no competition, no misery, no pain, no sickness, no disease, and all the tears were wiped and cared for. In this place, honesty, truth, justice, mercy, and love reign. Love itself is said to dwell in its center as a tree giving off life to all who come near to eat of its fruit. No more disharmony in his soul, and things here answer the fuzzy ideas that just couldn't be expressed in the "seen" world. Here was the answer. They had been made for so much more, that is why they never felt at home. Parts and pieces from this place had been planted within all the travellers from birth, actually, all their friends they left behind had them too, but it seems a rather hard and strange thing to do, that is to believe in something that cannot be seen.

Eternity

Eternity: infinite duration

Life is short......Eternity is long.......

What is reality?

What is reality? Is reality what you think it is in your own mind or is reality something real out there? If I want to believe that the moon is made of cheddar cheese and trees taste like Dorito's, would I find anyone that would agree? Would that make it reality?

What if reality is not what we see...What if there is more than what appears...How would you tell someone about something they could not see? What if some people suddenly started seeing the reality of this world but others could not...what should they say to those that could not see and were bumping around in the dark hurting themselves because they didn't understand reality?

Is there more than meets they eye, to borrow a transformers slogan. Is this like Plato said, only shadows on the wall we are looking at and yet there is a whole other reality, a sun, casting shadows on the wall and we are so entertained with the shadows we don't realize there is a whole other world, full of light and awesome thigns, out there? Instead we sit in the shadows denying the existence of anything else out there.

Too philosophic, I know....Can't help it:)

But seriously. Is there more than meets the eye? Do you believe it? Do you look for it?

God told me a secret the other day. Little human person insignificant as I am, and Almighty God chose to whisper a secret of the supernatural in my ear. Wow. I was humbled. I heard, "love is the secret to true passion and purpose in life!" Love is the universal secret, the reality of life of this world. When you lay down your life and unselfishly love on others and on God, you will find passion that burns in your soul. That is reality.

Reality is if everyone started loving their Creator and loving all the people around them, this would be a much better place to live in...that is concrete...that is reality...that is how this place works...that is true.

Love isn't just a nice thing to do or a nice word. Love is the secret to the universe. Without love there can be no purpose or passion. Is your soul burning on fire with passion? If not, do you love anything other than yourself? Love, thats the ticket.....

The Song

What is the source of Truth?
What is it about truth that resonates in the soul
Penetrating deep within
What is the source of Love?
Who first loved us
Lighting a fire deep within
What is it about the outstretched arm
helping those in need
Extending out to help up

Out of the dirt
Out of unfaithfullness
Out of lies
Out of cheating
Greed, dishonesty, cruelty, self indulgence, hatred, and selfishness
Out of the dirt comes Love, breaking through it all

Oh how glorious, how beautiful is love springing up out of the dirt!
What a glory of God!
What a miracle!

Out of the dulldrums
there is a song
bringing to life those that hear it
A song of hope and love
inspiring wonderful mercies
in a land of dirt and unfaithfullness
There is a song of love being heard
being danced too
How awesome
Coal becomes diamond
Rainy days turn into sunshine bright
Out of winter comes Spring rising up through the dirt

What is it about this song?
When you hear you just know its true
Awakening the heart
Releasing all fear and joining in it's tune
Resonating throughout time and place
Inspiring courage and self sacrifice

Who wrote this song?
I can imagine certain attributes about Him
He is most certainly forgiving, loving, faithful, and just
Someone you can really trust

I know this song
I see it in my mind and my heart
I never want to have it cease, I always want to be engulfed in it's rhythms
I want to be lost in it and hear it grow louder and louder
So crystal clear with singing and dancing never ceasing
Drumming me on higher and higher
Lost in the beauty

Light Has Entered the World

John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

There is truth among the lies being spread. Just like watching the sun rise in the morning was Jesus Christ coming into a dark day. There is something beyond comprehension or words to explain that is the life of Jesus. Reading His words and about His life, is just like looking at a beautiful sunrise. There is just something about it that grabs you and you just can't help but sit and wonder at the glory of such a thing. All of nature worships God and is orchestrated just as He created it to. But humans are given the choice to conform to God's will or to follow their own. God so loves us He gave His creation the ability to accept or reject Him. I find it harder and harder to imagine that so many love the darkness, when instead you could for all eternity be looking at the sunrise.

There was a time on earth, that the truth of all the ages was set in the flesh and dwelt among us. His life and words are recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Anyone that is rejecting the light of Jesus must please take the opportunity to read those books of the Bible and then tell me if you do not find the glory of God...the truth of the ages....something beyond this worldly wisdom or created by man stored in those pages. If there is the opportunity to look into the mind of God, would you not take a chance and take a look for yourself? Many can describe how beautiful God is, but at some point, everyone has to make the decision to look away from the darkness and toward the light on their own. He is waiting for all of us to make that journey. I hope you do.

He did it all

Jesus did it all for us. He was whipped, beaten, shamed, betrayed, denied, mocked, pierced, and crucified for you and me. He was rejected, cursed, and there was no room for Him when He was born. He took it all for us, He suffered all there was to be suffered. He was committed to embrace his own sacrifice. And on the 3rd day He was risen from the dead having conquered death.

So while we wait to see Him lifted high on the Judgement Seat before heaven, let us remember, "He did it all," so how much will He be willing to forgive here and now, since He did love us enough to embrace death, yes even death on a cross?

There is nothing we do to earn it, he loves us and extends us pardon freely.

If we could only hold onto a vision of Jesus and His love for us. That no matter what we have done, Jesus' willingness to forgive us is sufficient. His love and grace is so large, that He bore the cross and was tortured beyond comprehension for us. How much more willing does that make Him to extend grace, if He would embrace such torture for us? A love that motiveated Him to lay down His own life, will surely be tender enough to accept a heart felt cry to Him that loves so much. My brothers and sisters in Christ let us always approach the throne room of grace with confidence knowing what He has already done and is longing to do right now. Give your burden to Jesus. He has paid the price to take away your burden and guilt.

I find myself dependent upon Jesus grace, mercy, and love. My sinful nature will flare up and come out of nowhere and blind side me. So I call out to the name that Saves, "Jesus." I am on my knees again in this dark room asking your pardon. I hear Him say, "My grace is sufficient for you little one." "If I suffered so much on the cross, will I not hear you now and be very willing to forgive you?" Yes, Yes, tis true, tis true.