Sunday, July 15, 2012
The Sum of 2011
There is power in the pain
The more tears, the more water for growth,
Intentional nurture for fertilizer
With patience, the unseen underground growth,
One day will burst forth and stand forth.
Commended and recognized to the Father alone, bearing much fruit.
If it takes brokenness to get one to the knees for extended periods of time,
To wait, contend for, ask and cry for, then let that passion come.
If it takes confusion, screaming voices and opinions
To learn one’s own voice
And trust in the Spirit counsel first and foremost, not worldly wisdom dressed as good
Counsel, then let it be.
If it takes being in a room with crooks for one to develop discernment, let it be.
If it takes many battered hearts for one to finally grasp ones heart’s worth, then let it be.
If it takes one standing alone, to realize the potential, the instilled presence of God,
The tremendous purpose and capacity and trust in God’s power;
That one needs no body to lay with, one needs no body to stand by,
Then let it be.
If it takes fear, for fear to be realized and faced, then let it be.
The Spirit’s relentless ache signifies the substance of the things unseen.
A jewel, kept pure, being cleansed time and time again
From harshness of hands of thieves desiring to hold and steal it,
Will gleam, sparkle, and bring light to many,
Will be a treasure to behold.
4 days ago, the Holy Spirit brought this passage to my attention: Ezekiel 36:
25"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God..."
May God give us new hearts and move us to follow His direction by softening our hearts and implanting his truth daily. Let it be so, Amen. I love you so much!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Christianity as a Crutch
My answer was very simple. I said, "Yes." Period.
What's Bad About a Crutch?
I can't remember how the conversation went from there. So let me just pick it up here. My return question would be, "Why is the thought that Christianity is a crutch considered to be a valid criticism of Christianity?" People don't usually look at a crutch and say, "That's bad. It's just a crutch." People don't in general think that crutches are bad things. Why does a crutch become a bad thing when it's Christianity?
I think the answer that most critics would give is this: if Christianity is a crutch, then it's only good for cripples. But we don't like to see ourselves as cripples. And so it is offensive to our self-sufficiency to label Christianity as a crutch.
But Jesus said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 2:17). In other words, the only people who will ever come to get what Jesus has to give are sick people, people who know that they are spiritually and morally and very often physically crippled.
Everybody Has a Creed
Everybody has a creed. All people believe in something and shape their lives around it. Even agnostics believe very strongly that you ought not believe anything very strongly (which is why it is so hard to be a consistent agnostic). We all have a creed that we live by, whether we can articulate it or not.
What is the creed behind the conviction that if Christianity is a crutch, it is undesirable and unworthy of acceptance? I think the answer is this: the creed behind this criticism of Christianity is the confidence that we are not cripples, and that real joy and fulfillment in life are to be found in the pursuit of self-reliance, self-confidence, self-determination, and self-esteem.
Any Messiah who comes along and proposes to replace self-reliance with childlike God-reliance, and self-confidence with submissive God-confidence, and self-determination with sovereign grace, and self-esteem with magnificent mercy for the unworthy—that Messiah is going to be a threat to the religion of self-admiration. That religion has dominated the world ever since Adam and Eve fell in love with the image of their own independent potential when they it saw reflected back to them in the eye of the serpent: "You will not die; you will be like God."
The Creed of Self-Reliance
Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American poet and philosopher who died about 100 years ago, wrote a famous essay called "Self-Reliance." It captured the spirit of the age, and the spirit of our age.
Trust thyself, every heart vibrates to that iron string. Discontent is the want of self-reliance. It is infirmity of will.
Ah-ha! Now we see the creed behind the criticism of Christianity as a crutch. The real infirmity of the world, according to Emerson, is lack of self-reliance. And so, to his dismay, along comes Christ, not with a cure for the disease, but a crutch! Christ is a stumbling block and an offense to Emerson and to all the Terry Cole-Whittaker's of our day—yes, and even to us—because it takes the disease that we hate most, namely, helplessness, and instead of curing it, makes it the doorway to heaven. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Thank you, John Piper
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Snapshots
Sunday, May 06, 2012
On Holiness
Monday, March 05, 2012
And I Imagine
changing the world
not from what we do but the persons
we are
the cup of coffee gets cold and i pour you 'nother
kiss your sweet face
cream and sugar
And I imagine seeing your face
on the other side of the world
countin' the wrinkles
1, 2, 7, 12,
endless moments
whisperin' thank you God
And ours are the kids
with the sombrero's
who could care less of what the others think
cus we taught them to laugh
and to know and to be
In our sphere are the skeptics
the intellectuals,
the elitists with the hard hearts
brought into light
And we may have a little
some days, we have a lot
but ours is the depth
few find
and our hearts know
enough
And every night we'd dive
dive into the infinite
you pull me deeper
I pull you in
And when I look at you
you make me wonder
you make me ask
you make me want
you make me spin
and I know
that I know
that I don't know
everything
because
you are mine.