Eternal Punishing

In most of the churches I have attended, they hold to one point of view about the afterlife for unbelievers; that the punishment is eternal and the punishing goes on eternally.
The following article offers another view of life after death and if you have never read this view, I think you will find it interesting.

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

Is It Really of God?

THE CONCEPT OF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT though considered by many to be orthodox Christian doctrine, must be Challenged and indeed refuted. Some of its destructive implications are:

+ The character of God is maligned.

+ The devil is exalted and Jesus Christ is
made a failure.

+ Numerous plain statements of scripture
are contradicted.

+ Teachings of some of the most respected
church fathers are contradicted.

+ Like a corrupt tree, it brings forth evil
fruit

God's Nature Maligned

God's nature is love (1Jn.4:8, 16)…"agape" love which always seeks the best for others and never ceases until this objective is accomplished. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and never fails (1Cor.13:7,8). God, having perfect foreknowledge in creation, knew that all mankind would follow Adam into sin. Therefore God made provision for man's reconciliation before the foundation of the world (1Ptr.1:19,20). Statisticians tell us that over the past 6,000 years approximately 160 billion people have lived on the earth. The doctrine of "eternal punishment" declares that all who do not believe on Jesus Christ while in their mortal bodies spend eternity in an inescapable, unending hell. If 10% of the earth's people believed on Jesus Christ then the remaining 144 billion must consequently spend eternity being punished. This would mean that God's purpose in creation was eternal punishment for some 144 billion people! Apart from any knowledge of the grace and mercy of God we could hardly say this reflects a God of justice. Having a higher revelation of God's "agape" love, can we now accept this doctrine as being consistent with a God of love?
Yes, our holy and just God does require accountability of man to Himself and does punish man for his sin and rebellion. But, if the punishment is unending then what purpose does it serve? Such behavior by an earthly father would be considered sadism. Is our heavenly Father's love and punishment to be degraded to the level of such an earthly father? No, for though man may fail, God's love never fails. If it did, He would deny Himself.
Exaltation of the Devil
The doctrine of "eternal punishment" makes hell an eternal monument to the devil's works of sin and death. Did Jesus fail at destroying the works of the devil (1Jn.3:8)? Did the first Adam's offense unto condemnation and death for all accomplish "much more" than the last Adam's free gift of grace unto justification for all (Ro.5:15)? Did Jesus tell a lie when He said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me."? Is the last enemy, death, not destroyed? Are those to whom God becomes "All in all" (1Cor.15:28) only those who managed to escape the devil's clutches? Does every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil.2:11) because God is really like Nebechadnezzer (Dan.3), forcing all into submission without respect to the desire of their heart? If "eternal punishment" is true, then all of the above are true and the devil is exalted.
Contradiction of Scripture
The doctrine of "eternal punishment" contradicts the plain statements of scripture. To profess it is to take "away from the words of the book" (Rev.22:19). This requires us to ignore or revise the following scriptures: Regarding all men: Lk. 2:10; 1Tim.4:10; 1Cor.15:22,23; 1Tim.2:3-6; Rom. 5:17,18; Tit.2:11; Jn.12:32,33; 2Ptr.3:9; Rom.11:26,32; Heb.8:11; Psa.22:27,29. Regarding every man: 1Cor.11:3; Jn.1:9; Heb.2:9; Mk.9:49; Isa.45:23; Phil.2:10, 11; 1Cor.15:23. Regarding all families: Gen.12:3; 28:14; Gal.3:8. Regarding all flesh: Jn.17:2; Joel.2:28; Isa.40:5; Psa.65:2. Regarding all things: Eph.1:9-11; Col.1:20; Rev.21:5; Ac.3:21; Rom.11:36; Heb.1:2; Phil.3:21; 1Cor.15:28; Rev.4:11. Regarding the world: Jn.8:12; 2Cor.5:19; Jn.3:16; Jn.1:29; Jn.4:42; Jn.12:47; Jn.17:21; Isa45:22; Jn.16:33. Regarding the whole world: 1Jn.2:2. Regarding the creation: Mk.16:15; Col.1:23; Rom.8:21; Rev.5:13 Psa.145:8,9. If the doctrine of "eternal punishment" is true, then not one of the above scriptures (and there are many more) can be accepted at face value. God's ability to regenerate the spirit of man and to fulfill His own word is limited by the heartbeat of man.
Distortion in Translation
People insist upon the doctrine of " eternal punishment" because the King James Bible (and others influenced by it) associate the word eternal with punishment and destruction. God raised up scholars to give us concordances, lexicons, and both Greek and Hebrew word studies, because no translation is perfectly true to the original manuscripts. The Christian's surest guide to truth is the Holy Spirit who Jesus said will "teach you all things" (Jn.14:26). The King James Bible translated the Greek noun "aion" and its adjectival form "aionios" variously as world, age, eternal, and everlasting. One word should not be translated to have so many separate meanings when there are specific Greek words with these meanings. World means the material earth on which man lives, and is properly translated in "the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world [kosmos] are clearly seen" (Rom.1:20). Age means an indeterminable period of time which has a beginning and an end, and is properly translated in "the mystery which hath been hid from ages [aion] and from generations"(Col.1:16). Eternal means that which is perpetual, with no beginning and no end, as is properly rendered in "His eternal [aidios] power and Godhead" (Rom.1:20). Please note the Greek word "aidios" which actually means eternal. But "aidios" is never found in relation to punishment of unbelievers.
Some would suggest that the Greek form in which the adjective "aionios" is used allows for the translation "eternal". The most basic laws of grammar prohibit this. A word derived from a parent word cannot have a meaning greater than or different from the parent word. The meaning of the adjective form of a word depends upon and corresponds to the meaning of the noun from which it is derived. As an example, a daily (adjective) paper comes every day (noun) not monthly or hourly.
A reasonable objection may well be "why didn't the King James translators translate "aionios" to be age instead of eternal? Or why does the commonly accepted Vines's expository dictionary (V.E.D) insist that "aionos" means eternal? The beloved brethren who have given themselves to these scholarly pursuits are to be honored, but they, like us, are subject to seeing "through a glass, darkly" (1Cor:13:12). V.E.D. for example, states that the gift of tongues ceased after apostolic times and that both the gifts of knowledge and prophecy are unnecessary since the Holy scriptures are sufficient for guidance, instruction and edification. Mr. Vine's viewpoint is typical of the "fundamentalist" school of theology, which for all practical purposes eliminates the need and expectancy of God's people to hear directly from Him. To the many who have come into the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and today comprise the Pentecostal and charismatic segment of the church, V.E.D. is obviously biased. The gifts of the Holy Spirit did not terminate with the early apostle, but are to be just as much in evidence today. The same kind of prejudice is perpetuated with the doctrine of "eternal punishment." Numerous Greek scholars have sought to bring correction. A sampling of some of their works follows:
Young's Analytical concordance to the Bible, by Robert Young, LL.D.; Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Young's Literal translation of the Holy Bible, by Robert Young, LL.D.;Baker House.
Greek English Concordance, by J.B. Smith; Herald Press.
The Emphasized Bible, by J.B. Rotherham;Kregel Publications.
Concordant Literal New Testament, by the Concordant Publishing Concern.
The Word "Aion"
The word"aion" means age or that which pertains to the ages. Ages have beginnings and endings. Their duration's are for indefinite periods of time. There is no time element to eternity and therefore the word is eternal is totally inappropriate translation. God made the aions: "by whom also He made the worlds [aions]" (Heb.1:2). God is called the God of the aions or the "ever-lasting [aionial] God" (Rom.16:26). There was a time before the aions: "according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world [aionios] began" (2Tim.1:9). We live in the present aion: "Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world [aion]" (Matt.13:39). There is an age after this aion: "it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world [aion], neither in the world [aion] to come. (Matt.13:32).
There are aions to look forward to: "that in the ages [aions] to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace" (Eph.2:7). Jesus reigns to the aion of the aion: "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever [to the aion of the aion]" (Heb.1:8). At the end of this age: "then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father…then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (ICor.15:24,28).
During this time of the aions, Christians have aionial life (Jn.3:16) aionial salvation (Heb.5:9) and an aionial inheritance (Heb.9:15). Presently, Christians have been "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession" (Eph.1:14-15). There will come a day when Christians no longer have just the earnest, but will receive the full inheritance of true eternal life which is when God becomes "all in all" (1Cor.15:28). In the meantime, there will continue aionial judgment (Heb.6:2) aionial condemnation (Mk.3:29), aionial fire (Matt.25:41) and aionial punishment (Matt.24:26).
Church History
There is no documentation that the church councils of the first four centuries embraced the doctrine of "eternal punishment." The church councils at Nice in A.D. 325, at Constantinople in A.D.381, at Ephesus in A.D.431 and at Chalcedon in A.D.451 never embraced this doctrine. In contrast, there is documented evidence that many church leaders and teachers of the first centuries A.D. wrote acclaiming the doctrine of 'universal salvation or "ultimate reconciliation", none of whom were censored. It was not until 553 A.D. that the Roman Catholic Church denounced the teaching of ultimate reconciliation as heresy. This is the same organization which:
---in the 2nd century started calling it elders "priests"
---in the 3rd century instituted sacerdotal mass, claiming the unbloody sacrifice of Jesus
Christ
---in 300 A.D. endorsed prayers for the dead
---in 375 A.D. reverenced angels, dead saints, and images
---in 431 A.D. exalted Mary as the "Mother of God"
---in 526 A.D. instituted extreme unction
---in 533 A.D. renounced the doctrine of ultimate reconciliation
A Wrong Spirit Fostered
The doctrine of "eternal punishment" fosters a self-righteous, vindictive spirit in believers. The psalmist, speaking of idols said, "they that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them" (Psa.115:8). If a Christian has an image or mental picture of god that projects Him as One who writes off those who disregard Him, then that believer similarly tends to reject those who disagree with him. Church history is replete with inquisitions and martyrdom's manifesting this image of God. An extreme example is Queen Mary (1516-1558) of England, who won her title "Bloody Mary" by torturing and murdering non Catholics. She justified her actions, proclaiming "as the souls of heretics are to be hereafter eternally burning in hell, there can be nothing more proper than for me to imitate the divine vengeance by burning them on earth." Bloody Mary's image of God lives on today. Condescending, pharisaical attitudes which continually divide the body of Christ, justify themselves because of a perverted image of God. "My little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen"(1Jn.5:21).
Christianity Degraded
The doctrine of "eternal punishment" aligns Christianity with the pagan religions of the world. Pagan religion recruits and rules its members by fear. The common theme of pagan religion is that non-members displease an angry god and will therefore spend eternity being tortured and tormented in the flames of hell. The pagan god rules by threat and intimidation. Preachers who have to use fear of "eternal punishment" to move people to come to the altar, and Christians who need the doctrine of "eternal punishment" to keep them from falling into sin or to motivate them to evangelism and prayer, sadly reveal their lack of true relationship with the God whose love casts out fear because fear has torment (1Jn.4:18). Is it any wonder that Christianity, whose gospel is the "power of God unto salvation" (Rom.1:16), has made so little impact upon the world's population?
The Conscience Says "No"
The Holy Spirit-illumined conscience is the truest witness of the Holy Spirit. Any doctrine born of God will commend itself to the Christian's conscience. Though many say they believe this doctrine to be true, they very seldom, if ever, preach it, and if they do they will say, "I wish it were not really true or "If I could change it, I would." These or similar statements only reveal the voice of their consciences, which do not find an Amen! To the doctrine of "eternal punishment." you, the reader, test this statement: Say out loud: "Every person who has not believed on Jesus Christ while living in this mortal body on this earth deserves to be eternally punished." What is the witness of your conscience?
Knowing the Father
The central issue is do we really know the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? The Pharisees thought they knew God, and so insisted that Jesus keep the law rather than heal on the Sabbath. James and John though they knew the Lord and that he would approve their request to send down fire from heaven and consume those who would not receive His ministry. Each of these men could draw upon the letter of the scripture to support his beliefs. In the same way many good people have relied upon the letter of the word in justifying "eternal punishment." My appeal to you, the reader, is to distinguish between the letter of the word and the spirit of the word. Examine your own heart as to the nature of God's love and judgments. Is your God the god of eternal punishment? For many years I thought He was, until He challenged me to look again. My prayer is that we may be as Job, who declared, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee." (Job.42:5).
Lee Salisbury, pastor
King Jesus Church, St.Paul, MN.
This pamphlet can be obtained through this email address….. mailto:address…..rmckay@kamloops.net
Kingdom Resources
True Grace Ministries
Sigler Ministries

" The wise woman builds her house,
but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." Proverbs 14:1

I remember reading in "The road less travelled" how we are born helpless and without crying and fits we will not be able to communicate. As we mature we leave these methods behind. Or some do. This woman looks back on a life of self induced torment. With her own hands she sought to always have her way and in the end she realizes with her own hands she tore down; and now she sits alone with her two friends, 'wish I had' and 'could have been'.

Death Calling

When I saw this sculpture, and being sixty years old, I didn't relate to the spiritual implications. Trust me at 60 the old malibu isn't running like it used to. As you enter your fifties and sixties, the reality of death enters your ruminations far more.
But the truth is, this picture depicts the struggle of the soul and the relentless pursuit of spiritual death, and is far more relevant. Maybe more in our cultures than many, we will do valiant battle or be overcome. No middle ground in America, the assault is far too aggressive to passively meander the narrow path.
The soul pictured here has allowed herself to wander far too close to darkness and but for a miracle, this soul will be captured and tormented. Resist, but resist before the clutches of evil enfold you.

Three headed brute

This excerpt from Alexander Maclaren is well done on the futility of "desire".
...Nothing is more certain than that no one will get the satisfaction that his ruling passions promise him, by indulging them. It is very plain that the way never to get what you need and desire, is always to do what you like.
And that for very plain reasons. Because, for one thing, the object only satisfies for a time. Yesterday's food appeased our hunger for the day, but we awake hungry again. And the desires which are not so purely animal have the same characteristic of being stilled for the moment, and of waking more ravenous than ever. "He that drinketh of this water shall thirst again." Because, further, the desire grows and the object of it does not. The fierce longing increases, and, of course, the power of the thing that we pursue to satisfy it decreases in the same proportion. It is a fixed quantity; the appetite is indefinitely expansible.
And so, the longer I go on feeding my desire, the more I long for the food; and the more I long for it, the less taste it has when I get it. It must be more strongly spiced to titillate a jaded palate. And there soon comes to be an end of the possibilities in that direction. A man scarcely tastes his brandy, and has little pleasure in drinking it, but he cannot do without it, and so he gulps it down in bigger and bigger draughts till delirium tremens comes in to finish it. Because, for another thing, after all, these desires are each but a fragment of whole nature, and when one is satisfied another is baying to be fed. The grim brute, like the watchdog of the old mythology, has three heads, and each gaping for honey cakes. And if they were all gorged, there are other longings in men's nature that will not let them rest, and for which all the leeks and onions of Egypt are not food. So long as these are unmet, you "spend your money for that which is not bread, and you labor for that which satisfieth not."
So, we may lay it down as a universal truth, that whoever takes it for his law to do as he likes will not for long like what he does."

Unreasonable and Unseasonable

“They took him even as he was in the ship… and he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow.” Marc 6:36-38

I’m reading a book of sermons by Alexander Mclaren, D.D., and he brings out the point that the reason that Christ was asleep, and sleeps through the storm, is that he is simply exhausted --- “They took him even as he was into the ship.” And many expositors suppose that in the very form of that phrase there is suggested the extreme of weariness and exhaustion which He suffered, after the hard day’s toil. Whether that be so or no, the swiftness of the move to the little boat, although there was nothing in the nature of danger or of imperative duty to hurry them away, and His going on board without a moments preparation, leaving the crowd on the beach, seems most naturally accounted for by supposing that He had come to the last point of physical endurance, and that His frame, worn out by the hard day’s work, needed one thing – rest.
And so, the next thing we see of Him is that, as soon as He gets into the ship He falls fast asleep….. so tired that the storm does not wake Him.

The author goes on to point out that the book of Marc is a book showing Christ’s servant hood. In addition he points out some of the following regarding Christ arduous ministry —

“ The first of them I would suggest is—how distinctly it gives the impression of swift strenuous work. The narrative of Mark is brief and condensed. We feel all through these earlier chapters at all events, the presence of the pressing crowd coming to Him and desiring to be healed. And but a word can be spared for each incident as the story hurries on, trying to keep pace with His rapid service of quick-springing compassion and under laying help. There is one word which is reiterated over and over again in these earlier chapters, remarkably conveying this impression of haste and strenuous work. Mark’s favorite word is “straightway,” “immediately,” “forthwith,” “anon,” which are all translations of one expression. You will find if you glance over the first, second, or third chapters at your leisure, that it comes in at every turn.
Take these instances which strike one’s eye at the moment, “straightway they forsook their nets;” Straightway he entered into the synagogue;” Immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region;” “ Forthwith they entered into the house of Simon’s mother;” “anon, they tell him of her;” “Immediately the fever left her.” And so it goes on through the whole story, a picture of a constant succession of rapid acts of mercy and love. The story seems, as it were, to pant with haste to keep up with him as He moves among men, swift as the sunbeam, and continuous in the out flow of His love as these unceasing rays! “

….We see in Christ, toil that puts aside the claims o physical wants. Twice in this Gospel we read of this. “The multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.” “There were many coming and they had no leisure so much as to eat.”
We see in Christ’s service a love which is at every man’s beck and call, a toil cheerfully rendered at that most unreasonable and unseasonable times. As I said a moment ago, this Gospel makes you feel, as none other of these narratives do, the pressure of that ever-present multitude, the whirling excitement that there was round the calm center. Even in His solitary prayer He is broken in upon by His disciples, with “All men seek for thee,” and without murmur or a pause, He buckles to His work again, and says, “Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also; for therefore am I sent.”

I was taken by this because I don’t often see the humanity of Christ in such a relatable way. I always thought He slept in the boat undisturbed by the storm because He was so God-like, not that He was so exhausted. I like that.

Worship Narcissism

The following is a post on my Pastor's blog that I think is one of the most insightful thoughts on worship I have read. He quotes Robert Webber, and his thoughts on worship are what I have stumbled and stammered and have not been able to put into words. He has, and they resonate in me and answer many questions I have had. I hope you enjoy it as well.


Avoiding Worship Narcissism
Reading the latest Relevant Magazine Online, I was intrigued by the writer’s recent experience at a nationwide worship event called TheCall. It is a 12 hour fasting and worship experience, happening in various cities this year, for people “serious about encountering God and changing the world.”
And maybe it is a life changing experience. Maybe it is an event different from so many others, where people come for the mountain top adrenaline rush of a stadium rally. But I wonder how much of what we call worship today, in that context, or in most Sunday services, is really worship. Robert Webber, in one of his last books before his death, Divine Embrace, speaks to the “worship narcissism” prevalent in so many gatherings today, where the main attention is given to seeking some transcendent experience. But under the cover of these words, and more than we realize, our focus is much closer to home--on us and our experience--on our story rather than on God and His story, His purpose for us. And here’s how we can tell if it is located in our story: we leave this gathering asking one another—“Did you like the sound?” “Did you sense the presence of God?” “Did the message speak to you?” “Did you like the worship?”
Maybe we should be asking—did God like our worship? But even this question, according to Webber, misses the point. It misunderstands the purpose of worship. Authentic worship is not about approaching God as the object of worship. It is rather about seeing God as the subject of worship. This statement in itself brings me up short for sure. It causes me to stop and ask myself how often I have entered worship with this perspective. Far more than I would like to admit, I have come in as subject. I have come to ask God to participate in my story. I have come with no expectation God is already actively doing something, asking me to get in step with. I have come consumed with my needs, hoping worship does something for me. If I am moved to get the attention off myself and unto God, even here, God is simply a transcendent being to be adored.
Webber’s point is that if God is the object of worship, then worship must proceed from us. We, then, are the subject of this gathering, and in this, the true worship of God is located in me. But if God is the subject of worship, acting in this world, involved with creation, ruling over the heaven and earth, then we gather to do something else. We come to engage in what He is presently doing, God acting through Word and Spirit, song and sacrament. We come to contemplate and celebrate our present union with Him. We enter, not waiting for something to happen, planned in advance by the worship leader. We enter to continue God’s redemptive story, living out our death and resurrection. We step into His present purposes in community, proclaiming and living out the good news, offering our bodies as living sacrifices, which is our “spiritual act of worship” (Rom. 12:1-2).
It was one of my hopes to meet Webber, who was scheduled to teach a doctoral class for our program, until his illness forced him to cancel. There are a lot of things about worship I would have liked to ask. So I am guessing a bit, but in this final writing, where Webber seems to be gathering the fruit of a lifetime of teaching, he is underscoring--that while there is a “bowing down to adore Him” side of worship (proskuneo), it really isn’t worship if it is not first rooted in His story. It is not worship if it does not generate--at the same time--a participation in community—praying, healing, ministering spiritual gifts, mutually releasing the indwelling Spirit to one another, moving out in a corporate way to advance God’s kingdom and continue the work of Jesus. The early church called this leitergeo, (lit. the “work of the people”), a public works term borrowed from the culture of its day, and it too became a term for worship. This is why worship in its earliest form was called “service”. But “service” today means little more than a time of gathering. And if in that gathering, it is reduced to mere verbal response or singing, treating God as merely one who sits in heaven rather than the God who acts in this world, inviting us to get in step with Him and His story as we enter, then no matter the emotion it generated, something besides worship happened.
July 12, 2007 Permalink

Well, I just returned from Tennessee, first I went to Nashville, the country music capitol of the world, and I heard plenty. I love country music, but when it is piped into every store, elevator, shop and hotel, suffice to say I got my fill. Country music and Elvis are the focal points of Nashville. I like Elvis as well, but frankly, if I don’t see another coffee mug, calendar, shot glass, napkin holder or what ever, with his face on it for a while, I’ll do just fine. The man refuses to die.
I did go into the most famous honky-tonk called Tootsies, and I did hear some of the best guitar picking ever. One guitar player in particular, made you think he could make that guitar do just about anything he wanted it to do, while he was talking or maybe even reading a book, he new his way up and down the neck like he was born with it.

I always try when traveling to show myself extra friendly and talk with locals every chance I get. I find everyone reciprocates and loves to give their insights and interests about their home. I had many enriching conversations and felt I really got the flavor of the south. The weather was in the high eighties to low nineties and somewhat humid, not as bad as it was here last year, but it didn’t slow me down or make it too uncomfortable.
I went to Memphis after my sales work to spend a couple of days with Richard, who moved to Memphis about six months ago to work with his father and learn some mechanical skills. We spent the night in Memphis and most of that on “Beale” St.
Beale street is a three block area where all the music and food is. Lots of out door bands as well as blues clubs. BB Kings restaurant is the most well known and the music was great and the down home southern food is unmatchable. I ate so many ribs and pulled pork sandwiches, I could have sworn I felt a pig-tail developing. The Rendezvous is the most famous rib restaurant in Memphis and the décor is rustic, to understate it. It is down an alley, hidden behind big trash containers. But all the locals are quick to ask if you have eaten there and if not, give you directions.

Oddly enough, one of my favorite times there was sitting in a little park where a band was playing in the distance, and a Rib shopkeeper was firing up his BBQ’s preparing for the late night crowd. There was an older black man waiting patiently for the coals to heat up and enjoy a late night snack. The smoke worked up Richard’s appetite and so we decided to have another dinner. Ribs were six bucks for half a rack. Price was right and while waiting I struck up a conversation with this older man. He was one of four brothers, the oldest at 69. He had another brother 67, 63 and 61. The brother that was 67 lived there in Memphis not two blocks away from him. They were very close. A month ago he went to visit his brother and found him at home dead, with an apparent overdose of insulin, he was diabetic. He disguised his sorrow, but I could tell he was deeply grieved.
We sat and ate ribs and talked about his life for an hour. The weather was warm with a nice breeze coming off the Mississippi River and he talked about how he used to sell cotton candy and candy apples on Beale St. as well as at the county fairs. After our bellies were full and the night was getting late I stood up to leave and told him how nice it was to talk with him and offered him a hand shake. When I loosened my grasp and began to withdraw my hand, he took it again and squeezed it as he looked into my eyes and I suspect inwardly said “thank you, this is just how I spent my evenings with my brother”.
Funny how a little kindness makes a difference.

I think I could live in Memphis, it is warm ten months of the year and the pace is far slower there. Miles of rolling hills with lush deciduous forests; and I’ve always been a sucker for a southern drawl.

I decided not to go to Graceland, but on my last night there while looking for a hamburger stand I drove in front of Graceland. I have seen pictures of Graceland hundreds of times and I had a strange almost haunting spell come over me. Kind of felt a sense of kinship with Elvis at that moment as I overlooked his little piece of heaven on earth. I spent many hours as a boy listening to his music and pouring over pictures of this explosive entertainer.
Kind of had to be there.

Gainsborough Hat

Okay, I admitt it, I'm a bit of a romantic.

I like poetry that paints a vivid picture.

The following poem by my favorite author,

does just that, he paints a picture of a delicate

1890's lady in a way that captures me. Maybe it will you as well....

A Discouraging Model

Just the airest, faireist slip of a
thing,
With a Gainsborough hat, like a butterfly’s
wing,
Tilted up at one side with the juantiest
air,
And a knot of red roses sewn in under
there
Where the shadows are lost in her
hair.
Then a cameo face, carven in on a
ground
Of that shadowy hair where the roses
are wound;
And the gleam of a smile, O as fair
and as faint
And as sweet as the masters of old used
to paint
Round the lips of their favorite
Saint!

And that lace at her throat—and the
fluttering hands
Snowing there, with a grace that no
art understands,
The flakes of their touches-fist flut-
tering at
The bow- then the roses – the hair—
And then that
Little tilt of the Gainsborough hat.

Ah, what artist on earth with a model
like this,
Holding not on his palette the tint of
a kiss,
Nor a pigment to hint of the hue of
her hair
Nor the gold of her smile – O what
artist could dare
To expect a result half so fair?
James Whitcomb Riley

There are so many lines in this that I like, especially how he plucks out of nowhere the line about the masters painting as though it were the lips of their favorite saint.

This is the first picture of Ginger Blauer smiling!
I'm happy to be the person that is in that picture.
Ain't she a daisy!
You would be more impressed if you knew how long she was crying before this picture, but I guess being with Grandpa soothed her nerves.
Maybe......

Two green eyes shone

My son Marc reads to his children every night. We all know that it is a valuable part of child rearing; it helps children become creative, imaginative, more successful in school, and more importantly, it builds child-parent bonds.
I ran across a simple little story the other day, and if you have young children, it is one you can add to your collection.

A Story For A Child

Little one, come to my knee;
Hark, how the rain is pouring
Over the roof, in the pitch-black night,
And the winds in the woods a-roaring.

Hush my daring and listen,
Then pay for the story with kisses;
Father was lost in the pith-black night,
In just such a storm as this is.

High up on the lonely mountains,
Where the wild men watched and waited;
Wolves in the forest, and bears in the bush,
And I on my path belated.

The rain and the night together
Came down, and the wind came after,
Bending the props of the pine-tree roof
And snapping many a rafter.

I crept along in the darkness,
Stunned and bruised and blinded-
Crept to a fir with thick-set boughs,
And sheltering rock behind it.

There from the blowing and raining
Crouching, I sought to hide me;
Something rustled, two green eyes shone,
And a wolf lay down beside me.

Little one, be not frightened;
I and the wolf together,
Side by side, through the long, long night,
Hid from the awful weather.

His wet fur pressed against me;
Each of us warmed the other;
Each of us felt, in the stormy dark,
That beast and man were brother.

And when the falling forest
No longer crashed in warning,
Each of us went from our hiding-place
Forth in the wild, wet morning.

Darling, kiss me payment!
Hark, how the wind is roaring!
Father's house is a better place
When the stormy rain is pouring.

I think the story teller is quite good, the way the scene is set, the details paint the blustery night so clearly; of course this story would be best suited for a cold rainy night.
For younger children, the story can be abbreviated or embellished. We read this to Dre'Sean the other day and later I asked if he could tell it to his older sister and I was surprised to hear him recall it so accurately.

Tend the vestal fire...

I listen to Dr. Laura for about two hours a week and have for years. Yes she's opinionated, blunt, to understate it, a bit harsh at times, but for the most part I agree with her. She has a book out called "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands", and I thought how much her advice is like that of Thomas Watson, a 17th century Puritan.

Here he discourses on avoiding adultery--
" To avoid fornication and adultery, let every man have a chaste, entire love to his own wife. Ezekiel's wife was the desire of his eyes. Chap. 24:16.
When Solomon had dissuaded from strange women, he prescribed a remedy against it. " Rejoice with the wife of thy youth."
It is not in having a wife, but loving a wife, that makes a man live chastely. He who loves his wife, whom Solomon calls his fountain, will not go abroad to drink of muddy, poisoned waters.
Pure conjugal love is a gift of God, and comes from heaven; but, like the vestal fire, it must be cherished, that it go not out. He who loves not his wife, is the likeliest person to embrace the bosom of a stranger."

Termite's belly

What came first the chicken or the egg? This of course has baffled evolutionists for ever. But what about the termite? I was listening to a radio program with a creationist scientist and he was explaining the complicated digestive system of the termite. You see, termites eat wood, right? Right, but they cannot digest wood.
In order to do this they require a tiny little bug, actually a protozoan, to live in its belly. This protozoan does something to the termite that allows the termite to produce the enzyme needed to digest wood. Problem is, the protozoan has no way of moving, no hands or feet, flippers, tail or fins, and without those it would soon die and never find a mate to breed with. So, along comes another even tinier bug that lives on the protozoa’s back. And wouldn’t you know, the hitching bug happens to have little flippers that he uses to propel the protozoan, which allows him to find food and a girl friend. There you have it, three critters living in a symbiotic relationship. So the question about the egg seems simple compared to the three bugs.

Manifestations

So on Saturday I went to a friends 50th birthday party at their church. So I was surrounded by Assemblemites. Yeek! I spent most of my time talking with two old friends. It was a pretty spiritual conversation, all about the anointing, and it came across to me as though that was the measuring stick of all of Christendom. It was perplexing to me because in the Baptist church there is no moving of the Holy Spirit in the same way there is at times in the Pentecostal church. The Baptist church is far less mystical, but far more practical. Hard to define, but for example, nearly thirty percent of our members have been on the mission field, and we are very involved in missions, locally and worldwide. We are rich in good works and practical expressions of God's love. But, without the anointing, or as some would say, "Hooplah".
As for myself, I fall somewhere in the middle, I love sensing God's presence, and in charismatic churches it is pursued and the stage is set in a way for God to move in the mystical dimension. That is not done in my church. I miss that to some degree but I do pursue Him in my prayer closet and He is faithful to bless. I also don't think about it much in church, I focus on Christ and sense his presence but not in the way I sometimes do in charismatic churches. The trade off for me is this-- in the Baptist church the focus is on ministry, and being missions minded there comes an anointing that is longer lasting, in fact it is like being hooked up to a slow drip I.V. Not the dramatic highs but a warm sense of His presence that continues while putting others first in thought or deed. When I first began going to the Baptist church I was amazed at how different they were in that direction. It was as if I had never heard about the lost and the oppressed by comparison.
So much of what our sermons are and our activities are directed at, is outreach. It is a very determined, organized, corporate commitment. I wish the best of both could be in the church but it is not. So, I have to choose and I have chosen. In some ways it is almost as if the charismatics are somewhat self centered. They gather to get a blessing, blessings I love, blessings I think are wonderful, but if they become the purpose, it rings hollow to me. That is the part I find perplexing, I'm not clear on what the Lord thinks about that. Certainly seeking his face and blessing is a good thing, but in conversations the other night, when I talked about Eric and what he is doing and Matt and what he has been involved in, they asked no questions, made no comments, but just listened, and then it seemed like the first opportunity they found, , they changed the conversation to the anointing. It made me feel somewhat unappreciated and a tiny bit hurt,
So I just listened to them talk about the powerful way God was working through manifestations. Hmmmm, I thought God was manifesting himself in Burma, as well as the International Justice Mission (the organization that is busting traffickers of pre-teen girls for prostitution that Matt was involved in) as well Eric's urban church in Spokane? What do I know. There is no warm and fuzzys, so it must be something else. Forgive my sarcasm.

I'm not done with this, I think I'll go with one of them to visit his church where God is working in "Powerful" ways. I need to resolve something and I don't think I can do it without going; We'll see.

The Clear Voice

I believe that God is the author of sympathy, and he instills it in the heart of man to be acted upon. It is one, very clear, expression of his universal love, to move the hearts of men to action.
When we experience the emotion of sympathy we should look and listen very carefully to what is occurring and determine our “love action plan”. Each visit of sympathy is a clear voice of God and comes with purpose. We are taught so little about hearing and understanding the voice of God, sometimes we hyper-spiritualize it and lose simple practical demonstrations.
Sympathy is a living demonstration of God’s love and when acted upon, His living Spirit voice, grows and sensitizes us to hear at a distance.
The simple and most evident graces are sometimes completely overlooked in search of mysteries.

Take Life Like a Man

"In nothing is childhood more strongly distinguished from manhood than in this, that the child has no purpose, no plan of life, no will by which his energies are directed. He lives, in a great measure, to enjoy the passing scene, and to find his happiness in those agreeable consciousnesses which from hour to hour come to him by chance. If his life is governed by a plan, a purpose, it is the purpose of another -- not his own.

The man has his own purpose, his own plan, his own life and aim. The sorrowful experience of multitudes in this respect is that they are never men, but children all their days.

Take life like a man. Take it just as though it was -- as it is -- an earnest, vital, essential affair.

Take it just as though you personally were born to the task of performing a merry part of it-- as though the world had waited for your coming. Take it as though it was a grand opportunity to do and to achieve, to carry forward great and good schemes........" The Royal Path of Life

The lines that stuck out the most in this is --"Take it just as though you personally were born to the task, as though the world had waited for your coming...." As a Christian I believe God designed each of us for a unique end. In fact the world really has waited for that special thing we can do like no other.

In the symbolic picture, the woman illustrates the virtues of protection, nurture, teaching, and support.

Ivory and Eagle's Down

"We make a great ado about our hardships, but how little we talk of our blessings. Health of body, which is given in largest quantity to those who have never been petted, and fondled, and spoiled by fortune, we take as a matter of course. Rather have this luxury and have it alone, than without it, look out of a palace window upon parks of deer stalking between fountains and statuary. These people sleep sounder on a straw mattress than fashionable invalids on a couch of ivory and eagle's down. The dinner of herbs tastes better to the appetite sharpened on a woodman's axe or a reaper's scythe than wealthy indigestion experiences seated at a table covered with partridge, and venison, and pineapple.

The grandest luxury God ever gave a man is health."

"The dead body of Abel lies across Adam's lap in the same manner as Christ is often depicted lying across Mary’s (such as in Michaelangelo’s Pieta). Adam clutches his heart out of grief fearing it will break and Eve kneels by his side crying uncontrollably, her face buried in her hands. The image is truly heart wrenching, causing the viewer to feel a great sense of compassion for the grieving couple. Bouguereau can capture the look of death with almost frightening directness. He was no stranger to death or to grief. He had five sons, four of whom died before him. First Mourning was painted directly after the death of his second son. This piece is well titled as The First Mourning because it is the first time a human has had to suffer the loss of a loved one. The grief is only magnified by the fact that their son did not just die, but was murdered by their other son Cain, making this also the first act of murder. Cain then fled, leaving Adam and Eve once again alone. Bougureau also cleverly used a play on words in titling this work, because not only are Adam and Eve mourning, but dawn approaches. It is the first 'morning' after the death of Abel. The paining has the same theme as the sculpture First Mourning by Barrias which is located at the Petits Palais in Paris. Bouguereau and Barrias lived and worked during the same period, and both these works were masterpieces that helped to define their creators."-- by Kara Ross

Pondering

I was reading a poem called Fireside Musings by Ada A. Chaffee, and there was a stanza or two that I especially liked ---

"Roving thought! oh, whither, wither
In thy musings dost thou speed?
To some brother weary, toiling,
That perhaps of aid has need?
Seeking out the spirit wand'ring?
Culling tares from golden grain?
Pondering on Christ's example,
That this life be not in vain?

Child of earth! say, art thou weaving
In the tangled web of life
Something more than tender fancies--
Strength to brave the coming strife?"

When I first read this I thought of young people growing up today, and they are usually encouraged to learn skills that will be marketable and earn them a good living. Little is said about using these skills to serve mankind, much less the Savior. Life is a tangled web for nearly everyone in this culture, but seeking "tender fancies" to self serve will not prepare us for life's promised strife; but rather, we should be like the man in the picture, listening to the guidence from above

The Lord is faithful to meet us when we are despondent or in a time of mourning. It is a foretaste of glory. Oh that we would have more of this glory as is well said in the following quote;

"Oh, yes massa, I feel berry lonesome since my Ellen died, but den de Lord comes round ebery day and gibs me a taste ob de kingdom, jus' as a nus would wid de spoon; but, oh, how I wants to get holds ob de whole dish!"

I luve you

This picture was hand drawn with love by my grandson Micah. When I visited Spokane a few weeks ago, we spent the evening talking with all the family. We talked about grades, girls, videos in production, musical talents, acting aspirations, and a host of other things. Somehow the youngest child can sometimes be left out, especially if you are seven. Micah is seven; and while I was doting on all the older kids achievements, Micah was busy drawing me a picture with little hands of love. No fanfare, no accolades, and really no attention, he folded it up, and on the outside wrote, "To Pope Frad and gramdma, to you to, frum Micah, luv bug. and under a sketch he wrote "tuday I didd this".
Then he put it on the desk and at some point said he drew a picture for me. In the rush of things I glanced at it, thanked him, and then put it in my coat pocket. About two weeks later, I put on the coat and in the pocket found the folded picture in my pocket. I opened it up and realized it was a budding artists full page work with I love you on it.
Buried treasure, right there in my coat pocket. Thank you Micah, and I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuv you too!

Young Love

This piece is written for my teen grandchildren--


Falling In Love

Young love; it is a powerful, emotional, almost drug-like experience. There is no wonder why it takes so many young people captive. I read an article where a young woman spoke of her infatuation for a teacher; I’ll include it because she does a far better job of explaining young love than I can.

“I had never felt anything like it before. I could not get Mr. McArthur out of my mind. I was anxious; I gnawed at the lining of my cheek until I tasted the tang of blood. School became at once terrifying and exhilarating. Would I see him in the hallway? In the cafeteria? I hoped.
But when my wishes were granted, and I got a glimpse of my man, it satisfied nothing; it only inflamed me all the more. Had he looked at me? Why had he not looked at me? When would I see him again?
At home I looked him up in the phone book; I rang him, this in a time before caller ID. He answered……”

Of course it did not realize itself, and sadly, young love never ends up with a happy ending. But the emotions are real, powerful, and literally are, a natural chemically produced high. Our brain opens up the door to serotonin and dopamine, truly a ‘love potion’ that creates intense energy, exhilaration, focused attention, and motivation. It is why, when you are newly in love, you can stay up all night, watch the sun rise, run a race, ski fast down a slope ordinarily too steep for your skill.
Love makes you bold, makes you bright, makes you run real risks, which sometimes you survive, and sometimes you don’t.
Because it is so intense, you want it to last forever, you tell your lover it will last forever, eternally; “I’d do anything for you” is said in complete honesty.
But, “scientists are discovering that the cocktail of brain chemicals that sparks romance is totally different from the blend that fosters long-term attachment.”

And, forever is a very long time for a teen.

The airways are filled with songs of broken hearts. They sell millions of albums because millions of people relate and nurse their broken dreams in the flood of music. I was listening to a couple of old Mariah Carey songs that speak too many of the issues of young love. The first song is called “If It’s Over”.

If It’s over

Wont you talk to me
This is so out of hand
Something’s gone wrong
With the life that we planned

Won’t you look at me
You’re avoiding my gaze
And it seems like you’ve changed
In so many ways

It isn’t fair
It isn’t right
If it’s really gone
Then tell me tonight
If its over
If it’s over
Let me go

Won’t you speak to me
I’m just here holding on
‘Cause baby I really don’t need to wait around
If the feelings is gone

I don’t need no apologies
‘I’m not looking for no sympathy
All I’m asking for
Is for your honesty
Won’t you give it to me
Give it to me now
It isn’t fair
It just isn’t right
‘Cause if it’s really gone
You’ve got to say the word tonight
If it’s over
If it’s over
Baby if it’s over Won’t you let me know
Baby if it’s over
Over- let me go

This is such an emotionally charged song, “what has gone wrong?”
She begins with “won’t you talk to me”, such a familiar chord that has echoed in many a heart. The truth is young people are not experienced at speaking their heart, or truly knowing their heart. It is nearly impossible for a young man to face her question when the fickle passions begin to change and the young man has no understanding why, and if he did he would have no ability to express them.

The next line is “This is so out of hand”, this is the normal course of young love, it is not restrained, nor understood, emotions rule the relationship, the blood runs hot, then cold, then hot again and at warp speed. Conversation flows for hours then comes to a halt, becomes forced and insincere. Then a day later all is fine.
Truly- “out of hand”.

The next line is “something’s gone wrong with the life that we planned.”
Young love makes many plans, dreams, covenants that it is not equipped to follow through with. Because the passions are so deep, and the feelings so strong, it seems as though it will last forever and future plans are made when present emotions change.

The next line says
“Won’t you look at me
You’re avoiding my gaze.”
The feelings of ‘why’, are so prevalent. In most cases the intention was not to hurt the other, but the young emotions are so fleeting, changeable, like the weather, what once seemed all important one day, the next day he awakens with a change of heart that he can’t understand and finds it nearly impossible to face, so he “avoids her gaze.”

The chorus states—

It isn’t fair
It isn’t right
If it’s really gone
Then tell me tonight
If its over
If it’s over
Let me go

And it isn’t fair or right, but the feelings of love and infatuation begin to fade without notice or incident and then rise again and the young man is in a state of complete uncertainty. If he lets her go, will he wish he hadn’t?, if he stays, will this diminishing state overtake him completely and end up hating her. Of course the answer is, it will die, and that is the fate of young love.

In the next lines she is pleading for him to make things clear so she can make some kind of rational decision. She wants permanence, but if that can’t be, then at least give her honesty, either love her or cut it off now, the not knowing is unendurable.
The balance of the song is this pleading to know where she stands but sadly he is in a state of confusion and drags the inevitable on and on.

On the same album there is another song that continues other aspects of the same love drama.
“And you don’t remember”, is her question; but it isn’t a matter of memory, sadly when young dreams shatter so easily. It is a tragedy and her description of how her memories confine her head, is such an honest and realistic description of how we become obsessed with thoughts of love, and when it changes, for no logical reason, it is bitter. That is why rarely friendship remains after love.

Love requires trust and when we trust and feel like the person is trustworthy we open up our soul and often in our culture, our bodies. She said she believed his lies, and often they are simply a web of lies but more often there is a strong physical attraction and it may seem and feel deeper, so flattering words and loving actions come easy. It may very well feel like it is an eternal love, or certainly one that will last for a very long time. Affection, trust, needing each other causes a very deep bond. But, the reality is, these feelings can change overnight, and again, not intentionally, it has been said this way in an article on young love—

“Why doesn’t passionate love last? How is it possible to see a person as beautiful on Monday, and 364 days later, on another Monday, to see that beauty as bland? Surely the object of your affection could not have changed that much. She still has the same shaped eyes. Her voice has always had that husky sound, but now it grates on you – she sounds like she needs an antibiotic. Or maybe you’re the one who needs an antibiotic, because the partner you once loved and cherished and saw as though saturated with starlight, now feels more like a low-level infection, tiring you, sapping all your strength.”

Here are the entire lyrics to the song---


And You Don’t Remember

Shattered dreams
Cut through my mind
Tragically our love has died
Memories confine my head
Bitterly I face the end

Trustingly
I gave myself to you
I let you inside
Believing your lives
And you don’t remember
Every time you told me
You were mine forever
For eternity
And you don’t remember
How you used to hold me
How we melt together
How you needed me
How we used to be in love

Stranded here
In nothingness
With only tears
And loneliness

Foolishly
I gave my soul to you
I let you inside
Believing your lies

Helplessly
I fell so deep
I was naive
To let you in
Why did I let you in
To my heart
And you don’t remember
anything you told me
you were mine forever
for eternity
I know you don’t remember
How you used to hold me
How we’d melt together
Together
How you needed me
How we used to be
In love.

I remember all the feelings she sings about -- feeling foolish, helpless, drenched in broken dreams, feeling naïve, believing lies, stranded in nothingness.

One kiss is too many, a thousand is not enough.
During our teen years our brain is still developing, and the last to form is the part that is able to assess risks.

So, I wrote this piece so you may be informed, make wise choices, and wait for the season when something as powerful as romantic love will have a realistic and wonderful outcome. Falling in love at the right time of life is God’s design and plan for most of us, and it is good, very good. But, like many of God’s blessings, we can take them at the wrong time of life, or the wrong place or with the wrong person and turn what was meant to be a blessing and corrupt it and make it a curse.

As I called on God this morning being led by my thoughts and promptings, to pray for the families of Virginia Tech, I found myself asking what to pray, and the thought came to me that in God’s great mercy, even the unbeliever has a hope.
God has carefully designed us that when great loss falls on us, he has knitted us with such care that we will recover. We will not grieve forever, though the grieving pierces us to the marrow, tears are food for who knows how long, and I have known some great sorrows, which lie embedded deep within, and no doubt will be with me till the end. That being said, as the parents and grandparents with siblings and children of the lost, awaken this day, maybe the first day that the numbness of the tragedy begins to lift, and the full view of the loss becomes more apparent, the halls and rooms are now empty; no more silly laughter, no more pouts and fits, silence fill their rooms, no more bed left unmade, no more music peculiar to the loved one, no more evening talks or brief chats. It is a season of deepest anguish for the bereaved and but for the mercies of God, life would cease to have meaning.
But there is an abiding friend whose shoulder they can weep on, a sibling who comforts without words, a spouse to stare into nothingness with. Family and friends, though they cannot begin to stop the pain, they make it endurable and give some sliver of hope and comfort to go on.
Many of the victims were young men, cut down in the prime of their life. Stories about each young man are posted on the net by friends that want to share how valuable they were; and are. Young men of vision, dreams and purpose, and I doubt there is one I would not have rejoiced to have known. Young women too, full of sass, brimming with enthusiasm for life and its adventures, goals ahead, unlimited faith and hope.
I can hear the halls and homes where they trod, a riot of emotion, passions and fun.
There were fathers and mothers lost; young men and old forever stilled by this senseless action. Some were Christians and some were not. The families of both will be loved and encouraged by local congregations, no question, those that cling to Christ in there desperation will have the resources of heaven, the comfort of Angels, the presence of God to strengthen, and other believers rushing to help carry the burden, and the prayers of saints from the world over to aid all those that grieve.
Let me do my part.

Four ears

Paul exhorts, “Try all things, and retain that which is good.”
From every sect and community of Christians take any thing that is good, that advances holy religion and the divine honor. For one hath a better government, a second a better confession, a third hath excellent spiritual arts for the conduct of souls, a fourth hath fewer errors; and by what instrument soever a holy life is advantaged, use that, though thou grindest thy spears and arrows at the forges of the Philistines; knowing thou hast no master but Christ, no religion but the Christian, no rule but the scriptures, and the laws, and right reason; other things that are helps are to be used accordingly.
Be wise in choosing our company, reserved and wary in our friendships, and unreserved in our charity; that we never do a thing we know we must repent of; that we do not admire too many things, nor any thing too much.
And according to the proverb, always listen to him who, “hath four ears, - reason, religion, wisdom, and experience;”
to stop the beginnings of evil, to pardon and not to observe all the faults of friends or enemies; of evils to choose the least, and of goods to choose the greatest, if it be also safest;

ever to be thankful for benefits, and profitable to others, and useful in all that we can.
If we observe these things, we shall do advantage to ourselves and to the religion; and avoid those evils which fools and unwary people suffer for nothing, dying or bleeding without cause and without pity.

In the aftermath of Virginia Tech, I found myself asking, ‘what can be done in our society to prevent a tragedy like this?’ and then in my reading I came across the following passage and in light of the massacre and my overall palsied prayer life, I lowered my head in shame.

“Often we come to God because it is civil to do so, and a general custom, but neither drawn thither by love, nor pinched by spiritual necessities and piercing apprehensions; we say so many prayers because we are resolved so to do, and we pass through them sometimes with little attention, sometimes with none at all; and can we think that the grace of chastity can be obtained at such a purchase? Can we expect that our sins should be washed away by a lazy prayer? Can an indifferent prayer quench the flames of hell, or rescue us from eternal sorrow? Is lust so soon overcome that the very naming of it can master it? Is the devil so slight and easy an enemy that he will fly from us at the first word spoken without power or vehemence? Read and attend to the prayers of the saints.
“I cried day and night before thee, O Lord;” “my soul refused comfort;” “my throat is dry with calling upon my God,” “my knees are weak through fasting;” and, “I will not let thee go until thou hast blessed me,” said Jacob to the angel.
Now we know every prayer we make is considered by God and recorded in heaven; but cold prayers are not put into the account in order to effect and acceptation, but are laid aside like the buds of roses which a cold wind hath nipped into death.” Jeremy Taylor

After reading this I asked myself, 'do I think the saving grace for our country can be obtained with prayers such as mine'? 'Can I expect that the sins of America will be lessened by my lazy prayers'? 'Can my indifferent prayers send a protective covering over our land or my home'? 'Will the lustful morality of our culture be deterred by my infrequent requests'? Will the families of Virginia Tech be comforted by my prayers? Or yours?

Virginia Tech................. There are no words.

Condemned to the couch

I have run across this picture a number of times over the years and it always impacts me. The boy has two paths, the picture shows the results of both. We reap what we sow and this is a graphic way of illustrating it. It reminds me of the following piece I read years ago and now at sixty, and paying for the follies of the past, it has a bitter sting.

Health is, indeed so necessary to all the duties as well as pleasures of life, that the crime of squandering it is equal to the folly; and he that for a short gratification brings weakness and diseases upon himself, and for the pleasure of a few years passed in the tumults of diversion and clamors of merriment, condemns the maturer and more experienced part of his life to the chamber and the couch, may be justly reproached, not only as a spendthrift of his happiness, but as a robber of the public; as a wretch that has voluntarily disqualified himself for the business of his station, and refused that part which providence assigns him in the general task of human nature.

Blood Diamond

I watched "Blood Diamond" last night.
It is a true story about the work a journalist did in South Africa, that brought an end to the horrific warring, slavery and use of children for soldiers. It is like watching the "R" rated version of "Invisible Children". It is nearly as violent as real life; it is disturbing, it is heart wrenching, it is
inspiring.
Jennifer Connelly, 'be still my heart', plays the journalist, the person who "gives a ___" as she puts it in the film. Leonardo Di Caprio plays the diamond smuggler and DJimon Hounsou plays the victim fighting for his family. The acting is great. Leonardo is excellent, really they all are.
Once again the power and influence of the journalist's camera brings the images that personalize remote situations. Without it, one wonders if change would ever come.
The movie is intense, graphic and disturbing; it shows the horrors of real life, and like real life, will shock you. I think they did a great job resisting the temptation to bring in typical Hollyweird sexuality, it seems to be a serious effort to shed light on a story that needs to be told. Many humanitarian organizations endorsed the film. It's rated R for violence and language and I think it would be too disturbing for children under 18, even in today's culture.

"Live a life of love"

Art, I so love art. If it is something that my eye considers beautiful it immediately begins a thought process; what is the artist trying to convey, what are the feelings I’m experiencing? What story or person do I project into the picture?
God, through this life, has made me sensitive to those in distress or sorrow. So a theme that portrays sorrow immediately gains my full attention. If it is a Christian or religious theme, I again am drawn to it. If it is a sculpture of beauty or great detail it draws me even deeper.
This picture brings so many thoughts to mind. For me Christianity is most nobly illustrated when compassion and faith are portrayed. I ran across a scripture in Hebrews in the hall of faith, chapter11:35 it says “Through faith, women received back their dead, raised to life again”. God has graced all mankind with a fervent, devotion to those we love; whether family member, friend or at times stranger.
It has been demonstrated by the pure love of a mother, to heroes of faith and compassion throughout history.
I see in this woman tenderness, with her face intimately close to the sufferer; who could represent Florence Nightingale and the many wounded and dying soldiers that were graced by her caring cheek and soft assuring voice of love.
It could be the mother whose child is being nursed with love, faith, and hope of a resurrection to health, or a bidding farewell to a greater resurrection.
I see Mother Teresa, and her inspired love, ministering as though this were Christ in her arms.
Innocence, (holiness in its grandest form), compassion and acts of mercy make up the most important part of Christianity to me, let all the rest be forgotten, if this is lived, God will be glorified and ever sought after.
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love……
Ephesians 5:1

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine

After seeing a picture of Mother Teresa on Eric's blog I pulled out one of my books on her and began leafing through the pages, when I ran across this picture I had to share it. It epitomizes the gospel according to Mother Teresa. Small acts with great love and always show the joy of the Lord.
This is the kind of face that opens locked doors and breaks down strong barriers.
Does she not do your soul good like a medicine?

How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's daughter! Song of Solomon 7:1

Would that my feet be as worn from kneeling in prayer and walking after souls as the Saint of Calcutta.

Fire in the blood

“If we would discover the essential characteristic of the young, let us remember that’s the youth (teen), is he who has suddenly come into possession of prodigious and unexpected energies. Not slowly do these powers develop within us; they come, rather, as Minerva is fabled to have sprung from the head of Jupiter, fully grown and fully equipped. They are forced upon us long before we have gained any adequate idea of that outer world to which they must be adjusted; and for the time being they seem to defy restraint. It would be strange indeed if this sudden development did not give rise to faults and follies, as well as to noble ambitions and generous enthusiasms.
It is in this way that we must explain the restlessness, impatience, and irritability, which form so common a characteristic of these young lives of ours.
We have more spring in the muscles and more fire in the blood than we know what to do with. From fifteen to twenty-one the powers expand with lightning rapidity.” Beaten Paths

I have always loved this piece, it is so observable, so common to all. I think when God designed us he gave us this power to use to establish our foundations for life. The amount of learning, and the amount of labor needed to educate and begin a career is so great that we need these, never again to be experienced, energies. The caution that necessarily goes with it is, if not used to advance and develop ourselves for the future, this energy will be spent, and if not for good, then for ill, and ill in magnum force.

Slobbering puppy-dogs

“There are as many kinds of voices as there are of men. There are voices that delight you with their rich cadences, and voices that distress you with their thin and reedy notes. There are voices that arouse, voices that give you the fidgets, and voices that put you to sleep. There are voices that salute the ears like the growl of a wild beast, and voices that seem to smite you in some sensitive part, provoking instant hostility. Speaking generally, the voice is a most valuable index to the character. Peevish individuals lapse into a habitual whine; nervous people speak with a succession of small electric discharges; while the boor grunts with the labor of expressing his thought. You recognize the clergyman the moment he begins to speak, for his voice carries with it a suggestion of congregations and solemn ceremonies; but if you hear prim and positive tones that lay down the law, as it were, there is a school-teacher. An honest man’s voice has a ring about it like that of pure metal, while the hypocrite’s tones are as smooth and slippery as the road to hell. You can tell by a man’s voice whether it is safe to fool with him or not; for there are some voices that come slobbering over you like a lot of puppy-dogs wagging their tails, and there are others whose every tone implies,
“Business – and don’t you forget it!” Beaten Paths

Now although this piece isn't precise science, it is interesting and how many people does it bring to mind? And, where do you fit in?

Francois de Salignac de la Mothe Fenelon

If you have never read Fenelon, you are missing great words of an honest friend. He was the Archbishop of Cambria, France, as well as a spiritual advisor of a number of earnest people seeking Fenelon's wise direction. Always encouraging them to press on towards the goal of Christian perfection. Truly a spiritual giant, his works should be read in a slow meditative manner. Many of his letters have been preserved and his candid, warm, advice is a must for Christians of our day. Here's a sample---

"It has been a long time since I've written to you, but let me assure you that I am just as attached to you through our Lord as I ever was. In fact, I am more attached now. And I want with all my heart for you to have that same peace and joy in your home which you enjoyed at the beginning. It should be remembered that even the best of people leave much to be desired, and we must not expect too much. We need to be very patient with the faults of others. The most perfect people in the world have many imperfections, and so do we. And sometimes it is quite difficult for us to tolerate each other. We are to "bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ", and I think this means, among other things, that we are to bear the burden of each others imperfections. Peaceful and harmonious relationships can be helped a great deal if people just learn to be quiet, to be prayerful, and to keep surrendered to the Lord."

It's a celebration

I'd like to introduce the proud arrival of my thirteenth grandchild Ginger! She made herself visible last Sunday at about 10:30 in the morning. She weighed in at a strapping 6lbs 4 ounces. My son Marc and his wife Angie are the proud parents of their third child. That makes two girls and one boy in their quiver.

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith, be men of courage, be strong.
Do everything in love."

Promises of faith a dream?

I read a sermon by John Baptist Massillon this morning. I have never read him and thought I’d see what he had to say about “The Small Number of the Saved”.
A verse that always sobers any Christian. The context is about hating the world, the flesh, and the devil. I think I will begin this passage with the end of it, where he poses a very sobering question that were we to carefully consider may make us blush, or worse. Here goes---

“And, should it happen, that you alone were left upon the earth, may we not say that the corrupt world would be revived in you; and that you would leave an exact model of it to your posterity? When I say you, I mean, and I address myself to almost all men.”

The way I reflected on it was to consider that the world had a clean slate, and the only corruption that would influence it would come from me. How Holy a place would it be?
I shudder to think.
On with the balance of the thought---

"We are told that we are to hate “the world, the flesh, and the devil.”
Now, what is this world which you ought to hate? I have only to answer that it it’s the one you love. You will never mistake it by this mark.
This world is a society of sinners, whose desires, fears hopes cares projects, joys, and chagrins, no longer turn but upon the successes or misfortunes of this life.
This world is an assemblage of people who look upon the earth as their country; the time to come as an exilement; the promises of faith as a dream; and death as the greatest of all misfortunes. This world is a temporal kingdom, where our Savior is unknown; where those acquainted with His name, glorify Him not as their Lord, hate His maxims, despise His followers, and neglect or insult Him in His sacraments and worship. In a word, to give a proper idea at once of this world, it is the vast multitude. Behold the world which you ought to shun, hate, and war against by your example.
Now, is this your situation in regard to the world? Are its pleasures a fatigue to you? Do it excesses afflict you? Do you regret the length of your pilgrimage here? Or on the contrary, are not its laws your laws; its maxims your maxims? What it condemns, do you not condemn? What it approves do you not approve?

And, should it happen, that you alone were left upon the earth, may we not say that the corrupt world would be revived in you; and that you would leave an exact model of it to your posterity? When I say you, I mean, and I address myself to almost all men.”

“Pass over the earth,” said Plutarch, “you may discover cities without walls, without literature, without monarchs, without palaces or wealth, where the theater and the school are not known; but no man ever saw a city without temples and gods, where prayers, oaths, and oracles, and sacrifices were not used for obtaining good or averting evil.”

I came across this picture of a cemetery statue the other day and I just love it. I'm not sure if it is a male or a female, and even harder for me is to describe the look on the face. One moment I see the angel as a defender warding off workers of iniquity with a stare; then again, I see a look of disappointment in her eyes, not disgust but a careful watching, hoping the guarded one makes the right choice, like a mother watching over her child facing temptations. What ever the intention of the artist was, it displays power and confidence, no fear in those eyes.

Somehow I feel better knowing shes out there.

An embrace and kiss

A Russian princess of great beauty, in company with her father and a young French marquis, visited a celebrated Swiss doctor of the eighteenth century, Michael Scuppack, when the French marquis began to pass one of his jokes upon the long white beard of one of the doctor's neighbors who was present. He offered to bet twelve gold pieces that no lady present would dare to kiss the dirty old fellow. The Russian princess ordered her attendant to bring a plate, and she deposited twelve gold pieces and sent it to the French marquis, who was too polite to decline his bet. The fair Russian then approached the old peasant, saying, "Permit me, venerable father, to salute you after the manner of my country," and embracing him, gave him a kiss. She then presented him the gold, which was on the plate, saying, " Take this as a remembrance of me, and as a sign that the Russian girls think it their duty to honor old age."
Well Springs of Truth" 1883

Each time I read this story I get a lump in my throat. When someone with position acts with humility and respect it somehow moves me; and when the weak, poor or elderly are respected it it floods me with admiration.

With or Among

Says Charles Wagner:
“Each person’s base of operations is the field of his immediate duty. Neglect this and all that you undertake at a distance is compromised. First, then, be of your own country, your own city, your own home, and work shop, and church,--
Then if you can set out from this go beyond, this is the plain and natural order.”
To save humanity one must live with it and feel for it at first hand.

Never elated when one man’s oppressed;
Never dejected while another’s blessed.

That reminds me of another quote in the same book, “Inspired words for the inspired life”, which says, “It is not in trying to be good to people so much as being good with or among them that this world is to be saved.”

I think these thoughts embody much of what I think is missing in some Christian understanding of evangelism or ministry in general. I am convinced that if ministry is not intensely personal that it lacks a dimension of power that is crucial for the same results. Of course that power is love and when we are personally involved by being “with or among” our words are received with a far more open heart. I wonder if much is done among Christ’s kingdom at all without these ingredients. I know it is not “Way of the Master” thinking, but it is my thinking, and apparently others as well.

"It is better to be in the house of the mourning...."

I’m writing this a little late but the week has been a flurry and this is the first opportunity with some peace and quite I’ve had to put down the events and my thoughts.
Sue’s brother Jerry has been battling colon cancer for over a year and in this last year there have been hopeful times and set-backs. I’m not sure he was entirely candid with us about his condition as not to over worry us.
In the last few months he has become increasingly ill and as of Monday early morning he lost the battle. It was a difficult thing to watch, as this six foot four man of 250 pounds, shrunk down to a frail one hundred pounds, jaundice, weak and finally succumb. As difficult as this has been to watch for me, I’m sure his mother was affected the most and of course his daughter and two grandchildren, as well as his two sisters and brother, there is a bitter sweet aspect to it; I watched as old friends learned of his condition and they visited him, offered help and in many cases brought thoughtful things for his comfort. It was heartening and l couldn’t help wonder if the same would happen if I were in his position.
His mother, Lois, prayed, worried, talked to doctors, and continually looked for some option that would offer the least bit of hope. His daughter was at his beck and call offering support wherever needed. And all of his siblings rallied around him with such a display of love and affection, as well as care, that it made one proud to be a part of such a family. Of course I saw closely all that Sue did. I suppose if there is a silver lining in having a disease that doesn’t take you suddenly it is that if offers opportunity to demonstrate your love to the dying person. Sue spent the night with him nearly each night at the end and they probably bonded more in the last month of his life than at any other time. They talked, embraced, told each other of their love. Not just Sue, but other’s as well.
Jerry’s girlfriend Debbie has elevated herself in my eyes beyond description; she spent so much time at Jerry’s side not wanting him to be alone or have need of anything. The outpouring of love and support from all was humbling and so inspiring. This is the true meaning of love, of family. Now that he has passed, his mother Lois is the recipient of this outpouring of love, as friends, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren visit her every day and spend nights with her as well.
I want to share one incident that I think displays the thoughtfulness in the family.
As it happened, Carissa’s birthday fell on the day that Jerry died. We planned to have a traditional birthday party at Lois’s house, Carissa’s great grandmother, but frankly we had little enthusiasm and it was impossible to not talk about Jerry and get distracted from Carissa’s birthday party. As it turned out, Heather, a relative about 24 years old heard that there was a party that night and obviously she considered we would have difficulty with the party spirit, so she decided to come, which she has never done before, and she arrived with balloons in hand and a big shopping bag. She swept in and with zealous birthday accolades, sat Carissa down in a chair and began tying the balloons pronouncing this chair as the royal throne for Carissa; then she brought out a paper crown and crowned Carissa with it, then she pulled out a silly looking plastic fly swatter with a big flower on it and gave it to Carissa explaining this was her royal scepter and with it she could command her wishes. Then she pulled out a pair of royal slippers and promptly pulled off Carissa’s shoes and the transformation was complete. She continued that evening to use her love and energy to salvage what promised to be a gloomy party. At one point in the night as I sat by Carissa alone, I said that Heather is really a great gal; she replied, “Yes she is, and I want to be just like her.”
This is by no means the only example but one of many thoughtful acts of love and friendship that have flooded the week, cards, phone calls, flowers and visits all bearing support and love.

When someone dies it always brings us to a sober place and as I watched the loving acts by so many people, I pondered on the meaning of life and all the issues death brings up. Certainly one conclusion is true, Sages and philosophers through the ages all agree that a key ingredient in a successful life is measured by the love one receives in their life, in that Jerry was a very successful man.