To the cross, to the cross I cling! 

"Has not the crucifix become for ages the symbol of grief divinely born? 

Has it not, generation after generation, been hidden in the bosoms of thousands, sustaining the soul of self-denial, and reminding them not to faint beneath the cross of life? 

Has it not met the eye of many a lonely captive, and beguiled him to forget his chains, and from its meek image spread through his dungeon the holiest light?

Has it not kept watch with the  mother by night, as she bent over her sick child, and been to her soul as a star amid the infinite darkness of her sorrow? 

Pressed to the lips of the living, and softly laid upon the breast of the dying. 

It has warmed the love of the Christian while he stays, and given him trust when 'tis time to go."

James Martineau.  

 

I shared a post about the importance of having children go to church on a “Marriage Site” the other day, 

One of the people responded with this – 

“Gotta start that cult like brain washing at an early age.” 

I took a day to mull it over and this is my reply – 

Hi K****, no loving parent tries to brain wash their children, 

if we want that to happen we simple do not train them, 

we allow our culture to do the brainwashing. 

We let them sit in front of iPads and smart phones, 

watch Netflix, listen to the morals of Hollywood, 

send them to God hating, liberal colleges 

and simply absorb the darkness of this evil and perverse generation, 

which has a full press on to socially engineer the children. 

I remember the old Bob Dylan song, 

"You're gonna have to serve somebody

Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody." 

No doubt the pure message of Christ and His love for us has been distorted by many, 

but my greatest sorrow was 

that I wasn't brought up in a Christian home.

What a horrible thing for a child to face life without knowing they are loved with an everlasting love, and are held up by His everlasting arms. 

To rob a child of the security, the warmth and nurture of Christ's love for children is among the most brazen things a parent can do in my opinion. 

Every child deserves to know 

God's love endures forever, 

His angels watch over them, 

Christ's forgiveness envelopes them, 

and the Holy Spirit guides and protects them. 

Children naturally are drawn to the love of Jesus, 

and what greater reward in life than to see our innocent children 

mature into virtuous teens, 

and then into men and women of character, integrity becoming adults that leave this world better for them having been in it.

"Mercy is a commiserating of another man's misery in our hearts,      or a sorrow for another man's distress, 

or a heart-grieving for another man's grief, arising out of an unfeigned love unto the person afflicted.

                                              

Or more plainly: mercy is a pitying of another man's misery                with a desire and endeavor to help him to the uttermost of our ability. 

 

Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful," that is, blessed are they that show mercy to others out of a deep sense of the mercy of God to them in Christ.

Blessed are such who show mercy out of love to mercy,                      out of a delight in mercy;                                                                  blessed are such as show mercy out of love and obedience to the God of mercy. 

Blessed are such as show mercy to men in misery, upon the account of the image of God, the glory of God that is stamped upon them; blessed are such as extend their piety and mercy, not only to men's bodies, but also to their precious and immortal souls. 

Soul mercy is the chief of mercies." Thomas Brooks, 1600s. 

 

It was reported that a movie theater displayed a short film which began with a snapshot of the room ceiling.

No details, no colors. Just a white ceiling.

The same scene remained displayed for 6 long minutes

when the moviegoers started to get frustrated.

Some complained about the film wasting their time

and others started to leave.

Suddenly, the camera lens slowly started to move

until it reached down towards the floor.

A small child who appeared handicap was lying fixed on the bed, suffering from a spinal cord tear.

The camera then pans back up to the ceiling with the following words:

"We showed you only 8 minutes of this child's daily activity, only 8 minutes from the scene that this handicap child watches at all hours of his life,

and you complained and weren't patient for even 6 minutes, you couldn't bear to watch it.."

Sometimes we need to put ourselves in others shoes in

order to realize the magnitude of blessings we are given

and to thank God for bestowing us with such blessings that we take for granted.

  "The Greek historian Nicephorus, reports that Salome, the dancing daughter of Herodias, passing over a frozen lake, the ice broke, and she fell up to the neck in water, and her head was parted from her body by the violence of the fragments, shaken by the water and its own fall, and so perished; God having fitted a judgment to the analogy and representment of her sin."  

 Casting out demons

Sometimes you can't.....

“…also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out.” - Luke 8:2

“And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.” -Matt 10:7-8

The ministry of driving demons out is a complex issue to wrap our minds around today. 

How does one read these passages in one hand and hold the realities of mental health, disease, abuse, addiction and trauma in the other?

Some Christian circles deny the presence of demons in postmodern life, others see them in everything. 

Science has thankfully dispelled much ignorance, superstition and exposed the error of worldviews that trust in magic and sorcery. 

Yet, the gospels reveal clear teaching from Jesus that there is a reality of evil that is at work in the souls and bodies of humans too. 

How do we navigate such complex and personal stories and experiences that doesn’t ignore scripture but doesn’t mishandle or incorrectly diagnose people’s ailments, sufferings and ongoing battles?

Some are satisfied with very simplistic answers that quickly define situations with a black or white response. I’ve never been comfortable with the self-assurance of either extreme. 

Jesus' stories reveal moments that reflect the reality of people’s lives that I witness. Immediate manifestations of evil, lifelong testimony of troubles, horrors and tragedies that have roots in demonic influences. Ministry moments that end without deliverance, healing or satisfying conclusions. Particular facts that involve the numbers of demons involved. Admonitions that certain “kinds” require more spiritual action and the element of time. In some situations Jesus rebukes unbelief and others he doesn’t mention faith at all. 

Sometimes even Jesus kept praying for people until the healing fully arrived: 

“He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.” -Mark 8:23-25

When I’m working with people I allow all these examples to undergird my expectations and conclusions. I rest in the directives and limits of the unfolding restoration of lives. I rejoice in immediate breakthroughs and long mendings. I trust in power, truth, medicine, doctors, good food, exercise, sleep, fresh air, and ongoing relationships to be part of people’s rescue and recovery.

I allow room for my own inability, lack of spiritual insight, faithfulness or maturity. 

“And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”” -Mark 9:14,16-18

I recognize that the trauma and drama of people’s lives have histories and deep roots that only Jesus fully knows. I also rest in His ability to put the puzzle pieces together in His timing and in His way. We are never the last word in anyone’s story. 

“And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”” -Mark 9:20-29

Did Mary have every devil leave at one moment? I think so, since it was Jesus doing the word and work. But I’ve also seen people evict devils from the rooms of their house as they discover them. 

Are there “possessed Christian’s”? I can’t come to that conclusion from the evidence of Scripture, but I can see matters of truth and time at work in some scripture references. That leads me to believe that recovery is complex and I don’t have all the facts in every situation. 

A claimed by Christ soul is a freed soul, we are given the keys of the kingdom to liberate captives, even when we are those captives. These keys are the truth of God’s word and ways. The Holy Spirit is active in leading people into the full and abundant life Jesus has purchased for them. Some slaves seem to not know they have been liberated and equipped with the keys to their prisons. Some have never encountered the truth that can set them free. Some don’t want to “get well” and linger in the same habitations of their bondage unwilling to obey or respond to the commands of Christ. 

I choose to see the sons and daughters and the parents around me as precious and perilous souls in need of the truth and power of Jesus. I choose to continue to seek a greater understanding of the keys Jesus has put into my own hands. I seek to drive out anything that reeks of devils and deception. Compassion and gentleness is my posture with the suffering and faith and conviction with the dark powers at work in people's lives. 

In the end I trust that Jesus knows how to rescue, redeem, release and restore every Mary I meet. Because His love is greater than anything that separates us from the love of God in Christ. 

Roman’s 8:38-39 “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below, indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Pastor Eric. 

 

”Her hands are busy spinning thread, 

her fingers twisting fiber.“

-Proverbs 31:19

"She sat there quietly knitting in the church row, a practice that looked like prayer taking form. She was making a blanket and it was ocean blue. A perfect covering for a woman living in a crisis shelter where the comfort of the Holy Spirit embraces worried and wearied hearts, minds and bodies.  

Her story threaded into words as needles and yarn rhythmically connected her inner world to the outer one. She said knitting helped her do something with the thoughts and feelings she didn’t know how to process. It put them somewhere. She smiled as she spoke, part oracle, part survivor clinging to her yarn like a life preserver

As she confessed, emotion began to well up like a deep swell in the waves that sea watchers know in the Pacific Northwest. The ocean crescendos are nature affirming our depths, our dark deeps with forces of swirl and push that turn expanses of water into breaking and crashing displays of sound and sight. It’s the weeping of waters that draw people into healing trances or cathartic resonance on sandy shores. 

She wove and wept.

That blue sea on her lap was becoming Neptune’s Trident. She was knitting her deliverance, weaving her wounds into a gift for someone. Her pain found a purpose, even if it was a desperate craft born out of a woman afraid of drowning. 

Holy power silently rescuing and restoring life easily overlooked as simple craft that was actually magic and miracle happening right there in the sanctuary.

I witnessed a Proverbs thirty one woman knitting and this is her praise at the gates." 

Eric Blauer, Artist: Marcela Bolívar