Jubilate!

Forgive me but on this the fourth Sunday after Easter, I’m posting a Barthian observat ion concerning the third Sunday after Easter (Jubilate)…

The whole purpose and meaning of the mission of Jesus is to bring joy (John 15:11; 17:13). According to John 16:20f. this was also the purpose of the sorrow which would come with His death … As we are told in John 8:56, Abraham had already rejoiced to see the day of Jesus and he saw it and was glad … In the first instance, however, both in the Johannine passages and in Luke. 10:21, this joy is the joy of Jesus Himself, His rejoicing in the Holy Ghost. Men neither appropriated it to themselves nor produced it of themselves, but it came to them in and with the man Jesus. It was given them in Him and by Him. In the first instance it was present for them objectively - and obviously identical with the kingdom of God, which is joy as well as righteousness and peace (Rom. 14:17). It was this objective joy which could and should be reproduced in the joy which they too were permitted and commanded. In the presence of the man Jesus it was already actual for them and could not be resisted or destroyed by anything or anyone, John 16.22.

Barth, K., Bromiley, G. W., & Torrance, T. F. (2004). Church dogmatics, Volume V: Index, with Aids for the Preacher. Translation of Die kirchliche Dogmatik.; Each pt. also has special t.p.; Includes indexes. (401). Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Barth,Joy,Jesus Christ

Incarnation’s Sole Purpose!

In short, the only reason given in Scripture that the Son of God willed to take our flesh, and accepted this commandment from the Father, is that he would be a sacrifice to appease the Father on our behalf. "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer . . . and that repentance . . . should be preached in his name." [Luke 24:46-47.] "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life for my sheep. … This commandment he gave me." [John 10:17, 15, 18  p.] "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up." [John 3:14.] Another passage: " 'Father, save me from this hour.' … But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify thy Son" [John 12:27-28, conflated with v. 23]. Here he clearly indicates why he assumed flesh: that he might become a sacrifice and expiation to abolish our sins. – Calvin’s Institutes 2.12.4

Enjoy!

Quasimodo!

Today is the Octave Day of Easter, sometimes known as Low Sunday (and also known historically as St. Thomas Sunday and Quasimodo Sunday).   Simply, it is the Sunday after Easter Sunday.  Since 1970 Low Sunday has been officially known as the Second Sunday of Easter in the Catholic Church. Also, octave refers to an eight-day feast or the eighth day following that feast, sometimes referred to as the "Octave Day".  And among Eastern Christians this day is known as Thomas Sunday.

The name Quasimodo came from the Latin text of the traditional Introit for this day, which begins "Quasi modo geniti infantes..." ("As newborn babes...", from the First Epistle of Peter ( 1 Peter 2:2). Literally, the Latin, quasi modo means "as recently” or "almost like". Which, of course, reminds me of the sad character in Victor Hugo’s,The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasimodo (almost like…).

Quasimodo was born with several rather ugly physical deformities.  Among the more obvious was a large wart that covered hi s left eye and a severely hunched back.  He is found abandoned in Notre Dame (on the foundlings' bed, where orphans and unwanted children are left to public charity) on a Quasimodo Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter, by the archdeacon Claude Frollo, who adopts the baby, names him after the day the baby was found, and brings him up to be the bell-ringer of the cathedral.

A small sculpture of Quasimodo can be found on Notre Dame, on the exterior of the north transept along the Rue de Cloître Notre Dame.

Enjoy!

Note: The photo is of actor Charles Loughton as Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Technorati Tags: quasimodo,Octave Day,Low Sunday,St. Thomas Sunday,Victor Hugo,Notre Dame

Law of Grace!

To be Christians under the law of grace does not mean to wander unbridled outside the law, but to be engrafted in Christ, by whose grace we are free of the curse of the law, and by whose Spirit we have the law engraved upon our hearts [Jeremiah 31:33]. - The Institutes of The Christian Religion (2.8.57)

Technorati Tags: Calvin. Institues,Law,Grace,Spirit

Eighth Commandment!

"You shall not steal." (Ex. 20:15)

Let the ministers of churches faithfully attend to the ministry of the Word, not adulterating the teaching of salvation [cf. 2 Cor. 2:17], but delivering it pure and undefiled to God's people. And let them instruct the people not only through teaching, but also through example of life. In short, let them exercise authority as good shepherds over their sheep [cf. 1 Tim. 3:1ff; 2 Tim. 2:1ff; 2 Tim. 4:1 ff; Titus 1:6 ff.; 1 Peter 5:1ff]. Let the people in their turn receive them as messengers and apostles of God, render to them that honor of which the highest Master has deemed them worthy, and give them those things necessary for their livelihood [cf. Matt. 10:10ff.; Rom. 10:15 and 15:15ff.; 1 Cor. 9:1ff; Gal. 6:6; 1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 5:17-18].

Section: 2.8.46 of “The Institutes of The Christian Religion”

Technorati Tags: Calvin,Institues,Ministers,Stealing

Hate the Cross!

A William Stringfellow quote:

Many men do not believe. Many men hate the Cross because it means a salvation not of their own choosing or making, but rather of God’s grace and his mercy. Men hate the cross because it means a salvation which is unearned, undeserved, unmerited. Men would much prefer God to punish them than to forgive them because that would mean that God is dependent upon men and needed their obedience to be their God. Then God would be in fact no different from an idol of race, nation, family, or whatever, and a man would feel justified either by his obedience to the idol or by the punishment of his disobedience.

(”The Scandal of Palm Sunday,” Free in Obedience [Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2006], p. 33.)

 

Technorati Tags: William Stringfellow,Theology,quote,Cross,salvation,obedience

Book of Kells

On the day when nearly everyone is a little bit Irish, I was reminded of a grand work of art that Irish monks laboring in isolation on a tiny island just west of Scotland began work on around the year 750. For more than a century, monks on the island had been laboring faithfully to copy and preserve classical and biblical texts into what now is known as the Book of Kells

Perhaps the greatest illustrated version of the Gospels ever made, it only survived by an act of God. Sometime in the 9th century (after Vikings dropped by unannounced yet again), cautious monks moved the Book of Kells from its island home to the Abbey of Kells in eastern Ireland. Documents show the abbey was plundered several times before 1006, when thieves finally got their hands on the book, stripped it of its bejeweled golden cover, and flung it into a bog.

Considering that the volume spent a few months buried there before being rescued, it's in remarkably good shape. Today, the book is at Trinity College in Dublin, which has been its steward since 1660.

The above illustration depicts the authors of the four Gospels: Matthew as a man, Mark as a lion, Luke as an ox (or calf), and John as an eagle.

Enjoy!

New Dylan Album!

New Dylan Album: Our First Listen! - News - Mojo

In this article (above link) from MOJO, Michael Simmons accentuates Dylan's new album (to be released in late April 09) as "a powerful personal work by a man who still thinks for himself in an era of fear, conformity, and dehumanization.”

Rejoice!

Notable non-believers!

Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion

Diagoras of Melos

Often referred to as the "first atheist", Diagoras was a poet and sophist who openly spoke out against religion in ancient Greece and was forced to flee Athens for doing so. Unfortunately, little record of what he thought survives although we know that he publicly questioned the Eleusinian Mysteries, an elaborate series of ceremonies.

Albert Einstein

Einstein was regularly asked if he thought there was a god. In developing the theory of relativity, he realized there must have been a beginning to the universe. The question he struggled with was what came before the beginning? He concluded: "I do not believe in a personal God. If something is in me which can be called religion, then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."

Mark Twain

A fearsome critic of organized religion, Twain wrote many of the sound bites atheists repeat today, such as: "If Christ were here, there is one thing he would not be: a Christian." Born in 1835, a year Halley's comet was seen, he ironically predicted "the Almighty" would take him next time the comet passed near Earth. He died in 1910, two weeks after the comet was spotted once more.

"The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" (Psalm 53.1).

Rejoice!

Technorati Tags: atheist,non-believer,Diagoras,Einstein,Mark Twain,Psalm

Marley's Redemption

This is for you Anonymous!



Please see my response to your comments on Johnny Cash below!

Rejoice!

Happy Birthday Johnny!

The blood of Christ!

After listening to this song you may have a strong  Holy Spirit inkling that you’ll see him again over yonder! The Spirit bears witness brother Cash (Romans 8.16).

Listen to this song and watch the screen as it unfolds a powerful pictographic album of Johnny’s life!

No More Bondage!

Johnny Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 - September 12, 2003)

Rejoice!

Technorati Tags: Johnny Cash,Redemption,Blood,Bondage,Freedom,Salvation,birthday

One Way!

Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples. (Psalm 96.2, 3)

The heart and soul of the Christian gospel is a Person, not a church or a particular theology. To evangelize is to make known the good news of Jesus Christ - who He is and what He did! Jesus Christ came to this fallen world, died a sinless death, and was raised from the grave according to the Scriptures. And, as Lord of the heaven and earth, He now provides forgiveness of sins and the indwelling gift of His Holy Spirit to all who repent and believe.

Today, however, many false teachers claim that God speaks equally through all religions and ideologies. Several years ago, I was invited to our local High School to defend the uniqueness of Christianity in a religiously pluralistic society. There was another pastor who presented a view that compromised the Gospel.  He maintained that there are many ways to god.  You know the line.  I asked the class to slowly read John 14.6 and tell me what it says with reference to coming to the Father.  Unanimously, they saw that the text was clear; Jesus was the only way.  The point is, those who believe that there are many ways to God neither believe the Scripture nor consider a personal faith in the Person and work of Christ to be essential. They maintain that Jesus merely represents one way to god. Christians must reject such speculation as heretical! There is no other way to the Father but through Jesus Christ (John 14.6).

Rejoice, ron

Technorati Tags: Jesus Christ,salvation,heresy,Gospel

God to Atheist!

God to Atheist: Don't Drop Dead Just Yet

Lawrence Osborne has an intriguing report from the streets of Beirut:

Three of our "scoop" brigade--Jonathan Foreman, Michael Totten and Christopher Hitchens--got involved in a street brawl with some thugs of a Syria-loving skinhead party called the SSNP after Hitchens rather gallantly insulted their swastika flag. On our way to a meeting with Minister of State Nassib Lahoud, Hitchens showed me the gashed knuckles and bruises suffered during the punch up. The attackers had apparently come out of nowhere on posh Hamra Street, where they had gone to buy shoes. "I was on the ground," Hitchens said, "and getting it in the head." It was a miracle they didn't pull Kalashnikovs.

Hitchens is author of the book "God Is Not Great." If Osborne's account is accurate, God intervened to save the hide (though presumably not the soul) of a professional atheist. The Lord does work in mysterious ways. Maybe he just figures there's no such thing as bad publicity.

WSJ: Best of the Web Today - February 19, 2009

Rejoice!

Technorati Tags: God,Atheist,Hitchens,Miracle

Despair!

February 18^th

The initiative against despair!

Rise let us be going (Matthew 26:46).

The disciples went to sleep when they should have kept awake, and when they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of the irreparable is apt to make us despair, and we say—‘It is all up now, it is no use trying any more.’ If we imagine that this kind of despair is exceptional, we are mistaken, it is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize that we have not done that which we had a magnificent opportunity of doing, then we are apt to sink in despair, and Jesus Christ comes and says—‘Sleep on now, that opportunity is lost for ever, you cannot alter it, but arise and go to the next thing.’ Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ, and go out into the irresistible future with Him.

There are experiences like this in each of our lives. We are in despair, the despair that comes from actualities, and we cannot lift ourselves out of it. The disciples in this instance had done a downright unforgivable thing; they had gone to sleep instead of watching with Jesus, but He came with a spiritual initiative against their despair and said—‘Arise and do the next thing.’ If we are inspired of God, what is the next thing? To trust Him absolutely and to pray on the ground of His Redemption.

Never let the sense of failure corrupt your new action.

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year (February 18). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.

 

Technorati Tags: Chambers,Despair,Scripture

Calvin 09 - Read The Institutes

Today's Calvin Quotes

…nothing takes place by chance (1.16.4).

…it is certain that not one drop of rain falls without God's sure command (1.16.5).

…God's will is the highest and first cause of all things because nothing happens except from his command or permission (1.16.7).

…God by the bridle of his providence turns every event whatever way he wills (1.16.9).

Reading Section: 1.16.4-9 of “The Institutes of The Christian Religion”, Westminster, John Knox, McNeill / Battles translation

Technorati Tags: Calvin,Providence,Theology,Institues

Rejoice!

Dawkins Sarcasm!

Here’s another disturbing show of arrogance by the distinguished atheists professor Richard Dawkins.

Darwin’s birthday!

Gary DeMar says:

"One Nation Under Darwin"

Today is the 200^th birthday of Charles Darwin, and evolutionists are celebrating worldwide that they are nothing more than bags of meat and bone with electricity running through them. “Praise Darwin from whom all matter flows!,” their doxology goes. The religious character of Darwin is evident in the way those from the Freedom From Religion Foundation are commemorating his birth. Their billboards look like stained glass windows! Soon we’ll be seeing signs pointing us to First Church of Charles Darwin. Oh, wait, it’s the local public schools.

Click here for more!

Technorati Tags: Darwin,evolution,public school,religion

Calvin & victory over the devil!

"The devil your enemy goes about as a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour; resist him, be firm in your faith" [I Peter 5:8-9 p.], and the like. Paul admits that he was not free from this sort of strife when he writes that, as a remedy to tame his pride, he was given an angel of Satan to humble him [II Cor. 12:7]. Therefore this exercise is common to all the children of God. But because that promise to crush Satan's head [Gen. 3:15] pertains to Christ and all his members in common, I deny that believers can ever be conquered or overwhelmed by him. Often, indeed, are they distressed, but not so deprived of life as not to recover; they fall under violent blows, but afterward they are raised up; they are wounded, but not fatally; in short, they so toil throughout life that at the last they obtain the victory.

God does not allow Satan to rule over the souls of believers, but gives over only the impious and unbelievers, whom he deigns not to regard as members of his own flock, to be governed by him. For the devil is said to occupy this world unchallenged until he is cast out by Christ [cf. Luke 11:21]. Likewise, he is said to blind all those who do not believe in the gospel [II Cor. 4:4]. Again, to carry out his "work in the sons of disobedience" [Eph. 2:2], and rightly, for all the impious are vessels of wrath. Hence, to whom would they be subjected but to the minister of divine vengeance? Finally, they are said to be of their father the devil [John 8:44]; for, as believers are recognized as the children of God because they bear his image, so are those rightly recognized to be the children of Satan from his image, into which they have degenerated [I John 3:8-10].

Reading Section: 1.14.18 of “The Institutes of The Christian Religion”, Westminster, John Knox, McNeill / Battles translation

PS. If you are interested in a reading schedule of the “Institutes” click on Calvin’s picture!

Technorati Tags: Calvin,Devil,Theology,Institues

Calvin & the devil!

“ The fact that the devil is everywhere called God's adversary and ours also ought to fire us to an unceasing struggle against him” (1.14.15).

“Yet, since the devil was created by God, let us remember that this malice, which we attribute to his nature, came not from his creation but from his perversion” (1.14.16).

“Therefore, lest we ourselves linger over superfluous matters, let us be content with this brief summary of the nature of devils: they were when first created angels of God, but by degeneration they ruined themselves, and became the instruments of ruin for others. Because this is profitable to know, it is plainly taught in Peter and Jude. God did not spare those angels who sinned [II Peter 2:4] and kept not their original nature, but left their abode [Jude 6]. And Paul, in speaking of the "elect angels" [I Tim. 5:21], is no doubt tacitly contrasting them with the reprobate angels” (1.14.16).

“As for the discord and strife that we say exists between Satan and God, we ought to accept as a fixed certainty the fact that he can do nothing unless God wills and assents to it” (1.14.17).

“For inasmuch as the devil is by nature wicked, he is not at all inclined to obedience to the divine will, but utterly intent upon contumacy and rebellion. From himself and his own wickedness, therefore, arises his passionate and deliberate opposition to God. By this wickedness he is urged on to attempt courses of action which he believes to be most hostile to God. But because with the bridle of his power God holds him bound and restrained, he carries out only those things which have been divinely permitted to him; and so he obeys his Creator, whether he will or not, because he is compelled to yield him service wherever God impels him” (1.14.17).

Reading Section: 1.14.14-17 of “The Institutes of The Christian Religion”, Westminster, John Knox, McNeill / Battles translation

Technorati Tags: Calvin,Devil,Theology,Institues

Nazbo Rap

Rap theology!

Winter to continue… Big deal!

Groundhog Phil saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter. Although that may sound like bad news to most, we Minnesotans are rejoicing. In this AP Photo taken by Carolyn Kaster, Ben Hughes, handler of the weather-predicting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, holds Phil in the air after removing him from his stump at Gobbler's Knob on Groundhog Day, Monday, Feb. 2, 2009, in Punxsutawney, Pa.

Rejoice!

BTW: More information on Groundhog Day can be found here.

Minnesotans For Global Warming Song!

Greetings Folks!

I woke up to 40 below wind-chill today. It’s been this cold for several days now. I sure hope the global warming trend doesn’t pass MN by.

Enjoy, ron

The Cussing Pastor!

New York Times

Who Would Jesus Smack Down?
By MOLLY WORTHEN

Published: January 6, 2009

The Seattle minister Mark Driscoll is out to transform American evangelicalism with his macho conception of Christ and neo-Calvinist belief in the total depravity of man.

enjoy the read,
ron

Tony Dungy Retirement Speech (HD)

Check out this GetReligion resource.

Well done good and faithful coach!

Enjoy, ron

Football at its best...

Click on the following title: Rick Reilly: Gainesville State high school football gets the best gift of all, hope - ESPN The Magazine

enjoy!

Technorati Tags: football,faith

Evangelist!

Then Christian fell down at his feet as dead, crying, Woe is me, for I am undone! At the sight of which Evangelist caught him by the right hand, saying, “All manner of sin and blasphemies shall be forgiven unto men.” (Matt. 12.31) “Be not faithless, but believing.” (John 20.27) Then did Christian again a little revive, and stood up trembling, as at first, before Evangelist. Then Evangelist proceeded, saying, Give more earnest heed to the things that I shall tell thee of. I will now show thee who it was that deluded thee, and who it was also to whom he sent thee. The man that met thee is one Worldly Wiseman, and rightly is he so called; partly because he savoreth only the doctrine of this world (1 John 4.5), (therefore he always goes to the town of Morality to church;) and partly because he loveth that doctrine best, for it saveth him best from the cross (Gal. 6.12): and because he is of this carnal temper, therefore he seeketh to pervert my ways, though right. Now there are three things in this man’s counsel that thou must utterly abhor.

1. His turning thee out of the way.
2. His laboring to render the cross odious to thee.
3. And his setting thy feet in that way that leadeth unto the administration of death.

"The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan

Rejoice, ron

Technorati Tags: The Pilgrim's Progress,Bunyan,Christian,Wordly Wiseman,Evangelist

Christmas songs!

Click on the little blue arrows that appear when you scroll over the song titles, and you are given the option to play, get a web link, or download.  So just click on the option you want.  Listen and...

enjoy,

ron

Christian Reindeer?

A red light for the Red-nosed Reindeer was the latest target of the war on Christmas, Raleigh's WRAL-TV reports from Wilmington, N.C.:

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" caused a stir at a New Hanover County school.  A parent complained about the song's religious reference and got it pulled from her child's kindergarten Christmas show at Murrayville Elementary School.

The song was pulled "because it had the word Christmas in it," said Rick Holliday, assistant school superintendent.

A Jewish mother, who didn't want her name published, objected to what she called "religious overtones" in the song. So the principal agreed to pull it from the program.

After other parents complained, "school board members, administrators and attorneys listened closely to the song's lyrics and decided the song was secular."  Ironically, most folks believe Christmas to be a secular holiday without consulting a lawyer.

Interested? Read article here.

Merry Christmas (Matthew 1.18)!

 

Technorati Tags: Christmas,Reindeer,religion,culture

Profession & Vocation!

What does a person do if they have no profession? Or, more candidly, what does it mean to be human when someone has no profession?

While studying theology and Christian ministry at Princeton Seminary it dawned on me that I had to make a living. Yet it irritated me to think that preaching the gospel could be considered a profession. I thought that preaching was a calling not a profession. I had consciously chosen to pursue Christ not a career. To put it in Pauline terms, I died to the idea of career and even profession. Admittedly, my knowledge of worldly success was inconsequential and making a living took second fiddle to a deep desire to know Christ and the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3.10). Trusting that God would supply all my need in Christ Jesus was merely a characteristic of my conversion to the gospel.

I believed then, as I do now, that I am called in the Word of God to glorify and enjoy God. That’s my purpose and my vocation. Within the scope of my calling to be fully dependent on Jesus Christ, any work, including that of any profession, can be seen as working out that calling (vocation) with fear and trembling. In other words, no profession, discipline or employment, as such, defines me. What I do is important only in light of who I am. But who I am is my calling or vocation.

Enjoy, ron

Technorati Tags: profession,vocation,calling,work,Gospel

Os Guinness

Os Guinness Part 1 from CPX on Vimeo.

Os Guinness loves the truth!  A prolific author and an ardent social critic, he is in demand around the world as a speaker on issues of faith, society, and public policy. Guinness provides us with prudent and tenacious arguments against moral and cultural relativism. His latest book is titled The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends On It. (see below)

The Truth will set you free (John 8.32),

ron

Sympathy for the Devil! (The King singing)

Note: Roll mouse over Scripture reference (pop-up)!

Greetings (1 Peter 5.8),

Zechariah 3.2

Matthew 4.10

Matthew 12.26

Luke 10.18

Acts 26.18

Romans 16.20

2 Corinthians 11.14

Revelation 12.9

Revelation 20.2-10

In Christ (Matthew 25.41)!

Kant Song

THE TRANSCENDENTAL DEDUCTION
of the Pure Concepts of Understanding

by Immanuel Kant

Translation by Roderick T. Long

Music and vocals by Paul L. Fine

© 1984, 1999 Paul L. Fine and Roderick T. Long

Click below link and enjoy,
ron

Life: A Human Right!

What is the greatest human rights question of our time?

Simple?

Should it be permissible to kill human beings because of their location, dependency, stage of development, or burdensomeness to others?

Christian, your answer please!

Christians today are hedging and trimming and tying themselves into intellectual and moral knots in order to hide their embarrassment about being out of step with the so called progressive spirit of the time (culture of death).

In order to oppose political candidates (including a presidential candidate) who explicitly and adamantly support an unlimited legal license to kill the unborn you will need to distinguish yourself from the surrounding pagan society

How embarrassing!

Be of good cheer, Ron
(1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

The discipline of difficulty!

“In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.

An average view of the Christian life is that it means deliverance from trouble. It is deliverance in trouble, which is very different. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High. . . there shall no evil befall thee” - no plague can come nigh the place where you are at one with God.

If you are a child of God, there certainly will be troubles to meet, but Jesus says do not be surprised when they come. “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world, there is nothing for you to fear.” Men who before they were saved would scorn to talk about troubles, often become ‘fushionless’ after being born again because they have a wrong idea of a saint.

God does not give us overcoming life: He gives us life as we overcome. The strain is the strength. If there is no strain, there is no strength. Are you asking God to give you life and liberty and joy? He cannot, unless you will accept the strain. Immediately you face the strain, you will get the strength. Overcome your own timidity and take the step, and God will give you to eat of the tree of life and you will get nourishment. If you spend yourself out physically, you become exhausted; but spend yourself spiritually, and you get more strength. God never gives strength for tomorrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the minute. The temptation is to face difficulties from a commonsense standpoint. The saint is hilarious when he is crushed with difficulties because the thing is so ludicrously impossible to anyone but God.

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest: Selections for the year (August 2). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.

rejoice!

If we can't face it,God can't fix it!

God can fix it but we won't face it!

Father Barron on Bob Dylan

"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3.8, ESV)

BTW: How does it feel?

rejoice, ron

God's Will!

“The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and his apparently free choices are God’s fore-ordained decrees. Mysterious? Logically contradictory and absurd? Yes, but a glorious truth to a saint.” - Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year (June 7). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.

You are God’s will!

enjoy, ron

Louis Armstrong - Danny Kaye

rejoice, ron

Cave Dwelling!

Click here to listen to a short mp3 recording (under 14 min) by philosopher Simon Blackburn on Plato's Cave. What is the nature of reality? Is the world as it appears, or is there something timeless behind the world of appearances?

In the above mp3 recording, the philosopher Simon Blackburn discusses one of the most famous images in Philosophy: Plato's cave.

Unfortunately, both philosophers (Plato & Blackburn) "suppress the truth in unrighteousness ... they became futile in they speculations..." (Romans 1.18ff).

"What really happened was God’s free positing of this world-reality. The unique thing about the “generation” of the heaven and of the earth is that it cannot be comprehended with the aid of natural analogies, but it can be described only by the word 'creation'”. - Karl Barth

"All created reality is inherently revelational of the nature and will of God." - Cornelius Van Til

enjoy, ron

TreeChair!

In the picture below a man is standing by what looks like a chair-tree. Now, you know nothing else about the tree other than what you can infer from a visual inspection.

Multiple Choice:

1. The tree probably obtained this shape through chance.
2. The tree probably obtained this shape through mechanical necessity.
3. The tree probably obtained this shape through a combination of chance and mechanical necessity.
4. The tree probably obtained this shape as the result of the purposeful efforts of an intelligent agent.
5. Other.

Select your answer and give supporting reasons.

PS. Kudos to Uncommon Descent blog for this one!

PSS. Romans 1.20ff

Enjoy, ron

Flying Man!

I own a lithograph of Mihail Chemiakin’s “The fall of Icarus” (the largest lithograph he has ever produced). Icarus, son of Daedalus, attempted to escape Crete by flight, but fell to his death. I'd wager that long before Daedalus fashioned a pair of wax wings for himself and his son, we've been trying to find some means to fly, with more than a few casualties along the way.

Well, several weeks ago (May 14), a Swiss man named Yves Rossy (a.k.a., "Fusion Man") made headlines when he strapped on an 8-foot jet-powered wing and leaped from an airplane, soaring over the Alps. Rossy spent years developing his device, and successfully flew the first jet-powered wing in November 2006. There's been a smattering of R&D on jet packs to propel human beings dating as far back as World War II; Rossy's invention is the first to combine a jet pack with actual wings (See more videos at his website).

Now, when I was a small child, I would have this recurring dream about flying. Inevitably I would be falling or jumping from some great height. At first a tinge of fear would come over me. But almost immediately I would begin to fly. Gliding effortlessly. Moving from side to side and up and down with the greatest of ease. It was pure ecstasy, interrupted only by awakening from my slumber.

enjoy, ron

Philanthropy & Humiliation!

Luke 16.19-31 & 1 John 4.16b-21

It is a frightful thing to say, but … there is indeed a love which is mere philanthropy, a sympathetic and benevolent concern and assistance which we can exercise with zeal and devotion without taking even a single step away from the safe stronghold of being without our fellow-man, but in a deeper withdrawal into our shell. There is a form of love - mere charity (the mere crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table)* - in which we do not love at all; in which we do not see or have in mind the other man to whom it is directed; in which we do not and will not notice his weal or woe; in which we merely imagine him as the object of the love which we have to exercise, and in this way master and use him. Our only desire is to practise and unfold our own love, to demonstrate it to him and to others and to God and above all to ourselves, to find ourselves self-expression in this sublime form.

There is thus a form of love in which, however sacrificially it is practised, the other is not seized by a human hand but by a cold instrument, or even by a paw with sheathed talons, and therefore genuinely isolated and frozen and estranged and oppressed and humiliated, so that he feels that he is trampled under the feet of the one who is supposed to love him, and cannot react with gratitude. The great tragedy is that it is perhaps in the sphere of the neighbourly love established and shaped by Christianity, in Christian families and houses and societies and institutions, that we seem to have more frequent and shattering examples of this than in that of the worldly love, courtesy, affability and fellowship which are so much more shallow and discriminating, and therefore so much the less exacting. - Barth, K., Bromiley, G. W., & Torrance, T. F. (2004). Church dogmatics, Volume IV : The doctrine of reconciliation, Part 2. (p. 440). Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

Doing all things in love begins with the realization that we owe everything to Jesus Christ, His Person & Work (the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us). God demonstrates God’s love in that Christ died for us; out of God’s great love God made us alive in Christ; and in that love we live, by it we conquer, and from it nothing shall separate us. “The love of Christ controls us” (2 Cor. 15.14). Indeed, our love merely reflects the love God first “poured into our hearts”. This love is directed toward Christ and toward others, whom we love for Christ’s sake!

Enjoy, ron

PS. I included the Luke 16 quote (parenthetical*) in Barth’s comments above

The test of self-interest!

If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. Genesis 13:9.

As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and luxurious prospects will open up before you, and these things are yours by right; but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God choose for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the right and proper thing to consider if you were not living a life of faith; but if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and leave God to choose for you. This is the discipline by means of which the natural is transformed into the spiritual by obedience to the voice of God.

Whenever right is made the guidance in the life, it will blunt the spiritual insight. The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. It would seem the wisest thing in the world for Abraham to choose, it was his right, and the people around would consider him a fool for not choosing. Many of us do not go on spiritually because we prefer to choose what is right instead of relying on God to choose for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eye on God. “Walk before Me.”

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year (May 25). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.

Enjoy, ron

Looky-Loo or Seeker?

And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. (Luke 19:2-3 ESV)

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; (John 6.44 NASB)

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19.10 NASB)

Jesus sought out Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus was transformed into a seeker: not, of course, an indecisive and indiscriminate seeker or one who especially knows what he is seeking. Yet a real seeker whose tax grubbing hands are empty, who has not yet apprehended, but wants to apprehend because he is already apprehended (Phil 3.12f). And Jesus does not allow Zacchaeus to be merely a casual or even friendly seeker, preoccupied with unraveling facile cultural barriers. Zacchaeus is no longer a looky-loo who divides his powers between this seeking and a possessing. No! Zacchaeus is a true seeker. He seeks this one thing, his life in Christ, and all other possibilities have passed away.

Like Zacchaeus, once our Seeker finds us, our lives on earth may now be defined in “seeker-only” terms. This is the meaning of the imperative (Col. 3.1f): “Seek those things which are above, where Christ sits.… Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” As K. Barth puts it, “To seek that which is above means that we are to seek here and now, but not in this here and now, not on the earth, because, … the true life of the Christian is with Christ, his true and exalted life, his own proper life, which begins with the death of Christ as his own death, the death of the old man. Christ is above, and so too is the Christian in so far as he is in Christ.”

enjoy, ron

Make a name for youself!

"Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;" - Ps 127:1

See Genesis 11.1-9

“So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city” (Gen 11.8). Is it important to see why God does not simply destroy the Tower of Babel? Perhaps it is if we consider the fact that it is not the building, the technical invention or the attempt at civilization facilitated by it, which constitutes the evil against which God takes His measures. It has more to do with the fact that “They said, ‘Come, … let us make for ourselves a name…’” (Gen. 11.4).

God’s judgment is not against the advancement of culture. Rather, “the Lord came down …” against the way in which humanity tries to facilitate and affirm and maintain itself, to make itself a name, to play the part of Providence. God’s judgment is against any attempt or intention of humanity to achieve a name for itself independently of God Himself.

You see, once humanity’s contrived object was taken away (unity through culture) the building process ceased automatically. “That it could cease shows that it was not harmless in intention but directed against God and therefore evil”, says K. Barth. According to Ps. 127.1, the building process had to cease because it was in vain. Again, Barth points out, “Everything is in vain, and moves self-evidently to destruction sooner or later, that is ventured by man with the same intention as this building” of the Tower of Babel.

enjoy, ron

Nazbo Rap II

As a follow up to the first “Nazbo Rap” made 2 years ago, we now have “Nazbo Rap II.” It was cut by some students at a mid-western Nazarene Theological Seminary. There’s some bizarre stuff here and there, but it’s entertaining even if you have trouble following Rap lyrics.

Enjoy,ron

Fear & Death!

A brief mull over Luke 12.4-7:

Death is a pawn in Satan’s diversion; an instrument at God’s beckon. “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.”

Death (and Satan) will be the subject(s) of God’s judgment. “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.” Death and hell (Satan’s future temporary quarters) will be cast into the Lake of Fire!

“Yes, I tell you, fear him!” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Therefore, “Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

enjoy, ron

Idol's Hillsong Song!

If you were in any doubt about the influence and reach of Hillsong's music, you might like to note that ‘Shout to the Lord’ was sung not once, but twice on two separate episodes of American Idol recently. You can see both on YouTube.

enjoy, ron

You're a Monster!

Below you'll find a very funny article where Sesame Street's Cookie Monster searches deep within himself and asks: is me really a monster?

Obviously struggling with his frequent out-of-control cookie binges, the Cookie Monster reflects on his own self-image. Who am I? Saint or Sinner or Both?

COOKIE MONSTER SEARCHES DEEP WITHINHIMSELF AND ASKS: IS MEREALLY MONSTER? by ANDY F. BRYAN

Me know. Me have problem.

Me love cookies. Me tend to get out of control when me see cookies. Me know it not natural to react so strongly to cookies, but me have weakness. Me know me do wrong. Me know it isn't normal. Me see disapproving looks. Me see stares. Me hurt inside.

When me get back to apartment, after cookie binge, me can't stand looking in mirror—fur matted with chocolate-chip smears and infested with crumbs. Me try but me never able to wash all of them out. Me don't think me is monster. Me just furry blue person who love cookies too much. Me no ask for it. Me just born that way.

Me was thinking and me just don't get it. Why is me a monster? No one else called monster on Sesame Street. Well, no one who isn't really monster. Two-Headed Monster have two heads, so he real monster. Herry Monster strong and look angry, so he probably real monster, too. But is me really monster?

Me thinks me have serious problem. Me thinks me addicted. But since when it acceptable to call addict monster? It affliction. It disease. It burden. But does it make me monster?

How can they be so callous? Me know there something wrong with me, but who in Sesame Street doesn't suffer from mental disease or psychological disorder? They don't call the vampire with math fetish monster, and me pretty sure he undead and drinks blood. No one calls Grover monster, despite frequent delusional episodes and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. And the obnoxious red Grover—oh, what his name?—Elmo! Yes, Elmo live all day in imaginary world and no one call him monster. No, they think he cute. And Big Bird! Don't get me started on Big Bird! He unnaturally gigantic talking canary! How is that not monster? Snuffleupagus not supposed to exist—woolly mammoths extinct. His very existence monstrous. Me least like monster. Me maybe have unhealthy obsession, but me no monster.

No. Me wrong. Me too hard on self. Me no have unhealthy obsession. Me love cookies, but it no hurt anyone. Me just enthusiast. Everyone has something they like most, something they get excited about. Why not me? Me perfectly normal. Me like cookies. So what? Cookies delicious. Cookies do not make one monster. Everyone loves cookies.

Me no monster. Me OK guy. Me OK guy who eat cookies.

Who me kidding? Me know me never actually eat cookies. Me only crumble cookies in mouth, but me no swallow. Me can't swallow. Me no have no esophagus. Me no have no trachea. Me only have black fabric throat. Me not supposed to be able to even talk.

Me no eat cookies.

Me destroy cookies.

Me crush cookies.

Me mutilate cookies.

Me make it so no one get cookies.

Everyone right. Me really is cookie monster.

Enjoy, ron

The Lord's Prayer

enjoy, ron

Six Blind Men!

John Godfrey Saxe's "Six Men of Hindustan" or "The Blind Men & the Elephant" can be applied to about any kind of quest for knowledge.

Originally Saxe wrote this parable to mock theological dispute (The disputants… / Rail on in utter ignorance / Of what each other mean, / And prate about an Elephant / Not one of them has seen!), but it’s applicable to about any field of experience. After all, truth be told, no mere mortal can possess complete and objective knowledge.

But let’s not take lightly the other side of the coin, namely that the six men of Hindustan, though blind, at least were curious and went out there, and had an adventure!

There were six men of Hindustan,
to learning much inclined,
Who went to see an elephant,
though all of them were blind,
That each by observation
might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant,
and happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
at once began to bawl,
"This mystery of an elephant
is very like a wall."

The second, feeling of the tusk,
cried, "Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an elephant
is very like a spear."

The third approached the elephant,
and happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
thus boldly up and spake,
"I see," quoth he, "the elephant
is very like a snake."

The fourth reached out an eager hand,
and felt above the knee,
"What this most wondrous beast
is like is very plain" said he,
"'Tis clear enough the elephant
is very like a tree."

The fifth who chanced to touch the ear
said, "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
deny the fact who can;
This marvel of an elephant
is very like a fan."

The sixth no sooner had begun
about the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail
that fell within his scope;
"I see," said he, "the elephant
is very like a rope."

So six blind men of Hindustan
disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
exceeding stiff and strong;
Though each was partly in the right,
they all were in the wrong!

Enjoy, ron

What’s in a name!

“The Scripture gives four names to Christians, taken from the four cardinal graces so essential to man’s salvation: Saints for their holiness, believers for their faith, brethren for their love, disciples for their knowledge.” - Thomas Fuller (born June 19, 1608, died Aug. 16, 1661) British scholar, preacher, and one of the most witty and prolific authors of the 17th century.

For the modern reader, Fuller’s most interesting work is probably The Holy State, the Profane State (1642), an entertaining collection of character sketches important to the historian of English literature.

enjoy, ron

Happy Pi Day!

I’m not much of a math enthusiast but I like pie.

Pi Day (not pie day) is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th. Pi is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi = 3.1415926535... The rough ratio of pi 3.14 gives us the date for Pi Day and opens the door to a celebration of this famous constant.

Coincidentally, Pi Day is also the birthday of Albert Einstein, who no doubt knew more than a little about pi. So in honor of Pi Day and Einstein, I think I’ll enjoy a lighted warmed piece of pecan pie with a large scope of vanilla ice cream on top.

Enjoy, ron

Battle!

Lions and Buffalo and gators! Ha! Ha!

Vision!

I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. Acts 26:19.

If we lose the vision, we alone are responsible, and the way we lose the vision is by spiritual leakage. If we do not run our belief about God into practical issues, it is all up with the vision God has given. The only way to be obedient to the heavenly vision is to give our utmost for God’s highest, and this can only be done by continually and resolutely recalling the vision. The test is the sixty seconds of every minute, and the sixty minutes of every hour, not our times of prayer and devotional meetings.

“Though it tarry, wait for it.” We cannot attain to a vision, we must live in the inspiration of it until it accomplishes itself. We get so practical that we forget the vision. At the beginning we saw the vision but did not wait for it; we rushed off into practical work, and when the vision was fulfilled, we did not see it. Waiting for the vision that tarries is the test of our loyalty to God. It is at the peril of our soul’s welfare that we get caught up in practical work and miss the fulfillment of the vision.

Watch God’s cyclones. The only way God sows His saints is by His whirlwind. Are you going to prove an empty pod? It will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of what you have seen. Let God fling you out, and do not go until He does. If you select your own spot, you will prove an empty pod. If God sows you, you will bring forth fruit.

It is essential to practice the walk of the feet in the light of the vision.

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year (March 11). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.

EXPELLED!

Amid a crowd of paltry things!

...in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses. 2 Cor. 6:4.

It takes Almighty grace to take the next step when there is no vision and no spectator - the next step in devotion, the next step in your study, in your reading, in your kitchen; the next step in your duty, when there is no vision from God, no enthusiasm and no spectator. It takes far more of the grace of God, far more conscious drawing upon God to take that step, than it does to preach the Gospel.

Every Christian has to partake of what was the essence of the Incarnation, he must bring the thing down into flesh-and-blood actualities and work it out through the finger-tips. We flag when there is no vision, no uplift, but just the common round, the trivial task. The thing that tells in the long run for God and for men is the steady persevering work in the unseen, and the only way to keep the life uncrushed is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the Risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to damp you. Continually get away from pettiness and paltriness of mind and thought out into the thirteenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel.

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest: Selections for the year (March 6). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.