Like snow falling
white, resplendent
bright enough to blind
and as I place
a muddied footprint
within its folds
I am washing away my filth
something beyond me
something I can not compose
has brought me
thus far
here today…
cleansed,
washed clean
so that I reflect
not the crimson
but the fallen white
refrains of purity.
I am whole again.
Yesterday I received some criticism for my view on heaven and hell; essentially that I believe that there is such a place. Coupled with the fact that we are people who must accept the consequences of the decisions we make. Every action has an equal reaction. Choice = Consequences. I was accused of circular thinking…was Newton in his laws thinking circularly too?
I’m not here to criticize or judge others…that has never and will never be my place. Here’s my thought on heaven and hell for the atheist. If there is no God, then what is there to lose to believe? By that I mean, if there’s nothing at stake at the end of human life then why not believe? Flipping the coin isn’t there so much more to lose if there actually is a God and we chose not to explore, not to believe then we are at fault…I am at fault?
I don’t perceive to know what the afterlife will be like, but I believe there is one! As far as other religions go, was I condemning them yesterday? No. But throughout all of humanity and our history, who other than Jesus Christ came to show Love? Who other than Christ came to redeem and actually called Himself the Son of God? Jesus even said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6) He didn’t say I am ONE of the ways, but THE way. Jesus came for the entire world, not (and especially not) for the religiously legalistic, He came for those seeking. In fact His own people rejected Him, and the Gentiles became recipients of His grace. You can shoot holes in that all day, but the fact of the matter is that God never has given up on humanity. He never will!
This brings me to my topic of conversation for today.
What do I stand for? I stand for Absolute Truth.
There are those within our culture that will say that truth is relative, that when you boil down situational issues in life, one person’s truth may be another person’s non-truth. But does that negate evidence that there is truth in our world? The common question we must ask in this pursuit of truth is this; “What is truth?” What do you believe truth to be?
If we look to science one can find this principle in action when we consider what the freezing point and the boiling point of things are can’t we? This would be evidence of definitive proof that there is a law of absolutes already in place in our universe. When Jesus made the claim that He was the way and the truth, He meant it. Despite the fact that there are those who would re-write history to make it more palatable, one thing exists that cannot be shaken despite revisionists attempts. Absolute truth will stand. I don’t need to defend it, people have studied sociology, theology and many ‘ologies’ and if you hold to any kind of chaos theory if one were to boil it down it just doesn’t make sense.
Where did everything come from? Unlike Stephen Hawking who insists that the universal ‘big bang’ took place without the presence of a God or an outside force…my question would be how did all of these elements come to be in the first place? How did a molecule or the first form of life become something else? If we look at this notion we begin to realize it is all theory and none of it can be proven. I’m not saying that I’m anywhere near as smart as Hawking by any means, and you can call me ignorant or a fool or anything else you would like but I believe with my whole heart that there is an absolute truth in this Universe and His name is I AM…God.
What do I stand for? I believe in absolute truth, I believe in order of the universe. I believe we were all created for a purpose and not by accident, and I believe this world is full of hope and potential that reaches far beyond our physical lives…all because of this one absolute Truth that governs our world.
What do you stand for?
I enjoy discussions about differences and varying views, I’m not here to judge or shout down anyone…I’m just calling it how I believe God has shown me, and I believe in His truth.
The ‘Great White North’ is living up to its name again today! Come on Spring…where are you?
Often,
when these thoughts
compete,
sprint off
into the hundred
meter dash
faster ever faster
feet a blur in its movement…
often
this is when I know
I must slow this
wearied pace.
Often
my heart,
a drum beat
chugging endlessly
at
one hundred and twenty
a rhythm that I
cannot catch
a train that has
pulled itself
mightily
from the station
departure has come and gone…
often
when I am standing
at the terminal
in full view of
the departing
in my horizon,
I know it’s time
to slow the pace
again.
Speak to me
Great heavenly Host
Father,
the Son
and the Holy Ghost,
Though I dread
the stilling of my heart
Often when I don’t
when I ignore
am blinded by these
feeble chores
how quickly time departs
from me and all that I
hold dear
derailed by the passing
strain
the stress
the rain of my expecting
heart…
Yet often,
more than I care to count
you still my heart
you sit me down
and speak within me
a silent stirring
that calls me to this
deeper devotion
far surpassing all of
my schedules and calendars
and things to do…
Still
my heart
once again
dear Lord…
for often I will too
soon forget.
“…and that in consequence of their fall (Adam and Eve) all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.” (The Doctrines of The Salvation Army, Doctrine #5)
“We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.” (The Doctrines of The Salvation Army, Doctrine #11)
What do I stand for? This is the question I’ve been asking and trying to answer all week…
Thus far we’ve explored: Selflessness over selfishness; God’s Justice & Social Justice. These are fundamental areas of a Christian life. So let me throw some fuel on the fire, so to speak…when we recognize what it is we are standing for, where our ideologies lay and are guided by specific principles in our lives we must begin to recognize that Isaac Newton’s third law of action-reaction applies to our spiritual lives as well.
Isaac Newton’s 3rd Law – Action/Reaction:
When a first body exerts a force F1 on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force F2 = −F1 on the first body. This means that F1 and F2 are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.
Did you catch that? Just kidding, unless you’re really into physical laws and laws of mechanics you might not understand this definition…here’s the definition that I understand: “To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.”
In our world, morally speaking, this reaction is called consequences. Everyone who makes choices both consciously and sub-consciously will find that there are consequences to each and every choice we make. All too often, however, in our world today many people have chosen to ignore these consequences by blaming other people for their mistakes, or simply running away from the consequences. Adam and Eve, as I’ve mentioned before faced God’s justice in the garden because of the choice they both consciously made: Action (Choice) = Reaction (Consequence).
Similarly, if we continue by this line of reasoning we come to a junction in the road that brings us to ultimate consequence. Everyone whole heartedly embraces and understands that all humanity will one day face death…as it’s been said, it’s inevitable like taxes. We will one day die. It is quite sad to consider those who are Atheists who believe that there is no further existence after death…that this is all there is to this existence. In the Christian perspective, we believe that our souls do have an afterlife and that within this afterlife there is heaven and there is hell.
As I’ve stated before some people have a difficult time facing this reality and that God would eternally punish those who reject Him. But as I’ve mentioned before if our action is to purposefully and willfully turn our backs on God, then the eternal consequence of such an action is the reaction which leads the soul to eternal separation from God. Hell is a real place! Hell will be inevitable for some people…and I am not the judge, never will be and I’ve never claimed to be. But if we are to embrace such a reasoning as an afterlife and the notion of heaven, then ought to understand that there is such a place as hell.
Here’s are some closing thoughts on this for today:
1) Own up to your actions!
You and you alone are responsible for the choices that YOU make…I am responsible for the choices that I make!
2) Consequences are real!
If you make a poor choice the consequences are yours. If I make a poor choice the consequence is mine. Not someone else’s. Stop blaming others when consequences come that we don’t like that are based on our poor choices.
3) There is always a right and better choice!
God doesn’t simply want a relationship with us, He want to transform us to become like His Son Christ on our spiritual journey! He doesn’t want us to remain the way He has found us. He wants us to choose Him every time in our daily lives. This means consider the consequences of our actions, consider the path that we wish to take and also consider God knows what He is doing! Choose Him, and His path…it won’t be easy but His path is right!
4) Believe in Eternity and live for God’s kingdom in the here and now!
If we choose His path, His direction in our lives, we not only fall in step with His will but we recognize that life is so much more than just this human experience. Eternity is so much longer and lives are at stake. We must be Christ’s ambassadors in our world! We are called to this higher calling to not only look forward to heaven, but to introduce Christ to those who have yet to believe and add to this heavenly family on this journey.
What do I stand for? What do you stand for? I will own up to my choices…I will face the consequence of my poor choices and strive, with His Holy Spirit’s help, to live a Holy life in word and in deed!
I look out of my window
through panes of glass
the blur
warbling images
as I glace from side
to side.
The light parades
itself
dancing to the
jostling rotation
of this God breathed
earth.
From inside
safe and sound
perhaps more in
mind
than in body.
Reality – outside
bleeds darker shades
crimson blending
into the soil.
Heart ache
well within reach
yet, if I close my eyes
I can
make believe
it doesn’t exist
safe behind my tempered glass.
But glancing
from side to side
eyes wide
taking it all in
it would be a sin
to ignore it.
A sin to make believe
it isn’t there.
A sin to stay…
to remain seated
safe and sound
in my little corner…
Something within me
beyond me
beckons
that I should go.
He beckons
that I should act.
“Oh Lord,
I have little strength
how can I do
what you would me do?”
And from my little corner
peering out
I hear Him say;
“My child who says
you should use
your strength?
for yours would
but a fraction be,
a second
in an hours time…
I will go with you.
My strength I
will impart
to you,
I will walk before,
beside and behind…
you will never be left alone.”
Now…
I am on the outside,
at times uncertain…
not of His presence
and power
but of where
He will lead
me next
for I go,
not in my strength
but in the One
who
beckons me onward.
A child goes hungry, not because there isn’t food in the village, but because his family has been ostracized for being Christians. They are not privy to the market place and so they have to fend for themselves by begging, trying to cultivate some foods from a meager garden and by digging through other people’s discarded trash.
Another young boy watches helplessly as his father is executed right in front of him, then is hauled off, brainwashed, strung out on drugs and given an AK-47 as a child soldier. This method is repeated over and over again by more than just the now infamous Joseph Kony. Other places in Africa as well as East Asia this is how warfare and power is perpetrated. Many times it goes unnoticed or unreported in our Western news sources…but it doesn’t make it go away for those who are suffering under this oppression and senseless bloodshed.
A young woman is kidnapped in the middle of the night from her bed and becomes a slave to the sex industry, where girls like her are property and a money making business. She is shipped in windowless crates, transported on trains, and moved from one place to the next to fulfill her slavers lust for power, greed and sex. When she is all used up, her body will be thrown out like garbage and the evil owners move on to other victims. Some say it doesn’t happen where I live…think again!
These stories are just the tip of the ice berg that is our fight against social injustice in our world today! It is something that all of us, who claim to be followers of Christ, should be engaged in to some form or another. Whether it’s helping in a food shelf, a soup kitchen from time to time, or supporting a governmental bill that will further help those in need. As Christians we are to be the very hands and feet of Christ, and I’m pretty sure He didn’t solely reside within the walls of the church to help those in need! A part of showing Christ’s love to those around us requires us to extend ourselves and help bring Christ to other’s body, soul and mind.
“A father acts on behalf of his children by working, providing, intervening, struggling, and suffering for them. In so doing, he really stands in their place. He is not an isolated individual, but incorporates the selves of several people in his own self. Every attempt to live as if he were alone is a denial of the fact that he is actually responsible. He cannot escape the responsibility, which is his because he is a father. This reality refutes the fictitious notion that the isolated individual is the agent of all ethical behavior. It is not the isolated individual but the responsible person who is the proper agent to be considered in ethical reflection.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics
We, as Christians, have a responsibility to intervene in causes for those who cannot defend themselves or are powerless to act. As protectors of our world we not only seek to keep our environment healthy and clean, but we should also, in our power, seek to bring freedom and hope to those who have none. Social justice isn’t just for the bureaucrat, the foreign ambassador and the law maker on Capitol Hill…social justice is for all of us who have a voice and the will power to actually change the world for the better.
“Denouncing evil is a far cry from doing good.”
― Philip Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda
The quote above is apropos…we can’t merely denounce something…watching a news story we just shake our head and say out loud, “What is our world coming to?” Yet we don’t do anything about it, we change the channel and move on in our own little worlds. This isn’t just an indictment on me this is an indictment on the entire Western world when we stand by and do nothing when whole cultures are being wiped out in semi-religious acts of genocide. When nothing is actively being done to stop the active violence in villages and the formation of child soldiers in third world countries. It is just plain wrong when nothing is being done to put a stop once and for all to the sex trafficking industry that enslaves men, women and children. I’m thankful for proactive political leaders and lobbyists who fight every day to change laws and make it an active war on these plights of our world! But it doesn’t just begin and end with these leaders and lobbyists…we too have a role to play as well! We too must roll up our sleeves and get involved! We too have a voice, and so we MUST use it!
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause”. –Isaiah 1:17
“Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.” –Jeremiah 22:3
“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” -1John 3:17-18
To Stand with God and His justice, we as Christ followers, ought to be also stand for social justice and social reform so that everyone in our world might have opportunities for freedom. God, I believe asks us to stand for those who cannot make that stand themselves. To speak for those who have no voice, and to make a difference in our world through not only environmental activism but also social activism. We are called to BE THE CHANGE!
Additional Sources:
http://streetlightusa.org/2012/child-sex-trafficking-research-and-statistics/
http://salvos.org.au/more/get-involved/social-justice/what-is-social-justice/
http://www.amazon.com/Social-Justice-Handbook-Better-Bridgeleader/dp/0830837159
When all else fails
when the engine light is on
when it putters, spews, coughs a death rattled breath
then lets go…I will begin to comprehend my worth.
When the paint, pealed and cracking on the barn
crumbling and falling down
speaks of yesterdays who are now
older than Moses and all of the
Red seas’ partings,
the falling loaves from heaven
and the sinning ways of the blind
when the earth gives ways to swallow
me whole…then I will find my way again.
When does when come again?
What is there in a terminal world
to cling to like a single hand grip
from plunging cliff?
What foothold do I have left within
all of my resources?
I am nothing.
I am but a wisp of vapor
trailing on a breeze…defenseless
and like Isaiah, when confronted with perfection
I am a broken man with muck and filth to my name.
When…maybe before the ‘when’…
as it turns a shade of gray in between
the ‘Now’, I will clasp onto YOU.
Dear God, who never lets a foot slip.
Jehovah who comes and claims His own.
The solitary stable Rock in a mudslidden world…
Never in my ‘Whens’ but may it be in my ‘Nows’
that I run to you…and embrace all there is
and grasp all there is
so that Holiness replaces brokenness
whole restores the shattered…
And I am in You.
Have you ever heard the expression from a parent just before they discipline a child, “this will hurt me more than it will hurt you?” Perhaps in your home you heard it differently, perhaps not. I used to think to myself when I heard this said, “oh sure it will, if it hurt you more than me then why am I getting the spanking?” Humorously I’d try to find ways to protect my rear end from harm. Sometimes I would have enough warning because the phrase my mother used was “go to your room and wait for your father to come home!” And so I would sit up in my room and contemplate what I had done as I was considering how many pairs of underwear I could put on without my father noticing so that I could lessen the blow of the spanking. Truth be told, I didn’t get spanked all that often but I will never forget the phrase, “This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you.”
I am convinced that our Father in Heaven feels that way too! He does not want to inflict pain and suffering on those He has created, yet because of humanity’s poor choices, at times, He has to. We were not created by a vindictive God who loves to punish. That wasn’t His purpose for creating us. God’s justice wasn’t initially a part of creation until the fall took place. Before the fall of Adam and Eve, God walked with us. God communed with His loved ones. The very fact that He had to drive out Adam and Eve from the garden must have been very difficult for Him! The pain in which He must have gone through because of their deceit and consequential sin. I can almost imagine God saying to Adam and Eve; “This is going to hurt me, more than it’s going to hurt you!”
After all, wasn’t it God who created for Adam and Eve their first line of clothing? (Gen 3:21) Even in the midst of their disobedience God was there to provide for them. God’s justice is something that He withholds until it is the absolute last resort. He doesn’t want to impose punishment on His creation, yet the consequences of willful and utter disobedience is punishment within the realms of God’s justice.
I know many have a very hard time comprehending the God of the Old Testament where it seems that all God does is wipe out whole cultures…yet we fail to comprehend how it must have cost God to do something so drastic. Mankind had ascended into the deepest darkest places of morality and sin. They had turned their backs on the One who created them, and because of this His justice had to take place.
Throughout all of history, God has made the attempt to reconnect with His creation. He has made covenants with them…and it should be noted that none of His covenants were ever broken by Him…they were broken by us, humanity. God knew that humanity could never find salvation by themselves, and so Christ, God’s one and only Son, enters the world to redeem us all. Once and for all, a perfect example of humanity’s blood can now cover all transgressions should they call upon the name of Jesus.
God’s justice should never be taken lightly. We must realize that how we live makes a difference. How we live dictates how God imposes love and justice towards us. If we claim to be Christians and yet our lifestyles say other wise we are knowingly sinning against God. To do so, places us in the path of His judgement. We know of God’s forgiveness and yet many use this as a ‘get outta jail card’ like in the game monopoly. Many think that because God will forgive they can carry on in sin and at some point ask for forgiveness and all will be right again…but to do this is willful disobedience and God will have His justice.
Yes God is a God of love and mercy, but He is also one of justice and judgement to those He loves. “because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:12 NIV)
What do I stand for? I stand for a love relationship with God. I stand for obedience to God…am I always obedient? No! But, I do know better when I sin and when I fall. His Holy Spirit is given to all who call upon His name and He can and will provide prompting, discernment and even conviction when we go astray.
I stand for a God of Justice even when I feel sometimes His justice is harsh. Though I may feel this way, I am not all knowing and unlike God, I do not have all of the evidence. God does, and in faith, I have to trust that He knows what He is doing. I am NOT God, nor am I even close to His level…so why feel as if I know better than He does? Sometimes, this can be temptation, after all wasn’t it Satan in the garden in the form of a snake who told Eve to eat of the fruit because then she would have the knowledge of God?
God’s justice is difficult to understand from our point of view at times. Sometimes we feel it’s too harsh, sometimes we feel it comes to slowly. Yet one thing is absolute within this line of conversation, God will have His justice and everyone one day, will account for what we have done on this Earth both good and bad.
Evidence of this truth:
Matthew 12:35-37 (NIV)
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Matthew 25:31-43 (NIV)
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
What I Do Not Stand For:
Mankind taking God’s justice into their own hands; (Governments excluded they provide our base of law and keep us safe). Those who would Lord over people and inflict their marred understanding of justice are not speaking for God!
God’s justice is like the parent that says “It will hurt me more than it will hurt you”. He never wanted to punish His creation, yet without that correction His justice would be the consequence of disobedience.
***Tune in tomorrow as I explore “Social Justice”…an extension of this conversation today!*** “Same bat time, same bat channel” 😉
Sometimes there are days, like today that people just don’t make sense…and circumstances don’t make sense either. I heard it on the radio today that an act of terrorism (yes let’s call it what it is) took place within our country, this time in Boston.
My prayers go out to those effected by this horrific event…no one should have to experience something like this. Acts of violence perpetrated by single individuals or groups all end be same way, more blood shed.
I won’t sermonize this event…I just want to ask that we pray for those who have been injured and effected in other ways.
PRAYER:
Lord be with those who are hurting right now, for those who are afraid…be their Rock and Fortress. You are the Great Physician, please provide healing and miracles. Lord, you are a God of love and justice, and we ask that those who harm others would find your justice as we too consider out actions daily. Provide your understanding in times like this when nothing makes sense. Your Kingdom and Will be done in our lives today. -Amen.
Pastor's Ponderings 