As the World Began

Wet

2009-10-08T13:05:00.002-07:00

I want you to
penetrate me
with your cold
and soft shafts
of light.

I want to feel
you wet
and reaching
out to me
from beneath.

I’ll let your
waters lap
at me
until I am
open, and
charmed.

Extended,
and arched,
my heated limbs
are cradled
by your
gentle arms.

Waking,
I shiver
off your cold
and find
my hair
drizzled with
your dew.

God,
let me feel
your warmth
again.

Trepidation

2009-08-27T23:49:00.002-07:00

each moment
i have
you fill

alone. when
the world
dims,
somehow,
you meet me
still.

for you are
the question
i have when
it's dark,

i whisper
your name
in fear
and
trembling

with tired hands
i can feel you
still
and hear your
soft breath
whimper
my name.

Beneath Your Waves

2009-07-31T22:54:00.003-07:00

It was my summer at sea,
the sun hiding under my blanket.
You were seven miles deep,
beneath me,
and now all I can taste
are salted meats.

Sometimes at sunrise I sleep
till you peer through me hard,
starboard side.
But I am cold,
and vibrating.

I feel like a boy against his
Father’s empty horizon -
two shades of blue, one line,
and no one dancing.

At night the crowd mingles,
their feet are flashlights against
the dark deep of all they fear,

like children, we are not safe anymore.

Phoenix

2009-06-21T23:26:00.005-07:00

Wrapped in your cocoon I am
safe until midnight when your
streetlamp gas fills the city
with orange haze, and violent
youth picket locks of young girls,
and the howls of desert dogs
are muffled inside garage door
fortresses laced with blue cocaine.

Outside I hear
your faint voice in alleyways, your face
in the dust of a 45 drive-by.
I am surrounded. Overhead,
the sky dims, and the moonlight
is stagelight for riot and revolution.

But since your hands are old,
I will rise and perch as the Phoenix,
jumping rooftops until I burst
in bloom over your city.

Dearly Departed Sun

2009-06-14T16:30:00.004-07:00

from Friday, March 6, 2009

I told you I would follow you
until the path to your heart
became an open womb,
for me to enter, and rest.

You are not near to me
anymore. So I wait,
listen, and together
with the silence, weep.

Overhead, the moon lifts
her skirt, And dances
just like you did, before
our first summer storm.

In Spring, You Too Will Bloom

2009-06-14T16:25:00.005-07:00

from Wednesday, March 4, 2009

My love
in the morning light,
lingered above my burning bed.

At dawn, the doves fly,
and a rose bush stirs
outside my window,
you still belong to me.

I reach my hand
to your neck
and mingle
my tears with yours.

I beg you not to leave
me alone
as twilight is coming
and
shadows of strangers
seek me in the night.

I have no candle left
for you to find me,
my love, please
follow this whisper
of orange blossoms
from my open window

You kissed me once
and now you have me
unravished, and pure.

Sometimes when your scent
Crosses my path, I am
charmed by your breath.
My feet sit in water dark,
and deep, I am bare,
and still, with just
a little light.

Part 8 of 23: Song of the Sunday Ghost

2009-06-14T15:30:00.002-07:00

from Monday, January 12, 2009

I told you this house was upside down,
its hard-wood ceilings and spackled
stucco floors still stain my soft feet
with blood blisters, white with dust.

We could make love on holy ground.
You tease me with your blouse instead.

Part 4 of 23: What My Mother Whispered to the Whaler

2009-06-14T15:19:00.002-07:00

from: Saturday, January 10, 2009

"Drink me,
before
I am sweetened by my sorrows."

A Story to Tell

2009-06-14T15:14:00.005-07:00

from Thursday, January 8, 2009

A short film created for Central Christian Church in Mesa, Arizona. The goal was to create a modern version of an aspect of the Christmas story. Hence, the backpacker-shepherds. A little cheesy, but hey, it's in HD! :D

HD Version HERE: http://vimeo.com/2754811

Credits:

Tim Allen - Camera, After Effects
Mark Miller - Production Manager, Additional After Effects
Jonathan Roberts - Writer
Directed by Jonathan Roberts and Tim Allen
Shot on location at South Mountain Park.

Script:

Tonight we watch the Western star in the wild sky
And we tread a broke-down path beaten by massive-
monsoon-winds and the clouded desert sun.

We pant, we trod, we take six thousand bold steps
and brace our strength for this last and great ascent.

We are shepherds and we have come to touch this wild sky
With our hands raised high and our knees bent low.
On this peak we stand as the guards and wide-eyed prayer-
warriors of the heavy-hearted, hemmed-in people we love.

We lay down sweat-soaked shoulder packs and walking sticks
And we bend our knees to keep our people at peace and rest.

We feel the slingshot rocks of this barren face tremble and
vibrate like a swollen beehive under our bare-skinned knees.

“Hush! Wait! Don’t speak!
Rise! Run! And tell this Joy”

Hemmed-in by mountains of sin, we can see the glory
Of our Lord fall like the light of seven thousand dancing stars
Filling the sunken valley below with hope in the distance.

The sky erupts in torrent and fury of sound and silence
And the chorus of high angels lights up the city in color,
With kited small circled-spheres of night and half-light,
rising and spinning through refracted red heat storm hazes.

Our faces are all alight with good news and great joy,
We rush and stumble back down the desert mountain
Like little kids on an early Christmas morning because
We are the swift and blessed ones…
and we have a story to tell.

Desert Children

2008-05-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

A flicker in those bold, wild eyes

And the bright morning star ignites

The perennial flames of the youthful sun;

They dance along the grey, muted skies

Dawn whispers,

And a hushed red glow

Emerges, brooding amidst

the brightening horizon,

Spilling and casting soft, dreamy hues

upon the wakening world.

The Eastern wind roams and whistles

Across ageless sands and sleeping deserts,

“Baérohsh aer zoé kånahk!”

Abba flings open the floodgates of time,

Unleashing the ripened store of

Vital light and roaring heat,

Chasing yesterday’s shadows

through the hidden wilds of eternity.

A Voice, riding on the wings of light,

Roars for the children of the West,

His conquering sons and dancing daughters,

to bind their wounds,

To gather their naked hearts,

And clothe them with Heaven’s garb.

The old beauty breaks down to dust

under the beat-down sun.

New waters burst o’er the Sonoran lands

And the desert children begin to dance,

“Awake! Awake!

Put on strength”

The Children rise in blazing glory of the Son,

“Rahshaht ao ner tzishet!

Båarraoke attah Yeshuah a Meschiach…”

~*~

And I woke to the whispers of angels.

“They shall go after the Lord;

he will roar like a lion;

when he roars,

his children shall come trembling from the west;

they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt

and like doves from the land of Assyria,

and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.”

-Micah 11:10-11

For the Days We Wish to Cry

2008-02-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

Just let me spill over,

Fall with the dripping rain,

Spinning till we crash and split

Into seven drops of serenity.

But I am still falling, love.

Brightly Violent

2008-02-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

She thinks in colors too,

looking forward to the prolonged nights

of utilizing firehoses to extinguish

the inner rage and frivolity

suppressed by family and discordant relationships.

My, how she dreams, and smiles,

and without even knowing

pulls me in

gently

to her warmth

of both subdued and

brightly violent colors.

Appreciate love?

I’m so happy to have existed

were I to have known only her.

I am a being of higher value,

above the animals that haunt and stalk

the memories of the Egyptian ghosts.

In her painted eyes

I beheld man,

clinging to a rose of beauty,

rising out of chaos and into light,

but his roots pulled him back down…

it’s all in the upper body, I s’pose.

I saw myself then.

And now it's cold outside,

but thanks to you

the imagination's warm again.

Far Forever

2008-01-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

The history is in your eyes,
New moments spilling over wells of memory
Carving new paths for each tear to take.

They will find their way home,
Here in my hands, in your hands
let my fingers start the healing,
Not even the ancient father will avert the end,
The sweet consonance to come.

It seems Never soon enough.
Never is a naughty word.

Don’t be far forever.
Sometimes a man must take the path less traveled by
His needles and lovers must stand by.
Sometimes I think I’ll never turn back
Or will be overtaken by lovers less thrilling.

My heart has its home, though these feet roam
Wounds will rise, battles wage in the skies
The Wanderer will have his way and then
Come hell and heaven, I will have you,

Again.

I won’t be far forever.

The Sea Wolf

2007-12-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

"...down I fell to dwelling upon the romance of the fog. And romantic it certainly was - the fog, like the gray shadow of infinite mystery, brooding over the whirling speck of earth; and men, mere motes of light and sparkle, cursed with an insane relish for work, riding their steeds of wood and steel through the heart of the mystery, groping their way blindly through the unseen, and clamoring and clanging in confident speech the while their hearts are heavy with incertitude and fear."

Jack London in The Sea Wolf

Light Up the Darkness

2007-12-14T14:23:00.000-07:00

Dirty Second Hands

2007-12-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

A [second-hander] is one who regards the consciousness of other men as superior to his own and to the facts of reality. It is to a [second-hander] that the moral appraisal of himself by others is a primary concern which supersedes truth, facts, reason, logic. The disapproval of others is so shatteringly terrifying to him that nothing can withstand its impact within his consciousness; thus he would deny the evidence of his own eyes and invalidate his own consciousness for the sake of any stray charlatan's moral sanction. It is only a [second-hander] who could conceive of such absurdity as hoping to win an intellectual argument by hinting: "But people won't like you!" (Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness, 141)

Shoot. It’s happening again – half my mind is suffering amid the strong swirl of ideas and memories formed over the past two weeks, the other consumed with a task even more grievous. You. I get into these spouts of inspiration where I can literally form another world in my head and dwell there all night, tasting the colors and feeling the sounds. Whilst this new Technicolor film runs through my head, spinning and sputtering ink onto the canvas, I am at mercy. I am distracted. With you. You plural. Meaning more than one you. Ok, I know, you (plural, again) get it.

Sorry doc, I think I’ve caught the disease. I’ve got a strain of second-handedness in me. I can’t even take the cookie out of the jar without gazing wide-eyed round the room, waiting and watching for the old mother to painfully swat my hand away.

What I’m getting at is this: it’s really really really hard sometimes to have sincere motivations, to not be defined by anybody but your Maker. “Wait, why am I doing this again?” The phrase is like a re-run every five seconds. Can’t focus, can’t concentrate, desire keeps running…

I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences
Don’t fence me in.

I just can’t seem to remove the endless torrent of thoughts about what other people will think of what I’m doing or planning or living. It’s almost a form of despair. I can’t even worship.

I’ve come to understand that if you ever wish to accomplish anything significant on your lifelong trek around this complex sphere of existence, you must firmly hold to a personal and practical idea of pleasure. Whom do you please? Who do you WANT to please? Who do you HAVE to please? And why? These are the very motivations that will drive every person to their knees. It is the reason why some men challenge dragons and others cast themselves into the sea. After all, we are all a slave of something, or someone… the apostle Paul reminded us in Romans 6 that you are a slave to whomever you obey.

People don’t make sense. Their ideas and advice is often like car exhaust – a necessary fuel to get us places. But it’s gone so fast, it grudgingly ascends to the purgatory of consciousness, ready to be tried and tested and maybe purged? It needs sifting. What, then, is the standard? How do I truly become myself? How can I get to the point where I have to confidence to do almost anything the Lord puts on my heart? Not recklessly, of course; relationships are fragile; bridges really shouldn’t be burned without due cause.

Purity. Purity of heart is to will one thing, says a great mind. One thing. No more duplicity. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, the brother of Jesus was quick to remind the seeker.

You wanna know the most convicting statement I’ve ever heard? It came from a girl; a beautiful young girl, like the one who arrested the apostle Peter’s conscience before the rooster crowed. She said:

“Have you ever set out to do something that you knew would require Divine strength? Something so heavenly, some giant so towering, some abyss so frightening that it would empty your strength completely… that you would be brought to the point of weeping and swinging fists and sweating blood in the first battle? And your absolute only hope would the Man on the white horse. Do you long to taste the victory that is ours in Christ? Do you trust Him? Can he really do anything… like you so often sing?”

Ok, maybe it wasn’t that dramatic. But that’s how my mind interpreted it. Conviction. I could be so much more than this. The mere man on two legs is not enough. I need Divinity.

The Lord my God lights up the darkness;
by my God I can crush an army
and in His strength I can scale any wall.
He enables me to go up on the heights,
And I am not afraid.” –Psalm 18

Worship. This is how I can avoid the pitfall of people-pleasing, the dirty second-handedness. My God is my King and my lover, whom have I in heaven but Him? And on earth there is nothing I desire but Him. My heart and my flesh may fail, but the Lord is the strength of my heart and my inheritance forever.

Light up the Darkness.

Never Let Go

2007-12-05T12:35:00.001-07:00

Encounter Worship Intro from Jonathan David Roberts on Vimeo.

Video montage used as an introduction for praise at worship at College View Baptist Church in Mesa, Arizona.

Original footage and editing by Jonathan Roberts

The Visage

2007-12-04T00:27:00.002-07:00

Painting the streets with my fingers gold,

The kingdom is coming, or so we’re told.

Yet the aches of kingdom’s past,

Like a broken mirror, the shattered glass,

Reflects the story in every shard,

love Divine; my soul sets no guard.

Into My Own

2007-11-29T23:03:00.000-07:00

I memorized this today:

Into My Own (1915)

ONE of my wishes is that those dark trees,

So old and firm they scarcely show the breeze,

Were not, as ’twere, the merest mask of gloom,

But stretched away unto the edge of doom.

I should not be withheld but that some day

Into their vastness I should steal away,

Fearless of ever finding open land,

Or highway where the slow wheel pours the sand.

I do not see why I should e’er turn back,

Or those should not set forth upon my track

To overtake me, who should miss me here

And long to know if still I held them dear.

They would not find me changed from him they knew—

Only more sure of all I thought was true.

Poem: Robert Frost from A Boy's Will

Picture: Jonathan Roberts from a hike to Mt. Humpheys

Faces

2007-11-27T00:27:00.000-07:00

This black and white world
Makes middle-gray the foe.

Is it all pretend?
Why not, why not?
I’ll see the blurs as tragedy
And start over.

Flip the canvas.

I am turning.
Running through the fields
again.
The sun is in my eyes,
every shadow behind
The only place I want to be,
I feel.
Jealously.
Do I have to leave?

I am turning.
And there you are again,
The colours of your skin
Spin a collage into the wind,
Our memories break
and fall
In mosaic.
Like your spring dress,
Bright threads
spun from your mother’s heart.
Let’s dance like lovers,
Fingers skip across each other’s lips
My hands are heavy,
They’re throbbing machines
Ready for
Hide and seek.

I am turning.
Don’t ever let go
the dark clouds sweep down to carry
Your heart away from mine.
Don’t let the war take your soul
Don’t the let the sand weigh you down
or
Blind your eyes,
Like back in the burning desert
of your Father’s land
I’ve had enough of His gasoline breath.
We’re never going back.
The dust is owned,
The flame is lit.

I am turning.
Quick!
Cover your face with a smile,
steal every affection
Pin every fickle heart
Fill your cup, let it spill
Over and over,
And over and over.

Father, please?

Duplicity

2007-10-16T15:31:00.001-07:00

The world is my widow,
The grey mistress of twilight
Sits divorced in mother’s lap.
A snarl.

The world is my window,
Trancendence echoes about
The rain of bright, new hues
A smile.

Did I Ever Say Sorry?

2007-08-15T16:11:00.000-07:00

Through troubled times and wasted years
Hurried goodbyes: your summer tears.

Fog is all this vision can muster.

But tell me, if you please,
Did we ever whisper what was needed?
What of it? Can we stop this pain tonight?

The backward glance, the empty hand,
the ubiquitous fog. Forlorn souls. And why?

Your lost touch.

The Dark Mountain approaches.

Again?

And with it all, I stop. The road turns.

I will follow.

Tethered

2007-08-14T16:19:00.001-07:00

Always on the eve,
When do we ever unravel?

"Then the Righteous Will Shine Like the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father…"

2007-08-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

Or, perhaps more accurately, what I learned from a holiday at the sea… and other adventures.

~*~

The sun was sinking into the horizon, the ocean darkening with mystery, and I was suddenly stabbed by joy – the sensation of being wicked, wild, and wonderfully in love. A very old book, full of precious reminders about the sanctity of this inspiring burst of existence we call life, was sitting very comfortably next to me in the sand. Maddened by too many words, not enough movement, I’d had too much talk… too little life – I was ready for more. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted, but I knew that I wouldn’t find it here sitting down. Whispering all sorts of crazy things to myself, I finally gathered the courage and leapt into a great unknown.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton has taught me to view life as a cosmic shipwreck in which a sailor awakens, blinded and bewildered by the dazzling sun, only to find himself stranded on an unknown island. Remnants of a mysteriously wonderful past lay strewn about the coast, relics from a better time. He has forgotten who he is, what the mission was, and why everything went horribly wrong. He curiously wanders about gathering these relics, these clues from a distant past, each one hinting at the meaning of his struggle. But amnesia stunts his progress, marring his potential, keeping him from action. He is content toying with wood chips when a golden palace awaits him just beyond the shore.

I am that man.

Earlier in the summer you would have found me laying face-down on a surfboard, a hundred or so feet from shore, waiting with eager expectation for what I knew was already over – the day had ended with a few worthy rides, but very little satisfaction. In the moments that followed I learned an amazing lesson. In the quietness of the departing sun and softening sea it came to me as if the brightness of spring had overtaken the melancholy of fall in only a second’s notice. "It" was the arrival of a flurry of emotions that few men could put into words. My mind works better with images, so I will see if pictures can make sense of what I stumbled upon… or, perhaps more accurately, what stumbled upon me.

"Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains."

For all my moral-uprightness, all my prided victories, collected friends, possessions, and memories – from all these things I was forced suddenly to take a step back, observe my empire, reassure my needy narcissistic affections. But what I saw did not meet any of these gluttonous demands. Again, think of the child content with building and rebuilding his own unfortunate little sandcastle, when a real one of gold and marble and love is awaiting him up atop the nearby hill. I was the child for an instant – muddied hands, tear-stained face, but bright beaming eyes full of hope and joy and wonder. The crushing revelation that all of my life, in comparison to the glory of God, could be nothing more than a collected empire of dirt, so easily dissolved in the mindless crashing of an ocean wave was simply undoing for a moment… but, thankfully, it only lasted a moment. For the very next instant brought with it the kind of serenity that most men would give their lives for.

I find myself by losing myself.

White is a hard color to keep clean; innocence is a shell likely to crack. The older I get the more convinced I am that most people spend the majority of their adult lives trying to reclaim and restore their childhood. It is the all-encompassing fear of loss that haunts most of us. But there is another way.

Perhaps this is why so much scripture speaks of child-like faith – that those who will inherit the everlasting kingdom must first deny themselves, and become like children again. Ah, but I do not want to die! How can death and denial to myself be good? What could ever motivate a generation to cast themselves into the sea? What if His arms are in the ocean?

It is the worship of self that makes men mad; it is surrender that brings serenity. It was George MacDonald who reminded me that the one rule of hell is "I am my own." We are all broken gods, we cannot handle divine power. Make a child a king and watch the kingdom fall. We become demons as gods. I believe the essence of hell is the removal of the common grace of God – that we are finally given over to our own unwise, independent rule, and are haunted tirelessly by the specter of guilt that continually brings up mistakes and failures and regrets. We fall short of glory and land in endless self-annilation. We hate the ruin we recklessly cause yet are unable to hand back the scepter to whom it rightfully belongs.

To get one’s eyes off oneself is a task that can not be accomplished by merely natural means, as the child can not stop the ocean – it is not his to command. The Spirit of God must awaken a mind and a heart with a burst of light and heat so intense that it fills one with a passion both to live and to die - death unto the flesh, alive unto God. And now I see – the beauty and brokenness, the wonder and woe, all in its rightful context. I die so I can live. This is why I abstain from sin: it robs me of joy, it mars my mind, destroys my ability to worship and to wonder. I desire exaltation and expansion – a world to stretch myself in… but evil of sin is that it enslaves me to lesser things, darker gods, false pleasures. I become my own, build my own prison, lock myself, and give the key to some lesser god. I must kill the side of me that, strangely, desires my death.

"Lord, open not too often my weak eyes to this...
Quick, show me that sweet thing
Which, 'spite of all, more deeply I desire."

"Our valley is His golden cup
And He the wine
Which overflows
To lift us with Him as He goes."

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
after righteousness
for they shall be filled."

Do you see it now, how loss can be gain, how pain can be precious?

Were I never hungry, never would I have sought the Bread of Life. Were I not these wings once broken, never would I truly appreciate flight.

Grace is the sweetest of words to a broken man

There… and it was done. As the vision slowly blurred back to reality I remembered the dark ocean still stirring beneath me. What lurked under the surface I had not the slightest idea. But something I did know – One greater than myself commanded and controlled the sea and everything in it. What, then, was left to fear? I knew the God of gods.

Every man is a rebel at heart, craving independence and unmitigated affection for himself.

"And from these sprang the dream I dare not chase,
Lest, the long hunt being over, I embrace
My shadow. Furies wait upon that bed."

~*~

I have come to believe that perhaps the greatest reason why the Great King willingly breaks a man of his loves and his dreams – of all the ones he has come to cherish – is to crush the rebel inside of him – to bring him back to God. To make him a child, who depends fully on parental provision and sustenance and guidance.

I am not my own.

Behind each frowning providence I find a smiling Face.

As each ruin falls I must remember that it is the ruin that is falling. Something greater and grander remains hidden and secure under the ancient debris – the promise of an inheritance.

A new world awaits:

"… the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God…"

A smile suddenly crept across my face. I quickly paddled back to shore, placed the surfboard on the glowing sand; then turned and ran as fast as I could.

"those who wait upon the Lord will gain new strength
they will run and not grow tired…"

My feet collided over and over again with the incoming waves, flicking foamy water up into the air and painting them against the sinking sun; they were instantly lit aflame in a beautiful collision of purple, orange, black, and blue. Faster and faster I ran, joy stabbing me all along the way. I had never been so alive.

~*~

Good things come to those who wait.

I Was the Lion

2007-07-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

Can this chaos turn to light?

My eyes again fail to see,
How the path came this way,
And where the worn road will lead
Next as dark mountains break the vision
So I am weary; I sigh complaints as
Life flickers away with each passing day
I’m haunted by a thousand dreams
Swallowed in a roaring sea
Submerged ‘neath the rolling waves
Of past regrets and pressing fears.

This empire of dirt –
it’s everything
Of all I hoped would come about.
Like a child’s sandcastle
Slowly dissolves in the ocean’s grip
It falls apart as sadness
Runs a river down my face.
Weighted down with scales of pride
Torn and bleeding from worldly wounds
Innocence soiled by seeds of despair.
The bloom is black
My lack, my lack.
I curse the cosmos for these constant sorrows,
My loss.
Loss.
I compose my soul in the morning light
As He
like a lion - He breaks all my bones.

Quiet!
Out of silence comes the answer:
No answer.

Wait.

The Dark God approaches.

Heavy clouds cover the spoiled empire
Light races
across the immovable sky.
The earth shakes, the mountains melt
The ocean stills.

The Terror of the North
With ancient hosts
All in flight, all in might
Come raining down
In torrents of glory
Consuming what I used to be.
Fire and fury, sound and silence
Echoes from the other side!

The Great God speaks:
“I WAS THE LION.”

Something sweet and solemn drips
Heavily off a golden mane
I dart my eyes away
From His undoing gaze.
I will not,
I can not breathe.
This, this can not be
Louder, faster,.
Closer He strides,
Further up
and further in
To me.

Still.

He comes in fury, He comes in warmth
He comes in glory.
He comes to me.

And I surrender.

Joy.

Joys that Sting

2007-07-06T14:40:00.000-07:00

"Oh doe not die, says Donne, for I shall hate
All women so. how false the sentence rings.
Women? But in a life made desolate
It is the joys once shared that have the stings.

To take the old walks alone, or not at all,
To order one pint where I ordered tow,
To think of, and then not to make, the small
Time-honoured joke (senseless to all but you);

To laugh (oh, one'll laugh), to talk upon
Themes that we talked upon when you were there,
To make some poor pretence of going on,
Be kind to one's old friends, and seem to care,

While no one (O God) through the years will say
The simplest, common word in just your way."

--C.S. Lewis

Thee

2007-04-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I went through a rather difficult season of life from about the end of September to February of this past year. Though I have not emerged unscathed from the battle, the Lord has taught me more than ever before - about myself, my place in His Kingdom, and what to do with this marvelous gift called "life." Below are a few lines I scribbled down during an uneasy night; they're all about moving from sin to grace, fear to trust, dust to glory. I hope you're encouraged; I'd like to know what you all think!

THEE

When white-washed walls and sleepless nights
Bid death to dreams and hide His face
My hope stands firm, my soul clings fast
I slip into the sea of grace.

When endless storms and worldly gales
Capsize this ship of broken praise.
The ballast broken, undone, and yet:
I lean on Him who calms the waves.

Oh how I wish the sun would dawn,
and chase away these clever lies,
to brighten all the colors here,
and strip me of this cruel disguise.

I think of things yet to be,
Like a canvas for a bright, new day,
Yet lurking 'neath my humble hope
are fears untamed, a heart dismayed.

I've had enough of jaded dreams,
and waking to find misery
I'm sick and sorry for all I've done,
Please come again, and rescue me.

Pardon me with springs of grace,
With showers cleansing ever stain,
Calm the fears that tempt new tears,
Till the false gods wither and wane.

~*~

Thee, my Lord and my God, I find
Thou changest not when hope is blind;
You do not run when tempests roar
Or faint when fear is at the fore.

My mountains slipped into the sea
And terrors seemed to swallow me.
Still You stand in sovereign light
Yet kneel with me before each fight.

No more black dragon of despair,
No more hot breath and heavy air,
Can pierce my conscience or hold death's night
His day has put my dark to flight.

“Take heart, my son; you’ll soon be home,
Fresh courage take from heaven’s throne.
Though joy sits begging on empty streets,
Forever she will not orphaned be.”

On Dragons and Communication

2007-04-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

The following is an essay I wrote for my COM100 course; the assignment was to write a paper explaining how I influence communication and how communication influences me. I tried to be a little creative with the rather boring topic and here's what happened (oh, and I added some pics for good measure):

Communication is arguably the most influential force in managing human identity, interaction, and activity. In fact, just about every event in a person’s daily life could be demonstrated to be related to how that person sends, organizes, interprets, and responds to the verbal and non-verbal messages that he or she receives. From phone calls to kissing to waving goodbye there are very specific messages that are being relayed from person to person; therefore, it is easy to understand why healthy communication is an essential part of living a flourishing life in society. This brief discussion and analysis will focus primarily on how communication influences the individual and how an individual influences communication; since this essay is intended to be partially autobiographical, statements that refer to the author in the first person should not be perceived as egotistical, but should rather be understood as his attempts to offer a sincere explanation for what he believes and how he came to believe it. Furthermore, I will use a dragon (call him “George”) to illustrate my ideas about how I understand and influence communication; George should be understood as a hypothetical character who, although he exists in a dragon’s body, actually thinks and interacts as a human being; therefore, his examples can be applied to real people (such as myself, assuming that I am not a dragon). The purpose of this brief essay is to demonstrate that an individual’s worldview (as defined below) is ultimately what influences his identity, which in turn shapes the way he communicates, which then determines how he interacts with other individuals, and that those interactions will either reinforce or readjust his worldview depending on whether or not he chooses to apply or ignore the new information gleaned from his interactions.

For the purposes of this essay, I will define a worldview as a complicated network of related assumptions (regarding the nature of time, space, reality, origins, humanity, and so on) that determine how an individual’s knowledge and awareness is interpreted. Although every person possesses a worldview, not everyone will actually reflect upon its content or be consistent in applying it – but they have one, nonetheless, because of the impossibility of the contrary. For example, George the Dragon may respond to me, “But I do not believe that I have a worldview, because I am a dragon, and dragons do not believe in anything,” when the fact of the matter is that his statement is, in and of itself, a worldview because he has just admitted to having a number of related assumptions that is affecting his perception; he is at least assuming the following things: 1) that he does not has a worldview, 2) that he is a dragon (a safe assumption, and one that would be dangerous to argue against since dragons pride themselves in what they are and are known to respond to any opposition with claw, flame, teeth, and other unpleasant interactions), 3) that dragons do not believe in anything (but George is a dragon [assumption 2], and he must believe that his statement about not believing in anything is true, otherwise he would not have said it [or he makes him self to be a liar or perhaps just ignorant]), 4) that I can understand his response, 5) that language exists, 6) that time exists (it took him about seven seconds to give a response that was ordered in a sequential manner), etc… Therefore, since George the Dragon has a network of related assumptions that are determining his perception and interpretation of knowledge, he indeed possesses a worldview.

Since it has been established that every individual (including George) must have a worldview, we must now understand how that worldview will order, shape, and affect identity, communication, interaction, and reinforcement. George has already admitted that his primary identity is related to his “being” (that he is a dragon), not to his “doing” (that he is a village-pillager). Although his “doing” (eating peasants, burning villages, and swatting away those pesky knights in shining armor) may constitute a secondary identity, we can safely assume that his worldview forces him to think of his value and worth as stemming from who he is, not what he does. Because of this, George will have an easier time managing his identity and avoiding an identity crisis. Let’s say, for example, that one day George accidentally flies into a tree and he ends up crippling his wings, breaking a leg, and losing his vision. Since George’s primary identity is not based on his ability to fly, walk, or see, he will not have to go through the painful process of readjusting his worldview (a component of an identity crisis). Although perilously injured, he remains a dragon. Furthermore, because George sees himself as a dragon, he will communicate in accordance with the social norms associated with how a dragon should interact. He will probably be loud, violent, aggressive, inhospitable, rude, and demeaning towards others in both his verbal and non-verbal communication. Finally, George’s interactions with others will either reinforce or readjust his worldview (and therefore his identity). If, one day, a fellow dragon sees George soaring high into the clouds, freefalling all the way back down to earth, and then doing it all over again and again (a ceremony in which dragons communicate with their “soul” [a non-material entity]) and the dragon says to George, “there’s no point in communicating with your soul, you see, because all you are is a biochemical mass existing in a material universe.” George will probably see this as an attack on his very worldview (and therefore his identity), and so he must either demonstrate that his worldview can handle this new information, or he must readjust his worldview in order to accommodate it. So George responds: “I actually agree with everything that you just said, except for that word ‘all.’ I agree that I am a biochemical mass, but I do not believe that that is ALL that I am.” This new information that he received from a communicative interaction with another individual could be accommodated into his worldview, thereby reinforcing who he is and what he does.

[I hit the word limit here, so I had to stop... :( ]

Life after Death and Taxes

2007-04-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

was definitely the best song of the night. For those of you who don't know (or weren't there) Relient K, Sherwood, Mae, and Transit War came to the Marquee Theatre this past Tuesday night. I got to breakdance in the mosh pit... again. It was a helova show ;)

Here's some pics for your enjoyment:

That last one is of Matt Thiessen exploding into an orange ball of flame when the pyrotechnics went horribly, horribly wrong.

;)

Adventures in Adventure Land

2007-03-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, I added bubbles; don't ask me why.

Coke, up close.

Kinda eerie, aye?

The Utah Desert.

This was BEFORE we got pulled over!

Fort Collins, Colorado (aka Gotham City)

Hey! I know that guy!

King James Version, of course.

Iceketball.

Hm...

"Mountains, Gandalf, Mountains!!!"

I almost hopped on...

Trinity?

The Road Goes Ever On and On...

Our Ultimate Inheritance

2007-02-04T00:28:00.001-07:00

Believer, if your inheritance is a lowly one, you should be satisfied with your earthly portion, for you may rest assured that it is the fittest for you. Unerring wisdom ordained your lot and selected fro you the safest and best condition. A large ship is to be brought up the river; now in one part of the stream there is a sandbank. Should someone ask, “why does the Captain steer through the deep part of the channel and deviate so much from a straight line?” his answer would be, “because I could not get my vessel into harbor at all if I did not keep to the deep channel.” So, it may be, you would run aground and suffer shipwreck if your divine Captain did not steer you into the depths of affliction where waves of trouble follow each other in quick succession.

Some plants die if they have too much sunshine. It may be that you are planted where you get but little; you are put there by the loving Husbandman because only in that situation will you bring forth fruit unto perfection. Had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there. You are placed by God in the most suitable circumstance. Take up your daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder and will prove most effective to make you perfect in every good word and work to the glory of God.

-Charles Spurgeon

The Crown of Victory

2007-01-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

It is true that looking forward there may be seen long avenues of tribulation, but the glory is at the end of them; battles may be foreseen, and woe to the man who does not expect them, but the eye of faith perceives the crown for victory. Deep waters are mapped upon our journey; but faith can see Jehovah fording these rivers with us, and she anticipates the day when we shall ascend the banks of the shore and enter into Jehovah’s rest. When we have received the priceless truths into our souls, we are satisfied with favor and full of the goodness of the Lord. I value the gospel not only for what it has done for me in the past, but the guarantees which it affords me of eternal salvation. “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”

-Charles Spurgeon

Stand Still and See

2007-01-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

I'm standing Lord:
There is a mist that blinds my sight.
Steep, jagged rocks, front, left and right,
Lower, dim, gigantic, in the night.
Where is the way?

I'm standing, Lord:
The black rock hems me in behind,
Above my head a moaning wind
Chills and oppresses heart and mind.
I am afraid!

I'm standing, Lord:
The rock is hard beneath my feet;
I nearly slipped, Lord, on the sleet.
So weary Lord! and where a seat?
Still must I stand?

He answered me, and on His face
A look ineffable of grace,
Of perfect, understanding love,
Which all my murmuring did remove.

I'm standing, Lord:
Since Thou hast spoken, Lord, I see
Thou hast beset - these rocks are Thee!
And since Thy love encloses me,
I stand and sing...

~*~

This poem was written in 1931 by Elizabeth Alden Scott, a missionary to China who felt her heart torn between the Lord's work and the insatiable desire to marry her fellow missionary, John Stam. But the banner of their relationship was always "God first," and so Elizabeth felt it necessary to leave for China and surrender all of her heart's desires to the one who held her times in His safe hands.

About eight months after she sailed to China, John finished his studies and with no other barriers left in the way, he also embarked for Shanghai- having no idea whether or not he would find Elizabeth there. 'Doubts were eating away at his hopes. He was so sure of his love for her - was she not so sure of hers for him? Had he honestly desired nothing but the will of God? Was he willing to face life without this loved woman?'

God knew what He was doing. Just before John arrived, Elizabeth had to return from the work in northern Anhwei to the main city of Shanghai in order to have a tonsillectomy, which kept her there for several weeks. Needless to say, when John found Betty at the missionary headquarters upon his arrival, his joy could not be contained. He immediately proposed. She said yes.

'It was a long year that passed after John and Betty said good-bye. When they met again, it was the eve of their wedding.'

They were happily married on the morning of October 25, 1933. In December of 1934 - two months after their first child had been born - John and Betty we captured by Chinese communists, marched half-naked through the village streets, and beheaded.

~*~

This is not a sad story; and this is not the wrong ending. God was faithful in the lives of this man and woman to accomplish His purposes. They kept Him as their greatest priority and, as a result, he brought them great happiness together and shortly thereafter called them to glory.

We should not shake our fists at the barriers and frustrations that God allows into our lives - they are for our sanctification; they force us to put faith in God, not in ourselves and not in others. Who hopes for what he already sees?

...oh for grace to trust Him more...

Forever He Will Not Orphaned Be

2007-01-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

The sky is grey and the light is far
The sea is a rage within my heart
I turn my sight to the crashing waves
I cry in the night just to be saved

I need eyes to be my guide
I need a voice that’s louder than mine
I need hope I need You
Cause I can’t do this alone

Grace I call Your name
Oh won’t Your smile fall over me
I’m cracked and dry on hands and knees
Oh sweet grace rain down on me I need You grace

I pray for dawn a new day to live
I pray for mercy only Jesus gives
Though darkness falls and a million cry
I believe over all there’s a greater light shining for us

Come down and save me

~*~

I will wait for You there
Down on my knees where I met You
Give You all of my cares
Find a grace to hold onto now
I’m calling for You

I will wait for You there
far from the world and it’s violence
It left broken and bare
I need to hear You in the silence now
I’m calling for You

I will wait for You there
Down On my knees where I met you
Cause life is a war fought with tears
But You are the strength I hold onto now
I’m calling for you

And with outstretched arms
I will sing out melodies
And my beating heart
Will pour out a symphony
Hallelujah’s in the morning
Hallelujah’s in the night

I will wait for you
…as long as I have life

-Phil Wickham

Light Shining Out of Darkness

2007-01-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the LORD by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev'ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow'r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
GOD is his own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

-William Cowper

Wonder and Woe

2006-12-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

Like a Canvas for a Bright New Day

2006-12-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

A Scarlet Reminder

2006-12-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion,

we were like those who dream.

Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tongues with joyful shouting.

Then they said among the nations:

"The Lord has done great things for them!"

And the Lord has done great things for us;

and we are filled with joy.

You've restored our hearts like streams that flow;

those who've sown in tears shall reap

their joy, in return, with shouts and songs

carrying the fruit of God.

As I Walked the Wilderness of this World...

2006-12-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

I shiver and shrink from the wint'ry winds,

Though the warmth of tears once carried great hope

Of grace to come without delay.

Yet the years spent pining for just one kiss

Have taken their toll; my soul's amiss.

I ache and fall into the fray...

"I am left to wander and roam."

~*~

[But you, my friend, are not alone.]

All My Tears

2006-12-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

It don't matter where you bury me,
I'll be home and I'll be free.
It don't matter where I lay,
All my tears be washed away.

~*~

When I go, don't cry for me
In my Father's arms I'll be
The wounds this world left on my soul
Will all be healed and I'll be whole.

Sun and moon will be replaced
With the light of Jesus' face
And I will not be ashamed
For my Savior knows my name.

Gold and silver blind the eye
Temporary riches lie
Come and eat from heaven's store,
Come and drink, and thirst no more

So, weep not for me my friends,
When my time below does end
For my life belongs to Him
Who will raise the dead again.

~*~

It don't matter where you bury me,
I'll be home and I'll be free.
It don't matter where I lay,
All my tears be washed away.

~*~

It don't matter.

-Dan Haseltine

A Small Measure of Peace

2006-12-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

Strengthen the weak hands
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
"Be strong, fear not!
BEHOLD, your God will come...
He will come and save you."

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away...

~*~

Isaiah 35: 3-4, 10

Trust. Hope. Rest.

When Life is in Discord

2006-11-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

Two things:

First: I have a new love. Her name is swing... swing-dancing that is (you were right, Rusty). This past Saturday night Hannah and I nailed down some freakin-sweet moves at the good ol' Cat's Corner (or Kat's Korner... whatever). But the highest point of the night took place outside of the odd-smelling dance hall when the things of God came up among four of us sitting at a elementary lunch table. Brent Klontz - you're such a stud ;) - was beginning to tell me how his relationship with God was going when a certain sweat-soaked young man named Anoki (yes, it's his real name. And yes, it does make him sound very much like a jedi.) sat down next to us. Long story short: Brent started asking him questions and Anoki quickly confessed to being an atheist, therefore the things of God didn't apply to him. We got to talk for another 15 minutes or so; most of his arguments went back to his evolutionary worldview. It was a good convo, but he definitely needs prayer.

He was unashamed to confidently agree with me that his worldview provided moral autonomy so he could live life his own way without ever having to think of the blinding holiness of the God who is going to keep him accountable for all he has done. I'm sure I'll have more opportunities to talk with him as I plan to go swing-dancing every Saturday night I can spare. Please pray for God to open his eyes.

Second (and much more sobering): my grandpa John (my mom's dad) has been having lots of health complications during the past several months. But things have recently taken a turn for the worse. He has stopped eating out of a refusal to live the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He is 85; he is not a believer. So my parents are flying out on Tuesday to go see him - probably for the last time. Please pray that God would save his soul.

Call Me a Dinosaur III

2006-11-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hi John,
Thank you for your encouraging words. Did you catch the comics this week? I attached one that you might enjoy...coincidence? I think not.

So, what did you think about Elser's arguments against creationism being called science?

Natalie

~*~

Hey Natalie!

You are certainly welcome : )

And thank YOU for the comic - it sure demonstrates one particularly luney side of evolution.

As for Dr. Elser's arguments, listening to him in lecture and reading his posts on discussion board can be quite aggrevating, to be honest. But I've noticed that he rarely answers a question directly, but he rather "intelletually sidesteps" the issue by blurting out a lot of nonsensical and circular arguments. For example, he is correct in stating that Creationism is not science - but only according to HIS definition of science. He even pointed out that one of the philosophical assumptions about science is that it tries to explain everything naturally. If we are to define science by "the study of what can be observed," then the starting point of Creationism is NOT scientific. However, when we apply the same line of argument, neither is macroevolution. Neither can be observed or repeated ;)

So then, both the Creationist and the evolutionist have a "non-scientific" starting point. Therefore each has its own framework of assumptions when viewing the facts (the data is always the same - granted that it's accurate - so only the interpretation differs according the presuppositions).

And so the problem the evolutionist runs in to is that since he believes that EVERYTHING in the universe can have a scientific explanation, he runs into a wall of faith that then forces him to twist the data into his framework of assumptions. It's like trying to jam a jigsaw puzzle piece into another one that does not fit - but you try anyway you don't like the picture on the box, thinking it doesn't fit with your beliefs about how it should look and work .

I believe it was G.K. Chesterton who said that modern man has battered his head against that wall to knock it down with his "superior" intellect, yet he has succeeded only in cracking his skull. ; )

Ok, I'll stop rambling now. But I'd love to talk to you about these issues sometime. Stay strong in your faith! See you Thursday!

Have a great week,

-John

"Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying 'where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.'

For when they maintain this it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of a water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men...

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

-2 Peter 3:3-9

Call Me a Dinosaur II

2006-10-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

An interesting revelation...

Well John,

My fairness is only the result of being part of a minority in the scientific community. In return, here is where I am coming from: I find no joy in defending evolution, because I too am a Christian. I admire the fact that you stand up for your beliefs in a class where they are often rebuked. I don't feel that I have this same liberty, since it is my job this semester to teach that evolution is good and creation has no place in science (neither of which I fully believe). There are so many difficulties in this debate that most of the time I just throw my hands up in the air and move on.

I am happy to discuss these issues with you because I need a better grasp on them myself. However, I will request that you try to limit your discussion of this topic in class. We are through the worst of the evolution material, and I only have 1hr and 45 min each lab to make sure that we get through the whole lab. Anything we discuss in class requires me to defend/support evolution, so please spare me! If I were to do otherwise, word would get out, I would likely be fired, and my credibility as a scientist lost, which would do nothing to help the situation. I guess that’s kind of a crummy way to look at it, but I haven’t worked out a better one yet.

The next couple weeks of lecture will be focused on evolution, and there is always the class discussion board if you really want to get people talking about the creation/evolution debate.

Talk to you later,

Natalie

~*~

Hey Natalie,

Thanks for being honest about your position. I can understand how difficult your circumstances might be…

However, never forget that “there is nothing new under the sun.” The enemy’s most powerful weapon has always been deception. Remember the Garden of Eden? The serpent said, “Did God REALLY say that…” And what did Dr. Elser present in class the other day? Something along the lines of “come on, you can’t REALLY take the Bible seriously, can you?” The arguments have always been the same. The evolutionist may fancy-up his words with all sorts of big, scientific jargon – but the fundamental questions of life still remain unanswered. So take heart – from the beginning men have tried and tried to both distort and destroy God’s Word. Yet, it remains. And it always will. His promise is always true, “the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever,” Isaiah 40:8.

So anyway, I just want to let you know that I will be praying for you a lot.

I will definitely honor your request to limit my discussion in lab. I understand that you are in a teaching position, and therefore you must be able to teach the necessary material. Besides, these discussions are always more beneficial in smaller groups. So I will keep my discussions within my own lab table as much as possible. And please don’t neglect to correct me if I step out of line somehow.

One more thing: I am much more concerned about people than I am about a debate. Sharing and living the gospel is central my life. Therefore, I will always try with any conversation - like this one – to lead a person to knowing Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. That is my ultimate intention; I will never debate for the sake of debating – this often just leads to heated arguments and broken friendships. So, that is where I am coming from.

Thanks for the emails, I really appreciate it. I was very pleasantly surprised to read the words, “I too am a Christian.” You are not alone, Natalie. Maybe sometime I could come to your office hours and discuss this more. If not, then I completely understand.

Once again, I will be praying for you.

See you on Thursday,

-John

Call Me a Dinosaur I

2006-10-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

The following is a series of letters between my biology lab teacher and I. Just so you know, this all started with my "intentional inquisitiveness" during one particular class period when she presented evolution. I couldn't believe her honesty and willingness to talk, as you will see in the next few letters. My hope is that you are encouraged to not be afraid of those "scary intellectuals;" they're just people, people. And they need the Savior just like everyone else...

John,

Sorry I couldn't address your question in class - I don't want to you to think that I was blowing you off. If you are interested in looking more into the evidence for evolution there are some detailed web sites you can check out:

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_evolution

The idea is that if microevolution happens bit by bit over a very long period of time, eventually the end product will be very different from the starting product, = macroevolution.

Like we learned in lab, microevolution can be directly observed and experimented on, but macroevolution is left to inferences, circumstantial evidence, comparisons, etc., and consequently, support is weaker. A wide variety of supporting indirect evidence makes it stronger.

In addition to the fossil record (1),

(2)they are starting to gather molecular evidence - similarities in gene sequence between different organisms used to construct phylogenetic trees, and (3) comparative anatomy where they use common structure among different animals - the hand bones of a human compared to a bat, whale, horse, or vestigial structures

There are probably other things out there as well that I haven't thought of, but this is an interesting debate, and it's good that you think critically about it.

See you next week,
Natalie

~*~

Natalie,

Hey! Thank you so much for the e-mail. I really appreciate your willingness to talk about this issue. And you’re right – this is an interesting debate that carries tremendous implications towards life, philosophy, religion, and so on.

I have taken time to look at the evidences proposed to support macroevolution. Although I am by no means a scholar in the field of biology, I believe I understand enough to at least question the validity of this theory.

I’m not going to state all of my reasoning in this email – I’d prefer to discuss these issues in person – but just to let you know where I’m coming from, I will briefly summarize my position:

Obviously, I am a Christian. ;) Therefore, the macro evolutionary theory presents a very different explanation for the origin of life in all of its vast complexity and wonderful diversity than the belief system that I adhere to. But please understand this: I neither hate science nor fight against it. Rather, I LOVE the thrill of learning about how the world works (you’ve probably seen how excited I get in class when we get to do experiments ;) and all the benefits that come from that gained knowledge (medicine, technology, etc…). Science is a very good thing. However, when it is not understood in respect to the revelation of God, then it very quickly loses any grounds to adequately explain the big issues pertaining to life, death, and origins. Basically, I believe that science and faith are not mutually exclusive. So when faced with apparent findings that seem to contradict my faith, I start with these presuppositions and work to resolve the issues.

I hope that makes sense. Now, let me just quickly state my responses to the evidences for macroevolution.

1) You said, “The idea is that if microevolution happens bit by bit over a very long period of time, eventually the end product will be very different from the starting product, = macroevolution.” All microevolution does (to my knowledge – please correct me if I overlooked anything) is make sure that a species is well-adapted to its environment by favoring the beneficial traits. Microevolution cannot advance a species to a “higher level” because no new DNA is ever added. For example, even if we were to do our experiment in class with the paper dots for an eternity, reenacting natural selection, would those little dots ever become a larger, intricately-designed piece of origami? Well, of course not. That would require both more material (DNA) and an outside force to create it.

2) I already gave [in class] an alternative explanation for the fossil record. Therefore, this evidence is made null on the basis that it can be equally or better explained by a catastrophic flood.

3) Along the same line of argument, similarities in gene sequence and homologous structures are also evidences that assume that macroevolution has actually taken place. Furthermore, these “evidences” can also be used as proofs for a Designer using consistent patterns.

To summarize: all of the evidences that I know of used to support macroevolution are 1) interpretations based on the assumption that it has occurred and 2) can also be used in support of a common Creator.

Please understand that this isn’t a thorough presentation on the issue. I just want you to have a better understanding of my position. Of course we can elaborate on it in class if you would like. My desire isn’t to get into heated debate (there’s enough of that going on at ASU ;), but rather to politely discuss the issues.

Anyway, thanks for listening – I really appreciate your fairness in class to hear different arguments. I look forward to talking to you on Thursday.

Have a great week,

John Roberts

The End of Sorrow

2006-10-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

These lines have been running through my head all day...

He came to my desk with a quivering lip.
The lesson was done.
“Dear teacher, I want a new page,” he said,
“I have spoiled this one.”

I took out the page, soiled and blotted,
And gave him a new one, all unspotted,
And into his sad eyes smiled:
“Do better now, my child.”

~*~

I came to the Throne with a trembling heart.
The day’s work was done.
“Dear Father, I want a new day,” I said,
“I have spoiled this one.”

He took my old life, soiled and blotted,
And gave me a new one, all unspotted,
And into my tired heart He cried:
“Do better now, my child…”

- written by an elementary teacher -

An Introduction to Love

2006-09-19T22:30:00.000-07:00

The following is a short paper I wrote t'other day for my literature class. Obviously, you will not understand all my supporting arguments unless you have read Chaucer's work. I do believe, however, that you may be encouraged by this subtle defense on the Biblical guidelines for human love. But more importantly, this serves as an adequate introduction for a larger work I am currently studying for - some of you know the one of which I speak. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, too.

~*~

In Geoffrey Chaucer's prolific work of The Canterbury Tales, the issue and nature of human love is discussed and discoursed – almost to a maddening level. The story, which tells of a diverse group of pilgrims traveling together from Southwark to Canterbury, is composed of twenty-four tales told by the different adventurers.

The first of which is about two knights – Palamon and Arcite – who both “fall in love” with the same woman. In the love triangle that quickly ensues, the knights can find no resolution in fighting over which one of them bears the right to gain this woman’s affections. After much battle and banter – and a treacherous involvement of the gods – this love carries out a destructive end. My intent here in not to analyze so much of the story itself (the digressions and turns are many; a plot analysis would assuredly be a work worth pursuing at a different time), but rather to take a brief look into the nature of the kind of love that is presented in The Knight’s Tale of The Canterbury Tales.

One of the first qualities of courtly love is that it hurts. When Palamon first chances to see Emily, “he blenched and gave a cry/ As though he had been stabbed, and to the heart,” (32). And just a few moments later, she catches Arcite’s gaze and “her beauty hurt him so,” (33). With this point I dare not disagree – for obviousness of the human need to pursue and capture beauty when he sees it; it is indeed a healthy habit to have a strong something – such as a woman’s beauty – to engage the senses and direction of a man in order to cause him to initiate a relationship. I suppose even this can be debated, but there is not room here adequate enough to give a convincing presentation. Therefore, I will gladly refrain from such a task.

A second quality that does deserve a brief examination is in the idea that love is not love unless it is destructive. Namely, that a love cannot be had until it is coerced through the violent slaying of all that stands in its way. For the sake of fairness I must point out that this sort of statement contains truth – but only to the slightest extent. For example, a love between a man and a woman is – strictly by definition – monogamous in all respects. Therefore, love must be protected and guarded with all godly jealousy; otherwise, nothing will prevent an intruder from stealing away what is most sacred and precious (adultery is the prime example). However, when jealousy becomes selfish ambition and all passion is unbridled and unrestrained, then love inadvertently turns to hate. The good and noble form of jealous love was displayed during the tournament where Palamon and his knights zealously fought Arcite and his in a mere display of heroic deeds (no death was involved at this point). But the untamed and destructive side of courtly love was witnessed during Palamon’s fight with Arcite in the grove (death was the goal here).

I would argue that neither of these men truly loved Emily. From their first gaze of her, till the fateful death of Arcite, both knights claimed to love and serve her more than the other, but (blinded by lust) it never crossed their minds that perhaps the love wasn’t mutual – or, if it was, then it could never be aroused in her until one of them actually took the time to truly know her. It seems to me that a sacrificial, godly love for a woman has been terribly confused with selfish, ungodly lust to have what can never be had. The first cares, protects, and perseveres while the latter wants, kills, and eventually destroys both the love and the lover.

Once again, this is by no means an exhaustive presentation of the theme of romance found in The Knight’s Tale. I have merely set forth what I believe to be some of greatest pitfalls of a love which refuses to live with itself and others. And, most often, it does not.

Piercing the Darkness

2006-08-08T23:25:00.000-07:00

~*~ The Beginning of the End ~*~

The Westminister Confession of Faith: Shorter Catechism, Question One:
Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

-

Oh the wicked-horrible wretch that I am,
For blind, bloody, and dirty I stand –
Alone before Him, who Himself is the Light,
When my eyes catch His gaze, my soul shakes in fright.

What can a man offer to God,
That has not already been given?
Or what could this whore do to himself,
To remove the marks that must be forgiven.

But I am darker, weaker, and more ignorant still,
For in having the truth, I have suppressed His will.
So what can be done for a wench such as me?
I have no ears to hear, and no eyes to see.

-

I am worse than my lovers,
And am lost in the sea.
I have betrayed my Betrothed.
Who, now, can rescue me?

-

-Jonathan Roberts

~*~

There come many moments in my life where the Lord abruptly shatters the foolish facades of hypocrisy and insincerity that I so whimsically seek to build around myself. Sometimes these moments are very dramatic and unmistakable to be the work of our holy and faithful God; but other times these exchanges are so subtle that I have to simply silence the noise of my mind in order to catch the brilliant whispers of the Holy Spirit. Both of these forces have been increasingly active and working in me, not allowing my conscience to have the slightest ease until I rest in Him. Augustine’s Confession that “Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till we rest in Thee,” has become a tangible reality as of late. Dark and difficult days have dominated my life for such a long period of time now – mostly due to my own wanderings and shortcomings, I suppose – but I truly believe that both the light of the gospel and the glory of Christ are beginning to shake this present darkness. Because of this, it is my purpose here to somewhat painfully express some confessions of my own that have come out of some severely difficult trials with the hope that you may be encouraged and even challenged to love our God all the more – for He is worthy.

A poet of the late century penned these very difficult, yet very truthful words:

How intense is the agony:
When the eye begins to see,
When the ear begins to hear,
When the heart begins to pound,
When pulse begins to throb
When the soul feels its flesh,
And the flesh feels its c h a i n s.

When I first heard this, my eyes began to fill with tears as the feelings that the author was trying to communicate became suddenly poignant and real. This is nothing but an honest expression of the reality common to every man. Namely, that we are not free – we are slaves to sin, and the shackles of iniquity bind every one of us – our flesh is chained. All of mankind is utterly wicked and broken and bent towards evil. Dr. John R.W. Stott (a British evangelist) in one of his books makes this comment on civilized society, and her problem with morals and civility, says this:

Many of the happenings of civilized society would not exist if it were not for human sin. A promise is not enough; we need a contract. Doors are not enough; we have to lock and bolt them. The payment of fares is not enough; we have to be issued with tickets which are punched, inspected, and collected. Law and order are not enough; we need the police to enforce them. All these things and many others, to which we have grown accustomed, that we have taken forgranted, are due to our sin. We cannot trust each other; we need protection from one another. It is a sorry state of affairs.

Every unbeliever feels (remember that although he or she may deny the fact and face of evil, he can never deny the feeling of evil) the weight of his guilt that has been thrown upon his back by sinning against a Holy God, and even the Christian may often find himself or herself lost and buried under the pressure of living in a broken earth and a sinful world; however, most of the time we (consciously or subconsciously) shun and suppress the truth that we are utterly fallen creatures living in a fallen creation. But the reality of sin is inseparable from the reality our daily lives.

~*~ ~*~

Allow me to personalize these thoughts:

Over the past few years I have come find that there are two distinct concepts of sin presented in the scriptures. The first is that of directly breaking God’s law. David’s confession (long after He had killed Uriah and committed adultery with Bathsheba) in Psalm 51 that

“I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight…”

is a prime example of the guilt that direct disobedience brings with it. Every one of us has broken God’s law (we have all lied, stolen, lusted, envied, blasphemed, disobeyed, and murdered – whether it be inwardly or outwardly). And even though we constantly attempt to justify our wrongdoing by comparing ourselves to others to make our filth look less filthier, scripture reminds us that “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all,” (James 2:10). Paul also made it extremely clear in his letter to the Romans that there is no partiality with God, for the whole world has become guilty before Him because all have broken His law.

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through Law comes the knowledge of sin. Romans 3:19-20

These willful sins (when I knowingly transgress the law of God) have built up a certificate of debt against me that must be paid for. I’ve always found Solomon’s last words of wisdom to be a most fascinating conclusion to his life of saturated sin, untamed passion, unthinkable pleasure, and willful disobedience.

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Ecc. 12:13-14)

However, when one realizes that he or she has not kept the commandments of God, it is then that sin becomes so exceedingly sinful. And just like Paul said, the longer one looks into the Law of God, the knowledge and guilt of sin becomes heavier and heavier. It is also then that the façade of self-righteousness is quickly revealed to be just another manifestation of sin… p r i d e. The more and more I try to keep the law of God, the more I find that I do not keep it; I am a transgressor of the law. But it is fundamental to understand that sin runs much deeper than just the violation of commandments. Jesus was quick to dispel the popular notion among the Jewish leaders that sin was a product of external impurity:

“Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean’…”

He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”
(Mark 7:14-15, 20-23)

There is something deeply unsettling and rank and vile about the very heart of man. Ravi Zacharias points out that:

For man, sin is not just an act, it is an attitude. Man is not a sinner because he is a transgressor; he is a transgressor because he is already a sinner. The offense is not only in the transgression, but in the intention. Not merely in the violation of law, but in the disposition of the heart. The Sermon on the Mount makes this clear: lust is adultery, even if it never passes beyond the look of desire; hateful anger is murder, even if blood is never spilled; materialism is lust of the eyes, even if one is not rich. This is so because the seed of sin is in the heart and the will, not only the action.

It is interesting to notice while all of us may not violate all of the commandments, we are generally very proud of the ones we keep, and we have no sympathy with those who are violators in areas where we ourselves are virtuous. Isn’t it true that the drunkard will often boast of his charity, the immoral man is thankful that he is not a thief, and the profane swearer flatters himself that he never lies. No wonder the Bible says “how deceitful and desperately wicked is the heart of man.”

From King Saul, who twisted the law in order to be able to offer sacrifice and bring some kind of appeasement to his own conscience, to the violation of the woman in Solomon’s day who was willing to see a baby cleaved in order to protect her own dignity, sin is rampant. Adam’s sin has brought sin upon the whole race, and you and I are fallen creatures today.

-Ravi Zacharias “The Lostness of Man”

/\ I a m a t r a n s g r e s s o r. /\

The second idea of sin in the scriptures is that of missing the mark. So, not only do I embrace wickedness, but I also do not (and can not) meet holiness. The well known claim of God’s Word is that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” It is like an archer who - given every opportunity to poise and ready his aim – completely misses the target he was supposed to hit over and over again, no matter how many attempts he is given or whatever adjustments he tries to make. Here is a charge that none of us can perfectly obey:

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY FOR I AM HOLY.” (I Peter 1:14-16)

Nobody’s perfect (the cliché is right!). Therefore, everyone is imperfect. And the Bible calls this imperfection sin. All of humanity has missed the mark of God’s absolute standard of holiness. And it has become suddenly apparent – probably due to my imperfect mind and imperfect theology, I believe – that I have been neglecting and even suppressing this second concept of sin: the idea of missing the mark. Namely, that everything I do – even the times of heartfelt service and obedience – is tainted with my pride and my selfishness and my hypocrisy. The more time I spend in God’s Word, the more I see my own sin in light of His holiness. It seems a little strange that verses that I often quote when sharing my faith with others have suddenly become sharp, direct, and even painful towards me. Verses like:

The heart is more deceitful than all things
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
(Jer. 17:9)

For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
(Is. 64:6)

/\ I a m f a l l e n. /\

Spending many of my devotional times in the Old Testament this past year, I have come to notice many similar themes and messages spread throughout the OT books. Probably the strongest and most recurrent theme is that of God’s faithfulness to His people Israel in spite of their unfaithfulness to Him. Even in the book of Judges you find God consistently and faithfully redeeming His people only to have them chase after other gods and play the harlot with the other nations. But finally Israel comes to the knowledge that freedom is not the same as autonomy, meaning that you can destroy freedom just as much by abusing it, as you can by taking it away. Before long, Israel realizes that in seeking their freedom from the yoke of God, they have become enslaved to the pagan nations, who treat them in return with malice and hatred. So God’s people cry out to God and ask for deliverance. And God, infinitely faithful, sends a judge to deliver them from the yoke of slavery that they themselves put on. But not long after God rescues Israel, she once again plays the harlot and chases after other gods. This continuous cycle in Judges of sin, servitude, supplication, salvation, and silence, is found throughout the rest of scripture as well; particularly in the prophets.

In the early chapters of Jeremiah, the “weeping” prophet is inspired by God to speak to His people a message to convict and turn their hearts back towards Him, and away from their adulterous lovers. The theme of adultery between a husband and wife and how it relates to Israel’s (the bride) treatment of God’s (the Groom) love and faithfulness is both powerful and applicable. Listen to the Lord’s strong words against His people:

“Be appalled, O heavens, at this, and shudder with great horror,” declares the LORD. My people have committed two sins: they have forsaken Me,the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water…”

“Your wickedness will punish you; Your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

“Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said,

‘I will not serve you!'

Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute. I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine? Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign LORD. “How can you say,

‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’?

See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there, a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving – in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her.

Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry. But you said,

‘It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’”

Now watch how the Lord paints a picture of how serious their sins are against Him:

“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers – Would you now return to me?” declares the LORD.

“Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame. Have you not just called to me:

‘My Father, my friend from my youth, will you always be angry forever? Will your wrath continue forever?’

This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can.”
(Jeremiah 2,3)

When reading passages of Scripture like the ones above, it is all too easy to justify our conviction by telling ourselves that this type of language only applies to Israel in the Old Testament, and has no real meaning or correlation to us today. But think about how many times you have told the Lord that you loved Him and promised to reject the pleasures of the world and of sin only to find yourself jumping right out of the arms of God and embracing spiritual forces which wage war against the soul. And yet we even try to blame God when the sin brings its natural consequences by crying out like Israel did, “Will you always be angry forever? Will your wrath continue forever?” as if it was all God’s fault that they had become enslaved to their sin. Notice God’s response: “This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can.” We tend to ask God to deliver us from the pain and damage and hurt that our own sin brings upon us, yet fail to change the object of our affections. We can try to clean ourselves up by self-righteous acts, yet our sin is still staining in the sight of God.

And notice the analogy He gives about Israel’s rejection of God and wandering towards other gods; when a couple is divorced and the woman is physically joined to another man, how then can the woman’s first husband ever be joined to her again? Has she not defiled herself? Adultery is something I’d like to think that I have never done – at least in the literal sense – but the Bible makes it all to clear that to reject the love of God for the love of another is adultery in its most intense and despicable fashion. Can you imagine if you heard a husband say – with pride and confidence – that he was 98% faithful to his wife (he only has affairs two percent of the time, but the rest of the time he is completely loving and faithful faithful), what the reaction from those hearing would be? We would all be shocked and horrified at that sick and demented portrait of what it means to love. Yet, we tend to justify ourselves spiritually by saying that we’re faithful to God most of the time… it’s just those few slipups here and there that mess things up, but for the most part… we’re ok… Do you see the hypocrisy? Do you see the adultery? And listen to God’s response after the husband and wife analogy, “But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers – would you now return to Me?”

/\ I a m a n a d u l t e r e r. /\

The book of Hosea – which is almost entirely about God’s faithfulness to a faithless people – contains some of the most convicting passages I have ever read. Here’s one where God is speaking to His people,

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
For your loyalty is like a morning cloud
And the dew which goes away early.
Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.
For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,
And I the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
(Hosea 6:4-6)

My loyalty is like the morning cloud; my faithfulness towards God is like the dew on the grass that lasts for just a few hours before evaporating into the atmosphere. I cannot tell you how many times I have pledged myself to God, vowing to myself to never do a particular sin again, and turned my back on sin; only to find myself a few hours or days later wallowing right back into the mire. But there is a subtle piece in this type of repentance that I have recently come to discover to be not at all Biblical. Did you catch it? Have many times have you told yourself that you would never _____ again, only find yourself failing over and over again in your personal commitments to abstain from sin. So, what are we depending on as our motivation and strength to pull us through those times of difficult temptation? Could it be that more often than not we look to our own self-righteousness to deliver us? One Sunday at church I borrowed Hannah’s copy of The Valley of Vision to read prior to communion in order to prepare my heart. Owing much to His benevolent sovereignty, the first Puritan prayer I opened up to was one that spoke directly towards this issue:

My Father,
When thou art angry towards me for my wrongs
I try to pacify thee by abstaining from future sin;
But teach me that I cannot satisfy thy law,
That this effort is a resting in my righteousness,
That only Christ’s righteousness,
Ready made, already finished,
Is fit for that purpose;
That thy chastising me for my sin
Is not that I should try to reform,
But only that I may be more humbled,
Afflicted, and separated from sin,
By being reconciled,
And made righteous in Christ by faith;
That a sense of sufficiency and ability in him
Is one means of my being immovable;
That I can never be so by resting on my own faith;
But by trusting in thee
As my only support, by faith;
That if I cast away my faith I cast away thee
That I fall short of the purity thou requirest,
Because in thinking I am holy
I do not seek holiness,
Or, believing I am impotent, I do no more.
Humble me for not being as holy as I should be,
Or as holy as I might be through Christ,
For thou art all and to possess thee is to possess all.
Lord, forgive me for this.

I can never satisfy God’s law, and so when I try to please God by abstaining from future sins, I am depending on my own righteousness to deliver me from temptation. This, in itself, is sin as well! Rather, my motivation for abstaining from sin should be that Christ has already make me perfect - by imputing His righteousness to my account because I have repented and believed- and my reaction to His marvelous mercy and grace is a desire to obedient and faithful for His name’s sake, and not my own.

To summarize thus far: I have found that I am a sinner by transgressing the Law, by falling short of holiness, and even having sinful motives – like self-righteousness – when repenting and desiring to abstain from sin. The other day I was confessing to God and as I did so I made a list of my shortcomings that I simply could not remove from my conscience. Here’s what I wrote:

“I am a liar. I am a thief. I am an adulterer. I am a hoax, I am a fake, I am a careening façade whimsically spurning the grace of God. I love what is evil and mock what is good. I am selfish, proud, arrogant, insolent, lustful, and every imagination that I have is bent towards wickedness. I tell others to repent of adultery when all the while I am doing it myself. I hide, I lurk, and I cover the things that I do in secret. I encourage my friends to love one another and be patient with their brothers and sisters when I, in fact, loathe and despise my own family. I am jealous and full of anger. I love those who love me, yet do it all with selfish motives and unmatched pride. My heart fills with hatred and disgust when I am wronged or corrected or neglected, even though I probably deserve every bit of it. I mock the saving grace by refusing His charity, I sneer at the cross by continually chasing after vanity, but worst of all: I shame the gospel of Christ by calling myself a lover of Jesus, while living like a whore.”

/\ I a m a s i n n e r. /\

The very same night that I read from the Valley of Vision, the Holy Spirit brought about in me the deepest conviction I have ever felt. My conscience became more and more sensitive and tender as I was pricked and prodded by the knowledge that I had sinned against my Holy Father. But the sin became heavier and heavier upon my back as my guilty conscience found no escape in my façade of self-righteousness that I had previously used in the attempt to justify my unholy living. The conviction became so strong that I could no longer deny the truth: it was I who had chased after other gods, and it was I who had dirtied the gospel of Christ by living like a harlot. And that night – for the second time in my life – I wept bitterly.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Now, I must pause here and ask the fundamental question that must be answered and that lingers in every mind. Once I am brought to conviction by the Holy Spirit by staring intently into the Law of God and finding that I have not kept it, by trembling at the glimpses of the holiness of God in Scripture and realizing that I can not meet it, and finally by finding that even all of my “righteous deeds” are like filthy rags… what ever am I to do?

“What do I do with conviction, what can I do with my sin? Can I ever be forgiven?”

I love the Old Testament. For it is in the words of the prophets and the psalmists that one finds such honest expressions of both dire despair and glorious hope. And the reason for this hope in the midst of despair is that this hope is anchored on the promises of the One who does not change, and in whom there is no shifting shadow. Indeed, this kind of hope is firm because it stands – as great men of old have often said – upon the very Rock of Ages. Listen to David’s cry in Psalm 130, a Song of Ascents, and watch him confess his utter helplessness on his own and then proceed to unwrap the grace of Yahweh, the holy One of Israel:

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
If You, Lord should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,
And in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, Hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is loving kindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption
And He will redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.

If God were to show us everything that we have ever done wrong, if He were to pull back the curtains that hide the Holy of Holies and allow His piercing light to shine on the sons of men to reveal the infernal darkness of our hearts, who then could stand in His presence? I’ve always found it fascinating that whenever you stumble upon an Old or New Testament saint who has been allowed just a brief snapshot of the glory of God, the reaction is always the same – Moses hid his face, Joshua fell on his face to the earth, Job repented in dust and ashes, Isaiah was undone, Ezekiel lost his words and fell on his face, the disciples were terrified and asked who could command the wind and the sea to obey Him, Jairus fell at His feet, Saul fell to the ground, and John fell at His feet like a dead man at the sight of the glorified Christ – w o r s h i p. Our God is a consuming fire who loves righteousness and demands perfection, and therefore hates wickedness and can not be sated by the blood of bulls. And all those who die and stand alone in their sin before the judgment seat of Christ covered only in their own unrighteousness to offer Him, will be given only what is just and fair and right and deserved. If God were to act solely upon His justice, He would have to send every single person to hell.

But God – rich in His mercy and grace – has so sovereignly chosen for the story not to end there. He has declared and made sure His salvation for His chosen people (“And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities”). Did you catch the sudden shift in David’s tone? He spends the first three verses in despair, until the glorious knowledge of redemption begins to lift his countenance: “But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.” Could you imagine what it would be like to hear David’s song if there was no hope of redemption? Of escape? No knowledge of the saving grace that only Christ can offer? I can only imagine that it would resound much like the dissonant cries of the any other person who is brought to the underlying reality of the utter lostness of man’s condition with no hope offered to him.

How intense the pain becomes when I begin to see with my eyes, and when I hear with my ears, and when I begin to feel with my heart that my soul is weighed down with my flesh, and my flesh is chained to the earth.

/\ I a m a s l a v e t o s i n. /\

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

And so there I was in the darkness – gasping for breath between deep – uncontrollable sobs, as a single ray of light pierced the darkness as the words of the prophet Zephaniah rang in my ear:

“Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
For the Lord has taken away His judgments against you…”
(Zeph. 3:14-15a)

After being so entirely overwhelmed with the sheer weight of my sin, this singular phrase, “the Lord has taken away His judgments against you” brought the most inebriating resonation throughout my soul. When I considered how much Israel had sinned and wandered, and the ability and grace of Yahweh to still grant repentance and pardon all her iniquity, I was reminded that however I may try to stain the water with my filth, His grace is the ocean. I can make no dent in the Rock of Ages; yet, He was cleft for me. I recalled that it was not for my name’s sake that He had forgiven me, but the sake of His Holy Name, which I had blasphemed and soiled by living the life of an adulterer that He had chosen to take away all of the wrath He had stored up against me and nail it on to Jesus, the spotless Lamb. The tears flowed freely down my face as a storm of thoughts raced furiously through my mind. I can still recall most of them:

“In that day you will feel no shame
Because of all your deeds
By which you have rebelled against Me…” (Zeph. 4:11)

Here is love, vast as the ocean
Loving kindness as a flood
When the Prince of Life for ransom
Shed for us His precious blood

Who His love will not remember
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout heav’n’s eternal days

On the mount of crucifixion
Fountains open deep and wide
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed the vast and gracious tide

Grace and love like mighty rivers
Poured incessant from above
Heaven’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love

“How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,” (Psalm 32:1-2)

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

“The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.” (Psalm 34:22)

Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die!
Would he devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I had done,
he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

“Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1)

I felt much like Christian – from Pilgrim’s progress – when he finally found relief from his burden at the cross. A floodgate of tears continued to spill over as I remembered the moment all too well:

“How his burden had got on his back in the first place, and why nobody else had burdens – as happens in dreams – we are not told. But never had he been so eager as he was now to be ride of it. And that – did he but know it – was half the battle.

Now I saw in my dream that the road, from then on, was fenced on either side with a wall. The wall was named Salvation. Along this road did burdened Christian run. Or should we say, he did his best to run, so far as he could, with that load upon his back.

At the foot of a hill, he passed an open tomb. Then up again, upon a little knoll he found himself beneath a wayside cross. And as its shadow fell across him, so suddenly the burden, slipping from his shoulders, fell from off his back. It tumbled down the hill. It tumbled into the mouth of the tomb. It was never seen again.

Christian kept feeling behind his back. He couldn’t believe it. For it was very surprising to him that the simple cat of gazing at the cross had set him free, and his burden of guilt was gone.

As he stood there in amazement, behold, three Shining Ones appeared. The first one said:

"Your soul is now clean of sin."

The second stripped him of his mud-stained rags, and gave him bright new clothes. The third one handed him a parchment.

"Guard it carefully, he said, and surrender it only when you have reached the gate of the Celestial City."

Great dangers lay ahead of him, but for the moment, he was light as air."

At last I truly understood what a poet once wrote about this most liberating moment:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast-bound in sin and nature’s night,
Thine eye diffused the quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light,
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

/\ I a m f o r g i v e n . /\

By this time, my face was all red and blotchy and altogether different from what it had been just a few minutes before. The moment was gone and sealed away forever in the Great Book. My countenance had been lifted – yet a haunting specter of doubt and uncertainty remained…

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

~*~ The End of the Beginning ~*~

Shadowland

2006-08-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

~*~ A Prelude ~*~

How vain are all things here below!
How false, and yet how fair! Each
pleasure has its poison too,
And every sweet, a snare…

The fondness of a creature’s love,
How strong it strikes the sense!
Thither the warm affections move
Nor can we call them thence.

-Isaac Watts

This short poem was written by Watts [the famous hymnist who wrote “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “Joy to the World,” and many others] during a very disappointing season in his life when he came to realize that every thing on this side of eternity can not satisfy the creature’s longing and will always fall short of our great expectations. He happened to be thirty-two when the woman whom he had loved and befriended utterly rejected him at his proposal for marriage. Amidst struggling with the heartache, he wrote this poem and committed to being single for the rest of his life, devoting himself entirely to the service of the kingdom of God. Watts is now recognized as the "Father of English Hymnody", as he was the first prolific and popular English hymnwriter, credited with some 750 hymns.

~*~

I find it to be particularly fascinating that the people in history - whom God has used in mighty ways to do great and noble things for His name’s sake - are also the ones whom He has had to wound deeply before ushering them in to a great calling (“we stand on the shoulders of giants”: just read the stories of Martin Luther, Augustine, or Charles Spurgeon, among the many others and you will find pain and suffering and hardship like few have known). But both the harsh reality and unforgiving sting of suffering tend to veil our eyes from seeing the long-term benefits of persevering in the midst of fiery and unrelenting trials. But that is exactly what suffering is to the believer: a trial. God is putting our faith to the stand. It’s as if God is whispering in our ear, “You say that you have faith. But will you trust Me even if I tear your world apart?” I think Lewis said it well that “pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Think for a moment about how life would be if there were no difficulties, no stresses, no friends dying, no families falling apart, no relationships failing… what apathetic people we would be! Rather, one reason I believe that God allows such things to happen is so that we would be forced to come to grips with our own frailty and inability to save ourselves. We need a Savior to deliver us both from the pains of living in a broken earth and the heaviness of conscience that comes from the unbearable weight of sin in our lives. God uses suffering to wake us up from the dull, dreary, and grey twilight of daily, monotonous and hell-bound living, to open our eyes to bursting sunrise of His marvelous glory and grace.

I’m always encouraged by Paul’s letter to the Roman’s:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

Did you catch that? Paul said that we don’t just have reason to have joy in the hope of God’s glory, but we also have much reason to have joy in our trials! And he then lists out the promises and results of persevering and rejoicing even in the hard times, when pain of suffering takes its toll.

Kristie Brazelton makes an incredible point:

Would you trust Him in your hunger,
If the famine never came?
And would you run to Him for shelter,
If you never knew the rain?

Often we can’t see the reason for the suffering
Or the purpose in the pain
But like the darkest skies
Giving stars their brightest shine
So his grace is magnified.

Faith isn’t faith without fire.

This leads to a second reason – that I have recently discovered – which helps to imbue some meaning into suffering. Namely, that pain produces scars that become trophies of God’s grace. Remember back to the gospels when Jesus appeared to his followers after he had risen from the dead. What I find fascinating about this story is that although the Messiah had defeated death, conquered the grave, and dealt the deadly blow to Satan and his minions, he still bore the SCARS of his suffering. He had retained the holes in his hands and in his side. But why? Why didn’t he appear to them as he had before on the mountain top with Elijah and Moses? I find two reasons: 1) this further magnifies the glory of Christ in the completed work on the cross and 2) because this allows Christ to identify with our sufferings, and therefore unite ours into His. In reference to the first point, I encourage you to remember how John saw the risen Christ:

And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” (Revelation 5:6-9)

John saw the risen Christ not just as the returning Warrior – riding on His War-Horse and suited in His War-Clothes – but as the slain Lamb. Did you catch the irony in verse 6? The slain Lamb is standing! Although He had most certainly been wounded and killed, He triumphed over His enemies and stands – still bearing the scars of the battle. Why? Because this just emphasizes the epic nature of His victory and therefore magnifies His glory: though He was smitten, he was not destroyed; though He was crushed mightily, He did not fail; and though He was slain, He stands. And the reaction from all those gathered around the throne is “Worthy are You…for You were slain…” It is a truth that will always lead to worship in the heart of a follower of Jesus Christ.

But the second cause I find to explain why Christ still bears the scars of His suffering is one that we can all find comfort in. We can take deep comfort from the fact that our God is One familiar with the heartache of loss, weight of temptation, the pain of rejection, and the sting of suffering. He understands what it is like to be tempted – indeed much more than we do because He didn’t and couldn’t give in. Therefore He felt the full weight of the agony (it is the contrast between how you and I give in at hour 3 of temptation, and how He patiently endured every hour after… even to the point of death), when we just feel the shadow of death pass over us. He is a God who is near, and not far off. He is the great High Priest who can both sympathize with His people and stand in their defense. In The Magician’s Nephew – the Chronicle about the founding of Narnia – C.S. Lewis illustrates this point beautifully. Digory, a young boy who is privileged to see Aslan sing Narnia into existence, is beset with the fact that his mother is ill and not likely to live much longer back in the real world. Not only that, but he has made a terrible mistake by accidentally bringing in Jadis, the witch who would eventually claim Narnia as her own in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. And it is in this context that we find an honest moment between Digory and Aslan:

“I asked, are you ready?” said the Lion.

“Yes,” said Digory. He had had for a second some wild idea of saying, “I'll try to help you if you’ll promise to help my Mother,” but he realized in time that the Lion was not at all the sort of person one could try to make bargains with. But when he had said “Yes”, he thought of his Mother, and he thought of the great hopes he had had, and how they were all dying away, and a lump came in his throat and tears in his eyes, and he blurted out:

“But please, please – won’t you – can’t you give me something that will cure Mother?” Up until then he had been looking at the Lion’s great feet and the huge claws on them; now, in his despair, he looked up at its face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion’s eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory’s own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself.

“My son, my son,” said Aslan. “I know. Grief is great. Only you and I in this land know that yet. Let us be good to one another. But I have to think of hundreds of years in the life of Narnia. The Witch whom you have brought into this world will come back to Narnia again. But it need not be yet. It is my wish to plant in Narnia a tree that she will not dare to approach, and that tree will protect Narnia from her for many years. So this land shall have a long, bright morning before any clouds come over the sun. You must get me the seed from which that tree is to grow.”

“Yes, sir,” said Digory. He didn’t know how it was to be done but he felt quite sure now that he would be able to do it. The Lion drew a deep breath, stooped its head even lower and gave him a Lion’s kiss. And at once Digory felt that new strength and courage had gone into him.

“Dear son,” said Aslan, “I will tell you what you must do.”

When I was about 12 years old, I was mauled by the next door neighbor’s Chow – which landed me in the hospital with 23 stitches and an ear limply hanging off the right side of my face. Fortunately, the doctor was able to salvage my ear. But – to this day – even though I am horrified whenever I think back upon the moments of agonizing pain and the difficult recovery that followed afterwards, I find myself equally thankful that the doctor was able to save me. When I look at the scars on my chest (where the beast imbedded his vicious canines) and feel the irregular bump behind my ear, I am reminded of Salvation. My scars are monuments of Grace. Every time I look back upon my life and wince as I recollect the mistakes, the sins, the wanderings, the disobedience, the stupidity, the foolishness, and the hurts, I cannot help but say (with the firmest disposition) “Yet, He is faithful.” When I find myself in Digory’s shoes – in the deepest despair with no sign of any hope on the way – I know that I am not alone. Tears fill my eyes when I look upon my own scars, but hope lifts my soul when I gaze upon His. For in His face I find a life touching my own.

~*~

So as we seek to live lives that bring glory our majestic Creator, let us never forget that God uses our suffering both for our good and His glory. And not only that, but we have GREAT reason to hope and believe and rejoice even when our world does (and it most certainly will) fall apart.

God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble,
Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride…
The Lord of hosts [lit. “The Lord who commands armies”] is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. (Psalm 46:1-3, 7)

I find it very easy to relate to Watts’ struggle. In fact, I just wrote this short verse awhile ago when confronted with a similar frustration:

For every single mighty man,
The enemy holds his bane.
So also every pleasure here,
Is equal in its pain.

-Jonathan Roberts ;)

However, I am quickly reminded that perhaps one reason for God to allow such dissatisfaction and distaste from the world around me to embitter my senses, is to hearken me back to the glorious truth that I was not made for this world. My citizenship is in heaven; I am only passing through (thank you, Hannah). Again, it was Lewis who said that when he heard that a man can not find any satisfaction or belonging in this world, his only conclusion was that he must be made for another.

And it is to that fairer and brighter world that we belong. For though on Jordan’s stormy banks we stand, we are bound for the Promised Land. Higher and higher we ascend, as every perilous step brings us closer to the peak of Mount Zion – the city of the Great King.

We this hope as an anchor for our soul.

I Think I’m Gonna Puke

2006-07-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

“Flowers…? No, most certainly not. That would be a bit odd.

Chocolates…? Eh, too cliché.

Clothes…? Uh-Uh… there is absolutely no way I’m going to the mall to shop for a teenage girl.

So, what in the world does one buy a 13 year-old girl for her birthday?”

I’m thinking to myself, standing in the Hallmark section of CVS, “Ya know, John, you’re really not very good at this sort of thing, but there’s got to be something here that she’ll both enjoy and actually get something beneficial out of… Hrm. This looks interesting. I wonder how Biblical this is…” heh, heh.

I pick up a conveniently-located book entitled, God Thinks You’re Wonderful, and begin flipping through the pages with a slight grin on my face musing: “Oh brother, I think I know what doctrinal cliff this is about to fall off of…”

At first, it’s not so bad. Max Lucado uses Biblical concepts of God’s love towards us – although there is no indication as to whether or not these apply only towards a specific people (i.e. His Children), or towards the human race as a whole (though, I’m willing to side with the latter being the case for Lucado…) – with thoughts like:

“Whenever you want to talk, he’ll listen.” – attached is a cute little picture of a telephone with a cord running to heaven and God saying “I’m always listening.” Ahhh… that’s sweet.

“If we give gifts to show our love, how much more would he?” Eh, ok.

“You were knit together. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned here on this earth…” I agree, although I wonder how much further Lucado would speak about His sovereignty – especially in regards to salvation… ;)

“He has sent his angels to care for you, his Holy spirit to dwell in you, his church to encourage you, and his word to guide you.” All scriptural points here, but there is no mention of the church and God’s word being primary ways by which He admonishes and rebukes us. Uh-oh, I’m beginning to feel a bit unbalanced…

That’s not so bad. But then – suddenly and without much warning – I stumbled upon utterly heretical and entirely unbiblical messages that sent holy and reverent fear throughout my soul. I nearly hurled when I read:

"Vagabonds and ragamuffins all, he saw us before we were born. And he loves what he sees." What?!?!? God loves what he sees in us? God loves our sin?!?!? Oh brother.

"You have captured the heart of God. He cannot bear to live without you. God’s dream is to make you right with him." Nice to know that God is like my girlfriend… NOT! (Oh, wait. Never mind, I don’t have a girlfriend, HA! – oh, but I guess that’s totally irrelevant to this post – ok: back on topic John…). God cannot stand to live without me…? Oh boy, I suppose that Lucado hasn’t spent much time in Psalm 50, or Job 41:11, or Ezekiel 36, or, umm… say, the book of Romans… He dreams of making me right with him? But wait, I don’t get it, I thought he loved me? What’s wrong with me that he has to make right? Something isn’t lining up here…

If there’s a tree in heaven, he’s carved your name in the bark. If God had a wallet, he’d keep your picture in it. If God had a car, he would put your sticker on his bumper...” Wha…how…guh…I don…. Hm.

~*~

BLEEEAGHHOCK!!!

*Ah-hem.* Excuse me. Sorry, I think I just lost the contents of my stomach…

There are many more, but I'll spare you the rest. It’s ok to take your hand off over your mouth now. ;)

So why did I even bother to take you through that vomit-inducing treatment of God’s Word (if I would even dare to give it that much credit)? Well, we’ll get to that in a second, but first let’s take a look at what the rest of scripture has to say about who God is and what He thinks of us. Take note, Lucado:

“A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;
The Lord is avenging and wrathful.
The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries,
And he reserves wrath for His enemies
The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
In whirlwind and storm is His way,
And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
He dries up all the rivers.
Bashan and Carmel wither;
The blossoms of Lebanon wither.
Mountains quake because of Him
And the hills dissolve;
Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence,
The world and all the inhabitants in it.
Who can stand before His indignation?
Who can endure the burning of His anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire
And the rocks are broken up by Him.” (Nahum 1:1-6)

Sounds like a much different God than the one that Lucado described. Now, for the sake of clarification, I must state that God IS a God of love. But that is not the totality of His character. His is loving, but because He is holy, He loves righteousness and perfection. And, therefore, He hates sin and must punish it wherever it is found. God’s love is not a pampering love (like the one Lucado described), but a perfecting love. It’s the difference between seeing the Lord of all Creation as a jolly-fat-old grandpa who just showers and showers gifts and hugs and chocolates and rainbows and flowers with no expectation of anything in return, in comparison to seeing God as He reveals Himself in the Holy Scriptures: namely, that He is the Holy Father who loves His children (not the children of wrath [Eph. 2:3]) so much that He will justify, sanctify, and glorify them and command lives of obedience and submission in return.

Do you understand the seriousness of this issue? Do you realize that Lucado has not just made a god according to his own liking, but he has also distorted the gospel message so much that it can no longer bring about the knowledge of sin, and therefore the need to repent and believe?

This is a false god. This is a false gospel. This is a big deal.

There is no mention of sin, hell, justice, disobedience, the Law of God, judgment, wrath, repentance, the cost of discipleship, God’s passion for His glory, or the life of obedience that God requires from those who claim to have a personal relationship with Him, and therefore no reason for me to believe that anyone who responds to a message like this has been soundly saved.

In The God Who Justifies (a book that is quickly escalating into my list of all-time favorites), author James White addresses this dire situation of the “modern gospel.” Please read these quotes – they’re extremely revealing to the unbiblical nature of the work of Lucado and many others around the world (including a great number of churches in our own area. I know that they’re a bit lengthy, but every sentence is worth reading:

Those blessed to experience the crushing recognition of God’s holiness and their own sinful state may be tempted to feel more than just a little alone in a modern Western culture where Valium is a likely a refuge for the feeling as is prayerful repentance and the heartfelt seeking of the Savior. Society’s constant emphasis upon self-worth coupled with its fervent proclamation of moral relativism (“Sinner? Are you kidding? You’re the best you could be!”) has resulted in a cultural inoculation against the conviction of sin. (pg. 25)

What happens when Christians who have been deeply influenced by the world attempt to proclaim the gospel in a society bent upon denying God His place as Sovereign, Creator, and Judge? In many instances the specter of pragmatism arises: “Let’s find something that works and not worry about the details.” And so a truncated gospel replaces the biblical one. This new gospel fits with the culture: it does not speak of sin, since that implies a law against which man has sinned, and that leads inevitably to a lawgiver. It does not speak of repentance for the same reasons. Instead, it seeks out the felt needs of the culture and seeks to tailor a message that adapts. Wrath and anger do not blend, so they are jettisoned. Love becomes preeminent, but not the love of the Bible, which involves holiness, obedience, self-sacrifice, and the like. No, the mantra is that God loves everyone just as they are, no strings attached. Unlike a good parent whose love will seek the best for the child, God’s love is reduced to that of a grandparent who rarely even has contact with his grandchild but only showers him with gifts without any thought of his true and lasting welfare. Therefore it can hardly be surprising that justification, a doctrine that speaks of God as Judge and explains sin, wrath, propitiation, faith, forgiveness, and pardon, would become a theological novelty in such a context (pgs. 30-31, emphasis his).

~*~

Perhaps you still think that I’m being little harsh. But consider this: if someone hears a gospel presentation akin to the one that Lucado presents – a gospel which does not have the power to save – then they have been given a false assurance, thinking that they obeyed the gospel and are good-to-go with God. Paul warned in his second letter to the Thessalonians that:

“…the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His might angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power…” (verses 7-9)

If someone has put their faith and trust into a false gospel, then they do not know God and therefore they still stand guilty before God – covered only in their own unrighteousness – and God must give them the due penalty of their sin: eternal destruction in hell forever. And there are men like Lucado who are making tens of thousands of dollars by giving many a false god, a false gospel, and therefore a false assurance of salvation.

But my point here is not to discourage, but rather to put courage into you by echoing Paul’s reminder to Timothy that:

"In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following." (I Tim. 4:6)

And last his command before being beheaded in Rome:

"I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, the will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." (II Tim. 4:1-5)

Standing on the firmest foundation,

Jonathan David

Oh yeah, and just in case you were wondering, I ended up getting that 13 year-old a Starbucks gift card. ;)

The Silence Before the Storm

2006-07-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

The following is a quote taken from Ravi Zacharias as he was speaking on the topic of ethics and the need for both truth and standards for morals in our society. His message was entitled “Unplugging Truth in a Morally Suicidal Culture.” And his thoughts here are simply profound and prove to show how consistent and all-encompassing the Christian worldview really is.

~*~

“We are often accused as Christians by bringing ideas, bringing doctrines, bringing dogmas. But you go back across the centuries and you see how this was handled by believers. In fact, I take you back to the Biblical writers themselves. Listen, because this is profound here:

The pursuit of the Hebrews was idealized and symbolized by light:

‘The Lord is my light and my salvation’

‘The people that sat in darkness have seen a great light. This is the light that lighteth every man that comes into the world.’

The pursuit of the Greeks was symbolized by knowledge. That’s why the Biblical writers say:

‘These things are written so that you might know that you have eternal life.’

So Hebrew ideal was light, the Greek ideal was knowledge. For the Hebrews it was light, for the Greeks it was knowledge, but for the Romans it was glory.

‘The glory of the city of Rome.’

‘The glory of the city that wasn’t built in a day’

And here we have it, the Apostle Paul – a Hebrew by birth, a citizen of Rome, living in a Greek city – had to give to [the Corinthian believers] the ideal of his ethic. And he says this:

‘For God, who said, “The Light shall shine out of darkness,” has caused His light to shine in our hearts to give to us the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in face of Christ Jesus our Lord.’

For the Apostle Paul, the ultimate ethic was not an abstraction, not symbolized merely by light, not merely by knowledge, not merely by glory; but in the very face of our Lord.”

~*~

Wow.

How beautiful is the face of the God we serve! And how moving and liberating it is to know that we are His image-bearers. Therefore, let us seek to live lives that adequately represent the One who shines in the light, who possesses all knowledge, and deserves all of the glory.

A Difficult Conversation

2006-07-06T23:21:00.000-07:00

"...so John..." the cheerful, and (normally) giddy girl paused briefly as if acknowledging the intense weight of the question she was a about to ask - and though terrified of the consequence, her love for the truth drove out all other fears, "...so what's going to happen to my dad after he dies?..."

I leaned back in my chair at Starbucks, breathing in deeply and offering the quickest, yet most sincere prayer that never left my lips.

"...I mean, I just don't get it... he's a good guy and all... but he's never gotten into religion or followed the Bible or anything like that..." She paused again. But this time she was biting her lip and doing her best to hold back a flood of tears that had been building up over the years.

"...John, I... I don't want my Dad to go to Hell..."

Her watery eyes met mine. And - for a short eternity - there was silence.

A Story Worth Telling

2006-06-30T18:30:00.001-07:00

“Can we listen to Hollaback Girl?”

Under normal circumstances, you would never think that a question like this would lead to one of the best witnessing opportunities I have ever had. But God gave me the grace to open my mouth. Here’s the full story:

So it was just another ordinary day (a Thursday, to be precise) of bouncing for me… except for the fact that I had been convicted the entire day of how apathetic and sinful I had been in sharing the gospel since returning from Mexico. The entire morning I was praying that God would give me a chance to share the hope that is found in Christ alone with someone… anyone. One of the things that I can’t seem to get out of my mind is how really short and brief my life here on earth is. There’s only a small amount of time left to share the gospel and plead with sinners to repent and flee to the savior. Even as I’m typing and as you’re reading this brief rambling the seconds are ticking by, and they can never be regained. The Old Testament is great for putting a truth like this into perspective:

“Lord, make me to know my end
And what is the extent of my days
Let me know how transient I am.
Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths
And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight
Surely every man at His best is a mere breath.
Surely every man walks about as a phantom;
Surely they make an uproar for nothing;
He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.
-Psalm 39:4-6

It’s good to share our faith while we still have time. My heart is deeply moved by Moses’ prayer to God in Psalm 90, “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to you a heart of wisdom.”

Anyway, back to the story: so I’m bouncing away and minding my own thoughts when two young girls run up to me and ask the question that (unbeknownst to them) leads to them hearing the gospel.

“Can we listen to Hollaback Girl?” they pleaded with bright, beady eyes.

“But that’s a pretty bad song, isn’t it?” I reply.

“But there’s a clean version!” they retorted.

At this point I suddenly became intentional about turning this conversation to talk about spiritual things with these two eight-year-old girls. I understood that if I wasn’t intentional, then it probably wouldn’t lead to the good news. So I began with:

“So, what do you girls think makes a song ‘bad’ in the first place?”

“Well, probably if it has bad words or talks about bad things.”

“Let me ask you a quick question: have you ever done anything bad before?”

This is where the first surprise of the convo popped up: I couldn’t believe how quick Paige and Gabby (as I soon found out their names to be) were to admit that they had done bad things in the short eight years of life!

“Oh yeah, we’ve done lots of bad things!”

“Ok, well so have I. But what kinds of bad things have you done.”

They went off to say that they have lied to their parents many times and said bad words and disobeyed their parents and so on and so forth.

“Ok, well all of those ‘bad things’ we talked about are what the Bible calls sin. Have you girls ever heard of this word before?”

It turns out that they both had. Paige was a Mormon and Gabby was a “Christian” (but she didn’t go to church and [as I soon discovered] didn’t think she was going to heaven when she died.

“Sin is basically breaking God’s Law that He has given to us. So, keeping in mind what we just talked about before about the bad things that you have both done, when you die and you stand before God, will you be innocent or guilty of breaking his law?”

“Well, we’d be guilty.”

“And if you’re guilty, would God have to send you to heaven or to hell?”

“Oh. I guess he would send me to hell.”

And now the second surprise of the convo popped in: I couldn’t believe how readily Paige and Gabby understood the concept of sin and the consequence for dying without the sin forgiven. They were very honest when they said that if they died that night they would end up in hell.

“Well, do you know what you need to do so you don’t have to go to hell?”

“Umm… do we need to pray or go to church or something like that?”

“Oh, no! Let me explain what God did to save sinners just like you and me. He sent His only son, Jesus, to the earth. And Jesus lived a perfect life, meaning that all of those times that we talked about where you and I had done bad things…. Jesus didn’t. Instead, He obeyed God perfectly. And then, He died on the cross so that all of those who would ever repent and confess their sins and trust and believe that He took the punishment for their sins would be forgiven and be given His perfect life (or righteousness). So girls, if you repent – meaning that you confess your sins to God and then turn your back on a sinful life of disobedience – and believe that when Jesus died on the cross, He was dying in your place, then you will be forgiven of all of your sins and be on your way to heaven… does that make sense?”

“Yes.”

“It’s kinda like this: have you girls ever gotten like REALLY muddy or dirty before?”

They smiled and giggled a little bit, “Yeah…”

“Ok, and when you were all muddy, could you ever clean yourselves off on your own?”

“Umm… no.”

“That’s right. Because if you’re all muddy and dirty and you try to clean yourself off, you’re just gonna spread the mud around and make yourself look even worse! But what do you need then? Well, you need something outside of yourself, like soap and water to wash away all of the mud from your body, right?

“Right.”

“Well, that’s just like how we are before God. The mud is like all of the bad things we have ever done (our sin) that we can never give rid by ourselves but the water is like blood of Jesus which washes all of the mud away and makes us clean again.”

“Wow.”

“So girls, what are you going to do to get right with God?”

“Umm… I think I need to pray” they both said.

“Well, thank you so much for listening, you’ve both been really great listeners. But will you both make me a promise real quick?”

“Ok. Sure.”

“Tonight, before you go to bed, will you think about what I have said and pray to Jesus that He would forgive you of your sins and come into your life and give you a new heart that wants to obey and follow after Him.”

“Yeah, we will.”

“Great! Hey, thanks again so much for listening girls! Now let’s get back to bouncing!”

~*~

I was floored.

It’s so great to be reminded that EVERYONE needs the gospel… in spite of their age. Every single man, woman, and child is guilty before God and needs be made right with Him or they will go to hell. I think that we tend to view some people as more in need of the gospel than others (at least I know that I do!)… but this experience really opened my eyes to the fact that even young children can understand the concept of sin and can admit that they will go to hell if they die in their sins!

Wow.

Let us never lack to be diligent in preaching the gospel to every living thing… so long as we have breath in our lungs!

Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot.’ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?’ And He invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

HE WAS LEAD AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER;
AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT,
SO HE DOES NOT OEPN HIS MOUTH
IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY;
WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION?
FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH.

The eunuch answered Philip and said, ’Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?’ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.
-Acts 8:29-35

God of Creation

2006-06-15T18:34:00.002-07:00

"When I consider Your heavens

The work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars,

Which You have ordained;

What is man that You take thought of him,

And the son of man that You care for him?

Yet You have made him a little lower than God,

And You crown with him with glory and majesty!" Ps. 8:3-5

God of Creation, Take My Breath Away.

The Prophet

2006-06-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

This fierce force found in me:
Biting, burning, bashing, turning
All I am to a foul degree

The world has fallen since its birth.
These things I cannot help but see:
A ruptured heart, a broken earth,
And a sick, strange enemy living in me.

And as I look upon the rest of men,
Their broken vessels, their scattered hearts,
I cannot help but think again:
We’re cracked, we’re broken, we’ve fallen apart.

But then I survey a dying Man,
His broken body, His ruptured heart.
To mend the broken was His plan,
To make me new, to begin to start.

He took on flesh to take my sin,
-This was my guilt, this was my blame-
Away from me and on to Him.
So free I stand, I bear no shame.

So bring back that Prophet of the Golden Mirth,
For in my heart, His banner He flew.
And all of my ravings for the second birth,
Were quelled in Him, who makes all things new.

This fiercer Force now in me:
Making, breaking, healing, taking,
All I am, to be all for Thee.

Doxology and Devotion

2006-04-20T17:57:00.000-07:00

I love the deep simplicities of our faith.

But I am often surprised at my own forgetfulness of such basic truths like the sovereignty of God over all created (visible and invisible) things, the deadness of man’s spiritual condition, or the absolute surety and hope I have that heaven is my home. Now, by “forgetfulness” I do not mean “rejection” or, say, “disbelief.” but rather the kind of ignorance to these truths that is revealed by how I live…

And so it is because of this that I find myself eternally grateful for God’s faithfulness to me (in spite of me). He often uses a circumstance, trial, or even a simple conversation to bring me back to the basics; back to the purpose, the reason, the “why” I do what I do. Like: why do I even bother to study theology? Why do I seek to ever increase in knowledge of our faith? And why do I discipline myself to learn about apologetic arguments? The sheer amount of information to take in, sort out, and memorize can easily leave one weary, frustrated, or even delusional. Furthermore, there is always the lure to be “puffed up” with knowledge; to be the one that can answer all the hard questions. There is the subtle temptation for self-glorification.

So, again, I must ask myself: why?

Before I proceed any further I must first establish an all too necessary, yet often overlooked, juxtaposition between two fundamental modes of Christian thought. The first being that the Christian is to grow in his understanding and knowledge of God and His Word; and the second being that the Christian is to live out his or her faith by taking action for the sake of godliness. There are some who tend to put more emphasis on one of these aspects than the other, for indeed, it is an exceedingly difficult balance to maintain. But balance is the key. Take for example the Biblical basis for this assertion [Note that all of the following passages from the New Testament deal simultaneously with both the knowledge of the faith and the action necessary to live out those truths.]:

Titus 1:1 “Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,”

Rom. 15:14 “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.”

1 Cor. 1:4-5 “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge,”

Phil. 1:9-10 “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, SO THAT you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.”

Col. 1:9-10 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, SO THAT you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work AND increasing in the knowledge of God,”

Summarizing these thoughts in his book Concise Theology, J.I. Packer wrote “[T]heology is for doxology and devotion—that is, the praise of God and the practice of godliness. It should therefore be presented in a way that brings awareness of the divine presence. Theology is at its healthiest when it is consciously under the eye of the God of whom it speaks, and when it is singing to his glory."

I have recently come to hold the position that knowledge is vain… unless it is applied. However, one must also consider that there can be no application if there is no truth to apply. Indeed, the beliefs that one confesses are either validated or made null by one's lifestyle. Therefore, both are necessary and fundamental modes of thought for every believer. For we have been created for both doxology (the praise of God) and devotion (the practice of godliness).

I write this with hope that this brief rambling has encouraged (or even convicted!) you to never cease from striving to better know the God of our salvation and to live a life that reflects the glory, majesty, and absolute purity of the One we serve.

Deep Calls to Deep

2006-03-28T20:48:00.001-07:00

Out in the depths,
Out in the sea,
This current, this flood,
Has drowned out my plea.

[This deep-rooted hypocrisy has taken its toll,
Chasing after vanity, I have plagued my soul.]

I have pursued these vices,
They have enslaved my eyes,
And I have loved,
What you so despise.

[Is there hope, is there hope for me?
I've been swallowed, swallowed in the sea.]

The darkness of heresy, [beckons]
The madness of reason,
Like mutiny, this poison,
Has wrought in me treason.

Chase my foes away, Oh Lord
And renew me with your Holy Word.
Purge my thoughts, cleanse my mind,
And my heart, to your will, BIND.

["Set me free! Set me free!"
Cries the new Man in me.]

Somewhere in the sea,

-Jonathan Roberts (that's me!)

The End of an Era

2006-03-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

After all the highways and the tears, the time for parting ways has finally come...

The Beast will be forever remembered by the boy who tamed its ferocious ways (and the thousands of gallons of gasoline it consumed!).

All things in this world must come to an end...

The Valley. Part II: Vision and Paradox

2006-02-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

If the story ended with deafening emptiness of silence, all would be lost; but God is more faithful to me than I am to my sin.

As I began to question the Almighty, I was painfully reminded of God's response to Job after he poured out his complaint before the Lord:

"'Who is this that darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
Now gird up your loins like a man,
And I will ask you, and you instruct me!
Where were you when I...'" (Job 38:1-4a emphasis mine)

Where was I when God laid the foundations of the earth? Where was I when the morning stars sang together with all the angels at the glorious dawn of Creation? Where was I when God spoke the sun into existence and its triumphant brilliance burst through the darkness of nothingness? Where was I when the imaginative Creator fashioned Man after His own likeness and declared the undeniable excellence of His masterpiece? Where was I when this same God stepped down into the realm of His own Creation and took on flesh to bear the penalty for my sin? Where was I, where was I?

It's interesting to note that God never answered Job's questions of "why" God did what he did. He only had to give Job but a shadowy glimpse of His character for Job to fall on his face and repent in dust and ashes.

It is here that we find the purpose for the Valley in our lives, for it is in the desolate emptiness and barren wasteland of adversity that God reveals Himself most to us. The Valley becomes the place of Vision.

The Puritans understood this fundamental reality:

Lord, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells, the brighter thy stars shin;
Let me find
thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

Though I stumble through the valley of uncertainty and despair, I am reminded by the psalmist to lift my eyes up to the one who holds things together by the Word of His power:

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:1-2)

I do not know how far I have to go or how long I have to wait, but I do know that I will walk through the Valley, if He wants me to.

And as I wait patiently on the Lord and earnestly yearn for His salvation and redemption, I prepare for the inebriating moment of liberation.

I prepare for...

The Valley. Part I: Silence

2006-02-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

Life can be draining; circumstances, intimidating; and fears, overwhelming.

For the past five weeks or so, God has thrown a whole lot o' trials my way. Some are more obvious than others, but the point being that each has definitely taken its toll on my spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being. It became quite apparent about a week ago that I was intensely struggling in some of life's fiercest storms and desperately entangled with sin that I just couldn't seem to overcome on my own. And I couldn't (not in my own power, that is). I began to despair; desperately trying to find answers to impossible questions and wearing myself out to the point of total and utter exhaustion (just ask the Paasch's).

During this entire ordeal, I kept coming back to a fundamental question: "What can you do when what you feel begins to trump everything you've ever known; when the shroud of darkness begins to envelope your soul; when hope doesn't just seem remote or distant, but completely and utterly removed?" I couldn't help but scream inside, "Oh, God! Where are You?" David's bitterly honest words echoed the plea of my own stormy soul:

"To You, O Lord, I called
And to the Lord I made my supplication:
'What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?
Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me;
O Lord, be my helper!'" (Psalm 30:8-10 emphasis mine)

Lyricist Dan Haseltin wrote these haunting words:

Take,
take 'til there's nothing
nothing to turn to
nothing when You get through
won't You break
scatter pieces of all
I've been
bowing to all I've been
running to.

where are You?

Did you leave me unbreakable?
leave me frozen?
I've never felt so cold
I thought You were silent
I thought You left me
for the wreckage and the waste
on an empty beach of faith
was it
true?

where are You?

Scream
deeper, I wanna scream
I want You to hear me
I want You to find me
I, I want to believe
but all I pray is wrong
and all I claim is gone
well, I, I got a question
yeah, I got a question

where are You?

Caborca Pics ('06!)

2006-02-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

I know these are a little late in coming, but feel free to enjoy them none the less.

If the Son Sets You Free...

2006-01-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

"Truly, truly I say to you, eveyone who commits sin is the slave of sin..." (John 8:34)

"...for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved." (2 Peter 2:19b)

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36)

The seven days I spent in Mexico last week were some of the most joyous (and yet humbling) I have ever experienced. Although much of my time was spent in the technical ministry, a few times I was privileged to serve our great King by personally sharing the gospel with several people. The most memorable of whom was a young man (I forgot his name, so I will refer to Him as Mateo) living in a small, quiet village outside of Caborca.

That evening Lynn Paasch, Victor (a member of the Mexican team), and myself were assigned as a diagnostic team and we were instructed to go out into the village to 1) invite people come see the Jesus film that night and 2) to share the gospel with them directly both through the tapes and tracts as well as conversation. When we arrived at the last house on our route, we saw a small child sticking his face over a wall who was probably wondering why funny-looking gringos were walking up to his house. Victor, Lynn, and I walked over to the other side of the wall and there we found Mateo. After some brief introductions, Lynn asked me to share the gospel with him in English and she would translate.

My mind raced rather quickly as I wondered what would be an appropriate starting point to begin our immensely important discussion. And so I asked him the first logical question:

"Have you ever heard of Jesus?"

He had. After further inquiry, we discovered that he had been to church before but wasn't really into it. Hoping to keep our conversation direct and simple, I asked:

"Do you understand what Jesus did on the cross?"

He slowly shook his head.

I immediately began a brief explanation of sin and forgiveness, emphasizing that sin wouldn't just give him a bad life, but if it was never atoned for, then he will spend eternity in hell. From there, I spoke of God's holiness and why He MUST judge sin. And, of course, this led the way to the Good News that God offered forgiveness and reconciliation to him if he repented and believed that when Jesus died on the cross, his debt was paid in full.

Mateo seemed very open to hearing the gospel message even though there were times that I felt I wasn't communicating very clearly, but Lynn did such an brilliant job of translating and continuing the conversation after I had finished. Shortly afterward, we exchanged goodbyes and handed him a few tracts.

Please, continue to pray for Mateo and countless others who heard gospel during our stay in Mexico. Ask that God would open their eyes to the seriousness of their sin, and their need for the Savior.

By the way, I was able to snap a quick photo of Mateo at an opportune moment because I saw an immensely strong parallel between his bodily position and his spiritual condition. In the picture, it seems as if Mateo is imprisoned behind bars, anxious and longing for freedom from his helpless estate. In reality, he's just leaning a against a wall. But spiritually speaking, Mateo is enslaved to his sin and in bondage to the devil; he is lost and without hope. He desperately needs Christ to tear off his shackles of sin and give him a new life and new heart. Mateo needs a Savior.

There is a powerful application for those of us who have already repented and believed in Christ:

"But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." (Romans 6:17-18)

Praise be to our great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are no longer slaves to sin, but obedient and humble servants working in the service of His Kingdom till death takes us to be with Him forever and ever.

privileged to serve,

Jonathan David Roberts

Gloria a Dios, Hallelujah!

2006-01-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I've spent the last week on a mission's trip in Caborca, Mexico. Twenty-some people from EVBC and about ten girls and guys from a church in Hermosillo came together to witness God do great things and to make His gospel known to the nations. There are loads of stories to share and many memories to recount, but right now I'll just share what I learned and how the trip fared from my perspective.

The first two days were the most humbling for me because that's when I believe that God did the most work in my own heart. I was just SO overwhelmed by His goodness, grace, and mercy. This really hit me one night when we where driving back to Diamante from an evening spent sharing the gospel with a community outside of Caborca. The words of a familiar song kept ringing in my mind:

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure;
That He should give His only Son,
To make a wretch His treasure.

I just couldn't believe that God, knowing how desperately wicked my heart is, would still choose to step into His own creation and suffer the most searing loss to rescue you me from where my sin would certainly have led me. These words also pressed heavily on my heart:

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

God really used a series of events and experiences to chip away at parts of my heart that had grown hard and callous because of my sin. After spending so much time in God's word, seeing God's people serve Him so joyously, and witnessing many come to repentance and faith in Christ, my heart was just overflowing with both sadness and joy. I couldn’t help but ask God, “Why choose me Lord? I’m such a poor reflection.”

One of my favorite moments on the entire trip happened the night that we spent in Campo Rocio (I think. It may have been a different one). I was on the technical team that night, doing most of the behind-the-scenes work and I volunteered to sit on top of the van and take care of the projector. Now, for those of you who haven’t heard stories from the past trips must understand that this is by no means an easy position. Since we used the projector to shoot a movie (either the Passion or a Jesus film for kids) onto the side of the RV, someone has to sit on top of the van during the entire length of the film to make sure it doesn’t fall off or anything. And since any movement will shake the picture, you don’t have much freedom in terms of mobility. This can become quite uncomfortable, especially when the cold start to bite. I thought it was hilarious cause when I jumped off of the van after we were done; my feet were so numb that I didn’t feel ANYTHING when they hit the ground.

Anyway, it was totally worth it, because after the film was over, Pastor Alfonso gave a clear presentation of the gospel and asked for those would wished to receive Christ and learn more of what it means to follow Him, to come forward. I think I counted about 30 or 40 people. It was incredible! But I think the best part was when one of the Christians from the camp came forward and said he wanted to sing a song. That night we heard the doxology (Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures hear below, etc…) sung in Chol (a local dialect). It was beautiful.

Like I said before, this is just a small sample of God’s unbelievable goodness to us. It would take a considerable amount of time to recount all that God did this past week. But for even the smallest of amount of grace, I am eternally thankful.

Mi Corazon, entona la cancion,
Cuan grande es El, Cuan grande es El.

Acapella

2006-01-03T21:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend I celebrated New Year's Eve at Eli and Heather's joint. It was fantastic; we played games, ate loads of good food, and I got the chance to play with Micah!!! Good stuff...

Anyway the most memorable part of the night (for me anyway) was when we (Casey, Kayce, Jerry, and Tim) were all gathered around in the kitchen and somehow we randomly started singing hymns. To this moment I'm not sure how it all began, but it was so amazing. As soon as we were finished singing one, someone would immediately pick another hymn, and we'd all jump in (although some of us knew more of the words than others ;) ). Even though we were slightly off key half the time and managed to butcher a couple beautiful melodies, I was deeply moved.

I was reminded how much I love the hymns; they have so much to say about our faith. Two hymns in particular that we sang remain poignant in my mind: Be Thou My Vision and How Deep the Father's Love For Us.

I encourage you to read over them and let the words sink in...

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He would give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross
My guilt upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no powr's, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul's Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:T
hou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

-John

Lost in the World of Video Games...

2005-12-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

As many of you well know, my blog has been rather sparse as of late. In fact, the crickets have been chirping for well over two weeks by now. The reason for this scarcity is mostly due to the Microsoft game developers for creating one of the most addicting games I have ever played: Fable. So far (according the in-game clock) I have spent over 19 hours the past week or so immersed in a fantasy world.

In Fable you start out as an innocent young boy in a mythical world with magical creatures. As you progress in the game you are forced to make choices that determine whether your character will become good or evil. For example, if you decide to pillage a town and slay its inhabitants, you will obviously earn evil points, and your character will begin to physically express his wicked heart (i.e. you will begin to grow horns out of your head, your eyes will turn red, etc...). But right now my character is aligned to the side of righteousness and I have developed a halo above my head :)

But another game that I got for Christmas has wowed me even more than Fable; Shadow of the Colossus is the most epic and artistic game that I have ever played. It has a very simple setting: the girl that you love has died and so you have traveled to the end of the world to seek out a legendary power rumored to be able to bring the dead back to life. When you arrive you discover a temple filled with 16 statues. The god of the temple informs you that if you wish to bring your love back to life, you must slay the 16 colossi (the incarnations of the statues) that inhabit a desolate, cursed world. Armed with only your sword and bow, you must somehow topple these giants, thousands of times larger than yourself. The game, composed entirely of 16 fights, is strangely captivating, and never gets boring. This is one of those rare games where every moment is great. The first time I fought a colossus my mouth dropped wide open in disbelief. Shadow of the Colossus is easily one of the top five best games ever made.

Ok, well, I'm gonna go slay some giants right now... be back later...

-John

Happy Holidays!

2005-12-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Wait! Before you begin to think that I have lost my mind and joined the ranks of our secular, post-modern culture, allow me to explain my title...

With all the recent talk and controversy about whether or not the words "Merry Christmas" should be replaced with the more sociably-acceptable "Happy Holidays," it is doubtless that most Christians (at least the ones who understand the aim of this proposal) have become quite upset at this clear attack against the Christian faith.

However, it is rather ironic that the secularist's very purpose (to rid the public square of anything religious) completely undermines itself in this case. Perhaps if they had paid more attention to what words actually mean, they would presently drop their argument and run away screaming like schoolgirls with their tails between their legs... [sorry, I couldn't resist ; ) ]. But seriously, the word "Holiday" is none other than the contraction of the words "holy" and "day." Betsy Childs, a writer for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries pointed out that, "Although Christmas in the West may have degenerated into a celebration of food, gifts, and time off work, secularists unwittingly keep reminding us that it should, above all, be observed as a holy day!" mmm... The irony is delicious...

Thanks to the secularists, I am reminded that Christmas is very much a "Holy Day." We celebrate the Holy One, appearing in the flesh as the babe in the manger. But we understand that he did not stay in the manger, for it was not his birth, but his death and resurrection that brought salvation to his people. It is Christ's holiness that showed the necessity for God's wrath, wrath that one day he bore so that a people, enslaved to sin and walking in darkness, would be set free and see the brilliance and splendor of His glorious majesty. And that is what we celebrate, a Holy God ransoming and rescuing sinners, to make for Himself a holy people who will all, one day, be gathered around the throne to praise Him for his Holiness.

His holiness gives us our hope, for unless we are clothed in his righteousness, we can not approach the Holy One of Israel. This hope is captured in the words of the beloved Christmas hymn:

O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt His worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine! O night when Christ was born!
O night divine! O night, O night divine!

Happy Holy Day,

Jonathan

Surprised?

2005-12-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

You scored as The Amazing Spider-Man!

After being bitten by a radioactive spider, Peter Parker was transformed from a nerdy high school student into New York's greatest hero. Peter enjoys the thrill of being a super hero, but he struggles with the burdens of leading a double life. He hopes someday to win the heart of his true love Mary Jane, the woman he's loved since before he even liked girls. Right now, he just wants to make it through college and pay his bills.

The Amazing Spider-Man

79%

Neo, the "One"

75%

Maximus

71%

El Zorro

71%

Lara Croft

63%

Batman, the Dark Knight

63%

Indiana Jones

63%

William Wallace

58%

Captain Jack Sparrow

58%

James Bond, Agent 007

54%

The Terminator

50%

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0
created with QuizFarm.com

Thanks to JJ for the tip-off to this one.

Aslan, the King of Kings?

2005-12-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

In 1950, Clive Staples Lewis introduced the world to one of todays most well-known and beloved fantasy realms, the land of Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (noted as “the LWW” hereafter) was the first of seven Narnia Chronicles to be published and is probably the most celebrated of Lewis’ fictional works. Although from a literary standpoint, the book is thoroughly captivating and considered a masterpiece by most critics, C.S. Lewis managed to create much more than just a great piece of literature. The LWW is richly layered with Christian themes, messages, and parallels that add tremendous depth to an already profound story of courage, hope, and forgiveness. The Chronicles of Narnia: LWW offers the most classic example of a Christian parallel (later to be defined as a Christian supposal) of any fictional book in modern literature. The LWW meets three standards that make it a superb parallel to the Christian faith; it contains a Messiah, or Christ figure, presented as Aslan, the great Lion; it portrays the problem of sin and temptation in the White Witch and Turkish Delight; and it vividly presents the gospel story of forgiveness and redemption through the character of Edmund.

In the land of Narnia, Aslan is the “Son of the Emperor across the Sea,” a great and noble Lion. The very name of Aslan strikes fear in heart of those who delight in evil, yet kindles hope in those who long for his appearing. In order to understand the character of Aslan and his relation to Jesus, one must recognize Lewis’ intention in writing the Narnia Chronicles. Lewis did not set out to create a direct Christian allegory. In fact, Lewis explicitly warns readers against trying to make a one-for-one match between Narnia and the real world. In a May 1954 letter to a fifth grade class in Maryland, he writes, "You are mistaken when you think everything in the books 'represents' something in this world. Things do that in The Pilgrim's Progress but I'm not writing in that way" (Letters to Children). Instead of a straightforward allegory, Narnia is what Lewis called a Christian “supposal.” In a December 1959 letter to a young girl named Sophia Storr, he explains the difference:

I don't say. 'Let us represent Christ as Aslan.' I say, 'Supposing there was a world like Narnia, and supposing, like ours, it needed redemption, let us imagine what sort of Incarnation and Passion and Resurrection Christ would have there.' (Letters to Children)

He elaborates on this point in a December 1958 letter to a lady named Mrs. Hook:

[Aslan] is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question 'What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?' This is not allegory at all. (Letters of C.S. Lewis)

With that being understood, there are some obvious similarities between Aslan and Jesus. The most apparent is the sacrificial death and glorious resurrection that both Jesus and Aslan each undergo. Each lays down his life for another’s, to pay the penalty for a crime that someone else committed so that that person can go free; this theme will be explored further through the character of Edmund. All points considered, Lewis’ depiction of Aslan as the incarnate Messiah of a different world makes the LWW the best example of a Christian supposal in modern literature.

The second Christian theme contained in the LWW is that of sin, evil, and temptation. The White Witch, who claims to be the true Queen of Narnia, is a clear representation of evil and deception. But even more intriguing than the White Witch herself is an enticing concoction that she creates to lure Edmund, one of the four Pevensie children who wanders into Narnia, into her deceptive plan to prevent the prophecy (about her reign coming to an end) of being fulfilled. Turkish Delight is a bewitched candy that the Witch gives to Edmund to put him under her spell and convince him to betray his brother, his sisters, and Aslan. Edmund eventually gives in to his desires. At first, it’s just for the Turkish Delight, but soon afterwards for the Witch’s feigned promises of power and prestige. The story of Edmund’s temptation alludes to Jesus’ teaching in Matthew chapter eight, where He explains that “everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” The New Testament writer James also expands on this theme, “…each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death” (James 1:14-15 NASB). In fact, the sentence that Edmund receives for his treachery is certain death from the White Witch; she refers to the “deep magic” written on the Stone Table that states if anyone becomes a traitor, then they rightfully belong to the White Witch. The deep magic written on the Stone Table is much akin to the Law that only brings sin and death, which the New Testament writers explain in their gospels and epistles. The apostle Paul declares that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” and that the “wages of sin is death…” (Romans 3:23 and 6:23 NASB). Finally, Edmund realizes his mistakes and deeply wishes that he could take them back. But first, the “deep magic” must be dealt with or Edmund will receive certain death. This powerful Christian imagery demonstrates Lewis’ literary genius and helps to create the LWW as a classic example of a fictional Christian supposal.

Finally, the most important theme that the LWW contains is the gospel message of forgiveness and redemption. Since Edmund is guilty of betraying his friends and cannot save himself from his deserved punishment, he needs someone to intervene, to take his place. Aslan does just that; in what seems like foolishness, Aslan sacrifices himself on Edmund’s behalf while patiently enduring brutal torture until he is eventually murdered by the White Witch and her minions. This is a direct parallel of Jesus’ death and crucifixion. The Old Testament prophet, speaking of the Messiah, wrote these words,

He was pierced through for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities… He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. (Isaiah 53:5,7 NASB)

If the story ended there, all would be lost; the White Witch would rule Narnia and Edmund’s life would be forfeit. But death was not victorious. With a great cracking and deafening noise the stone table was split in two and Aslan rose. Confused, the two Pevensie girls asked Aslan what had happened. Aslan explains that,

…though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards. (75)

Very similarly, when Jesus died, the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom and when he rose from the dead he appeared to his disciples. Just as Aslan took the place of Edmund, Jesus took the place of sinners who were bound by the Law to sin and death. The “deeper magic from before the dawn of time” is parallel to God’s plan for salvation for all those who would ever believe in Him. Speaking of the resurrection of Christ, the apostle Paul writes,

‘O Death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-56 NASB)

The gospel story in the LWW is a vivid representation of forgiveness and redemption found in Jesus, which makes Lewis’ story a classic Christian supposal.

Even with all of its heavy Christian imagery, one may still argue that the LWW is only a fantasy story that happens to have “spiritual” themes. This is derived from the fact that so many people will read the Narnia Chronicles without ever noticing the Biblical parallels. Although this may be true, one must remember that C.S. Lewis very clearly explained that the Narnia was a Christian supposal, and though the LWW does have “spiritual” themes, they are undeniably Biblical. In fact, at the end of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aslan explains that He lives in the real world as well as in Narnia,

…but there I have another name. You must learn to now me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there. (123)

In June 1953, an eleven-year-old girl named Hila wrote to Lewis, asking what the other name that Aslan went by in our world was. Lewis replied,

As to Aslan's other name, well I want you to guess. Has there never been anyone in this world who (1) Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas. (2) Said he was the son of the Great Emperor. (3) Gave himself up for someone else's fault to be jeered at and killed by wicked people. (4) Came to life again....Don't you really know His name in this world. (Letters to Children, 1996)

The Chronicles of Narnia convey undeniably Biblical references and parallels which help to make it a spectacular example of a Christian supposal.

In summary, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, contains the most important tenets of the Christian faith which makes it an ideal parallel in the world of fantasy literature. By supposing Christ in the character of Aslan, demonstrating the fatal problem of sin and temptation, and retelling the gospel story through the character of Edmund, the LWW becomes the most classic example of a Christian supposal in fictional literature. When all has been heard, readers and fans of C.S. Lewis and his Narnia Chronicles can appreciate all-the-more his keen ability to masterfully intertwine such beautiful stories with rich Christian imagery into an unforgettable masterpiece that continues to stand the test of time.

A true Narnian,

Jonathan

His Judgment Cometh, And That Right Soon...

2005-11-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

Last night at seven:ten (the college ministry at evbc), Tyler Johnson delivered a phenomenal message on a topic that is very difficult to accurately present and clearly communicate. The subject he was speaking on was none other than the judgment of God. The key passage he drew from was at the end of wisdom literature written by King Solomon:

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil" (Eccl. 12:13-14).

Tyler spent most of the message comparing our typical view of an earthly judge versus what God reveals in His word about the Lord as a perfect, holy, and just judge. His basic points were as follows:

A judge is a person with authority. A judge has the ability (and the right) to assert authority over an individual because they are bound by the law. Similarly, God has authority over heaven and earth, including authority over every human being, because they are His creation. He is the potter, we are the clay.
A judge is identified with what is good and right. Moses describes God as such, "The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He" (Deut. 32:4). Tyler made a great point that you would never want a neutral judge. Although it's becoming increasingly popular in our culture for a judge to maintain an attitude of neutrality ("claiming" to hold to no specific beliefs) when discerning every court decision, a judge whose convictions rest on neither side of an issue is unable make fair judgments. For example, let's say your best friend was mugged by a thief with a baseball bat and beaten to a bloody pulp. He manages to survive the atrocity but serious brain damage destroys his mind and he becomes a human vegetable, barely recognizable as the friend you once knew. Now, in court you stand in his defense and seek for justice to be done to the man who committed this terrible crime. But the judge cannot say whether or not what the man did was actually "bad" because he may have been the victim of a mental disorder or was the product of an imperfect society. The judge decides not to pass sentence. You would instinctively cry out that the judge was unjust and unrighteous in his decision. No one wants to stand before a neutral judge. But God is not neutral. He is good and righteous and holy. Indeed, He is the very source of all that is good and upright. He will not do violence to justice...
A judge is a person with wisdom; that is, a judge is able to discern the truth in a matter. God being omniscient and filled with all wisdom and knowledge clearly separates Him from others. David confesses in Psalm 139 that he can not escape God's presence. Whether he ascends in to the heavens or makes his bed in Sheol, he cannot escape Him. The prophet Jeremiah proclaims something very similar: "'Am I a God who is near,' declares the Lord, 'and not a God far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?' declares the Lord. 'Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?' declares the Lord" (Jer. 23:23-24). God knows our very thoughts. We are utterly naked and layed open before Him. He knows the truth, and there is no denying the judgments He makes concerning us.
A judge is one who has power to execute sentence. Because God is good and loves righteousness, he must punish evil. Sin must be paid for in only one of two ways. Either by Jesus on the cross, or by the sinner in hell. But praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself as a ransom for our sins.

It was deeply convicting to be reminded of the seriousness of God's judgment against sin. David Crowder wrote these powerful words:

"We speak easily of Jesus as our pal--our friend who comes to us on bended knee to wash feet and bring hugs-- but we forget, with little difficulty, that it was God's justice, the necessity of His holiness, that brought death to givelife. It is His holiness that required the shedding of blood, the losing of life, to be the only way to make things right."

Anyway, Tyler gave a great message that moved my heart to repentance for treating God's acts of mercy and grace with subtle disregard so much of the time. It also made me pray deeply for my friend Kaitlin who has been coming to seven:ten for a couple of weeks. I don't know whether or not she is a Christian but my assumption is that she is not. She was there when Tyler gave this message (a very difficult one to swallow if you're not a believer). Please pray that God would bring her to repentance and faith.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Jonathan

Hope Rising

2005-11-21T15:00:00.001-07:00

Currently Listening to:
Shawn McDonald
Simply Nothing
http://www.shawnmcdonaldmusic.com/

Hello Again!

I've been working my way through the book of Hebrews lately and this morning I stumbled upon a passage that made me stop and think. The author has just finished the infamous "Heroes of the Faith" chapter and begins the 12th chapter with what should be our response to this message:

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entables us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right had of the throne of God" (1-2).

A great many preachers have spent much time on these verses and have delivered volleys of inspirational and challenging messages, but this wasn't the part that caught my attention. The next two verses are ones that I have read before, but never gave the time to let them sink in...

"For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;" (3-4).

God was made flesh, veiling His majesty, and humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross. This is our Savior, this is our Hero. Christ endured more than any of us, yet He did it all without any blemish of sin. Earlier on in Hebrews (chapters 2-5), the writer speaks of Christ as our great high priest; one who can relate to us because He was fully man, and was tempted in every way that we are but without sin, and one who was an acceptable and pleasing sacrifice to God because He was fully Divine. I find so much comfort from these truths. Because Jesus was a man, he knows full well the pains and sorrows and temptations that we suffer. And so it is Him we look to for perseverance and hope.

Verse four convicted me deeply. Read it once more, "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin." Think about it: how often do we, when temptation arises, resist it to the point of "shedding blood?" I find myself at many times apathetic when it comes to battling sin and temptation. But the writer of Hebrews exhorts us to persevere and to daily fight the good fight.

So often I find myself growing weary and losing heart in my struggle against the world, my flesh, and Satan. But when I read this I was so needfully reminded that I need only to look to Christ and His struggles to be given hope. The psalmist encourages us:

"Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord." (31:24)

and...

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth... The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard you going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever." (121:1-2,7-8)

The News in Brief

2005-11-10T08:20:00.003-07:00

Life is crazy; everyone knows this. Juggling responsibilities can leave you complacent and tired, so I have created this blog with one intention of liberating myself from the mundane... all the while keeping YOU updated on what's new in my ever-so-interesting life.

With that in mind, here's the latest news:

I'm finishing up my research paper for my eng 102 class. I'm glad I picked a topic that has relevance in my life... I'm writing about whether or not Evolution should be taught exclusively in public schools. My presupposition is (as most people who know me may have already guessed) that it should not be taught because it's ridiculous. But don't you worry, I promise I have better arguments than that in my paper ;) I'll be sure to post it around next Tuesday (the 15th) for all to enjoy.
Something that has been on my mind for many years has now been moved to the forefront of my thoughts... I have decided that I must pursue film making. Now, whether or not I will make a career out of it, I do not know. But I am convinced that it will always be a hobby at the least. In fact, I met with Jordan Bennett last night and we were discussing possibly collaborating on a project soon. It makes so much sense... It's like all my life I've had loads of crazy ideas in my head and now I can finally communicate them in one of the most interesting mediums. So I'm saving up money right now for a decent camera, but I already started working on a script... It's all so inebriating!

I know... That's not much news, but I promise to henceforth be more diligent in keeping YOU updated.

I'll close with the quote that I found t'other day... It made me think:

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” —G. K. Chesterton

I Can't Believe It!

2005-10-05T12:35:00.002-07:00

Ok. So, I know I'm new at this so it may take me awhile to get used to the whole blogging thing... but here i go!