Thursday, February 26

Sweet aromas.....

"But praise be to God who makes us strong to overcome in Christ, and makes clear through us in every place the value of the knowledge of him. For we are a sweet perfume of Christ to God in those who are getting salvation and in those who are going to destruction; To the one it is a perfume of death to death; to the other a perfume of life to life." 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 BBE

"The church exists in order to change the subject from us and our deeds to God and his deeds of salvation, from our various "missions" to save the world to Christ's mission that has already accomplished redemption." Michael Horton writes in his article "Christless Christianity" (Modern Reformation May/June, Vol. 16 No. 3 2007 pp 10-16) "If the message that the church proclaims makes sense without conversion; if it does not offend even lifelong believers from time to time, so that they too need to die more to themselves and live more to Christ, then it is not the gospel."

Michael Horton is the J. Gresham Machen professor of apologetics and systematic theology at Westminster Seminary California (Escondido, California), host of The White Horse Inn national radio broadcast, and editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation magazine. He is author of several books, including Power Religion, A Better Way, Putting Amazing Back Into Grace, God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology (Baker, 2006), and Too Good to be True: Finding Hope in a World of Hype (Zondervan, 2006).

We are called, by the authority of the Great Commission, to preach the Good News (read Gospel) to the ends of the Earth to every people, tribe and nation. But the more mankind takes 'charge' of his religion, the further from such 'preaching' or 'evangelizing' we wander. It is no wonder, in the complexities of our institutions of faith, that we are as unattractive as a wart on a hedge hog.

And the world, in its ignorance and blind sinful state, has the right and the logic to accuse us of being hypocrites. For the message of the Good News is lost in our 'painted faces' that we've put on in the churches throughout our land to attract the 'seeker'.

What is this Good News? Simply put, Christ came to Earth born of woman, fully God and Man, and was crucified upon the Cross, died. After three days, He rose again and ascended to Heaven. He will be coming back. The simplest of stories, lacking the complexities of human interpretation or desire that is often added to and subtracted from depending on our ability to 'read' the other person's level of interest.

And when the flame is put to the 'progressive, modernistic' form of Good News retelling, the odor is far from pleasing to anyone's nostrils, too often making them sick to their stomach with the malodorous stench of self-righteousness and believed authority. Doctrine becomes interchangeable with conviction and is as fleeting in its resoluteness. Absolute Truth becomes a manner of subjective interpretation and the battle lines, once so clearly drawn, have become hazy in the smoke screens of charismatic and energetic leaders.

As my mentor puts it, the main character in the telling of our 'story' is an indicator of our spiritual journey through this world. If God is the author and main character, then it is His larger story that ours is told in context with. If we are the main character, the woes and tribulations become an indictment against God's love and authority.

In the first context of 'story', when God is larger than we ourselves and His plan is of primary highlight within its borders….as a mountain top covered in the mist of the burning off of the darkness' deposited moisture by the dawning sun that we know is there despite the denial and inability of our eyes to see its contours.

In the context of our own 'story', not seeing the mountain top invokes anger and disillusionment within us. We walk around the mountain, denying its existence and its authority to block our path. When someone else tells us that 'there be a mountain', we argue and berate them into silence; for our acknowledgement of that mountain would invalidate our very existence and call into question the complexities of our lives.

We smell the 'sweet perfume' of Christ and gag; for His aroma is displeasing to our illusions, like the 'burning', heavy-laden and misty smell of the morning air from that imaginary mountain.

Humans are gifted story tellers, especially when it is a subject or experience by which they have personal acquaintance with. Be it horror, science fiction, or documentary in nature; mankind will not speak or reiterate that which it doesn't know and we often look down upon those who claim such ignorance. Many Christians, in an effort to be considered 'growing', find themselves overwhelmed by the various doctrinal and theological discussions out there.

It's simple, really……if God said it, God meant it and we're to follow it even if we don't understand it.

Even in our broken, sinful humanity we are to boldly go forth, tripping over our own feet that often want to go in the direction opposite of our LORD's which calls to our very souls with a sweet melody.

"The more we confess our sins and receive forgiveness, and pass this good news on to others, the more our lives will be authentically changed in the bargain." Horton says, "…..the gospel is only something that can be told (i.e., words), a story that can be declared. When our lives are told within that larger story, rather than vice versa, there is genuine salvation for sinners and mission to the world."

In the manipulation of activities worthy of Jesus' pleasure, tailoring 'worship' to suit the emotional strings of hearts yet spoken for by Christ and corporate-style leadership where the legalistic protection of the church is greater than the desire to bring ordinary ministries that express the Good News and the reception of Christ's salvation that is given to us by grace and grace alone.; we lose Christ as the sole answer to our condemnation through the commission and denial of sin's embrace. That we must suffer as Christ did, though realistically often far less than the suffering inflicted upon His human body on the Cross.

But the Church wants to be 'relevant' to the seekers, progressives, liberals, lost and disenfranchised of the world and can only promote such an agenda through a gospel retooled to offer Christ as the answer to everything else and a lifestyle of prosperity of all too-human desires.

"Our only true triumphs are God's triumphs over us." Henry Alford, the English Churchman and theologian said, "His defeats of us are our only true victories." God is 'made manifest by us', that is; His triumph lies within the 'catching' of us and preserving us 'alive in Christ' so that the sweet aroma of that triumph over the wages of our sins is manifested in the Triumphant Conqueror's victory.

That sweet smell of Christ's triumph assaults the eyes, invades the nostrils and overwhelms all of our senses. And it is that righteous, holy incense that brings attacks from those who would promote an alternative offering of what the Good News is. To those who find delight and profitability within preached Word of God, such a smell is sweeter than the finest offerings of our finest cooks, and brings life within the dead flesh of our broken bodies within our spirits that cling to the realized hope of eternity.

It is those, willingly ignorant and obstinate, that have their corruption heighten by this aroma of Christ, and reject through the alteration, manipulation or simple denial the Good News; creating in their limited capacities the 'humanistic' gospel of survival and make-up perfumes in the form of a 'god' to cover the stench of their sin.

Josh Graves, Teaching and Young Adult minister of Rochester Church of Christ and author, writes about Phyllis Tickle's new book The Great Emergence, in his blog "Jesus Feast: Spirituality for the Hungry" (www.joshgraves.blogspot.com). Tickle, Graves mentions, categories the types of Christianity that exist in an "emerging world landscape." (141-143) that I have placed unaltered here:

• Traditionalists: "Like those who have fallen heir to Grandpa's old home place and who still like things just the way he had them, they see no need either to fight with the neighbors or to change the furniture." This group is content, fine with business as usual.

• Re-traditioning: This group has chosen to stay with their inherited group, but unlike the Traditionalists "they energetically wish to make it [the church] more fully what it originally was." These folks want to keep the house, but make major interior changes and modifications: create a new kitchen, update the plumbing, drop new floors.

• Progressives: "[W]hile wanting to maintain their position in institutional Christianity, they want also to wrestle with what they see as the fool heartedness of holding on to dogma based ideas and doctrinally restricted governance and praxis." This group will knock out some walls, extend favorite rooms, even build additions if need be.

• Hyphenateds: "[T]hey recognize theirs is the most schizophrenic of the encompassing circles . . . householders who have fallen heir to Grandpa's old home place, feel a compelling need to honor the land it sits upon and the trees that surround it, but no need to retain its structural shape. Imaginatively enough, though, while they may tear down the house, they will savage some of the material out of which it was built and incorporate those honored bricks and columns, plinths and antique doors into the new thing they are building."

I haven't read Tickle's material, but I would offer (based on these categories) one more to add to the list.

Pilgrim: Those who, through no appreciative ability or reasoning of their own, have been told that they are being given inheritance in the form of a homestead from an forgotten Grandfather to whom they were estranged from. And as they walk upon the grounds of their inheritance, amid the majesty and beauty of the landscape, they realize that it is far more than they could ever be capable of comprehending its uniqueness to the point where they feel comfortable enough to attempt alternations. For any alteration that they could do would diminish and tarnish the glory and scope of the original.

Far from maintaining status quo like the "Traditionalists", returning to remembered comforts like the "Re-Traditionalists", or listening to the yammering of the latest contractors to loose this or that like the "Progressives" or the self-justifying 'honoring' of the homestead while dismantling the structure standing upon it to morph into their own expression of 'inheritance' the 'modern homestead' like the "Hyphenateds", the pilgrim realizes that all they will ever need is already built and lies simply- as yet- undiscovered within the rooms of Grandpa's old home and scattered throughout the trees and fields of the landscape.

And they realize within the context of the inheritance that they won't be there long enough to fully explore the power and strength of the foundation or the craftsmanship of the builder, for the inheritance is of a temporary nature and they will, in the fullness of time, move on as their Grandpa did, to a more permanent homestead to which their Grandpa went to prepare. It is that to which the inheritance has been obtained.

It is that, to me, which is the truest expression of what we have in Christ and it is the aroma given off by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within the lives of those who have embraced the sweetness of salvation in its full reality that attracts others into our sphere where we, as commissioned story-tellers in God's epic adventure, are compelled beyond the utterance of a doctrinal formula or formal declaration to speak the "Good News" that has been brought into our own lives so that others may see the grace of God and His love for those who would turn to Him.

Living life in a realized outlook of an eternal future, bringing joy and peace within the storms of our lives to attract the wonder of those who are rocked in the same stormy seas as we are.

Living in the context of the inscription on Alford's tomb;

" Diversorium Viatoris Hierosolymam Proficiscentis"

("The inn of a traveler on his way to Jerusalem")

Journey on........

Monday, February 23

The blame is......

“Let us make search and put our ways to the test, turning again to the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:40 BBE)

Pastor Jim Combs, the Lead Pastor of the River Church, spoke about Job this Sunday. About faith being tested and refined in the harsh winter of trials and tribulations, a subject of which I am too well-versed as of late. In my relationships, in my roles as father/ex-husband/friend/man and in my economic/social status, I have been found wanting (in the standards of society and by the stewardship of the Biblical instruction) and yet God continues to call me forth…into the wealth of His purpose and the work of the Kingdom.

Such as I am is where God’s glory becomes undeniable and most highly evident.

I have begun reading the fable by C.S. Lewis entitled “Till We Have Faces”, which is his rendering of the Cupid and Psyche tale of mythology which embodies his love of ancient cultures and his artistic style. Yet this is the one book in the offerings from this great apologetic that was never really well received by the reading public…….

I also continue to read about George Mueller, and I am in a constant state of shaking my head in amazement and awe of the powerful testimony this man has given to the cause of the Kingdom. The power of prayer, of true heart to heart with God is another lesson that I have been learning lately. I’m far from a giant of Mueller’s stature, but I can hear the echoes of what he learned so earlier in his own journey towards home.

Everyone is offering their ideas of why we’ve gotten into the economic and social mess that wraps us up into the cloak of worldliness; Christian and sinner alike.

The wealthy blame the poor, the poor the wealthy.

The financially irresponsible are blamed by the financially stewards of well-renown, while they deny any culpability in the current state of their own affairs.

The older generation blames the younger, the younger points to the outrageousness of the older.

The Christians who voted for Obama are quick to call those who didn’t racist, while those who voted for Obama are confound those who didn’t.

And the Church sits in the back pews of this fight, afraid to raise its voice because it has been complacent for far too long in the worldly things, seeking to ‘make the Gospel culturally acceptable’ rather than standing upon the morality and ethics of the Gospel message, creating disillusioned religious-ites than disciples.

In the midst of the entire finger pointing, God must be sitting patiently…sadly shaking His head at the foolishness of the ones who call Him Father, at least in name, and the ones He desperately wishes would (who tend to be at least more truthful in their foolishness than the other). Foolish children, who have become engaged in pursuits of self-serving ends and who ignore the very signposts and waypoints that were so plainly laid out upon the narrow path…….

T.S. Matthews, a past managing editor and editor of TIME, wrote in the preface to C.S. Lewis’ book “Till We Have Faces”, in the 1966 reprinting, what would seem a prophetic word about the American concept of happiness that has begotten the liberal and universalistic concept of ‘self-fulfillment’ and personal choice.

“The pursuit of happiness, which has always been good American doctrine, has largely degenerated into the sentimental heresy of the ownership of happiness, the notion that happiness can actually be shared; that the sum total of material prosperity and vague humanitarian inclination that make-up the American way of life can be or should be happiness itself.”

There is a song, I don’t recall off-hand by whom, whose lyrics pop into my head as I write this, “Sometimes it rains night after night, but our hope remains….”

Does it really?

We question God’s love for us;

Especially when we are struggling ‘well’ (as one of my mentors is oft to say) in the effort to bring our earthly and sinful flesh into the bondage of our spiritual life.

A child goes away to an event, healthy and strong, and now lies in the morgue of the local hospital awaiting burial by his parents who have loved them with a godly passion and taught them with spiritual wisdom.

And yet, another who is full knowledgable of God and refuses Him grows healthily until the pain becomes so isolating that they walk into school one day and kill their schoolmates in a shout of anger.

Loved ones, cherished and honored, disappear into the seemingly never-ending jaws of war and we quail at the cost of our nation in the pursuit of national security to the point we are willing to cultivate the worldly wisdom of atheistic and immoral nations that we once stood at a distance from.

Everywhere, we seek to throw the blame upon a group, a culture, a community or a nation….everywhere but upon the doorstep of our own foolishness and pride. For us, after all, are a God-fearing, God-seeking people set upon by a nation that seems intend on destroying itself from within, like so many empires and cultures of the historical past.

We quail at the price yet to be paid, in full, by a nation for its rejection of what it once acknowledged as ‘good and true’ because of a desire to be ‘accepted and loved’ by all people.

We don’t look to our own doorstep and the guilt of our own relaxing of absolutes, or moral authority, of a God who doesn’t fit into our desired opinion of what a God who truly loves us would be like. Painful events, foolish suffering and the trials of a morality that was born in the purest of desires surely wouldn’t happen if such a God existed.

Surely a God who can do no evil would not utilize its birth through the actions of man to chastise, discipline and correct such foolishness as a momentary lax of sexual purity or prideful anger. Surely not.

We discuss, theorize and form an opinion on scriptural context, ethical biblical considerations and moral issues that often seem to conflict, just like our view of a good, loving God who allowed a nation to wander the desert for forty years, until a sinful generation was gone, before the Promised Land was opened to them. A peaceful God who wreaked havoc upon the enemies of that nation because of His wrath, delivering them into His chosen's hands.

We don't rely upon God anymore. We talk, we argue and then leave such discussions empty and without fulfillment. Because we have an agenda that is far beyond what Christ gave us when He commissioned the Church.

Humanity has made Christianity complicated and alien.

We no longer mourn a godless direction our nation takes, but pat ourselves upon our own disillusionment and call ourselves enlightened and religious. We have gotten to the point where the wait for the return of the Messiah has become a tedious journey into the unknown and we've gotten weary with the constant watch.

Jesus says we have to have faith like children.

Most children, myself included, waiting with anxious gazes upon the living room the weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday; not questioning the fact that something would be placed underneath that evergreen tree that would bear their names. With wholesome and wild gee, they would race downstairs at the second the clock showed the appointed hour and rummage through the stacked presents to select that very first one to open……

The longer we wait for God to release His Son to return to the earth in victory, the less we act like those children. We dig deeper into the mysteries of the faith and make up our own decisions upon the text that is written there. What we can't explain, we justify with 'well, that was a different time' or 'culturally-speaking its not revelent.'

We relax our standards to the degree where sin becomes commonplace and immorality the norm.

And we blame the others. Society, Culture and the base sinner for our woes.
We don't want to examine our own ways and bring them into compliance with God's word. We don't want to say, "This is the absolute and we will follow it" because we are fearful of being 'unloving' and 'uncaring'. We excuse ourselves in any way possible and call it 'faithful execution in trying times.'

And become the very people that the LORD said he would "spit from His mouth."
Faith doesn't guarantee us prosperity of equal measure, equal physical shaping or of monetary/health wealth. Some were made to do with less, some with more and it is the usage of that measure that brings the testimony of the grace received within the bounds of salvation and enriched by tribulations.

God's love doesn't mean we can walk away from the punishment of our transgressions, rather that the full measure of the price has been paid in full by another, who walked within the Law and overcame with Love the fullness of God's righteousness. We suffer, of our own making, by being less than firm on the commandments we know.
We twist the example of the One until it fits within the square hole of our making, thereby justifying lukewarm love, hollow accountability and plastic faith.

George Mueller was one who refused to listen to the 'easy road' of faith.

C.S. Lewis refused to allow such pettiness as another's ignorance or pride interfere with the message he was compelled (and gifted) to write.

In the context of Lewis' Till We Have Faces, we find the answer in its simplistic form about why God allows what God allows:

"Are the gods not just?"

"Oh no, child. Would become of us if they were?"

A generation speaks.....

This video speaks of and for itself. I recieved it in a AFA email and felt it needed to be passed on.

Blessings to this little girl, wise beyond her years......

In Christ,
Jim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOR1wUqvJS4

Wednesday, February 11

The significance of the events at Golgotha.....

"Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left." Matthew 27:38 "And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death." Luke 23:32

Throughout the world of Christianity, the familiar views of three crosses on a hilltop are symbolic of the death of our Savior and the two thieves that were crucified with Him on that fateful day. The latest diversion from what the meaning behind the symbology of the Cross. “Of this the cross to which [Christ] was nailed was a symbol, as the Apostle declares, ‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, pp339-400

There are those who declare that the tradition of three crosses is incorrect and therefore we, as the brethren, must seek out the truth of what transpired that day, because God wants us to have the right symbology…..

Of course, it is the fact that other men have interpreted the Word of God to suit themselves, their theology, and their traditions that have created this 'devastating' error in the history of the church, according to the interpretation of these theologians. This verse is often quoted in reference to praying for leaders, not for support that in addition to salvation, God wants us all to seek after the Truth.

And, according to some theologians, there were not only two thieves upon the Golgotha hilltop that day but also two malefactors. They point to the accounts of Mark and Matthew as support for their declaration. They feel you must know exactly what the truth is about the accounting of bodies upon that hilltop otherwise you are not seeking after God’s will which is “not only that all men be saved, but also that they also come unto a knowledge of the truth.”

According to those who feel that such schematics about the Matthew and Luke accounts regarding the thieves and/or malefactors and how many there are is important, because "God wills not only that all men be saved, but also that they also come unto a knowledge of the truth. At least in their interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:4.

"My desire is, first of all, that you will make requests and prayers and give praise for all men; for kings and all those in authority; so that we may have a calm and quiet life in all fear of God and serious behavior. This is good and pleasing in the eyes of God our Savior; whose desire is that all men may have salvation and come to the knowledge of what is true. For there is one God and one peacemaker between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, Who gave himself as an offering for all; witness of which was to be given at the right time; And of this I became a preacher and an Apostle (what I say is true, not false,) and a teacher of the Gentiles in the true faith." 1 Timothy 2:1-7 BBE

If we expand our reading beyond the quotation of the verse 4, we see that Paul was speaking of praying for all men, kings, and authority figures because God desires that all know salvation and come into the knowledge of their Savior. Not knowledge of the subjective truth of how many was crucified upon Golgotha with our Lord.
But, those who stand against the tradition of three crosses say that the brethren face a quandary; either you continue to believe what you have been taught or you change your mind to bring your belief into alignment and harmony with God's Word.

There is no quarter given for the simple fact that the events upon the hilltop outside the city proper require 'correctness' about one thing; Jesus Christ was crucified and died, according to prophecy. Though the totality of the Good News doesn't end there, this is what we need to take away from the account. In that, there is no 'division' between Matthew's and Luke's account. Christ died upon the Cross.

In so far as God is concerned, He does expect us to test all things. In Lamentations 3:40, “Let us carefully examine our ways, and let us return to the LORD. “

“Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt. But examine all things; hold fast to what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-21 NET.)

The Lord expects us to test all things (1 John 4:1), and see if they are of God. If they are of God, then we are to place them within our hearts. If they are not of God, nor advance us in the commission of the Gospel, then we are to discard them as fruitless endeavors of non-eternal significance. Let's not get distracted with doctrines and traditions in which God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are not the central theme.

"There is one Mediator, and that Mediator gave himself a ransom for all. And this appointment has been made for the benefit of the Jews and the Gentiles of every nation; that all who are willing may come in this way, to the mercy-seat of a pardoning God, to seek reconciliation with him. Sin had made a quarrel between us and God; Jesus Christ is the Mediator who makes peace." Matthew Henry writes in his concise commentary on this opening to 1 Timothy, "He is a ransom that was to be known in due time. In the Old Testament times, his sufferings, and the glory that should follow, were spoken of as things to be revealed in the last times. Those who are saved must come to the knowledge of the truth, for that is God's appointed way to save sinners: if we do not know the truth, we cannot be ruled by it."

This seems to be a more fruitful endeavor in which to pursue Scriptural understanding, so that we can conform ourselves to the example set forth by Christ.

If you look at the Crucifixion as having to have certain elements in its physical makeup, then indeed you have a subjective outlook upon the whole and are missing the importance of what took place upon that hill in Jerusalem. You will be in a quandary…..for there will always be subjective opinions about the physical makeup of this event.

The Truth is simple: according to prophecy and the plan of God, Christ came to earth (fully God, fully man) and lived as a man for thirty-three years (give or take) and was crucified upon a cross for the sins of all mankind, and rose again (as prophesied) after three days.

In this theologian's effort in 'narrative development' there is a 'major' discrepancy in the biblical accounts of Matthew (who wrote to the Jews) and Luke. They point that there are many 'apparent contradictions' in the bible and one must have a real faith in the 'integrity of the Word' to overcome them.

So, were there more than three upon Golgotha that day?

Matthew states in verse 44 that "…the thieves who were on the crosses said evil words to him," apparently from both sides, as Matthew puts the two thieves on the right and left of Christ. Luke, in verses 39-40 of chapter 23, states that "two others, evil-doers [malefactors], were taken with him to be put to death," and placed on the right and left of Christ. This is the presentation of the first problem, easily explained by the 'assumption' that two were on either side of Christ, who was centered in this collection of human infliction of cruelty upon humans. But, if this was the case, why would Matthew and Luke ignore the two others who were in the image they endured?

What about John’s account, the only apostle to bear witness to the actual crucifixion? “Where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the midst.” (John 19:18 DRB)

According to the proponents for more than three, the King James Version says "two thieves;" (Greek duo (two) lestai (robbers)). The Greek word for thieves is different, kleptes. So, they put forth that duo lestai were crucified with Jesus, but after an interim of time. And in the Luke account, the Greek form is duo kakourgol (malefactors). These malefactors were crucified at the same time as Christ.

Adam Clarke states “Matthew and Mark in the parallel places calls them robbers or murderers; they probably belonged to the gang of Barabbas.”

“All the Synoptists describe the character of the two who were crucified with Jesus,” the entry in Vincent’s Word Studies states, “Matthew and Mark, robbers; Luke, malefactors. All three use the phrase, one on the right, the other on the left, and so, substantially, John: on either side one. John says nothing about the character of these two, but simply describes them as two others.”

But, as the argument continues, either thieves (or robbers) revile Christ but only one malefactor in Luke’s account ‘rails on him’ whiles the other defends him. To me, it seems that Matthew's wording suggests that both of the criminals spoke harshly to him and one of them quickly changed his attitude toward Jesus, coming to his defense in the realization of who he truly was. Or since John and the women were the closest to Christ that the other people in attendance simply didn’t hear the exchange through the verbal lashing from the crowds?.

Another discrepancy within the Matthew and Luke accounts, according to these proponents, is that the ‘malefactors’ of Luke were taken with Christ to be crucified, while the thieves of Matthew were crucified after the casting of Christ’s garments.

According to what we know of historical accounts, crucifixions were one of the cruelest forms of death ever devised by man. Through the histories of the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Egyptians, and Roman cultures, we can find a fairly accurate picture of what transpired.

The agonies victims were subjected to in the form of painful (and non-fatal) wounds, the strain of the abnormal positioning of the body where the slightest movement (lifting up with the feet to breathe) caused horrible pain, and the traumatic fever brought on by hanging for such a long time. Medical studies in our age have pieced together the reason for death from crucifixion; heart failure. The blood sinks rapidly to the lower extremities, dropping the blood pressure in half and doubling the pulse in a matter of six to twelve minutes inducing fainting due to the depravation of blood to the heart.

But victims did not die rapidly, succumbing to heart failure as long as three days after. To hasten death, the Romans practiced ‘crucifragium’, the breaking of legs.

If we look to the accounts for this factor, the crucifragium, we find in John’s account that only two pair of legs was broken, to conclude this vicious and brutal form of death before the start of the Sabbath.

“So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who had been crucified with Jesus, first the one and then the other.” (John 19:32 NET.)

If we take into account the timing of a typical crucifixion, two to three days, unless the crucifiers broke the legs of the victims, we run into a problem. If the two malefactors of Luke were crucified with Christ, there is no accounting of them to the point of death. Only two pair of legs was broken, as Christ was dead before the soldiers took such action. If four other victims were crucified, regardless of the time frame, the soldiers would have broken four pair of legs to conclude death before the fall of the Sabbath period.

According to our proponents of four others in addition to Christ, the interlinear translation of Stephens Greek Text (the source of the King James Version translation), there is no corresponding Greek word for one, which is in brackets. This proves, according to them, that the Western Church was so indoctrinated with a three cross symbology by 1611 that the translators simply removed the brackets. Removing the ‘one’ inclusion, the verse reads, “Where they crucified him, and two others with him on both side, and Jesus in the midst.”

To bring into compliance the breaking of apparently four pair of legs, they simply conclude that the soldiers broke the legs of the first two on the one side of Christ and then carried out the same on the two on the opposite side.

They point to the Greek again in support, in the form of heteros and alios, which mean the same ‘other’ but are used in two different contexts. The usage of ‘other’ or alios in John’s account is said to be used when there may have been more than two involved. In Luke, the Greek form of ‘other’, or heteros, is used to count the malefactors who were led to crucifixion with Christ.

So, it could easily be four victims that were crucified at different times with our Savior and Lord. Or it could simply be an over thinking of the importance of the physics of the Crucifixion.

You do have a quandary, not whether you accept that there were two or four 'thieves" crucified that day at Golgotha by the Roman government. If your faith is based upon the number of victims killed with Christ, then the basis of your faith is grounded in the wrong place.

The significance of the two thieves' exchange about Christ stands as testimony to the two choices that we, as fallen and broken human beings, have to make. Accept that Christ, innocent and blameless, took upon the punishment of a thief for our sins. Or ridicule that sacrifice as improbable and proof that He was not the Son of God.

Matthew’s account brings to light the mockery made of the Kingly claim of Christ, which was the theme of his gospel; portraying Christ as the Promised Messiah of the Jewish nation. The crown of thorns, the scepter, and the title over the cross speak of this. He leaves us with a witness to the Kingly claim of our Lord.

Luke’s account brings to mind the accounting of Christ’s sacrifice. As two malefactors were being killed for their crimes, so every sinner must die to their sins to be saved. The closing of the Luke account declares “surely this was a righteous man” and supports the theme of his Gospel, that Jesus Christ was the Son of Man, victorious in the resurrection.

John’s account shows us the sacrifice and dual nature of Christ, that He was fully man and fully God---the only one capable of enduring such hatred for the uncompromising love of the Father. He declared, as only He could, “IT IS DONE!” John’s theme is amplified in his crucifixion account, that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. He died as a man, righteous and blameless, for the sins of all of us and as God, defeated death to rise again.

Does it truly matter whether we accept the tradition and doctrine of the three crosses atop Golgotha or declare those traditions in error, that four were brutalized and killed with our Savior? Or, by quibbling about the number of victims that day, do we detract and distract those baby souls who have accepted Christ’s sacrifice to the point of dismay?

God gave us a free will, and it is that free will those proponents of five victims that fateful day 2000 years ago say call us to consider the ‘truth’ of God’s word. To stop, as they put it, using the ‘traditional’ way of viewing the Bible from the outside to the inside and using the ‘truthful’ way of looking from the inside out. It is only when you grasp such a concept, they claim, that you can begin the discovery of God’s Word.

I would conclude that God inspired the writers of the Gospels to reach those He directed them to, recording in their own words and themes, the episode of the crucifixion so that a four dimensional picture would be created as those audiences progressed further in relationship with God and explored the other’s account of this pivotal moment in God’s redemption of mankind. And the importance of the Calvary story isn't in the amount of thieves and malefactors crucified, at any time, with Christ but rather the sacrifice of Christ upon the cruelest of mankind's invention of torture; the Cross. For that sacrifice makes mute the points of doctrinal differences that man creates.

“He is the head of the Body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Colossians 1:18

Cornelius Tacitus, perhaps the greatest Roman historian, writes in his manuscripts The Annals, “Christus, from whom the name [Christians] had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.”

The Jewish historian, Josephus, in his writings Antiquities 18, writes, “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure, He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”

Lucian of Samosata, second century Greek satirist, mocked early Christians in his work: “The Christians . . . worship a man to this day--the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. . . . [It] was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.”

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, (Tertullian, as anglicized), was an early Christian writer and lawyer. He references a letter from Pontius Pilate regarding the crucifixion, in which the significance of the sacrifice upon the Cross is noted. "Tiberius accordingly, in whose days the Christian name made its entry into the world, having himself received intelligence from Palestine of events which had clearly shown the truth of Christ's divinity…"

It is the divinity of Christ, and His ability to deliver the perfect sacrifice for the just punishment of sin, that is highlighted in the exchange of one's realization of His innocence and Christ's reply…."Today, you will be with Me in paradise….."

Maybe we should take from Tertullian's Apology the way to view the significance of the events on Golgotha and the traditions of the Church. "And as Christianity is nearly allied to Judaism, from this, I suppose, it was taken for granted that we too are devoted to the worship of the same image. But the said Cornelius Tacitus (the very opposite of tacit in telling lies) informs us in the work already mentioned, that when Cneius Pompeius captured Jerusalem, he entered the temple to see the arcana of the Jewish religion, but found no image there. Yet surely if worship was rendered to any visible object, the very place for its exhibition would be the shrine; and that all the more that the worship, however unreasonable, had no need there to fear outside beholders…… Then, if any of you think we render superstitious adoration to the cross, in that adoration he is sharer with us. If you offer homage to a piece of wood at all, it matters little what it is like when the substance is the same: it is of no consequence the form, if you have the very body of the god. …….The object of our worship is the One God,(4) He who by His commanding word, His arranging wisdom, His mighty power, brought forth from nothing this entire mass of our world, with all its array of elements, bodies, spirits, for the glory of His majesty; whence also the Greeks have bestowed on it the name of K osmos
. The eye cannot see Him, though He is (spiritually) visible. He is incomprehensible, though in grace He is manifested. He is beyond our utmost thought, though our human faculties conceive of Him. He is therefore equally real and great. But that which, in the ordinary sense, can be seen and handled and conceived, is inferior to the eyes by which it is taken in, and the hands by which it is tainted, and the faculties by which it is discovered; but that which is infinite is known only to itself. This it is which gives some notion of God, while yet beyond all our conceptions--our very incapacity of fully grasping Him affords us the idea of what He really is. He is presented to our minds in His transcendent greatness, as at once known and unknown. And this is the crowning guilt of men, that they will not recognize One, of whom they cannot possibly be ignorant. Would you have the proof from the works of His hands, so numerous and so great, which both contain you and sustain you, which minister at once to your enjoyment, and strike you with awe; or would you rather have it from the testimony of the soul itself? Though under the oppressive bondage of the body, though led astray by depraving customs, though enervated by lusts and passions, though in slavery to false gods; yet, whenever the soul comes to itself, as out of a surfeit, or a sleep, or a sickness, and attains something of its natural soundness, it speaks of God; using no other word, because this is the peculiar name of the true God. "God is great and good"--"Which may God give," are the words on every lip. It bears witness, too, that God is judge, exclaiming, "God sees," and, "I commend myself to God," and, "God will repay me." O noble testimony of the soul by nature Christian! Then, too, in using such words as these, it looks not to the Capitol, but to the heavens. It knows that there is the throne of the living God, as from Him and from thence itself came down. But, that we might attain an ampler and more authoritative knowledge at once of Himself, and of His counsels and will, God has added a written revelation for the behoof of every one whose heart is set on seeking Him, that seeking he may find, and finding believe, and believing obey."

Sunday, February 8

Simply following....

“Until I get there, concentrate on reading Scripture in worship, giving encouraging messages, and teaching people. Don't neglect the gift which you received through prophecy when the spiritual leaders placed their hands on you to ordain you. Practice these things. Devote your life to them so that everyone can see your progress. Focus on your life and your teaching. Continue to do what I've told you. If you do this, you will save yourself and those who hear you.” (1 Timothy 4:13-16 GW)

One of my favorite songs is a relatively new one by the band Newsboys called “Stay strong”. It speaks of the journey I embarked upon that day back in May of 2008 when I left my ex, who’s journey was going in the opposite direction from mine. Since that time, I’ve faced eviction, alienation, condemnation, and my God on a level that I’d aspired to but feared none the less. Darkness cannot hide in the light of the One and neither can the sinful nature of man. It seems, the closer I get to God in relationship, the more disruptive and catastrophic my life has become. At times, I’ve wondered about my ability to be a child of God, of changing the sinful broken nature I have in my old self. I have been brought to the places where I’ve realized the truthfulness of that; I cannot change who I am….I can only grow in the realization of what was given that day in February 2004; a new man.

“You’re in the moment now when all you’ve been blessed with is not enough. Here’s where the ground gets loose. Here’s where the devils call your bluff.” There have been times in the last eight months that I’ve been so abundantly blessed both by friends known and other in the brethren of Christ who I have not had the honor of knowing as well. Two cars, financial support to move into a place, hands and feet searching in prayer for the blessings of the Lord to come upon me and the assurance that the Body ‘has my back’. Unquestioningly and with powerful effect.

But the crisis’s kept coming, kept falling into my life as if there was a vendetta against me; as if the devil, knowing he’s lost another, would rob the purpose to which God has called me and the effects of such purpose.

Pastor Jim Combs, of The River of Faith church, told us of a story. One John Eglin, a Methodist Elder, walked through sixteen feet (more or less) of snow one wintery Sunday to his church, predicting that there wouldn’t be many of the congregation there. True to his prediction, only twelve parishioners showed up…not even the Pastor came that day. In addition to the regulars was one thirteen year old visitor.

Eglin gave the sermon, speaking of everything that he knew of God and His grace….speaking for all of about ten minutes.

Charles Spurgeon said that it was at that service that he realized the love of Christ and accepted the offer of salvation. Spurgeon, one of the greatest theologians of the 19th century, started his journey one wintery Sunday because an Elder judged it important enough to trudge six miles to church for service.

I have found that pursuing God’s purpose for my life; spoken in the massive worship hall at Willow Creek Community Church so many years ago, is nothing more than the melting of faith, hope, love, joy, compassion, and redemption together by the fire of God’s Holy Spirit and cannot be recognized upon the achievements and accolades of man, but rather is given up as a burnt offering to God far from the light of day…secretly and in confidence.

As the Newsboys’ song goes, “Get up, there’s further to go. Get up, there’s more to be done. Get up, the witness is sure. Get up, this race can be won.”

We can be what we are redeemed to be. But, thhere is the wisdom of the devil, who knows well my faults and my weaknesses and how to draw my eyes away from the prize, that eternal hope manifested in a life lived for purpose, lived for God’s glory and nothing more.

We will never be fully what we were intended to be here, redeemed and restored, until Jesus comes again. Our lot is to keep going forward, keep growing closer to God in this life; for the eternal future we're promised.

I heard a pastor once say that we can make ourselves unfit for service to God; unsuitable for our purpose to which God set His hand to far before we were born. In those cases, this pastor said, God has a backup….someone else to send in your stead.

I wonder if that is true. God surely intended the pastor of that Methodist church to preach the word as he had every Sunday for however long he was there. Or did He?
Would Spurgeon have listened and understood the love of the Father in the hour long sermon the pastor probably would’ve given?

In the past few months, God has brought me to the razor edge of the cliff as if beckoning me to surrender to fate and jump, into the waiting darkness that waited at the bottom of that impossibly high mountain top. I’ve come to experience the sensation of being at that pivot point, between the safety of being able to pull back and the inevitable surrender to gravity. It has been that frightening, that troubling to my faith.

Each time that pivot point seemed to stretch longer and longer into impossible eternity…..and each time, I surrendered to what I believed was ‘fate’, the pull of gravity into the headlong fall into oblivion. I never hit the ground, but felt the grasping and sure hands of the Father saying, “Trust.”

Blake Crawford, a BIC from Naples Florida, who belongs to a group “Men Mentoring Men” on Facebook, posted a topic, Thinking Theologically, and quotes from Finding God by Dr. Larry Crabb:

"Theology becomes rich only when it survives the onslaught of pain. And sound theology leads us through our pain to the fuller experience of Christ, and therefore of hope and love and joy. The gripping message of the Bible will never be fully heard in a library. “Dr. Crabb states, “In order to catch the pulse of Scripture and hear the heartbeat of God, we must be actively grappling with the overwhelming reality of what life is like outside the Garden of Eden. If we numb our souls to the ongoing struggles with sin and disappointment that fallen people living in a fallen world experience, then our time in the Bible will yield puffy knowledge rather than liberating truth."

In the fiery heat of the trials I’ve faced; with my finances, with my children, and with my ex….there has been a steady, if not jerky, advancement in God’s designed purpose for me. Theologically, my faith is stronger and more refined. In the tempest of the storm, I have found realized reliance upon God…not for my purpose, but for His.

It is why I don’t believe that God puts a ‘pinch hitter’ in the place of the one He’s purposed to the call, nor that we can (if we truly cry out, ‘Lord, send me!’) thwart His plan. He is a patient God, loving and vengeful at both times, and knows His children to a degree more than the enemy can ever realize. He will wait, and He will poke us into fulfilling our commitment.

It may take years, or a matter of months, but He will prevail.

As I progress from the relatively easy forgiveness and redemption with my ex-wife into the more harrowing journey with my brother, I find it easier to look at to where God is leading me to go than worrying about my own involvement over its accomplishment.

The complex has become simple, the simple has become common. And I am far from being the scholar like Spurgeon, Crabb, or a host of others. I have a long way to go yet, but I feel the pressing tick of the clock against those who have yet to realize the love of the Father and the Son.

Though I fear, I walk with an eagerness that would’ve immobilized me less than a year ago. Though I worry about the outcome, I know that I will jump…..and trust my God all the way to the bottom, if need be.

For that too would serve God's purpose...

Focused on my life and my purpose, I struggle to bring it into mirrorship of God's Son.

Brought into the harsh light of redeeming grace.

Thursday, February 5

Generation LOST

"Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a servant who becomes king, a fool who is full of food, an unloved woman who is married, and a maidservant who displaces her mistress." Proverbs 30:21-23 (NIV)

Last night, at the Awanas ministry that I am now participating, I gave the 'lesson'.

It has been a point of worry with me that such ministries in the Church of today are nothing more than a reflection of society's "no-compete or accountability' mentality and that has created within the Body of Christ a disillusionment of the Truth in the young that transposes itself into disassociation with church in later years or the emergent postmodern view of "religiousity" so that such 'clubs' are nothing more than social groups that are too often divided and contrary to the original biblical purposes to which they were formed.

We make games to keep them entertained, bringing video platforms and pool tables....with a bit of biblical instruction and call it ministry.

They become nothing more than 'holding pens' in which those called to the ministry of the children are often frustrated and disillusioned from the lack of desire and respect that the children exhibit about their faith and their pursue of God. I believe this is why there is such a high 'turn-over' in children's ministry volunteers.

I, myself, am trying to stay away from the opinion of "simply marking time" (in a way) because of the 'viewpoint' of the leadership in regards to ministry as a whole.

It is not my calling to serve in the children's ministry, but I saw the need (there are only two men in the whole of the Awana's program at the campus) and stepped into it to meet such need. An year's commitment is one of the 'requirements' of a 'favorable' Church view on the desire and purpose of those who minister in the church or want church backing to new ideas. Those are the rules, otherwise I would have probably left the position my first day.

At least, I figure, I can try to impart the importance of bringing God into their Wednesday night activities rather than just rubber-stamp their progress through it.
The 'model' of churchy things has led to a wealth of those who are unfit and unprepared for the rigours of living by faith and the persecution that comes from the evil one and his minions as a Christian walks closer and closer in relationship with God.

We have created, with our desire to 'be all things to all people', weak and unhealthy spiritual people who have brought those weaknesses into the home and are passing them onto the next generation.

I speak not from accusation...but from experience. I struggle with my son to implement such disciplines in my own home, because of my own history. I do better than some but realize I am far than the model. Going back to the discussion about 'judging' that I wrote a few blogs back.....I judge myself accordingly too.
We have created the conditions of the field and now are reaping the corrupted harvest.

As the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary says about this Proverb, "Pride and cruelty, the undue exaltation of those unfit to hold power, produce those vices which disquiet society."

If we do not learn in the years to which we are under the tuleage and instruction of those placed in authority above us, we will be a self-focused and self-serving people in our latter days. Much like what has happened in cultural and society, where the creed of the United States once was based on the 'consensus of the majority' has been corrupted into the 'minority view' of subjective righteousness and truth.

We act out of our wounded beginnings. And, rather than having cultivated a 'servant's heart', we learn of the 'protection of one's self'. When we are advanced into positions of power, our corrupted sense of 'religion' begets further corruption, to which society adjusts to accept as the 'norm'.

Our government is a large reflection of it. Our patriotism, now held to be separate from our faith, is the gaping wound of such sinfulness. The current definition of tolerance, in and of itself intolerant of one religion (Christianity), shows the progression from a people more interested in the edification and qualification of the young to a people who have declared the young to be lucky...that we allow them to breathe.

As I began the lesson, based on the instructions of Paul to his young charge Timothy, one of the more 'free-spirited' (read...uninterested) young persons in the group I belong to as a 'leader' was ignoring the common respect and courtesy one was once expected to give both the instructor and the fellow students. I called him upon it, reflecting that I was of the school where disruptive behavior such as he exhibited was dealt with in the form of 'corner watching'. "Nose to the wall, son" as my dad would say.

It wasn't his reaction that appalled me, it was one from the 'friendly and loved' leader, a young adult who is serving in the ministry group.

I upset her, which was given in evidence to the children around her with the rolling of the eyes and other body indications. The young man sat quietly, for a few moments, until he saw that and returned to his previous attitude, quietly. I knew I had lost one, before the lesson even began.

I had placed the verse I was teaching from on the board the previous Wednesday and asked the group to bring in a picture of someone they wanted to emulate or copy; be it professionally or personally. Only one child, out of twenty or thirty, copied the verse down and attempted to learn it. Even with the enticement of 'money' (reward points for the 'store' where they can 'purchase' prizes), only one came into Wednesday night's Awanas and tried to recite the verse.

Only one.

And only four brought a picture, two of them creatively making a collage of many clipped photos, of a person they wanted to emulate in a profession. Not a great ratio. Using the examples given, I reflected how our Christian journey isn't to gain eternal salvation but to walk in the confidence and assurance towards that destination already assured, in the training of ourselves into being copies of Christ.....emulation. That is what answers the internal question of "Why is Christ the answer?"

If we show those values we claim to follow in the biblical text to be nothing more than convienant and occassional to our own lives, it is reflected and amplified in our children's disinterest and disrespect of God, though many will claim to be followers of Christ.

Which leads me into the conviction I have, as do a growing number of men, that since Adam...men have been living unpurposed and undesigned lives. Society has amplified this disconnect by feminizing men, declaring their innate instincts to be undesireable, and not holding the men to a biblical and clear standard: just use of Godly designed power, working in conjunction with a woman's design to create life-giving, life-nuturing and ultimately God-purposing environments for the generations following.

Instead of telling a child that they can do whatever they wish, creating an non-competitive environment where their God-designed purpose and talent isn't shaped and molde to be forged into unbreakable faith, and teaching them that rote learning is better than indepth, wisdom-seeking understanding; we have created a generation who is unknowing of God, undesiring of His ways, and who are self-involved in this life that they have been taught they are lucky to be existing in.

We've put the emphasis on the physical well-being and neglected the spiritual well-being. Is it any wonder the children of the world are striking back?

We need to return to the right focus, as emulated and reflected in the life of our Savior Jesus Christ. "Not my will, Father, but Yours be done." "The words I speak are from the Father and not my own."

What was the verse, you ask, that sparked this?

"Rather, train yourself to live a godly life.Training the body helps a little, but godly living helps in every way. Godly living has the promise of life now and in the world to come." 1 Timothy 4:7b-8 (GWT)

A no-brainer, eh?

It's time to retrain ourselves so that we, through the power of the Spirit, may reclaim and redeem generations of unbiblical living and save the generation to come.

JMT

Wednesday, February 4

And GOD said LET THERE BE LIFE!!!!!!

"Be happy in your confidence, be patient in trouble, and pray continually.........Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad..........Don't pay people back with evil for the evil they do to you. Focus your thoughts on those things that are considered noble." Romans 12: 12, 15, 17 (GWT)

One of the most exciting things that I, as a Christian and a Chaplain, have experienced in the purpose to which God has called me is watching God walk into the wreckage of lives and bring restoration and healing. This is one thing, as I struggle against the old flesh of my humanity, that I cannot see evident in my own walk, to the degree I can see it in others, because I am 'too close to the tree to see the forest' kind of outlook. It is one of the blessings we have as God's children to see it and mention it to those in the 'thick' of it to edify and encourage them to continue.

But what a wonderous and joyful thing to watch another's struggles, though just beginning in earnest, bearing fruit for the testimony they will one day bear for the Kingdom. To discuss, without bitter words or angry accusations, the powerful and healing journey that has begun by one, and to edify their desire to follow through with hard earned experience from one's own testimony to encourage them along the way.

And, in the interest of being a blessing to someone else just as the blessings have been given, to reach out with compassion and offer them a real blessing that would ease their struggle in some areas.

The verses in Romans were the lifestay of this shared struggle that concludes for me in some ways and opens a vista of possibilities in other ones. But God's hand is upon whatever the future holds for both of us in this season of life. Directions have changed and what might have been becomes the hazy horizon glimpsed out of the corner of one's eyes.

But, above all things, to see one growing closer in their pursuit of our Father is a goal of heady triumph and prayerful supplication that has been ongoing for months.

And I watched how the 'nice guy' faded like the morning dew upon the grass in light of the intensity of the SON...........Despite the wounds that have been unconsciously given, hurt that was transformed into anger, and being plunged into the dark valley, God has shown me in this meeting with my brethren in Christ that what I struggled to be honorable about, i.e. praying in confidence not for vengeance but restoration, rejoicing with those who are rejoicing and spending the time in sorrow with those who are sadden, and staying my all-too-human desire to retaliate.....all those things have borne fruit for the Father's glory!

To know, as a man who seeks to be God's design for masculinity, and who has taken some time in the darkness of realized tendencies and wounds.....this was a bright light that dispelled the darkness......that in keeping, growing more deliberate and confident, in the words God laid before me for this time.....I walked into chaos and darkness and helped to create an environment for life.

And it has become a place of forgiveness, restoration and healing for the one who needed such.

And as I told this child of God as we concluded the meeting, "If this struggle has brought you closer to relationship with God, then I am glad for it's happening.

For out of the pain has come NEW LIFE!!!"

It wasn't the apology, if any was given I don't recall. It wasn't that this child of God was humbled and meek; far from it, they are stronger than the Devil has let them realize. It wasn't the 'justification' of what I've said, done, and refused; there was no soft, easy way to answer what needed to be answered, to do what needed to be done.

No, it was LIFE that bore me into that joyful and praise-filled communion home with God, who said....

"This, my child, is what I have done!"

LIFE created out of the darkness...........

What an amazing and wonderful God have we!