The Furlough

I will be taking a brief furlough until some essays are done.

3 essays.

8 days.

May God be merciful.


som

The Valley of Vision and my Desktop

Puritan tradition for 20-something blogging students (and anyone else)

My buddy Nick and I have been discussing ways to A.) Pray for longer periods of time, B.) Keep the morning devotions fresh, and C.) STAY AWAKE. I've been reading The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. Not only do these guys know how to pray, they wrote their prayers down. Before I go any further, I'll give a sampling. Here is one that really spoke to me.

Oh Lord,

I hang on thee, I see, believe, live,
when thy will, not mine, is done:
I can plead nothing in myself
in regard to any worthiness and grace,
in regard of thy providence and promises,
but only thy good pleasure.
If thy mercy make me poor and vile, blessed be thou!
Prayers arising from my needs are preparations for
future mercies;
Help me to honour thee by believing before I feel,
for great is the sin if I make feelings a
cause of faith.

Show me what sins hide thee from me
and eclipse thy love;
Help me to humble myself for past evils,
to be resolved to walk with thee more care,
For if I do not walk holily before thee,
how can I be assured of my salvation?

It is the meek and humble who are shown
thy covenant,
know thy will, are pardoned and healed,
who are sanctified and quickened,
who evidence thy love.
Help me to pray in faith and so find thy will,
by leaning hard on thy rich free mercy,
by believing thou wilt give what thou hast
promised;
Strengthen me to pray with the conviction
that whatever I receive is thy gift,
so that I may pray until prayer be granted;
Teach me to believe that all degrees of mercy arise
from several degrees of prayer,
that when faith is begun it is imperfect and
must grow,
as chapped ground opens wider and wider
until rain comes.

So shall I wait thy will, pray for it to be done,
and by thy grace become fully obedient.

*******

Wowzas!

Reading these reminds me of the attitude that I must have when I approach my God in prayer. Absolute reverence. ( I still think its wise to keep saying sentence long prayers as we dash from the bus loop to the 9:30 lecture, or over a bowl of lucky charms.)

It is also cool how these guys all wrote their prayers out. Nick told me on Sunday night that his new thing for first thing in the morning is sitting at the keyboard and typing out what he prays. Very cool. I never fall asleep at the computer. There is nowhere to do it. Whereas I find it rather easy to fade and crash when I kneel on my floor...with my elbows on the foot of the bed...head in the douvet. At 5:30 or 6:00 AM there is not a more deadly combination.

Resolved: No blog stalking after 11:30 PM! My good friend of late, Lydia, convicted me of this by posting something like this:

here's the dilemma. without the pressure of work, all i do is loaf around. loafing is NOT resting. its loafing. reading blogs is loafing. spending time on msn is loafing. these don't make me feel more relaxed, they just make me feel like a lazy bum. loafing is loafing, and i'm becoming a loafer. i STILL go to bed tired and wake up even more tired. why? because i haven't been resting, i've been loafing!!


Jesus may have been able to heal people all day and then find time for midnight discipleship (John 3) and still get up before the crack of day to climb a mountain and pray. Apparently D.A.C. can do it too...stinking guy...

Needless to say, I don't possess this gift.

I think much can be said of the spirituality of a decent bed time, and generally, getting adequate rest. Nothing feels better than a rich and sweet quiet time. Not many things feel as slimy as: "Lord thank you for this day........zzzzz......zzzzzzzz....oh cwap its 8:30.....MOM...CAN YOU MAKE ME A SANDWICH WHILE I BRUSH MY TEETH?!?!?! Then running out the door: "Lord, help me to have a good day."

Resolved: Type out my morning prayers. This will make for quite a nifty prayer journal after awhile as well. This is something the staff at C4C have been telling me to do for like 2 years. It is just different coming from a peer. I don't know why. I am stubborn.

Thanks Nick,
Thanks Lydia,

For helping me to better Serve my King.

ps. the prayers in The Valley of Vision are not labeled. Therefore, I don't know who penned the one I mentioned. It may have been one of the great men pictured above.

"She was a standard product"

I have been reading a book called The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh (its a guy btw). Today I found a passage that describes my exact feelings toward my beloved York University and the females therein. My good friend at Mac has expressed similar sentiments. This is my adaptation of Evelyn's passage. The following scene (could have) happened in the line up for timmy's (to pick one of the many watering holes) in central square @ YorkU.

She left the room [and I] at once forgot everything about her. [I] had seen her before everywhere. [YorkU] mothers presumably knew their daughters apart, as the Chinese were said subtly to distinguish one from another of their seemingly uniform race, but to [my eyes], [York chicks] are one with all their sisters of the air-liners and reception-desks. She was the standard product. A man could leave such a girl in a [starbucks in T.O.], fly three thousand miles and find her again in the cigar stall at San Fransisco (or in my case, mac, or rye high, or laurier), just as he would find his favourite comic strip in the local paper; she would croon the same words to him in moments of endearment and express the same views and preferences in moments of social discourse.

******

Irrefutable Laws of (fashion) Conduct @ YorkU

1. There is no such thing as evening wear.

2. The only acceptable hair colours are blonde with black chunking or black with blonde chunking or any other combo of said colours.

3. Oversized sunglasses cover a multitude of sins.

4. Two bags must be carried at all times! One must be an Invicta backpack of the colour of your choice. The other should be either a Louis Vuitton or Guess purse.

5. INTERACT ONLY BY CELL PHONE.

6. Never be seen alone.

7. Your I-Pod is your best friend. Allow the little white earbuds to hang from your Louis Vuitton.

8. Keep em' guessing. As alluded to in Rule # 1, glitter, hoop earrings, rhinestones, sequins, tiaras, and boas are always fair game. Also, mix "I just got out of bed" hair and clothing styles with full makeup. ei. grey track pants tucked into uggs (see rule # 9).

9. Boots are a must. Pants go in the boots, NEVER over the boots. Uggs are for all seasons. The salt on the sidewalks is a figment of your imagination. All colours are acceptable whether it be olive, sunset, salmon, or orchid, but beige is the only colour required to give adequate clone status.

10. Do not go to class. Rather, stand aimlessly in the middle of the walkway at York Lanes or right in front of the Wendy's at the SC (making it as unclear as possible whether or not you are actually in line for Wendy's).

******

I was thanking God again today for bringing some salt and light (preservation, redemtion) to our university via the ladies of Campus for Christ. Every last girl involved in this movement is at the same time, lovely, modest, and godly in a school where all that matters is adornment by way of "braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire" (1 Tim 2:9b). I am not sure if most women know the extent of their (silent) ministry to the men in the body of Christ. To be adorned respectably (Paul didn't say homely, as far as my exegesis goes) with modesty and self-control is to be drastically counter-cultural (the above rules are free of hyperbole). I don't have much more to say.

Fight the good fight.

Serve your King.

Nina of eNO is cool

You may have seen this before. I mainly wanted to post this here so that I could easily find it again. This little blurb was extra funny for me because the Kerux at GFC just finished a great series on the armour of God. Nina of the eNO blog apparently found this from the Shelton Student Pastor @ Redwood Chapel, Castro Valley, CA. Whoever he is...Since I have neither the time or the desire to enter into the "conversation," let this quote stand as an appreciation of a fine wit and not a statement.


Emerging Armor

Finally, be passionate in the Lord, and in the transparency of His authenticity. Put on the authentic accoutrement of God, that you may be able to appear relevant within the spirit of the age. For our struggle for relevance is not against flesh and blood, but against steeples, against propriety, against the dry doctrines of denominations, against the spirit of inauthenticity within our stodgy churches. Therefore, take up the accoutrement of God, that you may be able to be passionate at the coffee shop, and having done everything, to appear relevant. Be relevant therefore, having pierced your eyebrow with the mark of latent rebellion, and having recently ordered a double-shot vanilla latte, and having put on your lower leg the preparation of a tattoo; in addition to all, taking up your copy of The Emerging Church, with which you will be able to extinguish all the inauthentic non-missional impulses of submergent critics. And take the BlackBerry of connectedness and the iPod of background noise which is “the word up, Dog.”

Ephesians 6:10-17 (sort of)

ps. one critique - word up, dog is soooo 90s.

I'm in Love

I've been writing an essay for my Modernisms class this week and it has lead me to some sweet poetry. I have for you here some poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Too bad this lovely and charming modernist is long gone. The sad thing is, she fell from fame long before her death in 1950. Many wonder why she withdrew into a decade of drug and alcohol abuse. I think it is quite obvious that she asked all the right questions but failed to ever find a sufficient answer to them. Maybe if I lived in the 1920s we could have dated and maybe she wouldn't have done it. Oh well, she left behind lots of gems. Here are some.

Recuerdo

We were very tired, we were very merry—

We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.

It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable—

But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,

We lay on a hilltop underneath the moon;

And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.

We were very tired, we were very merry—

We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;

And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,

From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;

And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,

And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.

We were very tired, we were very merry—

We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.

We hailed, "Good morrow, mother!" to a shawl-covered head,

And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;

And she wept, "God bless you!" for the apples and the pears,

And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.

Grown-Up

Was it for this I uttered prayers,

And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs,

That now, domestic as a plate,

I should retire at half-past eight?

First Fig

My candle burns at both ends;

It will not last the night;

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--

It gives a lovely light!

ps. if you noticed sexual resonances in "Recuerdo", I think you're right. Oh, and "Recuerdo" is Spanish for Rememberance, or souvenir.

Things to do when you should be essay writing

Not sure what I was thinking. But my strange friends directed me here. Below are some results.

You will go to jail for: Because you lost your belt and your pants fell down in front of a group of grade three�s Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Joshua ~ will teach you to ~ Imitate E.T.

'What will your business card say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Joshua's lame comeback line: "Dude eau de toilet doesn't mean dunk your head in the toilet"

'What is your lame comeback line?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Very Bad Poetry : )

From a book entitled Very Bad Poetry. Here for you,

The Worst Tribute to a Great Poet

Many bad poets have paid tribute to the greats of their profession, usually in appropriately atrocious verse. Shelley is the victim in the lines below.

from English Poets
by James McIntyre

Shelley

We have scarely time to tell thee
Of the strange and gifted Shelley,
Kind hearted man, but ill-fated,
So youthful drowned and cremated.

Ochuk on the Oscars

This guy thinks of all the things I wish I could think of. Make sure you read Thom's comment.

Scholar or Hotstove Panelist (I'm out on a Limb)

I think Tom Schreiner should sneak onto the Satellite Hotstove some Saturday night. He could get on there, preach a three point sermon on Ephesians 2, and be mysteriously gone at the next commercial break, and no one would ever know. I am way off on this one? I think Eric looks more like Tom on TV. That is my defense and I'll stick to it. I guess in order to check it out, you may have watch some Leaf hockey (watch at own risk).

Apparently a lot is in a name

Until now, I have been most wrongly refering to Dr. Michael Haykin as "Mike" Haykin (previous blogs). What I wouldn't give to somehow have the guts to call him Mikey, just once. I suppose he has a point since his name means: who is like God? The bastardization of a name with such a great truth behind it does rob it of some of its power and authority. Never again.

Ironically enough, the sermon he preached at my church tonight was about the significance of the names of those listed in the 16th Chapter of Paul's letter to church in Rome. Brilliant. Listening to this sermon makes you feel like dropping everything and becoming a historian immediately.

I wonder if the people of Grace Fellowship Church take for granted the preaching we receive every week. For example, when our beloved Paul is away, or sick, or just not preaching, people like Tom Schreiner, Glendon Thompson, Michael Haykin, and Clint Humfrey fill the pulpit (Julian, our humble Assistant Pastor has also been known to light up the pulpit and did once again this morning). If anyone from Grace reads this, or any other fortunate person who sits under brilliant preaching of the Gospel each week, to you I ask what Michael asked us tonight: Is all of this for merely filling our heads with tons of knowledge? I think a quote from Alex Montoya will answer this question very well. When approached by a person from his church who was seeking to leave the church because (s)he was "no longer growing under his ministry," Alex replied, "You fat slob. Who have you spoken to about what you have learned here. Have you been sharing your faith?" Alex told me that I'll never grow until I start sharing what I know with the world.

Are we hoarding truth?

I have been miraculously healed of paralysis, blindness, and death but have I returned to my house and not told anyone about what the Lord did for me?

I think a good exercise would be to resolve to tell at least two people (Christians or not) about what we learned on Sunday. I can't think of any better way to test whether or not we understood what we heard or even cared about what was said. It isn't hard to forget on Monday what the preacher preached on Sunday if we stop thinking about it as soon as we get home and go back to our lives.

Lets share the well and serve our King.

Sharing Your Faith: 6 Myths of Evangelism

1. You need to have a lot of knowledge to share your faith. After being healed by Jesus, the formerly demon-possesed man in Luke 8 immediately "proclaimed throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him." What has Jesus done for us Christian?

2. You shouldn't share your faith with someone before you have a relationship. This argument is valid but it loses its potency when you consider how long it took Jesus to build a relationship with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). We could also consider Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26-40).

3. Only those with the gift of evangelism should do evangelism. Apparently, Steven (Acts 6) did not have the "gift" of preaching or evangelism. He was one of the men chosen to take care of the widows in order that the apostles could be freed to preach the word. However you interpret A)the spiritual gifts, B)the difference between preaching and evangelism or anything else in this passage, the Word says that he was a "man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit." And what a sermon he preached.

4. Simply living a good moral (Christian) life is evangelism. I'm sure you've heard this: Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words (Francis of Assisi). Of course Matthew 5:16 says that our good works will be seen my men who will in turn give glory to the father. But "How are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? "(Romans 10:14-15)? What is the gospel? "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, he was buried, [and] that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). Yes, walk your talk. But are you Talking the walk?

5. Evangelism is forcing something down someone's throat. THE GOSPEL IS OFFENSIVE! But we must speak it boldly with meekness and humility. 1 Peter 3:15-16 says, well, you know, be prepared to give account, yet "do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behaviour in Christ may be put to shame. For [this is the kicker] it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil." Notice that Peter says "WHEN you are slandered..."

6. Evangelism is only successful if you see fruit. Look for it. Pray for it. And thank God for it. But, "neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth" (1 Corinthians 3:7). Judson, Paton, Moffat, and Brainerd (just to name a few) all left legacies that caused much fruit some time after their deaths and planted seeds on which God would do miracles at a much later time.

Bottom line: We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:20).

I didn't think up the 6 myths. My new friend Archie (aka Chris) did. I am thankful to God for him.

Serve your King.