FRH - It is no wonder she died young

Frances Ridley Havergal was a woman such as I think God took her young because he couldn't stand having her away from Himself. She was truly a citizen of heaven who had no place here. Since John Donne has become a household name here at Son of Man I thought I'd give some attention to a girl with (as far as I am concerned) much more consistent theology than Donne. I was flipping through one of the greatest gifts I've ever received and found this vision of heavenly, eternal truth. Refresh and encourage your soul by carefully reading this entire poem.

I'll be at the cottage till Sunday night so I figured that I'd leave something that could stand some time. This does.


Rest

'Thou hast made us for Thyself, and the heart never resteth till it findeth rest in thee."
- St. Augustine

Made for Thyself, O God!
Made for Thy love, They service, Thy delight;
Made to show forth Thy wisdom, grace, and might;
Made for Thy praise, whom veiled archangels laud;
Oh strange and glorious thought, that we may be
A joy to Thee!

Yet the heart turns, away
From this grand destiny of bliss, and deems
'T was made for its poor self, for passing dreams,
Chasing illusions melting day by day;
Till for ourselves we read on this world's best,
'This is not rest!'

Nor can the vain toil cease,
Till in the shadowy maze of life we meet
One who can guide our aching, wayward feet
To find Himself, our Way, our Life, our Peace.
In Him the long unrest is soothed and stilled;
Our hearts are filled.

O rest, so true, so sweet!
(Would it were shared by all the weary world!)
'Neath shadowing banner of His love unfurled,
We bend to kiss the Master's pierced feet;
Then lean our love upon His loving breast,
And know God's rest.

********

Notice I put stars and many spaces between her words and my own here lest you grossly mistake the two. There is more theology in that piece than many books could hold; more truth and conviction than many a learned pastor could express in great sermons; more glory and grace than my small and pitiful mind can comprehend. I'll point out a few things I love in here.

1. 'Oh strange and glorious thought, that we may be a joy to Thee.' Strange indeed. Do you ever stop and think, WHY? Why the garden of Eden? Why let Adam and his Miss do that? Why Isreal? Why the law? WHY THE CROSS? And most of all: WHY ADOPTION? Thus saith the Lord, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Isaiah 46:10 (KJV)

2. There is no rest or comfort in taking the place of God. A wise man I know said, "you can either act like you are God or act like God." That quote doesn't exactly relate but it's great anyhow.

3. I'm not saying any more...this is ruining the poem...

******

I can't wait to meet her.

Serve your king

In light of recent conversation

Caveat: This post will be complete waste of your time except for the lyrics to the Derek Webb song (The Church) below.

A few, two that is, of my brilliant and charming peers love the topic of pre-marital-leading-to-marriage-relationships. Here are a few songs by Christian artists that seem to speak to this issue. The first one is by Caedmon's Call, who are the epitome of a band. The next is by Bethany Dillon, whom I want to marry. The one at the bottom is by Derek Webb, whom I want to be. Now, the Bethany Dillon song could refer to Jesus but it can totally go either way. I'll note that the Caedmon's song was also written by Dwebb. I am not making any statement whatsoever with this post. It is merely what it is.

Can't Lose You

For My Love

Other songs that may be worth noting (actually, they probably aren't).

MXPX - Want Ad

Five Iron Frenzy - Pre-ex Girlfriend

This one is for Aban (if she happens to read this)

The Church
words and music by derek webb

i have come with one purpose
to capture for myself a bride
by my life she is lovely
by my death she’s justified

i have always been her husband
though many lovers she has known
so with water i will wash her
and by my word alone

so when you hear the sound of the water
you will know you’re not alone

‘cause i haven’t come for only you
but for my people to pursue
you cannot care for me with no regard for her
if you love me you will love the church

i have long pursued her
as a harlot and a whore
but she will feast upon me
she will drink and thirst no more

so when you taste my flesh and my blood
you will know you’re not alone

there is none that can replace her
though there are many who will try
and though some may be her bridesmaids
they can never be my bride

Loving the God of both Testaments

The God of Saini is the same as that of Calvary. This is something that I've been thinking about lately (partially because of this awesome Kent Hughes sermon I heard and also because the speaker at Carey this year was amazing and touched on the topic briefly). Now that I think about it, I've heard similar things from both D.A.C. and J-Mac recently. If you don't feel like reading this whole post, skip to the very end for a fantastic quote from David Morris (Carey preacher).

People are often uneasy about trusting a God who allowed and sanctioned so much gore in the Old Testament. Some say, with a philisophical, intelligent, and contemplative air, "well, you see, the God of the Old Testament was a God of wrath and the God of the New Testament is a God of love." Hmmm. Interesting. This next thought I have stolen from J-Mac. Isn't it curious how forgiving God was of his people dispite the inadequacy of their offerings? Neither wrath nor love is the real dilemma in the OT but rather justice. Instead, the question should ask how a just God can allow such wickedness and idolatry to go unpunished and unatoned for. Do you see? In Romans 3, Paul explains that is is because of His divine forebearance that He had passed over former sins and that the foreknowledge of Christ coming temporarily satisfied his wrath. That is love. Would we bear for one another what He daily bears from us?

Don Carson helped me see the other side more clearly, that is, the matter of the God of the NT being a God of love. D.A.C. loves The Revelation to John. He points out the image given by John in Revelation 14:14-20. In short, God sends angels to gather grapes (people) from the vine of the earth and throw them into the winepress of God's wrath. I'll quote vs. 20. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1 600 stadia (184 miles, sorry the ESV doesn't give KM and I'm not looking it up).

Don says that in the NT, both God's wrath and his love are 'wratcheted up' in intensity. God's wrath and his love (hesed) travelled perfectly beside eachother for all of history until they collided in the glorious demonstration of grace and judgement that was the cross. Where was God's love and goodness more evident? Yet, when has there ever been more wrath poured out at a single time?


Trying to keep this brief, I'll leave you with the above promised quote.

On Carmel, fire from God came down and consumed the sacrifice.
On Calvary, a Sacrifice came down and consumed the fire of God.

Though we have a holy fear of our great Lord and Creator, the Consuming Fire has no condemnation for us who are IN Christ Jesus.

serve your king

Evangelist or Corny HNIC Colour Guy

These things just seem to pop up every now and then.

Gone to camp for a week

Some day I'll get a real job.

The first words out of Jesus' mouth

I was reminded the other day of a great thing that I heard a dear brother say. He asked some of my other buddies and me what we though were the first words out of Jesus' mouth. When I couldn't really think of anything he said, "penal substitutionary vicarious atonement." I thought it was hilarious. Though I do think Jesus did indeed grow in wisdom it was a great way to be reminded that Jesus purpose and plan was eternal and unchanged and very intentional. His birth was the beginning of his journey to Golgotha.

Leprosy is always a good illustration

I was giving a talk today at the Rexdale drop-in centre for the boys who come out to the summer program. It seems that the story of Naaman and his leprosy is a neat way to think about sin and salvation. If you don't remember, Naaman is the commander of the Aramean army and he has a bad case of leprosy. When his wife's Jewish servant girl recommends that he go to the man of God in Israel to be healed, he goes. When he gets there, he is a little put off by the fact that Elisha doesn't come out to see him and even more angry at the message he gets from Elisha. The orders were to to wash in the Jordan seven times. His pleads, "are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" Apparently, the waters of the Jordan weren't to his liking and he refuses the offer from Elisha and storms off. His servants who had been watching the goings on say, "my father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, 'Wash, and be clean?" He does it and is healed. That is when is life is changed and he confesses that there is no god but the God of Israel. Cool. All of this is in 2 Kings 5.

This is a really cool gospel illustration. We're all sick, sick with sin but nobody wants the cure that God is offering. Actually, like Naaman, we are offended by the cure that God offers. We would much prefer to do it our way. Thanks but I don't need your dirty Jordan river. How could a guy in Naaman's position (having leprosy) just reject such a gift of healing? Maybe pride... but God's solution is so simple. It requires faith. I guess Jesus is like the Jordan in the sense that he "had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2b). He is the only cure, the only solution.

Going to the cottage for the weekend baby

Um, I guess I already said what I wanted to say in my title. I am going to the cottage for the weekend with some bros from C4C.

March of Mexicans

My buddy Chris (the turncoat) took this a few months ago in California. It has only surfaced on the the internet recently. Good times.

Something that's really quite funny

This link is for the people who come here (to this blog) but who don't read Ochuk blog. He found something funny. Here it is. It has to do with hermeneutics. It's a list; I always like lists.

The Island

I've been taking my camera with me pretty much everywhere I go. Sometimes by the grace of God, a good picture happens. I think I am going to open up a little photoblog and see how it goes...should be fun. This will most definitely require the expert work of Johnny Gjata. Here are a few that a friend and I took at Center Island.