Son of Man

Follow Up

2007-06-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

Awhile ago I posted my thoughts on a great song by Blackalicious. Though the song is pretty great, I pointed out the despair in the lyrics. I found this video the other night. It's quite good. It combines to very awesome things (the lyrics to the Blackalicious song really come out behind Kurt's tunes).

John Piper writes

You just want people to like you. If people would just like being around you, you'd be satisfied. Or ifyou could just have a good job with a good wife, or husband, and a couple of good kids and a nice car and long weekends and a few good friends, a fun retirement, and a quick and easy death, and no hell--if you could have all htat (even without God)--you would be satisfied. That is a tragedy in the making. A wasted life.

I was just reminded of the lyrics to "Make You Feel That Way" when I read that section from Piper.

Find a hundred dollar bill wow man that's great
Get promoted at your job up to management
Plot a long time finally a plan has made it
Time I feel I wanna shout, man its real that way
Wanna think of things that make you feel that way

Anyways, the video is cool.

Self Indulgent

2007-06-01T20:25:00.001-07:00

It really has been a while since I posted last. It has been so long that my Mozilla browser didn't even recognize when I typed in the first three letters of blogger.com into it. Anyways, this is probably the most self indulgent my blog has ever been or ever will be. I've just been notified that blogger "now saves your drafts automatically!" Cool! I am so out of date. I've been working like crazy at Enterprise rent-a-car and helping my father finish shingling our roof. I spend about 5 minutes on my computer per day. After spending hundreds of hours writing papers last semester, it was pretty good to take a break.
For the past month or so, I've been reading and re-reading Nehemiah with Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill as Mark preaches through the book (the vodcast rocks). It has been really convicting and challenging. I have learned a lot about the need for and the relationship between prayer and planning. Huge and uber-hard. Also, along the lines of spirituality but sorta not, I'm reading C.S. Lewis' book Until We Have Faces. I am only 1/5 of the way, but I am pretty much really into it. I'm also reading Don't Waste Your Life by You Know Who with some guys from church. Loving it. I just finished reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. I bought and read the book because the movie (featuring Christian Bale), though it is violent and immoral (I definitely don't recommend it), had a very interesting main point. Anyways, 70% of the book is readable and pretty fascinating and awesome. The other 30% made it not worth touching. Anyways...I'm also reading a non-fiction book that Lowonthego let me borrow called Black Like Me. I recently read this odd book called A Tour of the Calculus. Now, if you know me at all, you know I suck at and hate Maths. The somewhat bizaar book is a history of Maths and specifically, "The" Calculus. The prose is kinda exasperating after awhile though.
I am also apparently amoung the few obscure people who actually like the new Rihanna song Umbrella. The only slightly-recent movie that I have seen in the past two months is 300. Wicked. I would see it at least 3 more times. I love that the main guy is played by the same dude who played the Phantom in the 2004 Phantom of the Opera (Gerard Butler).
I am actually really tired right now. I have absolutely nothing profound or useful to say. Actually, the reason that I am even typing this is because I neither have to work nor go to church tomorrow. I am taking advantage of being up past 10 PM.
I don't even know how to end a post like this, so I'll end it now....

A blind date with the latter day saints

2007-05-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

I jumped on a bus up at Silverstone and Martingrove and sat down beside two well-dressed men. "We're missionaries," the one closest to me said. "From Utah." Things progessed. I jumped off the bus at Dixon Road with a blind date set up for the following Tuesday night. At around 5 or 6 minutes past 8PM, the kettle was on and a plate of cookies sat on the coffee table, two young men stepped out of a late evening shower into the front hallway. "Nice place you've got here," Said the one who quite resembled Matt Damon. "Do you live here alone?"

"No," I said. "I live with my folks."
"That's great," He said.

We opened in prayer and began. We talked of our background, our families, our faith journies. Matt Damon pulled out a crisp KJV and explained that they believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. The first topic was that of the apostles. We discussed their purpose at the time of Christ and early Church and also their importance to the Church today. Ephesians 2:20 was mentioned and also 4:12. On this we agreed. I think they are intentionally vauge on the first meeting.

"We believe that God ordained that there would always be 12 apostles. " Matt Damon said. "But what happens when you take away the foundation of a house?" He paused. "It collapses."
"Indeed." I said.

He went on to say the when the apostles died, the Church's strength and unity gradually declined and eventually fell apart. He kept refering to the "perfect Church" that Christ had intended. It is this broken and scattered Church that Joseph Smith was called to reform in 1820. This includes updated scriptures, The Book of Morman, and 12 new apostles.
It was all sounding so lovely.

Though there are many dubious elements of the Morman theology, it was the very premise on which they build the entire thing that really didn't jive with me. This is, that the church is supposed to be perfect and completely unified on this earth. Now, we do have a perfect righteousness in the eyes of God and this through Jesus Christ. In this, the true church is unified (by "true" I mean someone who can say AMEN to every chapter of Romans). If the church was ever meant to be unified on every secondary matter, Romans 14 would have no need to exist. But, it does.
In true blind date fashion, once we had finished our meeting, Matt Damon asked, "So, would you like to meet again?"
"Sure," I said. We exchanged phone numbers and gave eachother some homework for next time.

Here is a little thing from Mark Driscoll on this matter.

Get your worship on

2007-04-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

The Challies and I had some really good times singing at the Resolved Conference. Tim, mourning the acousticness of the music at Grace, was pretty pumped about rocking out for Jesus. I even heard him muttering "get your worship on" a few times. I think we all need to "get our worship on." Lets talk about funky praise.

Can you feel that praise?

The End of Means

2007-04-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

I was standing with my guitar the other day at Grace, listening to the Reformed Baptist pray . I thought, Man, this guy is uber eloquent. Then I looked and saw that he was reading from the Valley of Vision. Ah, I thought. I picked up my VoV tonight and fliped to a few pages from the back. I read this:

O My Lord,
May I arrive where means of grace cease
and I need no more to fast, pray, weep,
watch, be tempted, attend preaching and sacrament...

Heaven is so incomprehensible because all we know are his Means of Grace (some of which are listed in the passage above). These means point us to him. They reveal and represent parts of him and his glory. All of it will necessarily pass away when nothing stands between us and our eternal Father.

Easing in with some profound thoughts

2007-04-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

Trying to ease back into regular blogging is not easy. I have been considering something lately. I was thinking that belts are the most filthy things ever. Right? Just think, whenever you are doing something after which you usually have to wash your hands, before you end up washing your hands, you touch your belt first. Worth thinking about maybe.

Bad Poetry, Oh Noetry!

2007-03-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

These profound observations come from the prolix pen of England's Alfred Austin (1835-1913) who is not only responsible for a lot more poetry but also some plays and an autobiography.

from "The Wind Speaks"

The flocks of the wandering waves I hold
In the hollows of my hand,
And I let them loose, like a huddled fold,
And with them I flood the land.

Till they swirl round villages, hamlets, thorpes,
As the cottagers flee for life:
Then I fling the fisherman's flaccid corpse
At the feet of the fisherman's wife.

And now we go from crappy and sad to flat out wrong. Next we have E.E. Bradford standing firmly against women's rights. Wow. I don't even know what to say. I'll let him speak for himself.

from "The Tree of Knowledge"

Canto XI "Equality"

I
In a sense a bee may be
Equal to an elephant,
Seeing she can certainly
Do a score of things he can't:
All the same the fact remains
She has not his force or brains.

II
That evening when the girls and Ray
Resumed their regulated play,
The lusty lad, more lightly dressed
Rolled up his sleeves and bared his chest.
A sister served: the boy returned.
A ball came bounding back and burned,
As if red-hot, her dainty cheek
She cried and raved. Ray did not speak,
But let the girls, like angry bees,
Swarm round and sting them at their ease
And when they all had said their say,
He simply bowed, and stolled away.

III
'I can sting; you can't,'
The bee said, 'and I'll do it.'
She stung the elephant.
He never knew it!

But soon by chance the burly brute
In passing crushed her with his foot.

*******

I know a guy who has a degree in zoology. I think Bradford has an inaccurate understanding of swarming.

Intertext and the mouths of babes

2007-03-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes drafting an essay can really make you ponder the profound things of God. Well, not usually, but sometimes.

In his award winning film The Sweet Hereafter, Atom Egoyan parallels aspects of his narrative with text from Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin. One scene depicts the character Nicole Burnell (Sarah Polly) reading the Browning poem to two children that is babysitting. The story goes like this: The town of Hamelin becomes infested with vermin. They hire the piper to rid the town of the vermin with his charming pipe music. He does the job splendidly. When he asks for the payment he was promised, the mayor refuses and begins to insult him. The saddend piper turns and walks out to the street and begins to play his pipe. As he plays, all of the towns children come out and begin to follow him. He leads them up the side of a mountain and

A wonderous portal opened wide,
As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed,
And the Piper advanced and the children followed,
And when all were in to the very last,
The door in the mountain-side shut fast.

So, I am writing a paper on the intertextuality in the The Sweet Hereafter. (I'm also commenting on Egoyan's heavy use of Tragically Hip songs. Cool.) I was watching clips from the movie (that I've seen a million times) when a line really surprised me. As Nicole (Polly) is reading the poem to the children, the boy interupts and asks, "Nicole, did the Piper take the children because he was mad the town didn't pay him?" Nicole answers, "Yes." The boy continues, "If the Piper knew magic, why couldn't he use his magic to make the people pay him?"

The Sweet Hereafter is a story that is centered on a school bus accident in which the boy above and his sister and many of the towns children die.

I am not saying that God is just like the Pied Piper. One of the interesting things Egoyan does in the film is constantly transition between scenes by having the camera pan up into the sky as if it is looking for God. The boy's question really gets to the heart of the pain we feel when life really hurts and absolutely unexplainable things happen. In a strange sort of way, Mason's question (that's the boys name in the film) really made me think about how much I really believe and even more how much I live like I believe that God is completely in control.

Thinking about some recent tunes

2007-03-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

Lydia recently posted her initial thoughts on the new Arcade Fire release, Neon Bible. I spent some time reading the lyrics and listening to the songs today. I didn't find that the album was as full of jabs as it was full of complele disallusionment stemming from the void of any place to look for direction. Who is going to reset the bone? The sarcasm and cynicism is often directed at the emptiness and failure of all of the things that still claim to offer meaning and truth.

It is not a very hopeful record. You’re still a soldier in your minds but nothing's on the line." "Hear the soldier groan we’ll go at it alone.

I guess you could read into the lyrics a conversion to atheism. They say, You’re working for the church while your life falls apart. Hear the soldier groan we'll go at it alone. The airy female vocals on "Black Waves/Bad Vibrations" cry, Ce sera un long voyage sur les vagues de l'oubli. A long voyage into nothingness, oblivion, the forgotten.

This album expresses sentiments very similar to those of the recent Of Montreal disc. The most catchy track by far, "Gronlandic Edit," starts with the poetic voice talking about shutting himself up in a friends apartment because all he knows are "absent minded" days and anxious nights. He then says,

I guess it would be nice to give my heart to a god
But which one which one do I choose?
All the churches fill with losers, psycho or confused
I just want to hold the divine in mine
And forget all of the beauty's wasted

I don't think I need to comment on those lines. A few lines later,

All the party people dancing for the indie star
but he's the worst faker by far but in the set,
I forget all of the beauty's wasted

He seems to speak of himself and admits his impotence in directing anyone towards meaning and true joy. In the song "A Sentence of Sorts In Kongsvinger" he says, you turn the dial, I'll try and smile. The lines of another song on the disc say,

Throw it all in my face, I don't care
Let's just have some fun, let's tear this s*** apart
Let's tear the f***ing house apart
Let's tear our f***ing bodies apart
But let's just have some fun

This is the nonexistence of meaningful action.

The best question I think I have heard in a while is: Who is going to reset the bone?

Who is answering this question?

*****

After thinking about these songs some more I've thought a few more things. I am a little more inclined to see the hope that Justin pointed out. It is just that line, Who's gonna reset the bone? Musically, the line stands out because of his change in pitch. The "bone" line seems to rise above the rest at that point in the song. His soldier imagery also shows a move from meaningless action, in the words nothing is on the line, to a kind of progress. Though this progress is lonely and expressed with a "groan," it still suggests movement.

Cool. Good music.

Hissing Fauna (Of Montreal) takes an interesting turn about half way through the album; it is sometime after the song "The Past is a Grotesque Animal." The second half of the album seems to pick up where they left off in the first where they suggest that we've got to keep it physical. This is followed by these lines,

We've got to keep our little click clicking at 130 b.p.m.
It's not too slow
If we've got to burn out, let's do it together
Let's all melt down together

This sounds like Edna St. Vincent Millay. Actually, after the middle part of the album which talks about crisis, drepression in Norway, disallusionment over religion, and a cry to the death of beauty, the album takes on very Millaysian (is that a word?) tone. What I mean by Millaysian is language with highly sexual metaphore and allusion. This doesn't surprise me because in an earlier song they make an allusion to Ulysses (a nearly unintelligible James Joyce novel).

Resolved 07

2007-02-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

They do things BIG in America. If you want to read a good review of the conference from an honest perspective, check out this slacker's website.

When I left Montreal last Thursday it was about 10 or 15 below. When I woke up in the Sherman Oaks apartment of my new buddy Mcneely on Friday morning, at about 7 AM, it was already stinking 80 degrees (F) outside. Pwnage.

It was not only heavenly in a climatic sense. I had the honour of hearing the word of God exposited by the reformers of my century. I won't say anything about what was preached because all of the sermons are available for free online (or they will be very soon).
I have to tell you a bit about the experience though. Travelling with and uberblogger has benefits. Namely, bypassing a line of about 3000 youth and strolling on down to my reserved seat in the second row. Cool. The thing that was totally hilarious was the amount of security in the place. J-mac is escorted from his hotel into a large SUV and shuttled across the street (literally) into a back enterance which leads so some freight elevator, at all times surround by plainclothed cops packing heat. Also cool. Did you know that his pulpit at Grace Community Church is bulletproof?! All that for preaching the truth. Lots of people don't like him.

Here is one of my fav things. This is how my reserved seat was labeled. Cool.

I took this and put it in my bag so I could keep it because I thought it was so funny. The funny thing is, later at lunch, I told this lady that my last name wasn't important. And the only important thing about Tim as his last name. Then, that evening, my new sign looked like this.

Good Times

2007-02-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

It is really tough to blog during school. Every time I have a break from school work the last place I want to go and sit is at the computer.

I'm going to a conference on Thursday in Long Beach, CA. Should be good times. My contact in Cali says that the weather is a freezing 75 at the moment. Poor guy. The conference is called Resolved. Check out the trailer here. It is a conference inspired by the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. Check them out. My favourite one is,

Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.

or,

Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of.

or possibly,

Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.

Between the title and the text, Jonathan writes,

BEING SENSIBLE THAT I AM UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITHOUT GOD' S HELP, I DO HUMBLY ENTREAT HIM BY HIS GRACE TO ENABLE ME TO KEEP THESE RESOLUTIONS, SO FAR AS THEY ARE AGREEABLE TO HIS WILL, FOR CHRIST' S SAKE.

Good clarification, eh?

Good times tend to be had by all when C.J., johnny pipes, j-mac and friends are in attendence.

More Similarities

2007-01-29T20:05:00.000-08:00

Of all of the comparisons that have been made (here, here, and here), I think this might have to be at least the most ironic. If you are not sure who either of these guys are, just click on the pictures.

Malcolm X and Spirituality

2007-01-28T17:41:00.000-08:00

I watched Malcolm X this week for one of my classes at York. Cool flick. Long. Anyways, he converts to Islam in prison. When he gets out, his life mission is to unify black Americans and fight for their rights in the name and power of Islam and the teachings of "the honorable" Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm was a good Muslim. He said his prayers. He acknowledged the sovereignty and providence of Allah and also lived like he believed it. He made the Haj. Later, close to the end of his life (at least in the movie) his dedication to Islam and to his cause led to his betrayal and assassination by those exploiting the cause for cash and cars.

Usually, when I think of Islam, it makes me say, "ew, icky. Works righteousness and legalism." The other night, I watched the 2 1/2 hour film again. This time something struck me. He had it right. Or, half right. He understood that serving the almighty creator requires no less than your whole life. His mistake was rejecting Jesus Christ. But do I have it only half right? Am I half-heartedly serving the King of Kings and withholding due praise from the sovereign of all things, visible and invisible?

The New Year, debauchery, and forbearance

2007-01-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

Debauchery. The OED defines it as "vicious indulgence in sensual pleasures." I love the OEDonline. That was for free.

I had the privilege of staying up all night last night in and around the vicinity of The Sheraton Centre. I want to try to briefly describe the scene without sounding arrogantly above worldiness. Here's what I saw: thousands flocking away from Nathan Phillips Square into police-equiped streets, drunk men resisting detainment, people urinating in trash cans and on walls, two intoxicated friends dragging a comatose comrade through a hall, heavily stimulated women making shameful comments in crouded elevators (elevators that would later reek of vomit), angry men fighting in the parking lot, inebriated youth.

Looking over the city from my 25th floor window as the Sun rose, beaming light on the distant North York, all I could think of was mercy and forbearance and grace. God, who 2000 years ago came into a world that would not recoginze him (John 1:9-10), still bears with his contumacious creation.

Shocking enough is God's great patience and mercy. Spurgeon rightly points out the glorious speed of forgiveness. He says, "You can be forgiven all your sin in half the tick of a clock, and pass from death to life more swiftly than I can utter the words." If you have ever seen 24, you'll know that pretty much every season, the U.S. Government is required to grant immunity to some criminal in return for information on how to end the terrorism that they particpated in. For instance, Jack Bauer must live allow his wife's murderer to have immunity in order to find out who she is working for. In a later season, former president David Palmer is asked to grant immunity to a terrorist who had, in an earlier season, made an attempt at his life. We're all like, "oh wow, isn't David great?!" And he is. But how about Christ. Perfect almighty God died so that his rebelious creation could be redeemed and sinners could be pardoned of a lifetime of evil instanly by looking to his cross.

That is why I love the New Year.

Thinking about life

2006-12-14T16:54:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about why life is great. Must be the season. How could you not be thrilled by life when you are contemplating the mystery of God become man? Wow, good times. Being off school has allowed me the time to listen to tons of music. Also, good times. There is a song by (the secular artist) Blackalicious called "Make You Feel That Way." The first time I heard the song, I was like, "word, uplifting song!" But when I think about Jesus, his incarnation, his sinless life, his substitutionary death, and resurrection, the Blackalicious song is just depressing. Let me explain why.

The whole song is about things that supposedly make the artist "feel that way."

The first words are, "up and early for the hope of a brand new day." Without Christ, I would be waking up every morning to a day hopelessly void of meaning. The rest of the verse talks about how great it feels getting a new hair cut, or seeing a old friend, or getting promoted, or finding a hundred dollar bill, or going on a great date.

The most depressing part of the verse is the part when he says, "Plan a long time finally a plan has made it/Time I feel I want to shout/man it's real that way/wanna think of things that make you feel that way." I think he's wrong. None of that stuff makes anything real.

Later in the song, he says, "said a pray that was sincere and you felt it work." Wrong. How can uttering words or thoughts into the sky about what you want change anything in reality. That might be the most depressing part of the song. False hope. Praying to a deity of your own creation does nothing.

The last verse is hopelessly unhelpful.

Bad day'll make you really notice ones that's good
And that'll make things a little better understood
Times a feel I wanna shout, man it's real that way
When I think of things that make you feel that way.

Live for the good days. And try to learn from the bad days. Is that the answer? Thank God, no.

We're singing this song (below) on Sunday. I'm glad. Here are words of life.

King of heaven now the Friend of sinners,
Humble servant in the Father's hands,
Filled with power and the Holy Spirit,
Filled with mercy for the broken man.
He walked my road and He felt my pain,
Joys and sorrows that I know so well;
Yet His righteous steps give me hope again -
I will follow my Immanuel!

Through the kisses of a friend's betrayal,
He was lifted on a cruel cross;
He was punished for a world's transgressions,
He was suffering to save the lost.
He fights for breath, He fights for me,
Loosing sinners from the claims of hell;
And with a shout our souls are free -
Death defeated by Immanuel!

Taken from From the Squalor of a Borrowed Stable by Stuart Townend

Reasons to live

2006-12-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

Here are some great reasons to live, if you are a pagan.

Résumé
Dorothy Parker

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp;
Guns aren't lawful
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

Jules and I were talking on Wednesday night about redeeming time. We both agreed that we never want to waste anytime that could otherwise be spent worshipping God. As clever as Dorothy's words are, I side more with my man GMH.

Pied Beauty
Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spáre, strange;
Whatever is fickle, frecklèd (who knows how?)
With swíft, slów; sweet, sóur; adázzle, dím;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is pást change:

Práise hím.

I'll live for all dappled things that remind me of God's strange and wonderful creativity and power.

Underground Music

2006-12-05T19:11:00.000-08:00

There a lots of funny and stupid things out there. Who doesn't love to hate indie snobs. Five Iron Frenzy has said some things on stage and their albums that speak to the issue. While playing a popular Christian fesival the sax player said, "I know that we're playing the Main Stage now instead of the Punk Rock Stage. We know we're sellouts. We hope you still like us." Then they wrote a great song called "Handbook for the Sellout." Here are a few of the lyrics:

You found a way to draw a line,
between the world and you.
Faking your idenity it's true.
Did you think the word "alternative",
was only meant for the likes of you?
Do you think that they're too cool now?
Being popular is lame.
You're the one who made them popular,
all their songs are still the same.

You found them first,
it made you stand apart, you know?
But then everyone jumped on the same bandwagon,
making you an average Joe,
A lemming for the mediocre,
you were just a plain old joker status quo.
Blame it on the band now.
If you pick them do they bleed?
What's the point in playing what they want,
if you won't let them succed?

Do you remember where we all came from?
Do you remember what it's all about?
When you made a point to be objective,
before you started writing Handbook for the Sellout?

You sunk your worth in being different,
just to be like your own kind.
You traded in objectiveness,
for the underground you follow blind.

Aren't those some great lyrics. I always thought it was funny to hear fans sing along with the song on their live album, because essentially, the song is about them. I found this vid on Youtube. It is pretty great.

On Tickling

2006-12-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

I recently had a few appointments with my massage therapist. A whole semester of carrying heavy bookbags and guitars and amps and speakers ect. caused some serious tension in the back. I have this problem. I am sorta ticklish. It's funny because it is not that I can't take the pain. When she starts to press the tight areas of my back, I can totally relax, despite the pain. When she works the glutes, it is a totally different story. It is really humiliating to start laughing right there on the table as she attempts to loosen up the hip areas via the glutes.

Why can I handle the pain but not the tickle? It's ridiculous. My dad says that I am too sensitive. I don't think that's it.

A bitter-sweet victory and tribute

2006-11-30T20:13:00.000-08:00

You might remember back in the summer when I posted about the contest. Back in June, my little sister, our friend Laura, and I all bought male betta fish from Walmart. Whoever kept their guy alive the longest was the winner. I won this week. Myrna passed late in the summer and Machiavelli just last week. Great fish. Will be missed. Mauberley is still swimmin'. But for how long?

Son of Man is 1 year old

2006-11-27T07:15:00.000-08:00

Here is the first thing I ever posted. I think my blog was called "grafted" or something at that time. I like Son of Man better. I think this was a pretty good post. This version has been minorly edited. Hit the link (post) to see the original post and its comments.

God's Grandeur
Gerard Manley Hopkins

The world is charged with the gradeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
and wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And, for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
and through the last lights off the black West went
oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs-
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

This poem reminds me of Psalm 19. "The heavens declare the [grandeur] of God ." "Shaken goldfoil gives off broad glares like sheet lightning...and owning to its zig-zag dints and creasings and network of small many cornered facets, a sort of fork lightning too*." Dispite the failure of man to "reck his rod', or in other words, reckon him worthy, or heed his authority, His purpose will stand (Isaiah 46:9-10) . The wickedness of man-- their smear, smudge, and their smell-- cannot quench the "dear freshness" in what he has made that bears his witness. The last two lines could refer to the brooding like that of a dove over its nest. I like that because the spirit was compared to a dove in the gospels. It also brings to mind the action of the spirit before the creation, hovering and brooding over the waters. Praise God for his patience with a world that in its darkness did not comprehend the light. Praise him for loving his enemies.

*From Letters of Gerard Manley Hopkins to Robert Bridges, ed. C. C. Abbott, 1955,169.

********

In other news, my buddy John (meestah Pawk) has posted some great thoughts on B.S.
Be sure to check them out.

Esau and Emily Dickinson

2006-11-25T20:24:00.000-08:00

If you don't feel like reading the whole thing, just skim some of the middle parts but read the last few sentences.
I recently found some neat applications to the story of Esau.

We all know that Esau's rejection of the birthright (Gen 25:27-34) has deeper implications which reveal his heart towards God. In Hebrews (12:16), he is called "a godless person." When he is denied the final blessing from his father (Gen 27:30-), he angrily remembers the birthright fiasco, blames it on Jacob, and desperately demands a further blessing. These actions are a picture of what John MacArthur, in his NASB Study Bible, calls "a desire for God's blessings with no desire for God." He wants God's blessings but not God.

In an essay about Emily Dickinson and her work, John Pickard wrote: "she rejected all that made man insignificant and helpless before the crushing force of God." My heart breaks when God's sovereign grace is interpreted this way. We have infinte value and worth, but not in ourselves, it is Christ and the vicariousness of his substitutionary death.

(God is not like Bell Express View's "pick what channels you want" package, or whatever. You know, old guys are always like, "I only like the discovery channel and the history channel." Blah blah blah. That's great.)

Liking God is hard because we like ourselves so much. Our pride is so great that we'll reject God because he makes us feel like we're not as important as he is. It hurts our feelings. Esau rejected God and favoured a bowl of stew. I love that, but only because it reminds me how childish it is to reject God on account my own pride. "No thanks God, if you're going to be all like that, you can keep heaven to yourself." "I didn't want to go to your stupid tea party anyway." "I'm having my own party, and God is not invited." Our parties always end up sucking. But it is the spite factor that we go for.

(By "we" and "I", I mean Humanity, not necessarily you, reader, or me.)

No Christian will spite God this way. We love him because he loves us.
BUT,
I want to think of Esau the next time I feel a great temptation to sin. I want to see before me, the silliness of choosing stew over God's blessing. When we give into temptation, we grieve the spirit, don't we? Isn't the Spirit one of God's greatest gifts to us?

John Calvin's Contextualization

2006-11-20T23:40:00.000-08:00

This is a great listen. I found it on my buddy Nick's blog.

John Calvin's Contextualization

You might have heard this before. Or you might not have. Keeners like Lowonthego will find nothing new here.

The "new wind of doctrine" that he refers to at the beginning, is the idea making the gospel revevant to the postmodern culture. This is what he refers to as contextualization.

When he says that John Calvin was a contender, he is refering to what we contend for as Christians. That is, we contend for the deity of Christ, Christ's penal substitutionary death, and his resurrection, you know, all that great stuff. Contextualization is bringing true doctrine into context.

What he means by missiology is philosophy or method of Christian missions.

I think it will encourage you. God does impossible things.

How J.C. Ryle shook my heart

2006-11-20T22:47:00.000-08:00

J.C. Ryle, in his essay on self-inquiry, asks "whether we know anything of enjoying the means of grace." By "means of grace" he refers to reading the Bible, private prayer, public worship, the "Lord's supper," and "the rest of the Lord's day." He says:

They are means which God has graciously appointed, in order to convey grace to man's heart by the Holy Ghost, or to keep up the spiritual life after it has begun. As long as the world stands, the state of a man's soul will always depend greatly on the manner and spirit in which he uses means of grace. The manner and spirit, I say deliberately and of purpose. Many English people use the means of grace regularly and formally, but know nothing of enjoying them: they attend to them as a matter of duty, but without a jot of feeling, interest, or affection. Yet even common sense might tell us that this formal mechanical use of holy things, is utterly worthless and unprofitable. The feeling about them is just one the many tests of the state of our souls. How can that man be thought to love God who reads about him and his Christ, as a mere matter of duy, content and satisfied if he has just moved his mark onward over so many chapters?--How can that man suppose he is ready to meet Christ, who never takes any trouble to pour out his heart to Him in private as a friend, and is satisfied with saying over a string of words every morning and evening, under the name of "prayer," scarcely thinking what he is about?--How could that man be happy in heaven forever, who finds the Sunday a dull, gloomy, tiresome day,-- who knows nothing of hearty prayer and praise, and cares nothing whether he hears truth or error from the pulpit, or scarcely listens to the sermon?--What can be the spiritual condition of that man whose heart never "burns within him," when he receives the bread and wine which specially remind us of Christ's death on the cross, and the atonement for sin?

These inquiries are very serious and important. If means of grace had no other use, and were not mighty helps toward heaven, they would be useful in supplying a test of our real state in the sight of God. Tell me what a man does in the matter of Bible-reading and praying, in the matter of Sunday, public worship, and the Lord's supper, and I will soon tell you what he is, and on which road he is travelling.

How is it with ourselves? Once more let us ask,--In the matter of means of grace, "How do we do?

- Taken from Practical Religion by J. C. Ryle, 1878, pp. 13-14.

I think we need to be blunt with ourselves and with others. These days, the worst possible thing you can do is judge someone else. I love how, no matter what is said, one can always reply by saying, "it is not your place to judge." Paul and Paul reminded us on Sunday, that we must not condemn or despise, but that we MUST judge rightly. My father is a great judge of character. I think he has a gift. He has often said, "Give me an hour with some one and I will 'soon tell you what he is, and on which road he is travelling.'" The reasoning is that someone who loves the Lord, loves speaking his name, and about the forgiveness of sin, and loves meeting with God's people, and so on.

I ask, does one know, from spending time with you (me), "what you are, and on which road you travel?"

Ever seen this?

2006-11-18T09:36:00.000-08:00

I dug this out of my North Africa pictures. I'm not sure it took this one. Someone else probably

Now I know. The man behind this photo was my good friend, Selah. If you click on his name, you'll be directed to his site. There is some cool stuff there.

The Narrows

2006-11-14T20:59:00.001-08:00

This is a revised version that I think is better than the one originally posted.

You could tell he was squatting. The way his right foot was turned slightly inward, and the way the pressure of his foot against the side of his Pumas caused a bulge in the leather, gave it away. He must have walked through some wet grass; the black rubber at the heel was darkened and a bit shiny. The very bottom edges of his pants were moist as well, but only at the back where they had just begun to fray. Or maybe they came like that. The pale, straight grain jeans, crumpled into a stack, looked like they must have cost 150 dollars. The benefit, for him, of the faded form-fitting jeans, was that they didn’t touch the ground even as they were around his ankles. Only the titles were legible on the discarded newspaper lying on the floor, a short toss away. One corner of the paper was well dampened by the small translucent puddle it partially sat in. The paper’s crease was crisp like it had recently been plucked from a stand. Any item that hit the floor would most likely remain unclaimed. The speckle pattern vinyl floor tiles were a couple shades darker than the beige eggshell surface of the stall walls. The dividing wall didn’t merely facilitate privacy for the sallow stall. It provided a space for advertising personal services, initiating political forums, and showcasing galleries of crude genital portraits. Noise from the cafeteria flooded in as the main door swung open, drowning out the faint electrical hum and the self-conscious bodily sounds.

Relentless Grace

2006-11-06T08:08:00.000-08:00

Derek Webb - I want a broken heart

i’ve traded naked and unashamed
for a better place to hide
for a righteous mask, a suit of fig leaves and lies

chorus 1
i thought the cattle on a thousand hills
was not enough to pay my bills
and i fell in love with those who proved me wrong
and now i want a broken heart

These words have meant a lot to me. I love that it is a confession but one that in each line reminds you of God's beautiful and faithful promises.

This song reminds me that I stand naked and unashamed before God because the blame for my sin was at the cross. Ephesians 1:4 says that I stand before him holy and blameless because of the imputed righteousness of Jesus. Why would we ever hide from him? A great Blindside song says, All of us are searching for an open arm/well, it's a shame how I curl up in the dark.

He leads us beside quiet waters (Psalm 23:2). Even when we're in the valley of the shadow there is no darkness (Psalm 23:4) because he is with us; in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5).

My grandfather used to regularly say, "my father owns the cattle on a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10). Chris Tomlin also reminds us that his grace "is enough" (Luke 12:24, Isaiah 40:11).

Isn't God's word relentless?

For clarity

2006-11-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

Sarcasm wasn't the best device for that last post. I found the recognition of the mother in the old Canada book beautiful. There is also great beauty in seeing a statement that defines families as made by a mother and father. It is beautiful seeing God's holy word printed inside a book put out by the government of Canada. This country will prosper or burn on account of mothers. Is there a more powerful figure than that of a mother? No national service is greater or better than the work of the mother in her own home. Isn't that lovely?

There was a day when God's words were thought to have had value for the nation.
We cannot forget to pray for ours.

Canada has changed

2006-10-30T18:52:00.000-08:00

My mother found this book (one of many in a series) while cleaning out the house of my recently deceased aunt. I had to laugh, "homes made of a Father and Mother..." How silly and narrow our country once was. Frankly, I'm shocked to hear that anyone, let alone the government of Canada, would just assume that a mother works at home. The language is just so hateful, refering to women as servants. And what is with the quote on the left inside cover?

When to be radical

2006-10-29T14:06:00.000-08:00

I was standing in line for food the other day at York with a dear brother. I overheard a girl in line talking about some notable details from the most recent Pub Night. The guy making our pasta said, "did you get wrecked?" She was like, "I sure did." She proceeded to tell about how some people were outside standing on tables singing and how some other person had pulled the fire alarm, forcing everyone outside, at which point everyone joined in the table standing and singing. I sorta chuckled and thought about how all of these things can also be done when sober.

Now, pulling a fire alarm, and dancing on tables, and singing are all good times. I was struck with a Piper-esque vision of hundreds of wasted lives. I felt sick thinking that the truth and joy that I have found in Christ is completely unattractive and grossly offensive to the souls standing around me.

When are we to be radical? How much would sharing the gospel with all the people in line and the guys making the pasta do? We are in such a desperate situation. What are we to do with our message when most people would deny that they were drowning even when their breath ran out and they started to inhale water? If you have two minutes in the pasta line with someone whose eternal destination is torturous, what do you say? Do you ask a challenging question? Do you say something like, "that singing and alarm pulling sounds fun, but for halloween, I am getting together with a bunch of my Christian buddies to watch the game, and listen to a testimony from a guy about how Christ gave his life true purpose and his soul true comfort and his heart true forgiveness."

My question is, how can we be radical enough, and desperate enough. And when must we be?

My buddy said something good. He said, "dude, just make sure you don't confuse not speaking up because you don't want to turn people off and not speaking because you are afraid."

Not quite Petronius' Sybil

2006-10-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

York isn't really the Cumaean Jar. It just feels like it sometimes.

DH wrote:

I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself

I do feel a bit like Aengus:

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

Must stop: First Figging because ah, my foes, and oh, my friends-- the light is not lovely.

I will find out where she has gone/and kiss her lips and take her hands/and walk among dappled grass/and pluck till time and times are done...

The Wasteland

2006-10-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, Son of Man has been a wasteland for a week. I couldn't help it. I had to write a descriptive piece the other day for my Literary Nonfiction class. I thought I'd post it since I don't really have much else to say. Sorry about the inconsistent font. I am not sorry enough to do anything about it though...

The loosely fastened and freely swinging screen door gave entrance directly into a small, cluttered living room. Fruits of a lifelong love of trains and train culture overlaid every surface and occupied every corner. The room is dimly lit by one bulb covered by a dusty flat brown shade. Photographs and paintings of various types of trains travelling through snow-covered plains or ever-green hills covered most of the space on the white walls. The book shelf opposite the door held most of Farley Mowet’s work as well as many large hard covers about the Avro Arrow and was littered with trinkets: a rail spike, a train ticket hole-punch, and at least a few glass balls with similarly themed insides. In one corner there was a bell in its mount, presumably from an old steam engine, standing twenty-five or thirty centimetres wide and as many centimetres tall. The bell mount rested on a matted and faded, once goldenrod shag. This carpet, along with living room couch and chair, contributed to the mild odour of animal feces and stale urine in the house. Between the living room and the kitchen a massive cat laid in its bed made of an old M&M’s Meat Shop box, the edges of which had been knocked flat by the sheer inadequacy of the box to hold such cat. Yellowed, decade-old sheets of newspaper surrounded the box and blended almost seamlessly into the discoloured linoleum.

'He must be a Christian'

2006-09-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

A few years ago my good buddy Julian married this lovely girl from St. Catherines named Stacey. They're nice. Tonight I was helping them move a couch (I've moved more stuff for this guy...). Not only is Stacey a great girl, but she is also a deep well from which great quote-book-worthy statements can always be drawn. She seemed in rare form tonight as we cruised down Jane Street in Cleezer. Near Eglinton, she mentioned this guy she kept noticing on the the GO on her way to work.

He was a nice looking guy. He was youngish, like, around my age, and he had a wedding ring on so I thought he must be a Christian. The next week I noticed he was reading a book about controlling lust and then I was sure he was a Christian. The funny thing was, I was reading Feminine Appeal and was at the chapter on Lust. I could tell he was really trying to keep me from seeing the title of the book.

We kept talking about different things. As usual, the convo got around to Grace Fellowship Church. We were discussing a couple of people who had come once but whom we hadn't seen since.

I just want everybody to come to our Church. If someone comes once and doesn't come again they must be in sin.

Later, as we attempted to bring the ancient oversized couch down Lynn's narrow junction apartment stairway, we met this smelly, sorta drunk, guy who wanted to help. A mangled wall, a dented ceiling, a shattered light fixture, a destroyed banister, and a couple cursing fits later, the couch was at the Dundas Street curb. I chugged the rest of my Dr. Pepper and we left.

A Beauty

2006-09-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

Good Times

2006-09-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

I like this guy. This was a fun conference. Sola Scriptura conferences are always good. You should go to them. Their slightly sucky website is even being fixed up by uberblogger Tim (do I even need to site the guy?). I have never heard the word 'uber' so much and from such a scholarly event.

One of the coolest old guys ever. He waxes on Biblical literary forms, rhetoric, structure, and all kinds of other wicked stuff.

My new hero: Waltke explains the Psalms and sticks up for TNIV

2006-09-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

He also critiqued C.S., which I was glad to hear. No offense to Clive. But he has some bad theology sometimes.
I am still processing the word I just heard from Bruce Waltke on The Psalms.

He expained the purpose of subscripts and postscripts in The Psalms and gave a convincing argument for their credibility. Subscripts give the genre, the author, and often the historical background. Does this not help us in our exegesis? They are found all over the Old Testament (Isa. 38:9, 2 Sam 22, Hab 3). They also conform to the Ancient Near Eastern practice. He taught on the whole of the Psalms as a royal psalter for the king. 78 of them actually, are about the king. That is why many are Messianic and so often fantastically prophetic. Most of the Psalms weren't written for the everyman. If there was no Christ, they would have no significance for us. But now, since we serve with the great king Jesus, the royal interpretation is extended to every saint. Cool.

Another awesome thing he said (and cleared up in my mind) had to do with the 'Form Critical Approach' to the Psalms. I can't explain it all. I have to order the CDs tomorrow. One thing I found incredibily profound was his explanation thanksgiving. The word apparently does not appear in the original text, at least in the way that we think of it. So often, I think of thanksgiving as a contented inward reflection on the faithful provision of God. He said that the word really implies a "public confession of God's particular deliverance, what God has done for you." Cool. I think we could use more (filtered) 'confession' time in Church: Real live public confession of specific things God has done for you to bring glory to himself.

And now, anti-climactically, I want to mention that he tastefully criticized C.S. and claimed that he was a great writer but not a theologian. His beef was Clive's problem with the "punish" motif in the Psalms (like when the writer calls upon God to punish his enemies). For Bruce's take go here.

Finally, I was intrigued and happy to hear him stand up for the TNIV which has taken a ton of bashing from all over the place from people that we love and trust (and still love and trust). I'm not going to state the explanation here but I will say that I think we Reformed people jump on and criticize stuff quite quickly. I like Bruce because he really values, builds into, and respects young people. I saw the sincerity in his eyes that gave witness to the burden on his heart for young people to know their God. He said something like, I can't stand the thought of young men and women being alienated from God and his Word because some old guy like me was more concerned with being literal than giving a relevant (faithful and exegetical) interpretation of the original text.

Anyhoo, I had a terrific night.

Serve your king.

What I don't want to hear

2006-09-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

This post lacks focus but I posted it anyway. It is late and it has been a week. Good luck.
This fantastic man reminded me tonight that the last thing that I want to hear from God is that I did not have because I did not ask (James 4:2). What am I trusting God for? That is what he asked me, along with 100 other folks attending the C4C weekly '532' meeting. What am I trusting him for? A godly wife someday? Some kind of security? Joy in sorrow? Those things aren't bad but I think I often miss out on seeing God do something aboslutely impossible and amazing simply because I didn't ask him every day for it. My 'trust' in God is so often an unconscious adherence to a "let go and let God" doctrine.

If I don't ask him to do impossible things, do I really trust him? I have an easy time trusting him in those easy things...those things that common grace usually covers even for the unregenerate. Have I asked him everyday to use me (even in a small way) to change the entire Schulich school of Business? (That may seem random but it isn't. Schulich is the area of campus where my buddy Steve and I are focusing our evangelistic efforts.) Am I trusting God to save tons of Schulich students this year and develope spiritual multipliers?

mmm. I haven't really.

This absolutely terrific girl pointed out a verse to me this summer. Zephaniah 1:12 says, "...I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, 'The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.'" Are we complacent in our prayers (I mean me)? Do we really expect God to do the things that we ask. When we don't see them happen within one week do we move on and pray for something different? I don't know. I am such a quiter. Here is a formula that I just thought of. Actually, it is more like a couple premises and a necessary conclusion.

God wants people to be saved.

All the people I know are people.

Therefore, I know that when I pray EVERYDAY for a particular friend to be saved I know that I am praying within his will. We can REALLY never go wrong praying for God to change people and change countries and schools and governments (everyday).

Now, I am young and often rash and foolish but the more I hear and read the more I realize that my friends are not saved because I have not asked. My street is not saved because I haven't asked. Schulich is not shaken by the spirit because I have not asked. I know that God is a God of ends, ends that he WILL accomplish with or with out me. But he is also a God of means. So often he won't do it until some one prays.

Acts 4:31 - God didn't shake the building until they had good and prayed. The worst thing that can happen is that God chooses to answer the prayer in a way we didn't ask. What we have to lose is the awe of seeing God do great and impossible things. He indeed is capable of more than we could ever ask or imagine (Epheshians 3:20ish).

Feeling Asaph-esque

2006-09-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Paul preached from Ecclesiastes and it got me thinking... I wonder if there is a more poetic verse of the Bible than Ecclesiastes 9:11. It runs like this:

Again I saw under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favour to those with knowledge, but time and chance happens to them all.

I think this is very applicable to university students. I think this because we are all fighting for the 'A's, the social connectedness, and eventually when we leave, the jobs. We do lots of dreaming and tentative planning in university. We dream of being a successful literary editor who consumes great brew at popular bars and owns a bungalo in the beaches and pretty much lives a chill life with financial stability. Life is competitive and you've got to keep up but some people just get the breaks, ya know? Doesn't this cause Asaph-esque feelings like when he complained of the wicked who "set their mouths against the heavens" while their "tongues strut through the earth" (Psalm 73:9).

The next verses in Ecclesiastes illustrate the poetic statement above.

Man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken into an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

Even thinking about how you are going to someday become a successful family man and still have time to golf with the guys and read great books and have beautiful friends and summer in Italy or whatever can cause some anxiety (summer was used as a verb). That is, if we don't preach the message of Ecclesiastes to our hearts regularly. Joy and peace come from the assurance of knowing whom you have believed and being convinced that he is able to guard until the (final) day what has been entrusted to you (2 Timothy 1:12).

The race is truly to the one who owes nothing to anyone except love (Romans 13:8).

What is "God, Max, and Me?" Find out...

2006-09-15T23:17:00.000-07:00

To find out, go here. I like this man. His honesty. Clarity. This is about finding new and better ways to spend time with God. Because isn't that what it is all about?

Something worth restating

2006-09-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

I posted this awhile back but I think it is worth restating (because of somethings that I saw tonight). Let me set it up. I love that our Campus for Christ 532 (weekly) meeting is on the same night as York's famous 'Pub Night.' Another cool thing is that 532 was held in a Pub that has recently lost it's licence or something. Tonight, instead of being a venue for pagan self worship it was packed with Christians worshipping the only God and saviour that the universe will ever know.

What I really wanted to say has to do with the York U population being dominated by females. After the meeting most people go to some place on campus to eat and spend time with eachother. At around the same time hundreds of students line up around the building to get into the 'Underground' for a night of whatever...debauchery, who knows. The cool thing is that while York is buzzing with overly scented and made up, breast-inhancing bra and high healed shoe wearing girls travelling in groups, there were probably 45 girls with their backs to all the drama who are completely uninterested with the cotton candy that the world is throwing at them and unimpressed by hope of some kind of trite score, whatever girls consider to be a score. I'm continually refreshed by the deep and lasting beauty of godly women. Sisters and co-hiers.

There is more I could say and I could have said some things that I did say much better but it is late right now and just wanted the thoughts up.

I think all this has something to do with the unchanging Christ who is constantly fresh and new and never fades. He transcends fads and has the patience to wait during times when other things look more important and attractive than him. His arms are open (Luke 13:34). He never grows weary of doing good to us (Jeremiah 32:40).

Asymmetrical Sympathy

2006-09-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

I know this post is long but I think it is actually pretty good.
I had my Islamic Tradition class today. Lots of things really didn't surprise me. I've taken courses in Religious Studies before such as Philosophy of Religion, and Greek and Biblical Traditions. As a Christian, I was welcomed with a warning from profs in both classes that "all Christians must approach this subject with an open mind" and a whole bunch of other stuff that gave away their opinions of Christianity and the narrow-minded and naive people who practice it. No such warning was given in my Islam class today. On the contrary, the topic of Islam as a Religion and a faith was treated with much reverence.

As a side note, as far as I remember my Philosophy of Religion class pretty much turned into a class that compared the defense of the Christian faith and the attack on the Christian faith. What I mean by 'Christian faith' is Biblical doctrine.

Another thing that I noticed in my class today was the asymmetry of nationality among those in attendance. Our tutorial "meet and greet" time revealed that 98 percent of the students, in a class of around 25 or so, were Muslims yearning to "learn more about their Religion." I am so very white. So clearly non-muslim. Those last two statements have nothing to do with anything I've said or will say. I had to chuckle, maybe unfairly, at the readiness with which so many students defended the slightest "misconception." My previous religious studies classes were populated by students of all nations and religions. Shots were being taken at my Saviour and his word from all over the room. Most Christians in the room spend the Bible-bashing time sighing, throroughly unimpressed with and not intrigued by the arguments being posed. We're just so used to it. I just thought of something. I think I can say that Christians are the most objective people in the entire world. I think it has something to do with our spiritual blindness being healed by Christ. We can see the world as it truly is (see Romans 1:21-22)

I really haven't met a more tolerant group of people than true Christ-centered, evangelical Christians. I was recently reading some material provided by one of the more 'left' clubs at York University. It amazed me that in one statement made in two or three sentences, 'the political and theocratic right' turned into Christians. Stunning. Christians sure put up with a ton of crap from everybody. Of course, we were called to it (2 Timothy 3:12). We take joy in it (2 Corinthians 12:10). And we bless the bashers (Matthew 5:44). That is, wish God's deepest blessing on their lives, and seek to love them in any way possible. Ochuk has a terrific satirical post on this subject. Man, who doesn't love that guy?!

Some amusing quotes

2006-09-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

I just finished Mark Driscoll's book Confessions of a Reformission Rev. Aside from his Campus Crusade for Christ bashing and a few minor things I loved the book. The Bible of Church planting it is not yet it provided tons of challenges and also the encouragment that God will do huge things when we take big risks for him. The guy is stinking funny too. Here are some noteable sentences and chunks. These are not intended to represent the book.

- So the Brethren folks and their handbells and their doily left our church.

- ... Paul said that a pastor must fight like a soldier, train like an athlete, and work hard like a farmer... he had in mind the manliest of men leading the church (2 Tim. 2:1-7). Sadly, the weakest men are often drawn to ministry simply because it is an indoor job that does not require heavy lifting.

- Unfortunately, our little church met at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday nights in a hot church without air-conditioning, and the attendance started thining to the degree that it looked like some of us had missed the rapture.

- Scrambling for ideas, I agreed to cancel a Sunday church service to let some of our long-haired public-radio types take us outside to do a large joint art project they had proposed ... I feared ending up with a church of chickified arty dudes drinking herbal tea and standing around talking about their feelings, as illustrated by their finger painting. To this day, I twitch like a Vietnam vet just thinking about the mural.

- Mark on 'solid long-winded, old-school Bible preaching' after receiving complaints about his 'preaching monologues': My people need to hear from God's word and not from each other in collective ignorance like some dumb chat room.

Of Course, I am excited to be back at school.

2006-09-08T16:44:00.000-07:00

Who wouldn't be.

Not only is my book list "excellent" (say 'excellent' as if imitating Wayne from Wayne's World), but the Campus Ministry has been really rolling. Three days of classes so far and already one guy as bent the knee to Christ. Now, the problem of overworking is pressing threat. This terrific guy posted something great about this potential threat.

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This is sorta related to some of the sentences above but not really. Why do people fear long posts?

*******

I am also sorry that this post isn't very great...it has just been so long.

FRH - It is no wonder she died young

2006-08-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-27T17:07:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

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

Gone to camp for a week

2006-08-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Some day I'll get a real job.

The first words out of Jesus' mouth

2006-08-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-02T04:05:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

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.

A (brief) meditation on Evangelism

2006-07-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

In his recent book, Sharing Your Faith With Friends and Family, Michael Green says,

One of the things we need to do if we are to help people to Christ is to puncture the apathy about ultimate issues, the cocoon of surface happiness with which our friends tend to protect themselves.

I think this is really key. This type of thing is demonstrated in so many different ways. It could be partying, excessive dating, acting as if nothing bothers you, or embracing the contradiction of moral relativism. Green says that a great way to puncture the proverbial cocoon is to ask a question - an unloaded one. But if I expect someone to answer my question I must first demonstrate sensitivity and transparency. I need to learn how to facilitate real give-and-take in the discussion instead of just pontificating about God.

The new Voice CD opens with a talk by Josh Harris. In it he says that the gospel is vulnerable. I think this is true in the sense that we can severly misrepresent the Bible and its message by the way we handle it. The million dollar question is: Can I present the gospel with enthusiasm and urgency without being pushy or hard and also be vulnerable myself?

[Digest This:] Wilt thou love God as He thee?

2006-07-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

by John Donne

Wilt thou love God, as he thee? Then digest,
My soul, this wholesome meditation,
How God the Spirit, by angels waited on
In heaven, doth make his Temple in thy breast.
The Father having begot a Son most blessed,
And still begetting, (for he ne'er begun)
Hath deigned to choose thee by adoption,
Coheir to' his glory, 'and Sabbath's endless rest.
And as a robbed man, which by search doth find
His stol'n stuff sold, must lose or buy it again:
The Son of glory came down, and was slain,
Us whom he'd made, and Satan stol'n, to unbind.
'Twas much that man was made like God before,
But, that God should be made like man, much more.

Very Bad Poetry

2006-07-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

This gem comes from the 19th Century poet, James Milligan. Little is known about this poet, save his obvious love of geology.

from The Science of Geology

In ages past [animals] lived and died,
And afterwards were petrified
By enclosure in massive rocks,
And thus became fossilised blocks.
The oldest-known rocks contain lime,
Thus proving at that remote time
Animal life did then abound,
Which may fill us with thought profound.

Don't you love when poets convolute the syntax to force a rhyme.

More laughs at the outdoor court

2006-07-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

A few days back, one of the boys notified me of several pit bull pups that were apparently living under a bush beside the nearby school. Concerned for them and wanting one for a pet he had asked me if I had time to go investigate the lead. Needless to say, I didn't get around to it. Today, while taking a breather between games, he leaned over to say something to me. "Hey Josh, do you remember those pit bulls I told you about last week?" he asked me. "Yes," I said. "Did you get a chance to go over and check them out?" He replied, "um, well, my friend went over and took some of them to the vet."

I love how long stories can take.

The compassionate and opportunistic boy was then told by the vet that what he had in his possession were squirrels but that she would make sure they were taken care of.

Oh well, it's a few less vicious dogs owned by irresponsible people.

What was the Question again?

2006-07-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

I love Jesus. I love him for lots of reasons. Today I realized that I love him for perfectly demonstrating conversational segue. What got me thinking about this was the sermon that Tom Gee preached tonight. He was using Luke 12:13-34: cool. He said that it was very common for people in Jesus' time to approach a rabbi for matters of financial arbitration. The man in Luke 12:13 approaches Jesus, asking him to convince his brother to divide their inheritance. Jesus instantly makes the transition and answers, "take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." He goes from here to a presentation of the need to treasure God above all else and then to be reconciled with God while there is still time. Now that is segue.

My personal favourite is found in Matthew 12:46-50. Jesus, when told that his mother and brothers are looking for him, says, "who is my mother, and who are my brothers? Whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

Again in Matthew (19:13-15), Jesus happens to be hanging out with some local kids (you've gotta love those local kids) and says to his disciples, "let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."

If we are completely preoccupied with things of Christ, keeping our sights on what is above, I think we will segue just like Jesus did.

Thanks Tom.

Serve your king

Canada Supports Illiteracy

2006-07-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe that is not true but I will make a case for it at the end. I have been staggered by the problems many youth have comprehending basic vocabulary, interpreting punctuation, and focusing on a non-moving target (a book for instance) for any period longer than 10 seconds (literally). The other day I was reading Ephesians 5 with a boy (the part about who will and who will not inherit the kingdom) when he stopped me and asked what the word 'impure' meant. I guess I could add to the above list: inability to recognize common prefixes. I love being asked what 'ignorance' means. Those are always good times. It seems necessary to allegorize every term. That is also fun. All of this became even more apparent (though not suprising) when I went on to get schooled in "an easy" Xbox game.

Are the kids I hang out with the exception? I wonder what education was like back when it was God-centered. The reason this concerns me is because God happened to reveal himself in a book. Too bad he didn't just wait and release it on DVD. Does everything need to be interactive? Will anything ever replace the reading of the Word?

I'll try to redeem the inappropriately bold title now. Canada supports illiteracy by keeping God and his book out of education. I think I can stand by that.

So, since I'm here, go out and BUY the brand new Voice cd. Don't even think about it. Just trust me. Any Christian who loves reformed doctrine will HEART this disk.

Listen to your heart

2006-07-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

This has been the least relaxing summer that I can think of. I haven't even been blogging. The ol' outdoor ball program is both physically and mentally draining but it is teaching me many things. It is always amazing how much you learn from the kids that you are leading and mentoring.

It is interesting what the word 'Christian' means to so many people. I asked one teen why he considered himself to be a Christian and what made him one. He answered, "um, I don't know, it is like a lifestyle." If that is all it is, then people have every right to be offended and angry when people like me "cram it down their throats" and "judge" them. In that case I wouldn't be much different than some vegan snob going around telling everyone that they NEED to quit eating meat and stuff. Actually, as a way of life, it's pretty unappealing. Sorta like being a vegan I suppose. I like to call it a transfomation of the mind that leads to a life of good works and salvation from God's just wrath.

******

Anyways, I've been watching this great documentary called Hell's Bells (borrowed from Tim who also wrote a review of the semi-recent dvd). It is about the 'power and spirit of popular music.' Don't judge the vid by my comments here since, needless to say, I wont be reviewing it like Tim has and they'll just be misleading but just might serve the purpose here. So, just read his post.

At one point they display a quote from Anton Szandor Lavey and his buddies which basically calls the 'triumphant strains' of Sinatra's 'My Way' one of the most satanic songs of the 20th century. Why? As Occultist Aleister Crowley wrote, "do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law," Frank's song articulates the key to satanic worship: The worship of self. Is this not the same refrain heard in the millions of songs that tell you to "listen to your heart?" Or even more clearly "do what you want."

Proverbs 28:28 says, "he who trusts in his own heart is a fool" (NKJV).

Jeremaiah 17:9 says, "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick" (ESV).

Why did God flood the earth again? Oh ya, it was because "every intention of the thoughts of [the heart of man] was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5 ESV). God's reason for not flooding the earth again is also very interesting. Take note of Genesis 8:21: "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth."

Or some new testement action. Mark 7:21-22 says, "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.

I love music but it is NOT neutral.

Serve your king

Striking

2006-07-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

Especially in light of incessant discussion (amongst my family that is) about who Clara looks like, recent evidence has proven to be quite striking. Not only is the physical resemblence there but she also appears to have other interests which make the comparison even more apparent.

I really don't think words are even necessary to point out what these photographs clearly show.

And she likes both Radiohead and Zao.

...but the tip of an iceberg.

Confusion between Christ and types of Christ (sort of)

2006-07-10T20:34:00.000-07:00

As is the custom, I was sharing the gospel with the kids that come out to the Rexdale basketball program. After we had looked at the fall of man and briefly examined Genesis 3:15, I began comparing my life before grace to slavery and things like that. When I asked if they knew who the man was who freed me from such bondage to evil, one great kid answered, "Martin Luther King Jr." All I could say was, "not quite, buddy. It is someone else."

Dealing with Kingston and a few thoughts on relevance

2006-07-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Queen's is a great school and all but these kinds of things just don't happen in the T dot. What kind of a sign is that? This was on Saturday.

********

Another funny thing happened today (Sunday). I had my friend Ken over after Church, and he was flipping through one of the latest issues of Relevant. After realizing that the majority of the music reviews were on secular bands he said, "shouldn't this magazine also be relevant to Christians?" I laughed. Though I love many things about the magazine, his comment was very profound to me. It is a very thin line to walk when you want to balance relevance (I mean it in a good sense, as in being able to powerfully and effectively reach unbelievers at this time in history) with "not being conformed to the pattern of this world (Rom 12:2)." I don't know where the line must be drawn. I really have no idea. How do we know when we are becoming too influenced by the trends of our culture and if we should be resisting these things or embracing them in order to "save some (1 Cor 9:22)."

I guess we judge all things by the standard of scripture. I wonder, if I really did that, would I get convicted about all of the secular music that I own and love? Is there a rule or can I deal with instances individually? I wonder if I even have the maturity or the honesty to do this...Am I remaining relevant or am I just holding onto the things of this world?

What I am really worried about is the fact that my favourite David Lee Roth vinyl is neither relevant nor edifying. Conundrum indeed.

...and good times were had by all

2006-07-06T04:48:00.000-07:00

By his strange and wonderful providence, God has given me the opportunity to develop and lead a summer sports program for youth in the Rexdale area. He always brings you places that you would never expect to be. Anyhow, one of the great things about this ministry is that it is as grassroots as you could possibly get. We have no official church, community, or school affilation which means that I can blatantly preach Christ as much as I want. Cool. We aren't even renting a gym facility. Basically, my partner and I show up at the outdoor court and invite kids to come to our program. They came, what a miracle. An even greater miracle is that, when the time came, they all willingly quit playing ball and sat on some bleachers so we could open some Bibles together.

Comment of the Day

After we were done our discussion on "What the Bible says about itself" a young (17) man approached me and after kissing his teeth and nudging me on the shoulder said,

"sexy speech yo."

How do you answer that? I smiled nodded and walked away.

Very Bad Poetry

2006-07-02T22:37:00.000-07:00

The simplest way to put it: I love bad poetry. It is just so fun. Here we have the worst attempt at poetically expressing Biblical truth, namely, something along the lines of penal atonment. Then, after that, there is just a wicked bad poem. Good times.

Both of these poems come courtesy of the self acclaimed genious J. Gordon Coogler.

God Correctly Understood

The man who thinks God is too kind
To punish actions vile,
Is bad at heart, of unsound mind
Or very juvenile.

Pretty Girl

On her face there are smiles of grace
That linger in beauty serene,
And there are no pimples encircling her dimples,
As ever, as yet, I have seen.

A Pleasant Surprize Involving DAC

2006-06-30T08:39:00.000-07:00

A few years ago when Ravi was speaking in Scarlem I was loitering near the book table and noticed a table full of free sermons on tape from Sola Scriptura. I grabbed few, because hey, free tapes. Needless to say, many of the tapes were either lost or ruined because tapes just suck to take care of especially when they don't come with a case. WELL, yesterday I was looking for something to listen to while I made an omelet. I noticed a pile of tapes and cds sitting on the bottom step leading up to our attic. I went over and took a moment to peruse the contents of the pile. In the midst of some very random stuff I found a caseless tape named The Mission of The Church: D.A. Carson. It played like a charm! What a find. What a sermon. Here are some things he said about the Great Commission.

**********

Do you remember when Jesus said of John the Baptist in Matt 11:11, "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist." John, therefore is made greater than Isaiah, David, Solomon, and Abraham. Greater on the axis of ability to point to Christ. The second half of verse 11 then says, "yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Does this then not make us greater than John, Isaiah, David, Abraham, and Solomon on the same axis? The freshest and most immature Christian, as long as they ARE a Christian, has a far greater ability to point others to Christ than even JB.

The Great Commission was not something tacked on to the end of the Gospel of Matthew but rather is what the entire Bible is about: making known a God of whom the world does not know. I highly recommend reading Isaiah 45 and/or Psalm 96.

*********

So we are greater than John the Baptist. The Great Commission gives no geographical limit. All authority is given to Jesus. Link this to the doctrine of election (as seen in Acts 18:9-10). WE ARE GOING TO BE USED TO CHANGE THE WORLD BY WINNING THE SOULS THAT BELONG TO GOD.

Lets get out there man! They're all waiting for us.

Serve your king.

Some Interesting Po-mo lit

2006-06-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

So this book was recommeded to me by Lydia on the Fishy Reading> site. I just read something very interesting in it. I think I like it (not just because he mentions Hemingway).

Donald Miller says,

The magical proposition of the gospel, once free from the clasps of fairy tale, was very adult to me, very gritty like something from Hemingway or Steinbeck, like something with copious amounts of sex and blood. Christian spirituality was not a children's story. It wasn't cute or neat. It was mystical and odd and clean, and it was reaching into dirty. There was wonder in it and enchantment.

Earlier in the chapter in which this portion is found, he speaks of how everyone wants to be "fancy and new." Almost everything that we encounter in life offers this or so it seems. Juliets promise to Romeo to make him new didn't really work out, he says. He then gives the example of an infomercial that claimed that a particular product worked 'just like magic.' The problem with magic, he says, is that it is always an illusion (ie. blaine, copperfield).

He compared this with God's propostion in the Bible to supernaturally make us new. When the Bible is taught as a children's fable with a 'moral of the story' at the end, it proves to be merely an illusion and does not have the power to make anyone new and is no different from the knives in the infomercial that never get dull. He says (from one of his experiences) that, "they talked about Noah and the ark because the story had animals...[but] failed to mention that that was when God massacred all of humanity."

If you got nothing from these quotes, I'll try to tell you what I learned from this. The Bible has supernatural power to get at the deepest and darkest places in the human heart. Why else would it be described as a 'two-eged sword?' The Bible is not gentle. Its words must attack the worst and most deadly things in our lives and over-power them.

Was this confusing to read? It was hard to explain. The guy never really just clearly states something. I guess I need to train my po-mo skills.

Say hi to Mauberley

2006-06-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

So, I have this great new pet but I am now questioning my motives. I was at wal-mart with Julia (my sister) and Laura (our friend) shopping for some summer gear. Basically all that was said was, "we should all get fish and see whose lives the longest." So from the start my fish's life has been very closely associated with death. It hasn't even been so long since I was quite involved in the tragic and accidental but timely death of our dog Honey. I was wondering if I was even ready to move on in such a jaunty fashion. I am really starting to love this little guy though. Maybe it is his stellar name which comes from one of my favourite poems by the great modernist Ezra Pound. He is a Crowntail Male Betta and has tons of flair. I hope he likes Radiohead.

Also, I just borrowed (took) some issues of Relevant from my friend Lydia's apartment. As soon as I read them I'll leave a little reviewage. I'm sure it'll be one of those things that has some good and also some stuff that could be chucked. We'll see. The latest issue features ex-Caedmon's member Derek Webb (an artist worth checking out).

Help from Johnny Pipes

2006-06-24T16:21:00.000-07:00

I'm half done JP's new book entitled God is the Gospel. It has helped me realize what the deal is with the goings on in all those Muslim countries (and many other things). Namely, obscenely blatant (to anyone outside the culture) censorship of Biblical truth, irrationality, political persecution that prohibits conversion, and all kinds of other stuff. JP, partially quoting 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, says, "Satan does not want us to see [the] light. Seeing 'the light of the gospel of the glory of CHRIST' is what liberates people from [Satan's] power." He is currently using over one thousand years of history, nationalism, and the government to hide the light from millions.

What a travesty of historical and literary scholarship it is to claim that Jesus did not live and die and furthermore that the most documented piece of ancient literature has been changed.

Reading John's book has helped me hate the 'father of lies' more and love my Muslim brothers-in-humanity all the more. It is pointing me to the most beautiful thing that we could ever hope for. The perfect and glorious triune God.

Love and pray without ceasing.

Go Here...

2006-06-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

...for some great sentences from Martin Luther! The Twin Towers will love these. And so will anyone else.

A puritan quote to ease back in

2006-06-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

From The Life and Diary of David Brainerd (pg. 71)

I felt weaned from the world
and from my own reputation amongst men,
willing to be despised and to be a gazing stock
for the world to behold.

Would I be happy with this?

Would I be truly satisfied?

Why does something deep down in me crave the approval of men?

Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world!

ps. I added another pic below

One (or two) more for now

2006-06-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

A few more of my North Africa favs

2006-06-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

A Few Favs

2006-06-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

The day I got lost.

Glad to be back in the BEST country in the World

2006-06-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple things that I will miss about the Arab world. The beaches were also not bad but I have never loved Canada so much. Now that I'm back, I appreciate not risking my life in taxis, not bleaching veggies, drinking tap water, and getting what I ask the waiter for. I can't wait to go back though. Insha Allah.

If you read this blog while I was gone and prayed even once, I thank you. That is our most strategic and powerful ministry. Never cease! It has taken me awhile to sorta get back into things. That's my excuse for not posting when I said I would (14th or 15th). I've learned so many things about love, service, the gospel, among other things. I can't wait to share a few of them as well as a few photos here and there.

Here is one of the ways we coped...

شكرا

2006-05-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

If you don't already know, I'll be leaving my lovely country for about 5 weeks and heading to an unnameable country with limited internet access (at least pour moi). If I do get the chance, I WILL blog. Otherwise, Son of Man is going to quite sparse for the next wee bit. I'm glad that people have read this blog for the past few months; I hope something has been interesting, funny, challenging, or encouraging for you to read or see. I very much look forward to getting back to the ol' blogstalking soon.

I'll be leaving on Thursday, May 4. If you read this and you like Son of Man, or you are just a Christian who loves to pray, I would COVET your prayers for me (and my fellow travellers/ministers of the gospel). Pray for our safety and good health, and most importantly for God's good and powerful gospel to change lives via us, his servants!

See you on or near June 14 or 15.

Serve Your King.

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

God Does Speak

2006-04-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

No. I did not hear an audible word but I would have to be dense to miss how clearly He speaks though his word and the faithful expository preaching of his word! Last week, Paul was in Romans 12:3 (part of a series in Romans).

A small portion of this fantastic (brutally convicting) sermon was on honesty in story telling. I like to tell stories (I also like to be the center of attention). Why do I embillish the facts when I story tell. One answer: ME ME ME. Maybe if I told the exact truth, I'd wouldn't be as interesting as I'd like people to think I am. What I am I doing here? Thinking of myself more highly than I ought to think! It is also hard to be humble when you are reformed and obviously have doctrine down to a science. (I fear some won't sense the sarcasm so here: That was a joke.) Anyways, that is not the point of this blog.

The point is, today jlf81 continued his series in The Sermon on the Mount. He preached a passage that I had formerly considered to be one of those texts in the Bible that serves no purpose whatsoever (not that I really think there are such passages). The passage was the one on Oaths. I am not going to give a summary here. If is most definitely worth a listen.

I linked this to my convictions about pride from last week. His sermon stressed that we live truthful lives because we represent God. This reminded me of what Paul (apostle) says in Timothy about living above reproach.

Am I honest? Do I act the same way with my with my unbelieving friends as my Christian ones? What am I willing to do to get a laugh, or be the center of attention? Is my life disqualifying my message? If I am a liar (one who tells white lies, embellishes the truth, withholds facts) how can anyone be expected to trust the gospel I present?

******

While giving the context and background of the 'Oaths' passage Julian mentioned how the Pharasees twisted scripture and created their own law which was far from what was intended by God via Moses. A this point he charged us to be in the word so we spot false teaching! I was immediately reminded of the first verse of a great O.C. Supertones song called Escape from Reason. Here it is pour toi. READ IT. Check the rest of the lyrics to this song! As well as Return of the Revolution!

Down down down
That’s the way we’re traveling
Our social fabric unravels
But who pulled the string
Philosophers politicians or the school teachers
Game of life and death and we’re sitting on the bleachers
What happened to our voice
What happened to our influence
Tell me who will listen to uneducated congregants
And why should they when all we have to say is
Bumper sticker doctrine and cute catch phrases
Does this amaza us that no one will take us seriously
We talk big but then we sit in atrophy
Apathy they make comedy of our hypocrisy
Unaware of true biblical philosphy
So we gotta watch what we do and what they see Cause we represent christ plus christianity

I'm Sensing a Theme

2006-04-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the friends that I had the privilege of hanging out with today. What is with all the peace? Even I'm doing it...Good times.
These people seem to be immune to...whatever it is. I almost got one in there at the bottom but was able to abstain and just offer the pointing pinky...

Right and Wrong

2006-04-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

I was reminded again tonight, after a heartbreaking loss for the Habs, why I never watch the news. The last time I sat down to watch the news, I mean actually WATCH it, I went away very angry. I think that time it was because of condoms being handed out in ELEMENTARY schools because "kids are going to do it anyways."

Tonight it was just one sentence that got me. There has been investigation going into the impact that the internet has on violent acts by young kids (age 9-14 or so). Some analyst actually said something like, "Well, it is not the internett that is the problem, it is the impact that it can have on kids who don't know the difference between right and wrong."

No! It is you, Mr. Analyst, who doesn't know right from wrong! It is the same people who say that kind of garbage as give condoms to 10-14 year olds! Why is it wrong for little junior to do it when big people don't need to take any responsibility in their sexual activity?

I think the kids are much smarter than their hippy, tolerant, wishy-washy parents! I think these "troubled" kids who "don't know the difference between" whatever actually have a good handle on the arbitrary morality of big people. WHO ON EARTH DID THEY LEARN IT FROM?

******

And I've had friends look at me as if I'd just said 'the leafs are winning the cup next year" when I actually said, "I'm voting for the conservative guy in my riding."

******

There is so much I could say...people wonder why kids kill people...kids are being taught that they are special and that they evolved from apes in the same stinking day. Our hearts a desperately wicked before God pours his irresistible grace on us.

Our country needs the gospel DESPERATELY.

Lets serve our King and share our faith regularly. The Gospel alone can change our country, not protesting gay marriage or abortion as wrong as those things are. How can we expect non-Christians to live by a Christian morality? Well, we can't. Heart change is needed. Dispite what Pastor Wonderful says, a smile does NOT say it all. I have the nicest pagan neighbours in the entire world.

I Preach to myself! Pray for Grace and boldness!

Captain Ahab was a Jerk?

2006-04-25T06:56:00.000-07:00

So here I am again blogstalking on a Tuesday morning. I'm sure some of you have read the Tulip Girl blog already but I just had to share this with all of you. I was just going to give you the link but I'm going to copy and paste the whole funny part over here. Is this bad blogger etiquette? Anyways here is the link so you can view some of the comments on this brilliance.

"Oh, crap!" I heard my 8 year old say, as we drove down the road in the minivan the other day. Shocked me a bit. Haven't heard him use language like that before.

His expletive was followed by some banging, and sounds of paper being rumpled, and a book being slammed shut.

"What's going on?"

"Those stupid guys are whalehunting again. And they killed the whale already."

T8 is reading an illustrated version of Moby Dick. T8, my whale lover, budding marine biologist. He has a great sensitivity to injustices, chief of which is whale hunting.

A few days later he told me, "You know what I'd do if I were a millionaire?"

"No, what?"

"I wouldn't be foolish with my money. I'd buy a big house and get a wife and a bunch of kids. But I wouldn't just buy them every toy they wanted. And I'd work at the aquarium. If I couldn't work with the whales, well, then I'd just be the guy that feeds the sharks."

**********

Now THAT is passion!

This kid is the man.

Here I Stand

2006-04-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

So, my format just got OWNED (that is, ruined) and I really don't know how or why. This would merely be a hastle if I had any idea how to use HTML. But since I don't, it is sort of a pickle. Luckily (rather, by God's grace) I have a buddy (future Schulich student) who is going to fix my blog and thus hopefully pull my life back together.

It just occured to me how much this very blog was becoming an idol in my life. Paul preached on pride from Romans 12:3 today. So many things were ringing far too true.

I think I need to re-think this blog and its purpose. Pride is the worst enemy because as soon as you start to defeat it, you are immediately in danger of false humility!

If you think of it, pray that I (and you) can better serve our king with our respective blogs.

ps. that's Homer pulling out his hair...what I was doing about an hour ago...

gggrrrrr

2006-04-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

something is wrong with my template!
[something is wrong with my template!]

Some Thing is wrong with my Template area...

2006-04-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

For some reason the template area on my account does not include anything that is on my blog...what's happening? When I hit the preview button...the blog is all white with weird writing...I am so lost...I am now checking if the posting works...

Christianity

2006-04-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

I have heard heretics say, "Christianity is only a crutch." For this to be true, we must have at least one good leg to stand on. This is not the reality of our condition! Rather, our faith is a wheelchair, Nay, a stretcher.

The Kinda' Girl Pour Moi

2006-04-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

If I had a girlfriend she would wear this shirt.

And as long as she wasn't going to be leaving the house, perhaps this one.

Psalm 96: A Glorious and Chilling Psalm

2006-04-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

I can't stop thinking about this Psalm. I have so often over-looked it because the first few verses seemed so common to me. "Oh sing to the Lord a new song" sounds suspiciously like Psalms 95, 97, and 98. But then, this Psalm goes on.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
3Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
4For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.

I have to separate verse 5 just because it is so amazing to me.

5For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

Even though it was not indicated, I had to take a Selah there. The Lord made the heavens. There is something to meditate on. Look at that comparison! Think about all of our worthless idols. Then think about the God who made the heavens!

6Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

THEREFORE,

7Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! 8Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! 9Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!

God made the heavens, dwells in majesty, lives in perfect holiness. The Psalmist tells us to "bring an offering." I couldn't help but think of Romans 12:1-2. What is our reasonable worship to this God, at which "all the earth...tremble[s]?" Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God...Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

It is the last bit that really got me.

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13before the LORD, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.

This Psalm is framed very well. It starts by saying, "Declare his glory" to all. It ends by stating the sure coming of God (Jesus) as judge.

Why are the trees happy? BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN GROANING!!!!EVER SINCE THEY WERE SUBJECTED TO FUTILITY (Romans 8:22). They are glad because God is surely coming! But he won't be judging them! The lord doesn't need to judge the trees; they bring him glory every day! They declare is invisible attributes and divine nature (Romans 1:20) as their branches reach toward heaven.

God is coming to Judge the peoples!

I think an ellipses will help to show the power of this Psalm. Check it out.

Declare his glory among the people...for he will judge the world in righteousness.

Let us TELL THE PEOPLES so that they can sing with the trees, the sea, and the rest of the saints when Jesus comes in judgement. This Psalm is a chilling reminder to Declare the power of God for salvation.

Serve your king.

Vaccination and Epiphanies (Part 2)

2006-04-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here we are, back into my epiphany. If you haven't read Part 1, it might help. It'll take 3 minutes or less.

There are few places in our beloved Scriptures that reveal the mind of God as brilliantly as Romans 9-11. That is why these are some of the hardest passages in the Bible. Paul in the last verses of 11 proclaims his own inability to fathom the mind of God and his delight in the perfection of every aspect of our all-powerful God.

Coming back to WRATH! When was God's wrath more evident than in the events of utter destruction found in the Old Testament? ie. the flood, Sodom and Gommorah, Achan, the guy who tried to stabilize the ark (of the covenant) and was struck dead, ect.
Now this wrath, that was once so often displayed, is being kindled due to the patience of God since he has expanded the Gospel to gentiles.
Now the nature of his wrath is like what Paul explains in Romans 1:18-32. "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity."

These posts have been sorta all over the place and I don't think I really made a point. I guess this is all still being worked out in my head.

We need to flee from Idolatry. (we can even do it when we worship...another post...)
A way we can steer clear of his is to not "say in [our] heart, 'who will ascend into heaven'...or 'who will descend into the abyss" (Romans 10). CHRIST DID IT ALL.
May we never say that God chose us for some reason other than to bring glory to himself. He said to Israel (my translation), 'It is not because of your righteousness that I brought you into the land but rather because of my anger at sin, my jealousy for my own glory, and my sovereign plan' (Deuteronomy 9).

I don't even know if I've said anything here...but its late now and there is no time for revision.

Serve your King

a MUST read (before I return to the Pentateuch)

2006-04-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

Kirk Wellum as posted some exellent thoughts on The DaVinci Code and how Christians ought to approach it! What are the eternal consequences of something like this? READ THIS. It only takes 5 minutes or less!

Vaccination and Epiphanies: Related?

2006-04-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

So, I was getting some final vaccination before the ol' trek to North Africa. While I was waiting to be picked up from beside the starbucks at Eglinton and Bathurst I figured it was most appropriate to open up the Torah!...or Pentateuch or whatever. Therein was an epiphany.

Deut 9:3 - Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you.

Serious anger. I've heard some heretics say, "the God of the Old Testament is all about judgement but the God of the New Testament is all about love." Well, these passages could make you think so. Check out Deut 13. To the one who worships false gods and leads others to do so must be treated in this way: "...you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. You shall stone him to death

If those aren't enough, look up Achan or Dathan and Abiram or the guy who was caught picking up sticks on the Sabbath!

Here is what I think of all this... (the numbers simply signify my thought process)

1.) God's reason for sending Israel in to destroy other nations was NOT the righteousness of Israel but rather because of the wickedness of the nations (as well as keeping the promise he made to the patriarchs. I don't want to downplay that in anyway). Deut. 9:5

2.) God is (has always been, was in the New Testament, and will always be) most concerned with his own glory! If he were not a complete egoist, he would be an idolator. He must glorify himself for he is the highest good and the purest perfection!

This is evident in the fact that,
a. 4 verse 15 and following forbid idolatry.

b. 4 verses 32 to 40 remind the people that God alone is God who made everything!

c. starting in chapter 5 Moses gives the law that is summed up in one great commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

d. chapter 8 warns the people to remember the great things God has done.

e. chapter 9 reminds the people that they are NOT righteous, or good. But rather stubborn.

f. 12 verse 29 starts another section warning against idolatry.

3.) I sensed a theme here. God has every right to immediately destroy the being that does not bring him glory! Is this not why he flooded THE ENTIRE EARTH?

4.) It was at this point that I turned to Romans (the book that explains everything)...That was when the epiphany climaxed! I'll save this for another day so you don't have to read so much all at once. A clue is that it might have something to do with a recent J.P. book and particular parts of the first chapter in Romans.

ps. you might have to be a Torontonian to get the Bathurst and Eglinton joke...

Joshua Needs...

2006-04-16T17:32:00.000-07:00

So, my friend Shelly suggested this. All you need to do is google your first name and "needs" to see what pops up. I googled "Joshua needs" and i got...

Joshua needs a disciple and soul-mate.

Joshua needs a separate special education classroom.

Joshua Needs to Crawl.

Joshua needs to collect information about the kinds of stress the pilots undergo.

Joshua needs some help (as always).

Joshua needs a family who can provide extra supervision and who will establish an environment of strong structure and routine ...

Joshua needs sudden rescue from the matchmaking schemes of his aunt.

Joshua needs patient parents willing to take the time to answer his questions, helping him understand.

Joshua needs to simply keep active like the numerous other fighters stuck in his same situation.

AND MY FAVOURITE...

Joshua needs to go back to second grade for English studies.

Good times...

Caedmon's Call: The Best Christian Band?

2006-04-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

I think so! At least from a lyrical stand point. I understand that folk isn't everyone's cup of tea. A while ago The Kerux posted a hymn called "Why Men Don't Preach Sovereign Grace." Truth is often in short supply these days. As my friend Lydia once said, "Our circumstances do not define reality! GOD DOES!" I would suggest, neither do our thoughts, desires, or actions. So, I am at the mercy of a completely sovereign God? YES! You mean I don't control my own destiny? YES, and it is AMAZING! As usual, my friends from Caedmon's Call have expressed this in a better way than I could. I tried to insert the Scriptures where they may have found these truths. SINCE THAT IS THE ONLY PLACE THAT TRUTH IS FOUND!

Before there was time
There were visions in Your mind
There was death in the fall of mankind
But there was life in salvation's design (Ephesians 1:3-10, Acts 2:23)

And before there were days
There were nights I could not see Your face
But the night could not keep me from grace
When You came and took my place

So I cry holy only begotten Son of God
Ancient of Days (John 1:1, John 8:58)
I cry holy only begotten Son of God
And sing the praises
Of the One who saved me
And the promises He made (Genesis 3:15 wasn't God saving the day after his original plan, to have us all happily living in Eden, failed! Numbers 23:19)

Before there was time
You counted the hairs on my head
You knew all the words I've said
And You purchased me back from the dead (Psalm 139, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, The book of Romans)

Before I was made
You searched me and knew my ways
You numbered all my days
And You set forth the steps I would take (Proverbs 21:1, Ephesians 2:10, )

You saved me, You raised me
You saved me, You pulled me from the grave (Ezekiel 36:24-27) Notice the parallel between what I just highlighted and how many times God said "I" in this passage.

I don't really have much more to say. What could I add?

Lets remember who our God is: The one who spoke YOU and ME into existence.

Bold

2006-04-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

Mr. Tim Challies recently posted something that I have felt for a long time but couldn't put my finger on. He pointed out that, on a particular Sunday, the word BOLD was his favourite part of the great song I come by the blood. I have a similar feeling for the last verse of the amazing hymn, And can it be?

I can usually control myself for the first few verses, but once we sing that our chains have fallen off and we rise and go forth and follow HIM, I'm already weakening. By the time we get to BOLD I APPROACH THE ETERNAL THRONE, it is too much altogether. Mahaney, when he preached on Gethsemane, spoke of walking on holy ground when you approach such passages of Scripture. This is the only attitude I can think of when we sing such words as,

Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

or

You are the perfect and righteous God whose presence bears no sin
You bid me come to Your Holy place, how can I enter in
When Your presence bears no sin
Through Him who poured out His life for me, the atoning Lamb of God
Through Him and His work alone, I boldly come.

******

I love the Bible and how it describes our position before God. We are to approach the throne with complete humility and contrition but also with boldness because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

ps. that Mahaney clip is so worth listening to.

Pastor Wonderful

2006-04-09T16:49:00.000-07:00

Thought that THIS link would be a nice addition to my last post. Don't worry. There is no reading involved. It is a merely short audio clip, but one that has made me laugh every time I hear it. I hope you like it. I give you: Pastor Wonderful!

This is the history behind this great link. This is also an audio clip.

I love it.

I hope you'll love this too.

Serve your King

ps. if you hate false teachers...check out this post on The Chillcoat's blog.

Death to peace, happiness, and voidfilling Gospel

2006-04-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

Case Study: Edna St. Vincent Millay

I love er' but Edna's poetry is a perfect example of the appropriate response to the gospel message that says: Jesus will fill the void in your heart; Jesus died to give your life purpose; Ask Jesus into your heart and he will comfort you and give you joy. WAIT! Are these things true? YES! Is this the Gospel? um...NO. The gospel can be found in Romans 3:21-26. Here is the featured poem:

Spring

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know. 5
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify? 10
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs. 15
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

Analysis

To start with, April (spring) is the time of the year (at least where I live) when everthing comes back to life after a (much too long) winter. Here, the poetic voice claims that the beauty and hope of spring "no longer quiet[s]" her. This poem has strong religious resonances. Her claim about Spring's lack of power is a metaphor for religion's promise of life after death. Spring represents for her the cruel empty promise (in her eyes) that is symbolized by the "opening of leaves." Lines 6-9 show the apparent hope that is in nature. This is not enough to take away what "she knows" (line 5); that we live in a rotting world.

This poem was written in 1921 only a few years after the First World War. Never before had so many died in such a violent and abrupt fashion. It was now clear that humans were capable of completely wiping themselves out. In a world where "life in itself is [now] nothing," she says that religious promises of future bliss are merely "idiotic" and "babbling." It is not unlikely that Edna was familiar with a "gospel" that said that God can comfort you and give you meaning and purpose in these hard times. Maybe she even "tried on Jesus" for a time. But when she found that all of her pain and sorrow still remained, it was an easy choice to reject the gospel.

I previously posted two of her other poems called, 'First Fig,' and 'Grown-Up.' 'Grown-Up' asked the question, "What are we living for?" "Are we living for some future time that we hope will be better?" Parenthood, which could also stand for the afterlife, is here shown to be a big disappointment. Her answer is found in 'First Fig." Burn the candle till she burns out 'cause yuh only get one. Edna's burnt out in 1950 and then she went to meet her creator.

Jesus came to appease the just wrath of God on sin for those who trust in him. The result of this is a transformation that necessarily brings hope and peace (Romans 5:1-5).

Law ---> Grace
LAW ---> GRACE

Serve your King

The Furlough is Ova'

2006-04-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

The furlough is over and I am glad to be back. I thought a good way to celebrate would be to share some more REALLY BAD POETRY. I give you, Fred Emerson Brooks. To read an entire poem by this master would be too much altogether so I will only give you a few dumplings of wonder from his glorious verse.

From Foreigners on Santa Claus

The bonnie Scotchman niver doot
Wi' Scots Wauhi!
That Santa Claus goes a' aboot...

We have ze Santa Claus een France
We see him when we get ze chance.

And now, from The Stuttering Lover (this is my buddy Caleb's fav.)

I lu-love you very well,
Much mu-more than I can tell,
With a lu-lu-lu-lu-love I cannot utter;
I kn-know just what to say,
But my tongue gets in the way,
And af-fe-fe-fe-fe-fection's bound to stutter!

When a wooer wu-wu-woos,
And a cooer cu-cu-coos,
Till his face is re-re-red like a tomato,
Take his heart in bi-bi-bits,
Every portion fi-fi-fits,
Though his love su-su-seem, somewhat stuccato

I will wu-worship you, of course,
And nu-never get divorce,
Though you stu-stu-stu-stu-storm in angery weather,
For whu-when you're in a pique
So mu-mad you cannot speak,
We'll be du-du-du-du-dumb then both together.

I love the stuccato love. What is "pique?"

The Furlough

2006-03-27T16:56:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-23T18:50:00.000-08:00

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"

2006-03-21T16:35:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

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.

Son of Man

Follow Up

Self Indulgent

A blind date with the latter day saints

Get your worship on

The End of Means

Easing in with some profound thoughts

Bad Poetry, Oh Noetry!

Intertext and the mouths of babes

Thinking about some recent tunes

Resolved 07

Good Times

More Similarities

Malcolm X and Spirituality

The New Year, debauchery, and forbearance

Thinking about life

Reasons to live

Underground Music

On Tickling

A bitter-sweet victory and tribute

Son of Man is 1 year old

Esau and Emily Dickinson

John Calvin's Contextualization

How J.C. Ryle shook my heart

Ever seen this?

The Narrows

Relentless Grace

For clarity

Canada has changed

When to be radical

Not quite Petronius' Sybil

The Wasteland

'He must be a Christian'

A Beauty

Good Times

My new hero: Waltke explains the Psalms and sticks up for TNIV

What I don't want to hear

Feeling Asaph-esque

What is "God, Max, and Me?" Find out...

Something worth restating

Asymmetrical Sympathy

Some amusing quotes

Of Course, I am excited to be back at school.

FRH - It is no wonder she died young

In light of recent conversation

The Churchwords and music by derek webb

Loving the God of both Testaments

Evangelist or Corny HNIC Colour Guy

Gone to camp for a week

The first words out of Jesus' mouth

Leprosy is always a good illustration

Going to the cottage for the weekend baby

March of Mexicans

Something that's really quite funny

The Island

A (brief) meditation on Evangelism

[Digest This:] Wilt thou love God as He thee?

Very Bad Poetry

More laughs at the outdoor court

What was the Question again?

Canada Supports Illiteracy

Listen to your heart

Striking

Confusion between Christ and types of Christ (sort of)

Dealing with Kingston and a few thoughts on relevance

...and good times were had by all

Very Bad Poetry

A Pleasant Surprize Involving DAC

Some Interesting Po-mo lit

Say hi to Mauberley

Help from Johnny Pipes

Go Here...

A puritan quote to ease back in

One (or two) more for now

A few more of my North Africa favs

A Few Favs

Glad to be back in the BEST country in the World

شكرا

God Does Speak

I'm Sensing a Theme

The Church
words and music by derek webb