Church jottings 2022-10-02

 

 Today's sermon from WSFC: living in step with the Gospel

Galatians 2:11–16 

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (ESV)

•  Cyndi opened service this morning, and I really appreciate how she spoken about the Lord's Table as the "best meal" in our lives. In other traditions it's called the Eucharist, which comes from the word "to celebrate", and that seems very fitting. Should there be some somber reflection on the death of our Lord? Yes, but moreover it is right that we rejoice in such love as we proclaim his sacrifice for us.
  

•  I'm thankful the heaven won't be overly repetitive, but that we have so many myriad ways now and forever to worship and enjoy our God. He created (and allows us to use as tools in worship) multi-part musical harmony, and physical symbols like the Lord's supper, and poetic use of words in lyrics and oratory to convey beauty and power, and bodily movement like dancing and upraised hands and weeping, and...
  

•  The sermon continues Galatians and the point that we are set free from the law to live in grace, yet that doesn't mean that our actions don't matter. We cannot be saved by our actions or morality (Trent did a great job of defining "works of the law"), but our lives should be in step with the Gospel. Not only should we not deny the Gospel in word or deed, but we should live in such a way that positively affirms it.
• As an aside, the division of the OT law into ceremonial/civil/moral is, in my opinion, forced onto the Bible from an outside thought and not something we see anywhere related in the Scriptures themselves. We don't have to obey any sort of law, even the "moral" ones, to be right with God. Rather, if God has made us new and given us hearts to love him, etc., we do these things because that's how we love our Father and walk with Him, not because of any legal obligation whatsoever. I think I have an older post about that, or I'll write one in the future; comment if interested.
  

• The opening of this text shows both the need for loving confrontation and the grounds for it. 
• We should work things out, even sometimes heatedly, with our brothers and sisters (cf. Matt 18), wherever possible. The prohibition on gossip is good, if sadly and infuriatingly abused by some who call gossip what is not. I have a whole essay on this I'll share another time; comment if interested.
  
• On the other side, Paul isn't eagerly seeking confrontation over trivialities. He addresses Peter's problem "because he stood condemned." And if I stand condemned, is it not loving (to me and to those affected by me) to point that out and call me back to the Way?
  
  
•   One of Trent's, and Paul's, main points is how ethnocentrism has no place in Gospel community. As I mentioned last week, this should really be gutted out of any American by the simple fact that as Paul is writing, we are the Gentiles, the outsiders, the ἔθνη (ethne), those far distant in culture and time and geography.
• I also appreciate how Trent mentioned the importance of sharing a meal. This wasn't some obscure or ancillary "who cares who you choose to eat with" thing. Think about it: what does it mean for you to take time to share a meal with someone? Who do you generally eat with? It's a source and sign of community, and fracturing the community by segregating our meal-mates is a huge problem if the Gospel bigger than these distinctions.
   
• The "road map" of tracing the Biblical themes of marriage and ethnicity and how they magnify the power and grace of God throughout redemptive history was glorious; go back to that part and listen to it, because a summary won't do it justice. A brief highlight or two:
• Marriage showing God's nature as unity in diversity is not something wholly new, but they way Trent articulated it hit me afresh.
• I wish time had permitted a bit more, especially because a (probably unintentional) gloss was made that seemed to imply that the "Christ as husband, Church as bride" was new to the NT. That imagery of marriage between God and His people (especially Israel as an unfaithful wife) is throughout the OT, too.
• The point about how at Pentecost, God didn't make everyone understand one language, but allowed everyone to hear in their own as an endorsement of diversity, was new to me and a point very well made.
  
  
• I mentioned last week about how "God shows no partiality" is both immensely important and really good news. Referencing 1 Tim. 5:21, Trent mentioned how prejudging and partiality are linked. The most clear-cut way of putting it for me is that partiality and prejudice have at their root a problem with assuming from a generality ("all X people are Y, and you're part of X, therefore you're Y") and of including irrelevancies (what difference does your nationality make about baking, or your gender about coding, or your ethnicity about the Gospel?).
• That last bit is I think where many of us can go astray. We make distinctions between people all the time, and their ought to be in many ways. I don't want a neurosurgeon who knows nothing of plumbing to install my sink, or a farmer to teach theoretical physics, or an atheist to help my marriage better reflect Christ and the church. But we should only include those things that are relevant, that directly impact the matter at hand, to be part of any decision-making and judgment.
  

• Trent mentioned the trap of "the fear of man" and well described it. 
• Because the Gospel is chiefly about the glory of God in the salvation of His people, we can't try to save people from sin by giving into ungodly opinions and beliefs.
• Trent's practical note seemed profound and wise: to get over people-pleasing, the best method may be disappointing someone for Jesus's sake (not for your own), surviving the damaged relationship, and realizing that you're still OK because Christ is with you.
  
• I prefer the old-school term vanity, and could (have?) written about the distinction between vanity and pride and true humility; comment if interested.
  
  
•  In dealing with hypocrisy (which iirc the Greek word is rooted/used for actors on a stage), the Gospel frees us from play-acting by separating our acceptance from our actions. If I don't have to act like I have it all together for God to accept me, then I can live in authenticity, neither hiding my struggles nor trapped by them.
•  God is glorified in our goodness and the transformation He brings in our lives toward righteous: this is absolutely true. But Christ is also glorified in our honest admission of our not-yet-fully-sanctified selves, our dependence on His grace for our remaining sins, and His abundant provision of mercy and help for us. We are out of step with the Gospel when we act like we have it all together, even if we attribute that to the Lord. We need not be afraid of showing our faults, because He is glorified in our weakness. We affirm the Gospel by living a life of constant returning to the cross and receiving the forgiveness and the new life that was bought costly and provided freely by our Savior, and doing so publicly.
  
  
•  During communion, I have a habit of taking the piece of bread I receive and breaking it, because its purpose is to remind me of the broken body of Christ. The bread breaks, never to be made whole, outside my power to fix, and only further to be broken as I eat of it. This is what Christ chose to do, to save even me. What struck me today was how, even though Jesus is fully capable of having a healed body, He chooses to maintain the ignoble scars of His crucifixion even unto eternity. When I consider the scars I have and those I've inflicted, I often shudder at the inescapable permanence of my sins, even beyond the power of forgiveness to completely wipe from the face of history and reality. But if the Son of God chooses to keep His scars for His greater glory and joy as my Savior, then perhaps He likewise plans the indelible mistakes of my story to bring a fuller weight of glory that surpasses the shame and reproach of them. Soli Deo gloria!
  

Beginning with the End in Mind

The following is the manuscript from my sermon this morning at Camp Hill Church of God.
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Good morning, family, and happy new year!  It is the beginning of a new day, the start of a new year.  Some of you will remember, the first time I was up here to read Scripture, and Pastor Shover had to get a stool so you could see me over the lectern.  Now I’m going through seminary, and I stand before you where he so often stood.  His recent passing, and of other loved ones this past year, make us gaze toward eternity and our reunion with the brothers and sisters who have gone before.  We can grieve, yet we do so with hope, as the Apostle Paul encourages.  We are pained by the loss we feel, and we miss them.  And yet in Christ, we rejoice not only in the gift that they have been to us, but that there is a sure and true hope of life everlasting beyond the grave.  They have gone before to be with Christ, and we long to follow after.

               So I think it appropriate this Sunday, this first day of a new year, to begin with the end in mind.  It’s a principle I learned in my engineering classes, and you see it in books on leadership and parenting and do-it-yourself projects, that it’s important to know where you’re going, so that you don’t just barge ahead aimlessly.  It’s good to begin with the end in mind.

               And so today we have read together just a few of the many passages that speak to us of the end of all things, which is really just the beginning of eternity.  As Craig read, God declares that He will make all things new, new heavens and a new earth.  No more of the evils with which we are beset in this life.  No more pain, no more sorrow, because God has made all things new.  And there’s something even better than that: God Himself will dwell among His people.  As Tim read, there won’t be any more temples or church buildings, because Christ Himself will be our meeting place with God.  The glory of the Lord will shine so brightly that it says we won’t need a sun or moon anymore!

               I love in chapter 22, verse 4, it says we will see God’s face.  You might remember, back in Exodus, chapter 33, where Moses begs to see God’s glory.  And God says that Moses can only see God’s back as He passes by, because no sinful man could see God’s face and live.  But we will get something more than Moses did; we, as those who have been redeemed by Christ’s blood and made holy by faith, will see the face of God forever.  That is a marvelous thing to think about.

               God will walk with us as He did with Adam and Eve in the garden, with an intimacy we can’t begin to comprehend.  The Bible calls us (as God’s people) the Bride of Christ, and just before our reading it speaks of the wedding supper of the Lamb of God, where we are joined with Christ.  Now is like being engaged, and I remember oh so well how I longed for that engagement to end and for marriage to begin.  We will be with God and know Him more deeply than ever, the very purpose for which we exist, and the highest joy we could ever experience.

               John’s Revelation, the last book in our Bible, is but one place that we can catch a glimpse of what God has in store for His people, those who trust in Him.  We read another together, from 1 Corinthians 15, about the hope of our resurrection.  Just a quick side note, but you know we won’t be on clouds with harps for all eternity?  God creates a new physical earth, and we get new physical bodies, to live in a new creation as it was before sin ever entered the world, and even better.  Adam started in a garden, but we will dwell in the city of God.  Adam started alone, but we will forever live and worship with all God’s people, from every ethnicity, every language, every area of this present earth, together and united by our Lord.  Adam could rejoice in his creation, but we get to praise God for not only creating us but also for redeeming us, re-creating us, through Christ’s work on the cross.

               So this is indeed something to look forward to.  But is that all that God intended when He wrote these passages?  Surely we are to be awed by the glory before us, and it is certainly right to long for that day.  Indeed, the book ends with cries of “come, Lord Jesus!”  But is there more for us in these passages?  How should our day-to-day be affected by what we learn of the destiny of all things?

               Part of this is laid out directly in these texts.  Rev. 21:6 says that Jesus is one to give life, “from the spring of the water of life without payment.”  He alone gives true life, so if you are thirsty for meaning, for significance, for something more than the trinkets the world has to offer, come to Him.  If you are after more than chasing the corporate ladder, keeping up with the Joneses, and a comfortable retirement, come to Christ.  If you are weary, beaten-down, feeling the weight of a broken world, come to Jesus.  He is worth living for, and He gives us true life.

               Verses 7 and 8 contrast the two groups of people that matter in the end.  The latter group are those who are faithless, who do evil unrepentantly and constantly reject God, and their end is rightful judgment, getting exactly what they have earned.  And don’t be fooled, that is everyone who does not put their full trust in Christ.  The Spirit includes liars and cowards with the sexual immoral and murderers.  There is no big and small distinction in sin there.  There is repentant and unrepentant; those who trust themselves and those who trust Christ. 

And on the other hand are those who conquer, who persevere through the trials of this world. I’ve heard that several members of the persecuted church, who had been ostracized and threatened and beaten and imprisoned for their faith – they were asked what their favorite books of the Bible were.  To a man they said Daniel and Revelation, the books that most deal with end times.  Their reason?  Because they call for and give hope for enduring hardship.  They show that in this world Christians will have trouble, but Jesus wins in the end.  I was in Ecuador teaching New Testament to several pastors down there who can’t get away for seminary, and my fellow teacher explained that if you really want to get the point of Revelation, it’s two words: Jesus wins.  That enables us to press on no matter what circumstances befall us now.  No matter what the world has to offer to entice us, no matter what it throws against us, Jesus wins, so we stay faithful.  That’s why Paul could say things like, “this light and momentary affliction is not worth comparing for the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

We see this same call to perseverance again in 22:7, “Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”  Jesus wins, God will make all things new, so we obey now.  We see it in 1 John 3, where the Apostle says, “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”  When we have the hope of eternity in Christ, we live differently in this present age.  We live with a citizenship in heaven, as what Peter calls “elect exiles.”  Hebrews chapter 11 says that all the people in the Old Testament who had faith in God turned to Him and away from worldly pursuits, away from building up their own little kingdoms. They “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” Why? Because “they desired a better country, that is a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”  That city we just read about in Revelation 21-22, God prepared it for those who live as though earth is not our home.

Now I want you to notice a few things that are not in these passages about eternity.  There are lots of things that stop being terribly important when you have an eternal mindset.  A lot of our preferences fall by the wayside, because we realize that what we’ve valued so highly won’t last.  My wife and I just bought a new car, and we wanted to make sure we got one that would be reliable and safe to drive Abigail around in.  But our hearts aren’t set on that car, because sooner or later it’ll end up in a junkyard.  We spend our time and money and care on all sorts of things that will one day be in a yardsale or a garbage dump.  Now don’t get me wrong, we should see things as blessings for which we should be grateful and that God has given us to enjoy now.  But it is so easy to be like that third kind of ground in Jesus’s parable of the sower, where the cares of this world choke out the Word of God in our lives, so that we look just like the unbelievers around us and don’t live for Christ.

There are other things of the world that call out for our attention and divert us from Christ, things that you won’t see or care about on the other side of eternity.  There are no factions in these texts.  All rivalries, as big as they seem now, are petty in comparison to allegiance to our Lord and King. One day there won’t be denominational lines, because Jesus will rule over all His people.  We won’t be waving the banner of a particular church or nation or any such thing.  And in the end, so many things we fight about are more due to personal preferences than substantial difference, which end up hindering us from following our Lord Jesus and loving other people and telling them about Him.  Jesus called us to die to ourselves and our little causes and to live for Him and His Kingdom.

Another thing missing: there are no political parties.  There were those who delighted in the results of the election last year, who felt pride and vindication.  There were those who felt defeated and despaired at the prospect of years to come.  And there were, of course, many in between.  But we must let these truths put all of that in perspective: regardless of how you reacted to the news, we will not get truly good government until the day King Jesus comes back to take His throne.  Our hope will never be fulfilled or dashed with any earthly government.  And whomever we support now, let be careful that our hope is not too entangled with the things of this world.  In the end, there will be no Republicans or Democrats or anything else.  There will be those who pledge allegiance to the Lord, and those that don’t.  Let us take care that we walk now, in this time, in such a way as to beg the question, what is this other-worldly hope that you have?  Then we obey Peter’s command to be ready to answer for the hope that is within us.

Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, that someone is so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.  I’m here to tell you this morning that there is nothing further from the truth.  The one who is heavenly minded, who is focused on God’s kingdom and not their own, will not be an escapist. Instead, when we set our minds on things above, as the Scriptures call us to do, we will work harder than any here and now while the harvest may still be gathered.  Because that’s one thing you can’t do in heaven: evangelize.  We will care more about people, because as C.S. Lewis said “Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”  We will “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God” as the prophet Micah commends.

We saw these same things at the end of our responsive reading this morning, from 1 Corinthians.  Why is the hope of the resurrection so important?  What does it matter now that death shall one day lose its sting?  And just a side note, the sting of death is here now.  We’ve felt when we’ve lost someone close to us, because we are left behind and miss them dearly.  But one day that sting will be no more.  So as Billy Graham’s friend Francis Sheaffer used to ask, how then shall we live?  Paul answers in 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”  In other words, be faithful to Christ and His Kingdom, working until the end, so when the Master returns or calls you home, He will find you working faithfully.

The first song we sang this morning, "Another year is dawning," I had never heard before.  It has some great lyrics, of both working for and resting in Christ.  Perhaps swap out "another year" for “another day” and sing a verse every morning as a reminder of our commitment to Christ and our hope in God.  Because they go together.  We are not just called to work and press on and obey without reason.  God Himself is our reason.  We press on to know Him more, to see more of His glory, to have more people with us to praise Him for eternity, to watch Him at work in and through and all around us.  Jesus is the true author of joy, and even as He went to the cross, Hebrews says He was motivated “by the joy set before Him.”

Let me summarize in closing.  Scripture's pictures show glorious final new day in paradise, a renewed creation where all is made right.  We long for this, and we should.  These passages also call us to persevere, to work, to keep in the faith, to "seek first the Kingdom", as we just sang.  That work is motivated by our hope, by the worthiness of our Lord and the joy that can only be found in Him.

So for anyone who does not know Christ, I urge you to come to Him today.  He has more for you than the world can possibly offer, and though the Christian life is not always easy, Jesus is worth it.  For those of us who feel our consciences pricked by this message, as mine has been in preparing it, let us seek Jesus for His mercy, repenting of our old ways and trusting in His grace, so that our priorities change, letting go of this world that is passing away and seeking after Christ and His Kingdom more and more.  For all of us, let us think on these wonderful truths of what is coming for all who trust in Christ and His Gospel, and may they move us to greater trust and greater desire for Him, and let us work that out in our lives this day, this year, and until He makes all things new.  Amen.

momento mori

this is a draft of my lesson for this wednesday. feedback encouraged.

ok, guys. so in two days, we celebrate what’s called Good Friday, the anniversary of the death of the Son of God. and sometimes i think we rush past the bad side of the good news. we rush past the dark and the evil to the beautiful and pleasant, so tonight i want to pause and reflect. that’s why we’ve come to the cemetery. i want you guys to take a look around, silently, and think. you might think about the ages of the people, young and old, who are buried here. you might think of their lives, theirs stories. what did the hope and long for? what were their goals, and did they ever achieve them? what did they want out of life, and did they get it? how did they die, and with whom? we’ll meet back at the front gate in twenty minutes.

---

i hope that your time and your thoughts here tonight were helpful. there are two reasons i wanted us to come out here tonight. one is the fact that this is the result of our disobedience and rebellion against God. the curse of death rests upon this world because of our sin, our wrongdoing, our treasuring things more highly than our Creator and becoming slaves to those idols. as you look around the tombstones, you’ll see people who lived to old age, and those who died in infancy. the fact is, that because of their sin, every day between their birth date and their death date was the sheer grace of God, giving life onto ill-deserving sinners. the only thing that stops death from having the final say is Jesus’ own death, which He suffered so that all who trust in Him wouldn’t be ruled by death. we’ll talk more about that next week.

as i wondered around the graveyard a few days ago, looking at the tombstones and preparing for this lesson, i found a young man’s grave. his name was joseph g. doner, and he lived to be 23 years, 8 months, and 5 days old. i made sure to remember that, because i will be that old this june, on the day before my first anniversary. i wonder about who he was, what he wanted, what he dreamed of. did he have a job, and did he have people depending on him? did he have any plans: to have a family, to own a business, to move, to go on a trip, to see family? did he have a girl he wanted to marry and grow old with? was he much different from me?

the reason i wanted us to come out here is that death is a reality that, should Jesus tarry, we will all face someday. and most of us, because of the time and place we live in, don’t expect to face it anytime soon, at least not personally. most of us can reasonably expect to live for many years, getting gray hair and wrinkles and the whole nine yards. but in this cemetery there are dozens of infants who didn’t see their first birthday. there are several children who were younger than some of you when they breathed their last breath. joseph was but a few months older than me, and i doubt he expected to die at his age. but we are mortal. we are susceptible to all sorts of things, from bacteria and cancer to earthquake and hurricane. from murder to car accidents to war, our lives could end before we expect in any number of ways.

i don’t say this to frighten you. i don’t want you to go around being paranoid or living in a bubble-suit or a bunker, not that it would save you in the end. and though i’ve set it up rather well to speak of eternity in hell or the new earth, that’s not my purpose tonight either. heaven isn’t a place for those who are merely afraid of hell anyway. i don’t mean to cause you to despair or go around moping and downtrodden, and i hope not to suck the beauty out of this life, because though all that is here will eventually fade, that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t good and delightful and praiseworthy.

what i do hope you gain from tonight is perspective. what i hope you understand is that things in this life will eventually fade. all of our stuff – cars, tvs, games, furniture, makeup, trophies, etc. – all of it will be in a dump one day. in the end, no one will really care what the score of the soccer or volleyball game was. few will remember who was prom queen, or what club you were in, or who got what part in the play. what school you went to, or what job you had, or how much money was in your bank account, will ultimately be rather meaningless.

there was a custom in ancient rome, that whenever a general or an emperor would return victoriously from battle, and there was a parade with soldiers and a band and admirers and such, that in the general’s chariot would be a lowly slave. and that slave would every-so-often whisper into the general’s ear the phrase “memento mori,” which means, “remember, you are mortal, you will die.” this was done to remind him that the splendor of that day would at some point fade, and the glory of his victory would not shine forever, and though he had won the day, there would come another day which he would not survive.

what is the point of remembering this? what is the reason to keep these things in perspective? my hope is that by doing so, we would not waste our lives. i know the struggle all too well myself to let your days slip by in meaningless triviality, whether that be video games or television or books or sports or shallow friendships, whatever it may be. it’s especially easy at your age, or even mine, when we expect to have so much time ahead of us that wasting an hour here or a day there doesn’t seem that important. with that mindset, it’s all too easy to look back and wonder where all the time went, to wake up one day and realize that you’ve wasted it.

if you don’t want to take my word for it, read through the book of Ecclesiastes. the whole thing is written is about how life can be spent in all sorts of ways, pursuing all sorts of things which seem good, but ultimately are vain, empty, meaningless. the book ends like this:

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ESV)

a more modern poet puts it like this: “only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” and that is my hope for you. that you would see Jesus as the imperishable treasure, that you would set your heart and your hope and your identity in Him, and out of that you would work and play and sleep and eat and do all things so that your joy in Him may increase and His glory, the display of His perfections, would be seen in your life. that we would, as Jesus says, “not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.” i wish i had time to unpack that more for you guys, and honestly i wish i knew how to do this better myself. but i want to strive with you guys in this, to have an eternal perspective, and not to waste this life. to that end, i have these little wooden tombstones for you. they have a cross engraved on one side, and that phrase “memento mori,” to help us to remember, and to live in light of our mortality.

a moment

"man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow."
~Psalm 144:4

it seems like the last two years have gone by in the blink of an eye. i'm not sure that i've done much good in that time. i believe that God can use even the poor things of my life for His glory, but if you took it on the whole, i feel like ephesian church in Rev. 2, knowing doctrine and striving for truth, but having lost my first love.

i randomly found an old note from last summer from a piper sermon on Romans 1 and the divide between eternal life and death. this kind of truth jerks me back into reality when i am lulled to sleep by my comfortable american life. it reminds me that my time is short.

and it's slipping away.

my grandmother is 89 years old. i visit her a few days a week for a half-hour or so, to break up her day in the nursing home with some company. i could say a lot about that, but one thing God has granted me through this is to really hate dying, the wasting away of life. and i know, death has lost it's sting because of victory in Christ. but death per se is still evil. it ought not be. it is the result of a sinful, fallen world. and one day, it will be no more, when sin is no more.

but for now, it's coming.

and i need to live in light of that. i need to be proactive. i need not to lose myself to the comfortable, fun things of this world. if i don't move now, i won't get where i'm going. it won't just happen; it's not inevitable. i refuse to stay where i am, for if i do, i disqualify myself. God's glory and my joy in Him are at stake. eternal things are in the balance.

it's time to move.

God, help me.

infinite God

timeless Perfection, ever knowing
what to do with no regret;
never shrinking, neither growing,
no hurrying, nor need to fret.

Wisdom of the ages from before the foundation
of the world and its watery deeps
transcending time, unlike creation
which from moment to moment leaps.

eternal Master without measure
not bound by necessity or need,
by grace alone, and for Your pleasure
working all Your marvelous deeds

God alone, in glory dressed
no one can Your equal be
infinite in all Your goodness
holy and completely free

in Your light there are no shadows,
in Your day there is no night.
from Your throne, all blessings flow,
in Your presence, perfect delight.



inspired by a.w. tozer's book, "the knowledge of the Holy"

done at Christmas time

i'm officially done with cornell. my grades are in, by the grace of God i've passed, and i'm moving on. it's been really great, and i hope to write about that more later. hopefully there'll be a lot more writing going on here soon. here are a few thoughts on Christmas eve:

we had a candle-lighting part of our Christmas eve service at church, and one thing that really hit me was when people were moving with their lit candles, they had to keep their hand in front of it to keep it from blowing out. i find it awesome that we can let our light shine, and move with it, without having to hide it for fear of blowing out. on the contrary, i find the more we move with our light, the heartier the flame becomes, and the Spirit acts as our shield against what would blow us out. as the old song goes, "won't let satan *whoo* it out; i'm gonna let it shine!"


we were also watching the muppet's Christmas carol tonight, which is a family tradition at our house. the ups and downs of my heart in that movie are quiet draining and moving at the same time. one thing that struck me in particularly was how it all fades, how none of the good bits last nearly as long as i want them too, and how even some of the best songs (like "one more sleep til Christmas") have some shadow in them (that cheery song ends with a homeless rabbit trying to sleep out in the cold). i think i'm particularly open to bittersweetness right now, with the ups and downs of graduating.

all of that points me toward heaven and toward eternity. one day, God will remove all evil, and there will be no more evil, no more sorrow that mixes with joy to produce a beautiful pain and heartache. and there will be no end to the joyous song, no end to the perfect rejoicing in our eternal and faithful God. our Jesus will always be with us, unchangingly beautiful and joy-filling.

i find that nothing here satisfies, either fading or tarnished, so i know there must be more outside. i think i'm beginning to awaken after a long sleep, to stretch atrophied muscles and a shrunken heart, and to move again. God, don't let me get complacent. i want more. let this be just the beginning of what's next, just another step along the way to fuller joy in You, that You would be shown as glorious, worthy of our treasuring, worthy of our all.

g'night, folks, and merry Christmas. may God grant you peace with Him and joy in knowing and celebrating Emmanuel.

the LORD gives and takes away; hallowed be His name.

this is how i fight for faith;
this is the song of my life:

great is Thy faithfulness, oh God my Father!
there is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,
join with all nature in manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

one of the many reasons why eternity will rock

w00t for a really good explanation of 1 cor 13:12.