Claustrotunnel

Every once in a while I think it's healthy to be afraid for your life. Danger gets your heart rate up, provides a brief adrenaline rush and then afterwards a temporary appreciation of life and possibly a change in behaviour. But many times we're afraid of nothing of consequence.

For my part I can think of three times that I thought I might die and four times when I was deathly afraid. Twice I was on the water, once I was underwater and once I was under straw.

I imagine the last one begs an explanation.

We'll have to go back many years to my highschool aftergrad party. We had in the course of the evening ended up at... yup, you guessed it, a farm. And of course like grads all over the world before us we were forced to go through a hay maze.

It's entirely possible that no one wanted to go into this particular hay maze but everyone was doing it.

I should probably explain that this hay maze was not like hay mazes most people are used to at aftergrad parties. This was more like extreme haymazing. The entrance was only about a half meter wide and a half meter high and it was the lone feature in an otherwise featureless wall of the barn. On the other side hay bales were stacked in such a way as to only allow a skinny 17 year-old a few inches to wiggle his way through a long winding tunnel. Our lives were to be trusted to the care and attention of the farm hands who stacked these bales. Stacked in such a precise way that their weight would lock together and provide the strength to retain the integrity of the structure and not..., well, crush us to death.

Honestly, there was no part of me that wanted to climb into that little hole but I was less afraid of dying than being labelled chicken. So I got in line with everyone else. I was to follow "Steve" into the tunnel. Steve's shoes were to provide me with inestimable comfort during the terrifying experience crawling through the black warren.

Now 7 to 10 meters into the maze and in complete darkness Steve's shoes suddenly stopped in front of me.

"Back up", he said. Muffled by the tunnel, his voice sounded far away.

"Huh?"

"Dead end", came the reply

The farm hands had done a great job of making the maze interesting for us. I wonder if they smiled to themselves as they pictured a collection of teenagers stuffed head to toe in this long dead end tunnel. I wonder if they imagined how fun it would be to try and shout to the people crawling into the tunnel behind you pushing up against your feet.

"Back up!", I yelled again, thankful that my voice didn't crack as I wondered if we still had enough oxygen in the tunnel.

Finally the desperate message was passed down the entire line of sweaty teenagers and we began to worm our way backwards. Once Steve reached the fork in the tunnel we started forward again down the other path. At least one other time we took a wrong turn . We thought we had found the exit but our brief happiness was extinguished when we were told that we hadn't, only an opening that had been created by some hungry cows.

Later, and after what seemed an eternity, we emerged from the maze and when we looked back... imagine my surprise when I saw that the roof of the maze was not stacked to the rafters with bales of hay but merely one bale high. And as I contemplated this a bale began to move as one of my peers who had obviously grown tired of his search for the end simply stood up and pushed the bale of hay easily to the side.

"You can just stand up?", I said to myself. "Ahem... I knew that"

Have you ever been afraid of anything that later seemed to be nothing? Did you or someone else just stand up?

Then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by - Job 11:15-16

G.U.T.

Scientists have noted a strange reducing pattern in physics. As each new discovery is unified with another it seems to be trending towards one thing.

Electricity and magnetism were unified in the theory of Electromagnetism. Einstein unified electromagnetism with gravity in his theory of Relativity. Electromagnetism has been unified with Quantum Mechanics in Quantum Electrodynamics and the Weak Force in Electroweak Interaction. Now many physicists believe this is all pointing to one theory...

A "Grand Unified Theory". The theory of everything.

Enter Superstring theory. Two dimensional "strings" operating in eleven dimensions.

Huh?

I don't really get that but it sounds cool.

A greater leap of faith might be that I even have the intelligence to understand it. Well, maybe not me but super-smart scientist type people. To reach out beyond what they can observe they turn to mathematics and as mathematics describes concepts beyond what the human mind can grasp a field of psychology weighs in.

Where science is limited to our 5 senses and our finite intelligence, faith transcends our observations, our minds and even time. Faith alone is a blind guide, empty and weak. Faith set like a compass on God is true and fulfilling.

"No doubt we are hardwired to believe that the universe of our experience cannot be all that there is. This would certainly explain the persistence of religious faith in an apparently unfair world of toil and struggle without obvious purpose." - Hiding in the mirror Lawrence M. Krauss



How can anyone say there is no obvious purpose to this life? Whether we sail through life to our death, war, or peacefully to some distant shore. Our purpose is clear. Who can look around at this world of death and suffering and say there is no obvious purpose?

Yes we are "hardwired" to believe there is more than this, and I know Who hardwired us. He's the sum of everything and He's also the creator of everything. But I don't believe any of us are smart enough to find this out on our own.

Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless. What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider's web. He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.

He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden; it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones. But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.' - Job 8:13-18

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live." - 1 Corthinthians 8:6

Of wolf and woman

I recently read this story in a Canadian outdoors magazine.

A woman was looking out her window one frigid winter morning. Her house was in the wilderness and looked out over a partially frozen lake. As she took in the scene she saw six deer carefully crossing the lake to the woods on the far shore. The first five reached the woods safely but the sixth, a doe, was slow making the crossing. Suddenly, she stepped onto a weak part of the ice and fell through. She splashed in the icy water and after some time managed to haul herself out and onto the ice again. Breathless and bloodied she stood still and caught her breath.

A raven circled overhead, landed nearby and began pecking at the blood on the ice. The doe watched in silence when she should've left. That was when a pack of wolves crept out of the woods and headed straight towards her. All alone, her companions long since gone, she was trapped between the them and the water and thin ice behind her. She didn't move.

Three wolves continued to walk slowly towards her while the rest waited on the shore. One wolf broke into a run and chased her back into the water and ended up slipping in as well. Wolf and deer fought to pull themselves out. They both got out but the deer was doubly tired this time. Seeing how worn down the deer was the wolf chased her into the water a second time. When she pulled herself out again she was completely exhausted and barely able to stand. She looked at the wolves and back at the water as if to consider her options. Finally, slowly and purposely she returned into the water one final time.

The wolves waited and watched the water intently but she never surfaced again.

Someone close to me had a daughter who somehow ended up living on the street in Vancouver. After several years she came home and when she did she was unrecognizable as the same person. She was pretty once and she's younger than me but she looks about 25 years older now. It's heartbreaking to see someone get separated from their family straying too close to the thin ice of life. She lived with her dad for awhile and then one day she just up and went back to her old life in the city. The same life that chewed her up and spit her out when her youth and beauty was gone. I wonder what drove her to make the choice to return? Did she feel like the wolves of guilt, shame and addiction were surrounding her and giving her no other option? Did it hold a promise of a numbing death? Was she too tired to fight?

The world outside is cold but I feel much colder sitting at my breakfast table with my hot coffee and slippers watching her fate unfold in the lens of my binoculars.

Ignorant Quote Mining

I have decided to expand my horizons of human literature.

From this day forward, I won't be only reading about the classics. No longer will I pass over the written word preferring the burned DVD. From now on I will be picking up some selected works and scanning through them like a panicked college student with an overdue book report.

The enlightened reader will notice that my limited vocabulary will begin to grow over the next few weeks as I memorize new words and add them to my (pause to search nearby dictionary)... lexicon.

And here's something that I quote-mined from a book today:

"It is a common sentence that Knowledge is power; but who hath duly considered or set forth the power of Ignorance?

Knowledge slowly builds up what Ignorance in an hour pulls down. Knowledge, through patient and frugal centuries, enlarges discovery and makes record of it; Ignorance, wanting its day's dinner, lights a fire with the record, and gives a flavour to its one roast with the burnt souls of many generations.

Knowledge, instructing the sense, refining and multiplying needs, transforms itself into skill and makes life various with a new six days' work; comes Ignorance drunk on the seventh, with a firkin of oil and a match and an easy 'Let there not be' - and the many-coloured creation is shrivelled up in blackness.

Of a truth, Knowledge is power, but it is a power reined by scruple, having a conscience of what must be and what may be; whereas Ignorance is a blind giant who, let him but wax unbound, would make it a sport to seize the pillars that hold up the long-wrought fabric of human good, and turn all the places of joy dark as a buried Babylon." - From George Elliot's "Daniel Deronda"

From what I've seen in the media lately, this passage resonates. This one time only, I will spare you the pained tedium of my elucidation. This one time I'll allow you to apply it how you see fit.

One bad hombre

Have you ever run into a bad person? I don’t mean someone who cuts you off in traffic or litters in the park. I mean the sort of person that sparks your hypothalamus to drop fight or flight chemicals into your bloodstream. The sort of person Wild West novelists referred to as the “bad hombre”.

These people are in all walks of life and I don’t think its how they dress or what social background they come from. It’s not how they look; it’s something about how they look at you or maybe how they look through you as if you are merely an object in their way or something to be used.

Now I know we’re all technically “bad people”. That’s not what I’m talking about. There’s a bell curve of behaviour that becomes strikingly obvious when you are introduced to individuals that occupy the top 1-3 percentile of the bad hombre curve.

A few weeks ago I read the verse “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” – Romans 5:8. It’s a nice verse and I understand what all the words mean but the truth of that statement is profound and I don’t think I had ever taken it to the logical extension and allowed it to really sink in before.

Two truths related to that verse are quite amazing;

1) God doesn’t love me any more when I’m righteous than when I am a sinner. He loved me when I was still a sinner enough to send His Son to die for me. Sometimes I feel like I need to “get right with God” before I can approach Him. When I was at my absolute worst He approached me.

2) God loves the Bad Hombre as much as He loves me. The person that I avoid like the Black Death, He reaches out to. Of course I know that, but it never really sank in before and that changed the way I look at people. I realize the only difference between how God looks at anyone is whether or not He sees Jesus when He looks at us.

Argumentum ad populum

What is the greatest moral failure of our society today?

This is likely an impossible question for humans to answer correctly.

Here's a couple examples why: Today, we would agree that slavery is morally wrong but a few hundred years ago it was acceptable in many parts of the world. We have people like William Wilberforce to thank (among others) for bringing this terrible practice to an end, at least in the western world.

Less than a century ago in parts of Europe it was acceptable to murder Jews, Eastern Europeans and Homosexuals. The Nazi government sold the society of that time the lie that these people were not humans and without the intervention of the British Commonwealth, the US, and the USSR this would've continued.

Now you may say "there were lots of people who opposed these atrocities, it wasn't unilaterally accepted, some evil leaders in positions of power made these things happen". Sure, but they can't hold onto power unless the majority of people do nothing.

Society decides what is morally wrong (if anything). This makes me wonder about today's society and the morals that are generally accepted. There are two possibilities: 1) this society has everything right and what we call "politically correct" today is absolutely correct. Or 2) Some things that are generally considered acceptable today will be considered morally wrong in the future and/or things that are considered wrong today will be acceptable in the future.

Christians, who look to God's Word for their absolute morality, are often quickly marginalized and labelled "narrow-minded". They are like the smell of death to those who are perishing.

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? - 2 Corinthians 2:15-16

What's my point? I think everyone should think critically about what political leaders, professors and society at large say about what's right or wrong, and I think this is the most important part, don't be afraid to be called "narrow-minded" or "not-politically correct". Remember that the morals of any society are the product of the lowest common denominator of the majority of the people of that society. Today society tells us that unborn babies are not human they are "fetuses" and if we say that they deserve protection we are "narrow-minded" and "anti-choice". A few people today will take a stand while the morals of the society ebb away.

For my part I'm really thankful for these people; "narrow-minded" people like William Wilberforce and Corrie ten Boom. Their society may have called them that, I call them people with integrity.

Glogging

If you’ve ever bothered to look at the ground after it’s rained you may have noticed something strange.

Compelled by a lack of oxygen, hundreds of earthworms embark on a doomed migration out of the rain-soaked earth. Eventually they find themselves looking a bit lost on the wet pavement. Unfortunately, the sun will come out again and at that moment their ultimate fate becomes clear. Death. And not an easy death but a slow, painful drying. Today I walk coldly by and leave them to their squirming fate. I’m too busy and I don’t want to get my hands dirty. Sure I feel a twinge of regret when I walk back later on the dry pavement and see their dried bodies curled up, wilted under the unforgiving scrutiny of the sun. Sure I could ignore the puzzled glances from people and shout desperately at the worms, “Turn back!” “The sun will come out again and you will die” “ Why can’t you see that?”

When I was a kid my sister used to take me "glogging". Glogging, for the uninformed, was going out after the rain and saving earthworms. Our mission was clear and we were extremely motivated to look for as many of these little lost worms as possible, scoop them up and deposit them safely back on either a lawn or a garden.

What is a worm that we would even care? Maybe we should’ve saved animals that are more beautiful, more intelligent, more cuddly...

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. - Psalm 22:6

Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. - Isaiah 41:14

Deeds not words

It's unfortunate that we live in a dangerous world. A world that requires police officers and soldiers. And though I have heard many people complain about the police those same people are thankful when the police are there to lay their lives on the line for them when required. In Canada many people take our soldiers for granted as well. We're happy to have soldiers as peacekeepers and for disaster relief but sometimes peacemaking is what is required

JTF2 are peacemakers and they are a departure from our usual "sorry you stepped on my foot" Canadian image. Whatever your political beliefs about war and warriors what I like about JTF2 other than the protection they offer is their motto "Facta non verba" or "Deeds not words". It's inspiring. While most people only talk, JTF2 goes into the darkest, most dangerous corners of the world and acts.

Over 50 years ago men and women from our country went overseas to dangerous places and acted as well. I hope my children will remember what that means for them today, what it cost to live in a free country today. Ironically those soldiers risked their lives and in many cases died so people today could have the priviledge to complain about the very protection they provided.

Nevertheless, actions win wars and not words alone.

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but the same principle applies, action is what is required.

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. - James 2:15-18

We need to get up off of our knees...




Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. - 1 John 3:18

Webcrawlers

The mystery surrounding this last verse in the proverb of the four small but wise creatures makes it the most interesting.

It's unclear what type of creature is referred to and how it demonstrates wisdom. Some translations render it "spider" and some "lizard" and at the risk of oversimplification there are two concepts; "the creature grasps" or "the creature is easily grasped". If you, or someone you know, speaks ancient Hebrew or Chaldee I hope you will tell me exactly what creature is spoken of and unlock the secret of the mysterious virtue the creature possesses. Until then I have, of course, gone back to the original document to uncover the truth...

huh?

What did you say?

No, not the original hebrew, the King James version of course.

The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces - Proverbs 30:28

God has, throughout history, placed spiders in palaces. Joseph, Moses, Esther, Daniel, Nehemiah. These people demonstrated skill, wisdom and integrity and while different and foreign to their surrounds they were regarded as extremely useful and God was able to use them to further His purposes.

The spider is regarded by many to be ugly, sometimes frightening, even evil. It's an unfair characterization and I personally am offended for spiders everywhere. Here are the facts, and they are undisputed; spiders are extremely efficient at pest control, they weave beautiful webs, the silk they create is one of the strongest fibers on earth, what's not to like?

So the takeaway for us should be whenever you feel like an ugly, eight legged, arachnid remember, wherever your place in the world is, God wants you to use your skill and be prepared that He may lead you into a palace of sorts. If that happens remember Mordecai's warning to Esther.

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? - Esther 4:14

Jesus is coming back... Look busy

The locusts have no king, Yet they all advance in ranks; - Proverbs 30:27

The locust is a tiny creature and demonstrates wisdom in coordination. Swarms of them move together like an airborne army. What makes this so amazing? The fact that no one is directing them. I'm so tired of hearing people complain, "I don't know what God's will for my life is". Have you read His Word? It's pretty simple. When He comes back will He find us working, or will He see us scurrying out of our comfortable holes trying to look busy?

The Terrible Visitation

Blow a trumpet in Zion,

and sound an alarm on My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

for the day of the LORD is coming;

Surely it is near, a day of darkness and gloom,

A day of clouds and thick darkness

as the dawn is spread over the mountains,

So there is a great and mighty people;

there has never been anything like it,

Nor will there be again after it

to the years of many generations.

A fire consumes before them

and behind them a flame burns

The land is like the garden of Eden before them

but a desolate wilderness behind them,

And nothing at all escapes them.

Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;

and like war horses, so they run.

With a noise as of chariots

they leap on the tops of the mountains,

Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,

Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

Before them the people are in anguish;

all faces turn pale.

They run like mighty men,

they climb the wall like soldiers;

And they each march in line,

nor do they deviate from their paths.

They do not crowd each other,

they march everyone in his path;

When they burst through the defenses,

they do not break ranks.

They rush on the city, they run on the wall;

they climb into the houses,

They enter through the windows like a thief.

Before them the earth quakes,

the heavens tremble,

The sun and the moon grow dark

and the stars lose their brightness.

The LORD utters His voice before His army;

surely His camp is very great,

For strong is he who carries out His word

The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome,

And who can endure it? - Joel 2

The picture I see is similar to the Battle for Minas Tirith in the Return of the King. All Mordor is arrayed against the white city and it's teetering and threatening to fall. Suddenly a swarm of pale green sweeps towards the city. The oathbreakers, the previously idle Army of the dead. They had been ignoring their duty but now they're leaping over the walls, pouring into every building, cutting a swath through the Mordor horde. Why can't we be like that now? Working together and busy. Does Jesus have to come back before we'll work together?

If Joel was alive today instead of destroying locusts he might've compared the Day of the Lord to the present financial plague sweeping the earth. We've sat around all smug and fat. Stuffing our selfish faces with more and more and when we ran out instead of cutting back we borrowed. We borrowed for houses and cars. We borrowed for TVs and comfy couches. Paid for with lines of credit and plastic. We got second mortgages and paid the interest only. Not just individuals but companies and governments too. We can have whatever we want, just run a deficit. Perfect. Except when Uncle Guido comes to collect his money. And if we can't pay we'll never walk again. Or maybe we'll get to try out his new concrete shoes.

It's a scary time, even for Canadians. Yes our government has been running with a budget surplus and we've been reaping the benefits of the high oil prices but if the US falls they will take 60-70% of our exports with them.

Where's your treasure? Does it hurt to see your investments and pension evaporate? Will it fill you with fear as more and more resource and trade dependant jobs collapse? We need to repent as a nation of our gluttony. We need to pray for forgiveness. Whatever happens God is in control. Our hope is in Him, He can do anything. We must not break ranks, whatever comes at us we will stand our ground, we are His children.

Global warming and bacon wrapped dates

About three years ago my cousin was getting married and somehow while the family was gathered and enjoying appetizers and light conversation, the topic turned to "global warming". You may or may not remember this as the predecessor to what we refer to today as "climate change". Anyhow, her fiance said that he believed that the polar ice caps were melting and that in five years most of Vancouver Island would be underwater. Everyone smiled politely and continued enjoying themselves and the tasty appetizers. To me this was an extraordinary statement and I couldn't believe my ears. "Do you really believe that we will be underwater in five years?", I asked incredulously. He looked me right in the eyes and without any doubt he said, "Absolutely" and then he ate another bacon wrapped date. (Which by the way might sound strange but is actually very delicious)

I sat there silently pondering the enormity of what he had said. I kept waiting for him to notice me watching him, and then look at me and laugh, "Naw! I'm kidding!" We would've all had a good laugh and then carried on but that never happened. We never discussed it again.

To be honest, even today, I don't know what to think about his dire prophecy. You may be reading this and thinking "You moron, of course the sea level is rising and if you're smart you'll buy a cabin in the mountains because soon it's going to be worth a lot more when it becomes oceanfront property". Or maybe you're thinking, "It's happening slower than five years but it's happening nonetheless". Ok, ok, I won't argue that. However, what I find extraordinary is that even though my cousin-in law believed it so definitively, he didn't seem to be acting like he believed it. I mean, they bought a house in Parksville. Which is on Vancouver Island. Probably no more than five feet above sea level. And if you do the math we only have two years left before everyone who lives on the coast who doesn't have a set of Kevin Costner waterworld gills is going to have a really bad day.

I personally don't think it would be sufficient to move to higher ground on Vancouver Island. If his prediction comes true, this whole coast will be chaos and pandemonium. There will be no ferry terminals, no airports, few dry roads. No way on or off the island.

Maybe he's still planning to move. Yeah, maybe he's trying to decide between becoming a Tibetan monk or working in the oil sands. Calgary is the city with the highest elevation in Canada so that would make sense. Mount Ararat would be another good place to lay low and chill until things to settle out.

This brings me to number two on the list of "Wisest creatures on earth"...

The rock badgers are a feeble folk, Yet they make their homes in the crags;- Proverbs 30:26

If we believe something shouldn't our actions back up what we believe? Why do we say we believe God's Word but don't act like it? We trust our money, our friends, our physical strength. This is the comforting, soft field we make our little nests in when we should be hidden in the Rock. It's probably a lot harder work every morning and night after gathering food and water to climb back up into the crags. It's definitely not as comfortable, but when storms and predators come it's safe and definitely wiser.

The result of all this? Well, after digesting a date wrapped in something I completely didn't expect and after my self-righteous critique of my cousin-in-law's beliefs and resulting actions about the physical world I realised I had my own contradictory issue to deal with... My beliefs and actions about the spiritual one. Argh.

Bulletproof wisdom

I have some ants living under my patio in the backyard that are extremely industrious and persistent. Obviously I've tried to encourage them to move. First I started by covering up their holes, I quickly stepped up my efforts by flooding the entire area with a hose... no good. Finally, when I had exhausted all conventional means at my disposal, like a pompous dictator with a itchy finger on the button of doom, I resorted to chemical warfare. There, I've said it, I'm not proud of it but there it is nonetheless.

That was one year ago and they are still there. An indefatigable, unstoppable insect force, marching inexorably on. I can almost see the laughter in their beady little eyes (frustrated growling and teeth grinding noises). Why won't they give up, move to happier climes? Why won't they break?

There are four things which are little on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise:
The ants are a people not strong, Yet they prepare their food in the summer; - Proverbs 30:24-25

This is one of my favourite passages of scripture. To me it is such a powerful image of how we should live as Christians. Whenever I see "bread" or "food" written about in the Bible, I translate that to "scripture" in my mind. We are in the summer of our spirituality, a day is coming when the Word will be scarce, possibly branded "hate literature" We would be wise to store up everything possible now.

In that day we'll have to search harder for the Word then we do today and we'll likely be persecuted for it. We would do well to be as wise as the ant today and, Lord willing, as unbreakable tomorrow.

Lamentation #3

The LORD is my shepherd I shall not want (Ps 23:1)
He has been to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in ambush (Lam 3:10)

Many believers assert that God intends for us to live healthy wealthy, and prosperous lives. These people will quote scriptures they believe supports this belief but tend to ignore others that don’t. Most people know the 23rd Psalm but how many know the 3rd Lamentation? Not as many I imagine and I can understand why. David in the 23rd Psalm described God as a shepherd who provided guidance, protection and fulfillment. Conversely, Jeremiah in Lamentations 3 described God as a hunter who attacked and injured him.

I know God has provided the deliverance and ultimate victory for our eternal souls through His Son Jesus Christ but our temporal bodies are dying every day. Moth and rust will decay every worldly possession that we have and if your heart is found with those treasures you’re in danger of losing your soul. It disturbs me when Christians say if you're sick or suffering that you musn't have enough faith or something. Jesus promised us that we would have trouble in this world. Recently, a Christian musician lost one of his children in a tragic accident. This affected me so keenly that I avoided listening to his music for awhile because I was uncomfortable with the feelings of sorrow and regret. Their family doesn't have that luxury and they have clung to their hope in Jesus Christ.

What is the reason for suffering? The best answer to that is found when you see the result of suffering. People who have everything they need don’t tend to go looking for God but when faced with terrible adversity they tend to either curse Him or cling to Him. Jeremiah also chose the latter.

This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him!" The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. - Lamentations 3:21-25

Praying to the dark

“I fell in love when I was seventeen… with God. A foolish girl with romantic notions about the life of a religious. But my love was passionate. Over the years my feelings have changed, He’s disappointed me, ignored me. We’ve settled into a relationship of peaceful indifference. The old husband and wife that sit side by side on the sofa but rarely speak” – Quote from the movie “The Painted Veil”

The words of an elderly Nun that had dedicated her life to working in a orphanage in China during a cholera outbreak. I’ve never forgotten this scene.

Next time you go to restaurant look around at the different couples there. Do you see a couple that sit and eat in silence? You might see a couple sitting together talking, hanging on each others words. Chances are today you’ll see two people sitting together and both of them will be talking to someone else on their cell phones.

I hardly know what to pray for anymore. My one-dimensional prayer life is getting old. I’m like the old nun, I still know He’s there but I sit silent, there’s no pressure to say anything and He doesn’t say anything to me. I don’t think it’s a good thing, I think I’ve reached a point where I need to take a new step if I’m going to experience a deeper level of communication.

Carl Sagan, when speaking about other dimensions, imagined that if a creature from another dimension wanted to speak to us it would actually sound as if their voice was coming from inside of us. It’s pretty difficult to ignore all the other distractions, stop for a moment and really listen.

“I turn it up inside my head
When I’m asleep on my bed

They try to say there is no God

People praying to the dark”
- Fallout, Bride

Starbucks courage

I don’t often drink Starbucks but when I do I always read the quotes on the cup, I figure if I’m going to part with $4 for a cup of coffee I better get every drop of caffeine and culture I can out of it. Here’s a recent quote that caught my eye...

“Why are we inspired by another person’s courage? Maybe because it gives us the sweet and genuine surprise of discovering some trace, at least, of the same courage in ourselves” – Laurence Shames

I recently watched a play about Joan of Arc. An amazing story of an illiterate, 17 year old, peasant girl who became commander of the armies of France and helped shape a nation’s future. No other person in recorded history did that at her age. Whether she was crazy or truly led by God one thing is certain; she possessed an incredible courage that spread to those around her. Her ideas that people were directly subject to God and King didn’t sit well with some in the church or the reigning feudal lords. She was sold to the English enemy and burned to death.

Now back to my coffee quote… “Why are we inspired by another person’s courage?”
Um… maybe it’s because we admire the person’s actions. The funniest thing about this quote, “The way I see it #11” is that Starbucks didn’t even have the guts to write it without attaching a disclaimer “This is the author’s opinion, not necessarily that of Starbucks.” Am I to believe that someone found this quote that they don’t agree with and had it printed in English and French on untold thousands of coffee cups? Or are they just afraid that it might offend someone?

Why can’t I be more like Joan of Arc and less like Starbucks? Why don’t I stand up for what I believe in, whether it’s someone making a racist joke, or using Jesus’ name as a curse word or the quiet holocaust of unborn children going on in our country. I do… nothing and I’m pretty sick of myself. Sometimes I act like there is a disclaimer on my Bible “These are the Author's opinions and not necessarily shared by me”

A kind of alchemy

Have a look at the following list of elements and see if you can guess what it is.

Element amount (kgs)
Oxygen 43.0
Carbon 16.0
Hydrogen 7.0
Nitrogen 1.8
Calcium 1.0
Phosphorus 0.78
Sulphur 0.14
Potassium 0.14
Sodium 0.10
Chlorine 0.095
Magnesium 0.019
Silicon 0.018
Iron 0.0042
Fluorine 0.0026
Zinc 0.0023
Rubidium 0.00032
Strontium 0.00032
Bromine 0.00020
Lead 0.00012
Copper 0.000072
Aluminium 0.000061
Cadmium 0.000050
Boron <0.000048
Barium 0.000022
Tin <0.000017
Uranium 0.00000009
Beryllium 0.000000036
Radium 3.1×10-14

Now if you already know what this list describes you’re probably smart enough to know that you can’t just pick up all these items and mix them together in your mixmaster to create it. This is a human being ingredient list and an example of “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts” To really make a human being (from scratch) you will need a little bit of chemistry and probably an element of “magic”. And... unless you are the government of the USA, Russia, France, Canada, India, Israel or possibly soon, North Korea, Iran and Saskatchewan. You'll probably need magic to get your hands on the Uranium as well.

Anyhow, I’ve been wondering lately what makes a Christian? Here’s what the Wikipedia says a Christian is. Some people have even suggested that there are two types of Christians. I’ve been asked if I am a "regular Christian" or a “born again Christian” puzzled, I asked what the person meant. Apparently a "regular Christian" is pretty normal, goes to church and all that but still lives a "normal" life. A "born again" is someone who’s life has changed drastically and acts strange to the world. e.g. Someone who was living a life of drugs and partying and is instantly changed and becomes a different person.

Here's a possible list (with the prescriptive Latin stolen from my Dad's Pharmaceutical textbook "De Re Medica")

Activity amount (Frequency)
Saying the sinners prayer - quondam
Believing in Jesus? - semper
Getting baptized - ex modo prescripto
Repenting - pro re nata
Going to church - ad libitum
Performing miracles - si opus sit
Works - ut dictum
Faith - quantum sufficiat
Praying - ter in die
Reading the bible - omni mane
Fasting - omni nocte

This all makes me wonder if it’s possible to do all the things in the above list and still not be a Christian? Just like you can throw all the elements in the first list together and not be a human. The bible is pretty clear that some people have deceived themselves to think they are Christians and that there are at least two ways to know if we are;
1) The Spirit of God who bears witness with our spirit
and
2) By examining ourselves and testing the fruit that we bear

Fractal church

I heard this analogy from my pastor a few sundays ago.
Have you ever stuck your face in one of those cut outs of a body builder? You know the ones where you get your picture taken and it looks so silly to see your skinny little face sitting on the shoulders of a huge mesomorphic body. Everyone has a good laugh when they look at the photo because it looks so obvious that the head doesn't go with the body.

Now picture Jesus Christ as the head and the church as the body. Would it look silly? Or fill you with awe? Would outsiders think the two fit together seamlessly or do they even fit together at all? Maybe part of the body would look like it fits, maybe one arm is withered and a leg is dragging limp and dead. That's if the parts are even connected. Not funny... just sad.

A few posts ago I included a video of some mathematics visualizations. If you watch the one at the end you'll see what's called a fractal which is basically a pattern being repeated over and over again almost ad infinitum. Every piece demonstrates similarity to the greater pattern. You have seen examples of fractals in nature as well; in the clouds, in a bolt of lightning and plants.

I believe Jesus Christ is calling us to be part of His body in the same way. We are called Christians which means "little Christ". Little carbon copies of Jesus Christ. Is that what we are? Do we act like Him, watch the things He watched, and say the things He said or have we become more like the world? We need to be transformed into His likeness so that when the world looks at us they see Him, when they look at our congregation they see Him, when they look at the church in Canada they see Him and when they look at the Church in the world they see Him.

In most cases today the opposite is true, Christians and congregations conforming to the world's pattern, denominations fractured or helter-skelter and bolted together like a Frankenchurch. Useless and dead. The good news is (and it's as frightening as it is comforting) that He's coming and His winnowing fork is in His hand. He will seperate the chaff from the wheat and what's left of the church will be bound together in perfect unity.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. - John 15:5-8

Comfortably numb

I think there are only two things wrong with the Church in North America today. We are selfish and immoral. Other than that we’re pretty much perfect. The best part is that we don’t even know it.

We refer to the 5th to the 10th centuries as the “dark ages” we congratulate ourselves that we live in a time of spiritual enlightenment. We cheer ourselves and thank God that we are not like the sinners we see around us. What about the church today makes us enlightened or spiritually correct? We go to church on Sunday, we occasionally read our bible, we’re nice to our worldly friends and co-workers. God has blessed us with good jobs, nice cars and plasma TV’s. We pray and He answers our prayers for sunshine on a wedding day, a new cell phone and that parking spot by the front door of the store… but a child slowly starves to death in Africa… every few moments. Either God listens to us and not others or we have deceived ourselves. If it's the latter we need to pray for mercy.

The following video captures one of the most provocative and important messages I have heard in many years. I can’t look at myself or my Christianity the same way since I saw it. If you don’t want to question the way you are living your life as a self-professed Christian don’t watch it. If you do watch it there’s a good chance you’ll turn it off because it will offend you. Or worse you'll turn it off because you’re comfortably numb. But if it hurts then that’s a good thing because that means you still have a conscience. Watch the video… if you dare…



Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
- Proverbs 27:6 NASB

Eternal threads

Do you prefer the beginning or the end of a thing?... Or neither?

I love the prairies in the summer. The smell of sage, the wind in the fields of wheat, the endless prairie. When I was young my family would travel to southern Saskatchewan to visit my grandparent’s farm each year. One of my favourite things to do was to go for walks and look for native artifacts and buffalo trails. I would walk east from my grandparent’s farm up a hill where there was an old Cree campsite. All that was left there were rings of ancient looking lichen covered rocks. And stretching down the hill and into the distance to the east was a buffalo trail worn four to six inches into the ground. It was such a thrill for me to follow it as it led me over and around hills and through coulees. As I got older each year I would discover more and more of the seemingly endless prairie.

Then one summer as a young teen I visited again. I explored further than ever before and as I came over the last hill I remember looking down and seeing something that disappointed me so keenly that I have never forgotten it. A hateful fence stretched across my path as far as I could see to the left and right. The prairie and even the world suddenly seemed smaller at that moment. It would never be the same. The mystique of the eternal prairie hanging by a thread had parted.

This year I made a new year’s resolution to read my Bible cover to cover. Reading in sequence puts many of the figures in a context that explains so much more than mining out a chapter or verse. I am seeing things I have never seen before and I am enjoying it immensely but I am worried what will happen when at the end of the year I stand on the edge of the book of Revelation? Will it feel like I’ve run up against a fence? I don't think so. Even though the language it's written in is finite and limited I believe that the meaning is eternal and even living. For example; in English we use the word “love”. What does that word mean? We say we love our spouse but we also might say we love jube jubes. Huh? That doesn’t make sense. Greek, the language that the New Testament was written in has three words for love all meaning very different things. I could easily produce several examples that show our native tongue as a clunky, cobbled together tradespeak. Ok, so the English language is limited even in comparison to the other human languages the Bible was written in, I am reading the Bible in English therefore It follows that simply by my reading the Bible once I could never completely "explore" it. Thankfully we have the Holy Spirit to lead us to the parts we need to understand and not an ancient trail made by a herd of Bison.

The beginning of a thing can be intimidating, the end can be disappointing, knowing His Word is eternal fills me with hope.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Chemosh, Molech and Ashtoreth. Gods that stole human hearts from the true God in the past. Why would anyone cheat on the Living God for them? I don’t want to say they were stupid, but I’m finding it difficult not to. I always thought Solomon was really wise but…

He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. – 1 Kings 11:5-7

Josiah, never credited to be as wise, got rid of Solomon's idols

(Josiah) also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the people of Ammon. – 2 Kings 23:13

Thankfully, (insert contented sigh here) no one worships those gods anymore. We’re way too smart for that… Aren’t we? Either that or we just call them something else now.

After the fire of salvation has died away many people look for someone new. They don’t want love, they want infatuation. The love they crave is a chemical high. If they don’t develop a real relationship grounded in real love they become cold and restless. Vows are conveniently forgotten, they close their eyes as someone new whispers sweet nothings in their ticklish ears.

Who do you trust? Who flatters you and makes you feel good? Who do you spend your time with? The true God or someone else? Don’t be fooled they are real; Mammon, Ego, and Gaia. Gods of money, self and the goddess of the earth.

Thankfully we’re not alone
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; - 2 Corinthians 10:4-6

Ars mathematica

Mathematics, the fingerprint of God

Surface
Calm and cool
Resident unknown
Where do you end? or begin?

Earth, air
Knowledge, words
Where are you going?
Overboard, flickering coin

(Your methods) (and axioms) = (perfect symmetry)
Elegant and beautiful so unpredictable

Encryption key in Your hand
You have set me free
Your blood is
The proof

A dark mirror between us
Face to face I feel
Terrified
Comfort

From the new world

Columbus, arguably the greatest sailor of his time, sailed 8000 km across the Atlantic ocean four times to the same location without the knowledge of how a compass worked or an accurate map. In today's terms that would be akin to someone loading up a spaceship to travel 20,000 light years to some unknown point in the Milky Way. Or maybe it's like being sent from another dimension to some pale, blue dot in a three dimensional world. What would your reunion with the one who sent you be like?

“What have you brought?”
“My soul, safe from the new world”
"What other treasure have you brought?”
"My soul is safe… here it is Lord, take it!”
"I gave you your soul, and redeemed it. I gave you My Word and My Spirit. If that wasn't enough I would've given you more. After all your years how do you answer me? What return is there for my investment?”
“…”
"I was hungry, I was blind, I was homeless, I don’t remember you”

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. - 2 Corinthians 5:10

Lord Jesus Christ, when our bodies, our wealth and possessions are dust. May we stand before you with eternal treasure. I pray that we can look back on our short lives and see that we did something, anything to further your cause. That we shared our wealth, that we shared our faith and especially our time, amen

Tyger Tyger burning bright

The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,

In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire in thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art?

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand, and what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? What dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,

And watered heaven with their tears,

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb, make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

- William Blake

How do you picture God? Do you imagine Him as being like your earthly father? Or your best friend? It's true God loves us and is closer than a brother but I suggest remembering He's dangerous as well.

The poem "The Tyger" by William Blake asks the question, what kind of God would build such a terrifying creature? The same God that created the gentle lamb formed the fearful Tiger. Deadly and beautiful. The same God that created the playful dolphin created the Great White shark. A creature apparently made for only two purposes... pursuit and killing. Deadly, and I would argue beautiful as well.

And the Anglerfish, nightmare of the deep... Deadly? Likely. Beautiful? Umm... not so much.

The same God that commands the Angel of death sent His only Son as a sacrificial lamb for our sins. I am at once comforted and afraid.

"As the Creator, God shapes and fashions and brings bare being into form - a form which is truly reflective of the One who fashions it. And when God is finished with this process what He has made speaks of the God who made it." - Genesis in space and time, Francis Schaeffer

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God - Hebrews 10:31

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8

The saints are coming

There is a house in New Orleans, they call the Rising Sun
It's been the ruin of many a poor boy, and God, I know I'm one.

I cried to my daddy on the telephone, how long now?
Until the clouds unroll and you come home, the line went.
But the shadows still remain since your descent, your descent.

The saints are coming, the saints are coming.
I say no matter how I try, I realise there's no reply.
The saints are coming, the saints are coming.
I say no matter how I try, I realise there's no reply.

A drowning sorrow floods the deepest grief, how long now?
Until the weather change condemns belief, how long now?
When the night watchman lets in the thief Whats wrong now?

The saints are coming, the saints are coming
I say no matter how I try, I realise there's no reply.
The saints are coming, the saints are coming
I say no matter how I try, I realise there's no reply.

This video is a criticism of President Bush's response to the New Orlean's disaster and the media's portrayal of the response. After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans descended into chaos. Police officers and emergency crews had to choose some people to save and to watch others die. Some committed suicide when this burden became too heavy. The government could've done more but the military, including 25% of the Louisiana National Guard which normally is called in during times of emergency, was fighting in Iraq.

How great it would've been if the might of the US military machine had been turned towards this cause as shown in this video. What an effect it would've had restoring order and delivering much needed help. Instead, as I watch the fantasy Harriers, Apaches and B2 Spirits in the video I'm left with a feeling of what could've been... You may blame the government, President Bush, the media or, like the author of the song, maybe even God but I think it's important to realise that the same thing is happening today and we are to blame.

Canada, Europe and the US are fighting a war to save "Mother Earth" and we're ignoring the dying world around us. To the point where even food is being diverted to Biofuel so that we can keep our precious cars on the road and feel good that we're "saving the environment". Now World Vision is reporting that as food prices soar they can't afford to feed seven million people that they were previously helping. Seven million people! If that doesn't horrify you I would be worried.

Everywhere I go I see "green products" geared towards "green consumers", I wonder how many people would spend all their energy fighting the green cause if they had to watch their child slowly starve to death. Next time you see something "green" or "eco" or "earth-friendly" try to think of the last time you saw anything that suggested we should do anything for the starving poor in the world.

Don't wait.

Chaos wide open

(Editor's note: Edward Lorenz, "the father of chaos theory", died this week at the age of 90. In contrast "Salar" the author of this blog does not know much about chaos theory beyond what can be googled in several minutes. If Edward Lorenz was the Father of chaos theory "Salar" would be the nosy neighbour of the roommate of the second cousin twice removed of chaos theory.)

"An eerie type of chaos can lurk just behind a facade of order and yet deep inside the chaos lurks an even eerier type of order" - Douglas Hofstader

The above image is a computer generated picture of what's called a "Mandlebrot set". It's a mathematical equation involving complex numbers and it visually describes the order that is found in chaos. Chaos appears random and unpredictable but if you look closely it's not, it's ordered. Order is calm, in control, unstoppable and in certain situations it can be even frightening.

Imagine, if you will... you are living alone. You come home after work and find your favourite vase smashed to pieces on the floor. Was someone in your house? Are they still there? You're going out, you don't have time to clean it up, you leave it in pieces on the floor. Later you come home and it's been put back together and sitting on your coffee table. Would that make you happy seeing it all put back together? Probably not. I know I would try to come up with an explanation for how it got put back together because I don't want to think someone or something was in my house and put my vase back together. There has to be a logical, natural explanation.

Or think about the question another way... does random steam on your bathroom mirror scare you? What if words were written in the steam? (and I don't mean an I love you note from your spouse).

The world around us is ordered and extremely complex; the balance of ecosystems, hunters, prey, symbiotic relationships, the eye, insect flight, the digital code written in DNA, how a giraffe can lower it's head and not have it explode from blood pressure, on and on. Is there a logical, natural explanation for all this or could it be Someone ordered it this way? It might be more frightening to believe Someone is in control because then we also have to think we might have to answer for our actions.


In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other. - Daniel 5:5-6

What was written is even more frightening...

PearlCast

I'm pretty frustrated today.

I made a decision at work and my boss put the brakes on it. When I spoke to him yesterday I couldn't convince him that my course of action was right so I decided that I would put some figures together and convince him by showing him the numbers... no good. I started explaining the numbers and he tossed it on his desk and said "you don't need to explain it any further I know it's less money"

Now you might say, "It sounds like he was convinced" If you said that you'd be wrong. He basically said it doesn't matter that it would save us 21k the answer's still no.

Add to that frustration that someone really close to me recently asked me for my opinion on something and basically ignored my advice.

So this got me to thinking, is this the reason for the maxim "do not cast your pearls before swine"? Then the very next words I thought were "Am I the swine?" Jesus' commandments are in the Word in black and white. Am I listening? Am I following His guidance? I wonder how He feels when we look into the light of His Word and forget what we read?

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. - James 1:23-25

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. - Psalm 119:105

ĕn'ə-mē?

I recently watched the Will Smith movie "I am legend". If you're interested you can look it up at http://www.pluggedinonline.com/ before watching it. The main negative elements are the violence and frightening scenes.

(Don't read this if you don't want to have the plot twists ruined for you)

The writer of the review commented that the movie had a theme of "heroism, selfless sacrifice and final redemption". It's based on a book and I think the movie missed highlighting the material point that the author of the book was trying to make. In short, Will Smith's character Robert Neville is the last normal man alive in New York city, everyone else has either been killed or changed into a vampire by an airborne virus. Only 1% of the population were unaffected and virtually all of them were promptly killed by the vampires. As a result now finds he must lock himself in his apartment at night and during the day he roams the city killing the vampires as they sleep. Every so often he captures the odd one alive to take back to his apartment/bio-medical lab to experiment on in the hopes of discovering a cure.

He is attempting to save what's left of mankind. And this brings us to the central idea of the book, his actions are not in line with the current majority public opinion. To them he is the enemy. The one the vampires fear, the one they desperately try to stop, the bogey man "legend" the vampire parents tell stories about to their vampire babies.

The fact that the main character is the enemy just because he is in the minority is actually a very thought-provoking idea. It's too bad this latest version of the story didn't capitalize on it. You get hints in a one or two scenes but nothing more.

As Christians we think we are the protagonists. We assume that most everyone else will agree. We love our enemies, we follow the golden rule, we pay our taxes. The reality is we are strangers in a foreign land. Our enemy is the god of this world and he holds sway over the hearts and minds of many people, possibly the majority. Jesus Christ said the world will hate us because He was hated. If the world system accepts us then there is probably something wrong and we should probably be worried.

-

In the movie when Robert Neville captures his last vampire his antidote is successful and she is "converted" into to a non-vampiric being. However, her "dark-seeker" boyfriend is not impressed and he visits Robert at his apartment one night. Robert locks himself in his lab, a Plexiglas wall is all that separates them. "look!", he shouts desperately as he points to the cured woman laying on the gurney "I can help you, I can cure you!" The enraged vampire continues to throw himself violently against the wall. As the Plexiglas cracks and threatens to give way Robert is dejected, he can't believe it, the look in his eyes begs the question, "don't you want to be saved?..."

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. - John 15:18-19

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. - John 1:5

Pushing the immortal envelope

I would love to go BASE jumping but only if I could be sure that I wouldn’t be dashed to pieces on the side of a mountain. I think best case scenario I would spend the entire jump screaming in terror and the rest of my life with post traumatic stress disorder. Worst case scenario I would pass out part way down the mountain and billy goats would be picking little bits of me out of their teeth… on second thought I’m not sure which is the worst case scenario.
Anyways, it’s pretty cool to experience... vicariously.


Learning to fly - Pink Floyd
Into the distance, a ribbon of black Stretched to the point of no turning back A flight of fancy on a windswept field Standing alone my senses reeled A fatal attraction is holding me fast, How can I escape this irresistible grasp?
Gotta keep my eyes from the circling sky
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earthbound misfit, I...

Is there some deep desire in us to fly? I think so and it looks like some day we will, metaphorically and literally.

but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. - Isaiah 40:31

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. - Thessalonians 4:16-17

I’ll save up my flight angst for the afterlife when I’m an immortal. Unless you are a trained BASE jumper I suggest you do the same. However, you can check it out now through the relative safety of your computer by clicking the links below.

As a Lamb to the slaughter

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.- Isaiah 53:7

I found this video from the Passion of the Christ put to the song “Hero", I think it's well done.

I looked up the definition for Meekness and I found; “humbly patient or docile, as under provocation from others” I once heard a better definition; “power in perfect control”.

Jesus the Son of God allowed men to shame Him, torture Him and became a curse for us. He could’ve called down legions of angels to utterly destroy the men who did this to Him. He could’ve stopped the mouths of His accusers, the hands of his tormentors, ended the pain and suffering at any moment… but He didn’t. In fact, not only did He not take revenge, He forgave them. I’m in awe.

I hope that I am counted worthy to suffer shame for His name and I hope He gives me the strength to accept it. He was meek but He wasn’t weak, great men and women endure torture and death for their beliefs, only the Son of God could endure and hold His power and authority in perfect control throughout.

Post scriptum
I watched the Passion of the Christ again this Good Friday with my oldest son and his cousin. Of course it’s a difficult film to watch, it’s not something you watch for enjoyment but to remember. At the part where Pilate presents Barabbas and Jesus and asks who the crowd wants to have released I saw a picture of an Old Testament scapegoat that I had never seen before.

He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. – Leviticus 16:6-10

The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp. – Leviticus 16:26
When the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. – Matthew 27:17-18

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"
All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"
Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. – Matthew 27:24-26

My dog Molly

I love my dog but sometimes she makes me so angry that I barely restrain myself from SNAPPING. I feel like Bruce Banner “Don’t make me angry Molly, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry”. Only difference is I don’t get all green and buff.

A couple of years ago she ate our Robbie Burns haggis right out of the grocery tote. THAT’S MY HAGGIS! Today she ate some ham that was on the counter. =: \ ARGHHHH!!!!

Okay… okay… deep breath in… exhale… ok… I’m calm now

All in all she is a good dog. She was abandoned and taken into the pound when some friends of ours adopted her. They gave her to us when they couldn’t look after her anymore. She sleeps beside me every night. If I sleep on the other side of the bed she moves over to my side, except when my wife was pregnant then she slept on her side and was very protective of her and our newborn baby girl. She didn’t get jealous when we no longer gave her attention and spent all our time with the baby. She never complains when we don’t take her for a walk and she appreciates every moment when we do. She paces back and forth under our dinner table and never lets a crumb that falls to the floor go to waste. Unlike my children who most days seem to not even care if they eat and what is served often receives a turned up nose instead of thank you. Usually the “eat your dinner or there’s no dessert” threat is invoked.

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." - Matthew 15:21-26

This was my reading a few days ago and I’ve been thinking about it all week. This woman amazes me. She obviously loved her daughter. She was so persistent when Jesus was ignoring her! And when He calls her a dog she parries His proverb with her own. She risked and endured humiliation, insult and rejection for her little girl. Why is it that when we have something for free we tend to take it for granted? Guaranteed there is someone who would die for what we have. I wonder what God feels when His children ignore the gifts He gives them. When as Keith Green put it “you prefer the light of your TV”

I don’t know about you, but I identify with the Syrophoenician woman. Whenever I read this I’m hoping that she gets her request granted.

Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter." She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. - Mark 7:24-30